“Lucifer Master” is the black sheep of an underground scene that only a few of us seem to desire a return to domination. Fans of early Sepultura and Sarcofago will also worship the pure blackened fury of the Texas quartet, Obeisance, for they execute a similar style of death trash with occult tendencies. Simplistic and obscure, “Lucifer Master” revels in straight ahead destruction with memorable tremolo riffage and crushing mids that demands furious head banging and the blood from a black goat. Even with a shouted and dimensionless vocal attack, this delivery is based in old styled and evil thrash metal, fitting in perfect with the verse/chorus/verse/chorus structure in the songs. One is able to scream along with every chorus on this slab and it adds to the highly catchy and true metal being so proudly created and upheld by Obeisance. Having been recorded and engineered by The Chasm’s own Daniel Corchado at his Lux Inframundis studio, you know you are going to experience a dark sound and 10 tracks of excellence that calls for a better and seemingly lost era in metal evolution. With bands like Obeisance still battling against the sterile state of modern “metal”, the ancient feeling will never die or be forgotten. “Lucifer Master” slays. – Marty
UTTERLY SOMBER CREATIONS
Obeisance – Lucifer Master
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a CommentOathean – Fading Away into the Grave of Nothingness
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
8 years old and still generally unheard of, South Korea’s Oathean have emerged to test the waters on a much larger scale with their 3rd overall full-length album (1st for The End), “Fading Away into the Grave of Nothingness.” I’m sure these guys have earned a healthy local following (how many bands can you ramble off the top of your head from Korea anyway?), but their music on a global scale is really going to have to stand on its tippy toes to reach the scraps scattered about on the table where bands like Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir and other like minded, death/goth/black metal bands so heartily feast. A thinness in the actual instrument sounds gives the core of this album very little emotion. I’m really unimpressed with various synth sounds or traditional instruments in music such as this, unless of course there is a solid sense of passionate songwriting, or the outcome is intertwined with some grit. This gritless album possesses many impressive musical moments where countless layers are audible in the mix, but the music strikes me as a corpse without a soul. The mid-ranged screams of the vocalist ride the fense between the death and black worlds with little inflection or intensity, allowing the symphonically inclined synthscapes to float about through an array of more eclectic and “traditional” instrument sounds, but Oathean’s bold attempt to colorize a style of metal that has been wrung out a few too many times at the world’s metal Laundromat, it’s really difficult to find the inspiration to free this disc from its jewel case prison cell. The occasional trash riff and always competent guitar work does try to ignite the spark struck off by Oathean’s obvious collective talent, but “Fading Away into the Grave of Nothingness” sounds like a debut album from a new band that hasn’t fully found their peak musical evolution yet. But this is album #3… there’s a lot of effort here for such a flat sounding album overall. – Marty
THE END
Noltem – Hymn of the Wood
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I don’t know if this is the result of a shaky dub (this is a cassette release), but there is a slight wavering in this recording and overall lack of sharpness in the sound spectrum that does bother me, but it’s not enough to take away from the pagan spirit this music so effectively emulates. Connecticut’s Noltem creates an adventurous mix where epic black metal meets paganism and folk tendencies. The acoustic guitar is by far the most dominant and emotive instrument on this short 3 song demo, but it is quite a welcomed addition and inspiring how sole member M. Johnson weaves this element in with the core Graveland meets Agalloch aesthetic that resides within his expansive songwriting style. Traditional folk scales offer a strong sense of refreshing and lighthearted movement in this music, which then easily falls out of the ancient hoe down vibe, into more classical based moments of depression. When the black metal element finally comes into action, a clean bass tone can easily be heard and the separate lines tend to add a thickening foundation for melodically dissonant riff ideas to summon the woodland atmosphere. Speed is never a factor and this music seems to benefit because of it. M. Johnson allows himself to take his time with each composition rather than rush to the next blast beat and see all his ideas through to the end – even build upon them with the occasional synth voice, or accompanying acoustic guitar line added for flavor. The vocals are perhaps the weakest link on Hymn of the Woods. Even though the black metal rasp suits this music perfectly, he possesses a rather thin delivery. I like the overall placement of the lyrical ideas and his performance certainly isn’t terrible, but it would be nice to hear the same level of dimension and development found in the music the vocals are attempting to empower. Since there really aren’t a lot of vocals in this material, perhaps he realizes his strong points and writes to cater to them. “Hymn of the Wood” was a pleasant surprise with its warm compositions and bold sense of cross genre experimentation. Noltem certainly isn’t reinventing the wheel, but the songs are solid and imaginative. Looking forward to hearing what lies in store for this one man project. -Marty
NOLTEM,
74 Hog Hill Road, East Hampton, CT 06424 USA
www.noltem.tk
Nachtmystium – Instinct: Decay
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
As Nachtmystium reaches deep into the heart of creative evolution, each passing album takes on more of an adventurous presence. “Instinct: Decay” has shed a few more layers of the confining skin often found hanging from cult black metal’s tattered bones, and for it, there is a noticeable sense of artistic freedom found on this album that is exciting and ultimately memorable. Azentrius and crew hold on to a few staples of the BM genre of course, but drape this dissonant sound and overall sense of depression with even more harmony and memorable song structures/hooks that bare similarities to the rock world, as the band initially explored on the excellent “Eulogy IV”. Skillfully paced tempos allow the riffs to firmly take root while the bands use of an e bow gives the guitars a haunting violin persona, urging Nachtmystium to explore new avenues of sound and atmosphere. These vibrant tones diabolically lurk over the top of riff bloated foundations and this thoughtful sculpting of sound really gives “Instinct: Decay” a pleasing 3 dimensional body. Azentrius’ screams remain tortured and weathered by the harsh elements found in life, but my only complaint on this album is that his performance can become a bit lost in the swirling layers of the overall mix. If only his reverb soaked tales of personal hardships were a notch or 2 louder, I think the overall impact of this album would be even more vicious as it is hypnotic. Production pickiness aside, I say keep on pushing those boundaries Nachtmystium… your new path of exploration has thus far been an inspired and impressive journey into other ideas and musical genres that will in the long run breathe new life into the lungs of hell.
