AN NCS INTERVIEW: BELL WITCH AND AERIAL RUIN

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jun 112020
 


photo by Lauren Lamp

 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Erik Moggridge (Aerial Ruin) and Dylan Desmond (Bell Witch), whose bands have collaborated on an album named Stygian Bough Volume 1, which will be released by Profound Lore on June 26th, and we thank Bailey Sattler and Rebecca Laverty for helping to make this discussion happen.)

Bell Witch are well-known to our readers and widely praised among modern doom metal bands as one with unique vision and inspiration, varying from funeral doom to sludge. Started in Seattle, 2010, as a duet of Dylan Desmond (bass, vocals) and Adrian Guerra (drums, vocals), Bell Witch brought forth three full-length works, though the last one, 2017’s fantastic Mirror Reaper (2017) appeared after Adrian’s death and featured the work of Jesse Shreibman (organ, drums, vocals). And as Dylan has continued Bell Witch’s toll as a duet alongside Jesse, there was always another man who took part in all the band’s albums as an honoured guest.

And that man is Erik Moggridge, who performed guitars in the legendary death / thrash crew Epidemic back in late ’80s and in the psycho death experiments of Old Grandad. Who could have predicted that his acoustic project Aerial Ruin would inspire such deep devotion among fans and would take part in a tight collaboration with Bell Witch? What do both projects have in common? What led to their fresh collaboration, Stygian Bough: Volume 1? We’ll find out in this inspiring interview together with Dylan and Erik themselves! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HEAD OF THE DEMON

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Jun 012020
 


Photo by Linn Vilmann

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks spoke with Konstantin, a key figure within the Swedish band Head of the Demon, whose new album was just released at the end of April by Invictus Productions and The Ajna Offensive.)

Head Of The Demon from Sweden is one of those rare remarkable bands who have established their own individuality. Originally they mixed doom, a bit of black metal, and obscure rock influences with a Middle Eastern atmosphere of occult worship. But their debut Head Of The Demon (2012) and thr sophomore album Sathanas Trismegistos (2016) have their own distinctive features, and a new album with the title Deadly Black Doom leads even further through hallucinogenic fumes of thick toxic incense.

I’ve tried to find out about Head Of The Demon‘s roots with the help of Konstantin (guitars, bass), and this is where it leads us… Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MY SILENT WAKE

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May 282020
 

 

(This time Comrade Aleks has brought us an interview with Ian Arkley, a founder of the UK’s My Silent Wake, who have a new acoustic/ambient/experimental album due for release by Opa Loka Records in July 2020.)

My Silent Wake was born from the dust of another UK doom death band Ashen Mortality, one of the first bands of that kind, born in 1993 and disbanded with two full-length albums in its discography in 2005. So My Silent Wake was given birth by Ian Arkley (guitars, vocals and more), Andi Lee (bass, vocals), and Jasen Whyte (drums, vocals). Doom-followers should know mister Arkley well because he’s one of Seventh Angel’s founders, a legend of thrash / doom metal that started in 1987, two years after the founding of their USA colleagues Dream Death.

Having such huge experience of playing doom-oriented music, Ian Arkley is known for his interest in experiments, so My Silent Wake’s eleventh album Damnum Per Saeculorum will offer you some… We’ve spoken with Ian about nature of his experiments and things doomy beyond measure. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TEMPLE OF VOID (ALEX AWN)

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May 262020
 

 

(We’ve made no secret about how much we like the music of Temple of Void, and so it’s a real pleasure to present Comrade Aleks‘ extensive (and very interesting) interview of ToV guitarist Alex Awn.)

NCS’ faithful followers may remember a cool interview we did here with Michael Erdody in December 2017. He plays guitars in the psychotic doom death sect Acid Witch and growls in Temple Of Void, a more straightforward death doom band at that moment. Both bands had new releases back then and we had a lot to discuss.

Shadow Kingdom Records have now released Temple Of Void‘s third full-length album, The World That Was, on the 27th of March, 2020. I expected from the band that they would go deeper into the realms of death, but the reality turned a different way. Alex Awn (guitars) provided us with a great interview telling us about Temple Of Void‘s new aspects. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: STYGIAN CROWN

 Interviews  2 Responses »
May 212020
 

 

(On June 26th Cruz Del Sur Music will release the debut album of southern California’s Stygian Crown, whose music conjures thoughts of Candlemass and Bolt Thrower melded together — “Candlethrower” sounds. And in this new interview Comrade Aleks spoke about the music and the band’s origins and processes with three of its members.)

Rhett A. Davis stood at the roots of the Amercian doom-death scene. He’s one of Morgion’s founding members, he took part in the practices of Crimson Relic/Divine Eve, and he had the Keen Of The Crow band, who also followed a similar musical direction. Besides that, since 2001 he has performed drums in the death/black/thrash band Gravehill.

