Colossus Fall/Hidden Into Details/2015 CD Review

  Colossus  Fall  are  a  band  from  Switzerland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  stoner  rock  and  post  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "Hidden  Into  Details".

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  aggressive  sludge  style  screams  and  you  can  also  hear  melodies  and  blast  beats  being  added  into  the  music  at  times and the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  hardcore  elements  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and fast  parts.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  a  melodic  stoner  rock  feeling  to  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  album  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  acoustic  guitars  are  brought  into  the  music  they  add  in  a  touch  of  post  rock  and  one  track  brings  in  a  few  seconds  of  Asian  music  before  making  a  return  back  to  a  heavier  musical  direction.

  Colossus  Fall  creates  another  recording  that  takes  the  most  aggressive  elements  of  sludge,  stoner,  post  metal  and  hardcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  very  heavy  sounding  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  album  while  the  lyrics  cover dark  and  real life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Colossus  Fall  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  stoner,  sludge  metal  and  hardcore,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rise  Of  Adrenaline"  "Bullseyes"  "(We  Were  Gatekeepers)"  and  "F.A.T".  8  out  of  10.       

Le Scimmie/Colustrum/Red Sound Records/2016 CD Review

 
  Le  Scimmie  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  an  instrumental  mixture  of  noise,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Colustrum"  which  was  released  by  Red  Light Records.

  Ambient  style  synths  start  off  the  album  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  an  atmospheric  edge  along  with  a  few  drones  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  sludge/doom  metal  direction  where  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.

  Psychedelic  elements  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  while  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  parts  of  the  music  also  get  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  and  a lot  of  the  heavy  riffing  brings  a  stoner  metal  vibe  to  the  recording  while  influences  of  noise  rock  are  also  are  mixed  in  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Le  Scimmie  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  heaviness of  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  with  experimental  and  noise  rock  while  also  avoiding  any  song  lyrics  or  vocals  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own  and  the  production  sounds  very  professional.

  In  my  opinion  Le  Scimmie  are  a  very  great  sounding  instrumental  mixture  of  experimental,  noise  rock,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Colostrum"  and  "Helleborus".  8  out  of  10.   

Victims Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Except for our daily jobs and real life issues we have planned and booked some shows/tours/festivals that are coming around the corner. Some rehearsing have been done to the last month.



2.In April you have a new album coming out, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
More hardcorepunk than “A dissident” but still more melodic than before.



3.The band has been around since the 90's, what is it that keeps you motivated to still write music after all of these years?
Stupidity, passion and boredrom.



4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Personel inner conflicts and how fucked up our world is.



5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Victims'?
We thought is was a good name for the band in -97. Not much of a meaning, just a bandname that suits the kind of music we play. Would probably not name the band that today….



6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Don’t know, to many to just pick out one. Remember a year when we played Fluff Fest that was prettu crazy and great. Hope our stage performance is full of energy and intensity.



7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
Yes, some. This is what we have booked right now.
160324 US/Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory w/Napalm Death, Melt Banana
160325 US/San Diego, CA @ Casbah w/Napalm Death, Melt Banana
160326 US/Los Angeles, CA @ Los Globos w/Bio Crisis, Zoloa + special guests
160327 US/Oakland, CA @ Metro w/Brainoil, Tørsö, Korrosive
160328 US/Eureka, CA @ VFW w/Pervert, Big Rip, ChuggxTaylor
160329 US/Portland, OR @ Black Water w/TBA
160330 US/Seattle, WA @ Highline w/Deathraid, VHS, Jæng
160331 US/Portland, OR @ Roseland w/Abbath, High On Fire, Skeleton Witch
160401 US/Vancouver, BC @ Astoria w/TBA

160416 SWE/Stockholm @ TBA

160528 SWE/GBG @ Kajskjul 46 / Suicide Records 10 years of dedication!

160603 UK/London @ DIY Space w/Gift Of Death, Cult Syndrome, P.I.G
160604 UK/Bristol @ Temples Fest w/Melvins, Weekend Nachos, All Pigs Must Die + more
160505 UK/Nottingham @ Chameleon Arts Café w/Skiplickers, Endless Grinning Skulls

160617 FR/Clisson @ Hellfest w/Anthrax, Testament, Converge, Melvins + more
160618 FR/Paris/TBA

160708 PL/Gdynia @ DIY Fest vol.12



8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of crust, d beat and hardcore?
Pretty good from the start. Feels like we get a more wide audience for every year.



9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Probably heavier and more melodic. Like we have developed over the years so far.



10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I´ve been listening a lot to Kowloon Walled City, Viagra Boys, Anna von Hausswolff, Total Control, Jedi Mind Tricks, Wailin Storms, DiE, Army Of The Pharaos, Disappearer, Neurosis and more



11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Hanging out with my kids.



12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interview. Come see us if we play your town because you never know when this madness stops.

Black Oath/To Below And Beyond/Doomentia Records/2015 Full Length Review

  Black  Oath  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  traditional  form  of  occult  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "To  Below  And  Beyond"  which  was  released  by  Doomentia  Records.

  Classical  guitar  playing  along  with  some  synths  in the  background  start  off  the  album  bringing  in  the  atmosphere  of  a  classic  horror  movie  as  well  as  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  whispers  and  after  the  intro  they  retain  the  acoustics  while  also  going  into  more  of   a  heavier  musical  direction and  adding  in  70's  style  metal  vocals.

  Most  of  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  70's  and  80's  style  of  doom  metal  and  the  music  also  gets  very  atmospheric  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow  and  mid  paced  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  more  melodic  and  traditional  style  of  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  most  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  they  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  both  power  ballads  and  heavy  tracks.  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also be  heard  briefly.

  Black  Oath  plays  a  style of  doom  metal  that  is  very  dark  and  melodic  in  the  70's  and  80's  style  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  death,  esotericism,  occultism,  superstitions  and  witchcraft  themes.    

