www.twitter.com/MetalBulletinZn www.facebook.com/pages/The-Metal-Bulletin-paper-zine Washington state, U.S.

www.fuglymaniacs.com (issues online, concert videos, interviews, reviews) history of Metal Bulletin Zine #1-20: (2006-2009): Wisconsin #21-26: (2009-2010): Texas #27(2010)-- now; Washington state

Metal Bulletin Zine #53 www.metalbulletin.blogspot.com

Skelator (Seattle) Biotoxic Warfare (Greece) Drawn and Quartered (Seattle)

Lady Beast (U.S.) Mystifier (Brazil) Derkéta (U.S.)

bands from Washington state, U.S.: Astraes Pestis, Eigenlicht, Isenordal, Eternal Sedation, Trepanation, A Flourishing Scourge, Black Tears album reviews, news, updates, snippets Keep of Kalessin, Battle Beast, NightMare World, Venom, Sarpanitum, Ancillotti, Dew-Scented, Gruesome, SoulHealer, Violent Hammer, Desolate Pathway, Carbonized, The Negation, Ion Vein, Black Trip, Entrails, Death Dealer, Zom, Kingcrow, Dire Omen, Kaledon, Undergang, Continuum, Bone Gnawer, Starbynary, Ad Hominem, Elvenstorm, Obtruncation, Officium Triste, Macabre Omen, Hollow Haze, Vulcano, Lady Beast, Johansson & Speckmann, Eschaton, Artizan, Wombbath, Kattah, Mystifier, Valdur, Sacral Rage, Demonic Slaughter, Derkéta, Blizzard Hunter, Enslaved, Majestic Downfall, Sempiternal Dusk, Hammer King, Adversarial, At the Dawn, Frosthelm, Wooden Stake, Iron Kingdom, Ctulu, Cradle of Filth, Poenari, In Defence free metal music Violblast, Warburst Command, Insomnio Mutante, Haunting, Razboinix

— -— metal programs (these are Pacific Times) Mosh Pit (Madison, WI): Monday night 9:30pm-12am WORT 89.9 fm www.wortfm.org Sweet Nightmares (Houston, TX): Thursday night 9pm-12am KPFT 90.1 fm www.kpft.org Excuse All the Blood (Olympia, WA): Friday night 11pm-1am www.kaosradio.org Metal Shop (Seattle, WA): Saturday 11pm-3am KISW 99.9fm www.kisw.com — bands from Washington state Astraes Pestis (Seattle) Bestial, raw death metal that sounds like an all-out rejection of the currents of “computer death metal” that is modern “death metal.” This band has a different take on all that, it’s the sound of when extreme metal as a primitive force.

The name of the recording is “Flagellum Haereticorum,” and you can hear it on Bandcamp. It is four songs: 1.(Malum Reliquiae) Rotting Stave 2.Pestilential Sorrow 3.(Minister of Fire) Hammer of Witches 4.Whip of the Heretics (Flight from Hades) www.astraespestisvcp.bandcamp.com Eigenlicht (Olympia) This is about 23 minutes along the lines of epic, primitive, necro, depressive black metal. It is two songs and it is called “Sacral Regicide.” 1.Province of Immolated Kings 2.Autor Ego Audendi

On Bandcamp the band lineup is: Yianna Bekris (guitar) Ray Hawes (guitar, vocals) Mara Winter (keyboards, vocals) Johnny Delacy (drums) You can listen to the recording here. www.eigenlicht-metal.bandcamp.com/releases

Isenordal (Seattle) This is a free/name-your-price recording on Bandcamp. The band plays doom metal with an injection of black metal. Melancholy is an important part of the sound, which is then contrasted with speedy moments of black metal. The recording is called “Imbolc MMXIV” and it is three songs and almost 24 minutes of music. www.isenordal.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/isenordal.metal Eternal Sedation (Yakima) Metal Archives says the following about this thrash band: “Eternal Sedation was founded in 2013 in Yakima, Washington following the breakup of their previous band Pleasantly Demented. After many line up changes, Eternal Sedation finally found the sound that they have been looking for, Old school thrash mixed with progressive aspects of more modern metal. Releasing their first EP in November of 2013; Convulsions of the Mind; they quickly began to play shows all around the Pacific North West to gain a name for themselves. In April of 2015, Eternal Sedation released the Atrocities of Man EP, showcasing the growth in both music taste and ability. They are now in the process of writing for their full length and preparing for tours during the summer.” “Atrocities of Man” is a free/name-your-price recording that you can hear on Bandcamp. www.eternalsedation.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/pages/Eternal-Sedation-Band/172612636113362 Trepanation (Tacoma) This is rough demo of brutal death metal called "Meticulous Evisceration," from 2013. The band calls its music “filthy old school death metal,” so they’re not trying to be fancy and modern, just sick and primitive. www.trepanationusa.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/trepanationusa

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A Flourishing Scourge (Seattle) On its Facebook page the band describes its music: “A Flourishing Scourge is an all-original metal band formed in Seattle, Washington, by long-time friends Tye Jones (guitars/vox) and Josh Keifer (drums). As of 2015, Kevin Carbrey (bass) and Andrew Dennis (guitars) have rounded out the line-up. Blending elements of traditional black, death, and progressive metal, A Flourishing Scourge represents a fresh approach to the incorporation of key elements of multiple sub-genres. The band is currently playing gigs in the Seattle area with a dynamic, multi-media live show that has been hailed as “a hypnotic journey into the mind and soul”. The band is currently in the studio recording their initial EP, with a projected release date in August 2015. For booking information, please contact aflourishingscourge@gmail.com.” Listen to some of the music here. www.reverbnation.com/aflourishingscourge www.facebook.com/aflourishingscourge www.twitter.com/a_scourge Black Tears (Seattle) According to Metal Archives, Trevor Eulau is the person behind this solo black metal project. “Forgotten” is the name of the four-song recording, which is about 23 minutes long. The music, when it is slow, is melancholic, depressive, and when it is going full blast tremolo rules the moment. This is a free/name-your-price recording. www.blacktearsofficial.bandcamp.com/releases www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Tears/1505906806348305

SKELATOR Skelator from Seattle is, more or less, what a person means when they say “heavy metal.” Traditional heavy metal by people who are the craziest metalheads that you will ever meet because they are so obsessed with metal they decided that listening to metal every day was not enough, reading about it was not enough, writing and talking about it was not enough. They had to, they just had to form their own fireblazing heavy metal band. That’s Skelator. Man, is Skelator dedicated to metal or what! Well, let me you the story of Skelator. In all began in year 3666 BC during the time of the ancients’ reign of gold and mystique … No, wait, better yet, let the singer and swordmaster Jason Conde-Houston von San Diego tell you the story of Skelator. Skelator is: Jason Conde-Houston: air raid siren reification Rob Steinway: power dive incursions Robbie Houston: unit distortion projections Patrick Seick: metronomical calculations Rah Davis: thunder intonation commander Hello, Jason. Your new album “King of Fear” sounds perfect for the diehards of traditional heavy metal. Now that the album is completed, what is ahead for the band in 2015 and 2016? In 2015 we are trying to take it easy in terms of song writing. I think “King of Fear” is a very strong album and should be enjoyed on stage until we get around to writing our new material. I think we will aim to write an EP by the end of the year and maybe we can record in 2016. As far as playing live goes, we just played to a sold out show with Steel Panther and we are about to embark on our quest to Chicago to play at the Ragnarokkr Festival. Then we will

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plan a West Coast Tour for late 2015. Let's see what 2016 has in store. Can you tell us a bit about "King of Fear"? Do you, Jason, feel nervous or have butterflies in your stomach when it is time to do your vocals? How difficult is it to get those high scream right on the first take?! Personally, I have mixed feelings about recording myself. I'm not nervous exactly; I just can't stand to have my performance dissected. I kinda turn into a bitch sometimes. But luckily my cousin Robbie is at the helm every time and we have a long history of recording together (since the year 2000). So we understand each other’s boundaries not just performancewise but personality as well. We always tackle one song at a time. We start with the verses in my head voice to get into the spirit and flow of the song. After that, we move on to the choruses and try to get the perfect one that we can copy paste over the song. Then, we do basic backups on the chorus to make it sound meaty. Then, we redo the endings of each chorus so that they are in fact different and they lead into the next part (solo, bridge, ending, etc.). When I needed breaks we would have Patrick do harmony backups on various songs until I was ready again. Usually we do all the falsettos in one session when my voice is sharp and kicking into high gear. After that I'm basically done. Last but not least we have Grave Digger day when I do my gruff backups just to give the songs more grit. The final thing we do is Battle Choir which is our session of gang vocals like in the song “Test the Metal”. Those are usually recorded to give the audience a chance to join in when they hear their favorite songs live.

Is it correct that Skelator started in 1998 in San Diego, in the ancient kingdom of Kalifornien? Jason, how did you discover that you could sing? Do you remember what albums you used to sing along to when you were a young knight? In 1998 me and my best friend Max wanted to start a metal band and we started writing lyrics. Basically, we were just getting into Metallica and wanted to emulate them in everyway. But it wasn't until 1999 that we got Patrick to play drums for us and really start the writing process. I went to school with Patrick at San Diego High School and I was always like “Oh man he's that “cool” guy who plays drums in a band.” Later we recruited my cousin Robbie to play lead guitar. I left him a message on his answering machine “Robbie you must SAVE SKELATOR!!!!” On May 19th 2000 we played our first show to a bunch of straight edge hardcore punks. We sucked so much, but we were the only cats trying to play thrash metal back then so they all loved it. As for my singing, I started off blasting my mom's Led Zeppelin LPs and jumping around the living room screaming my balls off like I was the next incarnation of Robert Plant. Later I head “Blackened” by Metallica and that made me want to listen to metal all day every day. But when I heard “Aces High” by Iron Maiden my mind was fucking blown. From then on I wanted to sing like “that” and write songs like that painting picture in your mind and tell a story at the same time. Then we all got into Manowar and started covering “Hail and Kill”. But Priest is was what taught me how to use my diaphragm. I used to get high and sing along to Priest 8 hours a day when I was 20 working at a local head shop. My favorite singers: Dio, Halford, Eric Adams, Ian Gillan, Dickenson, Ralph Scheepers, Glenn Hughes,

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Kai Hansen, Biff Byford, UDO, Morby, Fabio Leone, James Rivera, Chris Boltendahl, Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, Prince and the guys from Earth, Wind and Fire. How was the metal scene in the medieval feudal realm of San Diego in the mid and late 90s when you started out? Was it a swampland of rap rock, groove thug metal? Yeah, that era sucked ass. I didn't really go out to shows until I started Skelator and we mainly hung out with punks, so I didn't really have to deal with all that noise. Then we started playing with actual metal bands and being part of the Sdmetal.org scene in like 2002/03. I mean there were death and black metal bands that were cool, but there were no heavy/power/thrash bands at all.

It's funny, I met the singer of Fueled by Fire a few years ago and he freaked out when I told him I was in Skelator. He told me that he got one of our demos at an Iron Maiden show in San Diego when he was a young cat and it blew his mind. I'm not gonna say that we inspired the thrash revival, but it was pretty cool to get those kids excited before they started writing their own heavy metal to come. Then, because you were tired of the awesome weather in San Diego, you decided to move to grey, cloudy, rainy and depressive Seattle because you are crazy or a masochist? Why?! Mainly professional reasons for us. Patrick needed to go to Evergreen State College to finish his degree. Robbie had a degree is audio engineering and he figured there would be more musicians to record up here. I needed to get out of San Diego and become a man. But the scene here is just better all around for musicians and artists alike. We ACTUALLY get paid at shows here. Not like LA where you have to play to play and all that BS.

Some people might think that you are crazy because you talk about posers in your songs. Metal music is very trendy and there's a new bandwagon all the time and it is impossible to keep up. It's difficult to tell if a band is thrash one year, alternative the next year, and back to thrash the next one. Heh, a friend of mine was about to go out to a show and I asked her “Who are you gonna see?” She responds, “I'm gonna see Red Fang.” I go, “Who's that?” Then she gets a little bitchy, “Uhhh a heavy metal band....” I reply, “Sorry, I've never heard of them.”

This is the kicker: she says, “They sound just like your band, you should know who they are.” So after she leaves I look them up and they are some fucking hipster band with really loud fuzzy bass and really boring vocals that go nowhere. Next time I see her, I say, “How was Red Fang?” and she replies, “Yeah, they don't sound anything like you guys.” Hahahaha.... story of my life. Just cause it's heavy does not mean it's metal. But when I talk about false metal I don't even care about the heavy hipster stuff. What I care about is the mall-core rockstar Energy Drink white trash bullshit that people think is metal.

Thanks Ozzfest for ruining our fucking fun and lumping us all up with a bunch of fake asses. But, honestly, let them be. Let them enjoy their noise so that we, the few the proud and the faithful, can get together and truly enjoy the spirit of metal the way we see fit. Sure, I'll write a song called “Death to the False,” but I'm not gonna go to a Korn show and start decapitating people in the name of the metal gods. Let them drink their Faygo and smoke meth in peace. What is the worse thing ever in the history of the universe, in your opinion? Glam rock from the 80s, grunge, rap rock or hardcore?

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The worst thing in the universe is fucking Metallica. Sure, it got me into metal and I'll always remember those first four albums for being my road map to real metal, but fuck, man. If I was stuck with all their other albums playing on repeat I would go completely insane. As a cruel joke we listened to “Load” on the road on our last tour. It's absolutely disgusting and that's not even their worst album. It just get's worse and worse. When people try to justify “Death Magnetic” I just laugh. Just cause it's “BETTER” than “St. Anger” does not mean it's worth a damn. Fuck, at least “St. Anger” is funny as fuck. But “LuLu” is far worse, it's not even funny, it's just terrible in every way. I'm not a Lou Reed fan, but for that to be your final record.... rest his soul.

I used to hate buttrock because of Metallica, now I think it's fucking wicked. It's just fun and catchy with badass guitar solos. Hey, if you had decided to spell the name of the band as "Skeletor" would that have brought you a lawsuit?! Which one is your favorite of these three shows: He-Man, Transformers or Thundercats? Which is more metal? Honestly, it was a mistake, but when I realized what happened I figured it was a good thing. There are a few bands called Skeletor out there, but they have all folded over the years.

