Nomy/Psychopath/2014 Full Length Album Review

  Nomy  is  a  solo  artist  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  metal,  alternative  and  hard  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2014  album  "Psychopath".

  New  wave  style  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  programmed  beats  and  chants  before  adding  in  spoken  word  vocals  which  leads  up  to  a  harder  musical  direction  along  with  a  mixture  of  melodic  vocals  and  aggressive  screams  as  well  as  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  both  synth  and  heavy  parts.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  in  a  more  melodic  metal  direction  an d there  is  also  a  decent  mixture  of  both  power  ballads  and  hard  tracks  and  in  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  you  can  hear  influences  from  both  the  modern  and  melodic  death  metal  genres  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  also  bring  in  elements  of  emo  and  punk  rock.

  Classical  guitars  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  synth's  bringing  in  traces  of  industrial  and  electronic  music  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  to  speed  up  a  bit  along  with  some  semi  blast  beats  while  the  main  focus  remains  more  on  a  melodic  style  of  hard  music.

  Nomy  creates  a  musical  style  that  takes  from  the  more  radio  orientated  style  of  metal,  alternative  and  hard  rock  and  while  this  is  not  a  style  I  listen  to  all  the  time  I  still  feel  Nomy  is  very  good  at  what  he  is  doing  with  his  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes  leaning  towards  the  bipolar  side.

  In  my  opinion  Nomy  is  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  metal,  alternative  and  modern  hard  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Chaos"  "Psychopath"  "I  Killed  You  A  Thousand  Times"  and  "I  Hate  You  Diane".  7/5  out  of  10.

1000 Dead Interview

1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Hello. 1000Dead is a metal band formed in Rethymno (Greece), by Nick M. (Guitars/vox) Alekos M. (Drums) & Peter L. (Bass/backing vox) in the beginning of 2013 in Crete. 3 guys that wanted to make controlled noise and hopefully we‘re on track for it!

2. Recently you have released a promo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Surely the promo tracks aren’t easy to be categorized under a certain genre. It contains heavy rock / thrashy riffs , grind/death drumming and some very complicated bass lines, while the vocals are occasionally “clean”….How do you describe in 1 or 2 words all the above! That’s why we simply prefer the label “metal”.


3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
In a nutshell: To be decent – Justice - Hatred & then some…

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name '1000 Dead'?
Well we didn’t think a lot about that. Just a number & an adjective combined as 1 word (pronounced ThousandDead). Also it’s kinda intriguing - you don’t know what to expect from a band with a name like this, right? It totally fulfils its purpose. Plus it sounds cool!

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Usually we play gigs with bands that differ from each other. We’ve played with Doom, Black metal and Stoner bands. The last show with the mighty Ravencult kicked ass. Stage performance? 40 minutes headbanging.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Unfortunately, at the moment there’s nothing scheduled. We are focused in recordings of our first full length album.

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Soon as the album is finished, surely we’ll start sending music samples, to music labels.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
It’s pure! Ha! But that’s normal I guess, since we are a new band. Hopefully things will get better over time!

9. When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
The album recordings are already on the way. Probably it’s going to be ready within the year. The winter is coming! As far as the future music direction, who knows, the power of the Riff compels us!

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?
Too many bands to be mentioned, but we can say this: Bay area thrash, Boston scene, Progressive, the swamps of Louisiana and last but not least, the shape of punk that never came!

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Well besides our jobs (we have to make a livin’), it’s all about the music.

12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for the time you took for this interview. We appreciate your interest & we hope your readers will dig our music. For our latest news: www.facebook.com/1000Dead. Cheers!

Skyconqueror Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
After the recording, which took quite a long time, we prepared to release the album and do  some promotion on different festivals like Rock Hard or Fortarock. We sent lots of CDs and downloads around the world and also got in contact with Metalmessage.de on this way. Metalmessages´ Markus seems to love our new record and is a big help in promoting the new release now. We still think about a release party in the  Whisky Dungeon in Münster, Germany where we had lots of good nights and the owner has always been a big supporter of SKYCONQUEROR.

