Contra Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Chris: We are having our debut release "Deny Everything" on RobustFellow Productions. At the same time, we are playing some shows in the Cleveland / Akron area and writing some new tunes.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
Chris: Metal. To add some color to that we have a lot of different influences such as rock, punk, sludge, doom, hardcore.
Larry:  Yeah, definitely metal.  I think the rock influences are more evident than one might hear during the first or second listen. I’d like to start drawing on some more blues influences in the future.

3.In the beginning the music was all instrumental, what was the decision behind finally using vocals?
Chris: Thanks for asking that. We were playing as an instrumental for about a year or two when we decided we wanted to add another element to the band. We asked Larry because he great at what he does, it's different and we have all known him forever now.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Chris: I'll leave that to Larry. However, all the song titles on Deny Everything are completely random since they were all made before Larry joined the band.
Larry: The only real question I consider when I am writing lyrics is whether or not they fit with the overall aesthetic of the music. Which can be difficult because a lot of people will just listen briefly, think we sound like a stoner/doom/sludge band and expect lyrics about wizards, warlords, dope and other bullshit. Which is fine - other people have covered that ground - I’m just not interested in that sort of thing. The lyrics are all personal. I guess you could say that they are angry, but there are a variety of themes that run throughout. I’m not that concerned with communicating specific ideas with listeners - I’d leave it up to them to interpret them how they see fit.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Contra'?
Chris: One day we were all talking about what we should name the band. It took us a few months until one day we were talking about playing video games. We started talking about old school NES games and thought it would be cool to name our band after CONTRA.
Larry: Contra also means “against” or “opposite” in Latin. Which is why I thought “Deny Everything” was an appropriate title for the record - it’s also the name of my favorite Circle Jerks song...

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Chris: There were two shows and they were both in Cleveland. One was with Acid King and the other was with Ufomammut. We have a couple more coming up that could possibly be even better than those. One is with CONAN and another RELAXER. The guitarist owns Earthquaker Devices in Akron, Ohio. I also used to play in a band (Sofa King Killer) with the drummer from RELAXER.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Chris: We want to do something. We all really want to get on a big show, a festival type of thing. Then we were thinking about doing a short tour to and from wherever that would be. We would also like to do some weekend warrior shows around the Midwest or East Coast.

8.The new album is going to be released as a joint effort between 'Robustfellow Productions' and 'Shifty Records', can you tell us a little bit more about those labels?
Chris: RobustFellow Productions is from Kiev Ukraine. Filipp the guy who runs it is awesome. We are fortunate to be working with him. He goes beyond everything I was expecting. The artwork they do is really cool as well. Shifty Records from Akron, Ohio is joining the project as well to help us out with some distribution and other things relating to the release.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Chris: We like to mix it up. I have a ton of riffs saved on my phone so we can go in many different directions. It's just a matter of us getting the time to write new songs. I foresee a lot of more riffs influenced by Budgie, some Sabbath, maybe some Motorhead.
Larry: I’ve been listening to a lot of Budgie as well and Motorhead is always in heavy rotation.  But, I’d like to see more blues creep into what we’re doing as well.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner and doom metal?
Chris: It's been mixed but overall I think it has been positive.
Larry: It’s early, so it is hard to say. I agree with Chris. It’s probably mixed.  But, part of that is because a lot of folks put us into a stoner/doom category. I’m not really into those types of labels or sub-genres. I think “metal” is probably the most appropriate description for us in spite of the variety of influences in our music.

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?
Chris: I mainly listen to Rock and Metal. I also listen to some sludge and doom as well. Lately it's been Dust, Cactus, Floor, Church of Misery and Witch Mountain.
Larry: Primarily the blues and a lot of hardcore punk. I go from listening to Leadbelly, Taj Mahal or Howlin’ Wolf to Negative Approach and SS Decontrol daily. There are a few other outliers as well like The Birthday Party, Morphine and Tom Waits.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Chris: I've been playing a lot of PS4 lately. I'm a big fan of gory zombie games. For a while I was playing a lot of 8 bit old school NES games like Contra, Street Fighter, Bad Dudes. I also create websites for a living.
Larry: I read a lot. Novels as well as comics. Jim Thompson is a favorite of mine. I watch a lot of the old Hammer Films from the 60’s and 70’s as well.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Chris: Thanks for giving us some time on here. Visit our website. It's a portal with links to our Facebook, Bandcamp, Merch and all other things.
Larry: Thanks!
Contra's website:
http://www.contracleveland.com

Onegodless Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
ONEGODLESS was founded by me (Robin Zielhorst) in 2013. After playing technical music for a couple of years in bands like Cynic and Exivious, I wanted to do something different, a new outlet for this musical side. The starting point was the idea that I wanted a band just for fun, nice groovy metal music, to which you could drink a few beers, have fun with friends, and have an overall good evening. After writing the first few songs, it felt like I was on the right way, the Pantera/Down/Black Label Society kind of feel and attitude in the music felt really good. After some initial lineup changes, we eventually found the current lineup with Pieter Verpaalen on vocals, Yordi Lopez on guitars and Yuma van Eekelen on drums.

2.You have a new album coming out in June, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Heavy, clear, hard, transparent, honest. I'm extremely happy with the mix, I think Tymon Kruidenier did an outstanding job. Obviously, being a bass player myself, I wanted the bass sound to be a big part of the sound, pretty much 50/50 with the guitar. I think in most metal productions, the bass is way too low in the mix. I wanted to do something different with "Mourner", and I think we succeeded in that. I just hope there's more people that like it hahaha!.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Most lyrics are written by Pieter Verpaalen, and he has a unique approach to lyrics. He writes them so you can interpret them how you'd want. As an overall feel, his lyrics really match with the lyrics I wrote myself, with topics like depression, suicide, the ups and down of life, and the world we live in. Not the most light and happy topics perhaps, but to us it's what's worth writing about, something that makes you write down those words and fitting them in the music. Pieter is a personal hero for me for the way he works with lyrics and vocal lines. It was amazing to work with him on that.