He-Man is not a good show at all, the monster design is terrible. Transformers is the most metal, for sure, and I still love the 80s animated movie. But if you asked me as a 6 year-old I would say “Thundercats, Thundercats, HOOOOOO!!!!” On Metal Archives the picture of Skelator has you, Jason, wearing a jacket with a Mexican flag patch. OK, how many people have asked you about that piece of trivia? Is this the first time?!

No, ever since I put it on people ask me why I have a Mexican flag on my vest. Well, it's ‘cause I'm Mexican. Why do I have a Star Trek command emblem on my vest? Cause I'm a hardcore Trekkie and Kirk is my boy.

I'm actually going to record the new Split Heaven album in Mexico later this year. This will help me become a better singer, practice my Spanish, get connections in Mexico and spread the gospel of Skelator across the land.

By the way, what can you tell us about your Hawkwind cover "Master of the Universe"? How did you get the saxophone in there?! You threw me for a loop! I've wanted to cover that song since the year 2000 when I first heard that song. But it wasn't until this album when we were trying to find a perfect bonus track that Patrick brought it up and everyone was down immediately. We got our friend Nate to play sax on it and it came out really great. Nate plays in Patrick's other band Pratattack. But, yeah, Hawkwind is one of my favorite bands of all time. I especially love their late 70s and 80s periods the most. I know most people like their Lemmy era, but I think it's dumb to forget that they have like a million more albums worth listening to. It is very good that Skelator is alive and strong after all these years. Thank you, the road has not been easy, but it has been filled lots of fun. Many beers have been slain, towns have been ravaged, speakers exploded, guitar strings shredded and bleeding ears all around. 15 years of playing gigs has really paid off, let's hope for another 15. I just want you all to remember... Death to the Opposition

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Death to False Metal GIVE ME METAL OR GIVE ME DEATH! www.facebook.com/TrueSkelator www.trueskelator.bandcamp.com THE END ** INTERVIEW with

Biotoxic Warfare (Greece) The consensus about Biotoxic Warfare seems to be that this thrash band, in addition to showing a promising future, has made an album with strong songs in the thrash style and the band brings a fresh energy, with a bit of death metal (like in the vocals) that listeners are noticing, such as calling it an excellent album, an atypical album of thrash and a dark thrash album. It seems that even jaded listeners have taken a liking to the album. When a listener first hears the album, one notices the enthusiasm and the effort to make solid songs. With that in mind, let’s find out more about Biotoxic Warfare from Greece. Hello, Biotoxic Warfare! Your album "Lobotomized" is all about headbanging and thrashing! It's a fun and intelligent album! Hey, guys! Thanks for the interview and all the kind words regarding our latest album. What can you tell us about life for metal bands in Heraklion and Crete in general? The underground metal scene of Crete is not one of the strongest and most well-known in Greece due to lack of bands and the disadvantage that we have as an island too far away from Athens, the capital. Nevertheless, we play several concerts here in Crete as it is our base, and our main fan base is located there. Every one of us lives in the island of Crete (some of us in different cities,

though) something which is very effective for the band’s co-operation and communication. However, despite the fact that the scene, here, is not well-heard abroad, there are several bands, such as Menace, Doomocracy, Imperium Infernalis, Chaos Eternal, etc. which are totally worth-to-listen. Is it a problem for Biotoxic Warfare to be located in Crete, in comparison to Athens? Yes, unfortunately, it is our main problem at the moment. Living on an island is very difficult in terms of arranging concerts in other cities overseas, due to the high priced transportation costs. However, it is vital from a band to play gigs in Athens now and then, as it is the main center, and it gives you the opportunity to get your music heard by larger audiences, something that is impossible in our local live shows. Although, this is something that fills us with determination to make our best in order to overcome such difficulties and fight it harder. The scenario, however, of moving out in the main center in the nearby future, is something that we take into serious consideration. What is going on in Greece that made you pick up an instrument and write fast metal music with political/anti-religious lyrics? Hahaha, through the last decade, Greek thrash is like a tradition. Every day a new band burst out ready to thrash the place down! Regarding the lyrics, religion, here, has still great impact in everyday life, and that is something that causes the youth to express their opposition through the lyrics. Also, political themes are a very popular phenomenon, as things here are totally fucked up. In our opinion, things for young bands are difficult and rough, but there are plenty of opportunities for those, willing to take advantage of them.

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What about politics and Biotoxic Warfare? In the news we hear that the economy in Greece is bad, and also that right-wing, fascist political parties are gaining more support. Nowadays, Greece suffers from a devastating not only economical but moral crisis too. People are fed up with false promises and lies given by politicians and political parties, who led us in this situation and as a result, it caused the thrive of racism and fascism which can be considered as a very significant threat gaining more and more power by the people’s arrogance and desperation. Biotoxic Warfare strictly oppose to any kind of fascistic ideologies (both right-wing and left-wing) but we choose to keep our political beliefs for ourselves and not trying to expose them through our lyrics. Who in the band is answering this interview? What can you tell us about your experience in the recording of "Lobotomized" in the studio? This is George (lead guitars) answering. Recording Lobotomized was definitely, one of the most memorable moments in our lives. We spent many endless nights recording and recording with few hours of proper sleep and liters of coffee. Also, it was a race against time, as we had some deadlines to catch on, regarding mixing and mastering. However, except from all the unforgettable memories that we had from this experience, it had huge impact on us as individuals. We became better and better as musicians, we’ve learnt to work as a team and the most important, to find ways to overcome any possible difficulties. It was sure a great experience. Now that you have a debut album out, what are your plans?

Touring is, surely, our next priority. The main obstacle is our low budget, but we try to find a way to take care of that. We have some plans but we cannot announce them yet, as they are not 100% arranged. We are all studying in the university, but some of us are about to complete their studies. What are your personal tastes in metal? I think that people are noticing the good quality and your dedication to metal music! Thanks for the rewarding words! Our main influences are placed in the old school European thrash metal scene and also in the American old school death metal movement. However, every one of us brings their own influences in the band and that is very effective for our musical variety. Some representative bands are can be considered as the following: Kreator, Slayer, Dark Angel, Sodom, Sacred Reich, Obituary, Cancer, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse and Legion of the Damned. Guitar for me is a vital part of my life. So yes, I dedicate plenty of hours on studying every day. www.statictension.com www.biotoxicwarfare.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/pages/Biotoxic-Warfare/427903787269059 www.twitter.com/BiotoxicWarfare THE END ** INTERVIEW with

Drawn and Quartered (part 2) In the state of Washington, death metal band Drawn and Quartered has been making music for a long time, going back to the early 1990s. The band is an important piece of the puzzle of underground metal in Washington.

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This interview with the band has a tremendous amount of history and information about the band and metal in this region. This is the concluding part of the interview. The previous issue, number 52, has the first part of this interview. www.facebook.com/drawnandquartered In 2003 there was "Extermination Revelry." Right after that in 2004, you also had "Return of the Black Death." It seems like you entered a period of high productivity. Was the lineup stable around this time, did it have good chemistry? If asked to recall the early 2000s, what types of associations come to mind in terms of the band during this time in the Seattle area? Were you able to play shows in the Pacific Northwest outside of Seattle? What about the rest of the U.S. and internationally? The first record 'To Kill is Human’ was originally recorded in 1998 and we released tracks on cassettes. We pressed a few hundred copies, two versions. No cover or title, just a promo tape. We soon decided to release the record on CD, and we pressed our own copies. In 1999 we made a deal with MORIBUND to distribute the record, and they pressed their own copies. The original version has color on the image on the disc itself, the Moribund version doesn't. Also our version has a different process for recreating the cover art making it shinier, compared to the higher quality MORIBUND version. After that that tour from 1999-2001 I began writing and rehearsing regularly some new PLAGUE BEARER material. Matt was playing drums in SERPENS AEON, Greg was doing a cover band, and also was involved with PLAGUE BEARER. Herb and I worked on various things, and he did vocals on my PLAGUE BEARER demos. Writing with DRAWN AND QUARTERED was like pulling teeth, but we had put together some things, and did start playing a new song on our last U.S. tour together with Matt in 2001. That song

was called 'Incinerated Faithful' and a version was recorded and included on our next record. I completed a 7-song demo called "Defiled by Sodomy" with PLAGUE BEARER. I did extensive mixes, came up art, had the recording mastered, but never released it. But all the work, rehearsals, recording etc., helped bring my writing to another level, and I got some chances to rip out some solos and practice over and over, something I wasn't getting as much out of our DRAWN AND QUARTERED rehearsals.

We'd been doing a lot of really great shows around the region that was getting us more and more experience and local notoriety. We opened for MORBID ANGEL, IMMOLATION, INCANTATION, EXHUMED, IMPALED, THY INFERNAL, MONSTROSITY, DEICIDE and many more. Some of the local bands we were playing with were BLOOD RITUAL (members of DISBELIEF), TASTY GORE, IMMORAL INTENT, FORNICATOR, INQUISITION, LORD GORE, ENGORGED, WRAITHEN, SOL NEGRO and many more. In the early months of 2002 DRAWN AND QUARTERED rehearsals had been reduced 2 twice a week from 3-5 for many years. The writing was dragging on. We had two finished songs since the last record. I had plenty of new ideas, and we finally got serious about completing music for a record. At the same time MATT and SERPENS AEON were closing in on finishing the music for their debut. Things came to a head and MATT left the band. It was a tough time for me. I was fearful, and it was hard to let go of being a road-ready band ready to open for the best in the business to start over and the possibility of failure. Who knew if we'd ever perform as DRAWN AND QUARTERED again? Once again Beau Galloway referred a drummer to us. Dario Derna had returned to Seattle. I'd hear from Odin he was coming back, so that helped with allowing Matt to step away from what he took seriously as a commitment to me and the band. I did contact Dario, who

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really hadn't played drums much for years. So within a week or two of Matt’s departure we began rehearsing and writing again. In less than a month we had 5 brand new songs. We did a little rehearsal demo, to see how the new songs were sound. It was intended just as a sound test for us, but we sent a copy to Odin at MORIBUND, and it was decided we would promote DRAWN AND QUARTERED Mk 2 with our new 5-song rehearsal demo we called 'Crusaders of Blasphemy'. Hundreds of copies were created, and one version even had a little atmospheric keyboard thing at the end of 'Worshipers of Total Death' that we made Dario take out of future versions! A deal was made with MORIBUND, in a matter of a few months we began doing shows again, and we completed 11 songs for a new recording that began in the spring of 2003. DRAWN AND QUARTERED was reborn. It had taken from until about 1992 until 2002 for me to really hit my stride as a writer, performer and player. All of the side bands, demos, shows, tours were finally paying off and we were finally in a slightly more modern recording environment. In 2003 we were show ready and could learn as many songs as I could bring in. The band all contributed riffs and ideas as well. We now had a label able to fund this operation and we had a 3-album deal to fulfill. Our music and performances were coming across great and people loved our new songs. Things in my personal life were stable, so I was able to focus writing and recording. I knew I was in a very good, and probably rare situation so I took full advantage and brought a lot of ideas and began writing and recording as much as possible. In early 2004 we had an offer to do a split 7", so we recorded two songs on our own recording equipment, it was fast and dirty and the songs came out great, I felt free to just shred away. Unfortunately, the split didn't happen (as often happens in these things) but

the tracks did appear on a cassette album in Germany, and as part of a bonus disc in 2007 for the release of MERCILESS HAMMER OF LUCIFER. I pushed for the recording of our next record and in 2004 we were able to record and release RETURN OF THE BLACK DEATH. Much tighter, cleaner, with even better performances, and some of our more technical music in our catalog, this is one of the highlights of my career. I wrote many of the songs, including the epic AS IDOLS FALL. It received amazing reviews including a nice spread in METAL MANIACS. It was a productive time. I had less of a commitment to a specific job for a few years, and it was often challenging personally. But I had more time to focus on music for a little while.

There was a period of time when DRAWN AND QUARTERED was in a holding pattern while our drummer was getting his personal life together. We didn't waste any time, though. Greg Reeves was our bass player. He had a lot of drive to various projects, and had been working playing drums for a while. We formed a band called WINDS OF PESTILENCE. It featured Greg on drums, Herb Burke played bass and vocals, I played guitar. And Greg's' friend John Fryer was the second guitar player. This was another great opportunity to keep my chops up, and rehearse the lead parts I wrote for myself, work on some new ideas. The music was thrashy, black and death metal influenced I wrote much of the music and lyrics, but Herb started contributing later as well. Unfortunately not all of the songs we had got recorded. From 2004-2008 we played some shows, did a small tour, and recorded a demo that has been mastered, but not officially released. John posted some rough mixes and misspelled some of the titles, so they are out there. Also in 2004 I pieced together some song scraps that became the PLAGUE BEARER EP 'Rise of the Goat'. I had a friend who was playing drums for FUNERAL

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AGE at the time. They rehearsed down the hall. He was eager to jam. So I threw together some songs and lyrics, we rehearsed for a while, then went to the AUTOPSY ROOM that DRAWN AND QUARTERED had been recording at and did a very quick recording. It cost about the same as the demo I did at LAUNDRY ROOM studio for the 'Bubonic Death' demo back 93! It took a while, but I eventually got the recording released as a vinyl EP on NUCLEAR WINTER RECORDS. Dario was soon back and we did a lot of shows around the region, but DRAWN AND QUARTERED has yet to conquer the international market as a touring act. In fact Dario was never willing or able to do extensive touring. These two albums were on Moribund Records and the debut was independent. How was the relation with Moribund at this point in time for you? How did that come about? Moribund is a label from Washington, is that correct? In the early 2000s the internet had not yet taken over as such in metal and people still bought cds, right? Moribund started in the Seattle area, and is based in Washington State. Odin and Moribund has been there since my first show in 1993 at the LAKE UNION PUB. The relationship for me has always been great. I worked as a Moribund employee for a while and was involved with mail order and promoting, including my own records. Odin was a Metal fanatic who worked in local record stores, began his own distro, and eventually label. Unfortunately due to other distributing partners going bankrupt, he took a big hit and had to down size for a while. But he also was the US distributing partner for NAPALM RECORDS, and began Metal Distribution Network. People were buying CDs. I probably didn't even own a computer yet.

