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Album Review – Frozen Ocean / The Prowess Of Dormition EP (2016)

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Open your ears and your heart, and follow the ear-splitting sound of a frozen ocean of Atmospheric Black Metal hailing from the almighty Russia.

Rating4

hi-res coverSince the year of 2005, Russian multi-instrumentalist Vaarwel (who’s also a member of the excellent Russian bands Goatpsalm and Smothered Bowels) has been crafting music of incredible power, imagination, diversity and depth, releasing his creations under the banner of  Frozen Ocean. Hailing from the city of Moscow, Russia, this unstoppable metaller seems to have an endless fountain of creativity inside his blackened mind, always expressing his unique view of obscure themes such as winter, death and depression, and always avoiding any labels or preset formulas (let’s simply call his music Atmospheric Black Metal for you readers to understand the whole concept a little better). For instance, he was capable of delivering nothing less than 7 (seven!) Frozen Ocean albums in 2011, five of those being full-length ones. And now, in 2016, he has already started spreading his starless arias all over the world with a brand new EP entitled The Prowess Of Dormition.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of bands such as Moonsorrow, Borknagar and Sigh, or if you prefer rawer Black Metal acts like Dark Funeral and Immortal, the music found in The Prowess Of Dormition will definitely leave a (good) scar on your metallic soul due to its beauty, heaviness and complexity. Featuring an absorbing artwork by British artist/photographer Kieran Wakeman (Divine Chaos Art), who has already worked with bands such as Cadaveria, The King is Blind and Terror Universal, the EP has a lot to offer us metalheads in its 25-minute journey through gelid landscapes and dark thoughts, split in four distinct harmonious tunes.

The atmospheric intro in No Blizzard promptly invites the listener to the cold and desolated realms of Frozen Ocean, with Vaarwel making sure the harmony and pace of the song generate the necessary ambience for his harsh growls. In addition, Doom Metal elements are brought forth especially by the song’s gentle keyboard notes and constant beats delivered by Vaarwel, luring us to go even deeper into his dark world. And this doom-ish vibe goes on in the very somber and melodic Once Aglow, where there’s a lot of melancholy and sorrow flowing from Vaarwel’s growling. Moreover, the nice break halfway through it provides the listener some well-deserved peace of mind, before obscurity returns in this flawless fusion of Atmospheric and Symphonic Black Metal.

Frozen Ocean 3Det Siste Snøfallet (Norwegian for “the last snowfall”) begins at full force with its relentless beats and riffs, which aim at representing the harshest snowfall in the history of mankind. It’s a captivating instrumental tune where Vaarwel showcases all his abilities as a musician (and as a lover of dark music), working as an “extended” intro to the title-track, The Prowess Of Dormition, an amazing composition that offers the listener Frozen Ocean’s trademark Black Metal with hints of Folk and Viking Metal. Its keyboards get even more prominent and sinister, yet again providing a smooth break with endless amounts of feeling and melancholy until the music flows into a climatic ending, therefore concluding the album brilliantly.

In a nutshell, although The Prowess Of Dormition has been released as “just” an EP, it’s substantially more intricate and intense than most full-length records you might find anywhere, proving how talented Vaarwel is and providing hints of what this Russian one-man army might breed next. And in order to keep updated with everything happening with Frozen Ocean, go check their Facebook, VKontakte, YouTube, SoundCloud and BandCamp, and also buy your copy of The Prowess Of Dormition at the Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings’ official BandCamp and Big Cartel pages or at CD Baby. Just open your ears and your heart, relax, and follow the ear-splitting sound of this frozen ocean of extreme music.

Best moments of the album: The Prowess Of Dormition.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2016 Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings

Track listing
1.No Blizzard 6:06
2.Once Aglow 7:10
3.Det Siste Snøfallet 5:19
4.The Prowess Of Dormition 6:15

Band members
Vaarwel – vocals, all instruments

https://youtu.be/zuMepty35xA

Metal Chick of the Month – Masha Scream

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Славься, Русь, Земля моя!