Lastly, Battle Kommand/Drakkar has also re-issued the self-titled Nachtmystium MCD that was initially released by Regimental Records back in 2003. This long out of print, 6 track disc features updated/slightly different artwork and was produced and engineered by Akhenaten from Judas Iscariot. The sound and feel of this release remains true to the Nachtmystium aesthetic, but is the only time the band featured a different singer. Regardless, excellent underground US black metal has been made available for the masses who initially missed the onslaught the first time around and refuse to dish out the $$ on ebay. This MCD also contains the bands rendition of Judas Iscariot’s “Gaze Upon Heaven in Flames”. – Marty
BATTLE KOMMAND RECORDS
My Dying Bride – A Line of Deathless Kings
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Granted, I don’t listen to My Dying Bride half as much as I used to, but I’m still continually impressed by their new releases and tend to really enjoy them during the short period of time I dedicate to spinning them. “A Line of Deathless Kings” is no exception. The brooding weight in their music maintains a consistency that is undeniably a style all their own and if anything, this album breaks up the bands usually doom laden mid-paced drawl, for a lot more tempo variety. The leadoff track, “To Remain Tombless” is easily one of the 5 most excellently constructed songs the band has put together in ages, starting off typically melancholic with a touch of double bass death metal bite, slowly building steam into a very passionate chorus and bridge that soars with vibrant melodies and an underlying sinister aura that sounds musically just as viable as the band did on their debut MCD “Symphonaire Infernus Spera Empyrium”. My Dying Bride have maintained their identity after all these years and that is very commendable. When Aaron initially started shedding the deep death growls in favor of more of a gothic croon, his voice used to be a bit sketchy as if the transition was an awkward strain for him. The power in his growling vocals was sadly lacking with his pitch singing, if not sounding overly whiney/weak. Over time, he has perfected this delivery and I would say that this and the 2 albums before it, were the first where I actually never really though much about his old style, which does finally make an appearance on this albums closing track, “The Blood, The Wine, The Roses” for a bit of gut wrenching bliss as if to hint at what’s to come. I typically avoid any band that champions romantic misery in their music simply for the cheesy qualities that are often a part of such commercially viable drivel, but My Dying Bride have always been an exception to this rule, because they have the interesting musical content to offset the “woe is me” lyrical concepts. Whether it is a simplistic power chord riff, or those soul crushing, note based harmonies that weep along to the progression, MDB spins an all consuming tale of musical drama. With “A Line of Deathless Kings”, it seems that there’s more musical exploration on display, from clean guitar passages, to interesting little synth/harpsicord/sequenced sections that add color to the over all picture created by MDB. It’s the little things that speak volumes and it’s good to hear a bit more layering by the musical minds of this band. This has been one of those albums that has felt right to play in back to back succession. Attribute this to my somber mood as of late, or perhaps the feeling of MDB nostalgia, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this album and have even been inspired to dust off the MDB classics to be reminded of this bands past and future greatness. It’s good to have them back in my listening rotation again. – Marty
PEACEVILLE
Mournblade – Mangled Lies
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Having formed in 1987, only to now just release their debut MCD due to a list of tragedies a mile long, Mournblade have persevered, but are musically living in the past. In metal, this is often not a bad thing at all, but in this bands case, they come off sounding like a 100th generation late 80’s US thrash band with their mid-paced DRI affinity. Remember how boring “Thrash Zone” was? Mournblade have modeled themselves after this aesthetic with more of a demented underlying theme/tone. Predictable crunching and simplistic power chord riffs give “Mangled Lies” that knuckle dragger mosh freak persona where you hear the movement in the rhythms and you know exactly what’s coming next. Jeff Del Mastro’s vocals are an unconvincing rough shouting style that either sounds like a feeble attempt at insanity, or he follows the boring riff work note for note, beat for beat which really does little to give this music the dimension it desperately needs. The only thing this material really has going for it is a very full/warm sounding production giving the guitars a lot of presence. Too bad the actual musical content isn’t here to benefit from this in your face sound. “Mangled Lies” is dated in a bad way and an awful lot of work to sit all the way through. I got it… Mournblade sounds like they could have been on the later day New Renaissance Records roster when Anne Bolynn tried to sign up all the new and washed up bands she could before running that label into the ground. -Marty
OPEN GRAVE RECORDS
Loss – Life Without Hope… Death Without Reason
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Featuring the demo with the same name and 2 bonus live tracks, this MCD is an encouraging debut from the death/doom stylings of the US born Loss. What separates this bands deathly style from a more funeral doom aura of depression, is Loss’ appreciation of more melodic harmonies that are the basis of their delivery. Think earlier Katatonia and to a lesser extend, My Dying Bride musically, but Loss takes their overall level of songwriting even farther into the underground with cryptically deep vocals to give this an “not of this earth” atmosphere. Loads of reverb and a steady drum plod keep tracks like “Conceptual Funeralism unto the Final Act (of Being)” and “Cut up, Depressed and Alone” flowing with a steady wave of anguish for the listener to relate to and possibly even be overtaken by. At the close of this disc, someone in the audience recorded several live tracks with a handheld recorder, so expect a less than perfect sound quality. Their live cover of Katatonia’s “Brave” was a nice surprise (featuring Imperial from Krieg on vocals) and further drives home where their influences lie. I will say that this MCD has whetted my appetite… I feel a full-length featuring a bigger, more atmospheric production could really allow Loss to move to the next level and continue their infiltration of emotions sculpting doom with much more of an impact. If they continue to write with the impressive dynamics found on “Cut up, Depressed and Alone”, where a clean guitar tone fills the music break with a much needed feeling of despair, Loss could develop into a definite cult classic among the doom genre. We shall see. – Marty
