AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEAD END

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May 282018
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us this wide-ranging interview with Alwin Roes, one of the original members of the resurrected Dutch death-doom band Dead End, who released a first album through Vic Records in 2016. As discussed in the interview they have a new album coming later this year, and many other plans in the works as well.)

Dead End is a relic of a past epoch. The band was formed in 1988 in North Brabant, Netherlands, and was one of those few first bands who explored death-doom metal. They managed to record two demos Tales (1991) and Purity (1992) that lead them to the EP Wartime In Eden (1993), and then Dead End was disbanded.

None expected it, but the band was resurrected in 2014, and their debut full-length Reborn From The Ancient Grave saw the light of day two years after this return. The details of Dead End‘s early years, the reasons to continue spreading death-doom bliss, and future prospects for the band are covered in this interview with Dead End’s original bass-player Alwin Roes. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WRATHRONE

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May 232018
 

 

(Latvian music writer Evita Hofmane re-joins us with the following interview of members of the Finnish death metal band Wrathrone, whose new album, Reflections of Torment, was released last month.)

Wrathrone strike hard with their sophomore album, fittingly titled Reflections of Torment. It’s safe to say that these Finnish death dealers have really found their rotten groove and sound on this bestial offering! Rumbling double guitars, low-grinding bass with blasting drums, topped with unearthly growls. Uncompromising cover art by Pierre Perichaud of Business for Satan depicts the horrors and defiled themes of the album perfectly!

Reflections of Torment was recorded during the autumn of 2017 at V. R. Studio in Turku and mixed/mastered at Wolfthrone Studios. It was released by Satanath Records with The Void Records in CD and digital formats in April 2018 and will be released by Cimmerian Shade Recordings in vinyl and tape formats in September 2018.

I dropped the band a line to find out more about it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DOOMSWORD

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  1 Response »
May 172018
 

 

(Greek writer John Sleepwalker returns  to NCS with an in-depth interview of Deathmaster, frontman of Italy’s DoomSword, shortly before their appearance at Greece’s Up The Hammers Festival. Themes in the interview span the band’s entire epic metal career, as well as the status of DoomSword’s work on a new record. A Greek version of this interview originally appeared at Avopolis.gr.)

 

DoomSword haven’t released a new album since The Eternal Battle (2011). A wait that has been quite long, I must say. When should we expect the new opus? Have you been writing/rehearsing any new material?

Hi John, I hope you are well. To your first question I can answer that I do not have a precise timeline for the release of a new album, but works are underway. The guys in Italy are rehearsing and I am continuing with the songwriting. Therefore, I expect that completing the album is a matter of months. As for the long absence: I had in fact an album ready (and enough ideas for 2 albums, I would say), but if you let compositions sit for a while, then when you go back to them, you may feel dissatisfied with what you had. It may be because your mind has evolved, or because you are not in the same mood and want to express other emotions on your next album. Either way, what you have is unsuitable. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MEPHORASH

 Interviews  3 Responses »
May 072018
 


Photo by Per Ole Hagen

 

(One of our Norway-based contributors, Karina Noctum, conducted the following interview with members of the Swedish black metal band Mephorash at this year’s Inferno Festival. The band are at work on a highly anticipated new album, which follows 2015’s 1557 – Rites of Nullification.)

 

Karina: You have released a single that belongs to your fourth upcoming album. Have you finished it or are you producing it?

Mishbar Bovmeph: We are almost finished. We are working wrapping the whole album up and hopefully we will release it towards autumn this year. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: WOE

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  2 Responses »
May 052018
 

 

(The world hasn’t ended… another Saturday rises… and with it another of Andy Synn’s WAXING LYRICAL columns… with the insights provided today by Chris Grigg of the NY black metal band Woe.)

This is the third edition of Waxing Lyrical focussing on a band I handpicked for last year’s “Critical Top Ten” which… probably says something important. Though I’m not sure what. Maybe that great albums deserve great lyrics? Something like that?

Either way, Hope Attrition was a fantastic album “…as densely packed with clever ideas, razor-sharp hooks, and raw passion, as anything I’ve heard…” and Woe are a fantastic band, which is why I harassed and harangued the band’s vocalist/guitarist Chris Grigg into telling me a little about his background, his process, and his methods. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEATH. VOID. TERROR.