In 2006 and 2007, you had another two albums in rapid succession "Hail Infernal Darkness" and "Merciless Hammer of Lucifer.” The lineup seems to be same, so the band seems like it was stable at this time, you were still on Moribund. You must have been coming up with songs day and night at this time. How would you describe the period of 2003-2007 for your band? Were those albums financed by Moribund Records; Did that help you guys to concentrate on the music, with some stability? Or, did you guys get into a lot of debt to Moribund Records during this time? 'Hail Infernal Darkness' came out in 2005. [Metal Archives says it was released January 3rd, 2006. –Ed.] This is one of our finest moments. I absolutely loved that record, and wanted to take a slightly different approach with the next record. I was able to secure budgets for our records, and we did some videos for 'Hail Infernal Darkness' and ‘Merciless Hammer of Lucifer.' The whole band was contributing ideas and sometimes even a song for these records. It was a lot of work to do the records and videos. We couldn't have done it without the line-up staying intact. The fact that we had these stabilizing factors helped me push to make another record. I have amazing rough mixes for 'Merciless Hammer....", the final mix wasn't quite how we intended. The record can be played very loud, and with some EQ it sounds pretty good. But by this time people are listening to music on computer speakers, not home or car audio as much.

We never went into debt. We just don't get any royalties until remunerable costs are covered. That includes recording costs, part of the advertising, video budgets and merchandise and monies advanced for tour support. These years 2003-2007 were very important for DRAWN AND QUARETERED. We put out 4 records in the space of 5 years, as well as the videos, bonus tracks, and

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recording and shows for PLAGUE BEARER and WINDS OF PESTILENCE. It took most of free time and energy to keep up with the projects and various shows, festivals and touring. At one point we did a small tour as WINDS OF PESTILENCE. Dario was not really willing or able to tour. This became an issue, as Greg Reeves, our bass player from 1997-2008 very much wanted to tour. He was getting fed up with the lack of financial return, and was really hoping to be making part of our living with DRAWN AND QUARTERED. That just wasn't happening. We generated money, but not the kind I'd want to try to live on. As far as writing music for the records, that was the easy part. We all had plenty of ideas and riffs for the songs. We started writing a lot of things in the rehearsal room, it was very organic at times. Did things kind of slow down in terms of activity for you after 2007? Your next recording came out in 2011 and it was the EP "Conquerors of Sodom" on Nuclear Winter Records. But then you followed that up with "Feeding Hell's Furnace" in 2012, again on Nuclear Winter Records. For those that do not live in this area and who associate you with Moribund Records, what have you guys been up in recent years, in terms of record labels? By 2008, with 'Merciless Hammer of Lucifer' out I had begun booking a U.S. tour I called the 'Assault of Evil' tour with Moribund Records label-mates SATANS HOST. Back then I booked quite a lot of the tour with the help of MySpace! I was able to locate bands and venues. Some people were able to offer some guarantees, and I negotiated deals, rented a vehicle. We had to recruit Steve Fournier from IN MEMORIUM as the drummer, as Dario was unable to tour. We practiced with both drummers beforehand, and we were rehearsing doing shows as DRAWN AND QUARTERED and WINDS OF PESTILENCE, and

recorded the WINDS OF PESTILENCE demo that never got a proper release.

I would have to say that the activity did NOT slow down after 2007! We took some time and did the tour in 2008. On the third show of the tour the drummer for SATANS HOST quit. We were in Denver, and he just took his drums and went home after our set. The shows had been sparsely attended so far, in Seattle and Tacoma. The Denver show was kind of a fiasco; being moved ultimately to a dumpy Mexican restaurant. I'm glad we did at least get to perform. I can't really blame people for being discouraged, but the tour got better. Our touring drummer Steve, ended up working with SATANS HOST to help them finish the tour. SATANS HOST had become a black metal band at this time, as opposed to the power-metal-from-the-devil approach they originally had, and have returned to. Ultimately, it was a fun but challenging tour; gas prices were 5-6$ a gallon. That cut into potential profits. I also printed too many shirts. I still have couple left from that 2008 tour, to this day. On the last leg of the tour our bass player had an issue and basically quit the band in New Mexico, and tried to sabotage what was left of the tour. He took his gear and things, and I have never heard from him since; after 11 years! So we finally made it home, I took on some significant debt. I could have made a profit, except for a couple of missteps. It was a great learning experience. From mid/late 2008-2010 we re-booted DRAWN AND QUARTERED. Herb had been playing bass and doing vocals in our side band WINDS OF PESTILENCE from 2004-2008. When Greg quit, WINDS OF PESTILENCE was disbanded. Herb had to buy some bass gear. And we started from scratch, writing new material and practicing and rehearsing to a click track. There was a period of almost 2 years that we didn't perform live at all. In

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some ways it was nice to have a break from all of the band activity. I was able to pursue other hobbies a bit. Finally we decided to self finance our next record. I'd had connections with NUCLEAR WINTER RECORDS, and Dario had developed a relationship with Anastasis regarding DRAWN AND QUARTERED releasing our record with NUCLEAR WINTER. The record was done in 2010, but required mastering, and artwork to be completed.

We began performing again in 2010 as a three piece. The band decided to leave off a couple of the songs from the full-length. I was very pleased that we were able to release the "Conquerors of Sodom" 7". We had an earlier recording of the title track that was slated for a split 7' and t-shirt deal with Relapse Records that ultimately fell through. That version of 'Conquerors of Sodom' was never released. The full-length record finally came out in 2012. The band had been doing some traveling to play shows and festivals. The move to Nuclear Winter, wasn't so much of my doing, but we decided as a group to try something different. We had a new logo, we were a three piece. It was fun. We could bust out 20+ songs at any time as a live band, and more if we rehearsed a bit. It was a good place to be, as we'd been together with Dario since 2002, ten years. It was easy, I had a lot of free time. We didn't have to rehearse that much. We had been writing some new stuff, and even demoed an unreleased, unfinished song. We performed our last show with Dario at the Black Circle Fest in Portland, Oregon.

Dario had marital issues, then he got a divorce. Then met a new girl, then they started a family and got married. As this was happening he got a great job offer and moved on with his life. That's what people do. It was the end of an era. But it is what it is. And we weren't sure if we'd continue, do a long distance band, take a break or what. We did continue and with the help of Beau Galloway, I started piecing together songs for another

record. Soon after, Simon Dorfman (SHADED EMNITY, INQUINOK) joined as our drummer. We began performing in 2013 and recorded basic tracks for a record by 2014. There was no label we were officially signed to at that time. Due to personal and musical differences that record did not get finished.

We are working on a deal for our next full-length now, we have about 13 songs as of this writing. We have begun tracking some songs for various releases we have coming. And we continue writing and performing at shows and festivals. I have a track for a compilation and a song for a split 7" we are working on. Then I will be releasing a limited edition cassette album. I'm also planning on doing our own 7" record and ultimately a full-length vinyl release. All of that on top of recording our next full-length that would be a CD release with a label. We just got some newt-shirts with the 'Feeding Hells' Furnace' artwork on them. How has recording your music changed in the case of Drawn and Quartered? It used to be that young bands dreamed of going to a big studio and working with a famous producer, like Scott Burns. How do you go about recording your music nowadays? What are your views about the recording of drums nowadays? All of the actual CD releases have been in a studio, with people we paid to engineer, record and mix the music. We were always there to help produce the records. There weren't any famous producers near enough for us to work with feasibly, without great expense. At one point there was talk of us traveling or working with someone. We did have James Murphy master our 2nd record. I am doing some in-house production for some projects I mentioned previously, using much less tracks and gear. That last 5 records have been recorded in the modern way with

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tracking drums to a scratch guitar played at the same time, then going back and recording guitars, bass and vocals. Different effects and gear have been used to record the drums to varying effect. There are many factors and variables.

I want a nice natural sounding drum kit, with punchy but not 'clicky' drums. Herb is definitely against the fake sounding, popcorn/typewriter drum sound. Usually the drummer and engineer are trying things and engineering the drum sound. It all gets a bit convoluted, and it is time consuming and challenging to record and get a good sounding drum performance. There are some many possibilities. It is hard to say much about, as I haven't heard every possible technique, piece of gear or engineering of drums being recorded. I know people try a lot of things, samplers, compressors and editing to get drum tracks. It begins to some ambience with all this.

Sometimes I wonder if just a simpler approach might be best. I would prefer a live sounding kit in a studio drum room. But in the end, I trust the drummer and engineer. I can't do everything, for better or worse, I have to allow them to try what they think is best at the time. I really don't know enough about it to comment. Sometimes even after all the efforts to create the drum track, the mix gets screwed up anyway. Sometimes when dealing with budgets, deadlines and logistics and realities of life things get screwed up. Sometimes a drummer changes their heads right before recording and they end up unhappy with the sound of the heads for whatever reason. There might be a tone or ringing they can't get rid of that you’re then kind of stuck with. All I can say is find a really good drum engineer. How difficult is it for you (financially, time-wise, work/job, family, health...) to continue making

your metal as you get older? When bands are young they'll travel across the country in a van and come back home with nothing, but if someone offers you a gig all the way across the country and you're going to sleep in someone's house on the sofa, how appealing is that to Drawn and Quartered at this point in time? Honestly it was always difficult. Instead of relaxing with friends and family, doing regular activities, enjoying hobbies and down time, all of your free time goes into writing, practicing, rehearsing, recording and doing shows. And making money to pay for gear, rehearsal rooms, travel and whatever else you have to invest in. It takes a certain amount of drive, dedication and discipline to consistently do even more work. And the work environment is a challenge, I work really hard to make as much money as I can sometimes multiple jobs, side businesses and whatever you have to do to survive and thrive and finance your dreams and goals.

Having never stopped, and after doing multiple bands and projects, at this point it isn't that hard at all. We currently rehearse in my house. I've had to work very hard to create a lifestyle for myself and create the financial and personal situation for myself to be able to do this. You have to have your shit together, and that can be harder the doing the music for sure. Most people eventually quit. They get sick of it all. You have to absolutely love it. It can't be just for money, because you might not see much of a profit for a long, long time.

It doesn't make as much sense to just drive around in a van playing shows and sleeping on couches. I've done plenty of that. It's about utilizing your time and resources to the maximum effect. I'd rather fly out and do some shows. Why do I need to cart guitar cabinets around anymore, there are plenty to use. It seems silly for 3-5+ bands to all bring

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cabinets and each move them on and off the stage for a show. I'm going to do shows and make sacrifices when I get to play for new audiences, at promising shows and festivals. And I expect some money to help defray expenses. It's is not very wise as a business person to take a loss year after year. You're doing it wrong. Being metal doesn't mean you have to be broke and stupid. It means you're a warrior and you'll do what it takes to make progress. I have to be more critical about what shows and projects I agree to. I am getting older, and to me that means I don't have time to screw around. I expect a guarantee usually, especially if I'm traveling. I'm already going to take a loss from not working. No amount of guarantee can make up for that. But I'm not going into debt as well, so I can be more metal!

Running around doing random shows is a waste of time, if you could stay home make some records that are going to reach more people. Then maybe it would be worth traveling and doing shows, you have to do both. You just have to be careful with what you commit to. I have to turn down shows every week. We just can't do them all, some just don't fit with other band and personal plans we might have. I like to take some vacation time NOT doing shows or work. How do you see yourselves as a band in metal? Would you say that you feel a certain connection to bands like Incantation and Immolation, and Sadistic Intent, Blaspherian and Funebrarum? I think we have potential to take this band to another level. It will take hard work, travel, making some more great records; improving our performances and recordings. We will always be an underground band. We have a connection to those bands because we have performed with, met and toured with these guys. We have finally carved our names into

the scene, like the bands mentioned we continue to create the darkest most malevolent music we can come up with. The best is yet to come, as far as I'm concerned. The industry is evolving, and the fan base continues to expand worldwide. What metal bands in the local scene in the Seattle do you think are making metal that is interesting to you? Off the top of my head I'll name some bands I can think of. FUNERAL AGE, TREPANANTION, SLUT VOMIT/ WARP VOMIT, are a few. There are quite a few people and bands excited about underground death metal right now. Our local scene is a strong as ever with good turnouts to local shows. Can you tell us what your plans for 2015 are? How was Famine Fest in Portland? My phone says that you will play a show at Highline with Antaeus. Anything else you would like us to know about Drawn and Quartered for 2015 and 2016? 2015 has been busy so far. I put together a little recording studio at home where we rehearse, and we have been writing and rehearsing as well as doing some shows. We've done a couple Seattle shows, the FAMINE FEST in Portland, Oregon was excellent. We have a show with UADA and INFERNUS in Portland on April 18th, in May we have a couple of slots at the MARYLAND DEATH FEST to play. In June we are headlining a festival in Bend, Oregon. We'll also start tracking for our next full-length CD as soon as we secure the deal/budget, and I stop booking shows for us for a bit so we can record. I hope to at least have completed the record this year; hopefully, it will also get a release date. After all that I hope to focus on some high profile festivals, and there has been a mention of a world tour that may eventually

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come to pass! I will be selling some new merchandise on our Facebook page for now until I can get some distribution again, or my own webstore, so stay in touch, everyone! THANKS! HAIL INFERNAL DARKNESS!!!! THE END **

REVIEWS Keep of Kalessin (Norway): Epistemology (Indie Records)

by Matt Spall, the Man of Much Metal www.manofmuchmetal.wordpress.com I’m not afraid to admit when I am wrong. This, I believe, is one such occasion. I have had cursory listens in the past to previous releases by Keep Of Kalessin and not been overly impressed. To this day, I can’t really put my finger on why I wasn’t lured into the fold; for some reason, the black-tinged extreme metal offerings didn’t really click with me and so with more music to listen to than I have spare time, I wasn’t in a position to give the Norwegians much of a second chance. Until now that is. And you cannot believe how pleased I am that the stars aligned and somehow forced me to give album number six, entitled ‘Epistemology,’ a chance. This is one hell of a record. It has well and truly made its mark and left a previous sceptic with much to ponder. I will certainly go back and re-explore the back catalogue, that’s for certain.

I talk about stars aligning because it sounds exotic, windswept and interesting. In reality, my interest in Keep Of Kalessin was re-ignited a while back when I discovered that they had entered the race to represent their native Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest.

And then, more recently, there was the intriguing competition that the band ran to design the artwork for this album. The result is beautiful, striking and markedly different from what has gone before. As a complete sucker for a great album cover, I felt compelled to explore the music contained within.

