AN NCS INTERVIEW: SOLOTHUS

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Dec 112019
 


Solothus 2019 – Photo by Jami Kallioväli

 

(Today we present a new interview conducted by Comrade Aleks, and this time he has talked with Kari Kankaanpää, vocalist of the Finnish band Solothus, who have a new album coming our way in 2020 via 20 Buck Spin.)

Usually I try not to bother bands with questions about the origins of their names, and use Google to find the answers. It was a hard task to dig out what Solothus means, so their vocalist Kari Kankaanpää has explained it to me: “In ancient Finnish folklore there is this creature called “solothus” which comes in the darkest winter nights to bring diseases to households. Only way to satisfy the spirit is a blood sacrifice.” Nice story for a start!

The band itself has performed macabre yet quite epic death doom metal since 2017. They weren’t that fast –their debut Summoned From The Void was released in 2013, about six years after they started — and you could skip it indeed, but no one could ignore Solothus’ 2016 sophomore work No King Reigns Eternal, a healthy example of the band’s development towards thicker and more thoughtful sound. The gents finished their third album a few weeks ago, so let’s try to find out from Kari more details about Solothus’ career. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RED MOON ARCHITECT

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Dec 042019
 

 

(Comrade Aleks rejoins us with this interview of Saku Moilanen, the man behind Red Moon Architect.)

Red Moon Architect was started by Saku Moilanen as a melodic death doom project in Kouvola, Finland, in 2011. He recorded the debut album Concealed Silence (2012) with guest musicians, but after two more albums and the transformation of the solo project into a full band Saku returned in the spring of 2019 with a fourth album Kuura, which tends to a funeral doom sound. We’ve discussed with Saku the way Red Moon Architect grows. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CULTURA TRES

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Dec 032019
 

 

(We’ve got a new interview from Comrade Aleks, and this time his discussion partners are members of the heavy Venezuelan band Cultura Tres.)

I try to watch for certain bands’ progress, but sometimes I miss something, as I did with Cultura Tres. Formed in Maracay, Venezuela, in 2006, they pay tribute both to South American cultural and historical legacy and to modern sludge metal. They speak of current problems of their land and of bloody shadows from the past — I believe it’s an important element of any band to keep their ideology actual and hard.

I lost track of the band after their fourth album La Secta, released in 2017, and when I decided to approach the guys a month ago, they appeared to be in The Netherlands to my surprise! May Third World sludge exist and develop in the conditions of the Old World. Let’s find out what’s happening with Alejandro Londoño (guitars, vocals) and Juanma De Ferrari (guitars). Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: DĀMIM

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Nov 232019
 

 

(Andy Synn returns with another episode in his series on metal lyrics, and today we have answers from Nathanael Underwood, lyricist/vocalist/guitarist of the UK death metal band Dāmim, whose latest album was released in June of this year.)

To quote my own review, the new record from Progressive Death Metal maestros Dāmim is “an album that doesn’t just stand on the shoulders of giants, but is more than capable of standing right alongside them.”

And since I’m such a fan of their new album, not to mention the fact that I’m going to be playing a short run of shows alongside them next month, I thought it was high time we heard from frontman Nathanael Underwood about what exactly it is that makes the band’s difference engine tick. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANATOMIA (TAKASHI TANAKA)

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Nov 222019
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us this very interesting and informative interview with Takashi Tanaka, drummer and vocalist of the formidable Japanese death-doom band Anatomia.)

There’s a sort of niche genre – something between crude, quite extreme death metal and death doom. It was set by Asphyx and Autopsy back in the early ’90s, and a good amount of bands carry on this tradition of mixing these sonic elements with brutal lyrics and straightforward delivery. Japan has two main bands of that kind – Coffins and Anatomia. You could see interview with Coffins here in November 2018, and now it’s Anatomia’s turn. Why?

Well, this band always has a new release. Yes, there are only three full-lengths in their discography, but just add to this score 14 split releases and 5-7 releases of other formats and you get a full picture.

Takashi Tanaka (drums, vocals) runs three more bands at the same time, so I believed it was wise to focus only on his Anatomia achievements. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: FAÇADE

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Nov 182019
 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks presents a discussion with Pim van Dijk, bassist of the Dutch band Façade, whose new concept album The Eternal Dance will be released on November 29th.)