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound of the new recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
I think with the new record UNDER THE PENTAGRAM we initiated a kind of new period of the band. With „HELLSTORY“ we created a retrospect from 1996 to 2008 and maybe unconsciously closed a chapter of the band´s history with the record. The focus somehow went much more to the influences, the roots and the essence of our music. What we felt was, that there there was an whole new spirit and energy when the first new tracks were recorded.
The music now is often described as old school metal or is compared to the NWOBHM. And that´s right, the music is meant to be pure and simple with the irie spirit oft he initial time of HEAVY METAL. Compared with some older SKYCONQEUROR-tunes one could say that we musically made one more step back in time.

3.The band has been around since 1996 but so far there has only been 3 demos and 2 full lengths, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap between releases?
We all had our lives to live. At this somehow SKYCONQUEROR´s plan to take over the underground went out of sight, out of mind. Next to the music we finished our studies/educations and started working. Only Daniel already worked as he joined SKYCONQUEROR. We made some trips together and moved to different cities – but not too far away so that we still can meet in the week or at the weekend for rehearsal or having a drink together. And now we´re here and ready!

4.Your lyrics cover a lot of occult topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this subject?
That is one of our favorite topics since we started the band. Mostly influenced by early Black Metal, bands like King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, Venom and the 2nd Black Metal wave in the early 90s. We all grew up in a mostly catholic area and had to participate in christian activities like confirmation or the sacrament which we all really were or are not connected with. So that was and is still always something to talk about. Maybe that was also a reason for our interest in occult topics in the past.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Skyconqueror'?
The name SKYCONQUEROR was introduced by Jan. Maybe it was also inspired by the occult with the meaningthat we are the ones who came from hell to conquer the sky.  I think we still pray for that to happen…haha!

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?
There were some really good shows in the past. For example an open air festival in Nordkirchen against racism with several hundred maniacs in front of the stage, which we absolutely did not expect. Another fantastic gig was right after the making of a splatter-b--movie (Fate & Destruction) where we took part in the crypts of the former Rock Café in Lüdinghausen. We entered the stage wearing a kind of corpse paint from the movie and the gig in the over crowed pub was a lot of fun.
Right now we  do not have special effects or something like that on stage. We try to inspire people with the pure energy of our music and the raw passion..

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
No, we haven't planned anything at the moment. We had a lot to do with the release of the CD and wanted to concentrate on it, so we skipped anything else for the release. But now we would love to play gigs wherever it is possible – even when it´s sometimes hard to find a date because of Jans´ shift work and our families.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We have not  sent any copies to labels. With oomoxx we have a good partner for the distribution and Metalmessage helps us with promotion. We´ll follow what´s going on with Under The Pentagram, but right now we don´t see any advantage of having a label for us.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of heavy metal?
We are very excited about the huge feedback that comes from different places all over the world. For example we got in contact with some crazy metal guys from Peru. Most often the reviews have been excellent and the support by the fans on our homepage is very enthusiastic.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
At the moment we are really proud of finishing the  record after a long time, during which we had no time to make new songs. And now – first time ever shortly after a recording – we already have some new songs and work on the next release. So it´s good to know, that we can start to record  new  stuff much faster than the last time.
And of course we  would love to play the songs from Under The Pentagram live in the near future wherever people would like to listen.

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?
We all have huge record collections. The biggest influence on the music of Under The Pentagram and our former recordings is the heavy metal of the early 80s. But there are different styles in hard music we love and which find their way in our songs (just listen to the guitar in the 2nd half of Demon – you surely will realize that we like some black metal as well).
It´s a wide variety of different styles we like – from Rush to Dissection, from Magnum to Slayer and from ZZ TOP to Darkthrone
Nowadays we still listen to old stuff and new old stuff.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
We all like to travel around. Daniel loves to go  camping to Perigord, France with his family, Mirko enjoys travelling to Southeurope, Jan is a big fan of the Alps and Carsten made for example several round trips especially in Northamerica. Mirko and Jan also like travelling to Belgium together to degust the latest beers and genevers over there.
We like to spend time together in beer gardens. Some like sports like hiking, biking, snowboarding, inline skating, canoeing and the others prefer to relax. Mirko tries to brew his own beer, Jan collects horror movies…

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
You readers, if you like heavy metal of the old school then just have a look at our homepage and listen to some of the new songs! Keep up with us for new stuff and gigs. Support the underground! Take care!

