Sinister Realm Interview

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

We just released our third album entitled "World of Evil" which we're very excited about! We also not to long ago released a video for the title track to the album. We're also lining up some dates now for a few short tours heading south to places like Virginia, Carolina, Atlanta and were ever else we can add. So in a nutshell, we're pretty busy and we like that.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?

I don't think it's anything radically different. It's still traditional metal with some doom influences. We did try some different things, there's a long epic number that closes out the album called "The Forest of Souls/Four Black Witches". There's another epic number called "The Ghosts of Nevermore" that has some cool stuff going on. We tried to go in a bit more of an epic direction and just kept trying to write strong songs.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the new release explores?

Good vs. evil. The end of the world, madness, fortune telling witches, buried ghosts and other fun stuff like that.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Anyone out there who has had to try and come up with a band name knows it's really hard to do as every possible name feels like it's been taken. I wanted a name that had a real old school 80s feel to it and also had a bit of a darker feel. I was reading a magazine about power metal bands and it said their subject matter tends to be "tales of sinister realms" and I thought it sounded really cool. I was sure someone must have used that name but to my shock and luck no one had.

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

Metal Assault in Germany was awesome. We've had some really killer shows locally opening up for people like Diamond Head, Accept, Lizzy Bordern and Y&T. I would say we definetly rise to the occasion when we play live. We put on a good metal show with lots of energy. Our frontman Alex is great at getting the crowd moving and invloved.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new album?

Yeah, like I mentioned in the first questions were in the process of working on some dates south of us. We live in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Were basicially going to try and be playing anywhere we can. Hopefully we can make it over to Europe at some point. Anyone out there who wants us in their town, let us know!

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

Overall is has been positive. Traditonal metal fans seem to relate to us because they can hear the Maiden and Priest in our sound and because we have that bit of an epic vibe and some slower heavy moments the doom fans find something to like also. I don't really consider us to be a doom band though, we are influenced more by albums like "Heaven and Hell" or "Diary of Madman" which have some slower heavier moments but aren't really straight up doom albums. I'm also really into Candlemass so I think that's where some of the doom sound comes in.

8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases/

Longer more epic songs. The next album is definetly going to be moving into some new territories musically speaking. It feels like it's time to try some different stuff. I want to go a little more epic with some longer songs. Maybe try an acoustic ballad like Sabbath's "Planet Caravan". Maybe a multi part concept song. We shall see as I haven't really started working on the next album yet.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I listen to lots of stuff. Trad. metal and doom are my favorites and biggest influences, like Ozzy (first 4 albums) Priest, Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Savatage, Candlemass, Dio. Lately I've been listening to the new Sabbath album "13". VoiVod "Target Earth", Queensryche "2013" and Carcass "Necroticism"

10. Does Occultism play any role in your music?

No. I do like darker subjects like death and the afterlife, good and evil. I'm also a fan of supernatural horror movies like "Suspiria" and books by Poe and Love Craft so that probably influences some of the songs. I like to put a twist on things though, the same way someone like Dio did. From our first album the song "The Demon Seed", the main character, the demon seed, is a good guy fighting against opression. The title track off our new album is about all the evil we have in our world and how sometimes being a good guy can make you feel like you are standing alone wondering what went wrong in the world. I like to write songs about the underdog, the little guy winning. I'm a Catholic so if anything some of those religous stories of good versus evil have probably influenced my writing.

11. outside of music what are some of your interests?

I collect vinyl records, metal vinyl to be exact. I'm a big hockey fan, the Philadelphia Flyers are my team. I like to watch 70s horror movies and documentaries. Mostly though I just love listening to music.

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Thanks a lot for the interview! Please visit our facebook page and like us to stay on top of all the latest news. www.facebook.com/sinisterrealm. Were also working on www.sinisterrealm.net that should be up soon. Buy the new album from Shadow Kingdom Records and it should be in your favorite metal store soon. See you on the road and long live heavy metal!!!

Bangladeafy Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

We are a Long Island based duo that arranges and performs music reserved for more than 2 people.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

We translate world/fusion rhythms into an abrasive thrash dynamic via rapid drumming, polyharmonic bass tapping and the occasional live synths and vocals.

