Monday, October 24, 2016

Pentacle/Ancient Death/Vic Records/2016 EP Re-Issue


  Pentacle  are  a  band  from   the  Netherlands  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form of  death  metal  and  this  is  a review  of their  2001  ep  "Ancient  Death"  which  will  be  re-issued  in  November  by  Vic  Records.

  A  very dark  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the ep  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of the  musical  instruments  that are  present on  the  recording  and when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  while  black  metal  screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  there is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  both  80's  and  90's  influences  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are very  long and  epic  in  length  and  the  slower  riffs also  bring  in  a  touch  of  doom  metal and  they  also  bring  in  covers  of  Mantas's  "Legion  Of  Doom"  and  Death's  "Witch  Of  Hell"  and  one  track  also  brings  in  vocals  from  K.K  Warlust  Of  Destroyer  666  and  the  music  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  and there is  also  a  brief  use  of  melodic  guitars  leads.

  Pentacle  created  another  recording  to  this  era  that  was  very  true  to  their  old  school  death  metal  style  while  still  having  a  touch  of  black  metal,  the  production  sounded  very  professional  for t he  era  it  was  recorded  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Warfare  and  Death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  was  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Pentacle  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue. RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Souls  Blood"  and  "Walking  Upon  Damnation's  hand".  8  out  of  10.  

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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Witchmaster Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
We are supposed to be getting ready for the upcoming gigs. There's some concerts coming in November, in Poland and UK, with Tortorum from Norway, and Im looking forward to that. Also the split LP with VOIDHANGER is coming out sometime soon, in november/december, and Im also looking forward to that. It'll be out on Third Eye Temple and you better be ready for that.

2.You have a split coming out in December, how would you describe the musical sound of the newer material and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Its not new at all.  Two of the tracks are unreleased songs from Antichristus recording session, and that was a couple years ago, and the other 3 are live. The interesting thing is, we included a cover of Einsturzende Neubauten, 'Tanz Debil' from their first album. EN is quite an extraordinary choice for WITCHMASTER, given the style. I mea, they are the Venom of Industrial music. I was always really into EN, since I developed a paralell fascinations of Black metal and industrial/noise. This is probably the most experimental thing we did with Witchmaster so far, cosnidering our usually traditional diehard approach

3.Your lyrics have always been on the Satanic side, how would you describe your views on Satanism and Occultism?
 You just answered the question. Witchmaster was always a Satanik Metal band.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Witchmaster'?
 First we had an idea to name the band Witchhammer, like the Sodom track. Then we thought Witchmaster is much better. The master of the witches.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
On our last tour we set razor wire in form of the stage so when people go berserk in the moshpit they jump on the wire resulting in proper bloodbath. A very appropriate response.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
 Yeah, in November we play some gigs in Poland and UK with Tortorum, Thats the band from guys from Thunderbolt, Gorgoroth, and Aeternus as far as I remember. There's gonna be some interesting changes in our line up as well, for the first time Inferno will play guitar instead of drums, and on drums we'll have Daray (Dimmu Borgir, ex Vader). So it sould be exciting. We ordered new roll of razor wire too.

7.On the split you had done a cover of Einsturzende Neubaten's 'Tanz Debil', what was the decision behind doing your own version of this song?
 If you ever listened to Kollaps, that album is absolutely crazy raw. I love it. Thats why I convinced the guys to do it, as an experiment of some sort. It worked out all right.

8.You will be sharing this split with 'Voidhanger', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
 They are fucking killer. Watch out.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and thrash metal?
We are in the underground, and I dont really pay much attention to feedback, but theres dedicated witchmaster fans  all over the planet.

10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
 Inferno is touring with Behemoth all the time, and also just recorded new Azarath album. Im busy with my experimental projects, and Reyash is still playing in Christ Agony I think.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
 oldschool black thrash metal

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
 Bathory, Sodom, old slayer, Kreator, Voivod . also Wolfpack/wolfbrigade.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanx for the questions,

Deezer
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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Noise Trail Immersion Interview


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We're just five 22-24 years old guys who like chaotic and dark music. The band is based in Turin and we started playing together in 2013: since then our main goal has always been to write and play music just for the love of it.This project is something very important for every member of the band and we literally put all our lives on it.

2.You have an album coming out in November, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the ep you had released a couple of years back?