  In  my  opinion  Black  Oath  are  a  very  great  sounding  occult  doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Wicked  Queen"  "Flesh To  Gold"  and  "To  Below  And  Beyond  (Ars  Diaboli)". 8/5  out of  10.

Raedon Kong/Critical Paths/Hell Comes Home/2015 Full Length Review

  Raedon  Kong  are  a  band  from  Louisiana  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal  with  some touches of  psychedelia,  experimental  and  prog  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Critical  Paths"  which  was  released  by  Hell  Comes  Home.

  A  heavy  and  distorted  guitar  sound  starts off  the  album  along  synths  being  utilized  in t he  background  and  the  music  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  both sludge  and  doom  metal  while  the  vocals  are  in  more  of  a  noise  rock  or  hardcore  vein  while  also  being  very  aggressive  at  the  same  time  and  when t he  music  speeds  up  it  bring s in  elements  of  crust  punk.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  while  most  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction  and  clean  playing  can  also be  heard  in  some parts  of  the  songs  and  when  melodic  singing  is  utilized  it  brings  a  touch  of  stoner  rock onto  the  recording  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  gets  more  progressive  and  experimental  as  the  album progresses  along  with  some  psychedelic  traces  while  still  having  its  heavy  moments.    

  Raedon  Kong  creates  another  recording  that  takes  the  heaviness of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  the  melody  of  post  metal  while  also  experimenting  with  prog  and psychedelia  to  create  a  very  original  sounding  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  real  life  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Raedon  Kong  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Invasion  Of  Minds"  and  "Golden  Churches".  8  out  of  10.      

Wailin Storms Interview

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

We recently became truckers and are looking for a good meth contact. Seriously though, we just drove to and from Austin all the way from North Carolina in 2 days to play a few showcases at SXSW. We also have an April tour coming up with “The Powder Room” (from Athens) and are looking into recording some new songs by this summer hopefully.

2.       A few months back you had released your first full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the ep's you had released in the past?

Our previous EP “Shiver” was much more stripped down and straight forward since it was a 3 piece. With the most recent full length our sound became much fuller and dynamic with the addition of another guitarist. That said we still tried to keep things sparse and minimal on “One foot in the flesh grave,” similar to previous recordings.



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

 Our songs revolve around various subjects and will probably sound like a drug commercial at first: coping with death, depression, love, heartbreak, politics, surrealism, and Texas folklore.  For example “Down in South Texas” is based on an old Texas/Mexican folktale of “La Llorona” or “The Weeping Woman.”  There are a few versions of this story but the one I heard when growing up was that a young woman, with two children, falls in love with a handsome young man. But like most young men, he’s not ready to have kids. So the woman, wanting to be with him, takes her children to the beach one day, stabs them both, and drowns them in the ocean (or river, depending on where the listener grew up). She then goes to her lover’s door covered in blood and tells him what she’s done for love, but her new love wants nothing to do with her and turns her away. She soon realizes what she’s done for love and kills herself by walking into the ocean. When she gets to heaven, the angels refuse to let her inside until she can find her children’s bones in the ocean. They also curse her with the head of horse for committing an unspeakable sin. The weeping woman realizes that retrieving her dead children’s bones would be impossible to find in the ocean so she roams around the beach/shores of the Gulf of Mexico looking for other children to drown to use their bones for entry into heaven. Much like a Greek siren she wails and draws concerned victims in with her moan.

 Parents would tell this classic bedtime story kids to scare them from sneaking out late at night and swimming in the ocean after dark. As a teen, I used to sneak out past dark to go surfing during a full moon but never ran into La Llorona, just the occasional shark.

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

It’s a moniker mostly based on the singer’s last name “Storms,” that combined with the boisterous sound that’s made when singing or “Wailing.” But the spelling of “Wailin” is a bit of a homage to greats like: Screamin Jay Hopkins, Lightnin Hopkins, and Howlin Wolf. 

5.       Originally the band was from Texas but relocated to North Carolina, what was the cause of the move?

Well the band started in Texas as a really stripped down project for a year or so in the mid 2000’s. There were a few moves before then and various line-up changes depending on location at the time. But the current line-up formed in North Carolina after the founder/singer moved from NYC to NC with his ex-girlfriend who found a job in North Carolina. Touring seemed easier for the band outside of NYC and the band had played Raleigh during a previous tour. Seemed like either Texas or somewhere in the southern US was where our music belonged.

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

There’s been quite a few awesome shows, some recent and some not so recent. But one recent show in Indianapolis which coincidentally and unfortunately happened to be “We Are Hex’” last show was really memorable. It was at this dive bar called State Street Pub and we were on day 8 or so of our tour and the owner and bartender of the place was really welcoming. From the outside this was one of the smallest places we had played in a while but it was really cool inside with tons of priceless punk posters from enviable gigs in the area. “We Are Hex” blew us away and were phenomenal live, as we imagined they might be. The crowd was super pumped for us too and the two bands that night meshed really well. It just felt like the ideal show: setting, energy, and line-up wise.

As for stage performance we try to match the music and actually move around. We tend to be high energy when the song calls for it.

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

Upcoming shows and tours

4/3/16 // Valient Thor, Demon Eye, Bitter Resolve// The Ritz - Raleigh, NC

4/20/16// Shallows, Powder Room, Wailin Storms // Odditorium - Asheville, NC

4/21/16 // Power Take Off, Powder Room, Wailin Storms // The Station - Charlotte, NC

4/22/16 // SOON, Powder Room, Wailin Storms // Nightlight - Chapel Hill, NC

4/23/16 // Youth League, Powder Room, Wailin Storms // Reggies - Wilmington, NC

4/24/16 // Magnus Lush, Manzara, Wailin Storms // Banditos -Richmond, VA

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

We’re noticing a lot of new fans all over the US and in Europe, particularly in Poland, France, Italy, and Portugal. There has been some talk of touring around Europe.



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

Lately we’ve been gravitating towards making slower songs that have more space and dynamics. We like to follow our gut when making new songs and try not to over complicate things too much to avoid making things too polished.

