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. 

   

Attonement Theory/Illumination/I Defy Records/2016 EP Review

  Atonement  Theory  are  a  solo  project  from  Chicago,  Illinois  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Illumination"  which  was  released  by  I  Defy  Records.

  Distorted drones  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  melodic  yet  heavy  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  as  well  as  some  drum  beats  and  after  awhile  angry  sludge  style  vocals  start  to  make  their  presence  known  while  the  riffs  mix  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.

  A  great  amount  of  post   metal  elements  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  tracks  and  the guitar  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical direction  and  elements  of  hardcore  are  also  used  at  times  along  with  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  atmospheric  synths.

  Atonement  Theory  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge  and  post  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  Atonement  Theory  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Illumination"  and  "The  Hallow  Imprint".  8  out  of  10. 

Cybernetic Witchcraft/Troglodithic Trip/2017 Full Length Review

  Cybernetic  Witchcraft  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays a   mixture  of  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album "Troglodithic  Trip".

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  stoner  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some 70's  retro  rock  elements  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  also  mixing  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  clean  singing  proto  metal   style  with a   touch  of  aggression.

  While  the  music  has  a  lot  of  old  school  influences  it  still  sounds  very  modern  at  the  same  time  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  stick  to  a  70's  rock  direction  and  most  of  the  tracks are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  spoken  word  samples  are  also  used  briefly  along  with  the  music  sticking  either  to  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  some  shamanistic  style  chanting.

  Cybernetic  Witchcraft  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of t heir  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  mythology,  occult,  science  fiction  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Cybernetic  Witchcraft  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cult  Of  the  Druid"  and  "Tyrannosaurus  Hex".  8  out  of  10.

  

 

Barque/Coffin Cutters/Eastrain Records/2016 EP Review

  Barque  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  dark  mixture  of  crust  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  ep  "Coffin  Cutters"  which  was  released  by  Eastrain  Records.

  A  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  elements  of  crust  and  d  beat  while t he  vocals  are  mostly  aggressive  hardcore  style  vocals  and  you  can  also  hear  touches  of  post  hardcore  in  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  the  faster  sections  using  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  amount  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  most  of  the  tracks a re  very  short  in  length  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  the  guitar  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  ep  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Barque  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  dark  form  of  post  hardcore  and  mixes  it  with  crust  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Barque  are  a  very  great  sounding  dark  mixture  of  crust  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Path  Of  The  Hierophant"  and  "Torments".  8  out  of  10.