4.Originally the band was known as 'Mourn', what was the cause of the new change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Onegodless'?
We received a friendly but pretty stern and clear e-mail from the manager of the Spanish Mourn, asking if we would change our name. They claimed the name, so we didn't really have much choice in the matter. OneGodLess was a name I had in my head for a few years. It's not so much about "God" as it's about the loss of belief in idols, ideals and ideas you have when you're younger, losing faith in that kind of external hope and confirmation. It all comes down to yourself, all the hope and faith you have should be in yourself, which makes it pretty hard sometimes.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We played a few shows with the current lineup, as we were focusing on recording and mixing the album. We had a great show recently in The Hague, which I think was our best show thus far. I would like to describe our live show as energetic, groovy, honest, hard and loud. I'm curious to hear what the audience thinks about the shows, until now, the response has been great, though.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We are currently bookings shows to promote the album, dates are to be confirmed.. As we are a "new" band, much will also depend on how the album is received. But I'm positive about our future, I really believe in this band.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We're not really looking at the moment, wanting to control all the aspects of the album. Having a label of course has its upsides, but it also comes with some consequences that might not be worth it at this stage of the band. Of course, if the band keeps growing, at a certain point I'd rather work together with a label, but that's something for the future.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of heavy rock and metal?
Overall, responses have been great, extremely positive, people seem to like the mix of Pantera-like metal with the stoner/sludge feel we make.

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
I'm currently working as a session bass player for various bands, recording album in my home studio, and I'm still involved with Exivious and Our Oceans, and writing solo pieces for bass, recording them and releasing them online. Yuma is playing with Exivious, Our Oceans and Cartographer, Yordi is playing with Red Eyes and recently founded a new project called 3D Monster.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I think the style we have, the songs I've written and combined with the lyrics and people in the band match really well. Musically, I don’t think a lot will change, but I'm not really thinking about the next record yet. First "Mourner", getting that released and out in the world, and we'll see after that how it all goes. It's more important for me everything feels good, and the music is honest and close to the heart.

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?
Influences are Pantera, Black Label Society, Down and Black Sabbath. Those are the bands I got most of my inspiration from. Those are also still the bands I listen to mostly when I listen to metal. Besides that, I like pretty much everything, as long as it's good. Whether it's Kendrick Lamar, Meshuggah, A Perfect Circle, Dimmu Borgir, Deep Purple, Eminem, Dr Dre, Miles Davis, Anaal Nathrakh, Bill Evans Trio, Alain Caron, Devin Townsend, Deadmau5, Sia, Karnivool, Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Led Zeppelin, Red Fang, Tipper…

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I started doing Yoga recently, I liked that a lot. I'm a big fan of nature and animals, my 3 cats are always a good part of my day. I also like to travel with my girlfriend, we've gone to Asia for a few times now, and we love it there. It's great to be out of the Western world every once in a while.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interview. And for the people out there: be sure to order the CD and/or shirt at our website www.onegodlessofficial.com. Thanks for all your support, we hope to be grooving on a stage near you soon!
 

Callus/Through Blood, Sweat, Piss And Pain/2017 EP Review

  Callus  are  a  band  from t he  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  doom  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  ep  "Through  Blood,  Sweat,  Piss  And  Pain".

A  soundscape  and  spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  thrash  influenced  direction  and  after  awhile  aggressive  vocals a re  added  onto  the  recording  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  an  old  school  style  of  extreme  metal  and  there  are  a  lot  of  80's  influences.

  While  a  lot  of  the  music  is  rooted  in t he  past t he  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  elements  gives  the  songs  a  more  modern  feeling  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  while  the  music  is  mostly  slow  or  mid  paced  it  does  have  its  fast  moments  and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  Callus  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  thrash,  sludge, s toner  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark a nd  apocalyptic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Callus  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  thrash,  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should c heck  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Chimp  Militia"  and  "The  Root  Of  All  Evil".  8  out  of  10. 

Hive/Parasitic Twin/Crown & Throne Ltd/2017 Full Length Review

  Hive  are  a  band  from  Minnesota  that  plays  a  mixture of  crust,  d  beat  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Parasitic  Twin"  which  was  released  by  Crown  &  Throne  Ltd.

  A  very  heavy  crust  sound  along  with  some  d  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  aggressive  hardcore  style  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  melodies  along  with  elements  of  post  hardcore  can  be  heard  at  times  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  a  touch  of  metal  can  also  be  heard  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in   an  old school  crust  and  d  beat  style  while  the  music  still  sounds  very  modern  at  the  same  time  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  while  there  are   also  a  couple  of  long  and  epic  tracks  as  the  album  progresses  while  a  later  song  introduces  atmospheric  drones  and  clean  guitars  along  with  a  few slides  onto  the  album  and  spoken  word  samples  are  also  used  briefly.

  Hive  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  crust,  d  beat  and  dark  hardcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  apocalyptic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Hive  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust,  d  beat  and  dark  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Low  Hanging  Fruit  Of  War"  "Foot  Binding"  "Intruder"  and  "Heaven's  Gutter".  8  out  of  10. 

Onegodless/Mourner/2017 Full Length Review

  Onegodless  are  a  band  from t he  Netherlands  that  plays  a  mixture  of  blues,  stoner,  groove  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Mourner"  which  will  be  released  in  June.

  A  brief  intro  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  southern  groove  metal  styles  along  with  some  sludge  style  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  spoken  word  parts  are  also  used  at  times.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  add  in  touches  of  blues rock  while  some  of  the  music  also adds  in a  more  modern  stoner  style  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  mid  paced  musical  direction  while  always  remaining  heavy  and  having  influences  that  start  in  the  70's  up  to  the  modern  era.

