An Avant-garde Black Metal album full of dark and complex compositions, highly recommended for all fans of heavy music.
If Black Metal itself is a genre that depends a lot on a strong atmosphere to succeed, that’s even more important for Symphonic Black Metal bands such as the very professional and technical independent band Diablery, who seem to master the art of creating dense atmospheric songs based on what you will find on their excellent debut album, entitled Architect. Are you a fan of heavy synths, desperate vocals and totally evil lyrics? If the answer is yes, this album is definitely what you’re seeking to feed your dark soul.
The music by this obscure band from Athens, Greece, which by the way is the country of many awesome bands like Rotting Christ, Firewind and Septicflesh, doesn’t have a single moment of simplicity or nonsense noises: all elements found in Architect, which was mixed and mastered at Toproom Studio in Norway by Børge Finstad (who has already worked with Mayhem, Enslaved, Borknagar, Theatre of Tragedy, among others), are perfectly connected by pleasant and deep melodies, and of course, an incredible somber feeling that is present throughout the whole album. Furthermore, nothing would have been possible without the above average skills of all band members, with highlights to the amazing synths and drums by Nazfell and Beleth, respectively.
Architect kicks off with Mysteria Aeterna, an eerie piano intro which prepares the listener for all the darkness to come, which indeed happens as soon as Architect of Manifestations starts: this is a very symphonic and melodic song, but at the same time 100% brutal, that I’m pretty sure most fans of Norwegian Symphonic Black Metal band Dimmu Borgir will enjoy. The same can be said about Embraced by the Theurgist, where you can feel the intensity in Diablery’s music and appreciate the excellent job done by Nazfell on synths, who adds many different layers to the song. Pay attention to it and you’ll notice this song presents so many variations it sounds like three or more songs in one.
Vanity of Darkness, one of the best songs of the whole album, has an intro that could easily be used as a movie score, followed by a powerful sonority and the awesome vocals full of despair by the talented singer and guitarist Setesh, while Magistris Inferiores is a shorter and more boisterous track that sounds a lot like some of the old songs by Dimmu Borgir. In addition, I must say Beleth is a beast on drums, and the keyboards at the end are very interesting and a good bridge for the next song, the superb Thus Made Perfect. The longest track of the album is a violent Black Metal tempest so professionally and beautifully done you won’t even remember we’re talking about an independent band, and when it’s over I’m sure you’ll play it again and again. One might ask if this song is part of a movie soundtrack, so mighty and complex it is.
The last part of the album begins with another good song called Seal Thy Mouths with Pillars of Azurite (I truly love how Black Metal bands name most of their songs), with its melancholic intro and an intense atmosphere, followed by the excellent mix of heavy riffs, strong synths and pounding drums found in Ichor Shrine Synagogue, and the more direct Black Metal from Blackness Enshrouds This Congregation, a very interesting song full of violent vocals and energetic drums. And finally, close your eyes and enjoy the “journey” through darkness offered by the band with the outro Horn of Amentet, one of the most interesting I’ve ever listened to. And I’m not even going to say much about the excellent album art: it emanates obscurity and malignancy, exactly like the music by Diablery does.
To sum up, Architect is not just one more Black Metal album, but a truly avant-garde collection of dark compositions where the main goal is to provide all fans of Heavy Metal, especially the more contemporary black metallers, a very creative and evil experience in heavy music. And if you really enjoyed the music by Diablery, you can support the band by purchasing Architect in digital format at their BandCamp official page, or a physical CD copy at their CreateSpace online merchstore.
Best moments of the album:Architect of Manifestations, Vanity of Darkness and Thus Made Perfect.
Worst moments of the album:Seal Thy Mouths with Pillars of Azurite.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. Mysteria Aeterna (Intro) 1:47
2. Architect of Manifestations 6:05
3. Embraced by the Theurgist 6:28
4. Vanity of Darkness 6:37
5. Magistris Inferiores 4:17
6. Thus Made Perfect 9:31
7. Seal Thy Mouths with Pillars of Azurite 6:08
8. Ichor Shrine Synagogue 5:08
9. Blackness Enshrouds This Congregation 4:59
10. Horn of Amentet (Outro) 7:25
Band members Setesh – vocals, guitar
Nimerius – guitar
Nazfell – synths
Desaster – bass
Beleth – drums
Death Metal from Sweden has never been so amazingly tormenting.
While some bands are on a mission to bring love and peace to our hearts, others were simply born to torment our souls with their dark and obscure music. That’s exactly the case with Swedish Death Metal band Vanhelgd, who have just released their third full-length album, the furious Relics Of Sulphur Salvation. And believe me, this Mjölby-based band reached such a bestial musicality in this album that they make all Melodic Death Metal bands from Sweden sound like Babymetal.
Recorded back in November 2013 at Studio Underjord and mastered in Necromorbus Studio, Relics Of Sulphur Salvation is a lesson in old school Swedish Death Metal. Let’s say there aren’t many music variations or creative breaks throughout the entire album, but the band’s powerful performance and the intensity found in each song will prevent the listener from getting tired after a while. Quite the opposite, it will be hard for you to not remain totally excited from start to finish.
To begin with, Vanhelgd couldn’t have chosen a better way to open the album: the strong and evil sonority found in Dödens Maskätna Anlete, with its devilish vocals, awesome riffs in the background and the addition of many Black Metal elements (moving its musicality closer to what’s known as Blackened Death Metal) is 100% effective in informing the listener this album is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Then we have the good The Salt in My Hands, which is even heavier due to its fast beats and a very raw instrumental; the extremely dark Where All Flesh is Soil, where it’s impossible not to love its obscure intro, Black Metal riffs and captivating rhythm; and Ett Liv I Träldom, another good song, albeit not as powerful as the previous ones, with a good chorus anyway.
The sickness continues with another very traditional track “beautifully” named May the Worms Have Mercy on My Flesh, showcasing an excellent performance by drummer Björn Andersson and vocalist/guitarist Matttias Frisk, with highlights to the cool “slowdown” at the end of the song. And if you still think this album is not that heavy, simply listen to the title-track, Relics of Sulphur Salvation, the most demonic of all songs that will disturb the ears and minds of the less courageous for sure with its totally boisterous riffs, harsh vocals and thrilling chorus.