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

As a band we’re into a bunch of different bands and musical styles. Here’s a few influential bands: Laughing Hyenas, Hammerhead, Scratch Acid, Alan Lomax’ field recordings, Bohren and Der Club of Gore, PJ Harvey, and Birthday Party. Nowadays the band’s been listening to: This Heat, Sweet Cobra, Unwound, DIIV, Tenement, Kowloon, hymns by “Old Regular Baptists,” and Creepoid.

11.   What are some of your non musical interests?

Our drummer is obsessed with the Redskins football team. Our bassist likes building non-lethal shit and we think is related to Macgyver. Our guitarist is into smoking and drinking whiskey and our singer likes to draws epic whale battles.

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

Go vote

Lucifer's Fall/Fuck You we're Lucifers Fall/Rotedoom Records/2015 EP Review

 Lucifer's  Fall  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  traditional  form  of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Fuck  You,  We're  Lucifer's  Fall"  which was  released  by  Rotedoom  Records.

 Drum  beats  and  powerful  sounding bass  guitar  leads  start  off  the  ep  along  wit h some  distorted  amp  noises  which  also  leads  up  to  a  very  dark  and  heavy  old  school  doom  metal  direction  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  very  melodic  and  remain  very  true  to  a  retro   musicla  direction  close  to  the  70's.

  Most  of   the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  after  a  few  minutes  vocals  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  they  are  done  in  more  of  a  melodic traditional  metal  style  while also  having  a  bit  of aggression  to  them  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  bring  dark  sounding  melodies  into  some parts  of  the  songs  and  the  spoken  words  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  ritualistic  feeling  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  mostly  to  a  very  slow  yet  heavy  musical  direction  while  some  mid  paced  sections  are also  utilized  at  times.

  Lucifer's  Fall  plays a  style  of  doom  metal  that  is  the  more  traditional  70's  and  80's  era  of  the  genre  while  also  bringing  in  the  epic  singing  style  of  the  past,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Luciferian,  Religion  and Darkness  themes.

  In  my opinion Lucifer's  Fall  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Salvation".  8/2  out  of  10.

Arcana 13/Danza Macabra/Aural Music/2016 CD Review

  Arcana  13  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  an  occult  form of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Danza  Macabra"  which  was  released  by  Aural  Music.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  ritualistic  spoken word parts  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  70's  influenced  doom  metal  direction  and  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  riffs  also  use  some  melodies  at  times.

  Vocals  are  done  mostly  in  a  clean  singing  70's  metal  style  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  very  retro  style  and  you  can  also  hear elements  of  occult  rock  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  while  the  music  has  a  lot of  old  school  elements  it  still  sounds  very  modern  at  times.

  The  songs  also  bring  in  the  evil  atmosphere  of  classic  horror  movies  along  with  a  small  amount  of  synths  which  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  psychedelia  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of clean  playing  and  one  of  the  later  tracks  is  an  instrumental  and  the  songs  also  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction. 

  Arcana  13  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  70's  styles  of  doom  metal  and  occult  rock  and  mix  the together  with  a  more  modern  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism  and  Horror  Movie  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Arcana  13  are  a  very  great  sounding  occult  doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dread  Ritual"  "Oblivion  Mushroom"  and  "Hell  Behind  You".  8/5  out  of  10. 

Worship Of Keres/Bloodhounds For Oblivion/2016 EP Review

  Worship  Of  Keres  are a  band  Shasta  lake,  California  that  plays  a  traditional  form  of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  ep   "Bloodhounds  For  Oblivion".

  A  very  heavy  and  old  school  traditional  doom  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  after  a  few  seconds  melodic  female  vocals  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  tradition  of  the  genre  and  all  3  of  the  tracks  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  All  of  the  songs sound like  they  could  of  been  recorded  and  released  in  the  80's  and  the  guitars  mostly  focus  on  really  slow  power  chords  while  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  in  the  70's  doom  tradition  and  the  drums  also  bring  in  a  very  slow  yet  skull  crushing  sound  to  the  music  and  the  vocals  bring in  more  of  a  melodic  style  to  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  ep  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording,

  Worship Of  Keres  plays a  style of  doom  metal  that  is  very  slow,  heavy  and  traditional  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occult  Mysticism  and  Esoteric  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Worship  of  Keres  are  a  very  great  sounding  traditional  doom  metal  band and if  you  are a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Book  II".  8/3  out  of  10.        

  Worship  Of  Keres   

Ancient Spell/Forever In Hell/Minotauro Records/2015 CD Review

  Ancient  Spell  are  a  band  from  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  heavy,  doom  and  thrash  metal and  this  is  a  review  of their 2015  album  "Forever  In  Hell"  which  was  released  by  Minotauro  Records.

  Classical guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples  a  few  seconds  later  which  leads  up  to  a  more  heavy and traditional  style  of  doom  metal  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  melodic  guitar leads  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  aggressive  screams  bordering  more  on  an  extreme  style  of  thrash  metal  that  also  has  a  death  metal  tinge  to  it  at  times  and the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  80's  era  of  extreme  metal  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  clean  playing  also  returns in  certain  sections of  the  recording  and  the  vocals  also  use  clean  singing  at  times  while  never  losing  their aggression and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Ancient Spell  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  80's  styles  of  heavy,  thrash  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  a  touch  of  early  death  metal  to  create  a  style  of their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ancient  Spell  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  heavy,  doom  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Under  Your  Spell"  "Beyond  The  Gates"  and  "Black  Flame  Ritual".  8/2  out of  10.

Senescence/Endoomed/2015 EP Review

  Senescence  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  traditional  form  of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  realesed  2015  ep  "Endoomed".

  Melodic  chanting  and  singing  starts  off  the ep  along  with  some  guitar  amp  noises  as  well  as  some  programmed  drum  beats  which  also leads  up to  some  guitar  leads  that  use  melody  being added  onto  the  recording  and  also  introduces  slow  yet  heavy  riffs  that  also  takes  the  recording  into  more  of  a  traditional  doom  metal  feeling.

