Comrade Aleks Archives - Page 48 of 56

AN NCS INTERVIEW: THE SPIRIT CABINET (SNAKE MCRUFFKIN)

Feb 022016

(Comrade Aleks is back, and brings with him a snake, or rather an interview with Snake McRuffkin, vocalist of the Dutch band The Spirit Cabinet, whose members come from other well-respected extreme bands and whose debut album appeared last August.)

Can you imagine that could happen if you gathered in one rehearsal place a guitarist from a black/thrash band (Zwartketterij), a drummer from a doom metal band (Hooded Priest), a bass player from a black metal band (Cirith Gorgor), and a vocalist from another black metal band (Urfaust)? Okay, here’s the answer – bloody impressive heavy doom metal with influences from all the above-mentioned bands and damned good dark lyrics on spiritualistic topics.

The Spirit Cabinet consists of four members – Erich Vilsmeier, Cromwell Fleedwood, Johnny Hällström, and Snake McRuffkin — who came to an understanding of what they wanted, and their first full-length record Hystero Epileptic Possessed was born in a pretty natural way just a year after they gathered for the first time.

It saw the light with the help of Ván Records, and I feel myself inspired and enlightened enough to bring the Word of The Spirit Cabinet further to those who thirst for knowledge and some mental pabulum. During a midnight séance Snake McRuffkin shared his experience of playing in this band. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: FUNERAL MANTRA

Interviews No Responses »

Jan 282016

photo by Rein Skullerud

(Comrade Aleks is back! And he brings us this interview with Vikk from the Italian band Funeral Mantra.)

Rome-based stoner doom outfit Funeral Mantra is heavy, brutal, and full of primordial power. The gentlemen have worked out their own sound, heavily influenced not only by doom classics but also by such bands as Motörhead, channeling that raw energy and masculinity through their riffs. Their first album Afterglow consists of ten songs that embody sheer and unstoppable doom rock ‘n’ roll from hell!

Funeral Mantra certainly know how to gain exposure for themselves, and the songs sound really killer, dynamic, and professional. Mantra’s bass guitarist Vikk will do a brief excursion into Funeral Mantra’s world. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BLACK MEDICINE

Interviews 4 Responses »

Jan 192016

(Comrade Aleks rejoins us with this interview of the vocalist and guitarist of Black Medicine.)

You maybe asked yourself: Where has Comrade Aleks been? Where has he been since New Year’s coming? Was he lost, drunk, and miserable on Red Square in Moscow? Did he freeze to death in snow-covered Saint-Petersburg? There’s no reason for worries dear comrades! I was searching something new for you, something besides new Italian doom metal bands… And you know… I’ve found it.

Welcome Black Medicine! A damned heavy and sludgy doom band from South Korea! They done their dirty deeds since 2005, but their first full-length album Irreversible was released less than a year ago. What’s the hell?!! How did it happen?!! Let’s ask it Lee Myeong-Hee (guitars) and Kim Chang-Yu (vocals). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HIGH PRIEST OF SATURN (MERETHE HEGGSET)

Interviews 1 Response »

Jan 132016

(Comrade Aleks presents his interview with Merethe Heggset, vocalist and bassist in the Norwegian band High Priest of Saturn, whose second album will be released next month.)

High Priest of Saturn is from our planet; actually this band was born in Norway about five years ago. Well, they’re from Norway and they don’t play black metal. They did a demo-record in 2011 and stole the heart of Svart Records’ boss, who helped the band with the release of the High Priest of Saturn album in 2013.

The core of the band are Merethe Heggset who sings and plays bass; Andreas Hagen who can easily deal both with guitars and drums; Martin Sivertsen (also Andreas‘ mate in the Resonaut band), also a guitarist; and Ole Kristian, organ player.

I already gave you a hint, but let’s clarify it: High Priest of Saturn perform a bit raw, a bit dirty, but overall psychedelic doom metal with hypnotic female vocals. If you like Acid King, then you need to check it. We had already started this interview with Merethe when suddenly I found a promo version of the band’s new album Son of Earth and Sky in my mail box and it took a bit more time to finish our discussion. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WOUNDED GIANT (BOBBY JAMES)

Interviews No Responses »

Jan 042016

(Comrade Aleks somehow snuck into our own backyard and interviewed Bobby James, vocalist/guitarist of Seattle’s Wounded Giant.)

As it seems that I’ve managed to escape from the Italian doom mafia, I had some time to reveal something new for our loyal readers who have enough patience for slow and heavy stuff. Wounded Giant came from Seattle (Hey! Islander! Is it true?!), and they are about slow, dark, heavy, and a bit psychedelic horror doom metal.