We all agree that pretty much any Russian girl could be one of Victoria’s Secret’s best top models. What some of us don’t know is that many of those сексуальная women are also very talented artists, such as our Heavy Metal babe this month, the awesome Masha Scream, the founder, vocalist and main songwriter of Russian Epic Pagan Metal band Arkona (or Аркона, in Russian).

Born on January 9, 1983 in the Russian capital Moscow, Masha Scream’s real name is Maria Arkhipova (or Мари́я Архипова, in Russian). Although her musical influences and background come mainly from Pagan Metal, Black Metal and Folk Metal, Masha has mentioned in many interviews that Arkona is not just a music band, especially in regards to her creative process. There’s a lot of experimentation and development in the music created by Masha, in order to present to people her view of the world and what is in her soul, which means that basically nothing limits her in this process. According to Masha herself, “I’m inspired by life and all depends on the situation around me. Every my song is an emotional flash or pain about something.”

To date, Masha has already recorded with Arkona seven full-length studio albums and one EP, which are Vozrozhdeniye (2004), Lepta (2004), Vo Slavu Velikim! (2005), Ot Serdtsa K Nebu (2007), Goi, Rode, Goi! (2009), Stenka Na Stenku EP (2011), Slovo (2011), and Yav (2014), as well as three live albums called Zhizn Vo Slavu (2006), Noch Velesova (2009) and Decade of Glory (2013). A very curious fact happened on March 11, 2010, when a short clip of the song Yarilo, from the album Goi, Rode, Goi!, was featured on the St. Patrick’s Day episode of the U.S. version of the TV series The Office. The scene shows three janitors, who are probably Russian, entering the office with the song playing while the workers were still there, forced to work late.

Apart from Arkona, Masha has also recorded one full-length album with Russian Black Metal band Nargathrond, named Inevitability (2004); and was also the lead singer for Russian Doom/Power Metal band Slavery, that time as Masha Arhipova, during the year of 2000.

Masha has also appeared as a guest musician in many different bands and projects, and that was not only in Russia. To name a few, her powerful voice can be enjoyed on Russian Folk Metal band Svarga‘s first two albums (Ogni na Kurganah, from 2005, and There, Where Woods Doze…, from 2007), on Slovakian Folk Black Metal band Ancestral Volkhves‘ second studio album Perun Do Vas!!!, from 2008, on Russian Folk/Pagan Metal band Alkonost’s album The Path We’ve Never Made, from 2006, and on Russian Folk/Black Metal band Rossomahaar’s album The Reign of Terror, from 2010, among others.

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All that creativity and passion for music is also represented in Masha’s life by the incredible amount of different music instruments she can play. She doesn’t only sing extremely well, but she also plays keyboards, percussion, tambourine, komuz, acoustic guitars, shaker, and since 2002 she’s been also playing the Shaman’s drum. Our Russian diva also mentioned in one of her interviews that despite not being into politics at all, she truly loves the long and very complicated history of her country, especially its nature. This can be seen in any of Arkona’s videos, such as Slavsia, Rus, Liki Bessmertnykh Bogov and Zov Pustyh Dereven, where she’s in total contact with the four classical elements of nature, and in her lyrics always full of passion for all Russian and nature things. In my opinion, these are the key points that make Masha and her music so unique and captivating in the world of Heavy Metal, and something very few people are able to imitate or replicate in such a sublime (and aggressive) way.

Thereat,  not even the fact that Arkona’s music is totally sung in Russian has stopped Masha and her bandmates from conquering the world: the band has already been to different parts of the world to show their mighty music, including countries such as Germany, Sweden, Belgium, USA, Canada, Brazil, England, Italy, Portugal and many others. Among all of their tours and concerts, Masha mentioned that one of Arkona’s craziest experiences happened in the beginning of 2013 when the band went on the amazing 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise to the Caribbean, as one of the 40 attractions playing during the four-day cruise. “There were 4,000 people on board, a buffet and so many interesting things! We had a cabin with access to the ocean, and I was even lucky enough to see flying fish through the window.”, she said.

