AN NCS INTERVIEW: CONVOCATION

 Interviews  3 Responses »
Oct 222019
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks spoke with the two members of the Finnish band Convocation, whose tremendous debut album was released last year by Everlasting Spew Records and whose second one is nearing completion.)

Helsinki-based torturous funeral / doom death duet Convocation were a nice discovery for me. I missed the initial release of their crushing debut Scars Across, which happened in March 2018, but why not approach it today? It’s grim, it’s massive, it’s an out-of-this world thing.

One of the band’s founders, Lauri Laaksonen (all instruments), takes part in the prolific death metal act Desolate Shrine, and Marko Neuman (vocals) spent his time in avant-garde outfit Candy Cane, and besides that he sings in the well-known band Dark Buddha Rising. So Convocation didn’t jump out from nowhere — this is quite a successful collaboration between two active underground artists. And both of them are here today. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SUFFERING DUSKS

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Oct 212019
 

 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Mauricio Figueroa, vocalist of the Chilean band Suffering Dusks, whose debut album was released earlier this year.)

This doom-death metal band from Santiago appeared seven years ago, and though a self-titled demo was already done in 2015, they managed to finish a debut full-length only in early 2019. While We Cross The Sunset saw the light of day in a CD edition on September 2nd through Sun Empire Productions, after a digital release last spring.

This decent material demonstrates rich instrumentals alongside expressive vocals lines performed in a vein of modern doom-death, with respect to classic bands. We searched for more in Suffering Dusks’ dark realm with the band’s vocalist Mauricio Figueroa. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CADAVER (ANDERS ODDEN)

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Oct 182019
 

 

Editor’s Note:  Our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum had the opportunity last month to talk with Anders Odden, co-founder of the Norwegian death metal band Cadaver (and also founder of the black metal band Order and the industrial rock band Magenta, and a live member of Satyricon). After the submission of this interview, the following announcement appeared on the Facebook page of Order:

“Anders Odden has been hit by illness, which require active treatment. For the time being, he will therefore not be able to perform on stage. Cadaver and Order regret to have to cancel upcoming concerts and thank everyone for the understanding.”

We wish Anders a speedy and complete recovery.

 

Karina Noctum: I had the chance to see Cadaver in September. They are a Norwegian Death Metal band who have been around since the late ’80s. It was a pretty special show at Hellbotn Festival in the suburbs outside Oslo where Fenriz from Darkthrone lives. I hope the American audience will also have a chance to experience this pretty special comeback at both Decibel Fest near L.A. in December and at Maryland Deathfest next year.

I was lucky enough to get to talk to Anders Odden, who founded the band. This interview covers pretty much everything you need to know about Cadaver and their place in metal history, and includes some information about the new release to come. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WEIGHT OF EMPTINESS

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Oct 172019
 

 

(We give thanks to Russian interviewer Comrade Aleks for this extensive new conversation with guitarist Juan Acevedo, a member of the Chilean band Weight of Emptiness, whose new album was released not long ago via Australis Records.)

Raised from the ashes of Twilight Mist, this Santiago-based outfit has performed tight, energetic, and quite aggressive melodic death-doom metal since 2015. They built a basement for their debut album Anfractuous Moments For Redemption (2017) with their 2016 EP Anfractuous,  and they firmed up the band’s position with a new full-length, Conquering The Deep Cycle, released on August 31st by Australis Records. This passionate and vivid material demonstrates all of Weight Of Emptiness‘ strong sides and passion towards extreme heavy music.

A new album is always good reason to talk with a band, so we’ve organized this interview with Juan Acevedo (guitars). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MARCHE FUNÈBRE

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Oct 112019
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has been a busy interviewer, and we have his second one in as many days, with this conversation he had with members of the Belgian doom-death metal band Marche Funèbre.)

Marche Funèbre is one of representatives of Old World doom death scene who shows good stability, releasing strong works and naturally progressing from album to album. Their debut To Drown (2011) wasn’t an album of the year, but their development on Roots Of Grief (2013) is something you couldn’t miss. Since 2017 they’ve continue to work at a good pace: a third full-length, Into The Arms Of Darkness appeared in 2017, followed by splits with A Thousand Sufferings (2017) and Eye Of Solitude (2018), alongside killer EP Death Wish Woman (2018).

Marche Funèbre is one of the very rare European bands who managed to play a tour in the USA, and as they performed a gig in my home city of Saint Petersburg less than two weeks ago, I saw it as a right time to interview them. Arne Vandenhoeck (vocals), with some help from Kurt Blommé (guitars), are ready to tell a few things about doom, death, and being happy in misery. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PALADIN

 Forthcoming Albums, Interviews  No Responses »
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”

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  No Responses »
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 »

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