The nice thing about my personal circumstances however, is that I am able to look upon ‘Epistemology’ with fresh eyes and not be swayed or influenced by what has gone before. To me, Keep Of Kalessin circa 2015 is a brand new band and therefore a brand new discovery about which I can be completely honest without being hindered by the baggage that a back catalogue can bring. It’s quite exciting actually.

What surprised me initially is that such a huge, epic sound can be created by a mere three people. Obsidian C handles the vocals, guitars and the bulk of the writing it would appear. However, he is more than ably assisted by drummer Vyl and bassist Wizziac, both of whom make an impact on this record. In true extreme/black metal style, ‘Epistemology’ opens up with a short, minute-long instrumental piece, ‘Cosmic Revelation’. It serves it’s purpose well as a tension-builder, because it’s a surprisingly suspense-filled cinematic sci-fi inspired piece, full of dark and foreboding drama despite its diminutive length.

What follows is, frankly brilliant. ‘The Spiritual Relief’ is off-the-scale superb. It begins with a furious blastbeat and dominant riffing which together threaten to spiral out of control at any moment such is their combined frenetic vigour. Underpinned by swirling synths, the track has a classic, grandiose symphonic black metal feel to it. But then something magical happens. At first, the guitar riff descends into semi-discordant proggy territory before the composition opens up into one of the most epic and anthemic sections I’ve heard in extreme metal circles for some time.

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The blast beats remain at breakneck speed but the clean, soaring vocals and subtle guitar melodies send goosebumps up and down my spine. Then, as if this wasn’t enough, at about the halfway point, the track collides headlong into power metal territory, complete with groovy riffing, lead guitar breaks and catchy melodies before experimenting with what I can only describe as heavy ambient stylings. The central melody becomes ever more glorious and joyous before eventually reverting to the more black metal approach encountered at the beginning. Ten minutes never passed so quickly.

‘Dark Divinity’ follows and whilst the unique clean vocals of Obsidian C are present, he defers more readily to what I’d call a gruff black metal bark. The entire track is more straightforward if that’s not too disingenuous but what’s most striking is the unique guitar playing. I’ve used the word ‘unique’ a lot within this review but I genuinely think it’s justified. The phrasing, the execution and the entire sound of Obsidian C’s guitar playing is unlike anything I’ve heard before. ‘Epistemology’ is comprised of only eight tracks but the album as a whole does not feel too short. Indeed with the vast majority of the compositions weighing it at over seven minutes in length and up to ten on occasions, Keep Of Kalessin impress me by the way in which nothing really feels too drawn out or bloated for the sake of it. ‘The Grand Design’ is another well-worked epic and memorable track that blends extremity with sumptuous melodies whilst ‘Necropolis’ has a great groove and some really powerful mid-paced drumming that forces the listener to headbang whether or not they wanted to. ‘Introspection’ begins quietly with a theatrical synth-led opening before hurtling towards a huge, anthemic power metal-esque chorus via more lightning-fast rhythms and riffs.

The album then closes with the title

track. Classic 90s-inspired symphonic black metal is the bedrock, although the clean vocals are somewhat reminiscent of a toned-down ICS Vortex or Vintersorg, thereby fleetingly calling to mind the likes of Borknagar or latter-day Arcturus. But then a beautifully melodic lead guitar break or quiet synth segment is never far away, thereby reverting to their unique approach and blowing out of the water any further easy reference points. The track builds throughout and is led to it’s conclusion for the final couple of epic minutes via a recurring melody atop which sits some majestic choral vocals and a breezy upbeat guitar melody.

And with that, ‘Epistemology’ is done, although the music stays with you long after the final notes have faded away. For someone who wasn’t expecting much, I must admit that Keep Of Kalessin have well and truly blown me away with this record. ‘Epistemology’ contains just about all the things I like from extreme metal these days; the combination of extremity, technicality and overblown grandiose melody and atmosphere is truly a thing of beauty and something special to behold. Magnificent. The Score Of Much Metal: 9 www.facebook.com/keepofkalessin www.indierecordings.no Battle Beast (Finland): Unholy Savior (Nuclear Blast Records) by Jojo from www.fuglymaniacs.com 2015 started off with a new band to us: Battle Beast. These guys have been around since 2008 and are a big deal in Finland, apparently with many accolades from winning battle of the bands contest to chart toppers. They are capable musicians with two other albums under their belts. Unholy Savior is a

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release that will confuse the listener. They are all over the place with their Europower metal influence to club pop rock ballads. They are trying to cover a lot of ground with one album. Funky keyboard driving pop songs like "Touch me in the Night" and "Angels Cry" are outright embarrassing. We are jaded and ugly so we are probably NOT the people to enjoy this, BUT if you like Wisconsin cheddar (we do in our food!) cheese topping off that fried Twinkie with a touch of power sugar, you came to the right place...enjoy! 2015 is off to a weak start, but we got Napalm Death, Hate, UDO, Venom to look forward too...YES!! www.facebook.com/battlebeastofficial NightMare World (U.K.): In The Fullness Of Time (Pure Legend Records)

by Matt Spall, the Man of Much Metal www.manofmuchmetal.wordpress.com Now this is exactly the kind of album that I want to feature on the Blog Of Much Metal; a strong record that deserves attention but which might not get the exposure it fully deserves. To be honest, had it not been for the inclusion of a certain musician that I follow via social media, it may never have even registered on my radar either. Thankfully it has because the music is too good to be overlooked and not brought to people’s attention. By way of a bit of background, NightMare World are a British-based band, that came together with one sole aim, to create powerful, dynamic heavy metal. Comprised of guitarists Sam Shuttlewood and Joe Cleary,

bassist David Moorcroft, keyboardist Nick Clarke and drummer Billy Jeffs. Oh and on vocals, the band features Pete Morten, that chap who plays guitar in Threshold and who is the singer, guitarist and principal song writer with My Soliloquy. ‘In The Fullness Of Time’ is the debut album following a well-received EP back in 2009 by the name of ‘No Regrets’. I reckon that, by now, I have the full attention of many, so let’s crack on. I don’t think that the members of NightMare World will take too much offense if I suggest that the content of ‘In The Fullness Of Time’ doesn’t set the world alight in terms of out-and-out originality. Theirs is an approach that is relatively familiar in that it offers melodic power metal with lashings of synths and the odd foray into prog territory. However, crucially, where NightMare World really deliver and show their quality is in the song writing stakes. When it is well written and presented, this kind of music can be the kind of tonic that is infectious, addictive and something that will plaster a big smile on the listener’s face. This is exactly what NightMare World do and they should get great credit for it. Benefitting from a great production job courtesy of Karl Groom (Threshold) and the mastering of Peter Van’t Riet (Symphony X, Transatlantic), there are many ingredients littered throughout ‘In The Fullness Of Time’ that combine to great effect. First up, each member of the band can really play their instruments. Everything is executed well, with a clarity and sureness of purpose to ensure that the compositions hit the mark from the very first note. The guitar tones are very nice; crunchy and crisp to accentuate the riffs and to play a perfect counterpoint to the softer keyboards that dip in and out with subtlety but also come to the fore occasionally via a well-placed solo or grand atmospheric sweep. The rhythm section lays a solid

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foundation with the drums in particular packing a punch. The progressive elements are not overplayed, meaning that the songs are never compromised by an ill-judged foray into overindulgence. This latter point is underlined by the fact that the album is a very succinct affair, with the nine tracks lasting for a total of 38 minutes. It means that NightMare World do not outstay their welcome; quite the opposite in fact. The band get in, do their thing and get out, meaning you’re left wanting more as the final notes fade. And then, inevitably, there are the vocals. Those familiar with My Soliloquy will already be conversant with Morten’s delivery. Once heard, never forgotten. His delivery may be in the higher-pitched ranges but they remain powerful and never veer into screechy territory. Morten’s phrasings are always interesting and coupled together with his range, top the songs off in a very positive manner and help provide that je ne sais quoi that all bands need. With a vocalist like Pete Morten, there’s always the danger that he could have stolen the show and plunged the remainder of the band into the shade. The great thing is this never happens, such is the all-round quality on display. In terms of my favourite moments on the album, I have to point initially to ‘In Memoria Di Me’. After the cinematic instrumental opener of ‘The Mara’, it wastes no time in delivering an up-tempo and groovy riff atop some sumptuous keyboards that maintain the theatrical feel. It then opens up into one of the best choruses on the album, a real earworm as I’ve discovered over the past few days. The slightly more melodic hard rock stylings of ‘Burden Of Proof’ are very welcome as are the quieter, darker and more brooding tones of ‘The Ever Becoming’. ‘The New Crusade’ is out-and-out power metal joy but the best is arguably saved for last in the shape

of the closer, the truly epic and grandiose ‘Euphoria’ which is a part cinematic and part metal anthem. In closing therefore, if you’re after a professional, highly competent and fun dose of melodic metal with prog touches, let NightMare World into your life. The Score Of Much Metal: 8.0 www.facebook.com/nightmareworld www.purelegend-records.com Venom (U.K.): From the Very Depths (Spinefarm Records) by Jojo from www.fuglymaniacs.com “From the Very Depths” is Venom's fourteenth studio album. When we heard Venom had a new album it brightened our day with anticipation. Needless to say we enjoy the hell out this release, it’s a good one. First, a word from our "fugly guy" : If you’re still waiting for the old Venom sound & line-up move along. Those days are gone and if you can’t move pass that, then go fly a kite and quit your bitching! Yes, we know you are a true, elite metalhead. We're back, as we were saying this album delivers. The production is top notch, the speed and heaviness is there. Cronos still sounds good. Their sound is a bit more progressive with blaring guitar solos coming in and out like a drone dropping bombs on a locked target. Some would dismiss this as not being a Venom trait. You would be right. If you play long enough you will actually become pretty good at your craft. Yes, Rage (guitars) is showing off his skills and some will hate that. Cronos bass

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sounds filthy and Dante’s thundering drums sound great. We like this trait better than sounding old and lame. It's 2015, people, let’s move forward; the 80s are long gone and in the rear view mirror fading fast. Tracks that stand out: From the Very Depths, Smoke, Long Haired Punks, Evil Law, Grinding Teeth, Wings of Valkyrie. Truth be told we like it all. Support Venom. www.venomslegions.com All album reviews, news and updates below are by MMB, unless otherwise stated. Sarpanitum (U.K.): Blessed Be My Brothers … (Willowtip Records) When I first heard this album my interest was peaked by the obvious high quality of the metal. It struck me as a bit special in metal, which made me take a more serious attitude towards the album. Speaking truthfully, this is the album that I have heard the most in 2015. In part, Sarpanitum, like most metal bands, faces a certain range of problems. One of the most difficult things to do in metal is to stand out because, on one hand, the genre is so old (with origins that reach back to the late 1960s), and on the other, the metal industry (e.g., listeners, musicians, press) are musically conservative: the biggest metal bands are literally senior citizens who are not just very wealthy but multimillionaires. This makes it more problematic for younger generations to be seen and heard. If the grandpa bands refuse to leave the stage, and the press gives priority to the corporate-millionaire bands, the younger bands have to wait around for a long time, playing to an audience of seven drunk people at a bar on Monday nights. Thus, it is difficult to find quality under circumstances that discourage quality.

Yet, despite all these problems in metal music, there are lesser-known bands that want to create something exciting and a bit unique, like Sarpanitum, which appears to be musicians focused on quality, above all. You could describe Sarpanitum in a variety of ways, yet none of those descriptions will work well: Sarpanitum plays a type of metal that immediately gives the sensation of painstakingly crafted songs, with a standard set straight on the high quality of Nile, Immolation, Death, Morbid Angel: generally blasting speeds, Nile/Immolation-like heaviness topped with melody—but not sugar/cheap melodies, more like a melancholic/hypnosis melodies—that perhaps could come from Symbolic-era Death, all done with a major symphonic tapestry, perhaps coming from an Emperor/Dimmu Borgir-style of foundations towards the background of the songs. You will notice that people writing or talking about Sarpanitum describe the band in terms of death metal, which is normal, but then that creates the impression that this music would appeal to death metal audiences, maybe exclusively. However, Sarpanitum is not concerned with a single-genre sound, in a narrow sense, as we shall see. What is the difference, then? The difference is the idea that (1) it is not enough to play fast (which Sarpanitum certainly does) and expect that that will be all that you need to make a lasting impression; (2) Sarpanitum is not satisfied with the low standards in death metal; you just can’t chug along and expect to call it a “song.”; (3) Sarpanitum has spent lots of time thinking about the guitar melodies, how to make a song memorable, but not make it some cliché, happy melody. It is not easy doing these things, which is why

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Sarpanitum sounds superior. More is more, better is better, talent is better, skill is better, maturity is better. You will know it when you hear it. One issue that might discourage some possible listeners is the low-growling vocals. Sarpanitum faces a dilemma: all of the elements of the music are very developed, and only the vocals sound underdeveloped in comparison to the instrumentation and songwriting. The problem for the band is to find the corresponding style of vocals, and whichever style they do, they will not please everyone, of course. That being said, it should be noted that a band like Nile has shown the possibilities for creating a variety of vocals, within the framework of extreme vocals, as you can find on “Black Seeds of Vengeance,” for instance. It is just a matter of putting ideas to work towards finding other ways for extreme/heavy vocals to come to life. At any rate, like I mentioned earlier, this is the album that I have heard the most during 2015. There is much, much for the discerning listener to absorb here. Of course, this is highly recommended to anyone that likes serious, mature, talented extreme metal. Even if you prefer traditional metal, I would say, give this album a listen and see if your ears perhaps do hear the difference of Sarpanitum. The melodies should go a long way towards helping you understand the music. I believe that this is a special album. Will you agree? www.facebook.com/sarpanitum www.willowtip.com Ancillotti (Italy): The Chain Goes on (Pure Steel Records) Ancillotti is a legendary name when we are talking about heavy metal in Italy. The singer, Daniele “Bud” Ancillotti is the vocalist for the highly-regarded heavy metal band Strana Officina, whose origins date back to 1977.