So in around 2018 he and two of his Gravehill companions Jason Thomas (bass) and Nelson Miranda (guitars) started the traditional doom band Stygian Crown, and the band got a real push when Melissa Pinion (keyboards, vocals) and Morbid Eclipse’s man Andy Hicks (guitars) joined their ranks.

How hard could the doom metal be when there are three men in the band from such an extreme crew as Gravehill? Let’s find out with Andy, Melissa, and Rhett, who are going to tell us a few details about Stygian Crown‘s forthcoming self-titled release. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: FORLESEN

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May 182020
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us a new interview, and an especially interesting discussion it is, with Ascalaphus, one of the participants in Forlesen.)

Forlesen is the product of a spiritual and musical collaboration between Ascalaphus (vocals, guitars, synth, harmonium), Bezaelith (vocals, guitars, bass, synth) and Maleus (drums). I believe NCS readers know well Ascalaphus and Bezaelith due to their practices in Botanist and maybe Lotus Thief, and Maleus originally performed his duties in avant-garde outfits Kayo Dot, Vesper Moth, and Maudlin of the Well.

The interaction between these three artists turned into Forlesen’s first album Hierophant Violent, released by Hypnotic Dirge about a month ago. The band’s material is woven of psychedelic sonic filaments made from doom, ambient, and black metal – a blend which may surprise even Botanist’s followers. The album consists of just of two long tracks, but these tracks are worthy of listening, just as this exciting interview with Ascalaphus is worthy of reading. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TRYM TORSON (EMPEROR)

 Interviews  4 Responses »
May 112020
 

 

(Continuing with her ongoing series of interviews with metal drummers, this time Karina Noctum spoke with Trym Torson, who of course is the drummer for Emperor, and formerly for Enslaved and Zyklon, among other groups.)

 

Enslaved played Frost in its entirety in Bergen in 2018. It was a pretty special show with artificial snow and all that, really good. I don’t recall seeing you there. Why weren’t you a part of it?

Ivar told me to stay the fuck away and not ruin the evening! No, I’m just joking, I was never invited, so I never went… Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: “ABYSMAL DAWN”

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  4 Responses »
May 092020
 


photo by Terco Fredes

 

(In this new edition of Andy Synn‘s series of interviews focusing on lyrics in metal he elicited thoughts from Charles Elliott, vocalist/guitarist of California’s Abysmal Dawn, who have a new album out on Season of Mist.)

Since the release of their debut album, From Ashes, way back in 2006, Abysmal Dawn have gone on to become one of the most unrelentingly heavy, unfailingly reliable, and unrepentantly riff-heavy acts in Death Metal.

Hell, their most recent album, the fantastic Phylogenesis, recently received a glowing write-up by our own DGR, while its immediate predecessor, 2014’s outstanding Obsolescence, still remains in my regular listening rotation even now.

So, with all that in mind, what more is there left to say about the band?

Quite a bit, apparently, as you’re about to find out from vocalist/guitarist (and overall mastermind) Charles Elliott! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BLIDVINTER

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May 082020
 

 

(It is rare to read an interview that’s so endearing in its candor and humility as this one, brought to us by Comrade Aleks, with Joakim Lundbäck, the Swedish man behind the band Blidvinter, whose debut album Petrichor was released this past March.)

Blidvinter is a solo project of Joakim Lundbäck who chose to work in the direction of mixing progressive death and melodic doom metal. The EP This Solitary Creation (2015) turned out to be a good teaser to the debut full-length Petrichor, released only a month ago.

Joakim’s material is multilayered and rich with a wide range of moods, from temporary melancholy to blind fury, and this storm of emotions is clad in tight, dynamic sound. Petrichor offers you a 50-minute journey in this dark realm of Joakim Lundbäck, so why not to talk with its author about the things we meet on our way? Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: HOUR OF PENANCE

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  1 Response »
May 022020
 

 

(For this new edition of a column devoted to lyrics in metal Andy Synn obtained insights from Paolo Pieri, who for the last decade has been lyricist, vocalist, and guitarist in the Italian death metal band Hour of Penance.)

If you don’t know the name Hour of Penance, well, chances are you’re either new to this site and/or new to Metal in general, as we’ve been fans of these Italian iconoclasts (who celebrated twenty years of existence by releasing their eighth album just last year) for a long, long time now.

In my own case it was stumbling across a copy of The Vile Conception in my local (now sadly defunct) independent record store (remember those?) which first introduced me to the band and their brand of ultra-intense, hook-heavy Death Metal and which led, by a complex, convoluted route, to actually supporting them on a short run of dates in the UK at the end of last year!

As you might have gathered, this edition of Waxing Lyrical is particularly special to me, and so I’d like to send out a personal thank you to HoP frontman Paolo Pieri for taking the time to craft such an interesting and well-thought-out series of responses for us.

Now, without further ado… Continue reading »

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