Dordrecht, South Holland, seems to be a nice place: a lot of ancient buildings, museums, and a National Park alongside swamps in the vicinity… Façade was founded there in 2011, and since then the guys have performed their depressive and quite intricate doom/death metal. At least we could tell that in 2017 when they released their debut full-length Loathe, and now the gents have new material, and things turn to be even more complex.

Façade’s forthcoming album The Eternal Dance not only shows development of the ideas they represented two years ago, but this album also has a thoughtful concept and a more varied sonic palette, as these compositions sound richer and naturally deeper than Loathe. The band grows, it’s good…

Why not discuss these topics with one of its members? Pim van Dijk (bass) is on duty today. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE DROWNING

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Nov 152019
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks presents a conversation with members of The Drowning, whose new album was released on November 8th by Transcending Obscurity Records.)

Over a sixteen-year career the Wales-based doom death crew The Drowning have recorded five full-length albums, and their most up-to-date work The Radiant Dark has been released by the now-famous Indian label Transcending Obscurity Records. The gentlemen honed their skills for years, and logically the new material demonstrates highly effective songwriting and powerful expressive delivery. The songs balance on a verge of old school doom death (leaning to the Paradise Lost doom sound) and more modern meaty and melodic death doom, so the album has already got its portion of praise.

I hope that the collaboration with Transcending Obscurity, and this interview with Mike Hitchen (guitars), Dicky (bass), and Matt Small (vocals), will help The Drowning reach a wider audience. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MORTEM (STEINAR SVERD JOHNSEN)

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Nov 062019
 


photo by Irene Vold

 

(Norway-based NCS contributor Karina Noctum had the chance to interview Steinar Sverd Johnsen, co-founder of the legendary Norwegian black metal band Mortem (as well as Arcturus), about the genesis and the resurrection of Mortem (whose new album Ravnsvart was released by Peaceville this past September) and other related subjects, and we present that discussion below.)

Mortem was formed back in 1989 by Marius Vold (Thorns, Arcturus) and Steinar Sverd Johnsen (Arcturus, Covenant, Satyricon). They released a demo whose artwork was made by Dead (Pelle Ohlin) and had Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) as its producer. After the demo the artists devoted their time to other endeavors and nothing else was made.

Now they have reunited and produced a skillfully crafted album named Ravnsvart that counts the talents of Hellhammer (Mayhem, Arcturus) and Tor R. Stavenes (1349, Svart Lotus), making it one of the best BM releases this year.

In this interview with Steinar you will find all the information about things past, present, and future of this Black Metal supergroup. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MORTE

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Oct 292019
 

 

(With pleasure, we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Nicolás Ballarini, drummer and co-founder of the Argentinian death metal band Morte, along with excerpts of their music.)

You know – I’m always greedy for almost everything with a “doom” tag upon it. Thus I’ve found Morte from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and it was quite an awkward situation ‘cause, listening to their violent and bloody album Miasma, I started to calculate how much doom they really have in their death.

Yes, it’s the same controversial situation as with Cianide or Autopsy, when death metal influences certainly dominate over everything, but so what? Here we have this interview with Morte’s drummer Nicolás Ballarini, and as you will get, this band absolutely fits the “no clean singing” tag. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DOLD VORDE ENS NAVN

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Oct 232019
 

 

(Karina Noctum brings us this interview of Håvard Jørgensen and Cerberus, members of the Norwegian band Dold Vorde Ens Navn, whose debut EP Gjengangere i hjertets mørke was released on September 13th by Soulseller Records.)

This year has seen a much welcomed ’90s revival in the Norwegian scene. Old bands have been resurrected, new albums bringing back the much-cherished old vibes have been spawned, and so on. It’s probably for the best, I think, to go back and bring back forward what lots of people have been missing.

In the midst of this revival period we have Dold Vorde Ens Navn, a band that gathers the long musical experience of Håvard Jørgensen (co-founding member of Satyricon and early Ulver member), Vicotnik (Dødheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende), Cerberus (ex-Dødheimsgard), and Myrvoll (Nidingr). Together, they concocted something that in spite of having roots in the past has a unique touch and stands on its own. This interview offers lots of information about how this musical endeavour came about to be, as well as the current situation and future plans. Continue reading »

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