DEATHGASM RECORDS/FATUM VESTRI VITA
Lordi – The Arockalypse
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
They look like Gwar, yet lack all the clever lyrical concepts and powerful musical ideas/twists that make Gwar the mighty powerhouse they’ve always been. Lordi are a metal based rock-n-roll band from Finland that lack the character in the verse/chorus/verse/chorus nature of their songs. They lack meaningful hooks. They lack a charismatic frontman vocally. Everything about this band is like butter on white bread… devoid of flavor. So yeah… they put on the kooky horror suits and try to sail their way into the media with a gimmick. Too bad it already worked for Kiss and Gwar, so all the shock and flash has been played out, making Lordi the Green Jello of the metal world… a tired/embarassing spectacle, with nothing solid musically speaking to back it up. “The Rockalypse” features 15 completely boring, unspectacular rock songs that make Rob Zombie sound like he was influenced by Athiest. This band is a very puzzling/bad choice for The End. – Marty
THE END RECORDS
Khold – Krek
•January 3, 2009 • 1 Comment
Simple lines. Such is the musical nature of the Norwegian beast known as Khold (formerly Tulus). Barren song structures, sickened vocals all in Norwegian, a booming bass tone that would make Blacky shed a toothy grin, rock oriented drumming… the music of Khold feeds from the straight forward and unencoumbered, yet digs deep into the staples of black metal in form and sonic execution. I’m a sucker for plodding simplicity and every album unearthed by this quartet of black wizards has struck a cord with me. “Krek” was no acception. The hooks are massive and so is the production. The lack of speed allows for a very seperated sound. You can hear all the instruments and how they interact with one another. This reinforces the hooks that explode out of every sickened track found on “Krek”. Tracks like “Byrde” and “Lysets Flukt” snap me out of the grooved out hypnosis with some half timed speed breaks before dropping back into some massive breakdowns. As the band continues to incorporate even more ideas into their core sound, they become more dynamic and interesting, building on a CD catalog that truly shines with conviction and dedication to their atypical and monolithic craft. Once again… Great bass tone! This is an instrument that really adds a twisted feeling to black metal that should be further explored by others in a genre hungry to do something a bit different. Even though Khold often takes their fair share of shots for sticking to their often slow and plodding delivery, I gotta say that there’s no other band that sounds like them, or has the ingenuity to write such power music from within this ugly frame of mind. “Krek” is excellent. – Marty
CANDLELIGHT RECORDS
Junta – S/T
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a CommentWhat are you gonna do with a band that is teetering on the cusp of a more trendy new metal influence? Sigh with determination and try to stick with Junta until either this review is complete, or the CD comes to an end… whichever happens first. Melody is present with harmonious riff fills and periodic, often out of tune pitch singing, but Junta seems to be confused to the core yet fine with settling into a style that was hopelessly lifeless before it ever got fully started. Should they hold onto the harsh screams and often scattered crusty moments where straight forward metal riff work is the foundation? Junta manipulates the aforementioned elements the most, but even so, they seem like they are simply emulating countless other bands in a similar style. Where this bands style completely loses it for me, is found in the more simplistic musical moments where the guitar tone is excessively fat as if inspired by the new metal movement. When such a musical presence is evident, the vocals seem to match that more mainstream and commercial form of teen angst that makes all the youngin’s poke stainless steel through their skin for that kitchen cutlery toting fashion statement/form of “rebellion”. Add a clunky/muddy production and this self titled slab really is an uninteresting mess of Swedish happy metal riff work meets a half hearted stab at MTV culture. – Marty
JUNTA
ianjunta@hotmail.com or belial01@yahoo.com
Jezabel – Legiones Del Sur
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I’m sure Jezabel wet many a panties and are looked upon as a big deal in their homeland of Argentina, but take them out of their metal deprived area and stick them on the world market and I think many will see this band as good, but just another power metal band wishing they were Helloween during the Kiske years. Since the keyboard bloated music is similar, but far from the high caliber of songwriting that Helloween exhibited back in the day, the closest connection between the 2 bands is Jezabel’s vocalist. This guy can sing, but does so by often mimicking the delivery and interesting vocal inflection originally introduced by Michael Kiske. Put this guy in a tribute band and he could hold his own with little effort. Having said that, “Legiones Del Sur” does possess a handful of noteworthy solos, but Jezabel really need to find a sound that could be considered their own and let go of this half assed and largely uninteresting idolatry. – Marty
CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC
Impaled Nazarene – Pro Patria Finlandia