We like to define our style "8-strings blackened chaos": it's a blend of blackened hardcore, math-metal and post-metal. The sound on the new record is really different from the one in the first EP. After releasing the S/T EP, we talked about changing our sound: everyone in the band loves Black Metal and we really wanted not only to introduce a "dark" element in our music, but also to make it the dominant one. So our singer Fabio chose to change the vocal style from the death metal growls that you can listen to in the EP into more hardcore sounding vocals, making them more obscure and raw. The songwriting approach we used for the new record is different: we kept writing using the mathematical structure songs of the EP, but we gave them a different feel, using much more obscure chords and intervals, sometimes almost creepy-sounding. Also, in the EP there was already a post-metal/ambient element, and for the new record we wanted more of that, so we designed some tracks on the new album (Womb and Birth) to be more introspective than the others, in order to show also this side of our musical identity.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

The lyrics of our songs are often a "stream of consciousness", mostly dealing with subjects like the emptiness that everyone, sooner or later, experiments in life and the lies we tell ourselves when we choose religion as an attempt to give life a sense.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Noise Trail Immersion'?

We don't want this to sound dull, but they're just three words that we thought sounded good together. We'll come up with a fake meaning in the future if necessary.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

If we had to choose some shows, they would be the Tech Fest in 2014 and the Dissonance Festival in Milan last year. Both awesome festivals!
During our live sets we always try to create a dark ambience: we have a fog machine that we always bring with us for every gig.
Usually we play with no lights, except one strobe and some little light bulbs we put on the guitar pedalboards. Since we started playing live the songs from the new record, we tried really hard to make the show coherent with the black-ish atmosphere of the new music.


6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the album is released?

We're going to do a release show in Turin at the end of November and then we really hope to tour in Europe soon. We're actually starting to organize a tour right now, and we're really looking forward to it.

7.The album is coming out on 'Triton's Orbit', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

Yes, we'd like to thank Catia: we're really happy to work with her for promotion and physical distribution! We also want to thank Moment of Collapse Records for taking care of digital distribution!

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

We really don't know, but that is not really an issue to us. Don't get it wrong, we're incredibly happy when someone from a foreign country sends us a message or posts a comment, but our main goal remains making music just for the sake of it. the more people appreciate our works, the better it is, but there's no problem for us if we don't get a lot of feedback from the scene.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

At the moment we're writing new music for another full-length album after "Womb" : it's actually half-written by now. The idea is to create a record in which the end of every single track is connected to the start of the following one so that you don't really feel the separation between them and the album seems like just a really long track. Sometimes parts of a song are present in another one. Guitar riffs are going to be a little different: we're working on making the two guitars play always different things in order to experiment new sounds. The black metal influence will be even more present then in "Womb" and tracks will be longer.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Some of our favourite artists that may have influenced our sound are Amia Venera Landscape, Deathspell Omega, The Secret, Ulcerate, War From A Harlots Mouth, Gorguts, Cult Of Luna, Converge, Dodecahedron, Krallice, The Arusha Accord, Plebeian Grandstand and so many more.
We also listen to a lot of non-metal music, especially Dark Jazz (for example we love Bohren Und Der CLub Of Gore and The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation) as well as experimental stuff and contemporary classical music. Tim Hecker, Arvo Pärt, Kayo Dot and Arve Henrikssen are some other examples of artists we love.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Well, we all love the same kind of movies..Some of them had a big influence on our music as well: the track "Womb" contains a monologue from the movie "Enter The Void" (Gaspar Noè) and the song "Wolves in Plain Clothes" a monologue from the movie "Possession" (Andrzej Zulawski); the official video of the song has also a short excerpt taken from it.
Apart from the movies, three of us are vegetarians/vegans and share a strong interest for the animal liberation issue.


12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We want to thank you for this interview, as well as for the kind review you posted previously on BLACKENEDDEATHMETALZINE.
Also, thanks to everyone who has been following us and supporting our music, we really hope you'll dig the album!

https://www.facebook.com/NoiseTrailImmersion/

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Arriver Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We're getting ready to release our third full-length LP Emeritus.  Meanwhile we're preparing all-new material for a show that will include nothing from it, to include art installations, power-electronic noise, extended repetition of cycling heavy riffs, improvisation, and lots of smoke.  We are constantly creating.