  Onegodless  plays  a  musical style   that  takes  groove,  stoner  and  sludge  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  very  heavy  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional while  the  lyrics  cover  dark and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Onegodless  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  groove,  stoner  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Calm"  "Unstable"  "Salvation"  and  "From  The  Ashes".  8  out  of  10.   

     

 

 

Harvestman/Music For Megaliths/Neurot Recordings/2017 CD Review

  Harvestman  is  another  solo  project  from  Neurosis's  Steve  Von  Till  that  plays  a  mixture  of  psychedelic,  folk  and  drone  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "Music  For  Megaliths"  which  will  be  released  in  My  by  Neurot  Recordings.

  Acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  atmospheric  soundscapes  which  also  gives  the  recording  a  neo  folk  feeling  as  well  as  synths,  psychedelic  and  avant  garde  elements  and  at  times  the  music  brings  in  a  very  shamanistic  and  ritualistic  atmosphere  along  with  some  drones.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  krautrock  and  noise  at  times  and  after  awhile  electric  guitars  are added  into  certain sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  few  melodic  leads  and  some  tracks  also  add  in touches  of  ambient  and  electronic  music  and  some  songs  also  add  in  guitar  slides  and  after  plenty  of  instrumentals,  vocals  long  with  spoken  word  parts  are  finally  added  onto  the  recording  briefly.

  Harvestman  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  post  metal,  neo  folk,  noise,  drone,  and  psychedelic  music  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  song  themes  focus  on  ruins,  monuments  and  ancient  sites  of  worship. 

  In  my  opinion  Harvestman  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  post  metal,  krautrock,  psychedelic,  noise  and  neo  folk  and  if  you a re  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Forest  Is  Our  Temple"  "Cromlech"  and  "White  Horse".  8 out  of  10.

Monobrow Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Right now we are finishing up the inserts that will be included with the vinyl release and trying to organize some shows in and around our region (Ontario and Quebec) for the summer and fall.

2.In May 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?
I think this is the most focused album of ours.  It is a bit of a concept album so we really tried to make sure the entire album flows together really well.  Overall this is probably our darkest/angriest sounding record both in composition and production.  The main difference when compared to our previous albums is the addition of lyrics.   While we remain an instrumental band we had Ryan Kjrr, a friend of ours, come up with a story to go along with the music.  Those that are familiar with our previous recordings may also notice the the synthesizers play a more prominent role than in the past.  The album really acts as a soundtrack to the story Ryan came up with.  It's the first time we try anything like this so it will be interesting to hear people's reactions and thoughts.  Overall we are extremely happy with how everything turned out, from the music, production, artwork and of course the lyrics.

3.So far all of the music has been instrumental, are you open to using any vocals in the future?
We have been doing this since 2009 and have established ourselves as an instrumental band.  I can't see us ever adding a vocalist to the mix but that's not to say that we would not be open to maybe adding vocals to a track or two a future release.  If we feel that a song can use vocals then we would certainly be open to it, after all vocals are just another instrument.

4.I know that the bands name means 'knitted brows' in Russian, how does this time fit in with the musical style you play?
It really doesn't other than maybe it shows that we don't take ourselves too seriously.  And in the past people have commented that they can hear our sense of humour in our songs, although this album may not be as humorous as some of the previous records. 

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?
We've had our share of good shows and bad shows.  It seems the more the audience is into it the better we play and come out feeling really good about our performance.  One of the most fun shows we've played was in our hometown of Ottawa in 2012 as part of the All That is Heavy festival that was headlined by Blood Ceremony and Iron Man.  Great crowd, great bands and everything went really smoothly.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We don't consider ourselves a touring band.  Our personal lives and work commitments don't really allow for any extended touring.  We will try and support the new release with shows within a few hours drive from Ottawa and if all goes well we may head out to the east coast of Canada to play in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.  We'll see what happens.  In general we rely on the internet to spread our music and attract new listeners.  Blogs and sites such as yours are essential for us as is YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc.

7.The new album is coming out on 'Trill Or Be Trilled Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
There isn't much to tell.  It's our own label that we are using to release Monobrow records.  We've discussed potentially adding other bands and turning it into a collaborative effort to support each other and increase our network but it's still very early right now and we'll see where it takes us.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner and doom metal?
People that take the time to get into our music generally like it.  We get lots of positive feedback and album reviews indicate that people do like what they hear.  We struggle a little bit because we are instrumental and I think we're likely losing a large percentage of the metal/doom/stoner audience because of that.  It's unfortunate because we really feel the music speaks for itself and if people would give it more of a chance they may find that they really do like it and won't miss the vocal element.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We're already working on new material and hopefully we can get back to the studio and have another album out in the next 24 months.  We're talking among ourselves as to whether or not we want to write a "sequel" to The Nacarat or if we should move on to a whole new idea or even not do the concept album thing again.  So far the new material sounds like the logical next step after The Nacarat.  The key for us is to keep writing and being creative, we really don't like repetition (i think our songs and albums showcase that) and we like to keep things fresh and moving.  It''s a big part of why we have been able to get to where we are.  4 LPs and an EP in the span of about 8 years is decent catalog of songs.  We would have never thought as an non-touring instrumental band from Ottawa we would be where we are today.  Musically we keep evolving if you listen to our first record and then listen to this latest one I think you would hear a significant difference.  We have definitely grown and we have a lot more attention to detail without losing the energy of our younger selves.

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?
So many to name.  We are all huge music nerds and listen to all styles of music.  I think the obvious influences can be heard in our music like Black Sabbath, Kyuss, Pentagram and any of Wino's bands, Funkadelic.  But on a more subtle level there are tons of bands and artists that influence and inspire us. 

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Similar to our musical tastes, our non musical interests are varied.  Movies, books, basketball, tennis, beer, food, beer, food, beer, food.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for taking the time to check us out and for sharing our work.  We hope that those who hear it enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it!

Monobrow/The Nacarat/Trill Or Be Trilled Reocrds/2017 Full Length Review

  Monobrow  are  a  band  from  Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada  that  plays  an  instrumental  mixture  of  psychedelic,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "The  Nacarat"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Trill  Or  Be  Trilled  Records.