Lastly, Vanhelgd offer us another sonic massacre, Sirens of Lampedusa, one of the fastest songs of all with desperate vocals, drummer Björn Andersson truly on fire and a very melancholic ending. I’m pretty sure after 2 minutes or even less you’ll already feel tormented, in a good way of course, but in case you consider yourself a tough person you’ll have to face one last song, the fast and direct Cure Us from Life, full of Thrash Metal elements, which will surely leave you eager for more of Vanhelgd’s dark and evil music.
Even the album art, designed by Mattias Frisk himself, is very old school and represents what the band’s musicality is pretty well. In conclusion, if you’re a fan of that primeval Swedish Death Metal that conquered the world many years ago, Relics Of Sulphur Salvation (which is already available in different formats at Pulverised Records, 20 Buck Spin and Ljudkassett) is an awesome choice for you to go absolutely crazy and bang your head nonstop. As I mentioned before, their Death Metal was created to torment your life the best way you can imagine.
Best moments of the album:Where All Flesh is Soil, Relics of Sulphur Salvation and Sirens of Lampedusa.
Worst moments of the album:Ett Liv I Träldom.
Released in 2014 Pulverised Records/20 Buck Spin
Track listing 1. Dödens Maskätna Anlete 5:43
2. The Salt in My Hands 4:25
3. Where All Flesh is Soil 4:22
4. Ett Liv I Träldom 6:07
5. May the Worms Have Mercy on My Flesh 5:24
6. Relics of Sulphur Salvation 5:23
7. Sirens of Lampedusa 6:21
8. Cure Us from Life 3:21
Band members Mattias Frisk – vocals, guitar
Jimmy Johansson – guitar, vocals
Jonas Albrektsson – bass
Björn Andersson – drums
Insomnium provide us high quality Melodic Death Metal just the way we like it, directly from the land of ice and snow.
After the huge disappointments from Ahola and Sonata Arctica this year, we’re finally able to enjoy some decent Finnish Heavy Metal with the album Shadows Of The Dying Sun, from Melodic Death Metal band Insomnium. Although this is the sixth full-length album from this Joensuu-based dark and gothic band formed in 1997, it’s only the first with guitarist Markus Vanhala (Omnium Gatherum), and the final result is so professional and enjoyable that it might soon be considered by fans the best so far in the band’s career.
Their lyrical themes may not be the happiest in the world, as Insomnium usually sings about pain, loss, darkness, and especially how we cannot beat time, which in the end is the main connector of all those elements, but that doesn’t make their music less exciting. Quite the contrary, when a band is capable of awakening inside us a feeling that time is passing by and that we should do something about our lives, in other words, when a band makes us THINK about our lives, that’s when their music deserves to be listened, shared and truly appreciated.
One of the most interesting characteristics in Shadows Of The Dying Sun is that it’s not only Melodic Death Metal, but a substantial mix of other genres such as Doom, Black and even Folk Metal, which can be noticed since the very beginning of The Primeval Dark, with its enticing atmospheric instrumental, heavy riffs and deep vocals, working like an “intro” to one of the highlights of the album, the 6-minute melodic masterpiece While We Sleep, an awesome track with clean and guttural vocals blending really well, intense lyrics (“When all you ever wish for is to go back once more / When all you ever wish is to open that cage and long / When all you feel is remorse, pain and regret / When you brought on curse unable to move on?”) and a stunning riff in the background that gives the song an even more melodic sonority. Not only that, the smooth passage together with a nice guitar solo after 4 minutes until the end of the song is great, and don’t forget to check its superb official music video at the end of this review.
And that was only the beginning of the album, which goes on with Revelation, a song that constantly varies from raw to more melodic Death Metal and back again, with the instrumental always being very clean despite the heaviness of the music; and Black Heart Rebellion, a very melancholic and brutal track where drummer Markus Hirvonen abuses his double bass. The guitar duo and riffs are also amazing, and add to that some thoughtful lyrics and Niilo Sevänen’s above-the-average performance, and you have another memorable moment in the album.
Lose To Night is a more gothic song with some Paradise Lost-ish elements, moving it closer to Doom Metal rather than the band’s traditional Death Metal, while Collapsing Words brings the album back to a heavier sonority, again with awesome vocals by Niilo. These two songs are followed by The River, which has many elements from Black Metal (especially drums and riffs), with highlights to the semi-acoustic and very melodic ending; and the more commercial (but not less pleasant) single Ephemeral, with its amazing lyrics (“Darkness is ignorance / Knowledge is light / Fight only with yourself / Or the shadows of the night”) and a totally catchy chorus. Unless you have a very good reason for hating Insomnium, there’s no way you won’t get addicted to this song.
Finally, in order to end the album in a high note, the band offers us the beautiful ballad The Promethean Song, where the guitar riff works perfectly with the acoustic guitar, and Shadows Of The Dying Sun, with a dark bass tune to start it in an excellent way, a great chorus, and more powerful bass lines by Niilo along the whole song. Furthermore, if you’re a fan of the band, don’t miss the special limited digipak edition of Shadows Of The Dying Sun, which includes a bonus CD with four bonus tracks.
And was the album art inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s classic The Birds, or by the zombie birds from Resident Evil? Anyway, although it can be relatively simple to our eyes, it’s darkly delightful and very effective in translating into images all the musicality in the album. In short, this is the high quality Heavy Metal we always expect from any band that comes from the cold and marvelous Finland, and as previously mentioned the intensity the band puts in their music and lyrics is commendable, elevating them to the status of one of the best active Finnish bands today.
Best moments of the album:While We Sleep, Black Heart Rebellion, Collapsing Words and Ephemeral.
Worst moments of the album:Revelation and The River.
Released in 2014 Century Media Records
Track listing 1. The Primeval Dark 3:16
2. While We Sleep 6:20
3. Revelation 5:15
4. Black Heart Rebellion 7:03
5. Lose To Night 4:56
6. Collapsing Words 4:38
7. The River 7:57
8. Ephemeral 4:01
9. The Promethean Song 6:41
10. Shadows Of The Dying Sun 6:32
Limited Digipak bonus tracks 11. Out to the Sea 5:17
12. The Emergence 1:46
13. The Swarm 2:54
14. The Descent 3:11
Band members Niilo Sevänen − vocals, bass
Ville Friman − backing vocals, guitar
Markus Vanhala − guitar
Markus Hirvonen − drums
An atmospheric music experiment full of melancholy and Chinese elements.
