AN NCS INTERVIEW: WOODEN STAKE (VANESSA NOCERA)

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Apr 032018
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this extensive interview with Vanessa Nocera, vocalist and bassist of Wooden Stake and a central figure in other bands such as Cauldron Burial and Vaultwraith.)

 

Originally born in Kentucky, this project was raised by Vanessa Nocera, who has performed in a half -dozen of more extreme bands, such as black death outfit Cauldron Burial. In Wooden Stake she has mixed old school death doom with traditional doom metal since 2010.

From the very beginning she has handled bass and performed all sorts of vocals, from clean ones to hungry and savage harsh ones. She recorded the debut full-length Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades with Wayne Sarantopoulos (guitars, drums, keyboards), and the second album A Feast Of Virgin Souls was done with William Wardlaw (guitars, drums). Three years have passed, so what’s happening now? Where are the new stories of gore and horror? Where are new tunes from the gloom of the basement?

I approached Vanessa to clarify the current status of Wooden Stake and to learn about its origin. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: TURBID NORTH

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Mar 312018
 

Photo by Maciej Pieloch Photography

 

(Continuing with his Saturday Waxing Lyrical series, Andy Synn questions vocalist/guitarist Nick Forkel about his approach to the writing of lyrics for Turbid North.)

 

As you may know, Turbid North’s fantastic Eyes Alive was one of my outstanding favourite albums of 2015, and I’ve been singing the band’s praises ever since, and trying to get as many of my friends (and even a few of my enemies) to listen to this three-piece’s unique blend of devastating Death Metal riffage, megaton metallic grooves, and psychedelic progressive melody, as possible.

Unsurprisingly I was quick to get in touch with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Nick Forkel when I first decided to pursue “Waxing Lyrical” as a regular column, and he was kind enough to furnish me with the following information regarding how he first fell into the role of lyricist, and how he’s developed as a writer over the years. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SOJOURNER (EMILIO CRESPO)

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Mar 292018
 

 

(The multinational band Sojourner released their second album earlier this month through Avantgarde Music, and in this post our Norway-based contributor Karina Noctum provides thoughts about the music and also elicitsthoughts from vocalist Emilio Crespo about his approach to the crafting of Sojourner’s lyrics. You’ll have a chance to listen to the music as well.)

 

I don’t remember precisely how I found Sojourner, but what I do remember is that the cover of the first album dragged me to them first. When I saw it, I thought it had to be some sort of atmospheric band and I had to check it out. Yes it was, and a very impressive one. The best atmospheric music (for me) is created by a combination of all the musical instruments and the vocals, layered in such a way as to create the effect, rather than elevating one layer “above” it all — such as something ambient thrown in for good measure — which feels disconnected from everything else.

That discovery of Sojourner was in 2016 when they released Empires of Ash, but now they have released a new album, The Shadowed Road, which again reveals a good production that has rendered a layering to my liking. This album has been carefully made, and particular care has been taken in preserving a contemplative mood throughout the album, while including a variety of rhythms and dynamic song structures. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: WITHERED

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Mar 242018
 


Withered 2018 – photo by David Parham

 

(In this week’s edition of Waxing Lyrical, Andy Synn elicits thoughts about lyrics from Withered guitarist/vocalist Mike Thompson.)

 

If you don’t know the name Withered by now, stop what you’re doing and go listen to their latest oppressive opus Grief Relic (which I hailed as one of the best albums of 2016) right now.

Then, if you want to delve further back into the band’s discography, go check out Memento Mori, Folie Circulaire, and Dualitas, which I have fortuitously collected together for you here.

Now, despite being busy prepping for the band’s upcoming tour with Canadian grindmeisters Wake (which, by this point, will actually have begun), I was lucky enough to grab some time with the band’s long-serving guitarist/vocalist Mike Thompson and bully him into answering some questions for the latest edition of Waxing Lyrical. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MOREAN ON LYRICS, WITH A FOCUS ON THE NEW ALKALOID ALBUM “LIQUID ANATOMY”

 Interviews  6 Responses »
Mar 212018
 

 

(With a bow toward the Waxing Lyrical series begun by Andy Synn at our site, Karina Noctum posed questions to Morean of Alkaloid (and Dark Fortress) about his creation of lyrics for the ravishing new Alkaloid album, Liquid Anatomy, which will be released by Season of Mist on May 18th. The answers are fascinating.)

 

Alkaloid are going to release their latest album called Liquid Anatomy on the 18th of May, and I took this opportunity to ask about the lyrics. Musically, we know already it is going to be a remarkable album because the band counts among its members such metal luminaries as Hannes Grossmann, Christian Münzner (Obscura), Danny Tunker (Aborted, Prostitute Disfigurement, God Dethroned), and Morean (Dark Fortress, Alkaloid, Noneuclid).