Overcharge/Accelerate/Unspeakable Axe Records/2014 CD Review

  Overcharge  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  speed  metal  and  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Accelerate"  which  will  be  released  in September  by  Unspeakable  Axe  Records.

  Motorcycle  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  more  aggressive  punk  direction  along  with  guitar  leads  and  aggressive  crust  style  vocals  and  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  in  the  music  and  they  also  mix  it  with  old  school  speed  metal.

  There  is  a  great  amount  of  energy  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  you  can  also  hear  a  bit  off  melody  in  the  rough  vocals  and  you  can  hear  the  Motorhead,  early  Metallica  and  Discharge  influences  throughout  the  recording  and  the  music  ticks  to  an  80's  style  of  punk  and  metal  while  having  a  more  modern  day  production.    

  Overcharge  brings  in  a  lot  of  energy  and  a  retro  feeling  with  their  old  school  mixture  of  speed  metal  and  punk  and  they  also  have  a  great  amount  of  catchy  riffs  throughout  the  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  real life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Overcharge  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  speed  metal  and  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dirt"  "Leave  Behind"  "Water  Of  Fire"  and  "Don't  Waste  A  breath".  8  out  of  10.     

1000 Dead/2014 Promo Review

  1000  Dead  are  a  band  from  Greece  that  plays  an  aggressive  form  of   thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  promo.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  promo  before  the  music  goes into  a  thrash  metal  direction  along  with  some  aggressive  vocals  that  lean  close  to  death  metal  and  they  also  use  of  good  mixture  of  slow  and  mid  paced  parts  and  you  can  also  hear  some  groove  metal  elements  and  melody  in  their  musical  sound.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  slow  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  the  band  combines  both  the  early  and  mid  90's  style  of  metla  together  while  also  being  influenced  by  more  modern  sounds  and  one  of  their  riffs  leans  close  to  black  metal  while  some  of  their  slower  riffing  gives  the  music  a  stoner  metal  vibe  and  on  one  of  the  last  track  the  vocals  also  have  more  of  a  hardcore  feeling  to  them  as  well  as  having  a  melodic  tone  to  them  at  times.

  1000  Dead  take  an  old  school  form  of  thrash  metal  and  add  some  modern  elements  to  give  the  music  a  more  updated  feeling,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  1000  Dead  are  a  very  great  sounding  extreme  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  promo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Post-War  Blues".  8  out  of  10.   

Dead Season/Dusting The Rust/2013 EP Review

  Dead  Season  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  an  extreme  and  progressive  form  of  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  ep  "Dusting  The  Rust".

  A  very  powerful  sound  along  with  drum  beats  starts  off  the  ep  and  you  can  hear  the  bass  in  the  background  which  leads  up  to  a  more  heavier  thrash  metal  direction  along  with  some  aggressive  screams  which  also  use  some  melodic  singing  and  you  can  also  hear  some  melody  in t he  guitar  riffing.

  The  music  is  more  of  a  modern  style  of  thrash  than  an  old  school  style  along  with  a  mixture  of  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  you  can  also  hear  some  nu  and  groove  metal  elements  in  the  bands  musical  sound  along  with  spoken  word  parts  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and   the  band  sticks  mostly  to  a  mid  paced  direction  along  with  a  few  of  the  tracks  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

   In  certain  sections  of  the  recording  the  vocals  get  more  aggressive  and  add  an  influence  of  death  metal  to  the  band  musical  sound  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  add  an  even  more  melodic  side  to  the  bands  musical sound  and  after  awhile  the  band  also  brings  in  an  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  vocal  tracks  and  the  last  track  sees  the  band  adding  in  synths  and  orchestras  to  give  the  song  a  more  epic  feeling  as  well  as  addign  in  elements  of  funk,  swing  and  jazz.