Looking for a complete different experience in the world of heavy music? If so, I suggest you “travel” further east and listen to the debut-album from Chinese Atmospheric Black Metal band Deep Mountains, or 深山 in their own language, the lugubrious and intense Lake Of Solace(or 忘忧湖) . I must warn you the music from this band formed in 2009 in the city of Tai’an, in the Shandong Province, is not easy to absorb: there are no fast songs, no shredding, almost no solos, and in many moments it doesn’t even sound Black Metal. But again, as I said it’s a totally distinct music adventure from the traditional bands we know, and if you take that “risk” you might be very pleased in the end.
What I’m going to say may not make a lot of sense, mainly because the comparison I’m going to make is not exactly a comparison, but before listening to Lake Of Solace I felt almost the same as when one of my Chinese friends told me to watch two great Chinese movies, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. I was really skeptic about those movies, in other words, how could they be better than many Hollywood blockbusters as he said? Give me a break, a good Chinese movie? Well, they’re definitely not the best movies in the world, but really well-done and above the average, and after watching them I realized how stupid my prejudgement was. And the same is valid for this album.
Throughout the whole album, it’s easy to notice the band’s use (and abuse) of Nature and Chinese Culture as their main themes, which already starts with 引子 Intro. I love those intros that connect with the history and culture of the band’s homeland, and in this case all the Chinese elements, especially the soothing sound of the water from the “lake of solace”, work like a spiritual prep for what’s next, the very atmospheric song 毀滅 Sin, with its deep vocals giving us a feeling of agony while the beautiful acoustic parts provide us some peace of mind.
九黎之舞 Wind And Stellar, with its nice guitars in the beginning, is a more acoustic track that turns into more traditional Atmospheric Black Metal with devilish vocals, while 超脫 Detachment, which starts with a very engaging narration (“To deliberate believe in lies…”) talking about how humans should be to be accepted by society (as they say it’s a “Marketing Holocaust”), has a pleasant instrumental and, although it’s a very melancholic and depressive song, will hold your attention from start to finish. It’s the best song of the album, and would also be the perfect choice for a very in-depth music video.
Then we have a two part song with some highs and lows: 忘憂湖 壹 Lake Of Solace Pt.1 is an instrumental track totally focused on the sound of an acoustic guitar and some nature elements, and I’m not sure if this can even be considered Black Metal at all; and 忘憂湖 贰 Lake Of Solace Pt. 2, which begins in a similar way as the first part but with a more metallic sonority and some “vocals of despair” again, is a very sad song, complemented by an interesting guitar solo and clean vocals.
Lake Of Solace ends with the atmospheric ballad 渿河謠 Ballad Of Nai River, a beautiful composition that sounds a lot like traditional Chinese music, full of nature elements and smooth female vocals, and the peaceful instrumental outro 李鳳華 Li Fenghua, the shortest track of the album. And that’s it! Do not expect any epic songs or other Heavy Metal clichés, as the objective in Lake Of Solace is to be more atmospheric than Black Metal, which ends up working pretty well.
The instrumental is quite fundamental and the vocals are always more desperate than tuneful, but that’s not an issue for the purpose of the music here. Add to that the beautiful album art, and you have a sincere and captivating music experimentation from this honest and fresh East Asian music group.
Best moments of the album:毀滅 Sin, 超脫 Detachment and 渿河謠 Ballad Of Nai River.
Worst moments of the album:九黎之舞 Wind And Stellar and 李鳳華 Li Fenghua.
Released in 2014 Pest Productions
Track listing 1. 引子 Intro 3:09
2. 毀滅 Sin 4:11
3. 九黎之舞 Wind And Stellar 5:58
4. 超脫 Detachment 8:24
5. 忘憂湖 壹 Lake Of Solace Pt.1 7:36
6. 忘憂湖 贰 Lake Of Solace Pt. 2 7:41
7. 渿河謠 Ballad Of Nai River 3:36
8. 李鳳華 Li Fenghua 2:58
Band members Liu Qiang – vocals, guitars
Song Chen – guitars
Chen Xiao – bass
Zou Qiang – drums
If you’re a fan of extreme music, you should definitely take a listen to the excellent new album from this East Slavic Melodic Black Metal band.
I’ve never had to use Google and Google Translator so much in my life to try to understand what a band wants to say in their music as I had now with Ukrainian Melodic Black Metal band Dub Buk and their new album, the violent Цвях. Even with the help of Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s creations, it was still pretty tough to get the whole message (if you’re Ukrainian, please correct any stupid mistake that I might have made with the translations below), but the high quality of their music outshines that language barrier and makes listening the entire album a very pleasant and, of course, boisterous experience.
Цвях, which according to Google is pronounced “Tsvyakh” and means “Nail” in English (and it makes sense, as per the bloody nail in the album art), is in my opinion the most professional and polished release from this Kharkiv-based band formed in 1997. And before you ask, that doesn’t weaken the brutality in any of the songs presented in the album: quite the contrary, the high end production allowed the band to better display their technique and enhanced the sonority of all instruments.
The first track of the album is called Всуе (Vsue, or “Vain” in English), and it’s a fuckin’ awesome massacre. The astonishing level of violence in this song pumped me up to listen to the rest of the album and check if all songs could keep up with the same excellent instrumental, especially drums and riffs, and the totally demonic vocals. Fortunately for my total delectation the following track, Галиматья Блаженных (Halymat’ya Blazhennykh, or “Blessed Nonsense”) is Black Metal at its finest, with a very nice groove and an excellent guitar solo, testifying the band’s capacity.
Then we have Бунт 917 (Bunt 917, or “Riot 917”), another track that corroborates these guys are nonstop machines, with great vocals (although I don’t understand a word he’s saying) and a drummer that is a total beast; Дохлый Живьём (Dokhlyy Zhyv’ëm, or “Dead Alive”), the longest track of the album, which starts with an awesome scream and has riffs with some hints of more modern Slayer; and the also violent but not so good Ислам (Yslam, or “Islam”). I’m almost sure they’re not saying good things about Islam in this song, but again, I really don’t care and prefer focusing on the music here.
