AN NCS INTERVIEW: WOE UNTO ME

 Interviews  2 Responses »
May 112015
 

 

(Our Russian comrade Aleks presents this interview with members of the Belarusian doom band Woe Unto Me, with musical accompaniment of course.)

What do you know about Belarus? Okay, besides that it’s a post-USSR country and it’s ruled by the “last European dictator” as some impressionable ladies say… I think that Woe Unto Me is a good occasion to take a look at this corner of the metal scene and discover there some new names.

As for Woe Unto Me – the band plays solid and mournful funeral doom. They shared the stage with Shape of Despair in Saint-Petersburg a few months ago and I witnessed this great performance. We found some time to discuss Woe Unto Me‘s creative ways with Artyom Serdyuk (vocals, guitars) and Dzmitry Shchyhlinski (guitars). By the way, I also asked a couple of questions about Disloyal, a death metal band with Artyom on guitars.

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Salute! Woe Unto Me released its first album A Step Into Waters of Forgetfulness in February 2014. I have read somewhere that material for this album was being written for several years. What is its history?

Artyom: Greetings! Since the very inception of the band, we have focused on quality, striving to release a really well-thought-out, high-quality product at a decent level. Each of us had some guitar riffs and raw ideas, and we worked very carefully and meticulously on the arrangements. The last thing we cared about at that moment was time. We were not in a hurry; we wanted every idea to be thoroughly hatched in our heads, and to come to our minds naturally, through inspiration. Therefore, we decided to start the recording process when we had felt the integrity of each composition. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SANNHET

 Interviews  3 Responses »
May 072015
 

 

(Wil Cifer provides this interview with the members of Brooklyn-based Sannhet.)

I got the chance to sit down with the guys from Sannhet and we talked about various aspects of the varied sub-genres to which they are often attached, along with other musings. Right off the bat, I hit it off with their drummer Chris who was wearing a Youth Code shirt while I was wearing a Swans shirt, so we had one of those mutual admiration band shirt moments, and from there we were just friends catching up

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Wil – So what is it about the scene in New York that enables it to pump out so much great metal?

Chris -Diversity, the space and room to be yourself. After living there for over a decade all the touristy elements fade, but it’s a melting pot. Continue reading »

GODLESS ANGEL INTERVIEWS… NECROS AND KING OSCUROS OF UNDEAD

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May 062015
 

 

(Our Kansas-based friend Derek Neibarger — the man behind the Godless Angel death metal project and the inventor of the Cat Hand Rest©, returns to NCS with this interview of two members of the mysterious Undead.)

 

My introduction to Undead came by way of their first single, “Voices Within”. The blog entry that accompanied the track only had a brief excerpt from Undead’s press release. It revealed some of the legendary metal acts that have influenced the band but not much else. In a time when we’ve become so accustomed to being given lengthy band bios, Undead has chosen to share very little about the band’s creation. The faces of the band members are hidden under ominous hoods, their identities a mystery. Their country of origin was omitted. The video for “Voices Within” even broke with tradition by not including the lyrics for the song. And so it fell upon the music to do the talking, and it most definitely delivered.

“Voices Within” is a sinister dose of old school death metal, rising up from the darkest depths to claw its way out your speakers with vicious riffs and demonic growls. For me it was love at first sight. I had to interview this band. My prayer to the dark lords of the underworld did not go unanswered. I was granted an interview with Necros and King Oscuros, shortly before the release of their debut album, False Prophecies. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MIRAI KAWASHIMA (SIGH)

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Apr 302015
 

 

(Wil Cifer provides this interview with Mirai Kawashima of Sigh, whose new album will be released on May 4 by Candlelight Records.)

I recently got to catch up with and pick the brain of Sigh’s main man Mirai Kawashima to discuss the new album Graveward and the ghosts of metal past, present, and future.

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With Scenes From Hell you took a sharper turn into a more progressive sound. Graveward retains that but steps back into a more metal direction as well. What inspired this?

Mirai: The biggest inspiration on this album is 70s / 80s Italian zombie flicks. At first I was planning to make it filled with old keyboards like Minimoog, Mellotron, Hammond, Fender Rhodes etc., as a dedication to those movies. The final result was pretty much different from the initial plan, but I think you still sense the atmosphere of zombie movies.

I’m not sure what you meant by “metal direction”, but Graveward is filled with mid-paced to up-tempo songs, I mean they’re slower than those on Hangman’s Hymn or Scenes from Hell. In that sense, Graveward is a very metal album. Other than that, the change of guitarist affected a lot on the sound. I’ll talk about it later. Continue reading »

GODLESS ANGEL INTERVIEWS… ZHEMA RODERO (VULCANO)

 Interviews  3 Responses »
Apr 302015
 

 

(Our Kansas-based friend Derek Neibarger — the man behind the Godless Angel death metal project and the inventor of the Cat Hand Rest©, brings us this interview of Zhema Rodero of Brazil’s long-running Vulcano, who will be performing at this year’s Maryland Deathfest in the U.S.)

The Brazilian death metal scene has provided me a seemingly endless source of exciting new discoveries for many years. Like many other metalheads, my introduction to South America’s deadliest export came in the form of now-legendary Sepultura. My insatiable appetite for new music inspired me to dig deeper into the Brazilian metal scene. My efforts have been rewarded with one savage and crushing band after another, and in the case of one band in particular I strongly believe that I might have discovered ground zero of the Brazilian death metal movement. The name of that band is Vulcano.

I don’t remember the exact circumstances under which I was introduced to Santos, São Paulo blackened death metallers Vulcano, but I definitely owe the Metal Gods of the Universe a massive “Thank You”! The death metal pioneers have released nine slabs of audio warfare since forming in 1980, and influenced an entire generation of extreme metal artists, Sepultura among them.

