AN NCS INTERVIEW: MICHAEL H. ANDERSEN (THORIUM)

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Oct 112024
 

(Following up on his review and premiere of a well-received new album by the Danish death metal band Thorium last month, our contributor Zoltar has conducted an in-depth interview with the band’s mainman Michael H. Andersen, which we present below.)

There are several kind of super-groups. These days, anything is possible, thanks to technology. You can be a nobody yet still grab a bunch of veterans who don’t even need to live in the same country, let alone the same continent, and convince them to record their parts on their own before assembling everything on your own, putting a nice attention-catching tag on your album ‘featuring members of blab la bla’ et voilà!

Thorium have never played that game though. Yes, when they first seemingly came out of nowhere, storming the gates in the spring of 2000 with their debut Ocean Of Blasphemy, the line-up felt pretty impressive, with Iniquity’s Jesper Frost Jensen, Withering Surface’s Allan Tvedebrink and Michael H. Andersen, and Taetre’s Jonas Lindblood. Yet while most were expecting this one quite good love-letter to classic death metal to be a one-off, Thorium have proven to be a far more long-term affair with five more albums, including the-just released The Bastard.

And while through the years the line-up has seen various people come and go, ultimately it is Andersen, who initiated the whole project in the first place, who still takes the final decision. Eager to keep the wheel turning, he vowed to try out an unusual method to give birth to The Bastard, first premiered on this very website on September 18th, and agreed to give us the details about the present and the future of Thorium. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: INTAGLIO

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Oct 102024
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Evgeny Semenov, founder and principal of the Russian funeral doom band Intaglio (whose latest album we premiered and reviewed here) and a founder and owner of Solitude Productions. The interview focuses on both of those subjects, and more.)

Intaglio is one of very first funeral doom bands founded in Russia. They and Comatose Vigil released debut albums in 2005, and only Вой / Voy could challenge their birthright, but its demo recorded in 1991 wasn’t officially published until 2012.

Although Intaglio’s self-titled first album was almost unnoticed in the world underground, it was also one of the releases by Solitude Productions, the Russian doom-oriented label which has gained its reputation with years of fair and selfless work in the name of Doom. By accident, Evgeny Semenov, one of Intaglio’s founders, who performs guitars, bass, and programming, also is one of Solitude’s owners.

As everything about funeral doom is damn slow, here we are to discuss with Evgeny the band’s latest album II, released in 2021. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: AVERNUS

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Oct 072024
 


Photography by Gene Ambo

(In mid-September we had the privilege of premiering Grievances, the comeback album of the Chicago doom band Avernus, a few days before its release by M-Theory Audio. And now our Comrade Aleks presents an extensive interview he also conducted in September with Avernus members Rick McCoy and James Genenz.)

Avernus from Chicago is considered one of the first bands to consciously mix influences of gothic rock and death-doom, as they did it in the early ’90s. Working on a series of demos and singles helped them digest this experience and come to the most effective expression of these ideas in the full-length release …of the Fallen (1997), which fans still remember with warmth.

Seventeen years have passed since then. The band managed to break up, re-form, and gradually record the second album Grievances. The line-up of Avernus has undergone minimal changes since 1993, and the latest “newcomer” is guitarist James Genenz (also Jungle Rot), who joined the guys in 1998. Other men are Rick Yifrach (drums), Rick McCoy (vocals, guitars, keyboards), and Erik Kikke (guitars).

An old horse does not spoil the furrow, as we say here, and in Grievances Avernus do not copy themselves, essentially moving along the path of melodic and atmospheric death-doom. It is curious, but in general the material is close to the fresh album of other luminaries of the scene – Officium Triste rather than to …of the Fallen. The similarity lies in the general tendency towards magnificent guitar melodies (there are three guitarists in Avernus), towards concentrated-in-power riffs, and in Rick McCoy‘s thunderous growl. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: FATHER BEFOULED

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Sep 252024
 

(French NCS contributor Zoltar returns today with an interview he recently conducted with Justin Stubbs, the focus being on Father Befouled and their newest release via Everlasting Spew, but also touching on the status of Stubbs‘ other projects.)