Свиное Ухо (Svynoe Ukho, or “Pork Ear”) is another highlight of the album, with a narrated intro in Ukranian, Slayer-ish riffs and guitar solo, a goddamn heavy passage at around 2 minutes, and disturbing pig sounds at the end. In other words, a complete Black Metal extravaganza, followed by А-Человек (A-Chelovek, or “A-Man”), an average song with a slower rhythm that falls flat after a while.
Closing the album we have the sonic massacre Копоть (Kopot’, or “Soot”), with more awesome riffs, some beautiful female vocals, a drummer completely on fire, and I have to say I really enjoyed all the breaks and variations in this song especially after the third minute; and the only song entirely in English in the album,Execute Them All, a very professional cover version for one of the songs from Swedish Death Metal icons Unleashed, with highlight to the deeper guttural used in this track.
As I mentioned above, I tried to understand parts of the lyrics just to see what type of message Dub Buk tries to send to their fans. I know they usually sing about anti-judeochristianity, paganism and other controversial themes, and although I do not agree nor disagree with their beliefs, that didn’t stop me from enjoying some very good quality extreme music. Furthermore, I recommend taking a look at this album, which can be purchased at the EastHate website. If you love Black Metal, you won’t regret buying it by any means.
Best moments of the album:Всуе, Дохлый Живьём, Свиное Ухо and Копоть.
Band members I.Z.V.E.R.G. (И. З. В. Е. Р. Г.) – bass, vocals
Vsesvit (Всесвит) – drums
Istukan (Истукан) – guitars
Cwietuszczaja Knjazna (Цветущая Княжна) – keyboards
Gothic, Black and especially Doom Metal as grandiose as they can be.
One of the most expected albums of 2014 from one of today’s darkest and heaviest bands has finally arrived: Melana Chasmata, or Μελανά Χασματα (in the Greek alphabet), which can be translated as “black, deep depressions”, from Swiss Gothic/Doom Metal band Triptykon, has everything it takes to be one of the most acclaimed albums of the year, and undoubtedly the best in terms of extreme music.
This Zurich-based Doom Metal “dream team” founded by Heavy Metal icon Tom G. Warrior (Hellhammer, Celtic Frost) is as cohesive and effective as possible, and of course, totally wicked. There isn’t a single song on this album that can be considered filler or commercial: quite the contrary, Triptykon offer us a masterpiece of darkness, with lots of melancholy, pain and hopelessness, perfect for people who hate all those disposable pop songs made for that annoying and fake sense of “collective joy”.
Tom & Co. open the album with a pure Black Metal track called Tree Of Suffocating Souls, with a fuckin’ heavy instrumental, especially bass and drums, which sound simply amazing together. Moreover, the lyrics are also very intelligent and controversial, making the whole song even better. And what can I say about the Gothic/Doom Metal work-of-art Boleskine House? Its low resonant bass and the female vocals give me the shivers, and make me want to literally feel this song at a Triptykon concert. It’s a flawless brilliant composition, the best song of the album, and the lyrics are those things we feel grateful for being able to enjoy (“Your eyes that once / Have gazed the waves / Have long been closed / Become enslaved / Within these walls”).
Altar Of Deceit continues with the greatness in Melana Chasmata with its dark intro, Tony Iommi-ish demonic riffs, desperate vocals, and a very nice solo at the end, while Breathing, another extremely dark track with a depressive and at the same time beautiful intro, suddenly accelerates to an awesome mix of Death and Black Metal and ends in a very good “old school Slayer” way. What else do we need in a song, right?
The following two tracks are the epitome of evil: Aurorae is a dreary song, tailored for people who enjoy “suffering” alone while savoring the most obscure tunes a band can produce, and its guitar solo gives it an extra touch of fineness; and Demon Pact sounds like if its riffs, vocals, drums, bass and everything else were actually recorded in hell. Based on the name of the song I wasn’t expecting anything less evil, making it one of my favorite tracks by far.
In The Sleep Of Death, a very atmospheric and eerie low-paced song, has some more desperate vocals, followed by the longest track of the album, Black Snow, a lesson in Doom Metal with over 12 minutes of obscurity and awesomeness. Tom proves here he’s the beast incarnate, and it’s impossible not to scream together with him “Black snow! Black snow!”. And to close this stunning album in a majestic way, we have Waiting, with its delicate rhythm and mesmerizing female vocals. It’s a very gothic and beautiful song, and I’m sure lots of fans will consider it one of the highlights of the whole album.
The album art, once again created by Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger, who has already worked with music icons such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Carcass, Celtic Frost and Danzig, perfectly represents all the density in the music in Melana Chasmata. Besides that, one thing I need to say is that, although all musicians are amazing and Tom G. Warrior is a genius, the badass bass lines are my favorite part of all songs. Vanja Slajh is a Doom Metal Goddess, no doubt about that.
Tom always says that only Death is real. However, he forgot to say the same about his band Triptykon, and now about Melana Chasmata, an album we’re more than glad it’s a reality. Eparistera Daimones was already a great album, but this time Triptykon took Doom Metal to such a level of grandiosity it’s hard to find words to describe it. When music is able to reach our souls like what’s found in Melana Chasmata, we know there’s something special about it. And if Triptykon go to your town for a live performance, don’t miss it by any chance: it’s going to be a unique and thrilling experience that very few bands can provide you nowadays.
Best moments of the album:Boleskine House, Breathing, Aurorae, Demon Pact and Black Snow. As a matter of fact, I should say that the whole album is amazing.
Worst moments of the album: It’s difficult to find a weak song in Melana Chasmata, but if I really had to choose one I would say In The Sleep Of Death.
Released in 2014 Prowling Death Records/Century Media Records
Track listing 1. Tree Of Suffocating Souls 7:55
2. Boleskine House 7:12
3. Altar Of Deceit 7:32
4. Breathing 5:50
5. Aurorae 6:17
6. Demon Pact 6:07
7. In The Sleep Of Death 8:10
8. Black Snow 12:24
9. Waiting 5:55
Band members Tom G. Warrior – guitar, vocals
V. Santura – guitar, vocals
Vanja Slajh – bass, vocals
Norman Lonhard – drums, percussion
The music from Down Under has never been so obscure and devilish.
It’s time to visit our friends from Down Under in search for some well-executed heavy music. However, this time our focus is not the traditional Hard Rock from AC/DC or Airbourne, but the extreme music from Australian Black/Death Metal band Cauldron Black Ram and their new album, the 100% evil Stalagmire.