Since 1982 Bud Ancillotti is the voice of Strana Officina. Now, Ancillotti is another band in which Bud sings, a band with his brother Bid (bass) and Bud’s son Brian (drums). The guitar is taken care of by Luciano Toscani. Therefore, when you consider the people that are involved in this music, you know that the music will be a monument to heavy metal, and it sounds like it was crafted by experts of heavy metal. What this means is that the music aims to please. The uptempo bangers and the midpace rockers, the sing-along choruses, the air guitar moments, the shred segments, it’s all here. Ancillotti, to me, will please people into U.D.O./Accept because the singing style used by Bud is a rough, tough rocking singing that oozes rocking metal all the way. By the way, for those people that also like 70s and 80s AC/DC, maybe the album “Back in Black” and that whole vibe in the guitars and the singing of that album, you will like the spirit of Ancillotti because this music a bit like a more “metal version of AC/DC.” Bud is one of the most distinguishing marks about this traditional heavy metal. Mr. Ancillotti has a voice that is rough around the edges, he’s so good at what he does that he twists and turns the vocal chords for a sound all of his own. Mr. Ancillotti does this semi-growl, but it’s not like death metal, it’s melodic, a gritty rock and roll growl. Then, he also does melodic singing, and changes the tone of his voice. It’s all very U.D.O.-Saxon-AC/DC in spirit, and it’s very appealing, and pleasing to the ear, if you like those singing styles. In addition, of course, the band knows very well how to make an album that will be fun and headbanging. Anyway, as you can probably tell, Ancillotti is about heavy metal songs for rocking out, the band seeks to write metal songs that will hit the target and that please the listener into this style of metal. I

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can’t imagine that if you like Saxon, U.D.O./Accept, AC/DC, that you would not enjoy this music by this very recognizable and known name in the history of heavy metal in Italy. For those about to headbang, Ancillotti salutes you with heavy metal. This band knows how to rock. Come and get it. www.puresteel-records.com www.ancillottiband.com www.facebook.com/AncillottiBand Dew-Scented (Germany): Intermination (Prosthetic Records) Dew-Scented, like Overkill, Sodom and other thrash bands, has developed a solid reputation for reliability. Dew-Scented’s extreme thrash (thrash with growled vocals and some blasting) is aimed at thrash loyalists who want more, more, more moshing-chugging grooves, more. There are 14 songs on this album. Here and there, the band shows a bit of melody and whatnot, but overall, this is all about “brutal thrash” and forming giant mosh pits. I have noticed that the reason why supporters of the band like the music is because of the thrash constant, the consistent songs, the “meat and potatoes” style, the no-funny experimentation and stick-to-what-you-do-best approach. This is another way of saying that Dew-Scented is for diehard, fanatic, thrash-is-my-favorite-genre listeners that love bands that keep the moshers happy. If thrash is what you want, and what you love, and you have not given Dew-Scented a chance, right now would be a good opportunity. Here’s the door, watch your elbows, and watch out for elbows coming at your face right about now. www.prostheticrecords.com www.dew-scented.de www.facebook.com/dewscented www.twitter.com/dewscented Gruesome (U.S.): Savage Land (Relapse Records)

Many people already know that Matt Harvey from death metallers Exhumed loves Carcass, but now we are learning that he loves Death’s album “Leprosy” (1988) a lot, too. Matt and other old timers got together to pay tribute to Death by making an album that is meant to be a sibling album to “Leprosy.” In a parallel universe separated by decades apart, Gruesome beams up those unique vocals by Chuck Schuldiner and those riffs into 2015. Of course, these senior citizens in 2015 know how to make the songs sound like 1988 Death. Do you, the listener, want late 80s Death-like metal or not? If you do, if you really do, then this is a very good clone transported from the 80s to 2015. The old kids have gone back in time to the music that turned them on to death metal, and have shown that they have learned well from the teachers. www.facebook.com/gruesomedeathmetal www.relapse.com/gruesome SoulHealer (Finland): Bear the Cross (Pure Legend Records) This album happens to be one that has been getting many repeated listens, for many good reasons. SoulHealer is a band that is very good at melodic metal; they write songs that sound like hits; they have a sound that will appeal to people into rocking music with memorable chorus and catchy hooks. Plus, it just sounds like the band has a lot of fun interpreting its version of traditional rocking melodic metal music. To me, if you like Helloween, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Edguy, Saxon, U.D.O., Doro, and you enjoy those bands that emphasize big-time choruses that seek to get the listener’s attention with one listen, SoulHealer is made for you. The first thing that I noticed about SoulHealer was the good singing. The singing is very, very appealing because it is that style that walks perfectly the line between natural talent and acrobatics; the singing is melodic, pleasing to the ear, and I find no possible

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problems that could turn some people off, like, with some bands, such as high screams, nasal singing, weird voice traits or unusual quirks. In fact, if rock radio played SoulHealer, I suspect that many non-metal listeners into rock in general would absolutely love the music because even though SoulHealer is a metal band, the music is also big rock, anthem rock and sing-along hard rock, and the Van Halen or Journey crowds would understand the spirit of SoulHealer, which is traditional to the bone. This is music played by adults, not insecure/unscrupulous people trying to get your attention with funny haircuts, masks or jumpsuits. These guys are probably parents and could be teachers, social workers, mechanics, so on and so forth. This is music for men and women, and of course, young people, but it exudes confidence and the love of traditional metal and rock. It is “parent metal” or “middle-age metal.” Call it whatever, it is just SoulHealer. The main concern for SoulHealer is the quality of the music, and the quality is very good, like I have been telling you. Things like, “Is this fast enough? Is this heavy enough? Will it sound like ‘modern metal’? Would be it ‘cool’?” and those silly questions are irrelevant here. Of course, I think it is very cool, but I know that here in the U.S. the metal media doesn’t give this form of metal much attention because, well, it’s the U.S., and chug-rock is considered “metal” and thug-core is considered “metal.” However, in the U.S. there are people who appreciate this music. We just have to get it to them. If you find that you really enjoy metal that has singing, and metal that concentrates on writing songs that you can remember for days and days, you cannot go wrong with SoulHealer. Give this band a listen. You will know immediately if this is for you because there is no mystery here: SoulHealer is melodic metal and the name of the game is quality and big-time songs.

Is it possible that SoulHealer will be your new favorite band? Can you imagine a band that writes hit and hit of melodic metal? Does the idea interest you? I cannot recommend this album highly enough. I can’t stop talking about it, but I have to. Ok, it’s your turn now. Let’s see what you think! www.soulhealermusic.com www.twitter.com/SoulHealerMusic www.facebook.com/soulhealermusic www.purelegend-records.com Violent Hammer (Finland): More Victims demo (Shadow Kingdom Records) This demo is 17 minutes of barbaric extreme metal that contradicts all the modern notions of “brutality.” Violent Hammer plays death metal like Venom, Hellhammer and Mantas sped up to more savage, faster forms. The guitar tone is utterly foul, the vocals sound like a dinosaur or a bear in your living room … you know, super ugly aural primitive barbarism. www.shadowkingdomrecords.com www.violenthammer.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/violenthammer Desolate Pathway (U.K.): The Valley of the King Desolate Pathway is traditional Candlemass-style of doom, and is led by former Pagan Altar guitarist Vince Hempstead. This is classic-minded doom with a metal guitar sound (not stoner/sludge/postmetal) and a real singer, one that will appeal to those into the soulful style of traditional doom in 2015, with great songs, with a wonderful vibe; melodic/melancholic, soulful doom metal the way that the master of doom Leif Edling himself likes it. Look, let’s do this, if you like traditional doom like I have been describing, give this band a try and see if you agree with me. If you like Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, (and newer bands like In Aevum Agere from Italy), then I think that you are the audience

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for this band. What do you say? Try it out? www.desolatepathway.com www.facebook.com/desolatepathway Carbonized (Sweden): For the Security (Vic Records) This is a reissue of the 1991 Sunlight Studio/Tomas Skogsberg-produced album by Carbonized, which involved Therion boss Christofer Johnsson and bassist Lars Rosenberg, known for his time in Entombed. Carbonized had a reputation for being rather weird, wacky extreme metal, but that's later in the 90s, this is 1991, so in grind and death metal the really jazzy/looney sounds have not happened yet in a big way. In 2015 this album sounds rather normal as extreme metal, perhaps more direct and simpler than the dominant Entombed-like sound associated with growling metal from Sunlight Studio at the time. Christofer's vocals are deep/gruff growling (like early Therion, of course), while the guitar is chugging/groove-ish, so that this is not really death metal, but more punk-ish in that sense. Check out Carbonized if you have an encyclopedic love of old Swedish bands or of Christofer Johnsson-related music. www.vicrecords.com The Negation (France): Memento Mori (Kaotoxin Records) The Negation is a major cacophonous car pileup of clinical modern black metal. When this album is on, the aural chaos is in motion, moving from one dumpster dive of modernity to another upheaval underbelly of the gutters of grime of the cities. It sounds like cyborg-robotic hybrid of hate and fury illustrated in a musical form. The blasting is going on all the time and the screaming seems to stop for a second only to start again. The bottom line: you want to hear modern extreme metal in 2015 and The Negation is glad to oblige. You might even say that The Negation incorporates some elements of industrial

music, in the sense that it is meant to be alienating and unfriendly and machine-like in precision. The band surely wants to embody chaos in the sound and this they do very well. I would be very interested to see how this music sounds live. For now, speaking of this album, this is the sounds of modern extreme in 2015. Prepare yourself for a rather disturbing listen and just know that this album will never sound comfortable to the ear. There is a tiny bit of melody in the black metal guitar work, but there is a whole lot of racket taking place, too. You wanted chaos, and you got chaos, now what are you going to do with it? www.facebook.com/the.negation.band www.facebook.com/kaotoxinrecords Ion Vein (U.S.): Ion Vein (Mortal Music) What a perfect balance of metal Ion Vein is. The discerning metal audience into traditional forms of metal should notice many things about this album that are excellent and outstanding. One initial element to observe is how remarkably complete the album sounds: the experience and the skills shine through very well, and there is an overall vibe that the band has worked a lot on the album, showing that this work is the result of years of thinking about how to construct their art. This aspect—when an album sounds carefully crafted—is something that should be commended because it demonstrates respect for the music, respect for themselves as musicians and respect for the audience that will listen to this album. It is like the band knows that if the targeted listener hears this album, that listener—if that listener pays attention—will notice that this work is no hurry-up or minimal-effort project. The perfect balance of Ion Vein consists of bringing the best elements and putting them to great use on this album: traditional heavy metal, prog metal, thrash, power metal, shred metal and classic rock. Listen, however, don’t misunderstand: Ion Vein

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sounds very smooth and not like some annoying mixture of different styles. Ion Vein does not sound like an irritating compilation album. Above all, Ion Vein sounds like experienced, intelligently crafted heavy metal. Perhaps the greatest difference with Ion Vein is the sound of experience. For instance, the prog metal is there, but Ion Vein does not sound too proggy, like music for musicians. Ion Vein is heavy metal, but the musicians have been around the block and sound like it. It’s not like some bands that are happy that they can make their songs sound like Angel Witch or Blitzkrieg or whatnot. It’s not like, “Wow! Look, we can write songs that sound like Judas Priest!” This band could do that in their sleep. Seriously, this band could play those Priest-like riffs until the cows come home if they wanted, but Ion Vein is beyond the novelty aspect of heavy metal. Another example would be Ion Vein’s incorporation of thrash. In thrash metal, it is often the case that the bands seem satisfied and content that they have fast, galloping riffs, as if that is the main thing that is necessary for a song. The greatness of this Ion Vein album is to be found on how smooth the band makes the songs. To illustrate the point, I will not talk about any of the first eight songs. Why? Because bands tend to frontload the albums with the good songs upfront and leave the filler at the end, as if they figure that nobody will notice. This album has 12 songs, so, actually, I will not talk about the first eight songs at all, which all sound very good, by the way, excellent, actually, but let’s not talk about them now. Let’s go straight to the last four songs and let’s see if Ion Vein left the filler songs at the end of the album. Let’s really put Ion Vein under the microscope and let’s see what we find! Is the band hiding the mediocre songs? Song number nine is called “Alone.” First of all, it sounds wonderful, perhaps a little bit like

“Recreation Day”-era Evergrey working with Symphony X. It is heavy and emotional, and sounds like a hit. It is a hit with me! So, let’s get this right, Ion Vein left this excellent song for number nine? I like the soloing and the overall atmosphere, too. Let’s go to number ten, then: “The Will of One.” This is a thrashy, heavy-metal-thunder headbanging song. What a nice contrast with the previous song, too; this is Ion Vein letting their hair down and rocking out. The band displays its heavy tone to the guitars, a bit downtuned thrash/prog. Number 11 is called “In the End” and the music displays not speed but rather feel. The band lays down some heavy prog/thrash rhythms and lets the singing take over the song with a catchy chorus. Number 12 is called “Twist of Fate” and with it the band has decided to go out with a bang, not a whimper. If you want to hear a heavy thrash, and even a bit of extreme metal guitar feel done in the context of Ion Vein, then check out this song. This is a headbanging song and how does it manage to sound like prog metal, too? That’s Ion Vein. Awesome-sounding soloing, too. The song is a nice little summary of the great consolidation of styles that is Ion Vein. It goes to show you that some heavy metal bands do pay attention to the metal music around them. Think about this: I did not even tell you about the first eight songs on this album. If I were to tell you about them, this review would be too long and it might as well be an essay. The origins of this band reach back to the 1980s in Chicago and the musicians have been around the block more than a few times. As you can tell from this review, the band can play. The final thing I would like to mention is the singing. The vocals are both melodic and gritty, and sound strong and upfront. There is a great quality to the singing, it’s one voice, and it is not weird/schizophrenic, just traditional metal singing, but traditional in the sense that it