Of course nothing is perfect: Masha is married to her fellow band member Sergei “Lazar” Atrashkevich, with whom she has two children, so you can already stop dreaming about winning her heart and be satisfied by just admiring her beauty and her stunning music.

Masha Scream’s Official Facebook page
Masha Scream’s Official Twitter
Masha Scream’s Official VKontakte
Arkona’s Official Facebook page

“You don’t need to regret about what you have done because it’s part of your life and also part of you. You just need to remember your mistakes and to not make them again in the future!” – Masha Scream

Album Review – Aethyr / Corpus (2015)

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A “lecture” in Occultism crafted by a very competent band from Russia that will satisfy your craving for freakish heavy music.

Rating4

AETHYR - Corpus cover artAethyr, a reference for the fifth element (or spirit) in various forms of Metaphysics and Occultism, is already a magnificent name for any heavy music band simply due to its meaning and pronunciation. However, it gets even more suitable when the band is capable of transferring all those mystical principles to their music, which is the case with Russian Doom Metal band Aethyr and their brand new album, the dense and ominous Corpus.

On their first full-length since their 2010 album Messio, this talented quartet from Moscow goes beyond the boundaries of darkness, with exceptional doses of heaviness loaded with a spine-chilling ambience not recommended for the faint-hearted. Just take a look at the album art, designed by Rotten Fantom, and you can have a very good idea of the level of despair Aethyr offer us all in this excellent release.

The obscure sonority found in the opening track, Nihil Grail, with its slow and somber riffs and drums, epitomizes the dark side of Doom Metal. In addition, the demonic vocals by Mr. D give this “polished wickedness” a touch of Black Metal, with its last part being at the same time mesmerizing and disturbing. I’m pretty sure Tom G. Warrior, the mastermind behind Triptykon, would love this song. Following this amazing tune, it’s impossible not to bang your head to the heavy riffs found in Sanctus Satanicus: whatever Mr. D is singing he sounds possessed by an evil entity, and when the band speeds up the music it becomes almost pure raw Black Metal so harsh it sounds.

AETHYR band photoThe epic 10-minute eerie track ATU showcases deeper guttural vocals maximized by cryptic riffs in the background, with a melancholic break at around four minutes. There’s a lot of progressiveness, tempo changes and mysterious passages skillfully played by all band members which are definitely worth our attention. Then we have the awesome CVLT, a song that’s Doom Metal at its finest, with sludgy riffs, strong beats and, more important than that, a depressive feeling that’s essential for good dark music.

But the maleficent aura created by Aethyr gets even stronger in The Gnostic Mass, which is not exactly a song but just weird sounds from what seems to be a black mass; and then in the title-track CORPUS, another 10-minute badass song that kind of continues with the weirdness from the previous track for over a minute, before the low-tuned guitars by Mr. D and Mr. W evoke all the hopelessness and sorrow of Funeral Doom while drummer Mr. S and bassist Mr. Y dictate the song’s wonderfully wretched rhythm. You can get a sense of how lugubrious this track is just by the fact that there are very few vocals lines in it, only after six minutes of music and not for too long. Finally, in order to darken your mind and your heart even more, Aethyr offer us lots of traditional Doom Metal elements in Templum, where the band gets “infuriated” halfway through it, generating chaos and havoc to close the album on a high note.

Take a shot at the album trailer HERE and at the band’s official BandCamp page for a taste of Aethyr’s music, and of course visit their Facebook page for more details about the release of Corpus and the band’s upcoming concerts. More than just a Doom Metal album, Corpus is a “lecture” in Occultism that will satisfy your thirst for creepy and deranged heavy music, and you will get addicted to it without a shadow of a doubt.

Best moments of the album: Nihil Grail, CVLT and CORPUS.

Worst moments of the album: The Gnostic Mass, but only because it’s not an actual song.