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I will admit, after really connecting with every Impaled Nazarene album through the punked out and clanging “Latex Cult”, the band really lost me on subsequent albums as they tried to inject more of a traditional metal strain into their core sound (even enlisting Children of Bodom’s wank master, Alexi Laiho). The experimentation just seemed off to me. Finally getting back on track with the sadistic punk attitude meets raw simplicity, “All that you Fear” was for me, a true return to form for the band. A homecoming that finds Impaled Nazarene continuing to find satisfaction with on “Pro Patria Finlandia”. It’s a formula that you just know is coming as soon as you hit play, but for some reason, it clicks in all the right ways for this band. Mikka’s maniacal and unique screams are just as sharp as they were on the debut album, which is quite a feat for someone who has built a longstanding career out of excessive liver and vocal abuse. With the proclamation of goat lust tearing through the air, the music alternates between clever riff ideas that effortlessly walk the line between dissonant and scraping underground blackness, simplistic punk structures and even some powerful moments of melody creep in that add a lot of color to an otherwise bloody balls out servo of blistering intensity. A great production really allows the listener to feel like they are standing in the middle of this firestorm as razor sharp tremolo picking and technically clean blast beats ravenously consume all organic matter within earshot. The catchy, hook laden, even verse/chorus nature of this album, doubled with the point blank attack really makes “Pro Patria Finlandia” seem like it flies by. Seldom these days does one with so much material in their catalog possess the ability to come out with something new that maintains their voracious legacy while sounding just as fresh as when they were young and hungry. Impaled Nazarene are such a band. “Pro Patria Finlandia” is a definite church burner that’ll leave you feeling winded as the final notes of “Hate-Despise-Arrogance” hammer off into obscurity. Hail the Finnish dogs of nuclear terror! -Marty
OSMOSE PRODUCTIONS
Ikuinen Kaamos –
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Since I received this 3 song CDr demo from Finland’s Ikuinen Kaamos an eternity ago, the band has gone on to be signed and released their debut full-length this past year, “The Forlorn” on Descent Productions. I’m afraid this happens a lot more than I care to admit around here… So many titles come in and get placed on the review rack, that some truly moving material slips through the cracks since there aren’t enough hours in the day to properly listen to everything. Better late than never I suppose! Ikuinen Kaamos compose highly melodic black metal that benefits from a full production and a member roster that is complete and all brimming with a distinct talent to bring to the band. This alone seems to be an oddity in the Finnish black metal scene. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a tireless fan of the underground BM movement in Finland, but most of those bands consist of 1 or 2 members each that do a lot of moonlighting in other underground 1 or 2 man bands. If you like the aesthetic, great, for there’s a lot of sameness to be had within the Finnish realm of black metal. Ikuinen Kaamos maintains a definite underground vibe, while offering their own strain of uniqueness and style. A clean blasting speed is at the foundation of each of these tracks where dueling guitar harmonies and melody soaked tremolo riffage hurl each track into a fit of endlessly memorable song ideas that I found sticking in my head after only a few listens. Add a discernable, yet higher register black metal rasp to the firestorm and you have a very well considered and impressive wealth of material. All this is missing is some tasteful soloing to further set Ikuinen Kaamos apart from their peers, but it seems that the band chose for the catchy nature within the riffs themselves to do all the talking. You can hear every drum/cymbal on the kit, distinct bass and guitar lines all feeding off of each other and congealing into a swarm of very potent Finnish blackness. Imagine a more underground, less polished and more Finnish sounding version Dawn (Swe) and you will have some idea what to expect here. I will be looking for a copy of the full-length for sure. – Marty
IKUINEN KAAMOS
http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ikuinenkaamos/index.htm
Ihsahn – The Adversary
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Having laid Peccatum to rest, Ihsahn has focused all his energy into creating a solo album that would encompass all the eras of his extreme metal history, into one vibrant, musically challenging and intense album. Where this will take the artist remains a mystery. Will looking back and writing from a nostalgic frame of mind find Ihsahn once again inspired to continue onward with this project? I for one am hopeful that he indeed carries on, for “The Adversary” is a very diverse album filled with colorful compositions and moments of ugly passion to offer a very inspired and memorable balance. First noteworthy point is how much Ihsahn’s vocals have improved on all fronts. From a crisp King Diamond influenced falsetto, to classically trained pitch singing, to his signature and venomous black metal scream, it’s all on display here and effortlessly accents whatever musical mood pours out of this album. Clean guitar lines straddle the fence between “Prometheus” era Emperor and this dark gothic take on classical and traditional metal that reveals some amazing guitar work (both in solos and bizarre melodies) and unique moments where this atmospheric, almost weeping moments of music divulge the sacrifice and passion the artist behind this material has put into his work. The layers on “The Adversary” seem infinite as guitar parts pile up into this discernable wall of impressive sound and virtuoso drum work (courtesy of Borknagar’s gifted Asgeir Mickelson), only for Ihsahn to also appreciate the power in simplicity as on the amazingly exciting track “Citizen” where a stripped down thrashy verse acts as the hook for the whole song and uncomplicated synth lines creep in to empower the overall atmosphere of this excellent track. Dynamics… This album is full of them, and even though Ihsahn’s music sounds like no other, the one fault of this album is that his use of dynamics tends to become somewhat predictable. If a song starts out aggressive, you can almost predict where the break off point will be where the intensity of the guitars is stripped away to fall into more traditional piano/string compositions and the aforementioned pitch singing before jumping back into the fray. Even though this is “The Adversary’s” main albatross, I still find this album to be very well written in spite of its flaws and have reached for this album time and again to discover something new and instantly likeable. If you thought that Emperor’s swansong, “Prometheus” was an amazing album, then “The Adversary” should blow away all of your expectations with its full/warm and engaging production, not to mention the endlessly interesting music found on display. This definitely ranks up there in the top 10 as best albums of 2006. -Marty