I was extremely fortunate to have been granted an interview with founding guitarist, Zhema Rodero. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: FANGTOOTH

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Apr 292015
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Sfack, vocalist/guitarist of the Italian doom band Fangtooth.)

It’s time to heed the call of the restless sea and dive into the dark, hungry depths under hypnotic songs of heavy waves and howling winds. The Italian doom band Fangtooth have returned to their listeners with a second full-length record after three years of praying to Neptune and other ancient deities of sea.

The band’s mates are true to the traditions of their land, and therefore they somehow avoid Lovecraft-inspired lyrics, but how long can they resist the voice of madness? How long can they hold the path of traditional doom metal? Fangtooth navigator Sfack is ready to clarify this. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BRETUS

 Interviews  1 Response »
Apr 272015
 

 

(Comrade Aleks presents this interview with members of Italy’s Bretus.)

The shadow falls on Innsmouth once again! This time the Italian doom band Bretus comes to us to perform their own vision of nightmares which took place (and we know that’s true!) in a godforsaken town somewhere in Massachusetts. Bretus released The Shadow Over Innsmouth album just two weeks ago with the help of Dagon and BloodRock Records.

So if you like good old doom tunes, fish, and seafood delicacies, then this interview with seigniors Ghenes (guitars) and Zagarus (vocals) is for you.

 

Salute Ghenes! Bretus returns after three years of working in secrecy with a new conceptual album The Shadow Over Innsmouth. How did you spend this period since the previous record In Onirica was released?

Ghenes: Cheers man! We are not hyperactive guys for sure, but we recorded the single “The Haunter of the Dark” for the out-soon 7” split with Black Capricorn (for the label The Arcane Tapes), then we put together the first Doom fest (The Doom Diaries) in our city Catanzaro, and played some live concerts, including the Navajo Calling Fest in Parma, The Malta Doom Fest, and Doom Over Vienna IX. After that we concentrated on writing the new album, which between rehearsals and pre-production has taken us about a year. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: REINO ERMITAÑO

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Apr 222015
 

 

(Comrade Aleks returns with an interview of members of the Peruvian doom band Reino Ermitaño, whose latest album Aleks reviewed for us here.)

Reino Ermitaño are well-known as followers of the doom path. This Peruvian band was born about fourteen years ago and since then they’ve proved that they have good taste and know how to play solid and nontrivial doom metal. Their mix of traditional doom and traditional elements of their native culture make a good balance, and the vocals of Tania Duarte are one of band’s features along with hypnotic, driving riffs and highly skilled guitar solos.

Reino Ermitaño finished their 5th full-length record Conjuros de Poder in Autumn 2014 and brought the power of their spells to Europe in a brief tour right after that. It’s a band that always have something new to show, and its members always have something interesting to say. I got in touch with Marcos Coifman (bass) to do this interview, and Tania Duarte (vocals) and Julio Almeida (drums) joined our conversation, too. Continue reading »

AN INTERVIEW WITH FABRICIO BERTOLOZI (DYINGBREED)

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Apr 212015
 

 

(Our Kansas-based friend Derek Neibarger is not only the man behind the Godless Angel death metal project and the inventor of the Cat Hand Rest©, he also proved himself to be an energetic and successful interviewer during his recent day-long takeover of Metal Sucks [all the interviews are linked here]. In fact, he was so energetic in lining up interviews that a few responses arrived too late to be posted at MS — and so we get to be the lucky host of this interview of Fabricio Bertolozi of Dying Breed.)

 

When it comes to death metal there are certain geographic modifiers that immediately demand my full attention. Florida, Swedish, and Brazilian are geo tags that speak volumes to the death metal aficionado. Even before hearing a single note, these modifiers can provide a fairly accurate idea of how the band in question will sound, from the guitar tone and percussion to the lyrics and vocal style.

And so I was very excited when I came across a mention of the debut album from Brazilian death metallers DyingBreed in my Facebook newsfeed. The South American region has provided a great deal of killer music to my collection, and DyingBreed most definitely lived up to my expectations. Their music is raw and intense, overflowing with vicious riffs and ferocious roars.

I had the great fortune of being granted an interview with bassist Fabricio Bertolozi, who was more than happy to talk about the band’s formation, the new album, and what the future holds in store for DyingBreed. Continue reading »

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE JANSSON OF CRYPT SERMON

 Interviews  7 Responses »
Apr 202015
 

 

(Our Kansas-based friend Derek Neibarger is not only the man behind the Godless Angel death metal project and the inventor of the Cat Hand Rest©, he also proved himself to be an energetic and successful interviewer during his recent day-long takeover of Metal Sucks [all the interviews are linked here]. In fact, he was so energetic in lining up interviews that a few responses arrived too late to be posted at MS — and so we get to be the lucky host of this interview of Steve Jansson of the amazing Crypt Sermon, whose debut album came out of nowhere to take the metal world by storm this year.)

 

In 2013 members of Infiltrator, TrenchRot, Labyrinthine, and Hivelords came together to form Crypt Sermon. The Philadelpia doom metaller’s debut album, Out of the Garden, was released February 24th.

A chance meeting with their drummer, Enrique Sagarnaga, led to the opportunity to ask guitarist Steve Jansson a few questions about the new album and the band’s future plans.

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Derek: Hi! Thank you for granting me an interview! In February of this year you released your debut album, Out of the Garden, on Dark Descent Records. Are you happy with how it turned out? How has the response been to the album?

Steve: We are definitely really pleased with how the record came out. Of course when I listen back, there are things that I wish I had spent more time on and done a little better on my end, but that’s the name of the game. As far as the response, it’s been extremely positive and we are certainly stunned at how much attention the album has been getting. Continue reading »

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