  Audience  noise  and  drum  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  riffs  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  mix  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  70's  rock  influences  and  you can  also  hear  all  of t he  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on t he  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  bring  in  a  very  retro  and  melodic  style.

  A  lot  of  the  riffs  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  after  awhile  psychedelic  and  stoner  rock  elements  start  making  their  presence  known  and  acoustic  guitars  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the recording  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction.

  Monobrow  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  psychedelic,  stoner,  doom  metal  and  impov  together  along  with  no  vocals  to  create  something  different  and  very  original  and  the  production  also  sounds  very  professional.

  In  my  opinion  Monobrow  are  a  very  great  sounding  instrumental mixture  of  psychedelic,  stoner,  and  doom  metal  and  if  you a re  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should c heck  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Capes  And  Monocles"  and  "Twin  Sheiks".  8  out  of  10.

 

Contra/Deny Everything/Robustfellow Productions/Shifty Records/2017 CD Review

  Contra  are  a  band f rom  Cleveland,  Ohio  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Deny  Everything"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Robustfellow  Productions  and  Shifty  Records.

  Distorted  amp  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  and  melodic  retro  metal  style  riffing  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  add  in  a  touch  of  blues  and  stoner  rock  while  the  vocals  are  done  in  an  aggressive  hardcore  and  sludge  mixture  style  and  a  great  amount  of  doom  metal  elements  can  be  heard.

  While  the  music  does  have  a  lot  of  old  school  influences  it  still  sounds  very  modern  at  the  same  time  while  the  riffs  and  leads  also  utilize  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  a  couple  of  tracks  are  all  instrumental  and  a  couple  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  music  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction.

  Contra  plays  a  musical  style  that takes  70's  blues  rock  and  proto  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  the  heaviness  of  modern  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  mythological  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  Contra  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Human  Buzzsaw"  "The  Gorgon"  "Son  Of  Beast"  and  "Shrimp  Cocktail".  8  out  of  10.

 

 

When The Sun Comes Down/Welcome/Minotauro Records/2017 CD Review

  When  The  Sun  Comes  Down  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  consists  of  former  members  from  Death  SS  and  Violet  Theatre  and  plays  a  musical  style  they  refer  to  as  doom  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Welcome"  which  was  released  by  Minotauro  Records.

  Heavy  guitar  riffs  start  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  clean  singing  yet  aggressive  vocals a re  added  onto  the  recording  and  the  music  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  adding  in  a  70's  hard  rock/metal  style.

  Psychedelic  elements  can  be  heard  at  times  along  with  some  horror  music  style  keyboards  and  while  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  past  the  production  gives  the  songs  a  more  modern  feeling  and  a  brief  use  of  saxophones  can  also  be  heard  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  one  song  also  introduces  acoustic  guitars  onto  the  recording  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction.

  When  The  Sun  Comes  Down  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  old  school  doom  metal  and  psychedelic  rock  and  mixes  them  together  as  well  updating  the  genre  for  the  modern  era,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  When  the  Sun  Comes  Down  are  a  very  great  sounding  doom  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Mister  Lie"  "Myself"  and  "Because  We  Where  Fools".  8  out  of  10.

Demon Head/Thunder On The Fields/Caligari Records/2017 Cassette Review

  Denmark's  Demon  Head  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  that  continues  the  retro  mixture  of  occult  rock  and  doom  metal  from  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Thunder  On  The  Fields"  which  was  released  on  cassette  by  Caligari  Records.

  Melodic  70's  influenced  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  and  bass  guitar  leads  are  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  elements  of  proto  metal  while  also  having  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  clean  singing.

  A  great  amount  of  70's  doom  metal  elements  can  be  heard  throughout  the  recording  while  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  bring  in  a  retro  style  of  70's  meal  and  hard  rock  and  clean  and  acoustic  guitars  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  songs  also  sounding  like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  released  more  than  40  years  ago  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  either  sticking  to  a  slow  of  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Demon  Head  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  their  70's  mixture  of  occult  rock  and  doom  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism  and  Dark  Fantasy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Demon  Head  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  occult  rock  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  cassette.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "We  Are  Burning"  "Older  Now"  and  "Untune  the  Sky".  8  out  of  10. 

Palehorse/Palerider/Burial Songs/Graven Earth Records/2017 Cassette Review

  Palehorse/Palerider  are  a  band  from  Denver,  Colorado  that  plays  a  musical  style  they  describe  as  being  doomgaze  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Burial  Songs"  which  will  be  released  on  April  28th  by  Graven  Earth  Records.

  Atmospheric  drones  and  drum  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitar  leads  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  traditional  guitar  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  shoegaze  fashion  and  after  awhile  the  riffs  start  mixing  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  along  with  all  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Vocals  are  mostly  done  in  a  clean  singing  style  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  clean  guitars  and  synths  and  at  times  the  music  also  adds  in  elements  of  psychedelic  and  90's  alternative  rock  while  also  sounding  very  modern  at  the  same  time  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  slow  musical  style.

  Palehorse/Palerider  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  an  atmospheric  form  of  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  with  shoegaze  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Palehorse/Palerider  are  a  very  great  sounding  doomgaze  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  cassette.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sundowning"  and  "Nero".  8  out  of  10. 
 

 

Pyreship/The Liars Bend Low/Black Bow Records/2017 Full Length Review

  Pyreship  are  a  band  from  Houston,  Texas  that  plays  a  mixture  of  post,  doom  metal,  slowcore  and  noise  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "The  Liars  Bend  Low"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Black  Bow  Records.

  Post  rock  style  riffing  and  melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  and  clean  guitars  are  also  utilized  at  times  and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  alternative  rock  style  vocals  along  with  some  aggressive  noise  rock  screams  while  the  songs  still  mix  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  spoken  word  samples  are  also  used  briefly  while  a  lot  of  riffs  are  also  very  heavily  influenced  by  slowcore  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  slow  direction  while  also  adding  in  heavy  sludge  style  riffing.