While their early years were plagued by various, and a tad reductive, accusations of simply trying to be more Incantation than Incantation themselves, from their 2012 album Morbid Destitution Of Covenant onwards, Father Befouled have been carefully crafting their own brand of dark death metal, one release at a time, with 2022’s Crowned In Veneficium proving to be another highlight.

By the time you’ll be reading this, the band will be in the middle of a two-week European tour with label mates Fossilization. As they have a new EP out named Immaculate Pain, whose video for the title-track was premiered on NCS on July 30th, we took that opportunity to talk with their main man Justin Stubbs about this new slab of brutality, their latest line-up shift. and why he will always have something blasphemous to say. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: OCTOPLOID

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Sep 202024
 


L-R: Mikko Pietinen (drums, percussion), Olli-Pekka Laine (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), Peter Salonen (guitars) – photo by Päivi Leino

(Below you will find Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Finnish musician Olli-Pekka Laine, with a focus on his band Octoploid‘s July 2024 debut album Beyond the Aeons, but touching upon other topics as well, incuding Amorphis and Barren Earth.)

Olli-Pekka Laine is a multitalented musician. He’s well-known, as he composed half of Amorphis’ legendary albums Tales from The Thousand Lakes (1994) and Elegy (1996), and later he practiced his progressive vision in the “dream-team” band Barren Earth.

The last one tended toward progressive and melodic death-doom metal too, a kind of direction which Olli always choses instinctively. But since Barren Earth is inactive, and Olli writes not too much for Amorphis, he naturally collected a good number of interesting ideas which ended in this solo-project, Octoploid.

Well, we say “solo”, but Octoploid’s lineup includes Olli’s buddy from Mannhai, Mikko Pietinen (drums), Kim Rantala (keyboards), who did an enormous input in Elegy, and young talent Peter Salonen (guitars).

And let’s not forget those honorable guests who took part in the recording of Octoploid’s debut Beyond the Aeons, released by Reigning Phoenix Music in July 2024. A few of Amorphis’ men can be found on this album, as well as Hamferð’s frontman Jón Aldará, Mikko Kotamäki from Swallow the Sun, Mannhai’s Ilkka Laaksomaa, and more. So if you’re ready for “70’s death metal”, let’s not waste any time before getting into this interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ODIUM HUMANI GENERIS

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Sep 162024
 

(Today we present a very good interview by our Comrade Aleks with vocalist and guitarist Biały from the Polish black metal band Odium Humani Generis, in company with our premiere of a song from their forthcoming album Międzyczas – which you can find here.)

Odium Humani Generis isn’t a new name in the Polish black metal underground. The band have existed since 2015, and their second album Międzyczas will be released on September 27th via Malignant Voices.

Międzyczas is an evolution of Odium Humani Generis’ sound, which started with their debut album Przeddzień (Cult of Parthenope, 2020) and the following EP Zarzewie (Folter Records, 2022). The band’s name derives from Tacitus’ expression in his work Annales. In it he wrote about emperor Nero blaming the early Christians for the malicious arson in Rome.

“Odium humani generis” literally means “Hatred for the human species/race”, but if you expect totally nihilistic and full-of-hatred raw black metal as the title demands, then you’ll rather be surprised. Międzyczas is quite depressive and melodic black metal, even a bit intricate. I found the album good enough to dig deeper and share with you what I’ve found. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THEIGNS & THRALLS

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Sep 132024
 

(Here we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Kevin Ridley, with a main focus on his band Theigns & Thralls and their new album which is set for release on September 20th.)