The band has been on the road for quite a while, more specifically since 1996, having already released a couple of demos and full-length albums, but of course due to their raw, unpolished and gruesome musicality, it was pretty hard for them to reach a bigger and more diversified audience in the past. At least the Internet has evolved a lot in the past few years and nowadays even headbangers from the other side of the world (like here in Canada) are able to enjoy the music from bands like this obscure Australian crew.
The opening track is a very good sample of what Cauldron Black Ram are capable of doing: Fork Through Pitch is a diabolic mix of Death and Doom Metal, with traditional instrumental and harsh vocals that will please all fans of extreme music, especially because of the band’s previously mentioned rough production. The following track, Maw, goes on with the obscurity with its melancholic intro, good old-style riffs and vocals even more devilish than the previous song, while Discarded Death is a more Black Metal tune, where the good pace of drums and the deeper growling make it pure evil.
A Litany of Sailors Sins is a really slow-paced and dark tune, sometimes so macabre and heavy that I think people who are not really into Death and Black Metal will feel bad after listening to it. Well, that’s one of the main objectives of this type of music, right? Anyway, the nice guitar solo mixed with fast drumming by the end of the song gives it an extra dose of energy, which ends up preparing us for Bats, the fastest track of the album, full of awesome screaming and twisted riffs heavier than hell, and in my humble opinion one of the best songs of Stalagmire.
Cavern Fever is pretty decent instrumental track similar to Cannibal Corpse’s “Relentless Beating”, showcasing the talent of the musicians, while From Whence the Old Skull Came should be chosen as the perfect soundtrack to apocalypse: it might have a very simple and repetitive riff, but it’s at the same time extremely effective in sending the message desired by the band.
Finally, we have another extremely rudimentary track, The Devil’s Trotters, which not only sounds like the Devil himself is singing in it, but it also has some excellent rude bass lines that make it stand out from all other tracks of the album; and the obscure Speliogenesis, a song that could easily summarize pain, agony, sadness and despair in music if someone asked you to do that. Moreover, its pure Doom Metal vocals and extremely dense riffs help closing the album in the most demonic way possible.
The album art is as primitive as their music, and besides that, one interesting characteristic I could notice in their music was the addition of many elements from Stoner Metal the likes of Down and Crowbar, and even some hints of the Doom Metal played by Danzig and Black Sabbath, which in the end is undoubtedly healthful for the band and its future in heavy music.
In short, if you enjoy “evil” music, Stalagmire is a very good option to invest your hard-earned money, which can be done at the 20 Buck Spin official webshop (both the CD and the LP versions of the album are available there) or you can stream it and download it at the 20 Buck Spin Bandcamp page.
Best moments of the album:Fork Through Pitch, Bats and The Devil’s Trotters.
Worst moments of the album:Maw and Discarded Death.
Released in 2014 20 Buck Spin
Track listing 1. Fork Through Pitch 3:19
2. Maw 3:20
3. Discarded Death 4:07
4. A Litany of Sailors Sins 4:16
5. Bats 3:37
6. Cavern Fever 2:35
7. From Whence the Old Skull Came 3:13
8. The Devil’s Trotters 4:13
9. Speliogenesis 4:23
Band members Esh – drums, vocals
Alim – guitar, vocals
Ben Newsome – vocals, bass
Excellent drummer (and a great guy too!) Geir Arne “The Cannon” Dale talks to The Headbanging Moose about the history of his Hard Rock band Humbucker, their excellent new album King of the World, the music scene in Norway, his “dream tour”, his favorite Canadian bands, among some other cool stuff. And, of course, he answers the mysterious question “Who is Dirty Nelly?”
The Headbanging Moose: Let’s start with some details about the history of Humbucker: although the band was created back in 1998, it was only in 2012 with your debut album R.O.C.K.S that Humbucker really became alive. In addition to that, your official website states that “In 2000 the band had five original songs and made a demo that did not do any good for the band. In 2002, due to difficulties combining their day jobs with the rocking, the band called it a day and took a “vacation” that lasted until 2010!” What exactly happened with you guys? And why was that 2000 demo so harmful for the band?
Geir Arne Dale: Well, the demo wasn’t directly harmful for the band, but it was what it was. We didn’t have a singer back then for starters. Three of us shared the vocal duties and let’s face it: We’re better musicians than singers so the demo was made more for ourselves than to make something happen for us. But you know, we believed even back then in our stuff so we shipped it around a bit. Most of the record companies didn’t even answer us. And the few that did were very short in their description of the project’s future: “No!” 🙂
Back then we were only in it for fun, and in 2002 we thought a vacation would do us good as some of us changed day jobs and all of a sudden had to leave for weeks at a time so it became difficult to get the rehearsal routines going as they should. We also was, let’s say, a bit tired of each other I think after heavy partying for four years. We didn’t take it too serious back then. The focus was all wrong. We were all like Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Taking all the fun right there and then, not caring about the future, so a break was needed. After eight years, in 2010 we started again to see if it still worked. It certainly did and after getting new singer Jan Boen in, we decided in 2012 we had everything we needed to make a record. The before mentioned five songs from 2000 were re-recorded and ended up all on the first album R.O.C.K.S, so something good came out of the old days eventually! The response from that album was mind-blowing and that gave us a reason to do another one as we have just done. Who would have thought that back in ‘02! 🙂
THM: The beautiful country of Norway is renowned for its many Black Metal bands, such as Mayhem, Burzum, Gorgoroth, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon and many others that pretty much helped define that music genre. How was it to grow up as a Hard Rocker in an essentially Black Metal country, and how difficult it is for any Hard Rock band to succeed there?
GAD: WOW! You’ve done your homework Sir! You know the black metal guys did their music and we did ours. It wasn’t hard at all cause in the eighties the melodic hard rock scene was just as big in Norway, if not bigger, and the two genres didn’t do too much together. The black metal bands from Norway have really set their marks on the world. They’ve done a great job for themselves for sure. And all these bands have created more interest for Norwegian rock in general too, so it’s all a good thing and I think everyone that does any kind of Norwegian rock owe these guys a big thank you. They’ve been excellent promoters for all of us.
