Sea of Disorder Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?

Well, actually it isn't long ago, since we recorded the album. Since the last time in the studio, mixing the album, we concentrated a bit on the work with our label, some promotional stuff and also the artwork of the album, which was perfectly done by Chris Huber ( who also worked with us on our EP – sorry again Chris, that we took so long to be fully happy with the artwork! ) and really shines.

Also, we communicated with some individuals regarding playing live, where we want to get one or two guest musicians into our boat. Nothing too specific yet, but it's in the works!



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

The musical sound of the album is very broad this time. We didn't want to nail ourselves to one specific genre or sound. This time we wanted to show the world some different styles on one album, and the listener will find songs sounding very different from each other. The main focus was still pos trock and doom'ish sounds, but partially it's also more progressive and more mellow, like the track with Thomas Torsson, where we have actual sung vocals for the first time, and which we are really proud of.
The album differs in many ways. First of the track count is doubled ;-)
Also, it is not a concept album like the first one and every track stands as itself, but with a general theme. We think that we have a more professional sound and evolved in pretty every way.

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

Well, we think that the listener should interpret the lyrics by his own, but in general it's about a journey where dream and reality is mixed up, about fears and loss...mainly dark, dreamy and philosophical.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sea Of Disorder'?

'Sea' just because we both love the sea and the ocean and we liked the word, and 'Disorder', because we did not and do not want to tie ourselves down to one kind of genre, and even when you'd think it wouldn't fit together, we could try it out.


5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

We will definitely remain a duo, to be able to maintain our freedom in song writing, and all decisions regarding our music and persons involved in the project. Furthermore we enjoy our friendship and see the writing process more like ‘hanging out with your best buddy and drink a beer’. For live concerts we plan to have some guest musicians.

6.The new album is coming out on Talheim Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Talheim Records is an Austrian label, located in Vienna, which has it's focus on extreme metal and underground metal. Matthias, the owner of the label is also the only person involved, and he does all of that in his free time, and makes a really great job!
Therefore bands are treated more like family and everything is really personal.
He always is looking to deliver quality over quantity, and since that is our philosophy too, we are really happy to be in an Austrian label as Austrians.

So, everyone, please support this guy, since he more than deserves it!



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

We are more than happy with the worldwide feedback. We had lots of positive reviews for our EP – well to be honest every single review was positive – and that makes us really proud, knowing we're doing the right thing. We also won a newcomer contest on metal.de, which also showed us, that the people like what we're doing.



8.Are any of the band members also involved in any other musical projects or bands these days?

Chris is also with the band Microtonner from Austria, which you should definitely check out too!


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

We try to stay with our roots, but also try to bring something new to every release, like instruments we never worked with, sounds we never tried out and of course song structures that we didn't use before. But in the end one should always recognize ~Sea Of Disorder~ in every song, every minute.

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

Everything we listen too is somehow our inspiration and influence. For the recent album it was very much the new record of Cult Of Luna and of course some older Isis stuff, bands like Mono, EF, Steven Wilson, Radiohead, Sigur Ros and so many more... This is also exactly what we listen to all the time. In gental, Chris is more the progressive lover, and Robert is more the Postrock dude ;-) We try to absorb as much as we can from all of these bands, and different genres, and try to create something unique and new out of these experiences, which is of course not easy, but we do our best.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Good question... we love to watch good movies, TV Shows ( like Dexter, LOST, Boardwalk Empire, Game Of Thrones – of course -, King Of Queens and the funnier stuff ) play board games and pen&paper RPG's enjoy good food and also play computer games and Robert does lots of sports like soccer, road bike and snooker. That about covers it, since there is no more time left besides all this haha.

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

We are really curious about how the listeners will like our new album, and what the first reviews say.
We also hope that – if you like the album – you will support us, and especially our label in ordering the CD ( for only 12 euros! ) and the upcoming CD – t-shirt bundle, which will give us the opportunity to create more music and our label the opportunity to continue releasing good music and also support other bands from our country.
We really tried hard to make this one a good one and are proud of our newest baby.
We also want to thank everyone involved on the CD and everyone who helped us getting this done.

~So spread the word~

Cheers!

Blackwelder/Survival Of the Fittest/GoldernCore Records/ZYX Music/2015 CD Review

  Blackwelder  are  an  international  band  that  consists  of  musicians  from  projects  such  as  Primal  Fear,  Seven  Seraphim,  and  Dio  Disciples  that  plays  a  mixture  of  power  and  progressive  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Survival  Of  The  Fittest"  which  will  be  released  on  April  24th  as  a  joint  effort  between  GoldenCore  Records  and  XYZ  Music.