CANDLELIGHT
Hills of Sefiroth – Fly High the Hated Black Flag
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Completely ugly and abusive 1 man black metal. The guitar lines are polluted and non conventional, teetering on the brink of unskilled abandon or creative genius? The trick is trying to decide which shoe fits sole musical molester, Justin in his abrasive source of expression, Hills of Sefiroth. The drums mostly strike me as a non issue… they are there in the mix and keep time, but the guitar riffs almost seem improvised as they wander in and out of time as if lost upon a winding path into a schizophrenics deepest fever dream. The added distraction is the sharp, treble dominant guitar tone focusing on higher register riff ideas that really grate on your senses. I found tracks like “Torment Under Rust and Ruin” to be completely maddening as the guitars fall out of synch with the drums and back in the exact same way as the riff repeats, telling me this oddball style of creating black metal was indeed Justin’s complete intention. The outcome is beyond perplexing and aggravating to the senses, making this album a very destructive listening experience. I became intrigued as I found myself wanting to keep listening to see what happens next, yet my thoughts and musical soul was screaming for something less ominous and less eager to drag my mind across the coals. As I withstood the waves of caustic sonic impurity, when a “normal” riff would come into the picture, or even a brief acoustic interlude where the rhythm section and guitars would synch up, a wave of gratefulness would sweep over me before being deceived once again by septic black metal screams and torturous guitar lines that act like rusty knives jabbed beneath my finger nails. That’s it! Hills of Sefiroth actually got it right and created pure, cleanly produced black metal torture. Many brag about this sort of thing, yet fall short, but Justin nailed it all on “Fly High the Hated Black Flag”, from moments of powerful atmosphere, to full on, mind breaking musical torment. Not for the casual BM listener. – Marty
WRAITH PRODUCTIONS
Heresi – Psalm II
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Since the first two trips through this pounding and initially dimensionless CD divulged little more than skilled older Mayhem adoration, with a definite Swedish black metal sense of melody spinning through the foundation, Heresi’s “Psalm II” ended up being a definite grower for me. What grabbed me early on was the very warm overall production values and particular attention being paid to an actually roomy, full sounding drum kit. The heavier hits and firming up of an overall groove of the slower riffs really began to unlock “Psalm II” for me. Sole member Scamfer (once served in the legions of Ondskapt) handles everything in Heresi from the song writing to the instruments and this makes the album seem even more impressive to me. A very vibrant guitar tone possesses just enough grit and rattle in its 6 razor strings that the harmonies expressed in the blasting moments scream with sorrowful rage, only to crush the depression on the mid-paced riffs where one cannot deny the urge to become consumed by the weighty, head nodding hooks. As I became more familiar with the songs and really listened to the movement and Scamfer’s skilled attention to creating memorable black metal that sounds very familiar, yet stands out of the pack, I realized the main thing that initially inspired me to write Heresi off as uninspired, was Scamfer’s vocals. The mid-ranged rasp is in a register that I often prefer and he does possess a certain degree of his own style initially, but he rarely changes the inflection of his delivery, making a lot of the vocal lines feel interchangeable. If you can look past this one element, “Psalm II” is a rather short, though well-rounded and strangely atmospheric CD that will get a fair amount of listens out of you before it is permanently retired to the dusty “H” section of your CD rack along with Havohej and Helloween. -Marty
HYDRAHEAD RECORDS
Heinous Killings – Hung With Barbwire
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I find it amazing that there’s still a dug in fanbase for Midwest US, brutal death metal. Really… This shit feasted upon its own dead during the mid 90’s and like all cannibals, consuming your own kinds flesh does something to a person’s mental stability. It’s the same type of wacko creepiness found in inbred dogs (or humans for that matter). I used to have to wait on some of these people and you can sometimes just tell). Such fans of this scene go on to form their own bands… exhibit A: Heinous Killings takes everything previously and thoroughly masticated by the brutal US death metal scene and speeds it up. It’s too fast to worry about “fuckin’ sick” mosh breakdowns… rather HK took “Butchered at Birth”, sped up the riff ideas, hit play on the drum machine and ran selected vocal lines through computer effects for that cyber gore-monger on an acid trip. The riff ideas aren’t even that technical… just a lot of crunch fills and palm muted speed picking. “Hung With Barbwire” sounds thin and like a weekend death metal workshop project. Lifeless idolatry meets technology. Yawn. – Marty
UNMATCHED BRUTALITY
Amon – Interview
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Andrea Maruttii is responsible for the pillar of Black Ambient that is AMON. Grandiose, unearthly darkness, horrifying stillness and his strangely resonant minimalism have given AMON a vigor that transcends the Dark Ambient genre to become something almost super-natural. Beyond AMON Andrea is also responsible for the catacombal NEVER KNOWN whose environmental soundscapes sit securely among some of the genre’s very best. – Scott – (Taken From Worm Gear #9)
You have been involved in music for a long time in one way or another, what sort of material were you doing early on and how did it eventually evolve into what you’re doing now ?
