AN NCS INTERVIEW: FLUISTERAARS

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Apr 132020
 

 

(In this feature our new contributor Mike Johnson spoke with a member of the Dutch duo Fluisteraars (Bob Mollema and Mink Koops), whose new album Bloem is out now via Eisenwald.)

 

You guys clearly try to recreate a certain type of landscape in your sound. Each album evolving little by little. Translated to English (as I am an inept American) the newest release entitled Bloem means “Flower”. I am curious, as this album seems to be a symbol for this project in general. I feel the album starts furiously in a whir of black metal only to bloom into a more true atmospheric and melodic sound similar to that of a flower. Was this possibly a thought behind the album?

It was not a thought from which we made the album. More an unconscious competent choice that felt logical during the making process. Because if our opening track were in the middle it would not be right for us. The placement of the songs on an album apparently contributes a lot to the concept and that is good proof that music can be very narrative. Thank you for the observation. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DAVID MCGRAW (CATTLE DECAPITATION)

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Apr 072020
 

 

(In this new installment of a series devoted to metal drummers, Karina Noctum talked with David McGraw of Cattle Decapitation, and we join Karina in thanking David him for his time and attention.)

Cattle Decapitation is definitely one band that leads the way when it comes to extreme metal. Their blend of Death, Heavy, Grind, and Black Metal with a complex arrangement of progressive riffs and top-notch technique is something I have always admired. So I had to include David McGraw in my series as he is definitely one of the best drummers in the genre.

Due to the pandemic he is currently home and available for drumming coaching while he should be on tour. He took some time to answer my questions, something I’m pretty grateful for. What’s left for us in Europe is to hope their superb tour together with Disentomb, Internal Bleeding, and Gloom will be re-scheduled, but things look certainly gloomy grim here when it comes to shows in the foreseeable future. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MOLASSES BARGE

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Apr 062020
 

 

(On April 10th Argonauta Records will release the second album by Pittsburgh heavy doom rockers Molasses Barge, and this provided a good occasion for Comrade Aleks to catch up with guitarist Justin Gizzi in this exclusive NCS interview.)

As shit continues to hit the fan, it’s hard to predict what will happen next month or even next week, but a new Molasses Barge release is scheduled on the 10th of April by Argonauta Records, and I hope we’ll all be able to support it…

The band was started as a project in 2008 when a few men from the Pittsburgh heavy underground gathered in the name of the Doom Cult. Initially it was Justin Gizzi on guitars, Brian “Butch” Balich on vocals, and Wayne Massey as drummer. Justin played in bunch of bands before, and Brian is well-known as vocalist of such loud acts as Penance and Argus —  should I say that the project had great potential from the start?

However, Molasses Barge rested at pierce for years, but since 2017 they have shown good activity, recording, releasing, and performing live their hard down-tuned stuff with new members. The band’s up-to-date lineup consists of the original trio plus Amy Bianco (bass) and Barry Mull (guitars). Their new work A Grayer Dawn is damn hard and loud down-tuned doom metal, and I believe it fits well these strange times we live in. Continue reading »

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

 Interviews  3 Responses »
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 »

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