2.Recently you have released a new ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

It's an LP and it comes out in early December.  We've experimented sonically quite a lot on this one.  As before, we favor cleaner more natural guitar and drum sounds than most metal bands use...the sound of a guitars plugged into amps, of drums in a room, no triggers, no bullshit.  There's a sameness to all those over-processed sounds, and we want nothing to do with it.  Dan S got a baritone guitar and I got a 12-string, and the sounds of those instruments and our process of becoming familiar with what they can do has had a major influence on the sound.  We like to contrast brutality and heaviness with ear candy.  We've set aside the grindcore sections we've had in the past, though I'm sure they'll be back...we've introduced some more textural, psychedelic elements that give us space to stretch out, and as a result the songs are longer and more spacious.  Some of the structures are quite linear, beginning in one place and ending up somewhere else entirely. 

3.This is your first release in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Living creative lives.  Building families.  Being engaged with the world around us.  That's who we are.  We have zero interest in living a write-record-release-tour- repeat cycle.  We've all done that before in other bands, and it sucks.  It made me hate music.  Arriver is the antidote to all that, for all of us.  We play music for ourselves, because we are driven to play music.  These guys are my musical family.  We see each other every week, regardless of what else we have going on.  We share in each others triumphs and tragedies.  We've buried a brother together.  Our children play together.  We create and debate and deliberate and refine and we are in no hurry about any of it because hurries are externalities and Arriver exists 100% on Arriver's own terms.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Our trademark is long-form multi-song musical narratives; records as books.  Emeritus is about the Chernobyl event and looks at it from human, non-human and post-human perspectives.  It's something we all remember from childhood and it's far more of a world-historical inflection point than most people realize. The events in our songs really happened, and the characters that inhabit them really existed.  We take plenty of liberties but remain grounded in reality because we want our music to reveal truths about humanity and nature that we can't get at with escapist fantasy.  At the core it all, on this record and the others, is a fundamental belief in the strength of the human spirit and its ability to struggle to the last living cell and transcend calamity.  Hope amid hopelessness.   Maybe if we lived in bars and scowled a lot and blacked out every night we'd be satisfied writing songs about demons and disembowelment and the inevitability of fate.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Arriver'?

The name Arriver was coined by Jason Molina as the name of an imaginary band.  We made it a real one.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We deliver the goods.  We drill our shit as tight as we possibly can so that we can hold our heads high regardless of who we're playing with.  We bombard the audience with riffs and unexpected changes and unusual textures and we blend it all together in a unified whole that is uniquely our own.  We don't pretend to be anyone other than exactly who we are.  The shows we enjoy the most are the ones we play with kindred spirits: not necessarily bands that sound anything like us, but bands who are true to their own idiosyncrasies and weirdnesses, in defiance of paths of least resistance which might make them more scene-popular or easier to take.  We've had some great shows with psych experimentalists like Oneida and Man Forever.  Some of our favorite Chicago metal underground contemporaries to share a stage with have been The Swan King, Arbogast, Beak, Electric Hawk, Den, Anatomy of Habit...there are a ton of amazing, truly original bands in this scene and they don't tend to be the ones that get fawned over.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Shows, yes, plenty; not least of which will be our record release show at the Hideout November 19th.  We play regularly in Chicago and nearby.  Touring...if that means piling into the van and driving off to play six weeks of DIY shows for gas money in dives in Shitfuckingsburg, PA and sleep in some kid's pile of dirty laundry, then fuck no.  We've paid those dues already and anyway among four members of Arriver we now have a total of seven children.  It just isn't compatible with the lives we've chosen to live.  We'll go where we can and we'll pursue opportunities that seem like good ones.  We may go to Europe; we all enjoy that quite a lot.

8.The ep was released on 'Scioto Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Scioto is a small label run by a friend of ours attached to a pressing plant in Columbus.  For all intents and purposes, we are putting this record out ourselves.  That way we don't owe anyone anything, who isn't in the band.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