I started with music some fifteen years ago, when I decided to set up a cover band with some schoolmates of mine. We used to play some metal or hard-rock stuff such as Deep Purple, AC/DC, Kiss and so on. I was the singer. Later I got tired of singing other people’s songs, and I began to write my own lyrics. Even if the line-up was changing again and again, I never missed a meeting. Then I left school and I lost the contacts with the other band members. Some years later I started attending a new school and I put together another band. We were into some kind of melodic rock with Italian lyrics. Keyboard lines were very important, and the keyboard player had a great influence on me. We played together for a long time and even if this took us nowhere, it was OK for me. We had a real good time and we are still good friends. In 1991 I got my first job and so I had money enough to buy a portable cassette recorder. This completely changed my way of thinking about music. For some weeks I searched the house for interesting sounds, and when nothing more was to be found, I stepped outside and kept searching and recording. Somehow I could tell you that I’m still searching today… only with different tools. Anyway, my Never Known project was born just from and with these early recordings. By the end of 1994 I bought some synths and when I could use them properly the Amon project was born.
Never Known was the first to evolve of the current projects, correct ? The foundation for this work is primarily environmental recordings from what I’ve read, what sorts of things do you look for when doing field recordings and how much are the sources manipulated once you start assembling them into tracks?
Never Known was my first project to take shape, and especially in the beginning, I used a lot of environmental recordings. This was mostly dictated by the fact that I didn’t have any true instruments then. So I recorded all those tapes with the portable recorder and then with another recorder equipped with a speed control I slowed them down or sped them up. I used to make two copies of the same tape and then with a third recorder and a small mixer I produced longer loops, but as the mixage was not perfect, they were very dynamic. Then I slowed them down again, or I used to overlap them, or again, I played the same sounds at different speeds. Sometimes when I needed more sound sources I also used a videotape recorder. All stuff like that… Nowadays I don’t use many environmental recordings in my tracks as I used to, but sometimes I still enjoy myself taking such recordings with a portable dat machine. Last summer I recorded some 2-3 hours of forest, waters and insects sounds and so on, but I still haven’t found out time to work on them. I will maybe use some of these recordings on the next Never Known CD. Anyway, now I prefer to synthesize sounds and sample things. It is a faster way of working, and you can’t even imagine how many hours I spent to put together my first Never Known tracks in 1992. Since 1994 I use a computer for sequencing tracks, but only this year I started to work with audio softwares. There’s a brand new world to explore!”
Never Known’s “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” is steeped in cavernous atmosphere, were you intentionally seeking that subterranean feel and if so what appeals to you about the world below the surface?
Yes, I agree with you when you describe the disc as “subterranean”. I have always been fascinated by caves, and I think that stalactites and stalagmites are real Earth wonders. Moreover, caves were the first shelter of prehistoric men… I don’t know, but when I enter a cave, it is like taking a big jump in the past. It makes me feel primitive and curious… And then when I was a child and people used to ask me “What would you like to do when you’re grown-up ?” well I used to answer “I will be an arcaeologist” or… a spelaeologist for sure!” And perhaps I was successful in some way or the other… Anyway, “Twilight’s last Gleaming” grew very spontaneously and all of the tracks were originally mixed together and recorded in the same order they were published. My only intentional act was to fluidify as much as possible the passage from one track to the other, in order to obtain a long sonic continuum. So that subterranean feeling has probably more to do with something that is hidden inside me and that sometimes re-appears on the surface, who knows?
The title “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” is taken from a William Burroughs book, how has literature impacted your work and who else beyond Burroughs has really affected you ?
Yes, the disc title is very very similar to the one of an early William S. Burroughs short story, but this story has nothing to do with the disc contents. These are strictly connected with the meaning of the words themselves: the sun is setting, the shades of evening invade the Earth and darkness is coming. Anyway, I often draw my inspiration from books, and Burroughs is one of my favourite writers. I like James G. Ballard too and his book “Concrete Island” is the one I like most. But I’m expected to talk about my influences here, and I can’t help mentioning Peter Kolosimo. Since my childhood I have been deeply fascinated by his space-archaeology books. His writing style is very simple and divulgative, and his books, written between the Sixties and the Seventies, when such topics were not so fashionable as now, aimed to relate ancient civilizations (i.e. the Egyptians) with people coming from outer space. Along with his forerunner Desiderius Papp, another writer dealing with the same topics, Peter Kolosimo is the real and constant influence behind my works as Amon and Never Known. I was lucky to find two of Papp books published in the Thirties. All the works he wrote are no longer on the market, and therefore are extremely rare to be found…
Amon is significantly more minimal than the Never Known material, what do you see as the effectiveness of minimalism over denser more animated compositions? And what sonic elements do you focus on when creating Amon tracks to flood them with such stirring energy despite the relative stillness of the tracks?
