Demoniac/Intemperance/Witches Brew/2017 CD Review

  Demoniac  are  a  band  from  Chile  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  thrash  metal  with  some  touches  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  'Intemperance"  which  was  released  by  Witches Brew.

  A  very  heavy  80's  influenced  South  American  thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  solos  and  leads  stick  to  a  very  raw  yet  melodic  old  school  extreme  metal  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful.

  Vocals  are  in  the  more  aggressive  style  of  thrash  metal  along  with  some  touches  of  1986  era  death  metal  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and classical  guitars  are  also  used  briefly,

  A  couple  of  the  tracks  are  instrumentals  along  with  first  one  also  bringing  in  traditional  metal  elements  while  the  later  is  an  acoustic  song  before  returning  back  to  vocal  tracks  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  and  back  up  gang  shouts  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks a re  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Demoniac  plays  a  style  of  thrash  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  while  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  early  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  occultism,  death,  anti  Christianity  and  destruction  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Demoniac  are  a  very  great  sounding  thrash  metal  band  with  a  touch  of  death  metal  an d if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Unacceptable  Truth"  "When  Witchcraft  And  Cult  Rises"  and  "Forging  Our  Sorrow".  8  out  of  10.

    

Heavy Traffic/The Mad Doctors/Twin Earth Records/King Pizza Records/2017 Split 7 Inch Review

  This  is  a  review of  a  split  7  inch  between  New  York's  Heavy  Traffic  and  The  Mad Doctors  which  will  be  released  on  September  22nd  as  a  joint  effort  between  Twin  Earth  and  King  Pizza  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Heavy  Traffic  a  band  that  plays  a mixture  of  psychedelic, doom  metal, noise  and punk.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out with  distorted  amp  sounds  along  with  some  clean  vocals  start  off  their  side  of  the  split  along  with  some  psychedelic  elements  while  the  riffing  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  the  solos  and  leads  give  the  song  more  of  a  retro  edge  as  well  as  adding  in  some  noise  and  punk  influences,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  humorous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Heavy  Traffic  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  psychedelic,  doom  metal,  punk  and  noise  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.

  Next  up  is  The  Mad  Doctors  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  garage,  punk,  doom,  surf  and  sludge  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  garage  punk  style  riffing  while  heavy  more  of  a  sludge  metal  heaviness  while  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  melodic  fashion  along  with  some  clean  playing  also  being  utilized  briefly,  the production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  humorous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Mad  Doctors  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  garage,  punk,  doom,  surf  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.

  In  conclusion  I  fell  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  garage,  punk,  sludge  and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10.  

Spirit Adrift Interview

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

We've been gearing up for our album release shows in October, as well as discussing our plans for next year. We've got some cool stuff in the works for 2018. Some of it is confirmed, some of it is being discussed, all of it will help take the band to another level.

2.In October 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?

With Curse of Conception, the goal was to make a timeless sounding heavy metal album that cannot be denied. For inspiration, I looked to the revered classics, as well as some of my favorite bands from Arkansas, which is where I cut my teeth playing music. How is this album better than previous material? It's better. This is the best album I've ever written, by far.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with the newer music?

Life and death, and the spectrum of emotions and experiences involved.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Spirit Adrift'?

I wanted a band name with no more than two or three words. That combination of words wasn't taken, and it fit the vibe of the music I was writing. The band name is open to interpretation, same as the lyrics.

5.On the albums you record everything by yourself, do you feel this gives you more room to be creative with your musical sound?

On previous albums, I did everything myself. But I want to be clear, Curse of Conception was a group effort. Everybody, including Sanford Parker, brought a lot to the table. I didn't ever really intend for Spirit Adrift to be a one-man project, that was just the simplest way to achieve my initial goals. I'm probably going to continue to write the music and lyrics, but this is a legitimate band and all the other guys have elevated Spirit Adrift to a level I couldn't have reached on my own.