  All  3  of  the  tracks  are  very  long and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  80's  style  of  doom  metal  while  the  production  gives  the  songs more  of  a  modern  feeling  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  one  of  the tracks  is  a  power  ballad  and  the  whole  ep  alos  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  and  spoken  word  parts  are  added  onto the  last  song.

  Senscence  plays  a  style  of  doom  metal  that  is  very  heavy,  melodic and  traditional  sounding in  the  more  old  school  tradition  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Senscence  are  a  very  great  sounding traditional  doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Mourner's  Claim".  8  out  of  10.    

     

Scientist/10100II00101/Hell Comes Home/2015 CD Review

  Scientist  are  a  band  from  Chicago,  Illinois  that  plays  an  experimental  form  of  metal  and  this  is a  review  of  their  2015  album  "10100II00101"  which  was  released  by  Hell  Comes  Home.

  Distorted  avant  garde  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  guitars  and  aggressive  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  mix  noise  rock  and  extreme  metal  together  and  there  is  also  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Melodic  groove  metal  style  vocals  can  be  heard  at  times  as  well  as  a  more  traditional approach  to  clean  singing  can also  be  heard  briefly  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  brought  into  the  music  they  also  add  more melodies onto  the  recording  while  also  mixing  in a  touch  of  post  metal.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length and  as  the  album  progresses electronic  music  elements  and  spoken  word  samples  are  added  into  some of  the  tracks  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  while  some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  there  are  also  a  couple  of  instrumentals  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief use  of  high  pitched  screams.

  Scientist  plays  a  style  of  metal  that  is  very  extreme  at  times  while  also  being  very  progressive,  avant  garde  and  experimental  and  they  create  a  musical  style  that  they  refer  to  'architecultural  metal',  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Scientist  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you should  check  out this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Seige  Capture  Control"  "Luminal"  and  "Bloodless  breathless".  8  out  of  10. 

Kristian Harding/Summer Of Crush/Exile On Mainstream/2015 CD Review

  Kristian  Harding  is  a  solo  artist  from  Denmark  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  Western  lo-fi  pop  music,  Mali  blues  and  avant  garde folk  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2015  album  "Summer  Of  Crush"  which  was  released by Exile  On  Mainstream.

  Acoustic  guitars  which  use  finger  picking  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  singing  vocals  that  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  neo  folk  feeling  and  when  synths  and  programmed  beats  are  added onto  the recording  they  bring  in  a  touch  of  80's  synth  pop  into t he  songs  that  they are  utilized   on.

  After  awhile  the  acoustic guitars  start  utilizing more  full  chords  and  all  of  the  tracks  sound  different  from  each  other  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  ambient  style  drones  and  when  the  music  gets  more  distorted  it  brings  in  a  touch  of  post  and  indie  rock  along  with  a  brief  use  of  electric  guitars  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  a small  amount  of  psychedelic  elements  and  one  of  the later  tracks  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  metal  influenced  riffing.

  Kristian  Harting  creates  another  recording  that  takes  Western  lo-fi,  mali  music,  avant  garde  folk  and  mixes  it  in  with  touches  of  psychedelia,  post,  indie  rock  and  metal  to  create  an  album  that  is  very  hard  to  classify,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  depressive  and  shamanistic  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Kristian  Harding  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  experimental  rock  and  neo  folk,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Traveller"  "How  High"  "Digging  Up  graves"  and  "Soul  Sister".  8  out  of  10.    

   

Ramleh/CircularTime/Crucial Blast/2015 Double CD Review

  Ramleh  are  a  band from  the  United  kingdom  that  plays a  mixture  of  harsh  power  electronics,  post  industrial  and  noise  rock  and  this  a  review  of  their  double  2015  album  "Circular  Time"  which  was  released  by Crucial  Blast.

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  noise  rock  direction  a  few  seconds  later  along  with  a  great  amount  of  distortion  and  reverb's  and  after  awhile  melodic  guitar  leads  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  clean  playing  can also  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  lot  of  the  tracks  are  all  instrumental  while  some  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  even  more  of  a  melodic  noise  rock  style  to  the  bands  musical  style.

  Psychedelic  elements  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  on  some  of  the  songs  while  other  tracks  bring  in  elements  of  industrial  and  post  punk  and  when  vocals  are  finally  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  clean  singing  fashion  and  as  the  album progresses  drones  can  be  heard  in  certain sections  of  the  recording  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Ramleh  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  noise  rock  while  also  mixing  in  psychedelic,  industrial  and  post  punk  elements  along  with  a  touch  of  harsh  noise  to  create  a  musical  style  of t heir  own  and  the  production  sounds  very  professional.    

  In  my  opinion  Ramleh  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  noise  rock  and  post  industrial  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Incubator"  "The  Tower"  "Entropy"  and  "Weird  Tyranny".  8  out  of  10.

Kowloon Wailed City/Grievances/Neurot Recordings/2015 CD Review

  Kowloon Walled  City  are  a band  from  San  Francisco,  California  that  plays  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  sludge  metal  and  post  hardcore and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Grievances"  which  was  released  by  Neurot  Recordings.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  sludge  metal  direction  that  also  uses  a  decent  amount  of  melodies  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals  the  band  uses  are  more  melodic  post  hardcore  style  vocals  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  shouts  at  times  while  the  songs  also  alternate  between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  quite  a  bit  throughout the  recording  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Kowloon  Walled  City  plays  a musical  style  that  takes  a  very  slow  and  atmospheric  style  of  sludge  metal  and  mixes  it  with  melodic  post  hardcore  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  urban  decay  and  corruption  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Kowloon  Walled  City  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  mixture  of  sludge  metal  and  post  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Grievances"  "White  Walls"  and  "Daughters And  Sons". 8  out  of  10. 