THM: As mentioned in our album review, King of the World is a truly kickass Hard Rock album. How was the whole creative process for the album? What worked well, and what ideas did you guys have to give up because you felt they were not good enough?
GAD: The writing process was very relaxed as we wrote the songs in between gigs during last part of 2012 and during 2013. We were finished with the last song just a few weeks before we went into studio to start the album. Like I said before, we thought we would only make one album so we didn’t rush anything. We wrote the new songs just as much to widen our live set. When it was clear that we wanted to do a second album, we were almost there with the songs. We recorded drums and bass in our nearest town called Notodden with acclaimed engineer Njal Frode Lie. Then we moved the operation to Trondheim. That’s why we did the drums and bass in Notodden so we didn’t have to drag the drums to Trondheim which is pretty far from where we live. We met up with one of Norway’s most decorated producers, Mr. Hallgeir Rustan. From a small country like Norway, he has produced albums that have sold worldwide some 25 million copies all together and he’s also produced over 40 Top-10 hits in the UK so he knows what he’s doing. I went to school with him in 86/87 and we’ve kept in touch from time to time since then. We all had a great time in the studio except Lars Stian, the bass player, who did his part in Notodden and had to stay home to perform his day job during the time we were in Trondheim. The atmosphere was great with lots of jokes being thrown around. Hallgeir has an incredible know-how when it comes to arranging songs and he did an amazing job for us. He’s the one who founded Stargate you know so he’s a guy who knows his business. When his two partners decided to move to the USA, he stayed home and is doing his thing from there. We can’t thank him enough for the job he did for us and co-producing with him is one of the nicest experiences I’ve had in years! I really hope we get to do it again ‘cause I think we then would be able to develop our music and sound further.
We’ll see… no one knows what the future brings, but I don’t see us do another album without Hallgeir… With Hallgeir to produce and engineer, Beau Hill to mix and master, Mr. Cordelières on the artwork and Hugh Gilmour to design the package and put everything together, we really feel we have found ourselves a “Dream Team” here! I can’t remember a thing that really didn’t work well actually. We had a great time working with this album and it was all a joy.
THM: This question might sound silly, but one of the best songs of the album, Dirty Nelly, seems to be inspired by some special girl. Who’s she? What’s the story behind that song?
GAD: Hahaha! Well, it’s a cool question cause it could very well be for real but I’m very happy to say it’s not!:-) I wrote that song so I can tell you it’s all pure fiction. I’ve never, thank GOD, experienced a girl like that. At least not that I can remember…and I think I would have! BUT: There’s probably thousands of “Dirty Nellys” out there and guys who wonder what their baby’s up when she comes home with the morning light with her boots in her hands so who knows…maybe someone will recognize the situation…:-) Thank you for liking the song. I appreciate that. It’s one of my favorites on the album too!
THM: How about your tour plans to promote the new album? Are you playing only in Norway, or are there already any dates being scheduled for other European countries and even other parts of the world, like North America?
GAD: We are going to tour Norway as much as we can this year. You know, it’s easiest for us as we’re here. But in September we plan to embark on a month and a half tour in Europe. We would most certainly love to tour North America if we could! We have a lot of favorites from that part of the world: Coney Hatch, Triumph, Loverboy, Rush…you guys have produced some serious rock bands during the years so we’ll do it if we can. Only trouble is that it’s so damn expensive you know, so we will have to see how the new album does for a starter and take it from there. But who knows? We would love to shake hands with you at a show one day Sir!:-)
THM: What would be Humbucker’s “dream tour”, I mean, which bands would you just love to go on tour together, and why?
GAD: That’s a great question and a very tricky one to answer actually…there’s so many…but if I have to mention one band, I think maybe a tour with Whitesnake would be great for us. Mainly because of the audience. I think the audience would have picked up on us a bit too as both bands represents the same time period in music style. I think a lot of their fans would have like our stuff too, so some gigs with them would have done us real good…
THM: When Humbucker started in 1998, Hard Rock was still really big on the radio and TV, fans loved buying the albums of their favorite bands, and there were no such thing as illegal downloads, so it was basically a paradise for any new Hard Rock bands and an easier path to success. On the other hand, nowadays any new or independent band has to work their asses off to get some recognition, and even so no monetary return is guaranteed. How do you see this evolution of music and media, and how does it impact what Humbucker are doing or plan to do in the future?
Album Review – Humbucker / King of the World (2014)
GAD: It’s really hard to say what will happen. All I know is that if people keep wanting music without paying for it, I think the music scene will be very boring in a few years. When all the old heroes and arena bands are gone, few can take over cause they will never get there ‘cause of devastating income. It costs a lot to keep a band alive and if you don’t get a radio hit or something on TV, it’s very hard to make it to arena-level just by touring. I think that if we want new arena bands to continue we just have to pay for their music, simple as that.
But the world moves on you know so we have to adapt in a way. I’m just not sure that we will ever have the time we had in the eighties and early nineties again. We probably never will, but one can only carry on as long as possible and hope something “happens”… My only advice to people would be: Buy the music! Everyone can afford it so why not? Music business today with all the piracy and streaming is like asking a carpenter to build you a new dog house for your Shetland Sheepdog…after putting a lot of work into it, after he’s made an awesome place for your dog, you don’t want to pay him for his work? I just don’t get that…..
Our mixer/masterer Beau Hill in the US said that if we had released this music in the eighties, we would have been instant worldwide dominators. Today that’s not possible. That says a lot…
THM: The album art from King of the World is awesome and couldn’t be more Hard Rock than that. Why and how did you choose Ludovic Cordelières of Rusalka Design for designing the front cover, and how much did the band influence on his process of generating it?