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sounds like one voice that has shades and nuances. The only question that remains is whether this band can deliver live. Being the curious George that I am, I went to YouTube and did not find a whole lot. However, I did find one video of the band performing “Fools Parade” (song number 1 from this album) in 2013 in Chicago. Upon hearing and watching the video, which sounds very, very good and very impressive (it shows that this band can, in fact, really bring home the bacon live), I wonder if this is the band’s live performance or was it enhanced in the studio. Hey, I am a skeptic! So, here’s the situation: to my ears, this live video sounds like great evidence that Ion Vein is the real deal. It means that this band, and this album should not be ignored by any serious metalhead into looking for quality and talent. It looks like Ion Vein can do it all, after all. I want to buy plane tickets to Chicago and witness this band live for myself because this band sounds that good. Very, very highly recommended for listeners into quality metal of traditional forms. www.facebook.com/MortalMusicInc www.facebook.com/ionvein www.ionvein.com www.twitter.com/IonVein Black Trip (Sweden): Goin’ Under (Threeman Recordings) Black Trip’s first demo is from 2012 and this is the 2013 album. Black Trip is late 70s-style metal, maybe similar to the more melodic bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. “No Tomorrow” may, in places, sound a bit similar to “Running Free” by Iron Maiden, for instance; other songs will give a similar sensation. This band has former members of Nifelheim, Necrophobic, Dismember and a big whole bunch of bands. The band seems to be led by Peter Stjärnvind, who has been in Entombed and is in Krux with Candlemass’ Leif Edling, and who basically can play any form of metal music, black metal, doom, death,

black thrash and now neo-70s heavy metal. That pretty much completes the circle, then. Are you ready to travel back in time? Black Trip has a good ticket for it. Of all of Peter’s bands, this could be the most surprising because it is so different from the extreme metal for which he is known. As he gets older, Peter can’t run away from the metal of his childhood. Peter is running free, not confused about the sweet danger brought about by the lightning to the nations and the devil eyes, with their backs to the walls but still fit to boogie, still fit to rock and roll and ready to make a jailbreak when the boys are back in town. www.blacktrip.se www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Trip/184303701663532 www.threeman.net Entrails (Sweden): Obliteration (Metal Blade Records) Entrails transports old 1989-1991 Stockholm/Sunlight Studio/Tomas Skogsberg death metal from the past to 2015 in a big way. The question: Do you want, do you really want to hear a band that takes the ball (of the early Entombed sound) and runs away with it for a touchdown? It all depends on you, if you cannot get enough of that sound, then you should look into Entrails and either reminisce or discover what people mean by “Swedish death metal” because this is it, this is exactly what the term means in 2015. Of course, if you have Entombed and Dismember and all those bands in your collection, and you want more of it in 2015, this is your invitation. The past is alive. www.facebook.com/Entrails666 www.metalblade.com/us/ Death Dealer: War Master (Pure Steel Records) This 2013 album from Death Dealer—which involves Ross the Boss (Ross the Boss, ex-Manowar), Sean Peck (from Cage), and musicians from other bands—is hard-hitting

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traditional banshee-screaming heavy metal, modeled after the Judas Priest album "Painkiller" (1990), namely near-thrash/speed metal songs, tough-as-nails sound, pounding rhythms, and some midpaced moments here and there; it’s upfront traditional heavy metal, of the serious/no-happy type. It’s not a new album, but maybe you missed this one when it came out. By the way, Death Dealer will tour Europe in July 2015. www.facebook.com/deathdealerband www.deathdealer.co ZOM (Ireland): Flesh Assimilation If you like Revenge, Black Witchery, Autopsy and primal, raw extreme metal in general, then ZOM is for you exclusively. It doesn’t matter that this is too extreme and too foul for 99.99% of the metal music audience, this band does not care one bit. This band is not into having clean and perfect productions. It sounds primitive and fundamentalist, and it is. This is definitely for the initiated and this band specifically wants the initiated crowd to listen. I would bet that this band is very hostile to modern and mainstream metal. ZOM is the outsiders of the outsiders, too extreme for the extreme. Bang your head. www.zom666.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/pages/ZOM/195971213790266 Kingcrow (Italy): Eidos (Sensory Records) Melodic progsters Kingcrow began in 1996. The band’s 2013 “In Crescendo” album was interesting because they sounded in tune with the idea that most listeners want songs. Most of us are not musicians and we listen to music to find something enjoyable. Kingcrow is rather radio- and ear-friendly; the music is not “in-your-face” loud and I imagine that this band does not care about genres. “Light prog metal,” anyone? Anyway, lots of people like this new album and you will find no shortage of accolades for Kingcrow. If anything, I will

just my add my two cents here about why the band sounds so ear-friendly. It could be that the singing is pleasant, melodic, tuneful and not too extreme, not too loud, not obnoxious, not weird. The music “sounds” proggy, but “simple,” if that makes sense; I connect with the songs quickly. It could be that Kingcrow values emotion in the music, in the way that a band like Evergrey does (Evergrey is heavier, more soulful; Kingcrow writes bigger, more immediate hits that could be big with lots of non-metal and non-prog people). I recommend Kingcrow to listeners who are confident, those that don’t care about the genre and don’t get into big arguments with their friends about “true prog” and all those things. If you are able to relax and just listen, then give Kingcrow a chance. This is their new album, their sixth one. www.facebook.com/Kingcrowband www.lasersedgegroup.com/labels/sensory-records Dire Omen (Canada): Wrestling the Revelation of Futility (Dark Descent Records) Dire Omen looks to keep the metal filthy and chaotic in the most extreme way possible. Dire Omen is keenly aware that they play metal that most metalheads will never understand, as if Dire Omen is sick of seeing their favorite bands mellow out or become the darlings of the metal media. That’s it, then, Dire Omen’s goal is make the music so chaotic and anti-fashion that the music itself sounds exceedingly hostile to the rules of metal music itself. The low-growled incomprehensible vocals and the sheer anti-everything of Dire Omen reeks of nihilistic extremes taken to the max, a wasteland that no casual “fan” will dare approach because this is unintelligible to the casuals. The old bands in the 80s used to talk about “no posers allowed” and whatnot, but their music had melodic and catchy riffs, even if it was thrash

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or death metal or grind. This is an altogether different beast. This is bitterly, vehemently hostile to the normal ear and most people won’t get it, they won’t wrap their heads around it. Most metalheads will dismiss it as “garbage” and Dire Omen sincerely hopes that that is exactly what happens, so that only those that can handle the filthiness and the grime can stick around until the album ends. The public into war metal, necro metal, primitive death metal and barbaric/savage metal in general should look into Dire Omen. www.darkdescentrecords.com www.direomen.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/direomen Kaledon (Italy): Antillius: The King of the Light (Scarlet Records) Kaledon formed in 1998 and this is the band’s eighth album. Kaledon is power metal, and like much power metal from Italy in the current period, the band sounds in their prime, it is a band ascending, searching to make masterpiece albums that will capture the hearts of the catchy metal world audience. Kaledon has plenty of sing-along power rockers, but they also do some midpaced headbanging tunes and a few slower moments. It’s a good balance, but keep in mind that Kaledon on this album is about rocking out to power metal, so that’s what they do. If you like “glorious” power metal, if you love sing-along “uplifting” songs, Kaledon will give it all to you. You want it, they have it, so go get it, this is the action that you want. If you are interested in the traditional metal bands that are coming up from Italy in recent years and you have not heard Kaledon, they are now on the eighth album and it is high time to investigate the sounds of Kaledon. www.facebook.com/kaledonofficial www.kaledon.com www.twitter.com/kaledon www.scarletrecords.it

Undergang (Denmark): Døden læger alle sår (Dark Descent Records) For those that want death metal of the lowest-growling-murmuring possible and the heaviest kind, played in a primal, cave and minimalist way, then Undergang’s music will be perfect for you. Undergang has such indecipherable growls that you would need special decoders to listen closely and attempt to know what words, if any, are being utilized. How rotten and putrid can Undergang make its death metal? Ha, ha, oh, you have no idea! In comparison to Undergang, a band like Incantation or Suffocation sounds much cleaner and musical. With Undergang we are in the world of Hellhammer 1983 aesthetics, in the sense of extreme sounds and unpolished style. Not that it sounds like Hellhammer per se. If anything, if you have heard Krypts (Finland) in the recent period, you will have an idea of these kinds of sounds. There was a time when death metal bands wanted to make disgusting music and did not know how to play their instruments very well or were not interested in sounding very skilled. This is what Undergang is all about. Just when you thought that death metal could not possibly get uglier, then Undergang comes along and flushes down the toilet everything that you think you know about death metal. This is for the most dedicated to primitive, cave-dwelling death metal supporters. Is this band the work of genius?! www.darkdescentrecords.com www.undergang.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/undergangktdm Continuum (U.S.): The Hypothesis (Unique Leader Records) If you want modern tech-metal, then let’s talk about Continuum, a band with members from a bunch of other groups like Son of Aurelius, Decrepit Birth, Deeds of Flesh and others. Tech-metal and deathcore fanatics that want clinically perfect cyborg robotized jazz from

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hell will find everything that they want in Continuum. There’s the low growling and the hardcore-style screaming, the drumming both goes inhumanly fast and seems to be played by someone with three arms, while the guitars are impossible to keep up with, and only with repeated listens will your little human brain begin to notice a method to the dexterity. The band call themselves “progressive death metal” and others call them “technical death metal,” and you can call it “tendonitis rock” or “mathjazz from Mars.” Holy cow, Continuum, this music is for the brains of computers and math wizards. When you listen to this band, make sure you are sitting down because you might faint. That, or start doing math equations like a maniac, like a pencil-breaking, eraser-eating maniac on the mosh floor. www.uniqueleader.com www.facebook.com/continuumDM Bone Gnawer: Cannibal Crematorium (Pulverised Records) Bone Gnawer is old-school 80s-type horror-movie/sick-humor death metal that features the growls of Kam Lee, known for his time in Mantas/Death and Massacre. Bone Gnawer is all about keeping the death metal simple: downtuned chugging/grooves, roaring growling, and rocking out. The music is meant to be fun, perfect for summertime metal barbecue parties or just hanging out and chilling. Kam Lee and friends stick to what is true for them: straightforward, primitive death metal, the kind that the Pantera and Slayer public might like if they gave it a chance because it is direct, to-the-point metal music, with a rock and roll mentality. Keep it heavy and make it simple, and give the listener some grooves. It’s hot-dogs-and-beer summer death metal. www.pulverised.bandcamp.com/album/cannibal-crematorium www.facebook.com/BONEGNAWER www.facebook.com/pulverisedrecords

www.twitter.com/PulverisedRecs Starbynary (Italy): Dark Passenger (Bakerteam Records) “Dark Passenger” is an album that will be interesting to the public that is committed to traditional prog metal. Overall, the music combines power metal melodies with prog metal vibes: the keyboards are prominent and the neoclassical elements are an important part of the sound; expect the keyboard/guitar shred moments. The vocals are on the high/melodic end of the spectrum. Starbynary is talent and intelligence, and it sounds like music for musicians. The band doesn’t sound like they are trying to compromise, which is a positive aspect for the dedicated prog listener. The album is over an hour long, which is almost like a rule for prog bands: the albums have to be long because they need that much time to get all the ideas out. This is the band’s debut and the band was formed in 2013, but this is an experienced band; it sounds very professional, skilled and the production sounds as professional as can be. Starbynary might be a new name, but for those devoted listeners of prog, this band should be a good find. www.starbynary.com www.facebook.com/Starbynary/info?tab=page_info www.twitter.com/starbynary www.bakerteamrecords.com

Ad Hominem (France/Italy: Antitheist (Osmose Productions) The name of the album does not quite capture just how full of hate, negativity, anger, pessimism and nihilism this traditional black metal album’s lyrics are. Ad Hominem probably will not like anyone describing the music as fun, catchy and headbanging, but this is the fault of Ad Hominem and Ad Hominem alone: no one is forcing Ad

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Hominem to write such good songs, so full of great riffs, so filled with catchy tunes and so easy to headbang. Ad Hominem sounds like Kaiser—the band’s chief, big kahuna and jefe—has the mentality that Lemmy has about making music: this is not rocket science, man; it’s rock and roll; and black metal is rock and roll; make the music so that people can move. Ad Hominem, of course, does not sound like Motorhead; this is tremolo-king black metal and blasting fury. So, yes, this is black metal; it is not “post-black metal” or anything funky like that; straight up, upfront blasting, furious black metal. Also, if you are easily offended by politically incorrect lyrics, then don’t bother with this album because this is all about hatred for humanity. One song title that gives you an idea of the type of vibe going on here is “Go Ebola!” There are other titles that I could tell you about, but frankly some of these titles you are not supposed to say them in polite company. Everyone’s religious ideas will be offended by this band, which makes its goal to attack, insult and ridicule the humans. Look into this band if you like latter-day Darkthrone’s catchy music, except that Ad Hominem sounds like metal, and not like garage-punk rock. In addition, the production is modern, and not garage-punk rock. What these two bands share in common is music that makes people rock out. Ad Hominem is not about complexity or intellectualism or experimentation or weirdness; just black metal and headbanging. Remember that this album is not a cave recording; it is meant to sound professional and clear.