Mars Red Sky/Apex III(Praise For A burning Soul)/Listenable Records/2016 CD Review

 Mars  Red  Sky  are  a  band  from  Rance  that  plays  a  psychedelic  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Apex  III(Praise  For  A  Burning  Soul)"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Listenable  Records.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  bringing  in  a very  weird  atmosphere  along  with  some  psychedelic  elements  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  keyboards  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  bringing  in  more  of  a  heavier  70's  style  doom  metal  style.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  clean  singing  stoner  rock  style  while  you  can  also  hear  a  touch of  indie  rock  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  some  melodies  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  leads  and  they  also  alternate  between  both  the  clean parts  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  album  and  when  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a progressive rock  feeling  and  some  songs  add  in  a  slight  blues  influence.

 Mars  Red  Sky  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge,  doom  and  stoner  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  70's  progressive  and  psychedelic  rock  to  create  something  very  retro  yet  original  at  the  same  time,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mars  Red  Sky  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  psychedelic,  indie,  progressive  rock,  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Apex  III"  "Under  the  Hood"  and  "Shot In  Providence".  8  out  of  10. 

Lament Cityscape/The Torn/Battleground Records/2015 CD Review

  Lament  Cityscape  are  a  band  from  Oakland,  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom,  post  and  industrial  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "The  Torn"  which  was  released  by  Battleground  Records.

  Dark  sounding  drones  and  fly  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  atmospheric  doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  industrial  style  shouting  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge.

  Elements  of  post  metal  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  on  some  tracks  the  vocals  get  more  melodic  and  one  song  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  violins  while one  track  is  all  instrumental  and  the  whole  album  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  from  beginning  to ending  of  the  recording.

  Lament  Cityscape  plays  a  style  of  post  metal  that  is  very  dark  and  atmospheric  along  with  some  industrial  and  noise  elements  while  also  bringing  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Lament  Cityscape  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  industrial,  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Turn  Inward"  "The  Final  Son"  and  "Never  Ended".  8  out  of  10.

      

 

Snow Burial/Victory In Ruin/2015 CD Review

  Snow  Burial  are  a  band  from  Chicago,  Illinois  that h as  been  featured  before  in this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom,  post  metal,  thrash,  shoegaze  and  math  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "Victory  In  Ruin".

  A  very  heavy  doom  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  angry  and  aggressive  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording  along  with  some  math  rock  style  melodies  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  clean  singing  at  times.

  Clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  along  with  some  elements  of  shoegaze  and  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  also  bring  more  of  a  melodic  sound  to  the  songs  when  they  are  utilized  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge and  when  the  music  speeds  up a   small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  they  also bring  in  an  instrumental  track  before  going  back to   vocals  and  also  adding  in  thrash  influences  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.  while  some  songs  also  add  in  a  touch  of  psychedelia.

  Snow  Burial  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to t heir  hipster  doom  metal  style  while  also  mixing  in  more  math  rock  elements  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark   and  real  life themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another great  sounding  recording  from  Snow  Burial  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Price  To  Pay"  "Thieves"  and  "Smoke  Trials".  8  out  of  10.

Kielkropf Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Not a lot – to be honest. We've been playing some shows in the greater area of Vienna, and are working on some new material.

2.In November you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
I think it's raw, slow, heavy, dark, intense - at least that's what's it supposed to be. We went for a pretty straight forward production, that's not to far from our live sound and I think that worked out nicely.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The lyrics reflect a disillusioned view on life. The topics are things like failed relationships, the struggle of everyday life, or just things learned the hard way. They are not always to be taken seriously, though. Gallows humor, is a typical thing for people from the eastern part of Austria.

4.I know that the bands name came from 'Germanic Mythology', do you have a huge interest in this topics?
We were looking for a name that doesn't make you think of a specific music genre at first glance. It's an old German word (means something like changeling), that hardly anybody knows. In fact we didn't - it was a friend who came up with it and we kind of liked it. Of course it's nice, that you don't get a lot of hits (apart from the band) if you google it. But no, we are not really into 'Germanic Mythology'.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
The best shows have been supporting "Corrosion of Conformity" and another time "Crowbar" in Vienna. It's nice to play in front of a lot of people that are actually are into this kind of music.
Hmm, it's hard to describe you own stage performance, especially since there are not a lot show elements or calculated moves and poses. I think the audience experiences a band that is really into what we are doing in this moment of time and this also shows physically.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
There is no tour planned right now. It would mean one of two things:
Buying into a tour of a known band. That would be expensive and it's hard to find something at all, even harder to find the right fit.
Or we could do it on our own, which would probably mean playing in front of 10 people each evening, that would be a lot of effort for a poor result. We don't fancy that either. But we are going to continue doing shows in Austria from time to time.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We haven't received any interest or offers - but we also are not looking very hard. I suppose we don't trust there is a deal out there for us, that's worth singing.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge metal?
 Of course there has not been a lot of promotion, but we were actually surprised of how good the feedback was. There have been a view reviews, all of them were quite good (typically 8 out of 10). We even got some great reactions from the US and Australia - we didn't really expect that much recognition.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
There are none – so sorry, no story there.

10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Right now the band is a hobby to us and we are pretty preoccupied with our dayjobs. Since our working process is a rather slow one, it would take a long time to come up with enough material for a full album, but it's also a financial issue since we are funding ourselves. So there won't be a full length album in the nearer future, probably never.


11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
The members of the band have been listening to all kinds of rock music over the years (from Art Rock to Death Metal and everything in between). Most influential to the Kielkropf sound was probably, when our drummer and our guitar player went through their "Crowbar" and "Down" phase. Nowadays some bands we are listening to are Mastodon, High on Fire, Sleep or Baroness.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Some of our interests are – and I quote: "women, reading, beer", "gardening", "golf, computer games, running", "watching movies".

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We wanted to thank you for the interview, the review (which we think is very accurate) and just for recognizing us, really.
Cheers, Jerry

Throes Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
We celebrated the release of 'Koro' with a concert in Vienna which – of course – was followed by a wild release party.
Since then we've been busy with promotional work. A lot of people all around the world are curious and of course we are eager to spread the word and use every occasion to promote 'Koro'.

