PATINA OF TIME: AN INTERVIEW WITH CARA NEIR

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Oct 172022
 

(Today we present an extensive article by Rob Tamplin that’s part interview with Garry Brents of Cara Neir and Gonemage, and part essay on the fantasy worlds that have taken shape through those projects and the techniques used to bring them to life, along with some meditations on the pluses and minuses of nostalgia.)

If I was reluctant to say Cara Neir is the most exciting band in the US metal underground, it’s only because that would mean putting them in a box. Hell, even the word “band” seems like a loose fit, as there is a communal element to the Texas duo absent from most acts.

On Phantasmal, Garry Brents and Chris Francis’s eighth album together, Cara Neir debut five characters submitted by fans via their Bandcamp page. Over the course of the album, the duo encounters these characters on their quest through a horrifying alternate dimension.

See, Phantasmal is a concept album – just like Tommy or Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. Although it’s about as far from a pompous rock opera as it’s possible to get. The music, which broadly ranges from noise-rock to electronic powerviolence, is glazed with a frosting of rudimentary 8-bit synths, the kind you last heard when you were playing Castlevania at the arcade in your matching acid-wash denim two-piece, cramming the Dungeon Master’s Guide while blasting Master of Puppets on your Walkman. Which could have been today. It’s 2022, you could be doing some, or all, of those things while reading this. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GUTVOID

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Oct 122022
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks has an extensive and very interesting conversation with Brendan Dean and Daniel Bonofiglio from the Toronto death metal band Gutvoid, whose debut album has made quite a splash this year.)

Blood Harvest released Gutvoid’s Durance of Lightless Horizons on the 23rd of September, and thus we have a proper reason to introduce you to this death metal band from Toronto.

It was started by Daniel Bonofiglio (guitars, bass) and Brendan Dean (vocals, guitars) in 2019, and then Justin Boehm (bass) and D. W. Lee (drums) joined them in 2020. Together they recorded their first full-length not so long ago, and the tracks’ names sound like the music itself: “In Caverns It Lurks”, “Delivered to the Altar Lich”, “The One Who Dwells Beyond Time”, and so on. Pretty poetic… isn’t it?

And yet I don’t like to review albums and talk about music especially when the authors are willing to talk about it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MOTHER OF GRAVES

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Oct 102022
 

(Indianapolis-based Mother of Graves are fast approaching the release date set by Wise Blood Records for their powerful debut album Where the Shadows Adorn, and thus the time was right for Comrade Aleks to interview members of the band, resulting in the discussion we present here.)

There aren’t many melodic death-doom bands who have gained real recognition. Swallow the Sun from Finland, Daylight Dies from the States, and October Tide from Sweden are the bigger and most influential bands in this list, though it’s easy to find many more names in different countries. Maybe it’s the “doom” tag which scares potential listeners, even though the genre is quite friendly, even for newcomers: The songs’ tempos usually vary from mid to high, soaring melodies ignite your melancholy, and expressive raging vocals are harsh usually and yet appealing in some way.

However it’s always cool to learn about new bands who are able to strike you down with their very first album. Mother of Graves from Indianapolis does it without visible strenuous effort as their forthcoming debut album Where the Shadows Adorn combines the spirit of old school melodic death-doom  and epic modern production. This release is scheduled for the 14th of October, so there’s time to prepare yourself for it while reading the interview with Chris Morrison (guitars),  Brandon Howe (vocals), and Corey Clark (bass). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VOIDOATH

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Oct 062022
 

(Costa Rica’s VoidOath have recently released an album inspired by John Carpenter‘s “The Thing“, and the music is a match for its terrifying concept — deeply unsettling, but so well-made that it’s relentlessly immersive. And today Comrade Aleks has brought us an interview with the band that reveals further insights into their history, their conception of the music, and what may come next.)

Did you see the artwork of VoidOath’s album Ascension Beyond Kokytus? Something familiar, isn’t it? John Carpenter’s The Thing is a cult movie, there’s no doubt, but I don’t remember a band who would build an entire album around this story. Now we have VoidOath and this world seems to be a little bit better place.

VoidOath was founded in San José, Costa Rica four years ago by Allan Salas (bass), Gabriel Ortiz (drums), Jose Rodríguez (guitars), and Christopher G. De Haan (guitars, vocals). Three of them played in different local bands, so VoidOath’s first EP Illumination Through Necromancy was recorded pretty fast, and they had 32 minutes of sludge doom madness ready in 2020.

I don’t know if this release helped the band to spread the word effectively, but the Irish label Cursed Monk Records noticed them and Ascension Beyond Kokytus was released on the 28th of September, preceded by the album premiere and review here at NCS. I think it was Jose with whom we spoke about The Thing, metal, and the underground of Costa Rica.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CULTIC

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Oct 042022
 

(Last spring we had the pleasure of premiering a song from the fantastic new album by Pennsylvania-based Cultic, a duo consisting of Rebecca and Brian Magar (who have recently expanded into a trio), and now we have the pleasure of presenting Comrade Aleks‘ very informative interview with Brian.)

Cultic is a York-based death-doom duet with a recognizable primordial sound and a dark fantasy concept behind both of their albums. They started as a trio in 2017: Brian Magar (bass, vocals, guitars), Rebecca Magar (drums), and Reese Harlacker (bass) recorded their demo Prowler back then. The full-length album High Command was released by Eleventh Key in 2019, and their most up-to-date album is Of Fire and Sorcery, which saw the light of day in April 2022 with the help of the very same label.

