Chemicide/Episodes Of Insanity/PRC Music/2016 CD Review

  Chemicide  are  a  band  from  Costa  Rica  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  thrash  metal  that  almost  has  the  heaviness  of  early  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Episodes  Of  Insanity"  which  was  released  by  PRC  Music.

  Drum  beats  and  a  heavy  guitar  sound  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  thrash  metal  direction  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  aggressive  vocals  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording.

  Melodies  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  and  the  music  sounds  like  it  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  released  during  the  80's  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  very  old  school  and  aggressive  style  of  thrash  and  the  music  is  also  balanced  between  being  influenced  by  both  Bay  Area  and  German  bands  of  the  past  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Chemicide  plays  a  style  of  thrash  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  and  mixes  the  German,  Bay  Area and  South  American  styles  together  to  create  a  very  aggressive  sounding  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  biochemical  violence  themes.
 
  In  my  opinion  Chemicide  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  style  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dehumanize"  "Science  Of  Death"  and  "Road  To  Apocalypse".  8  out  of  10. 

A Blue Fire/Self Titled/Long Gone Days Records/2016 EP Review

  A  Blue  Fire  are  a  duo  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  dark  and  progressive  form  of  gothic  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2016  ep  which  was  released  by  Long  Gone  Days  Records.

  A  very  atmospheric  sounding  keyboard  and  violins  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  clean  guitars  a few  seconds  later  that  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  post  rock  feeling  before  adding  in  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  style  and  melodic  goth  vocals  and  the  guitar  leads  are  also  very  depressive  and  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  alternates  between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  music  also  incorporates  a  great  amount  of  progressive  elements  and  some  riffs  also  add  in  a  touch  of  90's  gothic/doom  metal  and  all  of  the  tracks  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  A  Blue  Fire  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  modern  style  of  post  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  early  90's  gothic/doom  and  progressive  metal  with  a  touch  of  80's  dark/new wave  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In my  opinion  A  Blue  Fire  are  a  very  great  sounding  dark  and  progressive  gothic  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hiding"  and  "Sick".  8  out  of  10.

   

The Dread Crew Of Oddwood/Lawful Evil/2016 Full Length Review

  The  Dread  Crew  Of  Oddwood  are  a  band  from  California  that  plays  an  acoustic  form  of  folk/pirate  metal  which  they  refer  to  as  'heavy  mahogany'  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Lawful  Evil".

  Acoustic  guitars  and  folk  instruments  start  off  the  album and  they also  bring  in  the  aggression  of  metal  along  with  some  aggressive  vocals  and  the  music  does  its  best  of  bringing  in  the  heaviness  without  having  any  distortion  and  the  energy  of  punk  rock  can  also  heard  in  the  music  at  times  along  with  some  back  up  gang  shouts.

  At  time s the  music  mixes  in  more  of  a  traditional  pagan/folk  metal  sound  and  the  vocals  also  use  melodic  singing  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  classical  guitars  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  vocal  tracks.

  The  Dread  Crew  Of  Oddwood  plays  a  style  of  folk/pirate  metal  that  is  all  acoustic  while  still  having  the  aggression  of  a  true  metal  band,  the  production  sounds  very  professional while   the  lyrics  cover  fantasy,  battles,  pirates  and  humorous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Dread  Crew  Of  Oddwood  are  a  very  great  sounding  acoustic  pirate/folk  metal  band  and  if  you  are  looking  for  something  that  is  different,  you  should check  out  this album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Side  Quest"  "Siren's  Song"  "Raise  You  Pints"  and  "Storm  Riders".  8  out  of  10.  

  
   

Mirrors For Psychic Warfare/Self Titled/Neurot/2016 CD Review

  Mirrors  For  Psychic  Warfare  are  a  musical  project  that  consists  of  Neurosis,  Buried  At  Sea,  Eyehategod,  and  Yakuzu  that  plays  a  mixture  of  neo-folk,  experimental and  noise  and  this  is  a  review of  their  self  titled  2016  album  which  was  released  by  Neurot.

  Experimental  and  avant  garde  sounding  guitar  riffs  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  lo-fi  atmosphere  and  after  a  few  seconds  melodic  neo  folk  style  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  distorted  drones  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  which  are  done  with  some  guitar  noises.

  Atmospheric  sounds  can  be  heard  in  the  background  and  after  awhile  industrial  metal  elements  can  be  heard in  some  parts  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  programmed  beats  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  tracks  along  with  some  ambient  soundscapes  and  a  small  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  at  times.

  On  one  of  the  tracks  the  vocals  start  utilizing  more  aggression  while  on  some  tracks  the  guitar  amp  reverb  adds  a  touch  of  harsh  noise  to  the  recording  and  when  guitar leads  are  added onto  the  recording  they  have  a  melodic  tone  to  them  and  the  whole  album  sticks  to  a  very  low  musical  direction  while  every  song  sounds  very  different  from  each  other.

  Mirrors  For Psychic  Warfare  creates  an  album  that  starts  out  with  a  neo  folk  style  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  experimental  direction  while  still  adding  in  elements  of  ambient  to  create  an  album  that  is  very  hard  to  classify,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and haunting  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mirrors  For  Psychic  Warfare  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  experimental,  ambient,  noise,  industrial  and  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Thorn  To  See"  and  "I'll  Try  You  All".  8  out  of  10.