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May 042018
 

 

(Yesterday we posted Grant Skelton’s very interesting review of the unusual debut album by Death. Void. Terror. (brought forth last month by Iron Bonehead Productions), and today we’re following that with his e-mail interview of this mysterious entity, which is also… interesting.)

 

How was Death. Void. Terror. conceived? Whether musical or otherwise, what are some of the inspirations behind the music?

Death. Void. Terror. is an entity conceived for a single purpose: to serve as a vessel for the Great Monolith, a true sole true finality that we as practitioners are subservient to. There are no other inspirations, musical or otherwise. When I say we are vessels for the Great Monolith, I mean that we convey what is bestowed upon us by it and express this unconsciously through our recordings. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ZATOKREV (FREDERYK ROTTER)

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May 032018
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks poses questions to Frederyk Rotter, founding vocalist/guitarist of the Swiss band Zatokrev.)

Fourteen years ago Basel-based power-trio Zatokrev recorded their debut self-titled album. Frederyk Rotter (vocals, guitars), Marco Grementieri (bass), and Silvio Spadino (drums) brought forth a tensive, savage, and energetic blend of extreme doom and sludge. Over the years the band went through a series of metamorphoses, developing with each new record and enriching the sound with post- and some avant-garde influences.

Since April 13, a vinyl reissue of Zatokrev has been available for shipment via Plastic Head. It’s a good reason to talk with Frederyk about Zatokrev’s milestones, as he’s the only member left of the original lineup. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: SLUGDGE

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  2 Responses »
Apr 282018
 

 

(Here’s another edition of Andy Synn’s Saturday interview series in which the subject is metal lyrics.)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock like some quivering, spineless invertebrate (I might pay for that comment later), you’ll doubtless be aware of the great waves caused by the latest Slugdge album, Esoteric Malacology (which I already dubbed “a potential Album of the Year contender”).

Of course if you haven’t done so yet, you should check it out immediately, and then go back and check out the rest of the band’s back-catalogue too.

Once you’ve done that, and you’re suitably prepared in both body and mind, then – and only then – should you return here and delve into the following interview with the band’s vocalist Matt Moss, where he provides some seriously in-depth insight into both the method and the madness which together make up the band’s unique lyrical approach. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: IHSAHN

 Interviews  1 Response »
Apr 262018
 

 

(One of our Norway-based contributors, Karina Noctum, had the good fortune of recently interviewing Ihsahn, whose new album Àmr will be released on May 4 by Candlelight/Spinefarm, and we present their discussion here today.)

 

You mix together several genres in one song a lot, and this is complicated enough, so how do you compose? Do you have lots of riffs first or does the song develop out of an idea?

I think it’s more the latter. Although in my early years my way of doing it tended more towards having lots of riffs and then putting them together. But as a solo artist it has been more centered around an idea and developing everything taking it as a starting point.

 

But what about this idea, is it a musical one or can it be anything?

It is a musical one. Often times it has been just one vocal line. Take my first solo album, there is a song called “Called by the Fire” in there and those were some lines that I sang while driving, and all singing started from there. But frequently it is a musical theme, or a progression for example.

 

Does the music you listen to influence you when it comes to writing music?

I get inspiration from lots of sources. You named the fact that I bring in many genres… I do feel I still create music that belongs to extreme metal and Black Metal, but I get inspired by other musical landscapes. Other musical textures are something that I like to combine with the music, as it gives it a special character. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: THE ABSENCE

 Interviews, WAXING LYRICAL  2 Responses »
Apr 212018
 

 

(Welcome to another edition of Andy Synn’s Waxing Lyrical feature. Today he presents a very interesting discussion with Jamie Stewart of The Absence.)

Some of you may have caught my review of A Gift for the Obsessed, the long-awaited fourth album by Floridian Melodeath marauders The Absence, last month (almost exactly one month ago, in fact). And hopefully some of you were inspired enough to go check out the album on your own terms and, ideally, to pick up a copy for yourselves.

If you didn’t catch it, well, here’s another chance for you to check out what you’ve been missing, as I managed to cajole the band’s vocalist/lyricist Jamie Stewart into participating in this edition of Waxing Lyrical, where he talks about misheard lyrics, space madness, and the importance of Hip-Hop to his early musical development! Continue reading »

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