6.What are some of the best shows that you have played with the live band so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

I set zero expectations on anything Spirit Adrift does, other than making the best music we can. So having no expectations, every show has been better than I expected. We've only played a few shows at this point and they've been with some of my favorite bands, so that's a good situation to be in. There's not really anything fancy going on with our stage performance. We focus on playing the songs right, and from the heart. I've been watching a lot of old Metallica, Judas Priest, and Pantera live videos lately, which are inspiring. But we're definitely doing our own thing.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

Yes. October 7 in Arizona we're playing with Atriarch, Take Over And Destroy, and Divine Hammer. October 14 in Denver, we're playing with Khemmis and Abrams. Then 2018 there's going to be a lot of big stuff happening. Some of that will be announced soon. People paying attention can figure some of it out.

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

The response to Spirit Adrift has been super positive from the beginning. Of course there will be haters no matter what you do, but I haven't seen much legitimate criticism from anyone who knows shit about music, so it doesn't bother me.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?

Hopefully I continue to learn and improve every day until I'm dead.

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?

As I mentioned above, the biggest influence for Curse of Conception is the "old guard". Metallica, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Ozzy, Trouble, Pentagram, Dio, stuff like that. Also the Arkansas stuff, mainly Rwake and Deadbird. I listen to a lot of Tangerine Dream as well, but that influence might not ever actually show up in Spirit Adrift. Or maybe we'll bust some synths and sequencers out on the next album, who knows.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Being a good husband, hanging out with my dog, MMA and other combat sports, psychology, horror movies, all kinds of stuff. Those are the constants. But I'm pretty obsessive so I'll get stuck on certain things. Not matter what, I'm almost always doing something relating to music.

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

Thanks for the interview, and thank you to everyone who has supported Spirit Adrift. If you download our album for free when it comes out that's fine, but if you like it enough not to delete it, buy a copy. We worked hard on it. See you all soon.

Wendigo Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We’re just five guys trying to make some good rock music.

2.In 2016 you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

If we talk about genres, we don’t like to put one label like ‘stoner rock’ on it. We make a mix of a few genres. And we don’t like to limit ourselves in one particular direction. At the moment I would say that we play a mix of Blues rock, Stoner rock and classic rock. But this list might be extended in the future. If you want to picture it, it’s like a long ride thru the desert with a few substances in the glove compartment.


3.The band has been around since 2012 but waited until 2016 to release any music, can you tell us a little bit more about the first 4 years?


We first tried to get a repertoire of cover songs together so we can establish a name in the local area. We did some local gigs, expanded our setlist and got more and more gigs. Not just in the local area but also in places like Duisburg or Magdeburg. Truth is that we never really started writing our own material before 2016. And since then we started to put our own stuff in our setlist and see if people liked it and how their reaction would be.


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


Well, on the ep it’s a bit different writing then what we’re working on now, lyrically. Like the first song ‘Play It’ is just about me playing guitar in my room because my day was shitty. It was the first song I’ve written and has no deeper meaning. But later on like ‘Holy Hypocrite’ it’s the kind of type of social critical lyric that we’re writing at the moment. This song in particular is about mankind tending to choose financial profit over life itself with a distinct view on the subject of climate change and global warming. With the songs we’re writing at the moment it has the same kind of dystopian ring to it. We just tend to mix it up a bit with some occult stuff.


5.I know that the bands name comes from the name of an evil spirit from 'Algonquian' folklore, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?


At the moment it doesn’t really fit at all to the music we’re playing. We don’t really use lyrical themes from it nor musical influence. We used the name because it was a monster in one of our favorite TV-Shows ‘Supernatural’. But maybe we should make some connection sometime, when I think about it…


6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?


Jan Ole (Rhythm guitar): The first gig in Duisburg in January 2016. It was the first nonlocal gig and it was amazing. The people were just crazy as fuck.

Steffen (Drums): The same as mentioned above. It was the first time we felt something like a ‘tour feeling’. You know, driving to the venue, transporting all our stuff, build everything up. And everything in a city you never went before. It’s about 350 km away from home.


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



Our last gig this year is at the Senftöpfchen Pub in Duisburg on Oct. 7th. It’s the only one left this year and in winter we’ll try to get some gigs for next year.