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

Compared to our first output 'Use Your Confusion I – VII' not only the sound but also the music is much more elaborated yet also rawer. We've evolved in various respects which really helped us to forge our own style. Since we improved the process of writing songs together, every single band member could fully contribute to 'Koro'. Also, we've grown as a unity and therefore were able to nail our vision better than on the previous record. Thus, the recording process became an amazing experience for everyone of us. This was not just because we arrived at being a welded unit but also because the people we collaborated with were great: Michael Zachhuber, with whom we recorded the instrumental tracks at Primitive Studios in Vienna, and Lukas Haidinger, with whom the vocal tracks were recorded and who mastered and mixed the album at DeepDeepPressure Studio in Braunau, had an immense impact on making 'Koro' sound as fat as it does.


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

Well, let's start with the records title, 'Koro', which means two things: It's the word for 'heart' in Esperanto, but derived from various south-eastern Asian languages it signifies a rather unpleasant mental disorder, also known as 'genital retraction syndrome'. This pun served me right when looking for a title because the lyrics basically orbit around the theme of the broken heart; a heart broken by the classical – or some may say - clichéd love type of thing as well as one broken by the doubts and anxieties life has to offer for us. 'Zepsuta' and 'Planet Lobotomy' for instance deal with the difficulties many of our generation face with the multitudinous possibilities of getting lost in the partying and mating rituals of the average western city. Never has it been easier to go out and without any inhibitions find someone to, you know, enjoy yourself. But most of the time these things just turn out to be a numbing of oneself, a distraction from the everyday lives we live and the hopes we still have but don't trust anymore. We are traders as well as traded goods on a meat market of superficial fun until we become cynical and finally hollow, empty, disgusted. This emptiness is reflected in these two songs while 'Everything is Hostile' deals with another kind of emptiness that can result not just from love gone wrong but from anything that leaves a deep scar in your life and leaves you with the feeling that you are not in control of your lives' circumstances. It's also maybe the most personal thing I've ever written, because the lyrics came to me when I found myself in a situation exactly like that.
So, finally, also 'Crepusculo Decrepitude' is about anxiety and emptiness. It was pretty much inspired by Samuel Becketts 'Molloy' and the strange atmosphere of stumbling around searching without knowing exactly what or why and having those blurred memories plunging around you like dead birds falling from the sky.

So, you see: pretty depressing and absurd stuff.

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

We wanted the bands name to be one short, strong word, not like those band names that go like 'We Came As A Plague But Stayed To Haunt You' or all those band names that consist of three to 639 words and are so common these days... But of course most of the words suitable for a band grappling with the topics just mentioned were already assigned to the bands we admire, or – at least – know. And then along came 'Throes' which was perfect, because it was not only short, but stood for both the pains of dying and the pains of giving birth to something. As you already have seen with the title of 'Koro' we like ambiguities and this particular one seemed to be just perfect for our musical vision. And, on the side, it's a great word, because it only exists in the plural form and you can't put a 'the' in front of it.

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

The best ones for sure were two rather small ones. Sharing stages with bands that inspire you, like in our case with Crowbar or Eyehategod, is always great, sure. But these two stand out because we had the time of our lives both on stage and after the show. The first one has to be our gig at 'Butterwach', which is also known as 'Viennas loudest breakfast' (and translated from Viennese would mean 'drunk as fuck') in November 2014 at Arena in Vienna. Arena is a former slaughterhouse which now is a huge location with various floors and stages for concerts, clubbings, et cetera.
There is this monthly party with the whole location filled with people the whole night and after most of the floors are being closed, the 'Beisl', a small pub on the premises of the Arena, is still open and the people who still aren't tired or haven't finished their pickup can go there and drink some more or – and that's the special thing about this afterhour – have breakfast while a band plays live from 6 a.m. to... well, that depends. We were invited to play there and already when we were setting up our equipment on the stage there were people stumbling and mumbling their way through the rest of the night. Some of them were very talkative and curious, so we had hilarious conversations already when preparing everything. After the short soundcheck we decided to smoke another cigarette at the bar and get some beers for the stage there which lead some to believe that we were already finished with playing – that's how shitfaced some people in the audience already were. The gig itself was great fun with a full location and people who really just let go of any inhibitions and just enjoyed the power of our low-frequency sonic assault. Through the windows you could see the rising sun already but nobody seemed to care and we went on playing our own songs and a version of Danzigs 'Twist of Cain' and finally repeated some of the set because we ran out of tunes but the audience still wanted more – and they wouldn't notice. Finally, when it all was over, we also had breakfast and kept on boozing until the evening (remember: we only just had started at 4 a.m.) with some of our friends – but that's another story.

The second of the most remarkable gigs so far was also in Vienna, at EKH. This is a huge occupied house in which there is also a small stage in the cellar where mostly punk bands play. For some reason we and our friends from TarLung had a gig there with OtiumAdei, a rather experimental band from France. There were only a handful of people genuinely interested in seeing Throes or TarLung there and most of the audience were punks who just happened to be on-site that evening. We played first and besides obviously not looking as if we were part of the punk scene, we started our, you know, more or less metal-kind of stage-thing with looking grim and mysterious and stomping on-stage and the like... well, at first the reaction of the audience was rather cautious but with time the music took over and our punk audience adapted to our heavy groove. Only one guy, who was about 17 or so, came to me in one of the breaks between two songs and asked me if we could play something more 'crumbly' – whatever that means... Altogether the scenery must have been as from some Lynch-film in which a bunch of punks that really look the part do their thing while a band that looks and acts more like something Beavis and Butthead would watch on MTV pounds out their tunes made of lead. Maybe like that legendary Beavis and Butthead scene when they watch a Crowbar-clip but not with those two as spectators but with an audience that you'd expect on an Exploited gig in 1980.