As UK legendary folk thrash veterans Skyclad don’t hurry to return with new material, the band’s guitarist and vocalist Kevin Ridley works with his folk metal outfit Theigns & Thralls. Their second album The Keep and the Spire is about to be released, and Kevin promises some changes in the band’s sound, as they got rid of almost all acoustic songs, “pushed the boundaries of the band’s sonic palette”, and got a full stable lineup. Or so it seems.

Inspired by ancient poetry, historical novels, and current events, these songs will provide some good food for thought. And the interview with Kevin will help to digest it. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: VENDEL

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Sep 112024
 

(Below you will find Comrade Aleks‘ interview of the Moscow-based epic heavy metal band Vendel, whose debut album was released by Dying Victims Productions on June 14, 2024.)

I learned about the Moscow band Vendel thanks to their cover of Bathory’s immortal killer hymn “Under the Runes”, and then I found out that the guys have a couple of their own tracks with covers of Saint Vitus and Manilla Road. And, perhaps, these references already give a fairly accurate idea of ​​what Vendel offer us on their debut album Out in the Fields: high-quality and lively old-fashioned metal at the junction of heavy (Manilla Road, Iron Maiden) and doom (Bathory, Saint Vitus).

The band was founded in 2015, but its actual lineup was formed in 2017: Alexey Goryachev (vocals), David Kazaryan (guitars), Lasha Khabalov (bass), Sergey Kargalsky (guitars), and Sergey Skorodumov (drums). In their new material, Vendel focus on the old-fashioned heavy metal with references to albums like Hammerheart as well. Despite all the clearly discernible influences, Vendel does not tend to copy anyone, although you’ll hear some familiar turns here and there, things happen.

But first of all, Out in the Fields sounds sincere and charged; the guys are possessed with the spirit of true and epic viking doomy metal. Secondly, there are no bands that would embody this spectrum of musical influences in Russia.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DEATH RACER

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Sep 062024
 

(Here is another interview by Comrade Aleks, this time a discussion with drummer Niki Louder from the Austrian band Death Racer.)

Dying Victims Productions released the debut album of Linz-based blackened speed metal band Death Racer in late July, and I reached out to prepare an interview in support of the release. The official press-release for “their long-awaited debut album, From Gravel to Grave” is informative:

“From Gravel to Grave presents Death Racer as an all-pistons-pumping runaway racecar, chassis gleaming but torched black with exhaust underneath, its very construction pushing the outer limits of safety before all the screws fall loose and a fiery wreck ensues. For sure, it’s not difficult to spot the Austrians’ influences, and they wouldn’t have it any other way – they are transparent as they are thorough, to circle back to the earliest point – so therefore, there’s the obligatory “High Speed Metal” of classic Razor as well as the comparable grit & grime of equally old, raw metal like earliest Slayer, Exciter, Bathory, Hungary’s Tormentor, Bulldozer, true-metal Darkthrone, cult NWOBHM, Violent Force, and of course, erudite Teutonic thrash”.

But if you want to learn more, then you can sort out a few more things from the interview below. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DESTRUCTION OF ORION

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Aug 302024
 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us an interview with an unusual creative artist, whose debut album released in late July is a very unusual accomplishment. You’ll find out just how unusual by reading the good discussion below — and of course we hope you’ll immerse yourself in the music too.)

Funeral doom never was popular because of its specific features, like monotony and a quite limited palette of self-expression, but still there are exceptions; there are bands and projects which can offer something new.

Bulgarian Destruction of Orion is one of them. It is the solo project of Tehina Spasova who performs all instruments on her first album Decreasing Brightness. Oh, and she performed all growling vocals on her own too, so that’s notable – a funeral doom band with a lady on vocals. But, moreover, the concept behind Destruction of Orion is worth of mentioning too.

As Tehina states, the project’s name is related to the constellation’s impending doom and at the same time, it’s about a self-destructive personality. All of her songs deal both with the physical process of dying stars and poetic interpretations of inner turmoil and disintegration, something you can easily read between the lines. So let me introduce Tehina and Destruction of Orion through this interview. Continue reading »

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