AN NCS INTERVIEW: EXCRUCIATION

 Interviews  1 Response »
Sep 062019
 

 

(Our Russian friend Comrade Aleks returns to NCS with this new interview of Eugenio Meccariello, vocalist of the long-running Swiss band Excruciation, whose latest release (via Auric Records) is a substantial compilation of rare songs that have been produced since their reunion in 2005.)

Originally formed in Zurich in 1984, Excruciation seems to be one of first death-doom bands. They did some successful experiments ’til the late ’80s and gained a reputation with a bunch of demos and the Last Judgement EP in 1987. They almost recorded a full-length album, but the band was split up in 1991. Who could expect that Excruciation would return in 2005 with new material, and with all original members in the lineup? However, their reunion EP Arise did lead them to a series of new releases including four full-length albums and nearly a dozen shorter recordings.

The band’s fresh compilation [e]met sums up Excruciation’s non-album legacy, and this 16-song collection will give you a pretty good impression about their way into this crude, heavy, and yet emotional doom-death metal. Excruciation’s vocalist Eugenio Meccariello sheds light on [e]met and the band’s current status. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE GREAT OLD ONES

 Interviews  1 Response »
Sep 042019
 

 

(Our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum brings us this new interview of Benjamin Guerry of the French Lovecraft-inspired post/black metal band The Great Old Ones, whose new album Cosmicism is set for release on October 22nd through Season of Mist.)

I’ve been a fan of The Great Old Ones ever since they released their very first album, Al Azif, in 2012. I really like their elegant (the French way) atmospheric Black Doom Metal. Their latest album, Cosmicism, is pretty sinister and able to take you right to the Cthulian mood of despair and misery in a long journey. I have listened to TGOO while journeying through desolate, barren, and frozen landscapes, so I have had time to reflect about the mood and the Lovecraftian theme, but even if one can’t really experience the music in such an environment, one can certainly imagine it.

Cosmicism is a fine example of what Lovecraftian-inspired metal should be like in terms of how to convey the right mood. It is pretty much a showcase of the band’s talent and of the experience gained throughout the years in weaving atmospheres and experimenting with mixing genres and varied tempos. It was thus a pleasure to exchange questions and answers with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Benjamin Guerry: Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: RITES OF THY DEGRINGOLADE

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  1 Response »
Aug 312019
 

 

(For this week’s edition of Andy Synn‘s column devoted to lyrics in metal he posed questions to Paulus Kressman (Rites of Thy Degringolade), and obtained very illuminating answers, as you shall see.)

As much as I hope you all enjoy the information and insight offered by these articles, I have to admit, there’s a certain amount of self-interest involved too, as the work of putting some extra focus on this underappreciated aspect of the metallic arts grants me an opportunity to talk to some of my favourite bands/artists and to (hopefully) gain a deeper understanding of their music.

Case in point, I was recently able to speak with Paulus Kressman, the founder and prime creative force of Canadian Black/Death esotericists Rites of Thy Degringolade – a band whose work I’ve followed and supported for years and whose most recent record, last year’s phenomenal The Blade Philosophical, was one of my favourite albums of 2018 – about the process and philosophy behind his arcane and abrasive art.

Not only was he more than happy to oblige, but his in-depth responses have given me an even deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, the band’s entire discography.

So, without further ado, I present to you the latest edition of Waxing Lyrical. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: LIGHT THIS CITY

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  2 Responses »
Aug 242019
 


photo by Joe Ellis

 

(In this latest edition of his Waxing Lyrical series, Andy Synn posed questions to vocalist Laura Nichol of Light This City, whose comeback album Terminal Bloom was released last year by Creator-Destructor Records, and received the following answers.)

My relationship (such as it is) with Californian Melodeath crew Light This City goes back almost fifteen years now, and their 2006 record, Facing the Thousand, remains one of my go-to albums to this day.

Sadly, as many of you will know, the band went inactive for nearly a full decade after the release of Stormchaser in 2008, leaving behind them a trail of broken hearts and shattered dreams (as well as a bunch of kickass music).

Thankfully for all of us, however, last year’s comeback album, Terminal Bloom, wasn’t just a long-awaited return for the band, it also happens to be one of their best releases to date, which is why I’m so excited to be bringing some more attention to it, and the band in general, via this piece from LTC vocalist Laura Nichol. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VREID

 Interviews  1 Response »
Aug 212019
 

 

(This is Karina Noctum‘s interview of Steingrim, drummer of the Norwegian black metal band Vreid, whose latest album Lifehunger was released by Season of Mist  in September 2018. The interview took place in late June at the Tons of Rock festival in Oslo. All photos were made by Andrea Chirulescu for the Midgardsblot festival, 2019.)

 

What’s behind the name “sognametal” and what makes bands that are under this name stand out within the Norwegian Black metal scene?

Sognametal was an expression from the founder of Windir, Valfar. He wanted to stand out from other bands in the same genre. After that they just labelled the music coming from the region Sogn og Fjordane as Sognametal. That being said I don’t think all the bands coming from that region play the same type of music. So now 25 years later on I don’t think the label Sognametal can be applied to a certain music genre, but it’s the label you get when you are from a certain region in Norway. But again, he wanted the band to stand out, but it was meant just for Windir music and that’s what was Sognametal, so the irony is that now there are 10 or 15 bands under the same label as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CROWHURST

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jul 312019
 

 

(Wil Cifer conducted the following interview of Jay Gambit, the principal creative force behind the genre-bending band Crowhurst, whose latest album III was released earlier this year by Prophecy Productions.)

