AN NCS INTERVIEW: KRANIUM

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Feb 242021
 

 

(This time Comrade Aleks interviews one of the members of the unorthodox Peruvian metal band Kranium, whose roots go back to the early ’90s and whose new album Uma Tullu (which you can stream below) was released on December 1st, 2020.)

Kranium is a legend of the Peruvian underground. The band was formed in 1985 as Murder but since 1986 it’s been known as Kranium. Their early material tended towards savage a thrash/death meta, but years passed, some members left and others joined the band, and their first full-length Testimonios finally was released in 1999. The story behind its making is long and far from easy, as Kranium drew the attention of the Swedish label Plasmatica Records  who promised to fund their recording sessions but had a hard time, and lack of money prolonged recordings for almost three years.

This material appears to be a mix between traditional doom metal with a bit of a raw edge, lyrics in Spanish, and arrangements of traditional Peruvian instruments. I’m surprised that this album is a kind of “lost gem”, forgive me this cliché, and I hope Kranium’s new and authentic-as-always album Uma Tullu (released in December 2020) will reach more listeners all over the world.

The band’s lineup has changed, yet its core remains the same: Eloy Arturo (guitars, songwriting) is one of the founding members, and Mito Espíritu (guitars, wind instruments, charango) has been in the band since 1991 (there was a break for a few years, but it doesn’t make a difference). Dennis Yamazato (drums) has played in Kranium since 2005, and Ian Chang (bass) since 2010. Our current guest Christian Meléndez (vocals, keyboards) is a relatively new member — his experience in Kranium is “just” ten years. But he’s quiet a talkative collocutor, and I’m glad we had this interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CONVICTION

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Feb 162021
 

 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ extensive and extremely interesting interview of Oliver Verron (founder of Temple of Baal) about the French traditional doom band Conviction that he also founded, whose self-titled debut album was released by Argonauta Records in January of this year.)

Once upon a time men from bands like Temple of Baal, Ataraxie, Mourning Dawn and Corrosive Elements gathered together and… it all ended with a traditional doom metal album!

A long story short, but the French Conviction was founded by one of Temple of Baal’s founders, Oliver Verron, back in 2013 and it took some time before he found proper companions who shared his taste for good old doom. What’s Conviction about? How did they avoid all of their extreme metal backgrounds in this band? And what’s the story with the French doom scene?

You’ll find answers to these questions and more in the interview with Oliver. I’ve enjoyed reading this, and I hope you’ll like it too. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: OMINATION

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Feb 122021
 

 

(With pleasure, we present Comrade Aleks’ extensive interview with Fedor Kovalevsky of the Tunisian extreme metal bands Vielikan and Omination, whose critically acclaimed new album NGR was just recently released by Hypnotic Dirge Records.)

This Tunisian funeral doom-death project offers high quality material. Created in around 2016 by Fedor Kovalevsky (who has Ukrainian roots), Omination consistently developed ’til it became the size of a trio consisting of Fedor at the helm and his bandmates from progressive death outfit Vielikan – Zied Kochbati and Nassim Toumi. With a full lineup and the support of Hypnotic Dirge Records, Fedor presents Omination’s second full-length NGR (New Golgotha Repvbliq), which has been out since the 5th of February.

The last times are upon us! So be forewarned! And don’t forget to take a listen to NGR. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: OAKMORD

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Feb 102021
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks spoke with Sami Rautio and Jürgen Fröhling, former collaborators in My Shameful and current collaborators again in Oakmord, whose debut record will be released on February 15th.)

Sami Rautio (Finland) and Jürgen Fröhling (Germany) collaborated successfully for years running the bleak and painful doom/death project My Shameful. My Shameful was no more since 2015, so Jürgen was able to focus on his doom/sludge band Absent/Minded, and Sami… it seems Sami was occupied with his solo project Kadotettu. However, both of them reunited in order to channel a mix of creativity and negativity through a new collaboration – Oakmord.

As Sami confesses, it is on a different range of emotions, and as musicians they have naturally changed over the years, “grown if that term fits here…” I agree with that, and you can make sure yourself while reading this interview — quite a good interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SERTRALINE

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Feb 082021
 

 

(Comrade Aleks has brought us the following interview with the members of the New York band Sertraline, who are at work on a debut album and whose three EPs to date were released last month in a compilation package by Hypnotic Dirge Records.)

I’ve got Sertraline’s new release The Streetlight Was All We Needed from Canadian label Hypnotic Dirge, among a few other releases. This post-black metal band from Buffalo has been active since 2015, and there are three EPs in their discography. The Streetlight Was All We Needed is a sum of those three small recordings – Shade (2017), From Both Our Hands (2019), and These Mills Are Oceans (2019).

