AN NCS INTERVIEW: SALTAS

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Apr 022020
 

 

(In this new interview for our site Comrade Aleks spoke with both members of the Swedish death/doom band Saltas about their new album, which was released two weeks ago, as well as the status of the members’ other projects.)

Despite this crazy situation all over the world the metal industry still works, and this month, due to the efforts of Nuclear War Now! Productions, the two-man project Saltas of Gothenburg, Sweden has just released their debut full-length Mors Salis: Opus I. This macabre death doom metal straight from the underground catacombs was created by C.J. (vocals, drums) and N.R. (vocals, guitars).

C.J. succeeds in keeping his personality a bit anonymous though N.R. is Leif Nicklas Rudolfsson himself, founder of the Swedish grim bastion of the extreme doom front Runemagick and half a dozen other bands and projects like Domedag, Necrocurse, and The Funeral Orchestra, just to name few. I bet you have a clue what you may expect from Saltas, we’ve talked with both of the band’s’ members. Here you see result of this conversation: Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW (PART 2): DARK FORTRESS (MOREAN)

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Mar 312020
 

 

(Yesterday we presented Part One of an extensive interview Karina Noctum conducted with Morean of Dark Fortress, and today we present the conclusion, again with our thanks to Morean for devoting so much time to the discussion.)

This is the second part of the in-depth interview with Morean from Dark Fortress. While the first part was about composition and creation of music, among other topics, this part is solely devoted to the lyrical themes of Spectres from the Old World, the band’s latest album,  which was released back in February of this year. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW (PART 1): DARK FORTRESS (MOREAN)

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Mar 302020
 

 

(Today we present the first part of an extensive two-part interview that our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum conducted with Morean of Dark Fortress (and Alkaloid and Noneuclid), and we are grateful to him for devoting so much time and thought in furnishing the answers.)

The latest Dark Fortress album, Spectres from the Old World, released back in February, has gotten good reviews. This is not surprising and it is a natural consequence of the amount of experience the musicians that form part of this band have. Both Ylem and Venereal Dawn are on my playlist of favorite BM albums, and I must say the latest album made it as well, of course. It is not just more of the same though, it has a distinct touch, it stands on its own, and it fulfilled my expectations.

I took the opportunity to interview Morean, who I admire a lot both as a composer and as an excellent, multifaceted metal musician. His musical expertise makes all his bands and contributions truly interesting. In fact one of his orchestrations of the three parts of the Requiem performed by Triptykon and the Dutch Metropole Orkest at Roadburn Festival is coming out soon through Prowling Death Records / Century Media Records. There are many interesting projects and bands surrounding Morean but the focus of the first part of this in-depth interview is going to be Spectres from the Old World, its composition, its music, and other particulars surrounding its release. In the second part of this interview we will deal solely with the lyrical themes, which are complex and very interesting. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: OCEAN CHIEF

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Mar 252020
 

 

(The heavy-hitting Swedish doom band Ocean Chief will release their sixth studio album on April 17th via Argonauta Records, and in this new interview Comrade Aleks talked about it with guitarist Björn Andersson.)

Long-liver of Swedish underground scene, Ocean Chief close toward their twentieth anniversary. Since 2001 this hard crew has driven their ugly and heavy drakkar through sonic tsunamis of sludge, doom, and stoner. I found them with the release of their third album Sten (2013) and was blown away with its massive and thick sound representing the primitive power of the ocean at full capacity. Their next work Universums Härd (2014) was a bit different thing with twice shorter tracks (in comparison with Sten’s 15 – 20-minute huge monsters) and then…

Then Ocean Chief almost disappeared from radars, so I was surprised when I get the promo of their new CD Den Tredje Dagen. I hope that virus panic won’t delay its release and that we’ll witness Ocean Chief’s return on April 27th through Argonauta Records. The band’s guitarist Björn Andersson sheds some light on this work. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TOWARDS DARKNESS

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Mar 242020
 

 

(In this extensive new interview Comrade Aleks talked with Simon Carignan, a member of the Montreal-based band Towards Darkness, whose new album Tetrad will be released on March 27th by Solitude Productions.)

Towards Darkness’ original name was The Mass. Founded in 2001 this band held out ’til 2005 when it was renamed. A change of style came with the change of the title, and these guys from Montreal switched from sludgy doom to its funeral-oriented brother.

Funeral is well-known for its low vibrations and slow ceremonial pace, so Towards Darkness moved further without any haste. Their debut Solemn appeared in 2007, the Barren album followed it only five years later, and after a new EP Empire (also in 2012) the band was laid in deep slumber… I watched them from afar, awaiting news to appear, and my patience was rewarded with the announcement of their third full-length album Tetrad, which is scheduled on March 27 by Solitude Productions.

