Aug 242015
 

Ereb Altor - 1

 

(Comrade Aleks presents his interview of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mats from the Swedish band Ereb Altor.)

Ereb Altor is a band that doesn’t need a special introduction. It was founded in 2003 by two members of Swedish traditional doom outfit Isole (Mats and Ragnar) to channel their inspiration by Bathory (of the “viking period”) in a new direction.

Cyclone Empire released the fifth Ereb Altor record Nattramn in April 2015, and this new work continues the line of the two preceding albums as the band holds onto the combination of epic Viking metal with both doom and black elements. I was lucky enough to draw the attention of Mats, and he patiently answered my questions. Continue reading »

Aug 232015
 

Obsidian Sea - 3

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Anton Avramov, guitarist/vocalist of the Bulgarian doom band Obsidian Sea, whose new album Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions was released earlier this year.)

The geography of the doom metal scene is very wide; you can find interesting outfits all around the globe — in Iceland, in Tasmania, in Russian Siberia, and even on the Azores Islands in the middle of Atlantic Ocean. Some countries, such as the UK, are overwhelmed by doom bands while other countries are dark corners.

Obsidian Sea is a power trio from Bulgaria. Their first record Between Two Deserts was filled with good traditional doom and was released three years ago by Solitude Productions. When time came to do a sequel release, the men decided to do it by their own hands.

Here’s a record of our interview with Anton Avramov (guitars, vocals), so you have a chance to hear a story of Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions’ origin and Obsidian Sea’s perspectives. Continue reading »

Aug 192015
 

Wardenclyffe - 1

 

(Comrade Aleks interviews Jacob Nordangård of the Swedish band Wardenclyffe.)

Sweden outfit Wardenclyffe were named after one of the most ambitious Nicola Tesla projects, so this doom band moves a bit aside from the main occult direction which was set to the scene by dark gods. Wardenclyffe consists of Ola Blomkvist from doom congregation Griftegard, Micael and Emil of death metal project Terrorama, guitarist of the black metal band Misercordia, Robert Karlsson, and former Doomsday Cult member and the band’s mastermind Jacob Nordangård.

I asked Jacob about Wardenclyffe, their debut record Control All Delete, and other stuff. It must be said that some of the answers were pretty unexpected. So, don’t waste time, and let’s read this interview in the name of Nicola Tesla!

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Hi Jacob! Van Records released Wardenclyffe’s debut record on the 31st of January. What is the band’s state now?

We are preparing and rehearsing for a recording of the two new songs, “The Omega Point” and “Rockefeller”. Set to be released in December. Continue reading »

Aug 172015
 

Paolo Girardi & Manilla Road
Paolo and Manilla Road

(KevinP brings us another installment in his ongoing series of short interviews, talking this time with one of our favorite metal artists, Italy’s Paolo Girardi.)

K:  So how did you get your start being one of the “go to” guys for metal album covers?

P:  I already had done some local metal demo and CD covers here in my small town and villages around the ’90s and early 2000s.  But then my friends Blasphemophagher wanted something for their first album, then second, then third and the most recent one.  This gave me more popularity in metal.  After that I did Diocletian, Tyrants Blood, In League with Satan, etc.

Three years ago (almost four maybe), I reached the point when I could live by painting alone, working all over the world. No more need to work in country, as frescos restorer, carpenter, or other occasional work. I was so glad ’cause I’ve never quit painting, even when I had to work 11 hours per day.  After that, my daily wrestling training, then painting ’til after midnight.  I’ve always believed at every cost.  Obsession, passion, love, stubbornness, madness.  Now, I still work hard to do my best for my respectful clients, bands, and labels. Continue reading »

Aug 142015
 

Abbot_meadow

 

(In this post, Latvian music journalist Evita Hofmane presents her interview with vocalist JP Jakonen of the Finnish band Abbot, whose debut album Between Our Past and Future Lives was released in October 2014 by the Italian label Bloodrock Records and can be heard at the end of this interview.)

Abbot? What is Abbot?

Abbot is classic heavy rock n’ roll band from Pori, Finland.

We had a pretty long and nice virtual interview with their vocalist JP Jakonen.

And btw, Abbot have a US West Coast Tour in the works for the summer of 2016.

Wanna know more? Go ahead! Continue reading »

Aug 122015
 

 

Nachtterror

 

(Comrade Aleks interviews Erik from the Canadian band Nachtterror, for whom we had the pleasure of recently premiering a song from their new split with Altars of Grief.)