  Pyreship  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge,  post  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  with  slowcore  and  noise  rock  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  and political  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Pyreship  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  post,  sludge,  doom  metal,  slowcore  and  noise  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Machine  Man"  and  "Die-Sect".  8  out  of  10. 

 

The Ditch And The Delta/Hives In Decline/Battleground Records/2017 CD Rview

  The  Ditch  And  The  Delta  are  a  band  from  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  math  and  noise  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Hives  In  Decline"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Battleground  Records.

  Atmospheric  drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  amp  sounds  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  a  more  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  which  also  introduces  drums  onto  the  recording  and  after  awhile  sludge  style  screams  start  making  their  presence  known  along  with  touches  of  noise  rock.

 Math  rock  style  structures  are  used  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  yet  progressive  style  and  at  times  the  bass  guitars  also  add  in  leads  of  their  own  along  with  clean  playing  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording,

  Some  tracks  also  add  in  elements  of  post  rock  while  one  track  adds  in  touches  of  blues  rock  along  with  a  small  amount  of  slide  guitars  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction  and  on  the  closing  track  a  decent  amount  of  melodic  vocals  are  added  into  the  music.

  The  Dutch  And  The  Delta  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  progressive  form  of  sludge  metal  and  mixes  it  with  math,  noise  and  post  rock  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Dutch  And  The  Delta  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  math  and  noise  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fuck  On  Asphalt"  and  "Dread  Spectacle".  8  out  of  10.

 

 

Obelyskkh/The Providence/Exile On Mainstream/2017 CD Review

  Obelyskkh  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  psychedelic  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "The  Providence"  which  was  released  by  Exile  On  Mainstream.

  Distorted  amp  sounds  along  with  some  drum  beats  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  sludge  and  doom  metal  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  clean  singing  stoner  vocals  are  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  along  with  most  of  the  tracks  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Aggressive  sludge  style  screams  are  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs  while  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  after  awhile  psychedelic  elements  also  start making  their  presence  known  and  when  guitar  leads a re  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  along  with  one  track  being  instrumental  and  when  the  music  speeds  up a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  adds  in a   touch  of  black  metal. 

  Obelyskkh  creates  another  recording t hat  remains  true  to  the  psychedelic  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Greek  Mythology,  Drugs,  Revelations,  and  Jesco  White  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Obelyskkh  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  psychedelic,  stoner,  sludge,  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Raving   Ones"  and  "Marzanna''.  8  out  of  10.

Superjoint/Caught Up In The Gears Of Application/Housecore Records/2016 CD Review

  Superjoint  are  a  band  from  Louisiana  that  was  previously  known  as  Superjoint  Ritual  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Caught  Up  In  The  Gears  Of  Application"  which  was  released  by  Housecore  Records. 

  Distorted  amp  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  aggressive  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  which  also  leads  up  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  that  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  sludge  metal  elements  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  At  times  the  music  brings  in  the  energy  of  punk  rock  while  the  vocals  almost  have  a  death  metal  touch  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  along  with  some  aggressive  screams  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  melodic  metal  and  punk edge  and  the  music  also  always  remains  very  heavy.

  Superjoint  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  sludge  metal  and  crossover  mixture  of  previous  releases  while  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  crust,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Marijuana,  Alcohol,  Violence  and  Personal  Struggles  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Superjoint  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  metal  and  crossover  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Today  And  Tomorrow"  "Caught  Up  In  The  Gears  Of  Application"  "Asshole"  and  "Rigging  The  Fight".  8  out  of  10. 

Gurt/Skullossus/When Planets Collide/2017 CD Review

  Gurt  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Skullossus"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  When  Planets  Collide.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  and  spoken  word  parts  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  aggressive  sludge  style  screams  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  the  more  heavy  side  of  doom  metal  along  with  one  track  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  At  times  the  music  adds  in  a  stoner  touch  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  fashion  and  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  can  also  be  heard  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  some  songs  also  mix  in  the  energy  of  punk  rock  and  on  some  tracks  the  vocals  also  add  in  a  touch  of  groove  metal  and  one  track  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  saxophones  and  pianos  are  added  onto  the  closing  track.

  Gurt  plays  a  style  of  sludge  metal  that  is  very  aggressive  and  heavy  while  also  adding  in  touches  of  punk  and  groove  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the lyrics  cover  angry  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gurt  are  a  very  great  sounding  sludge  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Give  Me  The  Night,  Any  Day"  "Existence  Is  Pain"  and  "Meowing  At  The  Fridge".  8  out  of  10.   

Kollapse Interview

Interview w. Thomas (singer/bass player) + Troels (singer/guitar player) in kollapse, 11.04.2017

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Thomas: We are currently going to play a line of shows around Europe. We have predominantly been occupied in our rehearsal space as well as playing a few select shows in Denmark. We've been in contact with various people regarding creative stuff like the VOID video (Dukkefar) and more trivial stuff like booking shows and so on.

