AN NCS INTERVIEW: MAR DE GRISES

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Dec 072020
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us the following interview of Sergio Álvarez, guitarist for the sadly split-up Chilean band Mar de Grises, whose albums The Tatterdemalion Express and Draining The Waterheart have recently been released by the Spanish label The Vinyl Division on vinyl format with remastered audio.)

Mar de Grises was one of most promising doom-acts from Chile since the release of their debut The Tatterdemalion Express in 2004. They presented a melodic yet aggressive version of doom death, I would compare it with Daylight Dies and Katatonia of the Brave Murder Day period, with a proper amount of keyboards parts, but actually Mar de Grises never copied anyone and their influences are wider. Their style was always recognizable because of utter melodies, progressive dynamics, math-breaks and powerful extreme vocals.

The band split-up in 2013, and its members walked their own paths, but news of the vinyl reissue of their first two albums made me get in touch with Mar de Grises‘ ex-guitarist Sergio Álvarez and complete a short interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BRETWALDAS OF HEATHEN DOOM

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Nov 262020
 

 

(Comrade Aleks returns to NCS with a new interview, and this time his conversation partner is Sceot Acwealde of the fascinating British band Bretwaldas Of Heathen Doom.)

Bretwaldas Of Heathen Doom (England) has acted as a duet since 2001. Dagfari Wartooth performs bass and vocals, and Sceot Acwealde does drums, guitars and vocals as well. Blackened war pagan doom metal with a straight-in-your-face delivery – once that would have summed up their legacy, though the band’s sound has varied from their first album Droner (2003) ’til Seven Bloodied Ramparts (2010).

Bretwaldas literally disappeared from the radars after that latter release, and only the compilation Bones In The Ground (2015) served as a reminder of their savage legacy. Some time ago I lost hope, stopped watching for the band, and naturally missed their EP Kingdom Of Killers released in May 2020. Well, all of us had a lot of things to care for in May 2020, right? But it’s time to put things right and we’re here to know everything that you wanted to learn about Bretwaldas Of Heathen Doom but were afraid to ask! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VÖLUR

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Nov 192020
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks speaks with Lucas Gadke, one of the vocalists and multi-instrumentalists in Toronto’s Völur, whose new album has just been released by Prophecy Productions.)

This trio from Ontario consists of Lucas Gadke (known as a member of psycho doom rock act Blood Ceremony), Laura Bates (of progressive folk band Iomair) and Jimmy P Lightning (from old jazzy post-rock crew Do Make Say Think). Their arsenal is quite wide as they take the bass – drums interaction and lay over it violin, viola, piano, double bass, percussion, and different sorts of vocals.

Previously Völur was usually mentioned as an “ambient folk / doom metal” band, but they seem to have entered new territories with their new EP Veiled City and the even newer LP Death Cult, which saw see the light of day on the 13th of November through Prophecy Productions. Together with Lucas we’ve made a good try to dissect this avant-garde work. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NADER SADEK (WITH KARL SANDERS AND DEREK RODDY)

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Nov 172020
 

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: On November 20 the Egyptian metal artist Nader Sadek will release a remarkable EP named The Serapeum, which grew out of a collaboration in Egypt among Sadek, Karl Sanders (Nile), Derek Roddy (Serpents Rise), and Mahmud Gecekusu (Perversion).

The music on the EP also includes contributions by bassists Ben “Barby” Claus (Gorod) and Dominic “Forest” Lapointe (Augury) and vocalists Morean (Dark Fortress) and Shaun LaCanne (Putrid Pile), as well as Alex Zubair (Nephelium) creating eastern harmonies and drones, and Nancy Mounir adding theremin hauntings to the mix. Sadek himself recorded the vocals inside the inner chamber of Dahshur’s “Red Pyramid” (the pyramid of Snefru).

We will have the pleasure of premiering a full stream of the EP on November 19th. And today we’re presenting an interview about the EP that DJ Jet conducted with Nader Sadek, as well as a few questions she posed to Karl Sanders and Derek Roddy, and their answers. The circumstances in which the interview was conducted were unusual, and perhaps in time they will be revealed when and if it is safe to do so. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MATALOBOS

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Nov 122020
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks spoke with Clemente Escalona, drummer for the Méxican melancholic death metal band Matalobos, who have a new album coming out soon.)

 

We had a conversation with Matalobos about three years ago (published here). Back then these guys from Guanajuato had released the EP Until Time Has Lost All Meaning, which was the follow-up to their debut full-length Arte Macabro (2016). And though there weren’t changes in the lineup, Matalobos took their time and meditated over new melodic doom death tunes for some time. Now they’re ready to reveal the result of their work to listeners, and the release date of their new album The Grand Splendour of Death is set for December 4th.

We’ve discussed the new album with the band’s drummer Clemente Escalona alongside a few other topics. Covid-quarantine is at the first place, as always. Continue reading »

AN INCS INTERVIEW: POEMA ARCANVS

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Nov 062020
 

 

(In this new interview our friend Comrade Aleks talks with guitarist Igor Leiva Benavides, one of the members of the Chilean band Poema Arcanvs, whose roots go back to the ’90s and who released their sixth album in August through Transcending Obscurity Records.)