I think that Amon minimalism is just an appearance. I know how my tracks are put together, and I can tell you that both Amon and Never Known music is made of a similar number of parts. Sometimes in Amon tracks you can hear only a couple of sounds, but under the more exposed and easily distinguishable layers, there is something more: many sounds fusing themselves together creating that energy you talk about. For Never Known I use a larger palette of sounds, and when they are juxtaposed, you get the impression of something richer in content; while with Amon is more a matter of finding a particular flow which I don’t like to interrupt or disturb, except in a very few cases. Is quite difficult to explain how I create a track, because it doesn’t always happen in the same way… The most important thing is to find out a sonic continuum of great impact that can undergo a medium-long duration, so that I can create some miniatures and subdle micro-variations around it, and keep everything “in motion”, a “static movement”, paradoxically. The careful use of certain freaquencies is very important in the economy of the Amon sound too.
Is the minimalism something that you maintain when doing live shows or does the live atmosphere and adrenaline of the performance encourage more aggressive explorations?
Until today, in the few concerts I played here in Italy, I always performed tracks from my previous or forthcoming CD releases, adding parts that were not present on the original versions, or improvising on them. Sometimes I have mixed together parts taken from different tracks with interesting results. I like to play live very much, but I often encountered a great lack of respect for me and my instruments. For example, once I had a serious problem with the backing tape machine, and I had to improvise an harsher set with one single synthesizer. I am very satisfied about the way I faced the situation, but the public didn’t react much good… The tracks on the new Amon CD were born 90% from improvisations that I manipulated with my computer and effects, and they are absolutely not reproducible in a live situation, so I can’t easily predict the future of my live activities.
I read something from you saying that Amon was influenced in part by the theory that humans perhaps originated from aliens? Can you explain how the concept inspires your work, and what other ideological elements you incorporate into your projects?
Well, this is true in part, but I wouldn’t describe it as an “ideological element”, it has more to do with a personal interest that I drew from the books that I told you before. Let’s go back for a while to the Egyptians and to the other ancient civilizations all… There are still a lot of unanswered questions, i.e.: “How could the Egyptians manage to build the Pyramids ?”, or “What the hell is the ‘Palenque Astronaut’ doing ?” and “What about the Nazca Lines ? How was it possible to draw them ?” then magically we are in 1999 again, and unexplainable things still happen: Crop Circles. Who creates them ? And why ? For sure I have no answers to these questions, but maybe others do. Although I recognize that many people show an excessive enthusiasm when dealing with such topics, I can’t help thinking that somebody is hiding a very uncomfortable truth. However, in my opinion, humanity does not originate from aliens, but an external alien presence has always influenced the destiny of the Earth supplying us with knowledge and with technology. To show you the strong link between these theories and some of my music, it’s easier for me to give you an example: in one of the tracks on the new Amon CD (The Legacy II: Machinery) I imagined alien machineries are building the so called “Face on Mars”. I know that I may be seen as a visionary, or as a presumptuos, but if the “Face” is not a natural phenomenon, but an artificial construction, you can bet that was the sound that could be heard during its building… So we can say that my creative process goes more or less like this: I read/learn something, I imagine something else, the idea for the title/concept is born, I create a track with that in mind.
The new record “The Legacy” is due out shortly, and may even be out by the time this goes to press, how has the Amon sound developed from “El Khela” and the Drone 7″, and what does the title of the new record refer to?
I think that the new disc is different from my previous Amon CDs. It sounds harsher, and almost all the tracks were edited from longer improvisations. I didn’t use a lot of synthesized sounds this time, and I preferred to experiment with some of the possibilities offered by sampling. Finally, the tracks were massively treated with effects and PC editing. I also used some sounds I found on a Dat tape, and truly, I don’t know where they come from… I didn’t want the new disc to sound exactly like my previous releases, but only similar to them, and that’s why it took me a long time to release a new CD after “El Khela”. I hope I succeeded in re-creating the usual atmosphere in a different way and that no-one will be disappointed by “The Legacy”. Reactions are very positive at the moment! “The Legacy” mentioned in the title is strictly connected with some of the topics explained in my previous answer.
Let’s talk about the Egyptians: they left us impressive monuments, such as the Sphinx and the Pyramids… Well, in 1976 the Viking Orbiter 1 took many pictures of the Cydonia region on the planet Mars surface. Among the photos that NASA showed us, the most famous is the one showing the “Face on Mars”. This face looks very much like the Sphinx… and they also took pictures of some giant Pyramids near the Face ! I guess that some entities have intentionally builded these constructions to give us, and to other planets people, an evidence of their passage. This is what “The Legacy” means to me.
With a new Amon record finished will you be turning your attention back to Never Known, or are you looking to do something entirely different?
In addition to the new Amon album there will be soon two more limited edition releases (one on my label and one on Blade Records), and two exclusive tracks will appear on compilations in Italy (Octagon Records) and U.S.A. (Live Bait). Anyway, the next “official” release will be the new Never Known album: Mauro of Eibon Records cares a lot about my Never Known project too, and he will release for sure the new CD. At the moment only some tracks are ready, but I think I will finish the work in a short time. If the Amon sound got harsher with time, Never Known went in the opposite direction, and therefore the next CD could perhaps be “softer” than the previous one.
Aside from the music you also operate a small record label specializing in a lot of limited edition releases, what are some of the things you’ve done and what do you have upcoming with that? Do you want to eventually make it a full scale label or do you like just doing the limited releases?