2.You have a new album coming out in May, 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?
Thomas: ANGST is definitely different from what we did 5 years ago. When we started out, we didn't have a clear vision of how we wanted kollapse to sound and feel. When you put three guys in a room, with various musical pasts and strong convictions, you have to do a little bit of leg work, before something congruent pans out. We basically started out by recording a demo, that we released on vinyl. Very DIY and very "punk rock". To say we have a difference of opinion about those recordings would be an understatement.
We started to find our feet around the time of the recording of the FATHER track we did as a split with NO FEALTY out of Copenhagen. They are good people and their music is awesome as fuck. At that point we had abandoned all notions about sounding like anyone else or writing genre specific music. I tend to get bored by music that falls neatly into categories pretty fast, I have no ambitions towards playing d beat, crust, black metal or whatever. I like some of that stuff, but I tend to gravitate towards music that doesn't wrap up to nicely. I like some records that nail a certain classical feel, but as far as my own musical endeavours are concerned, it doesn't really interest me. I haven't got the musical nor emotional chops for stuff like that anyway.
As for how the sound is presented on the album, I couldn't be happier about it. Every instrument sounds strong, the guitars have a nice blend of different, interesting sounds that I like, the drums are massive but still fit Peters very meticulous style and for once the bass is actually audible. Many recordings today are all guitars and in-the-red mastering: everything is as loud as it can possibly get - we didn't want that for ANGST.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Thomas: The lyrical approach of kollapse is probably the only thing that has been fairly constant. We write about things that matter to us in our personal lives. We steer clear of politics and religion because it's shit. I have written a good deal of the lyrics on the album and my lyrics are rooted in emotional turmoil basically. My vocals come from the pit of my stomach and I would feel silly "singing" about satan, demons or whatever. Also I have a strong atheist outlook and I keep the lyrics within the confines of this outlook, so I focus on humanist and existential issues. I prefer psychology and being grounded to spiritual or faith based lyrics.
I tend to get inspired by somewhat depressing stuff like Thomas Ligotti, Francis Bacon and Northern European art like Edward Munch.
Life is messy and unstable. We feel a need to be honest about that.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Kollapse'?
Thomas: We really like the Swedish band Breach and we felt it tied in well with what we were trying to do lyrically - both in terms of the lyrics themselves but also the spelling of "kollaps(e)" with the added "e" in the end (we write lyrics in more than one language).

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Thomas: We are all from the Northern part of Denmark and we tend to adopt the very self critical attitude that is prevalent here. We don't really "perform" as such. We do whatever feels natural. I tend to focus on the delivery whereas Troels and Frederik tend to move around more. I enjoy bands who are able to project something honest, even if this means coming of as insecure or not "professional" or whatever. Be yourself.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
Thomas: We will play Manchester and Hamburg this month, hopefully we will get to play Norway and Sweden this year as well. I am half Norweigan, so Norway is a special place for me.
Troels: Besides that we are also playing Germany and most parts of Denmark, that are worth playing at for a band like us. Going on tour is always extremely rewarding as we get the meet likeminded people and have an outlet for our minds and music.

7.You have also been a part of a couple of splits, can you tell us a little bit more about the bands you have shared these recordings with?
Troels: We did the No Fealty split and a compilation of local bands with the song FATHER . It was a compilation I did as a homage to an old local compilation, that documented a time and space at our local scene. I felt like there needed a new one, because there were so many great punk and hardcore bands at the time. I think the record turned out well and people were stoked about it. It is sold out now, but every now and then new punks approach me and ask me if I’m able to get them a copy. I hope one day they make another compilation as a homage to the old ones. DIY!

8.Can you tell us a little bit more about '5 Feet Under Records'?
Troels: 5FeetUnder is a label I run with five of my friends. We have this policy at our record label that we all have to agree that it is awesome, and if one of us does not think that, then we will not release it. There are no boundaries and we try not to limit ourselves. If music is good then it does not matter what type of music it is. All our releases are heavy music, though. We have released almost 80 records and we are really proud of our work and the records we have put out.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge, crust, and hardcore?
Thomas: Reviews are coming in as we speak, but generally people seem interested.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Thomas: This is a tricky one, I see kollapse evolving. All four members are past thirty, so we will do whatever feels natural and exciting to do given the circumstances. As long as we are honest about what we do, feel exited about the music and we are able to get time off from parenting and work, kollapse will reflect who we are as people.

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?
Thomas: We are all big music fans, so influences for kollapse are pretty varied, Frederik is really into black metal, crust and minimal techno. Peter goes for experimental heavy stuff. Troels is really into modern hardcore.
As far as my own listening habits go, there are hundreds of bands haha.
Lately I have been buying and listening to Danish stuff like Recitation, Slægt, Orm and Nyt Liv (and a slew of danish free jazz reissues), but I have my "go-to's" like Breach, Swans, Neurosis, Weakling, Coil, Joy Division and so on.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Thomas: I really enjoy painting, skateboarding and hanging out with my son and my girlfriend. Pretty standard stuff. Lately I have been buying/reading books on art - people like Hermann Nitsch, Raymond Pettibon and Billy Childish.

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

Barque Interview

1)    Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band these days?

We're currently focusing on composing new stuff, so far we have 3 new songs and we'd really like recording soon, maybe using those new songs for a split record.

2.How would you describe the musical sound of the new ep?

We recorded the EP live, we wanted something raw and gritty. Nico (Tarridec of BBK studio) really helped us in that way and their collaboration with Role (Mix/ mastering, die Tonmeisterei) developed that idea.

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

The whole EP deals with the same topics : treason, deceit and resignation.

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

Our earlier stuff used to deal with nautical themes, it's still something we like but we wanted to focus on one thing for the whole EP. So when we had to get a band name, we proposed different ones, all sounded a bit pretentious, refering to big and powerful boats, so we joked about a tiny raw boat (in French Barque)

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

We had the opportunity to play really cool shows but our favourite one was in Gent (Belgium) last September with Absolutist and other nice bands. People were awesome and really dug our stuff, the encore was just crazy. We also had a blast at the Kalvaire in Dunkerque (our guitar player's hometown) The show at the underworld (London) with Oathbreaker was also cool, it just wasn't our best performance we got a little carried away by the enthusiasm of being there.

It's difficult to describe our own stage performance, we try to deliver something sincere without taking ourselves too seriously.

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

We have a few great shows / fests to come, in Northern France and Belgium.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the labels you have worked with on the new ep?