Earlier this year I reviewed the latest album from this experimental black metal project, which was the third part in a trilogy. I recently managed to find the time to catch up with Jay Gambit, the main man behind this project, to discuss his creative process behind this album.

 

There seems to be a theme of working with different personnel for each record you make. Is there a reason behind this?

I view lineups as more of an assembly of musicians I think will benefit the record. Andy [Andrew Curtis-Brignell] was the backbone, no doubt about it – but there’s a lot more musicians on III like Ethan from Primitive Man and other folk whose sonic signature was distinct and complementary to various recordings. What keeps this from being a solo project is that I feel every musician brings their own presence, and by playing around with different formulas each record – you can get some spectacular and unique results. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: RUNE “BLASPHEMER” ERIKSEN (VLTIMAS, EARTH ELECTRIC, AURA NOIR)

 Interviews  7 Responses »
Jul 182019
 

 

(Our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum scored a coup with this interview of Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen at the recent Tons of Rock festival in Oslo, where Blasphemer performed with his band Vltimas, which also includes David Vincent and Flo Mounier (their debut album Something Wicked Marches In was released by Season of Mist this past March). Blasphemer has left his mark on the history of metal through the music of such bands as Mayhem and Aura Noir, and more recently with Vltimas and Earth Electric. This interview touches on all these experiences, and what the future holds for him. All photos accompanying this interview were made by Andrea Chirulescu.)

 

How did the idea of forming Vltimas originate?

I’ve been playing so much extreme metal for so many years that it was always a mission of mine to form a band that I could call my little baby. Something that I created from the start, because with Mayhem, I didn’t start it; I joined Mayhem. The same with Aura Noir, I just joined them.

So it was something that was on my to-do list, you know. Starting something from scratch and building something up from the ground. So when I quit Mayhem I was thinking about it, but at the time I just thought I had to take a break from extreme metal, from Black Metal, so I did not pursue it. I did other styles within metal instead. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TORGRIM ØYRE (BEYOND THE GATES FESTIVAL)

 Interviews  No Responses »
Jul 092019
 

 

On August 21-24, 2019, the eighth edition of the Beyond the Gates festival will take place in Bergen, Norway, featuring a remarkable line-up of bands, headlined by Watain, Mayhem, Emperor, and Abbath. Our Atlanta-based contributor Tør was able to get the attention of BTG founder and principal organizer Torgrim Øyre, to discuss not only the upcoming event but also its history, and the predecessor Bergen festival Hole in the Sky. Our thanks to both of them for this interview.

 

Tell us a little bit about the history of Hole In The Sky/Beyond The Gates and how the idea for them came about.

Hole in the Sky was founded as a tribute to our late friend Erik «Grim» Brødreskift. He was a prominent figure in the metal scene in Bergen. Erik played with bands like Immortal, Gorgoroth, and Borknagar. Initially it was intended to be a one-off where friends from Bergen were paying their respects to their lost friend. The line-up was based on Bergen bands only. After the first festival, people kept saying that we should make it a tradition as there literally were no underground festivals in Norway at all at that point. This was pre-Inferno too. The festival quickly took on a life on its own. Slowly growing from the 300-cap venue Garage and moving into USF Verftet a few years later. It was an intense time. Not a lot of metal bands had played these shores before, so everything felt new and exciting. Everyone involved had very high standards for Hole in the Sky and after 12 years, we came to a point were we felt that we had done everything we could within that framework, so in order not to repeat ourselves and possibly compromise the quality of the festival, we felt that it was a good thing to put the fork in the road and end on a high note. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HELLHAMMER (MAYHEM)

 Interviews  7 Responses »
Jul 082019
 

 

(Our Norway-based writer Karina Noctum had the good fortune of interviewing Mayhem drummer Hellhammer recently, following a Mayhem festival performance in Oslo, and we present the conversation here.)

This interview with Hellhammer was conducted after the gig at Tons of Rock in Oslo on June 28. I will have the opportunity to see them yet again at Beyond the Gates festival in Bergen, which has an incredible line-up and has not sold out yet. In addition, there is going to be a European tour by Mayhem (with support by Gaahls WYRD and Gost) in late October-November as well.

I think it was a pretty good timing for this interview, as I got some tidings about what to expect when it comes to the new Mayhem album that is currently in the making at the renowned Necromorbus Studio in Stockholm. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SEPULCHER

 Interviews  3 Responses »
Jun 262019
 

 

(We’ve been the beneficiary of many interviews conducted by Norway-based writer Karina Noctum at this year’s Inferno Festival in Oslo, and this is one more — a lively conversation with drummer Daniel Tveit and vocalist/guitarist Andreas Fosse Salbu, who performed with their band Sepulcher at Inferno but are also members of Reptilian and Inculter.)

In my series of interviews conducted at this year’s Inferno Festival I wanted to include an up-and-coming underground band because my heart is always with the underground. And besides, I really like the Old School Death/Thrash/Heavy style that is coming out of Norway. Out of the bands available I chose Sepulcher. I find their sound heartfelt, true to the beloved roots we all cherish. and raw!

They come from a small town on the western coast of Norway called Fusa. This interview deals with particulars about the emerging scene they come from; a conversation about their sound, recording, and producing; and it also deals with how they try to stay as faithful as possible to the sound that characterizes them. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries