Comrade Aleks Archives - Page 56 of 60

AN NCS INTERVIEW: GRIFTEGÅRD

Jul 172015

(A day late because of my own screw-up, here’s the second of three interviews we have this week from Comrade Aleks — and today he talks with Ola Blomkvist of Sweden’s Griftegård.)

“G” is for Graveyard in English. “G” is for Griftegård in Swedish, and it means the same thing, I swear! So Griftegård is a universal name for any really heavy band. This one was born in 2004 in the Swedish city of Norrköping, “Swedish Manchester”, as it’s said.

The band’s main features were crushing and depressive doom metal and lyrics dealing with Christian images and their interpretation. Well, it’s a strong combination and it works well if you have no prejudice. But what kind of prejudice can we talk about, considering the world of professional heavy music?

Griftegård had only one weak point – for ten years of the band’s existence they had only one full-length album, Solemn Sacred Severe, but good news came in April 2015, as I discovered that Ván Records is going to release something new from these men. What kind of news are they ready to share? Ola Blomkvist, the band’s mastermind, is here to tell us. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: POHJOINEN

Interviews 3 Responses »

Jul 152015

(Our Russian friend Comrade Aleks has been a busy man, and we’ve got a string of new interviews from him that we’re posting from now to the end of this week — beginning with this conversation with Finland’s Pohjoinen.)

Pohjoinen means “North”, but this Finnish band doesn’t play black or death metal, as they follow the path of authentic doom. Pohjoinen are Kimmo (bass, vocals), R (drums), and Tumppi (guitars, vocals); this power-trio chooses an old school approach, preferring a groovy and heavy sound with melodic vocals and Finnish lyrics. I like bands who keep their national identity, so I was really glad to find Pohjoinen, and this telepathic interview with the band’s collective mind is a result of this discovery.

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Hail mates! How are you there? First, Pohjoinen’s self-titled LP was released two months ago. How did you come to it? What was your road to this record?

Hail you, hail to all! We have been together for 2 years with this line-up, and the record has been slowly manifesting itself through that time. Our bass player Kimmo recorded it at our rehearsal place in the spring of last year, and he also did the mixing/mastering. Some songs were older than that — from a previous incarnation of the band. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: EL HIJO DE LA AURORA, MATUS, THE GRAND ASTORIA

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Jul 132015

(Comrade Aleks decided to try his hand at round-up duty today, with new music from three bands to throw your way.)

It is Summer, it is time to relax, and this brief overview is an exception to NCS rules, because today I’d like to approach some new releases from the world-wide psychedelic scene. If you’re open for new melodies in a retro style, if you see bright colors as music speaks to you, and you have few minutes, then take a look here…

Here are brief overviews of three new albums by El Hijo De La Aurora and Matus (both bands are from Peru) and the Russian project The Grand Astoria.

El Hijo De La Aurora – The Enigma of Evil

El Hijo De La Aurora (Son of the Dawn) is an experimental psychedelic doom project which was created by Joaquin Cuadra after his departure from another Peruvian band playing in a similar direction – Don Juan Matus. Joaquin and his companions discovered the enigmas of both mortal and spiritual worlds throughout two full-length albums, Lemuria (2008) and Wicca: Spells, Magic and Witchcraft Through Ages (2010). It took almost five years to continue their researches on a third full-length record under the name The Enigma of Evil, which was released on CD by Minotauro Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ORPHANS OF DUSK

Interviews 2 Responses »

Jul 082015

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with multi-instrumentalist James Quested and vocalist Chris G of Orphans of Dusk from New Zealand and Australia.)

Orphans of Dusk is a gothic doom metal project from the part of the world where all is upside down! So if you are scarred by the term “gothic” itself, maybe this time you will find something more attractive in this genre.

There are no female tears and violins on the first Orphans of Dusk EP Revenant, which was released by Hypnotic Dirge Records and Solitude Productions on the 4th of May. Revenant is a brief but highly replete album: Monolithic riffs, growls, and deep clean vocal lines along with airy keyboards help to support an intense, somber, and solemn atmosphere all along these four songs.

Welcome our friends from Australia and adopt the sorrow and grief they’ve composed for Revenant. James Quested (guitars, synths, bass) and Chris G (vocals) clarify some aspects of Orphans of Dusk’s life in this interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ALTARS OF GRIEF (EVAN PAULSON)

Interviews 4 Responses »

Jul 062015

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Evan Paulson of Saskatchewan’s Altars of Grief, whose fantastic new song from their split with Nachtterror we premiered here not long ago.)

The official press-release of Canadian label Hypnotic Dirge Records announces with justified enthusiasm: “This summer, Altars of Grief and Nachtterror — two Saskatchewan-based Blackened Doom bands — will collaborate on a new split vinyl with new material from each band. The vinyl split, entitled Of Ash and Dying Light is set to be released worldwide in a limited edition 10″ vinyl, as well as digital, on Hypnotic Dirge Records in early August!”

Well, I have not too much to add – you already heard a song from this split as Islander shared it with NCS readers a few days ago through “An NCS premiere” section, so I’ll just give a floor to Evan Paulson, Altars of Grief’s guitarist. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MATUS (RICHARD NOSSAR)

Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews 1 Response »

Jul 012015

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with guitarist and songwriter Richard Nossar of the great Peruvian doom band Matus, who we’ve featured on our site before and who have a new album ready for listening.)

It’s time to relax and let your mind flow with a current of old ’n’ good psychedelic stoner rock. Matus (ex-Don Juan Matus) is a Peruvian band, and we’ll talk about it with Richard Nossar (guitars) as an exception to NCS’s strict rules. Matus celebrate their tenth anniversary this year and they almost have a fifth full-length Claroscuro in their hands, so why not?

“Más allá de este sueño al que el hombre llama vida

Hay un lugar donde el tiempo no es real!”

If you get me right… Anyway, let’s try. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BARABBAS (SAINT RODOLPHE)

Interviews 4 Responses »

Jun 262015

(Comrade Aleks returns to our site with an engaging interview of the frontman for Barabbas.)

French Barabbas appeared on the European doom-scene in 2011 with a self-titled album, and its killer song “Barabbas” was also included in a Doom Metal Front compilation, so you may already know them. Three years have passed, and Barabbas return with great new tunes! Messe pour un chien shows the band’s evident progress as they go further from traditional doom and stoner tunes to something more massive and mobile.

The new songs are really catchy, they demonstrate all the best of Barrabas’ musical experience, and they have mordant and ironical lyrics — that’s something new for the somber doom scene, but it’s ok for the congregation of Four Saints of Barabbas. The band’s frontman Saint Rodolphe is here to spread a Word, yet not to preach. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PREMARONE

Interviews 1 Response »

Jun 232015

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview (with music) of the Italian doom band Premarone.)

Sometimes I start to think that I’m the best friend of Italian doom bands! Though sometimes I think the same about Russian, French, or Peruvian bands – depends on different periods. As some of our readers know – the Italian doom scene has deep roots in retro psychedelic rock and often has a lot of common elements with old-fashioned horror movies. It’s a kind of trademark, but it’s not a rule. I like to find exceptions to rules as well as confirmations when they are cool ones.

It’s hard to describe what Premarone is… They have a pretty original opinion on the questions about how doom music should sound. They have these doom riffs and some old-school arrangements with all their tastiness, and yet at the same time they practice a punk approach to it and don’t limit themselves in their experimentations. And Premarone released their first full-length Obscuris Vera Involvens in January 2015. It’s worth a listen, and that’s why we’ve done this interview with Alessandro Lugano (drums) and other seigniors of Premarone’s collective mind. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: EVOKE THY LORDS (ALEXEY KOZLOV)

Interviews 2 Responses »

Jun 112015

(Comrade Aleks returns with this interview of Alexey Kozlov, vocalist and bassist of Evoke Thy Lords.)

Evoke Thy Lords is a pretty original band from Russian Siberia. The band is located in Novosibirsk and there they play a fantastic mix of sludgy psychedelic doom metal with good, deep growls and mesmerizing flute tunes.

They started in 2002 with more trivial stuff, but everything changed with the Drunken Tales album (2013), and its success was developed further on the third full-length album under the ambitious title Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar! (2015).

Don’t waste any time — come discover new dimensions of sound with Alexey Kozlov (bass, vocals). Don’t worship Satan! Raise giant mushrooms! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SHAKHTYOR (CHRISTIAN HERZOG)

Interviews 1 Response »

Jun 052015

(In this post we present Comrade Aleks’ interview with Christian Herzog, guitarist for the German band Shakhtyor.)

That ugly and bulky name Shakhtyor means “Miner” in Russian, but this instrumental post-doom/sludge band is from Germany. The reason for picking such a strange name is that one of this power trio’s members, Christian Herzog (guitars) studied in Saint-Petersburg for a few long months in the ’90s. Shakhtyor released their first self-titled album in 2012, and this record, along with the band’s powerful gigs attracted enough attention to the band that their second work Tunguska (named after the geographical location in Russia where a strange phenomenon, probably the fall of a meteor, took place in 1908) was released by Cyclone Empire both on vinyl and on CD on the 24th of April, 2015.

We discussed Shakhtyor’s new album and the Tunguska event with Chris just a few days ago.

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Hail Chris! How are you? What has SHAKHTYOR done since the release of your debut self-titled album in 2012?

Hi Aleks, I am pretty well, thanks. Actually, we did what most bands do. We played a bunch of shows and recorded a new album. However, it took longer than expected. We had already started recording stuff for a second album in early 2013 but then we did not get any further with it. So we decided to play fewer shows in 2014 to write new songs and finally made it to the studio in November. Continue reading »

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