First we asked a few friends who run labels to see if they were up to it (Nevin of IFB, Tim of Dingleberry and Arne of Mosh Potatoes) then we decided to ask around if other people were interested and the responses surprised us, 8 more labels teamed up. (59SRS, Rakkerpak records, Rubaiyat records, Rip shit storm, Icore records, Cheap Talks, Insonnia Lunare and Longrail records) it was handled by Eastrain rec (our singer's label) It was a real pleasure to collaborate with all these people, everything went smoothly and we 're more then thankful for this, it was an awesome experience.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of crust and hardcore

Once again we were nicely surprised, all of our labels spread the news really fast and we got lots of positive reviews, even from the metal scene which we thought we were far from, but in the end I think we don't really belong in only one scene.

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

I think we found what we deeply want to do with our music. Going on blending the styles we like : hardcore / punk / screamo with more aggressive and darker patterns. We got a bit more particular about our writing.

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?

We dig dark stuff and we're really fan of The Secret and This Gift Is A Curse, and purely  aggressive music like Trap Them or Nails. But most of us were also really into the screamo scene and their work on melodies (Envy, Orchid, Saetia...)

Nowadays, it's pretty much the same, personally  LLNN album « Loss »   is on repeat.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I'm fond of literature and I really like using my favourite books as references to write our lyrics. On an other level, our drummer is pretty into video games (great fan of Rocket League) I know it's not very special but human relationships are very important for us, we dig hanging around and having fun together.

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

Not much, we wanted to thank you very much for your time and for giving us the opportunity of sharing our music. Also thanks to all the people involved in this project : all the labels, all the people who set up a show or just came to hang out with us, people who reviewed the EP and of course our friends.

Attonement Theory Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
It started off as me (Jay Jancetic) writing and recording these songs on my Macbook as a means of coping with a lot of very difficult, very personal things I was dealing with at the time. By the time the project started to see the light of day, I was an active member in Harm’s Way (Metal Blade/Deathwish) and I didn’t really have a live lineup, so we released the EP as my “solo project”. Since then we’ve added Greg Bruchert, Phil Marfoglio and Eorl Scholl and we’ve been playing shows and writing music under this lineup and moving away from it just benig my “solo” stuff.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the ep?
Most of my favorite music is both heavy and melodic. I tried very hard to exemplified elements of both when I wrote these 4 songs. I’m also a huge fan of Godflesh, so I was trying to also make this a bit industrial sounding. The fact that I wrote and recorded the majority of this on my computer and programmed the drums electronically seemed like a natural means of lending to that sound as well.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?
Everything from my thoughts and frustrations towards orgainized religion to some extremely personal, difficult times that I was going through during those days. I’d rather not get into the details of that too much, but they range from topics related to relationships and how that love/hatred balance can be a fine line in your life. I was in a pretty dark, depressing place at the time, filled with a lot of despair. Writing these songs was my way of getting through that. The lyrics are intentionally left very ambiguous and open for interpretation.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Atonement Theory'?
It’s more deeply explained in the “Prolouge” in the EP insert, but in summary it basically sums up my thoughts that the idea of God itself is nothing that can be proven or disproven by man, therefor the idea that man can become “one with God” and that the son of God sacrificed himself to atone for the sins of man are both nothing more than a theory. A bedtime story.

5.On the ep you recorded everything by yourself, how would you compare it to working with a full band?
That was an interesting and uniqe circumstance for me. When I first started writing and recording these songs on my Macbook, I had no real intention of releasing them or having them see the light of day. I was just writing and recording as a muse for dealing with what I was going through at the time.

When I started to think about completing the project and releasing it, it became extremely time consuming and labor intensive to polish it up, go into the studio to record vocals, have it mixed, edited, masterd and produced a little further etc. And when you’re doing all that yourself with the help of a friend in a studio, it’s just a lot to deal with. There’s no work, responsibilities or costs to spread around to other band members or even a label at that point. Hell, I didn’t even know who (if anyone) was going to want to put it out. I was flying blind. So, it was a very different experience for me. Definitely a labor of love.

6.What are some of the best shows you have played with this project so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Our most recent show here in Chicago just a couple weeks ago was great. It was a record release for Without Waves new record on Prosthetic. They are a great local band seeing some success recently, but the lineup for the show was a great mix of local Chicago bands of varous degrees of metal. I also really enjoyed another local band at that show called Outrun The Sunlight I suggest people check out. Hopefully, Atonement Theory will get to play with some of these bands again.

I’m always over critical of my live performances LOL. I can always find something to improve on, but that’s just me being a perfectionist. I’d like to think we performed very well however.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We have a show coming up here in Chicago with Samorthrace on May 21st that we are looking very forward to.

8.The ep was released on "I Defy Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Some long time friends of mine (Jim Grimes and Nikki Kuntz) had recently started a record label here in Chicago and were working on releasing a deubut 7” for my other band, Black X at the time. They were trying to get their new label off the ground, were looking for other material to release, and I had just started looking for a label that was willing to put time and effort into something that I honestly wasn’t even sure was ever even going to perform live at the time. You have to remember that at the time, it was still just me and I had no idea how or if I was ever going to perform these songs live.

If you’re a label, why would you really want to invest in something that wasn’t performing live? Although I completely understand this, it was one of those things where you need one thing to happen for the other to be set in motion, but you’re not sure which is going to come first. If the record was going to come out, it would give me incentive to move forward with a live line up. But, if no labels where interested because I wasn’t performing live, do I then need put a live lineup together and get out there in hopes of a label having something to be interested it? Both were a lot of work for me personally, so it was sort of a gamble either way.

When I approached Jim and Nikki at IDefy, it seemed like a mutually beneficial thing for both parties. They get to add another release to a label they are trying to get off the ground, and I get an incentice to put a band together to continue moving forward with this project instead of letting it die on a shelf somewhere to collect dust.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and post metal?
Pretty positive, although it’s still a bit early to tell. The record came out in summer of 2016, but we only recently began to promote it, so we’re only recently getting any kind of response or interest really. Thanks to people like yourself!

