Howling Giant/Black Hole Space Wizard: Part 1/2016 EP Review

  Howling  Giant  are  a  band  from  Nashville,  Tennessee  that  plays  a progressive  form  of  stoner  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released 2016  ep  "Black  Hole  Space  Wizard:  Part  One"  which  will  be  released  in  August.

  A  very hard  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  and  also  introducing  psychedelic  elements  onto  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  clean  singing  style  while  the  riffs  add  in a   touch  of  doom  metal.

  While  the  music  does  have  a  great  amount  of  retro  60's,  70's  and  90's  elements  it  still  sounds  very  modern  at  the  same  time  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  there  are  also  synths  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  all of t he  tracks  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  one  song  adds  in  elements  of  punk  rock  and  thrash  and  the  last  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Howling  Giant  plays  a  style  of  stoner  rock  that  is  very  progressive  while  also  adding  in  psychedelic  touches  along  with  influences  of  punk,  thrash  and  doom  metal  to  create  a  sound  of their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  science  fiction  themes.    

  In  my  opinion  Howling  Giant  are  a very  great  sounding  progressive  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Mothership"  and  "Ditmouth".  8  out  of  10.

Mortal Strike Interview

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

Greetings Mate! Sorry for the long time to answer, has been a busy Summer with Tours in Bosnia,Croatia,Hungary,Czech Republic,Austria and Germany.
After the Summer we will continue of work on our Second Album to be released as soon as it's finished! Probably beginning of 2017.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
Rough,Raw,Fast,Loud & Aggressive!

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
We're not big fans of our society so we like to dab in to Social Criticism. And we also like to explore Historic Events in our songs, like the fall of Julius Caesar in "Unleash the Hounds of War" or the landing in the Normandy in World War II in "MG42".

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Mortal Strike"?
In german we say "Name ist Programm", which roughly translates to "The name says it all" or "The name reflects it's program"
It should reflect the music. It's straight in your face! :)

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?
I would say, as many live reviews has pointed out, that we're very energetic, have an insane amount of power on stage and that you can really feel that we enjoy what we're doing and that, that musical enthusiasm is very contagious.
I think the Wacken Open Air Show in 2011 will always be very special to me. But the Metal Champ Final in Szene Wien was of the hook aswell. Same as our first gig with Tankard, first gig with Exodus. We loved every one of our shows, even if there were only 10 people there. Then we will play even louder for those 10!

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Still have quite alot planed this year with gigs on 2 Festivals in Hungary & Austria. We just came back from a tour of Bosnia,Croatia,Hungary,Czech Republic,Austria & Germany. And next year we're planing a new tour into the Eastern European countries.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We are unsigned yes, and yes we are looking for a label. But not any label just to have a label.
We would really like a label who we could work well with. Not just someone who sells our merch and gets 20%, we can do that on our own. A nice partnership were we could both reap the benefits of cooperation.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of thrash metal?
Absolutely overwhelmingly positive! It's absolutely amazing to hear good stuff anywhere you go. It so awesome!

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
It's just Dominique who plays in a second Band called Locracy. And they are still going strong! Good Technical Death Metal Band! Check them out.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We will try to maintain true to what we do, without getting boring :) We said it from the start and we will keep saying it:
"For the Loud and the Aggressive!"

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?
It has to be the Teutonic 4: Sodom,Destruction,Tankard and Kreator. And I am still listening to them to this day :)

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Haha, I'm very fond of cooking and reading.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
All good! Thank you very much for the Interview, it's been a pleasure!



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Tamoanchan/Tlamatinime/Sepulchral Silence Records/2016 Full Length Review

  Tamoanchan  are  a  solo  project  from  Mexico  that  plays  a  mixture  of  folk  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  album  "Tlamatinime"  which  was  released  by  Sepulchral  Silence  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  distorted  drone  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  ethnic  and  nature  sounds  a  few  seconds  later  as  well  as  some  acoustic  guitar  playing  which  also  evolved  into  a  heavier  style  while  also  mixing  in  the  ethnic  elements  in  with  a  doom  metal  style  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  clean  singing.

