AN NCS INTERVIEW: DIABOLICAL (CARL STJÄRNLÖV)

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Jan 172019
 

Left to right: Dan Darforth (Bass), Carl Stjärnlöv (Guitars), Sverker Widgren (Guitars, Vocals), Pär Johansson (Drums)

Photo by Jens Rydén

 

(This is a very interesting interview conducted by our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum with Carl Stjärnlöv, guitarist/songwriter of the long-running Swedish metal band Diabolical, whose fifth album Eclipse will be released on February 15th.)

 

You tour in Europe, you have established the band, and many have listened to or seen you live here, but how would you introduce yourselves to a U.S. audience? Diabolical can no longer be described as just another Swedish band (and good for you 🙂 )

We’re a death metal band that has evolved into something else; we’re not bound to any traditional views of what death metal or black metal “should” sound like. While we still have our foundation in death metal with some dashes of black metal, our music incorporate choirs, orchestral parts, and mellotrons. On our new album there’ll be plenty of clean vocals as well. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that bands such as Pink Floyd and King Crimson are held in just as high regard as Morbid Angel among the members of the band, and I think that’s reflected in our sound. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SINOATH (SALVATORE FICHERA)

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Jan 072019
 

 

(Comrade Aleks rejoins us with the following interview of Salvatore Fichera of the Italian black/death/doom band Sinoath, whose latest album in a career which began in 1990 is 2018’s Anamnesis.)

This band has a long and complicated story and a pretty short discography containing only three full-length albums. Having started in 1990 in Catania, Sicily, they recorded their first album Research in 1995 after two demos — Forged In Blood (1991) and Still In The Grey Dying (1993). It’s hard to categorize this material but it’s done on a converging of death, black, and gothic metal, with some Italian dark prog influences.

The band was finished in 1996, but seven years later it was restored with Sinoath’s initial drummer Salvatore Fichera. The new album, Under The Ashes, turned out to be darker and heavier than its predecessor, but the band didn’t aim to strengthen their position from there and laid down again after that. After 11 years of silence in terms of album-length releases, Sinoath returned again in 2018 with their third album, Anamnesis, which combines doom metal with some other influences. I’ll try to sort out everything in this story with Salvatore himself. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NEOLITH

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Jan 032019
 

 

(Comrade Aleks returns to NCS in 2019 with more interviews, beginning with this one, in which he talks with Levi, vocalist of the long-running Polish black/death band Neolith, who are now at work on a fifth album.)

Neolith is a pretty old band from Poland. They started as a death/doom outfit in 1991, and kept a down-tuned vibe for almost a decade. A series of demo-tapes and the full-length Igne Natura Renovabitur Integra (INRI) were influenced by the UK Doom Trinity’s stuff to some degree. However Neolith’s anti-Christian message demanded a more suitable form of exposure, and they’ve done it in a blasphemous death/black metal way from their second album Immortal (2004) through the fourth one, Izi.Im.Kurnu-Ki (2015).

The band are half-way to new work, I Am The Way, and we had a nice talk with Neolith’s initial vocalist Grzegorz Lukowski, a.k.a. Levi. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: OBLITERATION

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Dec 122018
 

 

(This is Karina Noctum‘s interview of Sindre Solem, guitarist/vocalist of the Norwegian death metal band Obliteration, whose new album Cenotaph Obscure was released by Indie Recordings on November 23rd.)

Since I moved to Oslo I have been fortunate to be able to attend several special shows, including one for the release of Obliteration’s new album. It was an energetic gig and the band gave it all they had, in a completely heartfelt way. I have always had the band in my mind when it comes to old school oriented music, and there they will remain now more than ever with their new release because it fulfills my expectations.

Years have gone by since their last release, and everyone in the band developed musically without losing their essence. I think that is an important quality to applaud since many bands go in pretty strange ways as the years pass by. Cenotaph Obscure is true to the core of what Obliteration represents, and that is the Norwegian old school blend. I have to mention that they are influenced by the Kolbotn scene, and with that I mean Darkthrone, and that’s a huge advantage that you notice here and there in small details for all the audience’s pleasure. Continue reading »

INHUME: A PREVIEW OF THE “EXHUME” COMPILATION AND AN INTERVIEW OF BEN JANSSEN

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Nov 272018
 

 

(On December 7th Xenocorp will release a special 25th-anniversary compilation of remastered material across the long career of the Dutch extremists Inhume. In this post Vonlughlio provides a preview of the release, including music, and an interview of the band’s guitarist Ben Janssen.)