  Dead  Season  plays  a  style  of  thrash  metal  that  you  can  call  modern  and  they  also  bring  the  perfect  balance  between  heaviness  and  melody  with  their  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dead  Season  are  a  very  great  sounding  modern  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "An  Inner  Battle"  and  "Zombies  Are  Swinging".  8  out  of  10.
 

  

Insaniter Interview

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

1. We are a greek thrash metal band which play true thrash for those people who want to hear something aggressive but without noise and without the usual vocals that we have used to hear at thrash bands. We have recorded 3 Eps and one demo "Alley of Fear" . At this time Peter is the only one member who records and write all the instruments .  We are against Politics , Posers and money. We are people who do not use the music like a way to make money . We only want to make good music! 

2.Recently you have released a new ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

2. It is difficult to explain. At my opinion this is a kind o old school thrash metal Cd, which has a melodic sense. We play a weird kind of metal .You cant say , this is a thrash metal , but you can hear a melodic sound view with a lot aggressive riffs and some thrash drums.   

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

4. We write lyrics about death, but not with the usual sense. We try a more philosophical way to approach the topic of death and madness . We also try to make stories about monsters , deads , alleys and similar kind of staff. 

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

4. Insaniter is a word which means Maniacs! For us mean thrash maniacs , means the violence , the true thrash. If you search at dictionary , it does not exist , but you will find the word Insanity 

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

5. We played a lot of lives shows , at Music team of Rethymno , at some Bars ,and all of them was great! Our performance was really good, you know, if you have to organize the live show, to carry all the staff (monitors, amp , consoles etc) , and after you have to play thrash, yes it difficult because you dont have power, but we really play with our souls and really like what we have done.

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

6. We dont have plans for tour because at this time we will work to make Cds without lives shows. We have almost record 3 new Eps. At this time our band will be a kind like burzum or darkthrone , but at thrash music .

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

 8. It is really great! Thrash fans always want to hear something new! this is so great! Every day people write to me their opinions about Insaniter and the most of them are very good. That means a lot to us , their support is the best! A lot of people need time to use our vocals because this is not a usual thrash vocal type but the most of them at the end like it.  I can say that in Worldwide listen to us more than at Greece . Their comments are very important and help us to improve ourselves , so it is a big deal for us!

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

8. Yes, everyday i talk with labels, but we have some disagreements. First of all our attitude is against them, we want to give free music to people. Of course if we would find a good label which give us our recording charge and promote us in good way, yes we would think about it. Or if the label would give the money to charities , yes that would be great! But we like this current situation, because we are free to make music and tell our believe's!

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

9. Full length cd is difficult to make. We just want to make Eps which will contains six or seven songs. We want to make only good songs. You know if you make a full length maybe you should put some songs that you dont like it, and we dont want to do something like that. At September we will release our new Ep "Half faces" which contains 8 songs and one new guest vocal again!  At the second part, i believe that we will take a good place between the true underground bands . I know that is very difficult but we have already record 3 more new Eps , and we will not stop to write music. This is our drug and we will never stop thrashing.

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. We listen to Slayer, Sodom, Exumer, Kreator, Voivod , Metallica ,Exodus, Watchtower, Iced earth and thousand of thrash and heavy metal bands, but we try to make something different , no to make a music similar like them . At this time we listen only underground staff. Unfortunatly at these days the metal gods play music only for money and the result sucks! The metal is not a kind of revolution for them . So we listen only good music.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

11 We love sports, like football and basketball, we also love Olympiakos and Manchester United(Peter is a big Fan) . We drink Beers ,this is a great hobby . And we like chicks and similar staff , i am sure you understand me!

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

12.  First of all i want to thank you!The support always means a lot to us! 

I want to say that Insaniter is not the best band ( but we hope to improve our selves ), but we love music and our music is Pure. If someone want to hear a thrash which is not similar with Classic thrash, lets give us a chance! Thanks for support us! You are InsaniteR! Thrash them all!