AN NCS INTERVIEW: MATALOBOS (EDUARDO RAMÍREZ SANTAMARÍA)

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Dec 112017
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview of guitarist Eduardo Ramírez Santamaría of the the Mexican band Matalobos.)

 

Here comes Matalobos – the melodic death doom band from Mexico. If you have been missing the early days of Katatonia and patiently waiting for a new Daylight Dies since their last LP, A Frail Becoming, then Matalobos can provide you some dark depressive vibes in a picturesque and pretty heavy vein.

Their debut LP, Arte Macabro, saw the light of the day only one year ago, but the men have prepared some new material – three new tracks released under the title Until Time Has Lost All Meaning welcome you to the realm of death and gloom. The band’s guitarist Eduardo Ramírez Santamaría is our guide through the realms of Matalobos. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DRUID LORD (PETE SLATE)

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Nov 282017
 

 

(We are very happy to greet Comrade Aleks, who returns to NCS with an interview of guitarist Pete Slate of the doom/death band Druid Lord, whose new album Grotesque Offerings will be released by Hells Headbangers on January 18, 2018.)

 

Druid Lord from Orlando, Florida have nothing in common with elves, Celtic myths, or forest fairies. Their blood-soaked death/doom metal took form in their LP Hymns For The Wicked seven years ago when two ex-members of Acheron and Equinox – Pete Slate (guitars) and Tony Blakk (vocals, bass) – gathered their energy with Ben Ross (guitars) and Steve Splillers (ex-Equinox drummer).

Three years after Hymns For The Wicked, Druid Lord continued their ominous work recording split-albums and two EPs. But their latest effort Baron Blood saw the light of day in 2013, so I was wondering if we would ever hear new stories of horror and blood from Druid Lord. Here’s a fresh interview with Pete Slate, who’ll tell us not only about a new forthcoming full-length, Grotesque Offering, but also about his obsession with horror movies and about the band’s inner machinery. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HOODED MENACE (LASSE PYYKKÖ)

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Nov 212017
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us yet another fascinating interview, and this time a very detailed and in-depth one, with Lasse Pyykkö of Hooded Menace, whose new album will be released in January.)

This year Hooded Menace celebrate their tenth anniversary of spreading darkest death doom in the underground scene. Though some might not tag the band as an “underground” one when their albums have been released on such labels as Relapse Records, Profound Lore, and Season Of Mist.

The last of those labels proclaimed that the new Hooded Menace album, Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, will be released on January 26, 2018. And if you take a look, you’ll find that the Hooded Menace lineup went through big changes once more, though Lasse Pyykkö remains, as always, its core.

Did these changes influence Hooded Menace’s recognizable sound? How many of the Blind Dead will return from their tombs in the new songs? Lasse gave me answers to these and others questions, I’d like to thank him again for this deep and detailed interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: STEVE TUCKER (MORBID ANGEL)

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Nov 172017
 

 

(Not long ago we posted Wil Cifer’s review of the new Morbid Angel album, which will be released on December 1st, and now we present his interview with Steve Tucker.)

With Morbid Angel’s new album Kingdoms Disdained continuing to grow on me, I am beginning to feel it’s their best work since Domination. So I jumped at the chance to talk to bassist/vocalist Steve Tucker and ask about what played into this return to their more vicious sound and what factors in the world today influenced the album’s thematic lyrical tone. Here is what was said. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: INTO COFFIN

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Nov 162017
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us another interesting and informative interview, this time with the German band Into Coffin, whose new EP will be released by Terror From Hell digitally and on CD upon the 4th of December.)

For timeless aeons human stared into the night skies and wondered if there were gods or demons living in the eternal depths of the shimmering void. And though humanity reached space – even with just one arm – we’re far from discovering all its secrets.

The German trio Into Coffin proclaimed with their full-length Into A Pyramid Of Doom: only extraterrestrial horror awaits amongst the stars. Their cruel and blackened death doom metal compositions were constructed under the influence of H.P. Lovecraft’s mythology and their own imaginations. The album was released just one year ago (and is on tape from Caligari Records), but Terror From Hell Records are already welcoming you to embrace The Majestic Supremacy Of Chosmic Chaos, the band’s thirty-minute-long EP.

As the label promises, this record “contains slow, heavy bulldozing riffs pairing with the pummelling drumming that create an uncomfortable tension right before the whole thing ruthlessly fall in an abominable ride into the somber blackness”. I’ve tried to puzzled it out with Into Coffin’s collective mind. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: FRAILTY (EDMUNDS VIZLA)

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Nov 142017
 

 

(We welcome back Comrade Aleks, freshly returned from the herculean labors that produced his new book, and his interview of Edmunds Vizla, vocalist/guitarist of the band Frailty.)

The Latvian band Frailty was actually founded in 2003, but the debut full-length Lost Lifeless Light appeared on the Russian label Solitude Productions only in 2008. They provided powerful, almost classic death doom metal with the kind of grim, desperate atmosphere that’s reflected in the album’s title; it’s a pretty fair deal.