This small preview is about Inhume, a Dutch BDM/Grindcore band that was founded back in 1994 who have released albums and shorter releases that for some (including me) are classics.  However, this project has not gotten the recognition it deserves, despite creating  quality music that is pure raw aggressiveness and reminds us of a golden era in the underground.

They have released some demos, splits, and four albums that are fast, deadly, in-your-face BDM/grind; the band just wants to rip your face off.  But their last release was the full-length Moulding The Deformed back in 2010, so you might understand that I’d given up on more music until I saw a FB status from the Xenocorp label that they would be releasing a compilation collecting all of Inhume’s demos and splits, tribute tracks, and previously unreleased material. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON

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Nov 202018
 

 

(KevinP returns to NCS after a long absence with the following interview — and the main subject of the interview is a metal comic book named MURDER FALCON.)

Here is my interview with Daniel Warren Johnson — comic book writer and artist, metal enthusiast, and unfortunately a stinking Red Sox fan.

 

K: So is this the first interview you are doing for a “metal” site, as opposed to the endless parade of comic-only related ones and conventions?

D: Yes! All my interviews so far have only been for comic book sites. I think there’s quite a bit of overlap between the worlds of metal and comics, but I don’t see it brought up a lot. So as a lover of both, I thought that MURDER FALCON might do well at bringing the two camps together. Glad to be here! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: COFFINS

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Nov 152018
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us this revealing interview of Bungo Uchino of the Japanese death/doom band Coffins, who are now at work on an eagerly anticipated new album.)

Formed in 1996, this extreme death doom outfit from Japan has constantly spread violence and a blasphemous rumble under the command of Bungo Uchino, who’s now the only original member. Twenty-two years of violence and gore did not pass unnoticed, and Coffins continue to produce their wicked stuff. Though their latest full-length The Fleshland was released in 2013, since then the band have taken part in six split-albums and two EPs.

We’ve done an interview with Bungo, who knows no rest, and he has clarified the current situation around the band. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ACCIDENTAL SUICIDE

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Nov 122018
 

 

(The following is an interview by Comrade Aleks of drummer Chris Kinjerski of the very early death doom band Accidental Suicide. The interview was conducted before the tragic death last Friday of the band’s vocalist Ed Jackson.)

Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1989, Accidental Suicide were one of first US-based death doom bands. The band’s only full-length album, Deceased (Deaf Records, 1992), was re-released three (or four?) times in the early ’90s. Their doom was deep rooted in death metal, they played it in damn bloody and raw way, and I guess that Cianide could make good company for Accidental Suicide on tour.

The band had material for a Dead Erotic EP, but the guys stopped any activity in around 1994. It was Vic Records who a kind of returned them back to life with the 2017 release of the compilation Dead Erotica, which includes that lost EP and some demos. This was a catalyst for Accidental Suicide, and the guys returned under the death doom banner again in 2014. There were even reports about new material, but the band have kept quiet, so we got in touch with their drummer Chris Kinjerski to learn more about the band. That wasn’t easy. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PSICORRAGIA

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Oct 292018
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks conversed with Mario and Marco, founders of the long-running Peruvian death-doom band Psicorragia, who are at work on a new album.)

Psicorragia is representative of Peruvian underground. Formed in Lima in 1994, the band slowly developed in the shadows and nurtured their own macabre death-doom metal. Spanish lyrics, southern passion toward death in all its forms, and a grim, sinister delivery have remained Psicorragia’s trademarks from the release of their debut album La Pasión De La Mortal until now.

Their latest album Madremuerte appeared two years ago, but as the band are already working over new gifts of Death and Misfortune we’ve managed to organize this interview with the guys. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RIGOR SARDONICOUS

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Oct 242018
 


Photo by Melissa Mason

 

(Comrade Aleks interviews Joseph Fogarazzo, guitarist/vocalist of the long-running NY band Rigor Sardonicous, whose new EP will be released on November 11th.)

Rigor Sardonicous was born in 1988 somewhere in Long Island, but despite that long history this death-doom band remains one of those deep-rooted in the underground outfits with almost nothing you can read about. Actually, it’s hard to find lots of followers when the band fights for a bloody low, almost primitive, sound…

However, Joseph Fogarazzo (guitars, vocals) and Glenn Hampton (bass) have kept it untouched for more than two decades. So if you’re ready to learn a few more things about this obscure and death-soaked outfit, let’s try. Joseph found some time to answer my questions. Continue reading »

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