Here is Simon Carignan (keyboards, effects, guitars) — we had quite a productive conversation. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SEPTIMIU HĂRȘAN (PESTILENCE)

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Mar 172020
 

 

(Karina Noctum continues with her series of interviews of metal drummers, and with this one has turned in one of the most interesting, articulate, and in-depth interviews we’ve published in a long time — and we thank Romanian drummer Septimiu Hărşan for devoting so much time and thought to it.)

This is an Interview conducted with Septimiu Hărşan, who is the drummer of the Dutch Death Metal legends Pestilence and is currently working on the release of two albums, one with the Dutch masters of raw brutality Disavowed, which is one of the albums to look forward to the most within that sub-genre this year.

This in-depth interview offers insights into Septimiu’s drumming career, gear, and musical preferences, as well as some good news when it comes to Pestilence and his other bands CodeRed and Necrovile. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ENEPSIGOS

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Mar 162020
 

 

(On March 27th Osmose Productions will release Wrath of Wraths, the new album by the formidable black metal band Enepsigos, and in this new interview our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum spoke with V.I.T.H.R (aka Doedsadmiral), who created this new album together with drummer Thorns and new guitarist/bassist Rituul.)

Enepsigos has unique qualities and is innovative in the context of the Norwegian scene. This interview was conducted with one of its founders V.I.T.H.R (Doedsvangr, Nordjevel, Svartelder); the band also includes Thorns (Blut Aus Nord, Darvaza, Fides Inversa) and Rituul as well.

Their latest album Wrath of Wraths is excellent and has a fresh approach to song structure. It has a riff-structure oddness that is something you would have come to expect more from bands coming from Australia or the US rather than from Norway.  It is entertaining to the ear and complex. Nevertheless it has a typical Norwegian-ness to it surfacing here and there, something that adds a lot of groove and feeling combined with a French-like darkness and atmosphere. The dark ambience has been enriched by an eerie atmosphere a la Mercyful Fate, which is awesome. It’s a mix of really good qualities that will for sure put this album in the best-of-the-year lists in the Black Metal genre. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NAMTAR

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Mar 032020
 


photo credit – Nadja Geskus Photography

 

(Our Norway-based correspondent Karina Noctum forges ahead with her series of interviews of drummers, and here presents a discussion with Namtar, former drummer with the Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren.)

2020 started with several losses of both musicians and bands in the metal scene. So to join the row of sad news it was announced that Namtar from Carach Angren was going to leave his band, and so I took the opportunity to talk to him.

Carach Angren had a pretty well-conceived and interesting concept, both musically and image-wise, that will continue for sure, but no two drummers are the same. So it remains to see who is going to take his place and how it will turn out. A new album called Franckensteina Strataemontanus to be released on May 29 has been announced, but the news is taken with mixed feelings of course. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: YAWNING VOID

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Feb 282020
 


photo by Photo by Jami Kallioväli

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks spoke with three members of the Finnish band Yawning Void, whose music is black/death/doom from the depths of the void….)

Our constant readers may remember the interview we did with the crushing death doom band Solothus from Suomi. We had a nice chat in December, and now their new album Realm Of Ash And Blood has been announced by 20 Buck Spin Records — it will be out on March 27th — don’t miss it!

So if you remember, we finished that interview on a bit of an awkward note about Yawning Void, a kind of blackened death doom outfit from Turku that includes three of Solothus’ members. I wish I could announce the release date of their new album, but true to say it’s blurred, though we had a great conversation with TKI (drums, keyboards), KTK (vocals), and VTK (guitars). Well, Yawning Void’s debut Streams Within was actually officially released by Weird Truth Productions only in October 2019, so it’s still an actual thing – grim, thick, and lightless as our miserable world which “keeps spinning towards unknown paths of doom”. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NORNES

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Feb 272020
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us this interview of the French band Nornes, which focuses on their 2018 debut Vanity and, of course, other things… including the band’s new EP Threads, which will be released on February 28th through Sleeping Church Records.)

I try to avoid interviewing bands with only an EP and demos in their discography, with rare exceptions like it was with Marble Chariot who at least continued their pilgrimage under the Carcolh moniker… But when reverend Rodolphe of the Barabbas band advised me to take a look at Nornes from Valenciennes, I couldn’t refuse.

And indeed they remain a very cool trad-doom band with both clean and harsh vocals, despite the fact what their one and only EP Vanity was released in 2018. Where’s the new stuff. men? Here you’ll find an answer to this question, a few facts about the band, and one French joke. Don’t forget to turn on the play button and listen to their EP (you’ll find it below), I need to return to my beer. Continue reading »

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