Who is the audience for Ad Hominem? Well, first of all, if you are not offended by anti-religious and anti-human ideas, then people into black metal and thrash metal would be the obvious target audience (lots of thrashy riffs going on here). Or, perhaps if you are curious about the notion of a black metal

band writing songs with the mentality of Motorhead, then give this album a listen. You might be surprised how much fun this album is. It took me one listen; with one listen, I felt the energy of the music and could tell the album would rock. After listening a bit more to the album, my opinion is the same: bang your head to Ad Hominem! By the way, if you like the black metal as interpreted by Impaled Nazarene, then check out Ad Hominem, too! They are musical cousins and they both hate the humans. www.osmoseproductions.com www.facebook.com/adhominemofficial Elvenstorm (France): Soulreaper (Infernö Records) Elvenstorm is one of the most exciting power metal bands right now, in my opinion. Their previous album, "Blood Leads to Glory," received a very positive review from me because I thought that the album has everything going for it. I also did an interview with Elvenstorm to find out more. Elvenstorm has a great admiration for classic Running Wild and early Helloween, and Elvenstorm proudly plays "Teutonic heavy metal," as they call it: fast, speed-metal heavy metal with hooks and melodies with traditional, melodic metal singing. It is fast, it is very memorable, with a lot of talent, and tightly executed. Now, the band has a new four-song EP (two new ones; two covers), which is a great way to remind us that they are working, and work this EP does. The band sounds as vibrant as ever, as exciting as always. The new songs keep the "Teutonic metal" flag flying high, and it is such a wonderful thing to hear a young band continue the mighty tradition of “Teutonic metal.” The two new songs rock big time! The third song “Tyrants” is a cover from German power/heavy deities Heavens Gate’s 1989 album “In Control.” [Always remember “Livin’ in Hysteria” from 1991, too!]. The fourth song is “Black Magic” (with a bit of “Hell Awaits” at

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the end) by Slayer. (Nice choice, too, the heavy/speed/thrash/black/NWOBHM-style metal Slayer of 1983-1985, before the dumbing-down/narrowing/commercialism took place in 1986 and after). In short, get ready for more Elvenstorm because they are back! www.inferno-records.net www.facebook.com/Elvenstorm Obtruncation (Holland): Abode of the Departed Souls (Vic Records) The first demo from this brutal death metal group is from 1991. Their debut album is from 1997 and apparently they disappeared, but this is their 2014 album and they are back to return to the action with a nine-song 33-minute album. Upon their return, they have decided to continue their blasting, brutal 90s-style death metal, not too distant from old Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation or Sinister. The album is short, the solos are shredding and the songs get to the point right quick. One after another the tracks are exercises in death metal frenzy, but Obtruncation is brutality of the old school, not the tech-metal/deathcore/slam type. This means that the band makes sure that you can bang your head to these songs. The band is not trying to have a million riffs in the song, they are interested in heaviness, in having an immediate impact and in not wasting your time. They came here to deliver the metal action, and they do. Let’s hope that Obtruncation does not disappear again. We need for this type of death metal to continue alive and not be forgotten. Obtruncation will not do disappear one more time because too many old Dutch bands keep disappearing and nobody seems to know the why. Obtruncation stay. www.facebook.com/Obtruncation www.vicrecords.com

Officium Triste (Holland): Reason (Vic Records) Officium Triste started in 1994 and the band is still active today, with a recent album in 2013. Vic Records is reissuing “Reason,” the band’s 2004 album, considered a classic of melancholic doom by some. Given that this is not a new album, I want to get to the point very quickly: l will say that this is “elegant melancholic doom with growled vocals,” which means that some things stand out. First, the growling is pleasant, and not annoying/irritating screaming/yelling/barking. This growling manages to sound pleasing and I have no idea how they do it. It’s not aggressive/angry; it’s elegant. Second, the songs have melody, but it’s melancholy and that’s what this is all about. Third, the music is quality, and it’s for those into Slumber, October Tide, Daylight Dies, early Katatonia, early Paradise Lost and other such sounds. This album has nothing to do with "Southern-fried" rock, sludge, stoner/garage rock, core, ambient/post-rock, and those current “doom” trends. I cannot tell you anything else about Officium Triste’s other albums because this band is new to me (how ignorant!). This album, however, I can easily tell you that it is very good melancholic doom. www.facebook.com/officiumtriste www.officiumtriste.bandcamp.com/album/reason www.vicrecords.com Macabre Omen (Greece/U.K.): Gods of War – at War (Van Records) “The best album of 2015!” “Album of the year!” “A masterpiece” These and other such accolades continue to be showered upon Macabre Omen’s new 2015 album. But why?

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Does it have anything special going on? Recently I told you about the band Sarpanitum and why its 2015 album, in my opinion, was so unique—as metal music, “unique” here doesn’t mean postrock or weirdo/experimental/ambient rock; I mean real metal music—that I have listened to it a lot this year because I liked it that much. Now, I would like to tell you about another album that I have come across that is in that same category—that I listen to it many times because it is very interesting to me as metal music. This is Macabre Omen. Macabre Omen started in Greece and the band’s first demo is from 1994. Today only Alexandros is left from those days, and Alexandros has worked with various people to create this album. Apparently, Alexandros plays guitars, keyboards and does vocals, but the drums are by Tom Vallely, who has several projects, too. The album has other instruments, but it’s not clear who plays what on it. According to Metal Archives, the previous album is from 2005, and there was a split release in 2006 and another one in 2007. Basically, Alexandros works and records music at his own pace and he has other musical projects that he has worked on, too. Let’s get the genre out of the way. Macabre Omen is “epic black metal”; that’s what people seem to agree on, but let me tell you what this is not. This is not “epic” in the sense keyboard/ambient/symphonic sounds; it’s not a long-song album, either; it’s not folky music; it is black metal proper, but it’s not demo-like sound quality, nor is it simple-song black metal. I have noticed that for some people, Macabre Omen seems to be the epic metal of Bathory’s “Blood Fire Death” and the spirits of old Greek black metal’s dark melancholy, like old Rotting Christ. It is fast, tight and grim; it sounds ambitious; it has

melody, but it’s melancholic-dark melody; it has room for slower moments, variety and moods, it’s multidimensional; it shows that Alexandros has possibly spent a long time thinking about how to construct these songs, and how to make them sound right and big. In terms of sound, the album seems great to my ears. I observe that the drums do not sound like that awful, lifeless plastic sound that dominates in metal. I don’t know how the drums were recorded and how computerized they are, but they don’t sound overly processed. The guitar work gives the listener many things to absorb and to think about. The album sounds like it was a lot of work, not because it sounds super technical, but because it sounds like only the best ideas and riffs were used, while lots of other lesser ideas have been rejected. The vocals, too, demonstrate a lot of work; there’s a variety of extreme metal vocals, but also some clean voices, but it’s all done so well in the dark vibe that it makes me think about how much Alexandros has thought about the different types of vocals needed in the various segments of each song. It sounds like Alexandros put on himself no limits on the imagination; and it all works, in my opinion. Finally, one last thing: I have to finish this review and I remind you that I highly recommend this album, but I am not done listening to it. The review is finished because at some point it is time to get done with the review, but this album has so much in it that I will be coming to it to understand it more. Macabre Omen does not put out new music often, and it seems that now we know why. From the sounds of it, it takes a long time to implement the musical ideas and make them sound this way. www.macabreomen.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/macabreomen.rhodes www.van-gbr.de

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Hollow Haze (Italy): Memories of an Ancient Time (Scarlet Records) Have you noticed the good metal albums coming out of Italy in recent years? Take a look at Hollow Haze! Hollow Haze formed in 2003 and this is the sixth album. From the beginning the album sounds like an “epic power metal” concept album; the vibe is very good. I can tell you that if you like the feel of the Avantasia metal operas or the Rhapsody epic albums, you know, albums that sound huge, that show that the band wants to create something truly great for power metal audiences to love forever, then please consider this latest Hollow Haze album. This album features guest singers Mats Levén (from Candlemass), Rick Altzi (from Masterplan) and Amanda Somerville (AINA, Avantasia, Kiske/Somerville, and others) and it appears that Mats is the main singer on the album. Anyway, I don’t know much about the album, but it looks and sounds like a concept work. Whenever someone says “concept” or “opera” album, I wonder whether it’s going to be a bunch of slow and boring songs. Thankfully, this album is a good balance and the overall mood is rocking. I still feel like I will find more aspects and components with more listens, but the overall result is clear: the albums sounds wonderful for those that enjoy European epic power metal and metal operas of big choruses and sing-along tunes of glory. Recommended big time for power metal loyalists! www.facebook.com/hollowhaze.music www.hollowhaze.com www.scarletrecords.it Vulcano (Brazil): Bloody Vengeance (Greyhaze Records) Greyhaze Records is reissuing a 1986 classic of extreme metal from Brazil. If you do not have this album, I will quickly tell you a few reasons why the album seems to be universally loved. First, the album sounds primal, like a mix of

thrash, death and black metal all in one and the songs have a great energy to them. Second, the viciousness of the album no doubt has had a great, lasting effect on metalheads in South America and beyond. Third, this album is part of the early period of extreme metal in Brazil and has a charm that is undeniable. Fourth, the songs are actually memorable; it is not just fast and loud, which it is, of course. Fifth, whether this album is a masterpiece or not is for you to decide, but there is no question that this is a very good album, regardless. Sixth, this is a personal reason: I listen to this album regularly. It is the type of album that I heard one time and I knew that I would be coming back for more. I could list more reasons, but just understand that this is Vulcano in 1986 rocking out as hard as they could and they succeeded big, big time. This is a wonderful album any way you look it. If you love extreme metal, and you have never given Vulcano a chance, I tell you, you should do it and see if you feel the fire and brimstone raging in these songs. www.greyhazerecords.com www.facebook.com/VULCANOMETAL Lady Beast (U.S.): II (Infernö Records) These wild acts of the heavy metal mania, such as Kaine, Night Demon, Osmium Guillotine, Züül and other bands, are crusaders on a march of the damned, bringing lightning to the nations with heavy metal thunder; these filth hounds of Hades are running wild for the extermination day of false metal. Now, add LADY BEAST to the demolition boys and the iron maidens! Lady Beast wants you to rock until you drop; they don't do it for fortune because they don't need your money, honey, they do it because it's electric!

From the beginning, Lady Beast wastes no time in getting to the classic-style heavy metal glory of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sounds in 2015. The first Lady Beast EP is

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from 2012, and now they have this album. Lady Beast is 100% shameless, in-your-face heavy metal from the time when metal was young. You better submit to this classic-style heavy metal, otherwise the band will chase you down the street and you and your friends will be like, "Aw, snap, they're going to kill us!!" for not being metal. Lady Beast plays infectious songs and they let you hear all the instruments in the old school way because this is not robotic metal; it's human-made music. I have been listening to this album and wondering how these boys and girl managed to channel the spirit of classic metal. Listen to Lady Beast! "Do you dream of playing guitar or smashing up the drums? Maybe you can learn to play the bass. You can always be a singer like" Deborah Levine “and front the band! When on stage they wait at your command.” High five! www.inferno-records.net www.facebook.com/pages/Lady-Beast-Heavy-Metal/179141995430791 Johansson & Speckmann: Mask of the Treacherous (Vic Records) As you can tell from the name, this is death metal living legend Paul Speckmann (Master) and old school death metal songwriting mastermind Rogga Johansson, whose list of musical endeavors is beyond substantial (if you are curious, look him up on Metal Archives and get ready to be surprised). The cool thing about this album is that it is solid, strong and upfront death metal by people who are consistent, dedicated and reliable. These two men are incapable of fooling anyone because it is not part of who they are. They play old death metal, something along the lines of 80s/early 90s death metal for the present time. Their objective is similar to what Motorhead or Slayer/Overkill or AC/DC represent for their respective genres, except that these two men possibly have more impeccable résumés in terms of style

consistency and stubbornness, in a good way. Now that we know all that, let's get to the specifics. First of all, the album sounds great, the Johansson death metal praxis in full force; heavy and memorable; Speckmann's bass is mean, nasty, loud and groovy; the drumming is handled by Brynjar Helgetun, a wilderbeast from the frozen forests of Norway, and has collaborated with Rogga on several projects, and Mr. Helgetun does a great job of keeping the heartbeat, while cooking up his own flavors of grooves and blasting for a rather speedy, banging album; and the Speckmann vocals sound as only Paul can: intense, full of personality, and disgusted with society, injustice and humanity's inhumanity. To conclude, with such trustworthy names in death metal, this album sounds very good, and it is as exciting as I was hoping it would be, and even better. Living legend + metal mastermind = this album! www.facebook.com/pages/Johansson-Speckmann/225899484206206 www.vicrecords.com Eschaton (U.S.): Sentinel Apocalypse (Unique Leader Records) Eschaton is a tech-metal band, but I think they might be secret quantum mechanics scientists, physicists and math wizards because this music is like numbers crashing into other numbers, bouncing off the walls of other numbers. Call it “technical death metal” or “progressive deathcore” or whatever it is that these whippersnappers call themselves, but what is not in dispute is that there is no way in the universe that anyone can really understand this music with only one listen. You have to put your thinking cap on, get your calculator out and see if your human brain can figure out where these songs are going. I have been listening to Eschaton and my brain hurts. Do I need a college degree to understand Eschaton? Can Eschaton grant me a college degree if I listen to the album 20

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times? Because that’s what I—with my mere human, mortal mind—need to understand the billions of riffs that are flying about. How many people are doing vocals? Is it humans or is it gremlins in the studio and why do they never stop? Eschaton is some crazy, crazy tech sounds, man. Is Eschaton the end of the line or the end of music? www.uniqueleader.com www.facebook.com/eschatonmetal Artizan (U.S.): The Furthest Reaches (Pure Steel Records) What do you think of melodic heavy metal, in the sense of new-era Queensryche, Serenity or Kamelot? Or, if you like melodic metal of an earlier time, what do you think about “Transcendence”-era Crimson Glory, “Time Will Tell”-era Fifth Angel, “Perfect Symmetry”-era Fates Warning, and/or “Programmed”-era Lethal? Do you by any chance happen to know about the Colorado, U.S. metal band named Leviathan and its 1991 self-titled EP? Even though all these bands have their own personality, in my view, they have one thing in common: they prioritize high-quality melodic metal songs above all. The school from which these bands come has taught them that you write songs for yourself but you also write songs so that other people can hear them and connect with them. Artizan’s melodic heavy metal does not sound like any of those bands. (Well, it does sound a bit like the Leviathan 1991 EP, but there is a very good explanation for that, as I will tell you in a minute.) Before going any further, let me just tell you now: If melodic heavy metal is a genre that you follow, I recommend Artizan to you as highly as possible because Artizan sounds “practically perfect in every way.”