So we’ve reached the second part of the split-album Of Ash And Dying Light as I get in touch with the mastermind of Nachtterror, another band from Regina, Canada, who took part in this record alongside Altars of Grief.

Both bands show their best, creating a dark, mournful, and harsh atmosphere, but if Altars of Grief (with whom we did an interview a few weeks ago) are good in the doom/black genre, Nachtterror prefer symphonic black stuff. Let’s go further into the reign of ash and dying light with Erik.

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Continue reading »

Aug 102015
 

Acid King - 1

 

(Comrade Aleks returns to our site with an interview of Lori S. of Acid King.)

Acid King (San Francisco, California) are one of the most inspiring and influential bands on the American psychedelic doom scene. They’ve rocked since 1993 and it seems that they’ve found a source of really great doom tunes somewhere in the Klamath Mountains! Acid King have released their new LP Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere on Svart Records after nearly a decade of silence, and I have to admit that it’s one of the best records of 2015 for me. I was lucky enough to have this brief discussion with Lori herself, eternal mastermind of this hypnotic band.

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Hi Lori! Thanks for finding the time for this interview. The road from Acid King’s previous record III to Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere took almost 10 years. What kind of obstacles did you meet on your way?

Life! Marriage, Divorce, Layoffs, being together for over 20 years, are just a few! We also started to tour Europe on a regular basis and spent more time doing that than trying to write a record. Continue reading »

Aug 052015
 

Dormant Inferno

 

(Our Russian friend Comrade Aleks is back with another interview, this time talking with Sunny Bhambri, the guitarist/bassist for Dormant Inferno, whose song “Deliverance” from their excellent split with Pakistan’s Dionysus we premiered here this spring.)

Some of you already know about this Indian death/doom outfit from infernally hot Mumbai. But as you still think about how to find some time to listen their split-album Beyond Forgotten Shores with Dionysus (Pakistan), the band are already at work over new songs for fans of exotic underground stuff. Sunny Bhambri (guitars, bass) found a few minutes to answer my questions and satisfy our curiosity.

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Hail Sunny! Some of our readers already saw the news about the split-album of Dormant Inferno and Dionysus, but I think that it would be good to get the story of the band from one of its members. How was it born?

Hey Aleksey! Yes word has been going around about the Beyond Forgotten Shores Dormant Inferno/Dionysus split. Both bands have been premiered on NCS. The idea came about once during an online conversation between myself and Sheraz of Dionysus. We got introduced to Dionysus through our music, as during the time we formed there was no other Indian band playing similar dark doom as us, so we connected well with Dionysus. Both bands have a lot in common, so I’d say it was very natural for us to split an album with Dionysus. Continue reading »

Aug 052015
 

Scott Kelly and Ben Manzella

 

(Ben Manzella had the chance to talk with Scott Kelly of Neurosis before the band’s show on August 2, 2015, in Madison, Wisconsin. Ben’s thoughts about the show will follow in a separate post later today.)

 

With this show being the third date, how has the start of the tour been?

They both went pretty good; we played Lawrence and Minneapolis. Crowds were good at both shows, people were attentive and into the music; really into it emotionally as well, which is really all we can hope for. The club last night wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for, just not the right vibe; but the people who ran the venue were nice to us.

 

I know it’s been about 10 years since doing a run like this. Is it similar to how you remember or different in any ways?

Well we’ve done a few runs in Europe, with the locations being closer together. You don’t have to get on a bus and drive 10 hours overnight, unlike you do in the states. We’ve been doing about 30 to 45 shows a year for a while now, so it’s not totally out of our realm; but give it another 10 days or so and we may be pretty pooped considering we’re not taking any days off. Hopefully we’ll survive relatively unscathed physically; mentally it’s always somewhat of a grind, but you know, tour is always easier than real life when you have responsibilities every day. Other than the show and sound check, you really don’t have much on your plate; so, for me, tour is much simpler than everyday life. Continue reading »

Aug 042015
 

Ahab 2014

 

(We are pleased to present Grant Skelton’s interview with Ahab’s vocalist/guitarist Daniel Droste.)

I recently had an opportunity to interview Daniel Droste of German nautik doom band Ahab. We talked in detail about the band’s upcoming album The Boats Of The Glen Carrig, the difficulties of band life and touring while holding a full-time job, and whether or not the band has plans for future shows in the US.

Stream the interview below via Soundcloud, presented by Local X Radio (localxradio.com). Thanks to Mona and Claudia at Napalm Records and also to Jon at Freeman Promotions for arranging the interview! Continue reading »