Well, I make music also under other aliases, and this kind of production is not necessarily similar to Amon’s or Never Known’s. It is mainly dance and “easy” stuff, but this side is as important to me as my experimental one. Talking about my label, it all started because I wanted to supply with my music my best friends and people interested in my musical projects. I used to record 10-20 copies of each tape and to give them away as a present. So that the label name AFE (Another Friendly Edition) itself derives from this old habit of mine. Later, a lot of friends of mine started making electronic music too, and I have published their tapes, created their artworks and stuff like that. I enjoyed myself very much doing that sort of things. Anyway, these productions all, will be available on CD-R for anyone interested. It’s just a question of time: many of them are already available, and many others will be soon. Among the music I published, I mention the re-issues of the early Never Known tapes, all re-mastered and with the addition of many extra tracks, and the recording of the very first concert I played in Milan in April 1997. These re-issues are packaged in some hand-made cardboard digipacks and they look very professional. I’m very satisfied with them. I also published many CD-Rs of my other main project, Lips Vago. In the near future there will be a limited edition Amon CD-R with a very special package and an Amon / Never Known live VHS. At the moment I don’t want to expand this activity and become a full scale label, but I will keep on producing CDRs and stuff in limited edition and special package. … and about that: I am ready to begin a “LTD50” limited edition CD-Rs series, and if any electronic music makers out there (no matter what genre) want to be in, they can find more details on the AFE web site.
I guess that is about all I have I’m very much looking forward to the new record, is there anything else that you’d like to add?
I wish to thank you for the space you’re giving me in your magazine and for the sincere interest you’re showing towards my musical work. If anyone would like to get in touch with me, my e-mail address is the following:
andrea.marutti@tiscalinet.itFor any other detail or information about my musical activities:
http://web.tiscalinet.it/amon_never_known
For the complete AFE catalogue and the “LTD50” serie details:
http://web.tiscalinet.it/afeAMON
Via Villoresi 5
20143 Milano
Italy
Harvyst – Winter
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Michigan’s Harvyst are a technology driven band with some very adventurous ideas. Stylistically lurking somewhere between Godflesh, old Pitchshifter, Neurosis and the voice sampling of more mainstream bands such as NIN, the 3 tracks on “Winter” are found to be very dark sounding and infinitely layered into a pulsing force of electronic perversity. The guitar tone is completely unique, feeling very full, yet there is this high-end bite to it that sounds almost electronically manipulated. From pitch vocals to a deeper yelling style that fills the listener with the artists misery, the swirling deliveries intertwine and add to the 3 dimensional attack of this band. Unfortunately, it is amazing how bad the production is on this demo. Everything can be heard, but many of the vocal samples get lost in the muddy stew, as does the bass tone… especially on “Ergot…” there is so much going on at the climax of this excellent song, that an impenetrable audio muck is created to confuse exactly what is going on. “Mercury” is a more electronic based track that produces a nice vibe, before awkwardly switching off into a guitar line that sounds like a mistake rather than a natural flow of the song before settling back into the main idea. The title track is the perfect union between the electronics and guitars. More distinct riff ideas seep out of the digitally distorted wash (this is a CDR release) to sit perfectly among the once again layered vocal styles. After repeated listens, there is a definite musical excitement on display here that doesn’t fear combining several musical styles and their influences to come up with something new, impressive and challenging. I’m really looking forward to a professional recording of this and other material by Harvyst. With the right sound and proper backing, this band could be huge. – Marty
ACIDVICTIM RECORDS
Haemoth – Kontamination
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
“Haemoth support all that can contribute to the ruin of the human being, every form of vice, and don’t give a fuck to the means used to reach that point. Any form of vice, destruction and hate have to be preached. Haemoth encourages every act, physical or spiritual which could carry to the decline, blasphemy or pain. To become one with Him, The interior death is inevitable. The weak ones don’t have their place here. May they burn in hell…” Ah yes… good old rhetoric and broken English from black metal bands in their bios, tired and true. Having gazed upon France’s Haemoth’s mission statement before hitting “play”, I couldn’t help but think about how amazingly unoriginal such ideologies are, yet they remain so widely accepted in this genre. Sure… black metal may have stood for such proclamations ever since its explosive resurgence in the early 90’s, but I think that everyone is completely desensitized to the fantastical threats and often-hollow propaganda. Having said that and had a good chuckle after reading such uber serious tidings in the bio, I was off to the thorn fields of French black metal, eager to begin my journey to the musical place where “the interior death is inevitable…” Or whatever that means. “Kontamination” is modern day underground black metal formula 101. Nothing more. Nothing less. Featuring members of Spektr, this band looks to Norway for their dissonant, yet melodic grimness. The music strikes me as very singular, meaning there really isn’t any distinct layers in their music. Just a guitar, drums and bass… Typically all playing the same thing. The riffs though are in a style that I tend to enjoy, where the overall sound and density of the notes being played somehow swirl about to create this abstract form of melancholy. Haemoth takes this element a bit too far however, by pushing an already thick buzz in the guitars and draping what sounds like 1 track dedicated to static noise alone and mixed it into the whole of “Kontamination”. The sound is excessively fuzzy, but it doesn’t detract anything away from the broken glass gargled vokills and the listeners ability to hear all the instruments. In fact, one definite positive to this album is a loud and heavily distorted bass tone that fills in the gaps with a bit of character. You just don’t hear the bass much these days in black metal, so when it rears its gristled head, I tend to take notice and appreciate the effort put forth by the band. Aside from the lack of dimension in the music and an otherwise annoying fuzz in the production, “Kontamination” should appeal to fans of underground black metal since Haemoth do little to move their songwriting out of the unfaltering staples found in this genre for this, the bands 3rd album. -Marty
SOUTHERN LORD
Worm Gear 