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



We had contact with a smaller label near Hamburg and we hope to release our stuff there in the near future, if everything turns out great. Also we received some interest from a bit bigger label from Denmark.


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


We received mostly positive feedback from reviews all around the world. We had a magazine from Chile, Poland, USA, etc. and almost everybody rated us above average. Of course this is a three song EP, so from the Stoner/Doom community came not 10,000s of people on to us. But from the guys that contacted us feedback was all positive. And according to our Facebook stats we got a little fanbase somewhere near Johannesburg in South Africa.



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

After our last gig we’re planning to write the rest of our debut-LP. Some stuff is already written and a few things already played live. But some stuff needs completing so that we hope to release it in spring 2018. Musically we’re heading into a more complicated territory. We write longer stuff like ‘Holy Hypocrite’ and tend to go more into a progressive direction. We move a bit away from the Classic Rock foundation and try to establish a more concept-based song. There’s a song split into two parts/chapters and lyrically we are working with a loose concept. And as mentioned in a question at the beginning, we try not to limit ourselves in musical direction. So who knows, maybe we’ll become a Bavarian folk band. ;)



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?


Jan Ole: Of course Malcolm Young from AC/DC and James Hetfield from Metallica had a big influence on me. And with time guys like Matt Pike from Sleep and High On Fire, Bill Kelliher from Mastodon and Joshua Homme from Kyuss and QOTSA had a big impact on me. Lyrically it’s Neil Fallon from Clutch and Nergal from Behemoth. Also, I fell in love with the works of Science-Fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Nowadays I listen to all kinds of stuff. I just discovered the prog band Yes for myself. I just love the Prog bands from the 70s like Genesis, King Crimson and Pink Floyd. Of course I listen to Mastodon, Clutch, Kyuss and Sleep. But also I like Black metal stuff like The Committee. And I also recently discovered Fantomas which is some very fucked up music, I love it. And a band called Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Steffen: Phil Rudd was a very big influence on me. AC/DC was one of the very first bands I’ve listened to. His straight, dry beat, just hammering it down is mesmerizing. Nowadays it’s Chris Layton from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. The soulful way he plays the drums is just fascinating to me. He revolutionized my playing style.



12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Jan Ole: Watching TV-Shows and movies, playing some video games. Most recently I try to fight my laziness with reading. As I mentioned Science-fiction works, and I take some interest in Philosophy. Guys like Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Noam Chomsky.

Steffen: Table-tennis, meeting with some friends, just enjoying my free time. And I like to expand my horizon with a little help from my friends. ;)





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

Thank you for the interview. We really enjoyed it.
Cheers!
Jan Ole & Steffen

Wormwood/Mooncurse/Translation Loss Records/2017 CD Review

  Wormwood  are  a  band  from  Boston,  Massachusetts  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Mooncurse"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Translation Loss  Records.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  along  some  synths  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  doom  metal  direction   which  also  mixes  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  while  the  vocals  are  angry  sounding  screams  along  with  clean  playing  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  while  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  stoner  rock  elements  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.  most  of  the  tracks are  log  and  epic  in  length  and  synths  also  return  on  some  of  the  later  tracks and  a  later  song  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars  and psychedelic  touches.

  Wormwood  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Wormwood  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Undesirables"  "Parasitic Twin"  and  "Passage Of  Fire".  8  out  of  10.  .  

Neck Deep In Filth/Self Titled/2017 EP Review

  Neck  Deep  In  Filth  are  a  band  from  Nepal  that  plays  a  mixture  of  hardcore  and  crust  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  and  self  titled  2017  ep.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  distorted  drones  a  few  seconds  later  which  also leads to  drum  beats  being  added  onto  the  recording  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  direction  along  with  a  small  amount  of  melodic  guitar  leads  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  angry  style  shouts  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  crust  influences  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  as  well  as  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  melody,  on  the  last  track  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music.

  Neck  Deep  In  Filth  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  crust  punk  and  hardcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  political  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Neck  Deep  In  Filth  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  hardcore  and  crust  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "N.D.I.F"  and  "Holy  Mother  Corrupt  Child".  8  out  of  10.        