  Elements  of  folk  music  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  sludge  style  screams  can  also  be  heard  in  the  background  at  times  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  great  amount  of  stoner  influences.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  even  more  of  a  melodic  style  to  the  songs and  some  tracks  also  add  in  touches  of  Native  American  music  along  with  some  ritualistic chanting  and  spoken  word  parts  being  utilized  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses  some of  the  songs  start  incorporating  more  psychedelic  elements  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction. 

  Tamoanchan  plays  a  music  style  that  takes  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  it  together  with  the  tribal  Native  American  folk  music  of  his  home  country  to  create  something  very  original, t he  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover  Olmec,  Aztec  and  Mayan  Mythology.

  In  my  opinion  Tamoanchan  are  a  very  great sounding  mixture  of  folk  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Tezcatlanextia"  and  "Teohuatia".  8  out  of  10. 

Forsaken Peddlers Interview

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

Alexandre: After a year of hiatus between april 2014 and march 2015, we decided to bring back Forsaken Peddlers to life, with a revamp line-up, with my brother Christophe on drums (ex FatumElisum), still Hugo on guitars and me on bass guitar and singer. Since that time, we worked hard on brand new songs, three of them are almost finished. This process was quite long, but we decided to take care on more details and atmospheres. We played our first gig in our home town, Rouen, with this new line-up last April with Hell and Deveikuth, and we played once again in Rouen in June. We are still focus on the writing process for the next album.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the album?

It’s always hard to explain thyself our music, but I’d rather present it as epic doom metal, mainly influenced by the references of that style of doom metal, with some influences coming from heavy metal and traditional doom metal.

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

On Songs of Fate and Freedom, I decided to explore historical themes, the song “The Brave” is about William Wallace, and the song “The Conqueror” is about Guillaume le Conquérant. The idea was to have some epic themes on that record. But the others songs are focused on societal topics: for example, All Shall Fall is about the about the riot that happened in 2010 in London.

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

Since the Middle Age to the nineteenth century, the peddlers were the men who wandered from villages to villages bringing some news about the world to the villagers and selling some stuff. They talked about some historical heroes, and, in France during the second leg of the eighteenth century, they spread the ideals of French philosophers in the countryside, which was an important fact for the rise of the French Revolution. That was the main idea when bringing this name for the band, dealing with topics about historical facts and describing nowadays society. That will be the main topics for the news songs.

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 did not play so much gigs since the beginning of the band. But since our return on stage, I think the last two ones were the most enjoyable, because we played in front of friends, we played the new songs and to see the responses of the crowd was fine, and, we did a cover of Gates of Vallhala from Manowar, a song that is very fun to play. It’s hard to describe our stage performances, as its something very personal for the three of us. We try to enjoy our time on stage and to share our music with the crowd.

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

We haven’t yet any touring or show plans for the future; we are mostly focused on the writing process of the new songs. But we would like to play the more gigs we can.

7.Heathen Tribes are re-issuing your 2014 album on cassette, what are your thoughts on the final product?

As it is not released yet, I can’t tell you about the final product but I’m very confident about the result. Nicholas and Teo are very passionate and I’m sure they did the best for us. More over, HéloïseLaugier, a well talented person and a good friend of mine, did the artwork and her work was very good, as always.

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

We have little feedback about our music from foreign fans of doom metal, but the few one were quite good. I think the release of the cassette will help spreading our music, as Heathen Tribes are doing a good promoting job.

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

Christophe, Hugo and I used to play in FatumElisum, but the band split up two years ago.
Hugo plays guitar in Ataraxie, a well-known Frenchdoom death metal band since two years.
Hugo and I play in Malemort, with Nemery from Sordide, a brand new extreme doom metal band, since a year, we will record our first demo during this summer.
Christophe and I play together in a rock band called Ormesis.
I play in Mhönos, we’ve just recorded our second album, LXXXVII.

10.When can we expect new music and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

As said before, we worked on new songs since a year. Three songs are mostly finished, “The Rearguard of the Deposed”, “Ode to the Blind Citizens” and “Peerless”, and we have some new materials for more songs. We would like to take our time to be well satisfied with our work. I hope it will not take many years to record something new. It’s hard to describe something new, but you could expect something more epic and more powerful. You have to be patient.