6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We are open to play anywhere but the next step will be to conquer Germany together with our buddies from TarLung. As the plan to take over our neighbouring country is still top secret more information will be provided as soon as possible or necessary ;)

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Just as with recording and touring we have a strong D.I.Y.-attitude towards releasing as well – or, to put it better maybe: D.I.T. (Do it together)! Of course as a band you need to work together with people but we prefer to work with the people who we know well and whom we trust rather than getting ripped off by someone promising you pie in the sky. So, yes, of course we are interested in taking opportunities to bring our music to broader audiences with the help of someone who has the means to do so. And yes, of course it's only fair that they'd participate if it turned out to be a success, even if just a small one. But so far not one of the requests/offers we received looked to be like that. So we keep on standing on our own feet even if that means we stay very underground forever!

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

Besides the rather dubious offers of small labels the feedback by the press and fans was really good, better than we expected. There were reviews from literally all over the world, our songs were featured in radio shows in the United States, Italy and Austria and one Brazilian webzine even included 'Koro' in the highlights of 2015 next to the releases of such greats as Napalm Death, Paradise Lost or Ahab. The red chord of the reviews was that our music can't be pigeonholed and for us that's just as great a compliment as the interest so many people show.

Of course comments like 'In a way, this album makes me finally understand why sludge appeared in the metal scene in the first place' or 'heavier will be hard to find' and especially 'Throes are anything but a 'by numbers' sludge band' are really motivating and inspiring and therefore we appreciate the feedback so far.

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

That's hard to say because we've only just begun writing new material. Some tendencies that can be seen already, though: our sound is getting rawer and rawer over the years and that the next album will feature more up-tempo stuff while the slow stuff will be even heavier and face-in-the-dirt-like. And there will be some surprises, too.

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

When we started, High On Fire, Crowbar, Yob, Melvins and Carnivore inspired us a lot and through the years they still stand tall as the columns on which we build our own sound, while we all still listen to the heroes of our youth, all those 80s and 90s metal and hardcore bands we grew up with. But besides that everyone of us has his own special musical interests which vary and from time to time and also find their way into our music somehow. So, maybe the best idea concerning those musical preferences is to let each of us tell you in his own words:

Mani: I was, am and will always be a die-hard 80s and 90s thrash / death / grind fan, but since I listen to Roxy Music I feel the urge to found a reggae band.

Leebi: ...if I had to play in a reggae band, I'd be lucky to be the bass player! However, I only listen to the music of my buddies Rachmaninoff, Neurosis and Miles Davis.

Helmut: Bands that have impressed and fascinated me recently are for sure Hate Eternal, Behemoth, Mgła and especially Nails. Nails are like the perfect band, everything about them – the sheer brutality of the music, their raw sound, the nasty lyrics, their reserved yet hateful stage performance – is just perfect. Their two releases have become like a prayerbook to me and I can't hardly wait for their upcoming release. Until then I summon my demons by meditating to "Hosianna Mantra" by PopolVuh.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Again and even more so, as we differ quite a lot in this respect, each one of us will speak for himself:

Leebi: I was born into a dynasty of blacksmiths and therefore not only work for my living but live for my work. I craft garden doors, grave crosses and decorative horseshoes. Nowadays the real horseshoes are produced industrially by those damn Hungarians! The times when horses were allowed to be individuals are over! Sorry to disappoint you, my friend!

Mani: My dearest hobby is travelling and I combine it with the crafting of crucifixes made of root wood. I plan to start an online retail site offering them so you can order them. You can also hang them upside down!

Helmut: Iron discipline is the master of my days, so I get up at 4 a.m., do my workout, on my way to work I read on the train for an hour – the great philosophical classics of all cultures known to man or some drug-impregnated work of fiction that might open a different angle on what is called "truth" but is in truth just a name for the unnameable – and do the same thing on my way back home. Thus prepared for the weekends you will find me at a lake in the woods and mountains marvelling at and meditating on the songs of the birds, the creeks, the leaves in the wind and the rocks when they crash after their fall. Hail C'thulhu! Hail Shub-Niggurath!


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

Do yourself a favour and listen to "Koro", support your local scene and keep on drinking them brews! Culture!

Etherial Riffian/I AM, Deathless/Robustfellow Prods/2016 EP Review

  Etherial  Riffian  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  has  had  their  previous  album  recently  reviewed  in  this zine  and  plays  a  psychedelic  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016 ep  "I AM.  Deathless"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Robustfellow  Prods.

  Drum  beats  start  off  the  ep  and  give  the  music  a  tribal  feeling along  with  some  clean  yet  distorted  guitars  and  ethnic  instruments  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  melodic  singing  that  is  more  closer  to  a  traditional  style  of  doom  metal.

  At  times  the  vocals can  get  very  aggressive  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  are  done  in  a  very  melodic fashion  and  both  of  the  tracks  are  very long  and  epic  in  length  and you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  psychedelic  elements  in  the  music  along with  a  brief  use  of  female vocals  and both of  the songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  you  can  also  hear  some  Eastern  style meditation  as well  as  some  whispers  and  spoken  word  parts  on  the  second  track  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Etherial  Riffian  creates  another  recording  that  takes psychedelia  and  world music  and  mixes  it  with  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal,  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Esoteric  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Etherial  Riffian  and  if you  are  a  fan  of  psychedelia,  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Sword  of  the  Deathless".  8/2  out  of  10.    

 

Monster Coyote Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Well...
Amilton Jr. - We are from the northeast of Brazil, from a town called Mossoro. Monster Coyote started in 2011. We had other bands before, but we were never satisfied with the music we made. MC was the band that we thought: "hey! this sounds really good! let's keep going this way"... And that way we started with a more stoner sound, but kept going through a "sludgier" path in every song we composed since. And now we are heavier than ever, and happier than ever with the songs we putted out on NECKBREAKER. In resuming, Monster Coyote are just 3 normal guys (me - guitar and vocals, Daniel Araujo - drums, and Julio Cortez - bass and vocals), with pretty normal lifes and pretty normal jobs, that play loud music together and we fuckin love doing it.