  Melodic  guitar  leads  that  also  dominate  throughout  the  whole  recording  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  riffs  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  when  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  all  clean  singing  power  metal  vocals  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  lot  of  progressive  metal  elements.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  while  the  production  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  modern  day  feeling  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill.

  As  the  album  progresses  an  instrumental  is  added  onto  the  recording  while  vocals  do  make  a  return  on  the  following  tracks  and  the  music  also  starts  incorporating  more  elements  of  progressive  rock  and  one  of  the  songs  also brings  in  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  there  are  also  a  few  tracks  that  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  towards  the  end  the  album  starts  bringing  in  more  clean  parts  which  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  bands  musical  style.

  Blackwelder  goes  back  to  the  80's  style  of  power  and  progressive  metal  and  also  update  them  for  the  modern  day  while  also  playing  a  more  melodic  version  of  both  styles  while  still  having  a  decent  amount  of  heaviness,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  fantasy  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Blackwelder  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy  and  melodic  mixture  of  power  and  progressive  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band,  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS INCLUDE  "The  Night  Of  The  New  Moon"  "Freeway  Of  Life"  "With  Flying  Colors"  and  "Judgement  Day".  8  out  of  10.    

Pantommind/Searching For Eternity/Spectastral Records/2015 CD Review

  Pantommind  are  a  band from  Bulgaria that  plays  a  mixture  of  power  and  progressive  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2015  album  "Searching  For  Eternity"  which  was  released  by  Spectastral  Records.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  more  heavy  and  symphonic  prog  metal  genre  and  after  a  few  seconds  melodic  vocals  start  to  become  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  yet  progressive  at  the  same  time  and  some  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts.

  A  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  and  there  are  a  few  tracks  that  are  power  ballads  while  the  heavier  parts  stick  to  either  or  slow  or  mid  paced  modern  prog  metal  direction  and  there  are  also  a  couple  of  instrumentals  while  vocals  do  make  their  return  on  the  following  tracks.

  Pantommind  plays  a  style  of  progressive  metal  that  is  very  modern  and  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  power  metal  elements  to  create  an  album t hat  is  very  heavy  yet  melodic  at  the  same  time,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  life,  depression,  relationships and  personal  trials.

  In  my  opinion  Pantommind  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  power  and   progressive  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.   RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Not  For  Me"  "Lost  Lullaby"  "Tell  Me"  and  "Lost".  8  out  of  10. 

Shawn James & The Shapeshifters/The Gospel According To Shawn James & The Shapeshifters/2015 Full Length Review

  Shawn  James &  The  Shapeshifters  are  a  band  from  Arkansas  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  classic  rock  and  bluegrass  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "The  Gospel  According  To  Shawn  James  &  The  Shapeshifters"  which  will  be  released  on  April  7th.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  stoner  rock  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  folk  instruments  in  the  background  and  when  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  more  in  a  blues  and  southern  rock  direction  and  the  fiddles  and  banjos  gives  the  album  more  of  a  bluegrass  feeling  while  the  guitars  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  at  times.

  Most  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  female  vocals  and  a  lot  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  70's  rock  vibe  but  with  a  more  modern  take  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  bit  it  brings  in  the  energy  of  punk  rock  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  last  track  is  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Shawn  James  &  The  Shapeshifters  takes  the  heaviness  of  stone r rock  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  southern  rock,  folk  and  bluegrass  to  create  a  very  original  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  occult  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Shawn  James  &  The  Shapeshifters  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner  metal,  southern  rock  and  bluegrass  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "No  Gods"  "Wild  Man"  "Lake  Of  Fire"  and  "Lilith".  8  out  of  10.

Codas Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
I started Codas in Jan 2015.  I was really just using it as outlet for songs that didn’t really fit with my other projects (Spotlights, Sleep Lady).  Once I had a few songs recorded, I figured I would finish it as an EP and that’s when BJ from Crowquill got in touch with me about releasing it.  I think due to the fact that I wasn’t really focusing on the details and just letting the ideas flow, Codas shows a more honest and personalized side of my writing.

2.In June you have a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Hmm… I have a tough time describing it, but I suppose it falls into the category of Post- something or other.  It has an industrial and influence for sure, and I guess at times could be considered metal but I hear a lot of my 90’s post hardcore influence coming through from bands like Jawbox and Helmet, Shiner, etc.

3.What are some of the themes and images you bring out with your musical sound?
I think that might be a question for the listener!  The only song with a sort of “theme” would be "Follow the blind”, I suppose. Since it has a sample of a sort of anti religious establishment speech in there.  I don’t really write from, or for imagery as much as for the feeling that the music gives me. I tend to write music that makes me want to play music. Don’t know if that makes any sense..