One of Cultic features is grim, absolutely eerie synths which work perfectly with low, distorted riffs and Brian’s raw vocals. High Command offered a plenty of it and Of Fire and Sorcery grants even more! Surely it’s worthy of listening, as this interview with Brian Magar is worth reading. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SPECTRUM MORTIS

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Oct 032022
 

(The Spanish band Spectrum Mortis just released their new album Bit Meseri -The Incantation last Friday through Listenable Records, and to remind you of that signal event and provide great insights into it, today we present Comrade Aleks‘ extensive interview of the band’s mysterious members.)

A few weeks ago we published an interview with the Finnish traditional doom metal band Spiritus Mortis, but constant NCS followers rather remember the Spanish secret band Spectrum Mortis!

We promoted the band’s debut album Bit Meseri -The Incantation insistently, and I bet that you remember the album’s remarkable artwork (by Khaos Diktator Design)! I love that macabre Messopotamian twist. They call it “ritualistic doom metal”, and though it’s a more complex blend of genres you can track Spectrum Mortis’ influences anyway.

Honestly, I don’t see a reason to tell you more, as the interview (which I prefer far more than any review) offers the band an opportunity to say it in the most straight-forward way, and Spectrum Mortis’ collective mind does it in detail. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NORILSK

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Sep 262022
 


photo by Nick Richer

(Here we have Comrade Aleks‘ new interview of Nicolas Miquelon from the Québec band Norilsk, who released a new EP this past spring to tide us over ’til the next album.)

NCS’ constant followers should remember Norilsk. It’s a Canadian death-doom band who integrated elements of post metal into their music, and we interviewed Nicolas Miquelon (all instruments, vocals) a few years ago. But in case you forgot that, let me remind you of some facts about Norilsk.

The band is named after the world’s northernmost city and the second-largest city (after Murmansk) inside the Arctic Circle. Norilsk and Yakutsk are also the only large cities in the continuous permafrost zone. So you see the reason why Nicolas and his band-mate Nick Richer (drums) entitled their first album The Idea of North (2015). Then Hypnotic Dirge Records released the albums Le passage des glaciers (2017) and Weepers of the Land (2018). And then… then there was silence.

The Beyond the Mountains EP is the first band’s recording in four years, and that’s quite a long break for such an active act. These two tracks bring the hope that Norilsk are going to get rid of their relatively new passion toward post-metal, as here we have good old death-doom as it was in ’90s. What else could we expect if one of the songs is an Officium Triste cover? So just one really new song after four years? Well, not. This interview was intended for Dark City magazine, but here it is. A chance to dig deeper into the idea of North again. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: KUOLEMANLAAKSO

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Sep 202022
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Markus Laakso from the Finnish band Kuolemanlaakso (among other endeavors he’s involved in, which are also discussed below). The band’s newest album Kuusumu was released this past spring by Svart Records.)

Kuolemanlaakso (“death valley” in Finnish) once was known as the “death-doom band with Swallow the Sun’s vocalist”. It was started in 2010 and the band’s line-up didn’t change since then: Mikko Johannes Kotamäki (vocals), Markus Laakso (guitars, keyboards, vocals), Toni Ronkainen (drums), Tuomo Räisänen (bass), and Petteri Ruotsalainen (guitars).

Their first album Uljas uusi maailma (2012) was already too progressive and melodic for any rigid “death-doom” tag. The EP Musta aurinko nousee (2013) and the LP Tulijoutsen (2014) developed Kuolemanlaakso’s eclectic style only further until Markus recorded M. Laakso – Vol. 1: The Gothic Tapes (2016), something like his own gothic Kuolemanlaakso-based spin-off…

Besides that, Markus Laasko is the author of two metal books which we need to mention in this interview, which is focused on the band’s fourth album Kuusumu. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BURIAL

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Sep 162022
 

 

(The Italian band Burial’s latest album has been out for a while, but better late than never, Comrade Aleks has caught up with Leonardo and Enrico from the band and presents this interview with them.)

So what else is there? Another death-doom band with references to H. P. Lovecraft’s mythology?  SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! Well, yes, okay, okay… I’m ok, really…

When I see such tags, I send a message to the band immediately but somehow I skipped Burial’s release Inner Gateways to the Slumbering Equilibrium at the Center of Cosmos which saw the light of day through Everlasting Spew Records eleven months ago.

The band itself was founded by Leonardo Bellavista (guitars, bass) in 2012, and soon he got the company of Enrico Fagni (bass, vocals). They worked through Burial’s concept together, recording The Forgotten EP (2019) and the demo Presence from the Beyond (2019). The band remained a duet until 2020 when Samuele Scalise (drums) and Morgan (guitars) joined them in their unholy mess. All of the band’s members have rich experience as they spent many years in the Italian metal underground and played in different bands whose styles ranged from progressive thrash to death metal.

Burial stays far from regular death-doom, as these maniacs prefer its torturous form with a heavy emphasis on dirty and twisted death metal, but you know – Leonardo and Enrico can tell you that better. Hail Burial! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SOLEMN CEREMONY (AND LUCIFER’S FALL, AND MORE)

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Sep 142022
 

(Comrade Aleks managed to catch up again with Australian musician Phil Howlett and engaged in a discussion that ranges among a number of his bands and solo projects, including Solemn Ceremony, whose newest album was released this past June.)

Mister Phil Howlett from Adelaide is a dedicated metal warrior, and though he has that blackened thrash project Zlórtcht, he’s well-known mostly because of his doom band Lucifer’s Fall (which we interviewed a year ago) and his doom solo project Solemn Ceremony.

It’s hard to believe but even today playing metal in Australia could be a difficult task, as you’re unable to take part in bigger fests on a regular basis, as European or American bands are. The internet helps but not the way you need if you want to play your metal stuff live!

So Nine Records released Solemn Ceremony’s second album Demise on the 10th of June and we slowly lent a helping hand to Phil and that’s it, another entertaining and in-depth interview. Want to know how to play doom in Australia and not to be depressed all the time? Here we go. Continue reading »

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