AN NCS INTERVIEW: DELIRIUM SILENCE (ANDREY LEMARK)

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Jun 042015
 

 

(Our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks bring us this interview of his countryman Andrey Lemark, vocalist of Delirium Silence.)

It’s not a geography lesson, but take a look at a map of Russia and find Yakutsk city. It’s located just 280 miles south of the Arctic Circle. You may ask me what did I forget there? Delirium Silence. A newborn aggressive death doom band that released a self-titled EP in December 2014.

This record consists of six songs, including a cover of the Septic Flesh song “Anubis”, and it’s really worth a listen. So I asked a few questions of Andrey Lemark, the band’s vocalist.

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Hello Andrey! The first EP of Delirium Silence was pretty well-made, well-recorded, straightforward, and heavy. How long did you work over this release?

Greetings! To my mind the cover art is pretty awesome, thanks to Alex from Mayhem Project design.

You said it was heavy? I wouldn’t say so. The thing is that when we were recording the EP we weren’t sure what we wanted and in which genre we wanted to make it, but I like it loud and hard. Speaking of preparations, we weren’t actually preparing anything, it just happened. But each of us was waiting for this time to come. Continue reading »

DARK RITUALS OF DOOM — PART 2

 Mosh Pit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jun 022015
 

 

(This is the second part of a mammoth essay by our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks, who explores a variety of spiritual rituals and their connections to doom metal. Part One is here.)

Tonight we’re finishing our brief research of Dark Rituals performed by doom bands all over the world. In the first part of this article we took part in Voodoo and Aghori rituals with Pombagira and The Moon Mistress, we participated in Christian and Black Mass ceremonies with Griftegard and Hour of 13, and besides that we even visited the Sabbath in some godforsaken pub alongside Barabbas, we summoned Cthulhu with Arkham Witch, and spent the Beltaine feast with Serpent Warning and the Wakan Tanka ritual with Caronte. Is it too much? Not at all. I have a few more examples of how sacred, ancient, esoteric traditions of dark occult wisdom have been reflected in the music of modern doom bands.

Today Reino Ermitano, War Injun, Ethereal Riffian, Tenochtitlan, Alunah, Stangala, Matus, Obake, Taak, and the almighty Abysmal Grief lead us into the mystic realms of the unknown. And I must warn you once more – don’t even try to perform these mysteries at home! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ULTRATUMBA (LORENZO PARTIDA BRAVO)

 Interviews  1 Response »
May 262015
 

 

(In this post Comrade Aleks interviews Lorenzo Partida Bravo, guitarist of Mexico’s Ultratumba.)

Ultratumba isn’t a new band; they’ve worked in the metal underground since 1995, but it’s rare to find one who knows about this bunch of brutal dudes from Mexico City. It’s strange, because this band under the guidance of talented guitarist Lorenzo Partida Bravo have already released six pretty diverse albums (and one live album).

Their full-length La Casa del Escarabajo (“House of Beetle”) was written in 2010, and it demonstrates very harsh and aggressive death-doom metal with some unusual approaches, while the band’s last work Sopa Envenenada (“Poisoned Soup”) is closer to more traditional doom, yet with pretty wild vocal lines.

Besides that I need to mention that Lorenzo has played in the thrash/death band Transmetal since 1987 and he also has a solo progressive project named simply Lorenzo Partida! Am I talking too much today? Maybe, let’s give a word to Lorenzo. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: KING HEAVY (LUTHER VELDMARK)

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  4 Responses »
May 192015
 

 

(Comrade Aleks returns to NCS with this interview of Luther Veldmark of the multinational group King Heavy.)

It started for me with Hooded Priest’s album Devils Worship Reckoning — I like good old-school doom metal, and this record had enough catchy riffs to make me wait for new release. This record also is remarkable for me because of the really possessed and expressive vocal lines performed by the band’s frontman Luther Veldmark. The new album isn’t ready yet, but at least I got King Heavy, as Hooded Priest has been keeping silent up to now.

King Heavy is the product of a collaboration between Luther (based in The Netherlands) and three members of the Chilean bands Procession and Mourners Lament. King Heavy recorded the EP Horror Absoluto in 2014, so it’s time to ask that will come next. Luther Weldmark himself is here today!

 

Hail Luther! How are you? How much longer did your beard grow since we talked last time? It was in 2011!

Hello Alex, great hearing from you again. The slower my music the faster time flies!

Since you asked, I suppose my beard is a bit longer than last time, actually I don’t think it’s that extremely long, but yeah right, I don’t go that often to a barber. I do cut my beard on the sides from time to time, that’s about it. Continue reading »

DARK RITUALS OF DOOM — PART I

 Mosh Pit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 182015
 

 

(In this first part of a mammoth two-part essay, our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks explores a variety of spiritual rituals and their connections to doom metal.)

All right now! Tonight we’re summoned for a divine cause!

Mankind started the basis of society since its  primordial childhood. Many old and good traditions have been lost to the ages, yet ritualistic aspects and traditions were set very deeply in the turns of our brains. Certain traditions and ceremonies have been transformed into religious acts or became social rituals during our evolution, but most of them remain alive in modern days. Something took the form of the Christian Eucharist, something else developed into the form of the Easter Rabbit or the bacchanalia of a metal gig. These rites have provided new trappings to the symbolism at their core, but some people still seriously follow and perform its archaic elements. Let us take a look at which forms of religious rituals live their new life in the sermons of modern priests of the doom cult.

This text is a reworked, renewed, extended, and a bit rude translation of an article that I wrote for a Russian e-zine (here), but I and some of the bands who were discussed thought it would be a good idea to have an English version as well. Of course, it’s not really as much of a scientific or anthropological work as it could be, but if there’s someone who’s ready to make a proper investigation then let me know — I have an idea or two.

Here I’ve used some of my past interviews or just asked some bands straight question about their vision of certain rituals.

Don’t take it too seriously! And don’t try to perform it at home!

And as I’ve mentioned above — tonight we’re summoned for a divine cause! Continue reading »

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

 Interviews  No Responses »
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 »

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