Santiago-based doom-death band Poema Arcanvs was born back in early 90s. They played some raw ideas under the monikers Garbage and Garbage Breed beginning in 1992 and until 1997 when they changed the band’s name to the one we know nowadays. South America was always a dark corner for doom fans, and I can name you two-dozen bands or even more which were born in the same period and remained in the deepest underground for years. Poema Arcanvs is another thing. They aren’t hyper-productive, but they were always somewhere near recording and releasing new material.

Their sixth full-length album Stardust Solitude saw the light of day on the 28th of August, 2020, according to Transcending Obscurity Records’ schedule. They kept their mark of delivering excellent sorrowful and epic doom death with a few raw edges as always, and this time Enzo Toledo granted Poema Arcanvs really killer artwork!

As a Poema Arcanvs member since its first days, Igor Leiva Benavides (guitars) is the right person to ask about Stardust Solitude and things which happen around the band nowadays. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PULCHRA MORTE (JARRETT PRITCHARD)

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Nov 042020
 


photo by Jeremy Miller

 

(Wil Cifer, who usually contributes reviews to our site, brought us this new interview with Jarrett Pritchard of the death/doom band Pulchra Morte, whose second full-length, Ex Rosa Ceremonia, will be released on November 6th by Transcending Records.)

I caught up with Jarrett Pritchard guitarist of Pulchra Morte (also in Eulogy, Brutality) to discuss the making of and inspiration behind their new album Ex Rosa Ceremonia and making music in these pre-apocalyptic times. The band’s line-up also includes Adam Clemans (Skeletonwitch, Wolvhammer), John Porada (Wolvhammer, Abigail Williams), Clayton Gore (Eulogy, Harkonin), and Jeffrey Breden (Leagues Below)

******

The new album drops in a few days, on the 6th. I know you have two new members for this album. Did this occur before or after the writing process for the album was under way?

After framed out. Jeff the other guitarist is our riff machine. He posts them on a server for Clay and I to structure. From there we throw it back and forth . So they came in with this canvas under way. We did not want talking heads, and wanted them to of course write their own parts to it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NEXION

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Oct 282020
 


photo by Void Revelations

(Our Norway-based interviewer Karina Noctum brings us this discussion with Joshua Hróðgeir Rood, vocalist of the extreme metal band Nexion, whose debut album Seven Oracles was released by Avantgarde Music in June of this year.)

Nexion hail from Iceland, a country which has been in the metal spotlight for a while now. Earlier this year they released their first album which is recommended for people who appreciate a mix of Black and Death Metal with an eerie feeling to it.

I got to interview Joshua Hróðgeir Rood, the vocalist, who moved to Norway recently from Iceland. I found out more about their latest album Seven Oracles, including the lyrical themes and vocal approach, and of course thoughts about Black Metal and Norway. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MARCHE FUNÈBRE

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Oct 262020
 

 

(Here’s Comrade Aleks‘ interview with drummer Dennis Lefebvre of the Belgian band Marche Funèbre, whose new album Einderlicht was jointly released on September 25th by Hypnotic Dirge Records, Solitude Productions, and The Vinyl Division.)

We did an interview here with Belgian Marche Funèbre about a year ago. Back then they had new EP, Death Wish Woman (released on October 14th), a tour, and a lot of fun… Now the band has a new full-length album Einderlicht and no gigs at all.

I think it was a matter of luck that Marche Funèbre got finished in time and managed to record the album with Markus Stock at his Klagschmiede Studio in February 2020 before actual shit started to hit the fan. But well, we’ve completed quite a good interview with the band’s drummer Dennis Lefebvre, and I welcome you to read it. Another portion of good and fair doom death doesn’t hurt anyone. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: APHONIC THRENODY

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Oct 222020
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brought us the following discussion that he had with two members of the multi-national funeral doom band Aphonic Threnody, whose latest album is out now on Transcending Obscurity Records.)

A bit of good deathly funeral doom won’t hurt anyone. International project Aphonic Threnody proves it with their third album The Great Hatred released by Transcending Obscurity Records just a few days ago.

Formed in 2012 by Riccardo V (guitars, bass) and Roberto M (vocals), who are also known with their doom death band Dea Marica (put on hold since 2013), Aphonic Threnody gained a fair reputation delivering their artistic and grim litanies at full capacity. The lineup changed from album to album and now the project consists of Riccardo V, Juan Escobar on keys, and Justin Buller on guitars. Juan joined Aphonic Threnody six years ago, and he took part in over a dozen different bands (you know for sure the Chilean melodic death doom band Mar de Grises, one of his most well-known outfits). Justin Buller has a shorter list of bands he was involved in, and funeral capella In Oblivion is one of them.

So… The Great Hatred is a killer title, something most of us know well nowadays. Let’s learn more about it with Riccardo and Juan. Continue reading »

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