I know 8 Germans, 5 English, 4 Irish, 3 Spaniards, 2 French, 2 Dutch and a Belgian who think we absolutely rule.  And somehow we have a fan in Ghana.  Beyond that, we'll have to see.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We're putting a lot of thought into our sound and the interplay between our instruments.  We have no idea where that where that will lead.  One thing that has been a constant for Arriver is that we are always playing at the outer edge of our capabilities and setting up conceptual challenges for ourselves.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We're all over the place.  Metallically speaking, we all love Gorguts, we all love Carcass, we all love Napalm Death, we all love Meshuggah.  Obituary is a very important band for Arriver, especially “The End Complete" and "Cause of Death".  We all revere Black Sabbath and Led Zep.  We all have the entire canon of Classic Rock memorized down to the last detail.  Rob and I are obsessive fans of a Finnish band called Circle who are kind of a bizarre proto-metal/kraut-rock hybrid.  That, and also Loop who were on the heavier end of the original wave of shoegaze, have what I think is a noticeable imprint on the new record.  Dan S. discovered a Senegalese band called Tal National who are absolutely bewildering.  We dig Tuareg Bluesmen Tinariwen. We haven't really cared much about what the Melvins have done since the mid 90's but their early records loom large over everything we do.  I think you can hear The Jesus Lizard in Rob's bass.  We like a lot of krautrock...Amon Duul II's "Yeti" is incredibly heavy.  Dan and I like ethnic/folky stuff, especially Steeleye Span and are impressed by Heron Oblivion.  Sumac’s new LP is fantastic. We’ve collectively gone down the Yes rabbit hole this year...their episodic, long form things like Close To The Edge are a strong influence on our new material.    Joe and I grew up on Rush and Rush programmed our musical minds.  Dan S. was skeptical but is coming around.  Rob hates Rush eternally.  Aside from that we're quite open-minded about music.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

I'm a printmaker and visual artist; I run Crosshair Silkscreen.  Dan Sullivan owns Navillus Woodworks, a custom fabrication and design-build company.  He also runs a unique arts space called The Franklin out of his back yard, with his wife who is an acclaimed conceptual artist.  Rob and Joe are tech pros and I have no idea what they actually do because my brain flatlines when they start talking about it.  Rob, Dan, and I all read, a lot.  Joe doesn't have time to read because he is busy writing technical manuals about computer programming.  We enjoy the outdoors.  As often as possible, we like to go sweat in a 200-degree sauna and beat each others' bare asses with birch boughs.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

nein

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Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Witchmaster/Voidhanger/Razing The Shrines of Optimism/Third Eye Temple/2016 Split Album Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Poland's  Witchmaster  and  Voidhanger  called  "Razing  The  Shrines  Of  Optimism"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Third  Eye  Temple  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Witchmaster  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  thrash  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  distorted  sound   before  going  into  more  of  a  blackened  thrash  metal  direction  and  when t he  music  speeds  up a   decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while t he  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  and  a  lot  of  80's  and  90's  influences  can  be  heard.

  While  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  old  school  it  still  sounds  very  modern  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  one  track  also  brings  in a  small  amount  of  electronic  sounds  while  the  music  remains  heavy and  when solos  and  elads  are  utilized  they  bring  even  more  of  a  retro  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover dark  and  blasphemous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Witchmaster  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  thrash  metal  band  with  a  touch  of  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Tormentor  infernal".

  Next  up  is  Voidhanger  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal.

  Their  side  of t he  split  starts  out  with  a  very  distorted  sound  before  adding  in  more  of  an  old  school  death  metal  style  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  you  can  also  hear  elements  of  d  beat  and  first  wave  black  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  take  in  influences  from  the  80's  and  90's  and  give  it  a  more  up  to  date  feeling  and  the  fast  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  the  music  also  always  remains  heavy  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melodic  guitar  leads,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Misanthropy  and Negativity  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Voidhanger  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  d  beat,  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres, you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Through  the  Holocaust  Of  Optimism".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal.  8  out  of  10.  

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Witchmaster/4287
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Voidhanger/3540331156

   

Monday, October 10, 2016

Xoth Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

    Hi! We are currently promoting the upcoming release of “Invasion of the Tentacube” while simultaneously booking a West Coast tour for November.  Both have taken a lot of time and energy but it should all pay off in the end.

2.You have a new album coming out during the end of October, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from your previous ep?

    The songwriting between the EP and the album is pretty similar. I would say that we honed in our sound more on the album and a lot of the newer songs are more attuned to the style we aim to achieve. Semi complex song structures, with lots of dynamics, but never drifting too far into the prog realm.

3.Your lyrics cover Sci Fi, Lovecraft, Conspiracies and Ancient Mysteries, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest on those topics?

    I have been obsessed with horror movies and books for a long time. I was introduced to Lovecraft by movies like “From Beyond” and “Re Animator.” His ideas always struck me (and many other people) as very profound and somewhat possible. Graham Hancock and his book “Fingerprints of the Gods” got me into ancient mysteries. There are a lot of crazy thing that can’t be explained by the history we are taught in school. Conspiracy theories have been a interest of mine for a while now. It is pretty difficult to see through the smoke and mirrors to know what is true, but interesting nonetheless. Just don’t let it control your life hahaha.  I don’t subscribe to any beliefs but I think it is ignorant to assume we know what is out there in the cosmos.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Xoth'?