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Codas’?
I have always had a slight obsession with musical symbols and the “Coda”, in composition, stands for the final or separate ending part of a piece of music, like a tag at the end of a song.  I mostly just like how the symbol looks..

5.With this project you record everything by yourself, how would you compare it to working with a full band?
It has it’s positives and negatives.  In a live sense, it’s much harder to recreate the big heavy sound by yourself than with other musicians.  There is A LOT of tap dancing on pedals.. You can also get into your head easily and start second guessing everything without having others to bounce ideas off of.  On the other hand I like the freedom of being able to do whatever I want at my own pace. The initial purpose of the project was to not worry about how “good” it is or if people will like it, or if it fits into any category.  I find it easier to keep that mindset when writing for Codas.  Luckily I play with some great musicians in my other bands so I get a good balance of the two.


6.The new album is coming out on Crowquil Records, are you happy with the support they have given you so far?
BJ (label owner) has been great.  He has been my sounding board for things that I might not feel 100% about.  It’s been a great experience so far and I’m glad we came together on this release.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your solo material by fans of underground music?
I’ll let you know when the EP gets released!

8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that you are a part off?
Right now, Spotlights is working on a our first full length record.  We hope to have it out by the end of the summer.  Sleep Lady has been on hiatus for the last year or so but the other half of the band is moving to Chicago and we hope to pick up where we left off by this summer as well.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into musically during the future?
Filthy rich, superstardom!

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?
There are a lot of great bands that have influenced me lately.  On the heavy side, bands like Old Man Gloom, Sumac (Aaron Turner is on fire right now..), Melvins, Liturgy, Jesu, Swans, etc..
I’ve also been listening to a lot of Ben Frost.  It kind of drives me insane how good that guy is.  Then there are the mainstays like Fugazi, Helmet, and Fugazi.  Also, I listen to Mew a lot, and The Cure quite a bit, since they are somewhat the core of my musical being.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Eating and sleeping. But mostly eating..

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I’ll save those for the ole deathbed.  Thanks!

Fangs Of The Molussus Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
We're currently writing the songs that will compose our next album. Pretty heavy stuff like on our debut, but with more influences than before, especially considering that the line-up is not exactly the same as on that record.

2.For those that have yet to hear the album, how would you describe your musical sound?
A dark, muddy, guitar-driven tunnel. I know it doesn't exactly sound original, but that's how I feel it. We like our sound to be oppressive and hypnotic, despite some occasional epic touch (don't misunderstand the term "epic"... no room for dragons and elves here!).

3.Your lyrics cover some occult, mythology and Roman history themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?
Now more than on our first record, we find inspiration in real stories that have a real place in our culture. Ancient history offers a lot of interesting subjects and archetypes, without the need to dive into fantasy stuff. Ancient Italian traditions, Etruscan and Roman mythology are part of our DNA, so it came natural to us to use a few historical figures or events and basesome of our songs on them. We've done that with Caligula and the "flagellanti" ritual on our first record already, but the next album  will probably feature some more stories. For instance, one of the new tracks ("Ecce Tenebrio") is based on the "officium tenebrarum", according to the tradition of Molise, a small southern Italian region. Then there would be "Under the Yoke of Jupiter", based on the first Servile War and the character of Eunus, the slave who lead that revolt. Also an Italian poet (Giosuè Carducci) is likely to be paid tribute too, since one song ("A Satana") will contain excerpts from one of his poems. We do that because we simply find it more natural to express ourselves through stories that we can actually relate to, rather than genre clichés, that would fit better only because others are using them.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Fangs Of the Molussus'?
Thanks for asking, because when I came up with "Fangs Of The Molossus" I was afraid the other guys in the band would not accept it... but I got lucky! You know, I'm not so much into long band names, but when I tried to figure out what our name should evoke, I couldn't help to go for this one: something massive, intimidating and with an "old" touch. What better than an ancient breed of battle dogs? And the adoption of a Latin term also was really too inviting to decline the offer!

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?
Surely opening for Mondo Generator in 2013 was a big deal for us: great audience, great venue and the first chance to play a real gig out of the comfortable circle of clubs we usually play at. I would also add the "Play It Doom II" festival we've recently taken part in: sharing the stage with established bands such as Forsaken, Atlantean Kodex, Doomraiser or Impero Delle Ombre was an honor for us.
On stage we are quite natural: focused, immersed into what we do, without any particular theatrics. It's always better to let the music do the talking, so we concentrate on that first.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
No real tour now, as finishing the songs and starting recording them is our priority. We all work and/or have other bands (our drummer Black Wizard is Domine's drummer too, for instance), so we must face tasks one by one. We have some scheduled gigs anyway, like the one with Belzebong in mid May.