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

The main goal when founding the band six years ago was to play epic doom metal to play tribute to the old ones like Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Solstice, Warning and Griftegard, to name a few, and also epic metal bands like Manowar (Ross the Boss era), Manilla Road, Primordial and Bathory. These are the main influences, and perhaps some Original Soundtrack like Basil Pouledoris’s Conan OST. As the years passed, we are proud to still play that kind of doom metal, heavily rooted in heavy metal, as it is not so well appreciated since many years.   

In Forsaken Peddlers, we listen to many things from metal, to rock and classical music. So it will be endless giving you a list of what we listen to. But I would notice that the demo “To Sol a Thane“from Solstice and the demo from Dautha, the new project Ola Blomkvist from Griftegard, are on heavy rotations since a month and are solid epic doom metal releases.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

I ‘m very found of literature, history and society’s topics. Watching the decay of post modern and neo liberal society is my main inspiration for Forsaken Peddlers.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I would like to thank you for this interview.
Doom or be doomed!

Stonewitch/The Cross of Doom/Terror From Hell Records/2016 CD Review

  Stonewitch  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  heavy  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "The  Cross  Of  Doom"  which  was  released  by  Terror  From  Hell  Records.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  old  school  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  once  the  clean  singing  kicks  in  the  music  goes  for  more  of  a  doom  style  along  with  some  dark  sounding  melodies  and  there  is  a  lot  of  70's  and  80's  influences  in  the  music.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  remain  true  to  a  melodic  and  old  school  style  of  doom  metal  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  like  they  could  of  been  recorded  and  released  30  years  ago  and  there  are  also  some  elements  of  blues  rock  also  being  utilized  at  times  while  some  songs  also  add  in  a  touch  of  NWOBHM.

   As  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  there  is  also  a  few  seconds  of  fast  playing  and  blast  beats  while t he  main  focus  remains  on  a  slower  style  and  they  also  do  a  cover  of  Pentagram's  "The  Sign  Of  The  Wolf".

  Stonewitch  plays  a  style  of  doom  metal  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  70's  and  80's  era  of  the  genre  while  also  mixing  in  some  traditional  metal  elements,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Stonewitch  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  heavy  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Eerie  Valley  Of  The  Crimson  Planet"  and  "The  Cross  Of  Doom".  8  out  of  10.    

 

Zlatanera/Legerdemain/2016 Full Length Review

  Zlatanera  are  a  band  from  Northern  Ireland  that  plays  a mixture  of  sludge,  stoner,  doom,  groove  and  heavy  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Ledgerdemain"  which  will  be  released  in  August.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  stoner  rock  style  melodies  and  the  vocals  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  groove  metal  style  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  70's  metal  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  While  there  is  a  great  amount  of  retro  and  old  school  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style  the  music  still  sounds  very  modern  and  the  solos  and  leads  bring  in  a  very  melodic  and  old  school  style  of  hard  rock  and  heavy  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  keyboards  along  with  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  a  few  of  the  tracks  being  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Zlatanera  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  heavy,  groove  and  stoner  metal  and mixes  it  in  with  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occultism,  and  Violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Zlatanera  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner,  doom,  groove  and  heavy  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Bar  To  Far"  "Master  of  Ceremonies"  and  "Advance  Of  The  Clodhopper".  8  out  of  10. 

These Winds Are Not Hope/Yesterday's Ghosts/Sepulchral Silence/2016 Full Length Review

  These Wind's  Are  Not  Hope  are  a  band  from  Macedonia  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  goth  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Yesterday's  Ghosts"  which  was  released  by  Sepulchral  Silence.

  A  very  dark,  melodic  and  melancholic  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  clean  singing  goth  metal  style  while  the  riffs  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  elads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  A  great  amount  of  90's  influences  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  some  of  the  songs  while  all  of  the  tracks  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  while  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  sorrow,  sadness  and  depression.and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  clean playing  and  acoustic  guitars.

  These  Winds  Are  Not  Hope  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  very  melodic  style  of  goth  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  grief,  loss  and  depression  themes.

  In  my  opinion  These  Winds  Are  Not  Hope  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  goth  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Yesterday's  Ghosts"  and  "The  Death  of  Hope".  8  out  of  10.