    Xoth is a planet in the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos. It is a green binary star where cthulhu mated with Idh-yaa to spawn some of his wretched demigod offspring. We thought it sounded cool and was it was only one word. GOOD.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

    I would say the three best shows we have played are the Hotel Monte Vista in Flagstaff (huge and very drunk turnout. The hotel was very nice and we got a free room), the Black Castle in Los Angeles, and HAIL SANTA VI at the Highline in Seattle. Our live show consists of humorous spoken word descriptions of each song, sampled electronic tracks between songs, and of course our music. We try to put on a high energy upbeat performance every time.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

    We have a two week West Coast tour in November with Sarcalogos from Portland. It will start in Seattle, go all the way to Tijuana, and end in Medford, OR. Check out our bandcamp or facebook page for tour dates.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
    Yes we would be interested in signing with the a label. We are looking for a label that will give us a fair deal and present us with opportunities we could not get on our own. So far we have received a few offers from small indie labels, but were not convinced they could make a difference for us. We are confident that we will meet the right people one day.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?

    Limited but good. We have sold albums to people in various countries in Europe and Asia. One of our main goals with this album is increase our international awareness level. Hopefully the worldwide response picks up and we reach a much bigger audience.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

    We really want to write more super dynamic epic compositions. I am really into playing and collecting Synthesizers and it would be awesome to incorporate them more. Aside from that, we will just keep pushing our musical boundaries to create the best stuff we can.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

    The styles that have influence us the most are Metal (of course), prog rock, old school electronic music, and a lot of other stuff.  Bal-Sagoth, Obscure, King Diamond, Abusu, Akercoce, Goblin, Tangerine Dream, Vektor. Really anything from Suffocation to the Bee Gees we can get into.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

    Books, bad 80s movies, camping/hiking, traveling, selling shit on ebay, jelqing, cats, dogs, and various other species of animals.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

  
    Thanks for taking the time to interview us and review our album! Those reading should prepare for way more Xoth in the future. Keep an eye on our youtube for some cool videos soon. Make sure to check out facebook page for updates on the band. One last thing, don’t believe in the lies of society... be yourself and all that junk.

https://www.facebook.com/ beholdxoth https://xoth.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/ beholdxoth

https://twitter.com/behold_ xoth

https://www.instagram.com/ behold_xoth/
http://www.metal-archives.com/ bands/Xoth/3540384828

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Shambles/Realm Of Darkness Shrine/Nero One Records/2016 LP Review


  Shambles  are  a  band  from  Thailand  that  plays  a  very  dark  and  blackened  form  of  death  metal  with  some  elements  of  doom  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Realm  Of  Darkness Shrine"  which  was  released  by  Nero  One  Records.

  A  very  dark  yet  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  deep  death metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  elements  of  black  metal  can  also  be  heard  at  times.

  Most  of  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  faster riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking and  the  riffing  also brings  in a  decent  amount  of  melody at  times  and  none  of  the  songs  ever  use  any  solos  and  leads  and  the  album  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Shambles  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  dark  and  rooted  in  the  90's  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  black  and  doom  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  blasphemous  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Shambles  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Call  From  The  Further  Tomb"  "Onward  Into  Chasms"  and  "Bitter  Abysmal  Depths".  8  out  of 10.

Shambles Bandcamp

Shambles Official Facebook

Friday, October 7, 2016

Arriver/Emeritus/Scioto Records/2016 EP Review


  Arriver  are  a  band  from  Chicago,  Illinois  that  plays  a  very  progressive  form  of  blackened  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Emeritus" which  was  released  by  Scioto  Records.

  A  very  dark  yet  melodic  guitar lead  starts  off  the  ep  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also h ear  a  touch  of  post  hardcore  in  the  guitar  riffing  will  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  also  gets  very  progressive  at  times.

  Melodies  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very long  and  epic  in  length  and  clean  singing  can  also b e  heard  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  clean  singing  can  also  be  heard  in certain  sections  of  the  recording and  clean  guitars  along  with  full  chords  can  be  heard  briefly  towards  the end  of  the  ep..

  Arriver  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  progressive,  death  and  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  hardcore,  noise  rock,  and  post  punk  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  the  Chernobyl  incident  of  1986.

  In  my  opinion  Arriver  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  looking  for  something  that  is  very  different, you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Demon  Core"  and  "Emeritus".  8  out  of  10.