Killing Suzy Interview

.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Jens: Killing Suzy started after the break-up of Sun of Sadness, the former Band of our Drummer and our Keyboard Player. After several people came and gone, the current Line-up assembled in 2014, with me being the last addition.

Ambra: All members of the band are Cologne-based so that is the place where we live, where we party and - of course - where we rehearse on a more or less regular basis. Some of us share really a long time together in the whole music stuff.

2.In February you had released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Jens: Loud, dirty, a bit melancholic and bitter-sweet. If you want a genre we like to call it "Dark Schweinerock", others might call it "Gothic-Metal". We really don´t think much about our genre and how to fit in, as we make the music for us and just follow our own tastes in music.

Ambra: I think you can hear on the album, that most of us had their "musical socialisation" back in the 90ies.

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

Ambra: I am the one in the band who is responsible for writing the lyrics, and I enjoy that the guys give me plenty of rope concerning the topics. I tend to try words fitting to the general mood of a song, which results in quite different matters. Most are about existential problems with the incorporated contradictions in humanity (like "Aphelion" or "Everybody dies"): fear, anguish, deprivation, the pain of being alive, growing old and die at the end. Some pay homage to lyrical idols (like "Sisters"), and some are just very personal and are part of my very private process of mental coping with loss and grief (like "Lament in Prediction").

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Killing Suzy'?

Jens: There is a dark and sinister secret about who is Suzy and why she has do die... it is to much of a horror story to share.

Ambra: Yeah... and you shouldn't visit a dark alley in Cologne where rumors tell of an anonymous grave in the vicinity of our rehearsal rooms...

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

Ambra: Every gig of ours is simply hilarious :-) No, honestly, our stage performance resembles the way our music was recorded: plain and simple, no unnecessary glamour or glittery costumes. Just five guys on a stage playing their music and enjoying every second of it.

Jens: As we are all very old and lazy, we have not played that many shows yet. For me, our release party earlier this year was a pure blast.

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

Jens: We will see what happens. As we all are working and some of us have family, playing live is sometimes a bit difficult. A full tour would be nice, but I think not very realistic.

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

Jens: Yes and no. We would like to work with someone, but it would depend on the conditions.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of gothic metal and dark rock?

Jens: We only got a few reviews, but they were all really, really good. Thank you all for that!!

Ambra: And we receive very warm personal comments after gigs or on our facebook page through fans from all over the world. We were very happy to have a special on the canadian underground radio "Women of Metal" who even nominated us for their monthly bandpoll. There has been a very kind review from singapore and one from Brazil, so I hope to think that there are at least some guys out there who like our music a bit.

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

Jens: We are busy writing our second album right now. Musicwise, it will be a "natural" follow-up to "Everybody dies, darling". Maybe a bit darker and moodier, but that might just be my opinion.

Ambra: It will be a lot heavier as well, don't you think? And the lyrics get a lot more political.

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?

Ambra: Our musical influences are very different. Seb, our keyboarder is deeply rooted in the gothic genre, while Gerd (drums) and Ralf (Guitar) are more like old school heavy metal guys. All of us share a passion for Dark Rock. I myself am very much into the whole nu metal / hardcore stuff, but you can find me going nuts over an old ACDC track as well. Oh, and of course as a soprano I like the symphonic metal genre as well.

Jens: As most music was written by our Keyboard player and before I joined the band, I can only say that I hear a lot of old wave, industrial and goth bands in our music, seasoned with a lot of metal influences. Myself, I listen (among shitloads of other things) to everything that is dark, intense and gloomy, from Dark Ambient over Post-Punk to Black Metal.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Jens: Movies, Girlfriend, Games... Boring, I know...

Ambra: I am very interested in human (and primate) psychology, existential philosophy and medicine. But that may be related to my profession... In my spare time I love to read, make Yoga or go for one (or ten) drinks with my friend to the next concert of any band I can get hold of :-)

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

Jens: Check out our music, support your local scene. Go to underground shows! Enjoy your life and respect others!