7.On the album you had a couple of members of Necromass on a couple of tracks, do you feel their participation has been very helpful when it comes to getting your music out there heard?
I think it helped giving us some visibility for sure, for Necromass is undoubtedly a cult name in the scene, despite the style difference. But there could be no collaboration if we weren't actually friends in real life, and if their contributions weren't fitting in. Luckily, both things happened, and we were very happy of the results. In the future something similar is likely to happen again, but no name will be made unless we are totally sure it can be done.

8.The album was re-issued on vinyl by Italian Doom Metal Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Oh, Simone Pozzolo (the founder of the label) is such a great guy. He's been into doom metal for a lifetime and he's really dedicating all his energy and heart to his website first, and then his label project. I know he's working on other Italian bands material, like Abysmal Grief and Runes Order, but his next releases are top secret, even for us.
We were proud of being chosen as the first band in his roster. It's really important to work with people who know what they do and share the same deep love for your music. It's about respect in the first place, right? So, when you both respect the thing you both love, then you end up respecting each other too, because your goal is the same. I don't know how many bands can claim that, if they play as mercenaries, and record for other mercenaries. In our case, we can surely state that both Simone and us are totally volunteering!

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom metal?
Good so far. It's a niche market, so you can't expect much, in terms of big numbers. As long as some people appreciate what you do, follow you on social networks, ask for your records and come and see you live, you can say it's a success. And doom people are very dedicated to what they listen to: it's not a fad or a trend. From young dudes to die-hard metalheads who remember the good old days, to the ones who are not even into metal at all (and prefer psychedelic, spacey proto-metal music), we have our small, motley circus of followers here and there, and it's nice to know they care about what we do.

10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other musical projects or bands these days?
As I said before, Black Wizard is with Domine too, and Amp Zilla (our singer and lead guitarist) is with a few other bands, "Cronaca E Preghiera" among them.

11.When can we expect another album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
In theory 2015 will see the new album out. Label offers may change everything, though, so it's hard to schedule a reliable deadline now. Surely by the end of this year the recorded album will be ready, then the actual release date is still uncertain.
Music wise, you can expect more variety in sound, because or next record will be longer (in length) than its predecessor, so it's our plan to differentiate the songs a bit more than we've done in the past. Same backbone, only a few more digressions like acoustic passages, faster or heavier portions, and more psychedelic intervals.

12.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?
I'd say, all for different reasons and in different measures, Hawkwind, Saint Vitus, Loop, Sabbath, Sun Dial, Trouble, Electric Wizard.
Today there are tons of interesting bands. Personally I'm into all kinds of music, so don't necessarily expect something doom metal, nor the newest sensations... The CD's I see right now, close to the computer monitor, can give you the picture: "Apokalypsis" (Chelsea Wolfe), "Red Exposure" (Chrome), "L'Arrivée de la Terne Mort Triomphante" (Gnaw Their Tongues) and "Primitive and Deadly" (Earth).

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
I like drawing (very rarely I try painting too, but I'm a disaster), doing graphic design, reading (old sci-fi novels, non-fiction, Japanese horror comics, poetry) and watching hundreds of horror movies (the ones mad until cgi spoiled everything).

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Support the music you love. Downloading zillions of random songs, limiting your participation to online "likes" or "views" is not real support: go to gigs, meet real dudes who are into the same stuff, buy records (only the ones you like, of course), read specialized magazines. That is "supporting the scene". Anything else is just hipster crap that means nothing and helps nobody.

Count J. Vendetta

Damnation Angels/The Valiant Fire/Massacre Records/2015 CD Review

  Damnation  Angels  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  epic  and  symphonic  form  of  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "The  Valiant  Fire"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Symphonic  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  give  the  music  a  very  epic  feeling  along  with  some  elements  of  classical  music  and  after  awhile  the  heavy  and  symphonic  parts  of  the  music  start  to  mix  together  and  power  metal  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  A  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  band  brings  in  a  few  power  ballads  and  also  brings  in  an  influence  of  AOR  style  hard  rock/metal  to  their  symphonic  power  metal  sound  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  great  mixture  of  both  old  school  and  modern  influences  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental  before  closing  the  recording  with  a  vocal  track.

  Damnation Angels  creates  another  power  metal  album  that  is  very  epic,  modern  and  symphonic  while  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  melodic  hard  rock/metal  to  their  musical  style  on  this  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Damnation  Angels  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  of  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Icarus  Syndrome"  "Closure"  and  "Under  An  Ancient  Skin".  8  out  of  10.