3. What are some of the concepts and ideas the band brings out with the music?

Conceptually, you can see and hear how we heavily use drum rudiments on instruments that aren't traditionally percussive.

Cerebrally, I like to think that we're sonically melting everyone's mind ice cream while bullet ants are feasting on the cone.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

It's a portmanteau that we jokingly came up with referencing Atif's Bangladeshi origins and my sensio-neural hearing loss(deaf is an exaggeration).

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

The best shows we've done were the "anything goes" Halloween shows where not getting knocked over while you're playing is a real challenge.

Additionally, it's tough to develop a following outside of your homebase but we've been killing it in Rhode Island every time we perform there.

Our stage performance has been described as dizzying and inspiring but i'm sitting too close to the fire to tell you how hot it is. Come check it out for yourself.

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

Being a two piece with limited funding makes it very hard to tour, but you can find us going up and down the east coast quite frequently throughout any given season. We perform on a regular basis and have plans to hit the west coast in the spring. We're also impulsive and could quit our day jobs at any moment to share this beast with the world. Or feed the world to this beast.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of metal and experimental?

We've been very thankful and shocked at the mostly positive critique and ever increasing fanbase. What we play is not accessible to all but we could be underestimating ourselves as I see more and more musicians and non-musicians totally getting into it. We may be chaotic but we still hold that bass and drum groove for folks to wiggle their jiggly parts to.

8. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

This is a full time line-up for sure with 100% dedication. We don't like to venture out or put ourselves on the market as "hired" musicians. Lately, with the increasing attention being paid to us, we've gotten some great offers that we have to turn down or commit to at our own convenience. Aside from a few creative workshops with friends, it's Bangladeafy all the way.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases/

From an instrumental standpoint, I see more use of me simultaneously playing synth and bass in addition to Atif utilizing more cowbells. He loves his cowbells. From a thematic standpoint, we've been getting very inspired by natural earthly phenomenons and it may lend itself to the next release.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Ebu Gogo, Squarepusher, Battles, Fat32, Secret Chiefs 3, anything Zach Hill related, Animals As Leaders, Zu, Tub Ring.

Lately, I've been listening to tons of NES soundtracks as I go through my day. I absolutely love 8 bit/16 bit compositions and have been eating up anything by Disasterpeace. Black Moth Super Rainbow also gets a lot of slots on my playlists.

When it comes time to spend hours between shows riding in Atif's car, it's strictly live comedy or podcasts. That's his life right there.

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?

By day, I'm a dogwalker and I'm freakishly into it. Dogs don't give a shit about where you've been or where you're gonna be, so for that I give them tons of love and attention. I'm also a huge nerd as I play NES emulators and watch cartoons because I'm overly attached to my inner child. Atif is heavily into comedy culture and lifting weights. What a dweeb.

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

July 9th, we'll be dropping our new EP, The Briefcase on Nefarious Industries. If you're already a fan of our live show, you'll eat up this recording as it is chock-full of awesome thematic bonuses that will take place of the visual aspect.

 

Elmsfeuer Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

We play pirate-rock, a mixture of various styles including folk, rock and some slight metal influences. Besides a classic rock lineup we have two pirate wenches on board who play accordion and violin. The german lyrics, which are sung in a clear voice, are about the ups and downs of a pirates life and the love to the ocean.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Elmsfeuer has a very unique sound and especially catchy tunes that always ignite a fire in the audience. We mix classical parts of accordion and violin with our modern rock lineup to create this special sound of ours.

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

The lyrics are mostly about the life of pirates and rum-drenched parties. But we’ve also got sad songs that tell stories about the loneliness of the sea with a lot of metaphorical words and other songs with ambiguous lyrics.


4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Elmsfeuer (St. Elmo’s Fire) is a natural phenomenon, which mainly appears during a thunderstorm where little thunderbolts emerge at the top of the mast. We chose this name because it’s a symbol for instant energy and mystical fascination just like our music.

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

Beneath a lot of gigs we played the last year one of our highlights was our CD-release-show in Hamburg where a lot of people gathered to celebrate this milestone with us. It completely blew our minds how many folks came just to party with us while listening to our music. Another great show was the newcomer-event at the Festival Mediaval in Selb, where we won the golden dwarf for the best medieval-rock-newcomerband. 
Once we enter the stage, we completely forget everything around us so we can focus on our music and making party with the crowd. 