Bandcamp
Facebook
Myspace
Official website
SoundCloud
  

Sepulchral Curse/At The Onset Of Extinction/Transcending Obscurity Records/2016 EP Review


  Sepulchral  Curse  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  originally  started  out  as  an  old  school  style  death  metal  band  but  have  evolved  into  a  more  blackened  death  metal  style  with  their  newer  release  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "At The  Onset  Of  Extinction"  which  will  be  released  in December  by  Transcending  Obscurity  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  a  great  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  the  vocals  being  very  guttural  death  metal  growls  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  the  guitar  leads a re  also  very  dark  and  melodic.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  black  metal  screams  can  also  be  heard  in  certain sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to a   very  heavy  musical   direction  and  the  last  track is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  adds  in a   touch of  doom  metal.

  Sepulchral  Curse  creates  a recording  that  takes  their  old  school  death  metal  roots  and  mixes  it  in  with  more  black  metal  influences  to  take  their  music  to  a  different  level,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  war  and  occultism  themes.

 In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Sepulchral  Curse  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Envisioned  In  Scars"  and  "Gospel  Of  Bones".  8 out  of  10. 

Sepulchral Curse Official Bandcamp

Sepulchral Curse Official Facebook

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Auroch/Mute Books/Profound Lore Records/2016 CD Review


  Vancouver,  B.C's  Auroch  have  returned with  a  new  recording  that  continues  the  blackened  death  metal  style  that  was  on  their  previous  release  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Mute  Books"  which  will  be  released  on  October  21st  by  Profound  Lore  Records.

  Avant  garde  style  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  seconds  the  music  gets  more  heavy  and  brutal  along  with  some  death metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  while  melodic  guitar  leads  are also  added  onto  the  recording  and  whispers  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  a  great  amount  of blast beats  can  be  heard  during  the  faster  sections  at  times.

  A  decent  amount  of melody  can  be  heard  in  some  of the riffing  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  very  chaotic  sounding  and  remain  true  to  a  very  extreme  metal  style and  the  songs  also bring  in  a  great  mixture of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of melodic  chanting  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  tracks  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  and  the  avant  garde  elements  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Auroch  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  blackened  death  metal  style  of  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics cover  Occultism,  Alchemy,  H.P  Lovecraft  and  Misanthropy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Auroch  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "He  Wreaths  The  Cross"  "The  Keeping"  and  "Cup  Of  Hemlock".  8  out of  10.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Xoth/Invasion Of The Tentacube/2016 CD Review


  Xoth  are  a  band  from  Seattle,  Washington  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Invasion  Of  The  Tentacube"  which  will  be  released  in  November.

  Science  fiction  style  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  heavier  sound  and  melodic  guitar  leads  being  added  onto  the  recording  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  after  awhile  black  metal screams  and  blast  beats  make  their  presence  known.

  Death  metal growls  are  also  utilized  at  times  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of technical  elements  along  with  some  touches  of  thrash  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  synths  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recordings  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  classical  guitars  and  the  fast  riffs  also  use  a  great   amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Xoth  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  90's  style  of  technical  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  black  and  shred  metal  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Ancient  Mysteries,  Lovecraftian  Horror,  Science  Fiction,  Metaphysics  and  Conspiracy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Xoth  are  a  very  great  sounding  technical  mixture  of  black,  death  and  shred  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Antediluvian  Annihilation"  "Digital  Mausoleum"  and  "Ancient  Sentient  Ooze".  8  out  of  10.  

http://xoth.bandcamp.com/album/invasion-of-the-tentacube

https://www.facebook.com/beholdxoth

https://twitter.com/Behold_Xoth

youtube.com/user/beholdXOTH


 

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Wretched Soul/The Ghost World/UKEM Records/2016 CD Review


  Wretched  Soul  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death,  thrash,  and  heavy  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "The  Ghost  World"  which  was  released  by  UKEM  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some traditional  metal  style  clean  singing  and  you  can  also  hear  elements  of  speed  metal  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  vocals  also  mix  power  and  thrash  metal  together  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  and  also  gives  the  music  more of  an  old  school  edge  and  when  the  music  speeds  up a   decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  traces  of  black  metal  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  screams  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  faster  riffing also  uses  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo picking  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard.

  Wretched  Soul  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  black,  death,  thrash  and  traditional  metal  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Literature,  Death,  and  Wretchedness  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Wretched  Soul  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death,  thrash,  and  heavy  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Necromancer"  "The  Great  Destroyer"  and  "The  Ghost  Road".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.ukemrecords.co.uk/product/wretched-soul-the-ghost-road-package-deal/