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: 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 NCS INTERVIEW: SAMAVAYO (BEHRANG ALAVI)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  No Responses »
Apr 202015
 

 

(Comrade Aleks interviews Behrang Alavi, the Iranian-born vocalist/guitarist for Germany’s Samavayo — and of course we have music for you to hear as well.)

Samavayo is the band for those who like stoner music and don’t fear experiments. If you want to know how stoner sounds with progressive, alternative, and Middle Eastern roots, then this band is for you.

Samavayo was born in Berlin somewhere around 2000, and different elements have prevailed in their music in different periods and on different records, but after all of that, the band have found their golden mean. I do think that their last work stands a bit apart from other albums – it’s a vinyl split release by Samavayo and the Russian band The Grand Astoria. We had a talk with Behrang Alavi (vocals, guitars) about this record and some other things. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HENRY BONES (CARONTE)

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Apr 012015
 

 

(Our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks presents his interview with Henry Bones, bassist of Italy’s Caronte.)

There are a lot of bands who use the tag “occult” in speaking about their music. But the Italian dark masters in the doom stoner band Caronte are not ordinary followers of this genre. They play their songs with true and darkest passion and energy in practicing their mystic sacraments and sharing this experience with Caronte’s listeners. The second full-length album of this Italian cult was released by Van Records under the name Church of Shamanic Goetia in 2014, and once again Caronte have shown their best, revealing new heavy super-hits, as if Danzig himself were playing with them! I’ve used a chance to speak with Henry Bones (bass) about this new record.

 

Hello Henry! Caronte has released the album Church of Shamanic Goetia through Van Records in 2014. And though the band’s core remains the same, I hear some advancements in your music. How do you class the band’s evolution?

From the previous releases we are all matured a lot, both on a human level and at the level of composition. On our last album we really expressed ourselves as never before.

 

By the way, how many virgins did you put on the devil’s altar to gain such driving riffs and catchy tunes?

You should ask at our drummer Mike. Normally he is dealing with the virgins. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: J.N. (PICTURE ANN, SIGNALFEIDE, SAGNTID)

 Interviews  1 Response »
Mar 302015
 

 

(In this post Comrade Aleks returns to take us off our usual beaten paths with an interview of J.N., the creator behind Picture Ann, Signalfeide, and Sagntid.)

I learned about the projects of this Danish artist because J.N. was a part of the atmospheric doomy band Sick Room 7, which was a good band and one I miss. But after (or during) Sick Room’s disbanding, J.N. continued to compose dark music, but of another kind: He put his hands onto atmospheric, guitar-based, and ambient songs with deep and murky feeling. What new does J.N. have for us today? Let me clarify it.

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Hail J.! How are you? How does your creative life go?

Hails Aleks, all is well here. I have no complaints whatsoever regarding my creative life and it is somewhat constant and solid in a sense. I am always either creating, planning, or thinking about something in relation to music and lyrics. It never really stops… and I do not want it to stop either!

 

J., you have finished a new record in 2015. It is a Picture Ann full-length record, The Darkness Had Texture. How has this project evolved since its first album?

In a certain sense there are quite a few similarities between the very first PICTURE ANN album, the one named Blaspheme 2009, and the brand new one that you are referring to, the one entitled The Darkness Had Texture. The linear drum patterns, monotonous melodies, hypnotic moods, and trance-like atmospheres are thoroughly back in place on this new album of mine, and I could not be happier with how that turned out. The album that came out last year (A Bone Case for Papery Skin) was slightly more varied, dynamic, and weird, but now that some time has passed, I consider that particular album my least favorite of the three full-length assaults. However, I think my new record sounds pretty focused, and all five songs complement each other and underline certain thoughts and emotions perfectly well. I hope that the open-minded listeners out there will give it a spin or two on a dark and stormy night. I am very proud of The Darkness Had Texture, as you can probably tell. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PAUL ATTARD (MOTHER MARS)

 Interviews  1 Response »
Mar 192015
 

 

(In this post Comrade Aleks interviews Paul Attard, guitarist/bassist of the Australian band Mother Mars.)

I learned about the great stoner band Mother Mars from my mate Kamille of The Grand Astoria band. He told me that both bands had prepared a fantastic split-album and that I needed to check these guys out. Well, it was an easy task because it turns out that Mother Mars are from our planet, indeed they are Australian, so with the help of modern internet technologies we’ve done this interview with Paul Attard, one of Mother Mars pilots. Get ready for boogie stoner from the heart of the Australian deserts.

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Aleks to Mother Mars! How do you hear me?

Loud and Clear! This is Paul from Mother Mars! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ARCHIE HUNT (ATTEN ASH)

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Mar 042015
 

 

(NCS Russian contributor Comrade Aleks interviews Archie Hunt of North Carolina’s Atten Ash, whose excellent new album The Hourglass was released by Hypnotic Dirge Records in February and whose similarly excellent split with Lycanthia was released by the same label in January.)

Hypnotic Dirge surprises me again! The label has another killer release after a one-year hiatus, and this time it’s by a melodic death-doom band from North Carolina named Atten Ash. The band’s name literally means “near the ash”, and this trio has created a fantastic – and I use this word very rarely – a really fantastic album, The Hourglass. The album was completed three years ago for digital release by the band, but lay on the shelf until Hypnotic Dirge suddenly found it.

I think you need to know that the band consists of three members – Archie Hunt (who roared with Legion of the Fallen) on vocals, with James Greene responsible for the great clear vocal parts and most of instruments, and Barre Gambling of Daylight Dies playing guitars and keyboards.

The Hourglass is a perfect gift for those who like the old death doom stuff of Katatonia from the Brave Murder Day period, the progressive and emotional works of Opeth, and the melancholic and melodic works of Daylight Dies as well. Without any delay we’ve done this interview with Archie Hunt, with the help of Nic Skog, the head of Hypnotic Dirge. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: NICOLAS MIQUELON (NORILSK)

 Interviews  1 Response »
Feb 272015
 

 

(Our Russian friend Comrade Aleks has been busy — for the second day in a row he brings us a new interview. Today, his conversation is with Nicolas Miquelon, lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of the Québec band Norilsk.)

Norilsk is a Russian industrial city, the world’s northernmost city, with more than 100,000 inhabitants — and it’s one of most polluted cities in the world due to intense mining, a bleak land of ore and melted metal, of biting frost and acid rains. But Norilsk is also the name of a death/doom band from Québec, Canada, and their debut full-length record The Idea Of North will be released on the 10th of March through Hypnotic Dirge Records.

I found the band on their label’s new compilation Subarctic Nocturnes: Doomed to Be – Vol.1 (available here), and it was a worthy discovery. Are you ready for the cold, distorted, and burning breath of arctic wind? Nicolas Miquelon (all instruments but drums, and vocals) is here to spread the very idea of North. Continue reading »

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