AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT

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Apr 102024
 

(Last week we forced Andy Synn to listen to and review The Monolith Deathcult‘s new album, and this week we forced Comrade Aleks to interview TMDC‘s Robin Kok, and although we can’t affirm that Aleks got away unscathed, he did provide us the interview… below….)

The Dutch band The Monolith Deathcult began its underground career more than twenty years ago with quite brutal and moderately unbridled death metal, which over time was symphonized, electrified, industrialized, and decorated with various, often unexpected, samples. It sounds scary, but, for example, one of The Monolith’s past hits “Fist of Stalin” gained an exorbitant number of plays on streaming services, and on YouTube the views of this video amount to almost a hundred thousand, which is not bad.

As the years go by, The Monolith has changed within the framework of the formula discovered by its members, but the composition of the group has remained unchanged for many years: Michiel Dekker (guitar, vocals), Carsten Altena (keyboards, orchestrations, guitar, vocals) and Robin Kok (growls, bass). If we take into account the band’s tendencies towards electronic sound, then we can assume that their drums are programmed, but for several years now the invariably professional guest drummer Frank Schilperoort has been working in this position. He also worked with The Monolith Deathcult on the new album, released in April by Human Detonator Records, The Demon Who Makes Trophies of Men, which we spoke with Robin Kok personally about. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WHO DIES IN SIBERIAN SLUSH

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Apr 052024
 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of E.S. from the Russian band Who Dies In Siberian Slush, whose latest album was released on the last day of 2023 by Solitude Productions.)

Who Dies In Siberian Slush is probably the longest-running active death-doom band in Russia. It was formed in 2003, but the first album Bitterness of the Years That Are Lost was released only in 2010. They developed a kind of their own aesthetic as they also used lyrics with Russian cultural references, like a poem by Nicolay Gumilev in one song or a dedication to the painter of tragic fate Boris Kustodiev in another, but at the end of the day, it’s “death-doom with trombone and Russian lyrics”.

The most up-to-date album Uroki Smireniya / Lessons of Humility is the personal and grim monolog of the band’s founder and the only original member, E.S. Here’s his interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CORAX B.M.

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Mar 272024
 

(The debut album of the Greek black metal band Corax B.M., released this past January, drew the attention of Comrade Aleks, and that led to the following friendly discussion he had with the band’s two founders.)

Corax B.M. isn’t the most original band name in the metal world, but sometimes it’s better to keep things simple and straight. As the band’s story is, for example.

Corax (guitars, vocals), Énnea (vocals), Morker (drums), and Peisithanatos (bass) started the band in Athens, 2021. Some of them had an experience of performing heavy or extreme music before, some didn’t, that wasn’t an obstacle, and the EP Spread the Occult appeared in 2022. Those four tracks already pointed the direction the band had chosen to follow, and it was performed more accurately and sharper in the Pagana full-length (2024, The Circle Music).

Corax B. M. switched from occultism to heathenism very naturally, and the band’s approach to black metal with a well-known Hellenic touch helped them to create a remarkable piece of dark art. It’s mysterious, ominous, and evil to some degree, just as Hellenic black metal should be. We discussed Pagana and the band’s current plans with Corax and Morker. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: KALT VINDUR

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Mar 262024
 


Photos by Lu Kox

(Today, after a bit of a delay that’s our fault, we publish an interview by Comrade Aleks of guitarist Artur Szydło from the Polish metal band Kalt Vindur, whose new album released in January was reviewed here by our Andy Synn and is well worth your time.)

The Icelandic words “kalt vindur” translate as “cold wind”, and as you can imagine, it’s the most fitting name for a black metal band. Indeed, Kalt Vindur performs a sort of progressive and a bit “doomed” black metal, but they are based in Poland, not in Iceland. It doesn’t make their music less expressive, as the band’s third album Magna Mater is one of most remarkable releases I’ve heard in this year yet.

This 35-minute-long work was released by The Circle Music in January, so I suggest for you this interview with Artur Szydło (guitars) in case you skipped the release. At least watch the videos attached to the text; they transfer Kalt Vindur’s updated message clearly enough.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SPIRITUAL VOID

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Mar 252024
 

(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview with bassist Mat from the German doom band Spiritual Void, whose latest album Wayfare saw release last summer.)

As we interviewed Iron Void, why don’t we do the same for Spiritual Void?

This doom metal trio is located somewhere in the Lake Constance area, at the northern foot of the Alps in Germany. That explains why the band prefers themes related to Nature in the artworks and lyrics of their albums White Mountain (2017) and Wayfare (2023). Spiritual Void’s members weren’t involved in any other bands before, so for Mat (bass), Schlunsky (drums), and Rob (guitars, vocals), Wayfare was only the second album in an entire career, so to speak.

