AN NCS INTERVIEW: PALADIN

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Oct 102019
 

 

(The following conversation is Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Louis, vocalist/bassist of the Quebec death/doom band Paladin, whose debut album was released last month.)

Paladin is a brutal death-doom metal project started by Louis a.k.a. Napalm Holocaust (vocals, bass) from Canadian thrash band Survival Instinct. Louis performs stuff in the vein of Asphyx, Autopsy, and Rippikoulu together with his colleague Will (guitars) and busy maniac N.C. (drums), who has experience in quite extreme yet obscure local metal bands. They’ve been working together in Paladin for about two years, and Vrid (bass) joined them not long ago.

Their debut album Purification Du Mal just saw the light of day on the 20th of September due to the  efforts of PRC Music. As you see the artwork, you may think it’s some Christian stuff, but don’t be fooled, that’s an opposite thing. Louis isn’t a very talkative guy, but he has managed to uncover a few things about Paladin for us. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PROFETUS

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Oct 042019
 

 

(This time Comrade Aleks brings us a revealing interview of Anssi Mäkinen, guitarist/vocalist of the Finnish funeral doom band Profetus, whose latest album will be released by Avantgarde Music and Weird Truth Productions on October 11th.)

Finnish funeral doom metal is a kind of trademark. In all ways you may be sure that a band from Suomi will grant you a massive overwhelming experience of utter desolation and cosmic loneliness. Such is Profetus, who started in Tampere 13 years ago.

Through Coronation Of The Black Sun (2009), …To Open The Passages In Dusk (2012), and now The Sadness Of Time Passing, the band has raised its ghostly sonic monolith built of down-to-earth burial riffs, immense guttural growls, and majestic and noble melody in its modest keyboards parts.

The Sadness of Time Passing will be out on Avantgarde Music on the 11th of October, and as Anssi Mäkinen (guitars, vocals) is the only Profetus member left from the original lineup, we spoke with him of the band’s past, present, and a bit of its future. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MARTYRDOOM

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Oct 022019
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us this interview of the up-and-coming Polish band Martyrdoom, whose debut album was released in 2017 by Memento Mori.)

As many of the brutal death-doom scene veterans are not hastening to grind us with new full-length albums, and there haven’t been new albums from Asphyx, Autopsy, and Cianide for a while (okay, the last one is going to return with the EP Unhumanized later this autumn), it’s good to take a listen to some of those guys who try to keep the old school vibe of the ’90s alive. Martyrdoom from Warsaw is one of those bands.

Formed in 2010, they released a straightforward grim demo, Twisted Perversions (yep, pretty primitive), in 2013, and a more sophisticated full-length work Grievous Psychosis saw the light of day in 2017. The album has its charm, so I was wondering when they planned to return with a sophomore album… Thus we organized this conversation with one of Martyrdoom’s founders, Grzegorz Młynarczyk (guitars). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ERIC CLAYTON (SAVIOUR MACHINE, ERIC CLAYTON & THE NINE)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  No Responses »
Oct 012019
 

 

Editor’s Note: Our occasional contributor from Greece, John Sleepwalker, conducted this interview of Eric Clayton shortly before the recent performance of Eric Clayton & The Nine at the Demon’s Gate Festival 2019 in Athens, Greece. Clayton is perhaps best known for the band Saviour Machine that he formed in 1989 with his brother Jeff, which has reunited following an extended hiatus and is at work on a new album, as well as Eric Clayton & The Nine.

John Sleepwalker also asked us to specifically mention that, as the following interview began, Eric first wanted John to tell him some things about himself before the questions began, so he could get to know the person behind them, which seems to be an uncommon occurrence in interviews.

This interview was first published (in Greek) at Avopolis. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: “ARCTIC SLEEP”

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Sep 072019
 

 

(For this week’s edition of his series on lyrics in metal Andy Synn reached out to Keith D., the main man behind the Wisconsin band Arctic Sleep, whose latest album Kindred Spirits was released in July.)

The new Arctic Sleep album, Kindred Spirits, is easily one of the most rewarding records of the year.

This isn’t just an opinion, it’s empirical fact, supported by research done by some of the world’s top scienticians. Cough…

Ok, so maybe it is just my opinion, but it’s still a fantastic album, full of rich textures and lush melodies and positively brimming with heartfelt emotion (and you can read more about it here).

Even better, you’ve now got the chance to learn even more about the band’s music courtesy of the following interview with main-man Keith D. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: EXCRUCIATION

 Interviews  1 Response »
Sep 062019
 

 

(Our Russian friend Comrade Aleks returns to NCS with this new interview of Eugenio Meccariello, vocalist of the long-running Swiss band Excruciation, whose latest release (via Auric Records) is a substantial compilation of rare songs that have been produced since their reunion in 2005.)