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

We’ve got a lot of upcoming shows the next time, for example the Hörnerfest, Festival Mediaval, the special pirates show “Pirates – eine abenteuerliche Zeitreise” as well as various MPS festivals. Of course we also play smaller club gigs like Taverna Cerritus in Hamburg, where we’ve already played several times. 


7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or received any interest?

We’ve released our album “Schatzsuche” via Totentanz Records with our distribution partner Al!ve.

8. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

Of course some of us do play in smaller combos, but Elmsfeuer is our main project which always comes first.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

With our first release we’ve found our very own musical style. Despite some varieties which may occur, we’ll stay true to ourselves.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Every member of our band has a different favourite music which he or she brings into the songwriting process. This is why Elmsfeuer has its own unique sound and is hardly comparable to other musicians. 

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Wenches and rum

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview/

We want to thank you for the interview and of course thank all of the people who supported us so far. There’s a little pirate inside of everyone of you and it’s our goal to let him out. Yarrrrrrrr!

 

www.piratenrock.de

 

Sinister Realm/World Of Evil/Shadow Kingdom Records/2013 CD Review

  Sinister  Realm  are  a  band  from  Pennsylvania  that  plays  a  mixture  of  heavy  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2013  album   "World  Of  Evil"  which  was  released  by  Shadow  Kingdom  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  no  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  traditional  metal  with  doom  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  being  thrown  into t he  riffing,  while t he  lead  guitars  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  traditional  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  classical  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  use  finger  picking  to  enhance  the  darkness  of  the  music.

 Vocals  are  all  clean  singing  traditional  metal  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  evil  and  occult  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  old  school  and  professional sound  where  you  can h ear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Sinister  Realm  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  traditional  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of t his  musical  genre,  you  should c heck  out  this  band. RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dark  Angel  Of  Fate"  "World  Of  Evil"  "Prophets  Of  War"  and  "Four  Black  Witches".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Night Demon/Self Titled/Shadow Kingdom Records/2013 EP Review

  Night  Demon  are  a  band  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  NWOBHM  style  occult  power/heavy  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2013  ep  which  was  released  by  Shadow  Kingdom  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  no  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  NWOBHM,  power  and  traditional  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while t he  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  sounding  mid  70's  to  early  80's  style  heavy  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals a re  all  clean  singing  traditional  metal  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Black  Magick,  Witchcraft  and  Occult  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy ,  old  school  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Night  Demon  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  occult  NWOBHM  style  metal  band  and  if  you  are  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Night  Demon"  and  "Ancient  Evil".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Bangladeafy/The Briefcase/Nefarious Industries/2013 EP Review

  Bangladeafy  are  a  band  from  New  York  that  plays  a  mixture  of  extreme  metal,  hardcore,  avant  garde,  experimental,  progressive  and  jazz  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  ep  'The  Briefcase"  which  was  released  by  Nefarious  Industries.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  sound  effects  bring  elements  of  experimental,  avant  garde  and  noise  to  the  music,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  is  the  lead  instrument  with  no  regular  guitars  on  this  ep  and  they  combine  extreme  metal,  hardcore,  experimental,  funk,  progressive  and  jazz  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own.

  Vocals  when  they  are  utilized  are  hardcore  style  screams,  while  the  song  themes  cover  weird  concepts,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Bangladeafy  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  extreme  metal,  hardcore,  experimental,  avant  garde,  progressive  and  jazz  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fruit  Flies"  and  "Pest  Control".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

   

NitroVault/Panzer/Mausoleum Records/2013 CD Review

  NitroVault  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  speed  rock,  punk  and  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Panzer"  which  was  released  by  Mausoleum  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  no  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  speed  rock  with  punk  and  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  while  the  lead  guitars a re  very  old  school  sounding hard  rock/punk/metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  clean singing  hard  rock/metal  vocals  with  some  punk  style  shouting  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  everyday  and  party  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  NitroVault  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  speed  rock,  punk  and  metal  and  if you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pay  The  Price"  "Twisted  Shot  Of  Booze"  "Hardrock  Queen"  and  "So  You  Die".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.