Morean is not only a versatile vocalist, but also an excellent guitarist and a classical composer. His hymn to the city of Rotterdam was performed by the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest not so long ago. If you are interested in classical music then I recommend you check his double guitar composition Schattenspiel.

We have Morean’s opening insights into his writing of lyrics and choice of themes, and that’s then followed by a more detailed dialogue. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: CONJURER

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Mar 172018
 

 

(Andy Synn continues our new regular Saturday series in which he discusses metal lyrics with bands whose music you should also get to know if you don’t already.)

 

Having recently dropped one of the most vital and visceral albums of 2018 so far, an album which I fully expect to make an appearance on numerous “Best of…” lists come the end of the year, Conjurer are currently riding a wave of popularity and critical acclaim which seems unlikely to die out any time soon.

So now seemed like the perfect time to grab hold of the band’s guitarist/vocalist Dan Nightingale and get him to spill the beans about his writing process, inspirations, and all that jazz. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JONNY PETTERSSON ON LYRICS

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Mar 162018
 


Photo by Mattias Nilsson/Madcap Piktures

(Not long ago Andy Synn launched a regular Saturday series at our site called Waxing Lyrical, devoted to discussions with metal musicians about the lyrics of their songs and the process of creating them. That inspired Norway-based NCS contributor Karina Noctum to pose similar questions to Swedish musician Johnny Pettersson, and you’ll find his answers below, following Karina’s introduction.)

 

Musician Jonny Pettersson from Sweden has been prominently featured here on NCS with many of his bands. He is pretty active and some of his most-known bands are Syn:drom and Wombbath. Other projects of his are Just Before Dawn, Ashcloud, Gods Forsaken, Henry Kane, and Ursinne, to name a few.

With such a vast discography this article will focus primarily on his Swedish DM band Wombbath, whose latest release was a split with Germany’s Obscure Infinity called Upward On A Thousand Lies (Wombbath’s side was premiered here), but with attention also given to Henry Kane, which soundwise is in the same vein but tending more toward grind, and last but not least to Gods Forsaken, a DM project with a mix of mid- and fast-paced parts. It is definitely recommended for fans of Bloodbath, Dismember, and old At the Gates. An interview about Gods Forsaken conducted by Decibel Magazine can be found here. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE CRAWLING (ANDY CLARKE)

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Mar 162018
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Andy Clarke of The Crawling from Northern Ireland.)

 

Lisburn-based death/doom outfit The Crawling have been philosophizing on the themes of depression and misery since 2014, yet their debut full-length record Anatomy Of Loss, released by Grindscene Records in 2017, sounds like a full-scale anger-management course. Seven songs with an ideal total running time of 45 minutes will draw you in to an aggressive and bitter mid-paced death/doom nightmare. The Crawling are pretty melodic, but these melodies are razor-sharp and effective as a knife; besides that, the lyrics are quiet realistic. There’s not anything unnecessary on this album.

Do The Crawling have something new? I’ve asked Andy Clarke (guitars, vocals) about it, and thanks to him for the time he spent answering this. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: AURA NOIR (APOLLYON)

 Interviews  4 Responses »
Mar 152018
 

 

(Our Norway-based correspondent Karina Noctum brings us this interview of Apollyon from the Norwegian black/thrash band Aura Noir, whose new album Aura Noire will be released on April 27th through Indie Recordings.)

 

How do you innovate and keep your sound current while dealing with an old-school sound?

We are just doing what feels natural to us. Also we are mixing ourselves this time to be sure it doesn’t sound too flashy.

 

I attended the Party.San gig last year and there were some sound problems. Besides technical problems, how do those kind of incidents affect the mood while you’re playing live? Do you need to be in a particular mindset to perform your best?

We have a different sound on stage than the sound you hear in the crowd. So it can sound shit to us but good to you or the other way around. For us it is more inspiring to have a good sound on stage obviously. If we cannot hear what we are playing it will of course affect our performance and maybe we will look less confident/inspired. It’s a never-ending worry of course, and can become less worrying by bringing your own soundguy/stage monitor guy… loads of crew. But of course all this costs money so mostly we just use the local crew/sound people. Some of them are good.. .some are not. And some misunderstand how we want to sound. The dream would be to be able to be your own sound technician every night, but that is physically difficult. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: IN VAIN

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Mar 102018
 


Photo by Jørn Veberg

 

(Andy Synn continues our new regular Saturday series in which he discusses metal lyrics with bands whose music you should also get to know if you don’t already.)

 

For the second edition of “Waxing Lyrical” (and with a quick aside to say thank you to everyone who said kind things about the inaugural column last weekend) I’m speaking to Johnar Håland from Norwegian Prog-Metal sensations In Vain, whose new album was released at the end of January. Continue reading »

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