Shelly Muehlbauer (guitars), Tom Muehlbauer (vocals), Jason Roman (bass), Jay Zgoda (guitars), Ken Culton (drums), and David Lopian (guitars) are together for all these years, and this interview is a unique situation, as all the band’s members answered together. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HAUNTED CENOTAPH

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Jan 262021
 

 

(In this interview Comrade Aleks talked with members of the Polish death/doom band Haunted Cenotaph, whose debut album was digitally released last fall and was released on tape by Redefining Darkness Records in December.)

I don’t remember how I found Haunted Cenotaph over a year ago. Back then they had just a raw self-titled EP with Lovecraftian death-doom from beyond the grave… But a year has passed and the quartet from Rzeszów returned with a debut full-length named Abyssal Menace, which is few levels higher than its predecessor.

Brewhammer (bass), Golem (guitars), Coffin Crawler (vocals), and Abyssal Conqueror (drums) present us quite an entertaining experience through straight old-school stuff with reverence towards Celtic Frost and Asphyx amongst others. Golem, with some help from Coffin Crawler, reveals the history behind Haunted Cenotaph‘s rising. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: UDDØD

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Jan 192021
 

 

(Here we have Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Rune Bæk, vocalist and lyricist of the Danish band Uddød, whose debut self-titled EP was released last November.)

To say it shortly – Uddød is a sludgy doom band with Danish lyrics, a straightforward approach, and one self-titled EP released in November 2020. Actually I know it because of Rune Bæk (guitars, vocals), a guy who did an amazing job as a frontman in a killer local act Plöw some time ago.

You can check Plöw’s video ‘High Tide’ or just find the ‘Captain Fungus’ track. Such was their anger! Such energy! And for me Uddød remains Plöw’s spiritual successor despite the fact that Rune’s companions Jeppe Birch Friis (bass), Jacob Lau (drums), and Frank Sørensen (guitars) seemed to enter the magic world of the metal underground not long ago. But all together they leave a strong impression of a professional, motivated, and powerful band.

Thus it was my duty to introduce Uddød with Rune’s help to NCS readers. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: TOTAL DEATH

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Jan 152021
 

 

(Here is a new interview by Comrade Aleks, presenting a discussion of both historical value and current interest with Danny Molina, one of the original members of the long-running Ecuadoran death-doom metal band Total Death.)

As a doom metal qualified researcher I always find it thrilling to discover gems hidden from the eyes of a wider audience.

I can’t label Total Death from Ecuador as an absolutely underground act, because they are well-known among many, but this band being born 30 (!!!) years ago was something new for me. They started to elaborate their sound from black and death metal components, and let me tell you – their first years aren’t marked with big releases. It took time before they came to a debut full-length El Rostro Que Llevamos Dentro, and it took time before they made their sure steps into doom territories.

Total Death celebrated the end of 2020 in good form with a new, fifth, full-length album Mar de Aguas Amargas . Two of its original members, as the band’s core. Danny Molina (drums) and Ider Farfán (guitars, vocals) have kept Total Death working since 1991, and Danny told me a lot of things about the band’s past and present. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MOURNING MIST

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Jan 112021
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks put questions to the two main members of the Italian band Mourning Mist, whose second album Amen was released last November by BloodRock Records.)

Mourning Mist hail from Perugia, Umbria. This Italian band was started back in 2013 by Mid. (drums, vocals) and Echerual (violin). A year later Kvasir (bass, vocals, guitars) joined and the crew started to explore the skills they had, playing different sorts of black metal in new territories.

Their self-titled debut appeared in 2015 and I’m still bewildered with this blackened eclectic mix of genres, but their sophomore album Amen (October, 2020) is clearer and closer to my doom-bound heart. The new material wears the mark of alchemical trials, yet general tone is recognizable for followers of traditional mournful doom metal.

We’ve made this interview with Echerual and Kvasir to learn more details about Mourning and Mist. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DIE LIKE GENTLEMEN

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Jan 082021
 

 

(In considering interviews, the truism applies that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, or perhaps the other mantra applies, that it takes two to tango. In this new interview, Comrade Aleks struck a very good chord in his discussion with Adam Alexander of the fascinating Portland band Die Like Gentlemen. The horses drink deeply, tangoing occurs, it’s a very good read.)

Die Like Gentlemen is a striking name and it fits the music of this eclectic band from Portland, which combines influences drawn from sludge and progressive metal in one quite intellectual impulse. Adam Alexander (vocals, guitars, piano), Shawn Boles (drums, percussion), Matt Wieber (lead vocals, EBow) and Sean Rodgers (bass, guitars) have worked together since 2012. They started with the promising debut Romantic Delusions of Hell in 2013, and their fourth album Stories, released a year ago in the calm of January 2020, turned out to be an acoustic one.

What may we now expect from these four gentlemen of Portland? Has quarantine silenced their sonic indignation? Let’s ask Adam. Continue reading »

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