GAD: Thank you very much for those nice words! I appreciate you bringing that up because Mr. Cordelières most certainly deserves it! If you want to see how he made it, and other amazing artworks of his, please visit his website at www.rusalkadesign.com. For an album called “King Of The World”, I don’t think anyone could have made a better cover! It’s just the perfect thing…That “guy” on the cover IS the king of the world! 🙂
The cover was an already existing artwork of Cordelières called “Monarch”. I was searching the internet for pictures to use for the cover (The album was originally going to be called “One Size Fits All”) when his site turned up. I looked at this picture and as we also had a song called “King Of The World” on the album, I just thought that would be perfect and totally awesome for the title and we talked about it at rehearsal and decided to go for it. I then sent Ludovic a mail asking if he would let us use it. Luckily he answered back with a clear yes, and I then asked if we could add some stuff and suggested a couple of things added to make it more “Humbucker-ish” to put it that way and he didn’t mind at all. He’s a fantastic guy and I loved working with him. Everything came back with exactly the right addings and it turned out great. We added the “R.O.C.K.S.” cover under the left foot there and added some more instruments, had our “H” placed on the hat and “Priscilla” on the nametag on the honey box. “Priscilla” is a song title from our debut album, so people who have that album knows “who’s there”… That’s pretty much it. The rest is the original artwork. I asked Hugh Gilmour what he thought of it and he said: “It’s classic, a bit provocative and very rock and roll! I Love it!” For us that means: Perfect! 🙂
THM: How much do you know about Canadian Heavy Metal and Hard Rock? Are any Canadian bands part of your day-to-day playlist? If so, which are your favorite ones and why?
GAD: Personally, that’s a very easy question to answer. There’s a lot of great Canadian bands! Always was too! I have to say I’m a huge Coney Hatch fan! “This ain’t love” is one of my favourite songs to date! I love the drum sound on that record! I was stunned when I heard it and I still enjoy listen to them today. Triumph is another favorite. I think that the “All The King’s Horses/Carry On The Flame” track from their “Surveillance” album is one of the finest pieces of music ever made in the genre. The groove and tempo when “Carry On…” takes over is just awesome! And the vocal lines on that song are amazing with one of the coolest “bridges” out there. (As a matter of fact, I had to listen to it again as we speak!) I think Thom Trumbo did a phenomenal job producing that album at the time. Again with a great drum sound exactly as I like it! I had my youth time in the eighties you know so there you go… 🙂
THM: Thanks a lot for the interview. Do you have any final words to all Heavy Metal and Hard Rock fans worldwide, especially to the ones in Canada that have recently discovered the music from Humbucker?
GAD: Thank YOU Sir! You know, we need all the help we can get in this business and fine people like yourself who devote your time to pick up bands that you don’t see on the cover of Rolling Stones Magazine every day, is fantastic! It’s really really helpful and very appreciated indeed! To the fans in Canada who like our music: We are honored that you do! And if you like “King Of The World”, please check out our debut album ‘R.O.C.K.S’ too! Due to change of distribution partners in Norway, the new album is unfortunately delayed worldwide but will be available at Amazon and wherever you buy your fine music during first half of April. We don’t take anything for guaranteed and every new fan is a thrill! If you want to join our Facebook page we would surely appreciate it! Just follow the link here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Humbucker/194616527226293.
This new Symphonic Black Metal band from Russia has what it takes to conquer the world of heavy music.
Although the Winter Olympics 2014 are over, let’s stay in Russia and enjoy the obscure Imminence, the debut album from Symphonic Black Metal band Bjarm. Formed in 2009 and based in the city of Severodvinsk, in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the name of the band was not chosen in vain: Bjarmaland (also spelled Bjarmland or Bjarmia) was a territory mentioned in Norse sagas up to the Viking Age, and it usually referred to the southern shores of the White Sea and the basin of the Northern Dvina River, which today comprise a part of the Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia. In other words, the band has a very creative and strong name, but what about their music?
Honestly, it’s very difficult to find anything from Russian Heavy Metal bands on the web and even harder at any music store (at least here in Canada), so I didn’t know what to expect from Bjarm. I personally don’t remember listening to or reading about any bands from Russia except for Symphonic Power Metal band Арктида (Arktida) and Epic Pagan Metal band Аркона (Arkona), and even in those two cases the information is usually very scarce. However, I went to a Helloween concert during my vacation last year in Saint Petersburg and was able to see how passionate Russian fans are for heavy music, so in my mind I started to imagine their music as something at least full of passion and feeling.
And for my total happiness, I was not wrong: the final result in Imminence outdid all my expectations in terms of creativity, intensity and professionalism. Bjarm might be essentially a Black Metal band, but by adding many elements from Symphonic Metal and Death Metal in their music they were able to create a more complex musicality than just some raw generic Black Metal. Not only that, the fact that Imminence was mixed at a good studio such as Stone Oil Studio and mastered by Tony Lindgren (who has already worked with great bands like Paradise Lost and Kreator) at Fascination Street Studios, provided the album a very good and professional sound quality too.
The imposing intro Approaching Of The Close opens the album in a way that would make the guys from Cradle of Filth very proud, as it reminds me of their famous intros from the albums Dusk and Her Embrace and Cruelty and the Beast, followed by the dark and heavy Knowledge Of Doom, a pure Black Metal song with amazing female vocals and atmospheric keyboards, and without any doubt one of the best tracks in Imminence. The obscurity goes on with Ominous Dreams, with highlights to the deep growling by Andrey and the extremely heavy riffs mixed with some more strong keyboard notes.
The next track, The Nine Worlds, is one of the fastest of all (if not the fastest) especially due to the Death Metal elements found in it; it’s not less symphonic, though, as the keyboards are always there to give it that Black Metal touch. Fire Lord’s Torment sounds like if it was extracted from a horror movie soundtrack, with a beautiful piano in the beginning that works as an intro to a very heavy and dense sequence, while the title-track, Imminence, is an instrumental song very well-executed by all band members, especially the keyboards by the gorgeous Anastasiya. By the way, what’s the secret with the girls in Russia? I’ve never seen a single Russian girl that is not pretty!
Getting back to the music in Imminence, the next track, Oracle, is very melancholic and evil, and has lots of elements from Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir in it, especially the diabolic vocals by Andrey that seem to be really inspired by Shagrath, while Secret Of The Immortals gets back to a more symphonic sonority with total focus on the sound of the keyboards together with the rhythmic drums.
The last part of Imminence is composed by the song The Highest Hall, another evil track that sounds a lot like some old Dimmu Borgir songs with a pretty decent job done by drummer Vitaliy, and Tree On The Bones, a truly grim track that, although not as creative as the rest of the album, ends it in a way that will let all listeners with a very good impression of the work done by the band, eager for more of Bjarm’s Symphonic Black Metal and to see them recreating all that dark atmosphere in a live concert.