And yet this material is remarkably solid, loud, and mournful, as any traditional doom metal album should be. Now come and taste it, while reading this interview with Mat.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HAMFERÐ

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Mar 222024
 

(Today Metal Blade is releasing a new album from the Faroe Islands-based death/doom band Hamferð, and to help celebrate the event we’re sharing Comrade Aleks‘ recent interview with Hamferð guitarist Theodor Kapnas.)

Wow! Time flies by! It seems that the last interview we did with Hamferð here happened in 2014. Back then we discussed with the band’s vocalist Jón Aldará the debut album Evst, but I believe there was another interview a few years later, though my memory sometimes fails me. However, it’s March 2024, and Hamferð’s third full-length work Men Guðs hond er sterk is ready to be released on March 22nd.

Metal Blade Records presented two new tracks “Ábær” and “Hvølja” recently, and the album promises to be another gorgeous monument of epic Nordic death-doom, with Faroese lyrics of course. The band’s sound evolved a bit as far as it could be heard, but there’s always something worth talking about with such a man as Theodor Kapnas, Hamferð’s guitarist. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PONTE DEL DIAVOLO

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Mar 212024
 


photo by Cristina Ferrero

(Through the good graces of Season of Mist, the distinctive Italian black/doom metal band Ponte del Diavolo released their debut album last month (reviewed here by our own Andy Synn), and that provided the impetus for Comrade Aleks to reach out for the interview we now present.)

Even though black metal in its pure, true, and evil form isn’t associated with Italy, there are a few interesting bands there with their own authentic view of this genre. Sometimes their uniqueness is rooted in a mix of black metal with other genres, sometimes it’s their native aesthetic or cultural references, and sometimes it’s both.

Ponte del Diavolo was founded in 2020 by Abro (bass), Laurus (bass), Segale Cornuta (drums), Nerium (guitars), and Erba del Diavolo (vocals). Only Abro and Laurus previously played in different death, black, and doom metal bands; as for the other members, Ponte del Diavolo was a new outfit.

Season of Mist released Ponte del Diavolo‘s debut album Fire Blades from the Tomb on the 16th of February. These six stories of authentic and passionate romantic black metal with doom influences and female vocals are complimented with a cover of Nick Cave’s “Weeping Song”, another good reason to pay attetion to this album.

We had a talk with several of the band’s members about the new album and other things. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: IRON VOID

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Mar 132024
 


Photos by Robyn Benson / Black Earth Photography

(Last year the British doom band Iron Void celebrated their 25th anniversary and released a stellar fourth album, and in belated honoring of those events Comrade Aleks conducted the following very engaging interview with all three of the band’s members — Jonathan ‘Sealey’ Seale, Steve Wilson, and Scott Naylor.)

Iron Void from West Yorkshire is one of the most focused and active doom metal bands among those that present a “traditional” scene. Being formed in 1998 and disbanded in 2000, Iron Void didn’t hurry to record a full-length album even after their reunion in 2008, but here they are with four albums in the discography now, and the most up-to-date release IV saw the light of day in January 2023.

Yes, it happened one year ago, and we’re a bit late with this interview, but it’s never too late to support the band that deserves wider exposure. After all, heroic, quite old-school, and damn heavy IV was one of the best doom albums of 2023. Also, besides other things, you’ll learn from this interview what “Street Doom” stands for! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PUTRID TORSO

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Mar 112024
 

(Belatedly, we are still catching up with interviews conducted by Comrade Aleks at a time when our editor was too incapacitated by work to publish them in a timely manner, and today we catch up to his discussion with Ion Santos from the Basque Country brutal death metal band Putrid Torso.)

About a year ago we did the interview with Hopelessness, a melodic death metal band from Basque Country. And somewhere around November 2023 I got the message from their guitar player Ion Santos. He said that he’s also involved in the brutal death act Putrid Torso and that Trails of Hypnotized Human Veins had just been released by Pathologically Explicit Recordings.

And, honestly, brutal death isn’t my cup of tea (even Lovecraftian brutal death), but we’re just mere puppets in the hands of Ruinous Powers. So here’s the interview with Ion for those who are into extreme and misanthropic metal. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: STUPOROUS

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Mar 082024
 

(With agonized apologies to Comrade Aleks and the members of the Netherlands-based group Stuporous for our lamentable delay, today we present an excellent discussion among them, with a focus on the band’s debut album released in January by Void Wanderer Productions and War Productions.)

You should know Stuporous, as there was already a track premiere last fall at NCS, don’t you? It’s a killer band performing a mix of black and doom metal with jazz elements. Its members play different styles of extreme (and not so extreme) metal in Belgian and Dutch bands, some of which are members of the Zwotte Kring artistic collective.

Their first full-length album is Asylum’s Lament, so named after the experiences of the band’s vocalist Devi, who works in psychiatry, and you can easily imagine what kind of crazy stuff you can find here.

And here we have all members of this highly artistic outfit answering my questions with patience and passion. Or something like that. Continue reading »

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