2.So far you have released 2 full lengths and an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?
As I mentioned before, we started in 2011 with the ep "Stoner to the boner" and the name says pretty much everything about it. In 2012, we released "The Howling", and that was when we saw we were getting where we wanted with our music. "The Howling" has a much deeper atmosphere, heavier riffs, darker lyrics and brutal vocals. And was a big turn over after the ep, but we were experimenting, trying new elements. And although it wasn't well recorded (we did all the recording within 2 days!), it had a good repercussion and good reviews on websites and magazines. Now with the NECKBREAKER, we feel we are more experienced and this helped with all the process, making it more professional. Also we worked harder to make the songs sound as good as they sounded in our heads, and the result was better than we expected.

3.Your lyrics cover Werewolves, Legends and tales, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those topics?
It started in "The Howling". We love horror movies and novels, and our former bassist used to tell a tale about his great grandfather that was killed because people thought he was a werewolf, and that became kind of a legend for us. So we decided to make it a conceptual album: a werewolf's tale. There are songs telling his story before he turned into a werewolf, about his transformation, about the killings, his struggle with his curse... But other issues like religion, faith, death, suffering, are implicit in the lyrics.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Monster Coyote'?
We live in a really dry area on the northeast of Brazil. It's called "caatinga", but we nicknamed it "The Desert" after Palm Desert, where many bands that we like started. And we don't have coyotes here, but we thought it would give a good name for our band since it's a desert animal and then, we added the "Monster" in refer to our scary lyrics.


5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
As a independent/underground band, we usually play small gigs and some of our best shows were in small venues playing to a 50 people crowd. That is nothing like being face to face with the crowd, the energy is really amazing. But we have also love to play on bigger stage as we have played at some great festivals all over Brazil and as supporting band for known names in heavy/stoner music as Sepultura, Kadavar, and Truckfighters. And about our performance all I can say is that if ever you go to a MC concert, you'll probably need a neck collar on the day after. Can't say I didn't warn you!

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We are currently rehearsing with our new bassist/vocalist Julio Cortez, and that's why we haven't played on the past weeks. But we already have shows scheduled for April and are planning some local short tours for the next couple of months, so he can pick up the pace. After this we are planning on making a longer tour, probably on South America.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
That's a huge struggle for us, man. We received some proposals, but none have been serious. We are still trying to find a good label to release the NECKBREAKER on cd/vynyl and we really hope we can find a good label the help us releasing this beast. So, if you that are reading this, are the owner of billion-dollar label and is looking for the next greatest band of all time... please let us hear from you. You can start sending us a fat check, that will do it. But if you have a low budget label that is looking for a good sludge metal band, you can also contact us, ok? Please?

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge metal?
We have received many messages and e-mails from different parts of the globe, and sometimes we cannot believe how far our music has gone. It's hard to be heard when you are a small band from a distant and small city of Brazil, but the reception to our music from the stoner/sludge/metal community couldn't be better. We have heard good compliments from music blogs, magazines and fans, and that makes us very happy and leave us wishing to go further and further.


9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Well, with the change on the band's formation is more than natural that the sound will also change, specially when you trade a such important piece as the vocalist. But where we see MC heading? I don't know. I have some different riffs and ideas that I would like to experiment, and for sure Julio and Daniel have some ideas of their own. And I see this as a good thing, because we'll probably end up making something new and different, and that's what MC is all about.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
That's a funny question to answer because we all have different bands and styles we like, and some of them have nothing to do with the music we make, but in the end all theses bands have influenced us somehow. For example, on a daily basis I like to hear bands like Led Zeppelin, Kyuss, Mastodon, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, High On Fire, Slayer, Municipal Waste, Seasick Steve, Helmet, NOFX, Bison, Motorhead, Graveyard, Fu Manchu, Ghost, just to name a few. Daniel, the drummer, listens to some of these bands, but also likes Sepultura, Black Cobra, NIN, Greenleaf, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats... And Julio loves grunge and 90's bands but also bands like Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Machine Head, Backstreet Bo... No? Ok, Julio, I won't tell them. Lately I've listening to some Brazilian bands like Saturndust, Muñoz and Son of a Witch, and from abroad, I can name Fight Amp, Blues Pills, Stoned Jesus and Black Sabbath. ALWAYS. Black. Fuckin'. Sabbath.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Speaking for myself, I love any kind of movies (but specially the old ones), biography and fiction books, video games, Star Wars, soccer, travelling (specially to concerts) and sex. Not necessarily in that order.


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

If you ever, ever, EVER get to see us in your town, don't miss that fuckin' gig and invite all your friends so we can have a good time and drink some cold beer while breaking our necks to heavy music. Alright? Oh, and support your local bands, dude, don't be a prick. Cheers!

Child Bite/Negative Noise/Housecore Records/2016 CD Review

  Child  Bite  are  a  band  from  Michigan  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  metal, post  hardcore,  punk,  prog,  noise  rock  and  surf  and  this is  a review of  their  2016  album  "Negative  Noise"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Housecore  Records.

  A  very  distorted  noise  rock  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  yet  aggressive  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  lot  of  early  80's  hardcore  punk  influences.

  Elements  of  surf  music  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  the  music  also  starts  incorporating  some  post  rock  melodies  once  leads  are  added  into  the  songs  and  the  guitar  riffs  also  mix  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  it  really  brings  out  the  punk  style  a  lot  more  and  after  awhile  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  harsh  noise  and  some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts.

  Child  Bite  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  very  hard  to  classify  with  elements of  sludge  metal,  noise  rock,  post  hardcore,  punk  and  surf  music  being  mixed  into  all  of t he  songs,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  real  life  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Child  Bite  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  metal, post  hardcore,  punk,  prog,  noise  rock  and  surf  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  o  those  musical  genres,  you  should c heck  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Death  before  Dementia"  "Born  A  Hog"  "Beyond  Th  Dirt"  and  "Heretic  Generation".  7/8 out  of  10.