Originally formed in Zurich in 1984, Excruciation seems to be one of first death-doom bands. They did some successful experiments ’til the late ’80s and gained a reputation with a bunch of demos and the Last Judgement EP in 1987. They almost recorded a full-length album, but the band was split up in 1991. Who could expect that Excruciation would return in 2005 with new material, and with all original members in the lineup? However, their reunion EP Arise did lead them to a series of new releases including four full-length albums and nearly a dozen shorter recordings.

The band’s fresh compilation [e]met sums up Excruciation’s non-album legacy, and this 16-song collection will give you a pretty good impression about their way into this crude, heavy, and yet emotional doom-death metal. Excruciation’s vocalist Eugenio Meccariello sheds light on [e]met and the band’s current status. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE GREAT OLD ONES

 Interviews  1 Response »
Sep 042019
 

 

(Our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum brings us this new interview of Benjamin Guerry of the French Lovecraft-inspired post/black metal band The Great Old Ones, whose new album Cosmicism is set for release on October 22nd through Season of Mist.)

I’ve been a fan of The Great Old Ones ever since they released their very first album, Al Azif, in 2012. I really like their elegant (the French way) atmospheric Black Doom Metal. Their latest album, Cosmicism, is pretty sinister and able to take you right to the Cthulian mood of despair and misery in a long journey. I have listened to TGOO while journeying through desolate, barren, and frozen landscapes, so I have had time to reflect about the mood and the Lovecraftian theme, but even if one can’t really experience the music in such an environment, one can certainly imagine it.

Cosmicism is a fine example of what Lovecraftian-inspired metal should be like in terms of how to convey the right mood. It is pretty much a showcase of the band’s talent and of the experience gained throughout the years in weaving atmospheres and experimenting with mixing genres and varied tempos. It was thus a pleasure to exchange questions and answers with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Benjamin Guerry: Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: RITES OF THY DEGRINGOLADE

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  No Responses »
Aug 312019
 

 

(For this week’s edition of Andy Synn‘s column devoted to lyrics in metal he posed questions to Paulus Kressman (Rites of Thy Degringolade), and obtained very illuminating answers, as you shall see.)

As much as I hope you all enjoy the information and insight offered by these articles, I have to admit, there’s a certain amount of self-interest involved too, as the work of putting some extra focus on this underappreciated aspect of the metallic arts grants me an opportunity to talk to some of my favourite bands/artists and to (hopefully) gain a deeper understanding of their music.

Case in point, I was recently able to speak with Paulus Kressman, the founder and prime creative force of Canadian Black/Death esotericists Rites of Thy Degringolade – a band whose work I’ve followed and supported for years and whose most recent record, last year’s phenomenal The Blade Philosophical, was one of my favourite albums of 2018 – about the process and philosophy behind his arcane and abrasive art.

Not only was he more than happy to oblige, but his in-depth responses have given me an even deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, the band’s entire discography.

So, without further ado, I present to you the latest edition of Waxing Lyrical. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: LIGHT THIS CITY

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  2 Responses »
Aug 242019
 


photo by Joe Ellis

 

(In this latest edition of his Waxing Lyrical series, Andy Synn posed questions to vocalist Laura Nichol of Light This City, whose comeback album Terminal Bloom was released last year by Creator-Destructor Records, and received the following answers.)

My relationship (such as it is) with Californian Melodeath crew Light This City goes back almost fifteen years now, and their 2006 record, Facing the Thousand, remains one of my go-to albums to this day.

Sadly, as many of you will know, the band went inactive for nearly a full decade after the release of Stormchaser in 2008, leaving behind them a trail of broken hearts and shattered dreams (as well as a bunch of kickass music).

Thankfully for all of us, however, last year’s comeback album, Terminal Bloom, wasn’t just a long-awaited return for the band, it also happens to be one of their best releases to date, which is why I’m so excited to be bringing some more attention to it, and the band in general, via this piece from LTC vocalist Laura Nichol. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VREID

 Interviews  1 Response »
Aug 212019
 

 

(This is Karina Noctum‘s interview of Steingrim, drummer of the Norwegian black metal band Vreid, whose latest album Lifehunger was released by Season of Mist  in September 2018. The interview took place in late June at the Tons of Rock festival in Oslo. All photos were made by Andrea Chirulescu for the Midgardsblot festival, 2019.)

 

What’s behind the name “sognametal” and what makes bands that are under this name stand out within the Norwegian Black metal scene?

Sognametal was an expression from the founder of Windir, Valfar. He wanted to stand out from other bands in the same genre. After that they just labelled the music coming from the region Sogn og Fjordane as Sognametal. That being said I don’t think all the bands coming from that region play the same type of music. So now 25 years later on I don’t think the label Sognametal can be applied to a certain music genre, but it’s the label you get when you are from a certain region in Norway. But again, he wanted the band to stand out, but it was meant just for Windir music and that’s what was Sognametal, so the irony is that now there are 10 or 15 bands under the same label as well. Continue reading »

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