Most of the interest is coming from overseas from where we are located here in the US. It seems like that sort of sludgey, droney, dark and ominous sounding metal has a better following overseas than it does here in the US, so I think that is pretty cool. I’m hoping one day that will continued interest will bring us over there.

10.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
We are currently working on writing a full length actually. We’re going to continue working on that as well as playing shows. We’ll see where things take us from there, but hopefully there’s enough continued interest that this will take us on the road somewhere!

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?
That’s a tough one to quantify in a short sentence. My personal influences are all over the place, but I’d say we’re most heavily influenced by bands like Godflesh, Neurosis, Jesu, Isis, Mouth Of the Architect, Type O Negative, Triptykon/Celtic Frost with a smattering of Failure.

I grew up on a lot of old hardcore and Straight Edge bands back in the day. A lot of that still has a special place in my world, but I was eventually more drawn towards heavier and darker music. Like I said earlier, I’m heavily influenced by music that is both heavy and melodic. We’re always striving to walk that think line.

Lately I’ve been listening to the newest Mouth Of The Architect that came out in the fall, the local band I mentioned earlier called Outrun The Sunlight, and as always, a lot of Godflesh and Triptykon.


12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I’m into cars. I’ve got a couple cars that I show, one of which I used to track as well. I grew up around cars with my Dad, so I inherited that bug I guess. I also love hockey. I am originally from a small town pretty far north, just a few minutes from Canada, so I’ve been watching and following hockey since as long as I can remember. Go Blackhawks!

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for your time and interest in our band! Support artists you like, otherwise they may not be able to keep releasing music! If anyone is interested, you can check out our EP on this link:

http://www.idefyrecords.com/ atonement-theory/

Cybernetic Witch Cult Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
1. We recorded Troglodithic Trip in January, since then we've been filming and editing music videos, promoting the release, and gigging and booking dates for the rest of the year (its hard working being independent!)

2.You have a new album coming out in May, 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?
2. We're trying to push our own boundaries, and with this release we wanted to make something heavy that injected some life back into some of our old songs. 4 of the tracks are from our first album. We tried to update them with a darker more mature sound, trying to bridge the gap between the first album and the second album.

3.Your lyrics cover a lot of horror and science fiction themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?
3. Well we're big fans of scifi and horror movies, we started the band trying to fit old movie creatures to the sounds of different riffs and it just grew from there. All the lyrics are influenced by science fiction of cult horror (I'm a big fan of movies and novels) and its alot of fun to write about!


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cybernetic Witch Cult'?
4. We wanted a name that mixed horror and scifi with a tongue in cheek stoner/doom vibe and it just came out.

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?
5. The shows seem to get better and better, its a very exciting time. Playing at Bloodstock Open Air was a big deal for us last year, something we'd dreamt about for quite a while, since then all the shows just get better and better. Our performance is pretty energetic, lots of dancing and jumping around, and we've got a projector rigged up to the music so theres a video going on behind the band that makes the songs abit more vivid and gives them an extra dimension.


6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
6. We're doing a four date tour around the UK with Doctor Cyclops (ITA) the same week the album is released, and we've got lots and lots of shows around the country lined up for the rest of the year. Check www.cyberneticwitchcult.com/gigs for details!

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking  for a label or have received any interest?
7. To tell the truth, we havent sent off any material to labels since the first album. At the moment we're happy running things ourselves and enjoying the fruits of our own labor! A label would be nice but in the current 'financial climate' of the world it would have to be a pretty decent offer for us to be tempted away from running things ourselves. Theres a great feeling when you know that your achievements are 100% your own and its hard to value that!!

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner and doom metal?
8. Generally positive! We've got some crazy super fans around the world which is awesome considering were a pretty small band, I think the music were releasing is a 'love or hate' sorta style, its very tongue in cheek and might not be everyones cup of tea but we love it and it makes it all the more enjoyable when we hear from the fanatics (theyre the reason we're doing this)!

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
9. We're already talking about album 3, the goal is to make something very out there and really push the boundaries of the stoner/doom genre. I think we'll get heavier, proggier, stranger and abit more musical with the next release, its going to be very ambitious and it might take us a while longer to write and record but we're excited about the direction we're heading in.
Of course there will still be some stoner anthems about scifi movies and dinosaurs, we can't run away from our roots!

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?
10. As a band we have quite a diverse mix of tastes, I think between us we're listening to an unhealthy amount of 'Occult Rock' at the moment, stuff like Purson, Sabbath Assembly, Uncle Acid, Blood Ceremony etc, we also recently discovered 'Church of the Cosmic Skull' which has made an appearance on the drive to our most recent shows.

11.Do any of the band members have interest in Occultism?
11. None of us are involved in any occultism, but we do find it fascinating. Theres an amazing museum of Witchcraft quite close to where we live, Cornwall has alot of history with the occult and its very interesting but none of us are directly invovled in it.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
12. Non musical interests, just general things really, video games, movies, tv series (generally horror/scifi), surfing, walking, I'm big into rockets so I follow lots of the Space X and Nasa news and like to keep up to date with science.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the questions! We really appreciate it!

Alex - Cybernetic Witch Cult

Kollapse/Angst/WOOAAARGH/5 Feet Under Records/2017

  Kollapse  are  a  band  from  Denmark  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom,  crust  and  post  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2017  album  "Angst"  which  will  be  released  in  May  as  a  joint  effort  between  WOOAAARGH  and  5  Feet  Under  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  aggressive  hardcore  vocals  and  post  metal  style  guitar  leads  and  when  the  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  music  a  crust  influence  while  the  slow  riffs  are  done  in a   doom  metal  fashion.

  At  times  you  can  hear  elements  of  noise  and  the  darker  side  of  emo  while  clean  playing  is  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Kollapse  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  post  hardcore,  crust  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  something  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics cover  anxiety,  loss,  suicide,  freedom  and  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Kollapse  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture of  post  hardcore,  crust  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Death  Of  A  Monotheist"  "Blinding  Light"  and  "Abadon".  8  out  of  10.