 

Merlin Interview

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

Mostly we have been training our newest member, Chase Thayer and getting geared up for our summer shows…no set will be the same!

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the album you had released in 2014?

The biggest difference between Christ Killer, and Electric Children is how much more time we spent creating it, writing, and mastering with Bret of Red Roof Productions. Christ Killer was all written at the same time, and played all the way through each time we were practicing in The Wizard’s Lair. So we all went into the studio with a good idea how the whole album would sound. It was all done in 4 sessions in February of 2014.
As for Electric Children, we wrote songs scattered throughout 2014 to 2015 starting with Night Creep and Robe of Bones in October of 2014 and ending with Warbringer at the end of July 2015. Doing so gave us a lot of breathing room to let songs gain their own unique sound.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
The newer music focuses a lot on religious cults, serial killings, and the end of the world. But also magic.

4.I know that the band was named after 'Merlin', a legendary magician, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this legendary character?

Merlin has so many magical stories to tell, so do we.

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?
Easily one of our best shows was playing with Dead Meadow a few years back, so playing with them again this May at Riot Room will likely be even crazier. Next to that, we played a really fun show in Lawton, Oklahoma after we were invited by our good friends in the old band Grel and we also played Rolla MO, during one of their Freakers Ball shows and blew the power…

Our stage performances are usually loud as fuck blood soaked laser light experiences. We usually never talk to the crowd and just play 30 minutes of noise.

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

Future touring, yes. For now though our only out of town show is in Tulsa for Freak Tulsa Festival this coming June. We do have a few KC shows were stoked about. We’re opening for Rhapsody in early May, and playing with Dead Meadow May 19th at Riot Room.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom metal and psychedelic music?
We think they dig us. Some don’t know what to make of our music. Tell you though, there are some hardcore Merlin fans out there. They bought some old, hairy, spidery shirts from us with no hesitation after dubbing it “Trash From the Wizard’s Lair”. We promise to keep making it worth it to spend so much on our shit!!

8.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Who knows…we may make a soundtrack to something, maybe do like a crazy hour long psychedelic Journey covering every era of Merlin…we don’t like to force our sound changes, but we can guarantee we won’t make our next album sound like anything we’ve ever done before. 

9.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 in Merlin have all sorts of influences from legendary bands like Hawkwind, King Crimson, Roky Erikson, Wicked Lady, Zepplin, Pink Floyd, and Sabbath to modern bands like Uncle Acid, Ween, Fuzz, Tame Impala, Muse, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Jeff the Brotherhood. Which is why I think our music is so eclectic. We don’t want to copy another band, we want to put out what we think sounds good.

10.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

Spooky stuff man.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Beer, Whiskey, Weed, and Space...



12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
  Just put Play dark souls 3, smoke some reefer cigarettes, and listen to Dopesmoker.

Astrakhan/Reward In Purpose/War On Music/Sunmask/2016 CD Review

  Astrakhan  are  a  band  from  Vancouver  b.C,  Canada  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  progressive  form  of  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Reward  In  Purpose"  which  will  be  released  in  May  as  a  joint  effort  between  War  On  Music  and  Sunmask.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  atmospheric  synths  being  used  in  the  background  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  musical  fashion  and  acoustic  guitars can  also be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  feeling.  

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  aggressive  sludge  style  screams  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  when  clean  singing  is  utilized  it  adds  more  of  a  traditional  doom  metal  feeling  to  the  recording  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  some  influences  from  the  more  mainstream  side  of  prog  metal a t times  and  as  the  album  progresses  there  is  a  brief  use  of  clean  guitars  and  when  the  music speeds  up  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  songs  stick  to  mostly  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Astrakhan  creates  another  sludge  metal  album  that  is  more  melodic  and  progressive  than  most  bands  of  this  genre  while  also  being very  heavy  at  the  same  time,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Astrakhan  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  progressive  sludge  metal,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Turgid  Waters"  "Hatchet"  and "Hand  On  The  Stone".  8  out  of  10.  

Rising/Oceans Into Their Graves/Indisciplinarain/Earsplit Distro/2016 CD Review

  Rising  are  a  band  from  Denmark that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  groove  metal  and  hardcore  and  this is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Oceans  Into  Their  Graves"  which  will  be  released  on  April  29th  as  a  joint  effort  between  Indiscliplinarian  and  Earsplit  Distro.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album along  with  some  elements  of  hardcore  and  clean  singing  vocals  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  you  can  also  hear a  great  amount  of  melody  throughout  the  recording  while  psychedelic  elements  can  also  be  heard  at  times.

  At  times  the  music  adds  in  a  touch  of  post  metal  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  in  more  of  a  melodic  metal  direction  and  the  riffs  also  mix  in a   great  amount  of  groove  metal  influences  while the  vocals  are  more  closer  to a   traditional  style  of  doom  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  along  with  classical  guitars  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of t he  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction. 

  Rising  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  groove  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  more  of  traditional  doom  metal  vocal  approach  and  a  touch  of  psychedelia  and  post hardcore  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  has  very  professional  sound  while  the  lyrics  cover  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Rising  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  groove  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should c heck  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Burn  Me  Black"  "The  Anger"  "Death  of  A  Giant"  and  "The  Night".  8  out  of  10.