The sophomore work Melpomene (Arx Prod) was a step further, as the band developed their sound and performed more remarkable stuff with a few individual features such as profound growls, melodic and utterly heavy guitars, and lyrics partly connected with Ancient Greek mythology. For five years there wasn’t news from them, and suddenly I’ve found that Frailty returned in March 2017 with a new album, Ways Of The Dead.

It’s better late than never, so we’ve done the interview with Edmunds Vizla (guitars, vocals) and explored the current mutations of Frailty, who turned in a more extreme, faster, and crueler beast, spreading extraterrestrial Lovecraftian horrors! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: UFOMAMMUT

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Nov 132017
 

 

(Our contributor Wil Cifer usually brings us album reviews, but today he provides a most interesting interview with all three members of the distinctive Italian band Ufomammut.)

Back in September this Italian trio released 8 on Neurot Records, which has proven to be one of the year’s more interesting releases in heavy music with their blend of psychedelic sludge. I managed to catch up with them when they got off their most recent jaunt on the road to pick their brains about the creative process and what makes this band tick. The result is as follows.

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The hardest part of being in a band can be interaction between other members over the years, so what has been the key to keeping the band together?

Urlo: A good dose of stoicism for sure… ahaha. I must say that we found a good alchemy between us. Poia and me are always together, we see each other every day, being 2/3 of the poster art collective Malleus. We’ve known Vita since a lot of years before we started the band. So… we three had great moments and bad moments, obviously. We all believe in what we’re doing, in one way or the other, so Ufomammut is what kept us together. And, at the end, after so many years, it’s been fun 🙂 Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DESOLATE SHRINE

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Nov 062017
 

 

On November 10, Dark Descent Records will release, Deliverance From the Godless Void, the latest album by Finland’s Desolate Shrine. Our man Andy Synn recently reviewed the album (along with the band’s preceding three albums), calling it “another triumph of will and wickedness, and well worth getting hold of if you’ve ever had an urge for a truly masochistic metallic experience.”

With “a production that may be more powerful than ever”, Andy wrote, “the band are still as foul and filthy at heart as they have always been, at times bringing to bear a crippling sense of dissonance and discordance,” meshing together “neck-wrecking grooves”, “gnarly, guttural vocals,” “bulldozing riffs,” “strangling bass lines,” and “foul, demonic atmospherics” to produce a truly electrifying experience.

And now Norway-based metal writer and NCS contributor Karina Noctum brings us this interview with L.L., the main man behind Desolate Shrine just days before the album’s release: Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GUERRA TOTAL (GERSON TORO)

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Oct 032017
 

 

(Karina Noctum brings us this interview with Gerson “Demonslaught” Toro of the veteran Colombian black metal band Guerra Total, whose latest album Nihilistic Malthusian Manifesto (The Ouroboros Cosmic Indifferentism) was released early this year.)

Guerra Total means Total War in Spanish and it comes right from the country with the longest armed conflict in the world, Colombia. I decided it was time for me to interview a South American band because they do get limited publicity and deserve any kind of support one can give. Besides, I do know of many who appreciate the South American thrash sound and I think for many of them and all others who are into exploring new things it may be interesting to listen to some Blackened Thrash with a Colombian twist like the one Guerra Total offers.

When it comes to South America, Brazil is the country with the most successful, renowned metal bands. But for those who really like Brutal Death Metal, Colombia is the country to choose. The Brutal Death scene is kind of modern, taking into account that the country’s raw and violent metal sound can be traced back to the ’80s. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANCIENT RITES (GUNTHER THEYS)

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Sep 082017
 

 

(Greek writer Aggelos Redneck of Rockoverdose.gr brings us this interview of Gunther Theys, founder and still vocalist of the long-running Belgian black metal band Ancient Rites, whose latest album Laguz was released after a long hiatus in 2015. The interview was conducted in anticipation of Ancient Rites’ performance at the Arcane Angels Festival, which will take place in Athens on September 16-17, 2017, alongside such bands as Primordial, Taake, and Zemial.)

 

First of all, we’d like to know your thoughts on the latest album of the band Laguz”. It’s been two and a half years already since its release. How did the fans react to it? Are you fully satisfied with its sound? 

I think Laguz is our most complex album so far from a technical point of view, consisting of many layers. It’s an album that has to grow on the listener, as one keeps on discovering details. On the other hand, all musical elements have intensified, it is an intense album. The fans responded positively, but of course people have their preferences, which is normal when a band exists for as long as we do and each album sounds different.

What I find important is that the essence of our work, the A.R. universe, remains intact. Like a travel through old, forgotten worlds. I still believe in every album we ever did for they all represent important eras in our band’s history. Our musical progress is a natural, organic one, but I wouldn’t mind releasing a very raw, primitive album either. We never plan our sound, we are not influenced by any current trends or external situations. We simply create what we feel, regardless of any commercial feedback. Continue reading »

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