The album art, designed by artist Al.Ex, from the Mayhem Project, is also very professional, and of course, dense and obscure as expected, increasing the overall quality of Imminence even more. I’m pretty sure all band members are extremely proud of their “child”, and let’s hope new good bands like Bjarm keep coming from Russia or any other countries to provide us metalheads more unique and interesting music like what’s found in Imminence.
Best moments of the album:Knowledge Of Doom, Ominous Dreams and Oracle.
Worst moments of the album:Fire Lord’s Torment and Tree On The Bones.
Released in 2014 Fono Ltd.
Track listing 1. Approaching Of The Close 3:32
2. Knowledge Of Doom 6:33
3. Ominous Dreams 6:23
4. The Nine Worlds 5:55
5. Fire Lord’s Torment 6:04
6. Imminence 3:46
7. Oracle 3:47
8. Secret Of The Immortals 4:33
9. The Highest Hall 4:13
10. Tree On The Bones 5:30
Band members Andrey – Vocal
Egor – Guitar
Anastasiya – Keyboards
Aleksey – Guitar
Mikhail – Bass
Vitaliy – Drums
Vile, obscure and impressive: these are just a few words that can be used to describe the new album by Poland’s most influential Heavy Metal band of all time.
If anyone asked me “what’s the darkest and most obscure Heavy Metal band in activity today?”, I would probably point to the infamous Polish Blackened Death Metal band Behemoth. And with the release of their new album, The Satanist, they totally corroborate my opinion: from their Black Metal back in 1991 when they started in Gdańsk, Poland, until their current Blackened Death Metal, it’s easy to see their evolution to a more devilish music approach, which makes me think we should call it an “evil-lution”.
The Satanist is Behemoth’s tenth studio album, and the first after the band’s mastermind Adam “Nergal” Darski was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2010. It’s amazing to see how well he has been recovering from this fearful disease and how he was able to canalize all the pain and suffering into Behemoth’s music, proving to ignorant people he’s not being “punished by God” or any other stupidity like that just because he plays extreme music, but that he’s only a normal human being, a talented musician that had to fight for his life. Besides, if you were one of those people that got “happy” to see him being “punished” with leukemia just because of the type of art he creates, well, you’re A LOT worse than the creature you think Nergal is.
Anyway, let’s get back to the music, which is what really matters here. If you have a weak stomach or suffer from any heart disease, do not even begin listening to this album: The Satanist starts with the extremely heavy song Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel, with its brutal lyrics (“I saw the virgin’s cunt spawning forth the snake / I witnessed tribes ov Judah reduced to ruin / I watched disciples twelve dissolved by flame / Looked down on son ov god snuffed in vain”) and creepy pace. In case you love horror movies like I do, you must take a look at their music video for this song: it reminds me of some great movies such as The Omen, Hellraiser and especially The Ring. You can check the censored version at the end of this review, or the uncensored one HERE, but let me just inform you that the only difference I noticed between both are the girl’s blurred nipples in the censored version, nothing else.
The next track, Furor Divinus, is more Black Metal, especially the drums by Inferno, while Messe Noire gets back to their later Death Metal with some amazing guitar solos at the end. The second single extracted from the album, Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer, is another tenebrous fast track perfect for live performances, with great riffs and an excellent job done by Nergal on vocals. Amen is as heavy as hell, an evil sonic massacre that fans will love, while the title-track The Satanist doesn’t reach the same level as the previous tracks, despite having an interesting atmosphere.
The album continues with Ben Sahar, an average track with good drums and riffs, and In the Absence Ov Light, another heavy track where Inferno pounds his drums mercilessly. The last track of the album, O Father O Satan O Sun!, is the perfect soundtrack for a horror movie, with its strong lyrics, frightful atmosphere, and the “speech” in the final two minutes of this song are more than amazing.
I guess I don’t need to say anything about the controversial lyrics, or about the superb album art by Russian artist Denis Forkas Kostromitin. Those are “extras” to a great work done by Nergal and his band, which becomes even more impressive due to the thin line we all know that exists between being awesome or totally ridiculous in the world of Black Metal. Let’s hope Behemoth continues on the awesome side, and that their evil empire of music keeps blowing our minds for many years to come.
Best moments of the album:Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel, O Father O Satan O Sun!, Amen and Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer.
Worst moments of the album:The Satanist and Ben Sahar.
Released in 2014 Nuclear Blast Records
Track listing 1. Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel 4:25
2. Furor Divinus 3:06
3. Messe Noire 4:04
4. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer 5:35
5. Amen 3:49
6. The Satanist 5:33
7. Ben Sahar 5:34
8. In the Absence Ov Light 4:58
9. O Father O Satan O Sun! 7:13
Australian/Japanese edition bonus tracks 10. Ludzie Wschodu (Siekiera cover) 4:11
11. Chant for Ezkaton 2000 E.V. (Japanese version only) 5:10
12. Qadosh (Japanese version only) 5:00
Band members Adam “Nergal” Darski – lead vocals, guitars
Tomasz “Orion” Wróblewski – bass guitar
Zbigniew Robert “Inferno” Promiński – drums and percussion
Patryk Dominik “Seth” Sztyber – guitars
Additional musicians Krzysztof “Siegmar” Oloś (Vesania) – samples
Michał Łapaj (Riverside) – Hammond organ
If Black Metal itself is a genre that depends a lot on a strong atmosphere to succeed, that’s even more important for Symphonic Black Metal bands such as the very professional and technical independent band Diablery, who seem to master the art of creating dense atmospheric songs based on what you will find on their excellent debut album, entitled Architect. Are you a fan of heavy synths, desperate vocals and totally evil lyrics? If the answer is yes, this album is definitely what you’re seeking to feed your dark soul.
Vanity of Darkness, one of the best songs of the whole album, has an intro that could easily be used as a movie score, followed by a powerful sonority and the awesome vocals full of despair by the talented singer and guitarist Setesh, while Magistris Inferiores is a shorter and more boisterous track that sounds a lot like some of the old songs by Dimmu Borgir. In addition, I must say Beleth is a beast on drums, and the keyboards at the end are very interesting and a good bridge for the next song, the superb Thus Made Perfect. The longest track of the album is a violent Black Metal tempest so professionally and beautifully done you won’t even remember we’re talking about an independent band, and when it’s over I’m sure you’ll play it again and again. One might ask if this song is part of a movie soundtrack, so mighty and complex it is.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 