Drums are played by Alex Bytnar, bass is played by Dylan A. Rogers, and Bobby James displays fantastic skill singing and playing the guitar at the same time. What does he sing about? About Clive Barker sadistic nightmares, Lovecraftian horrors, and other things that mostly lie between those two mentioned above. So Bobby is here, and he has something to say. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MOON CURSE

Interviews 1 Response »

Dec 302015

(Here we have Comrade Aleks’ interview with bassist Rochelle of Milwaukee’s Moon Curse.)

Moon Curse of Milwaukee, Wisconsin are good for all who love hazy psychedelic doom in particular and quality heavy music in general. That power trio have worked fair and stoically since 2011 and the two full-length albums in their discography are a good result. The second crushing wave of their doom practices is named Spirit Remains, and it saw the light of day on November 30th with the help of Kozmik Artifactz Records.

Matt (guitars, vocals) and Keith (drums, Hammond) are busy gentlemen, but I consider myself lucky because lady Rochelle (bass) has found few minutes of her precious time to deliver to us her story of laying the Moon Curse upon listeners. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CARDINALS FOLLY (MIKKO KÄÄRIÄINEN)

Interviews No Responses »

Dec 282015

(In this interview, Comrade Aleks has a conversation with Mikko Kääriäinen, vocalist/bassist of Finland’s Cardinals Folly.)

As you probably remember, a few days ago we published an interview with Church of Void, a cool Finnish doom metal band. Their vocalist Magus Corvus (a common name in this region) revealed that Church and two other bands plan a dark conspiracy in the name of occult powers, recording a sinister split-album!

So, one of these other bands bears the name Cardinals Folly…. This blasphemous outfit was born in Helsinki in 2004. They play doom metal with an anarchic approach, as some members gained experience playing in black metal bands.

I’ve found this band interesting, as they have their own ideas and proper skills to perform them, successfully following traditional doom metal law. Probably they aren’t perfect, yet remarkable and talented — surely this cult has the power, and this power is dangerous!

Mikko Kääriäinen conducted this interview during a nightmarish and bloody séance, the details of which I would like to miss… Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HALTER (ALEXEY PYSHKIN)

Interviews 2 Responses »

Dec 242015

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Alexey Pyshkin, vocalist of the Russian band Halter.)

In September 2015, Moscow Funeral League released For the Abandoned, the second album of Halter, a Russian death doom band from the city of Yaroslavl. The first Halter full-length Omnipresence of Rat Race did not exactly pass completely unnoticed, but this release for sure should gain much more attention: yours, and mine, my fair readers. Anyway, the new material was recorded in two years since the first album, and the new songs included in this release have shown a considerable growth of the band — you check it and you’ll get it.

What is For The Abandoned good for? Why should one pay attention to this record? We will address these questions to Alexey Pyshkin, the voice of Halter. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CHURCH OF VOID (MAGUS CORVUS)

Interviews 3 Responses »

Dec 212015

(Comrade Aleks introduces us to the Finnish doom band Church of Void through this interview with the group’s vocalist Magus Corvus.)

Last week our patient readers could find an interview with the British doom metal outfit Iron Void on the virtual pages of NCS, and I suppose that it’s right and logical to continue our exploration of doom depths with the Finnish outfit Church of Void.

This band has only one full-length album, Dead Rising, which was released by Svart Records in 2013. It’s a good start for Church – attractive melodies, good riffs and catchy vocal lines… I like it, and I hope that you’ll like it too… But there have been no bells ringing in Church of Void for some time – a split with Lowburn in 2014, a digital single of a Pentagram cover this year… that’s all. So it’s time to find someone who can tell what’s going on there — and that someone is the band’s vocalist Magus Corvus. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: IRON VOID

Interviews 2 Responses »

Dec 152015

(Comrade Aleks brings to us this entertaining interview with members of the UK doom collective Iron Void, along with music from their new album an previous releases.)

There is too much news about releases of old and new big bands in virtual space. It’s easy to get lost in this maze of names, artworks, and riffs, but here we go to lend you a hand and introduce music that you could miss in this endless stream of promo! Today we bring a gospel of Doom for you brothers and sisters, so open your hearts and ears to Iron Void.

This band was born in West Yorkshire, England. Jonathan “Sealey” Seale (bass, vocals), Damien Park (drums), and Steve Wilson (guitars, vocals) have successfully done their best in the form of a power trio and have recorded two full-length albums for the last two years: Their self-titled release was born in 2014 with the help of Barbarian Wrath records, and the new Doomsday work was published by Steve’s own label Doomanoid Records.

Is it good stuff? It is nearly perfect stuff! We had a cute conversation with the Iron Void crew, and I welcome you to share in this exciting reading. Continue reading »

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