Released in 2015 Cimmerian Shade Recordings

Track listing
1. Nihil Grail 7:03
2. Sanctus Satanicus 4:28
3. ATU 10:21
4. CVLT 5:23
5. The Gnostic Mass 6:11
6. CORPUS 10:05
7. Templum 6:29

Band members
Mr. D (Denis Dubovik) – vocals, lead guitar
Mr. W (Vladimir Snegotsky) – rhythm guitar
Mr. Y (George Meshkov) – bass
Mr. S (Anton Sidorov) – drums

Album Review – Terratomorf / Я – легенда EP (2014)

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This independent Russian Power Metal band goes straight to the point with 20 minutes of professional, honest and traditional heavy music, just the way we like it.

Rating5

Ya LegendaI must admit “Mother Russia” has been positively surprising me in terms of heavy music in the past few years. It seems that those dark days when Heavy Metal or even the most simple form of Rock N’ Roll were non-existent in the biggest country in the world are long gone and now day after day many high-quality metal bands are born there, which is the case with Russian Power Metal band Terratomorf.

Founded in 2013 in Moscow, and after a few lineup changes, this promising band has recently released their first EP entitled Я – легенда (Ya – Legenda), or “I am Legend” in English, which can be easily summarized as 20 minutes of pure “straight to the point” Power Metal. And by that I mean Terratomorf play a nice and vigorous Power Metal without exaggerating on vocals, guitar solos or on anything else, sounding so professional (especially for an independent band) and honest that it makes the listener eager for a full-length album.

The opening track of the EP, the title-track Я – легенда (Ya – Legenda), begins with a excellent Megadeth-ish intro that flows smoothly into strong and melodic vocals, which by the way remind me sometimes  of the powerful voice of J. Ahola (Teräsbetoni, Ahola), complemented by clean heavy riffs and a catchy chorus even for non-Russian speakers. Not only that, this song already showcases an above-average quality in the production of the EP. The following song, Судьба (Sudba), or “Fate” in English, follows more traditional Power Metal lines the likes of Teräsbetoni and Manowar and keeps the overall quality of the EP really high, with highlights to its galloping drums, a pleasant guitar solo, and Artur Berkut, who was the lead singer for traditional Russian Heavy Metal band Aria from 2002 to 2011, as a guest vocalist.

TerratomorfThe nice rhythm in Призрачный мир (Prizrachniy Mir), or “Haunted World” in English, gains an extra dose of energy with a more modern American riff and its melodic drumming, while the headbanging tune В небеса (V Nebesa), or “In Heaven” in English, is perfect for some air guitar due to its very traditional riffs, and the Thrash Metal elements the band added to the song to give it a special “kick” especially during the second half of it. Last but not least, we have Город души (Gorod Dushi), or “Soul City” in English, where you can notice a huge influence of German Power Metal in their musicality, and once again it’s very enjoyable to follow the vocal lines by Nikita Salischev (mainly during the chorus) and the excellent job done by drummer Alexandr Dmitriev.

One might ask where Terratomorf will go with their music. Well, that’s something only time will tell, but based on the quality of their first EP and the talent of the musicians involved, I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing those Russian guys touring around different countries and reaching even some markets overseas where the Russian language is not present at all. For now, we can at least rest assured Heavy Metal is getting stronger and stronger thanks to many independent bands all over the world, with Terratomorf being a very welcome addition to the increasing list of excellent bands representing the Russian Federation.

Best moments of the album: Я – легенда (Ya – Legenda) and В небеса (V Nebesa).

Worst moments of the album: As I’ve mentioned a couple of times in this website, it’s not fair to select a bad moment from a relatively short EP like this one (the same reason why it didn’t get more than a 3.0). Let’s wait for a full-length Terratomorf album to do that.

Released in 2014 Independent

Track listing
1. Я – легенда (Ya – Legenda) 3:21
2. Судьба (Sudba) 4:22
3. Призрачный мир (Prizrachniy Mir) 4:15
4. В небеса (V Nebesa) 4:18
5. Город души (Gorod Dushi) 4:56

Band members
Nikita Salischev – vocals
Sergey Gviniashvili – guitar
Vladislav Balashov – guitar
Alexandr Dmitriev – drums

Guest musician
Artur Berkut – additional vocals on Судьба (Sudba)