When it comes to traditional heavy metal, once I determine that there are no major problems (or things that irritate me about the recording/band), I am looking for some specific things, such as level of professionalism/skill, songwriting (Do the songs connect with me?) and of course, the singing (some vocalists annoy me; some sound mediocre; some just don't sound good to me, even if they are famous metal millionaires). Artizan sounded incredibly good on a first listen, and soon with more listens I confirmed that the band has a special combination at work. As soon as the first song hits the ground it all sounds clear, professional, you can hear the instrumentation well, and everything sounds right. Song after song, the album's quality cannot be denied. All the songs sound like hits, meaning that any of these songs shows the quality of the band. Pick any of these songs and you will hear the class and elegance of Artizan. This album is produced by Jim Morris, which definitely helps to explain the quality of the recording. Jim Morris and the Morrisound name means a lot to many metal listeners, due to the long history of metal music associated with the name. By the way, there is also an edition of this album that has the bonus track “Come Sail Away” by Styx covered faithfully by Artizan. While I’m at it now, I want to tell you about the previous Artizan album from 2013 “Ancestral Energy.” That is another album that I have heard a lot. It is another excellent, excellent album by the band. Of course, I have heard “Ancestral Energy” more than “The Furthest Reaches” because I have had more time with it. Both albums are total awesomeness of melodic metal. This now leaves me with a task: to investigate 2011’s “Curse of the Artizan” and 2009’s “Artizan” EP, which complete the Artizan discography. Finally, the following information will be

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interesting to some people, perhaps to older metalheads from Colorado. Artizan’s singer (Tom Braden) and drummer (Ty Tammeus) are both former members of Leviathan from Colorado. The other members of Artizan are: Jon Jennings on bass, Bill Staley and Shamus McConney on guitars. Tom and Ty both played together on the Leviathan 1991 EP self-titled EP. Back in the day I read a positive review of that EP (probably in Metal Maniacs magazine) and I ordered the cd. Naturally, I still have the cd, which I received with a handwritten note from the band, and still listen to it. Melodic metalheads, give Artizan a chance to charm you! www.puresteel-records.com www.facebook.com/artizanmetal www.twitter.com/artizanmetal www.artizanmetal.com Wombbath (Sweden): Downfall Rising (Dark Descent Records) According to Metal Archives, death metallers Wombbath formed in 1990 and did several recordings, eventually turning into death ‘n’ roll in 1994 and calling it quits around this time. Now, after a break of few years (some 20 years), the band’s only member Håkan Stuvemark from the old days, returns with a new cast to resurrect the "old Swedish death metal.” Skilled with a thick-as-a-brick superheavy guitar tone and deep, gruff vocals and a batch of old-style songs, Wombbath strikes while the iron is hot. The album, while heavy throughout, shows quite a few moods, blasting speeds, headbanging midtempos, slower moments and some dark melodies. The band has positioned itself to take advantage of their return to action with a strong album in the style of old-sound death metal that brought so much attention to bands from Sweden in the early 90s. Wombbath has done its best on this album to

give you a taste of death metal as they understand it, and has delivered a representation that sets the foundation for the band to make a permanent return to the metal world. Old Swedish death metal continues to resurrect. Those that want to hear the genuine article and are looking for the sounds of the classics, then put this one on your list. This album comes out in August 2015 and it is for the total fanatics of the sounds of the golden age done for the present. www.facebook.com/Wombbath Kattah (Brazil): Lapis Lazuli (Bakerteam Records) In terms of traditional, melodic, quality prog metal Kattah with this album is positioning themselves for a bright future in metal. The singing sounds great, in the tradition of Queensryche/Maiden; the songs show conciseness and a sense of focus, while maintaining a prog edge. The best element of Kattah is the simple fact that the band is aware that the target audience of this band likes prog and intelligence, but that the people also want songs that can rock. To tell the truth, I have never heard of this band before and I did not know what to expect. I heard the first song and it sounded awesome, but I wondered whether they could maintain the quality of the songwriting for the complete album. Naturally, the reason I was skeptical is because I wanted the album to be as good as it sounded at first. At this point, I feel confident in saying that Kattah is not misleading the audience: this band really does keep up the quality of its prog metal throughout the album. Kattah has diverse songs, and the band likes for its songs to have some variety, but these songs work. Fortunately, Kattah is a great balance of intelligence and rocking, prog and heavy metal, musicianship and songwriting,

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mellow/prog and rocking. If you have been reading this little humble review and you feel any sense of interest in Kattah, then please do yourself a favor and give them a listen. For my part, I believe that the band keeps its side of the bargain: they are as good as advertised; they have the songs to prove it. This must be reason why the band gets such positive reviews, and now I have found out for myself and I can say that I agree with the positive reviews, too. Kattah is a hit with me. www.bakerteamrecords.com www.twitter.com/officialkattah www.facebook.com/KattahOfficial Mystifier (Brazil): Göetia (Greyhaze Records) Mystifier (founded in 1989, and active today) is a cult legendary name in international underground extreme metal and represents the Brazilian tradition of bestial black metal of the obscurantist ritualistic forms. This album is considered an excellent, classic work of black metal by many underground fanatics. Greyhaze Records is reissuing this 1993 album, the band's second one, which followed the 1992 album "Wicca," also reissued by Greyhaze. Given that this is a cult classic, I will get to the point right quick. Mystifier's sound is based on old, first-wave barbaric and evil black metal. The band plays that black metal that is all-encompassing: the music has an primitive, dark, horror atmosphere, and within that landscape the bands blasts brutally, does horror metal, invokes Lovecraftian vibes, brings mid tempo rhythms and the slow heaviness of doom, and it's all Mystifier occult black metal. This band is capable of anything on this album; they do it all in their amalgam of kingly majestic darkness. The atmosphere on this album is tremendous and the songs show Mystifier as masters of the realm of the original black metal. If you like underground extreme occult metal, this is a major gateway to Mystifier. www.greyhazerecords.com

www.facebook.com/mystifier666 Valdur (U.S.): Pathetic Scum (Bloody Mountain Records) Now this is more like it; this is a Valdur that I can get on board with! Valdur has unleashed a raw black metal beast of an album. The band's previous album "At War with" (2013) was a competent death metal album, but this new album, "Pathetic Scum," I loved the vibe and energy immediately and I felt it. Whereas the 2013 album sounds like a band doing solid work, now Valdur is on fire! Whereas before they sounded like a band doing a fine job, now they sound like they are playing out of their minds! This is something I want. The difference is that now they sound like they are not holding back, holding out on us, and now are letting their animal instinct fury kick into infernal high gear. This is how you do it; you have to put it all out there, play like your life depends on it. There are several changes that have taken place that I like. First, the production: the drumming sounds like it cannot be contained, the cymbals are loud and obnoxious, and sound magnificent, and I love it. I do not like plastic/clicky drumming, and this is barbarous blasting, with less computer tinkering. Great change. The guitars now rage and sound primal, not just tight and professional; the riffs are more intense, headbanging and easier to connect with, because “I’m a metalhead, not a physicist, dammit!” Less virtuosity, more headbanging. Yet, Valdur will still have something more to give us in the future: the vocals are appropriately brutal, but for instance, on a song like "Morbid Emanations," the last one on the album, the growling sounds ferocious, yes, but could definitely be wilder and more savage, with more primitive screams, chaos and insanity. Unleash the Kraken! The change in sound suggests that perhaps

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there is a conflict in the band about the direction of Valdur. I have not heard all the Valdur works, but I have read that the band has been ambivalent about its sound. This means that the band is creating audiences that will prefer one direction over another, death metal over black metal and vice versa. In some ways, this could be detrimental for the band, to have divided audiences, perhaps, or maybe not, who's to say? I think that for Valdur one thing should not be in doubt, though: in the U.S., death metal is king in the extreme metal underground, and it is an overcrowded field, with lots of fast, loud, intense, slamming bands that, at the end of the day, lack the quality in the songs, and for that reason do not stand out. (Every week and weekend in the U.S. there are “brutal death metal” bands playing bars, chugging away about zombies and dismemberment, and it’s all very interesting if you are 14 years old, but not so much when you are older and listen to metal obsessively every day.) Now, Valdur has made an album that truly sets them apart, especially given that there are not that many bands today that play black metal this well and this primal. Plus, there are many people in the U.S. trying to mix black metal with hardcore (yuck!) or emo or postrock or punk or ...or … excuse while I vomit. Ok, I feel better now. Anyway, like I was saying, it's like nobody, or almost nobody, wants to play real black metal. Valdur should not look back and should continue down this "Pathetic Scum" road because this is what they do best. Do what you do best. This is it! I, for one, can’t enough of this new Valdur. www.valdur.bandcamp.com/album/pathetic

-scum www.facebook.com/pages/valdur/54163319709 www.bloodymountainrecords.com www.bloodymountainrecords.bandcamp.com Sacral Rage (Greece): Illusions in Infinite Void (Cruz del Sur Music) Sacral Rage is a rare bird of traditional heavy metal with high-scream singing of the technical-progressive type, the kind that legendary names like Watchtower exemplified in the 80s. These Greeks bring to the table intelligence, highly skilled musicianship and an outstanding work ethic. Sacral Rage swims against the stream and their music speaks to their will to stand up for the metal that they defend in the face of low standards and low intelligence. Some people think that a band like Sacral Rage is elitist, but I think that if you ask this band if they are elitists, they perhaps would reject that notion because when you work this hard on making an album, you want everyone to listen to it, but it is good to realize that Sacral Rage music requires that the modern listener adjust her or his expectations somewhat. The singer is not ashamed to do high screams that go as high as possible, very much in the style of the “air raid siren.” The drummer puts on a veritable clinic on this album. As expected, even the bass is clear and you can hear it very well. The guitars bring everything that this style needs: riffs, solos and shredding that impress. Are the songs catchy?! Again, let's tell the truth: this is not something that you can understand fully with one listen. I did not. It takes time. They are excellent musicians that have worked hard to create something unique. If you would like to hear heavy metal with high IQ and high vocals, virtuoso playing in a somewhat thrashy context, then put Sacral Rage on your must-hear list. Recommended for those that long

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for the classic sounds of Realm, Helstar, Toxik, and of course, Watchtower. Prepare your ears for high screams. www.cruzdelsurmusic.com www.facebook.com/SacralRage Demonic Slaughter (Poland): Haunted (Pagan Records) Demonic Slaughter embraces black metal and its traditions: the necro sound, the kingdom of the tremolo riffing, and grim vocals. The information that I received says that the band detests those modern metal recordings, you know, the ones in which the drums are not live and not real, and in which computers have replaced, repaired, perfected and modified to such an extent that it is difficult to tell what the band played and what is a computer program. Demonic Slaughter calls all of those things "digital lies." This recording is an exaltation of primal black metal. The music is a lot more varied and memorable than I was expecting, but then, if you take into account that Demonic Slaughter, which was founded in 2006, has a total of nine recordings (albums, EPs), then it makes sense that it is a such a strong work. I happen to like tremolo guitar work and grim vocals, so this corresponds to what I want to hear. This band from Poland is new to me and I do not have their previous works. For this reason, I am not able to talk about their other music. On the other hand, these songs, in my opinion, work very well and the vibe is great, too. Don't let terms like "primitive" black metal fool you: this is a veteran band and if this work is anything to go by, you can be sure that they are professionals at their craft. Well done. I will listen more. www.paganrecords.com.pl Derkéta (U.S.): In Death We Meet (2012) (reissue/remix with bonus tracks) (Ibex Moon) When I think Derkéta, I think slow, massive death metal from back in the day, which now

is just called death doom. If you can imagine Incantation covering Candlemass "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" songs, then you will have an idea what Derkéta sounds like. Sharon Bascovsky's vocals work primitive, low/gruff brutality all the way through. She keeps it as heavy as humanly possible. The drumming sounds raw and heavy. Unfortunately, the drummer, Terri Heggen, left the band after this album. The current drummer is Mike Laughlin (ex-Cattle Decapitation). The current band is: Sharon on vocals/guitar; Robin Mazen on bass; Mary Bielich on guitar; Mike on drums. It is my understanding that new music is planned, but for now, you can finally get the Derkéta album, if you haven't already. The cult legend is alive. www.derketa.com www.facebook.com/DerketaDoomDeathMetal www.ibexmoonrecords.com www.facebook.com/Ibex-Moon Blizzard Hunter (Peru): Heavy Metal to the Vein (Pure Underground Records) Modern mainstream metal music is so awful for some metalheads that they have turned away from the "computer metal" and are fighting back with traditional, screaming heavy metal. Perhaps people who are tired of the same old bands would like to try something different for a change?

"Heavy Metal to the Vein" is more than the title of the album, it is everything that expresses the sound of Blizzard Hunter, which began in 2006, and whose 2014 EP is called "Conqueror of Destiny." Now the 2015 album comes out to celebrate their love of classic early 80s traditional heavy metal. Blizzard Hunter, like many Latin American bands, is extremely proud to be metal. It is not easy to be metal, to form a band and to keep that band playing traditional heavy metal anywhere, and it probably is no picnic to

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keep Blizzard Hunter together in Lima, Peru. No matter, the band has persevered, and here they are making the heavy metal for the headbangers of the world.

You could describe their sound as New Wave of British Heavy Metal or traditional heavy metal like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. They don't like the computer metal music sound of modern times and they seek a more human, honest vibe. This album will please the metalheads who are into traditional/classic metal sounds that stand apart from the dominant trends. Give a chance to Blizzard Hunter and see if this is something for you. You'll probably have to adjust your ears a bit because it's the sound from a different era: screaming heavy metal, when heavy metal was young and wild, not old, fat and bald. www.facebook.com/BlizzardHunter www.pureunderground-records.com BY MATT SPALL, Man of Much Metal Artist: Enslaved Album Title: In Times Label: Nuclear Blast Year of Release: 2015 In extreme metal circles, Norway’s Enslaved are held in very high regard, something approaching royalty some may say. For nearly a quarter of a century, the band have strived to release music of the very highest quality. But more than that, they have dared to be different. A constant evolution over the years still sees their extreme metal roots intact but as the albums pass, the roots have become ever-more intrinsically linked to, and entwined with, other elements. Progressive rock and metal, ambient, post-rock, jazz and a whole host of other ideas collide in what can only be described as some of the most fascinating and rewarding heavy metal currently being created anywhere in the world. Album number thirteen, ‘In Times’ is no different. In the same way as a small child will push their

parents in order to discover their limits and boundaries, so too do Enslaved with their compositional creations. Currently comprised of founding members Ivar Bjørnson (guitars) and Grutle Kjellson (vocals, bass) alongside Cato Bekkevold (drums), Herbrand Larsen (keyboard, vocals) and Ice Dale (lead guitars), Enslaved are simply not content it seems with sticking to a formula or adhering religiously to the status quo. It is for this reason as much as the music itself why I belive that Enslaved are so highly revered. And yet, for all that, I remain one of the small minority that has never fully taken Enslaved to my heart. However, in keeping with a blossoming trend of late, I have finally and fully fallen under the Enslaved spell with the help of the magnificent ‘In Times’. I always enjoyed the quintet’s music but I always felt slightly detatched, admiring the output from afar rather than immersing myself in it. Call it stupidity or the bittersweet curse of having too much music to listen to. Nevertheless, whatever the reason, it ends here and now. ‘In Times’ features just six tracks which, on the face of it and if you’re bothered by numbers, appears a disappointingly small figure. However, the six compositions are all huge, sprawling affairs that push or exceed the eight minute mark, thereby offering the better part of an hour’s worth of music. But then again, song lengths do not alone guarantee value for money and a quality product. For that, enter the music of Enslaved. I will admit that my first couple of spins through left me dazed and confused with more questions remaining than answered. It certainly wasn’t love at first listen, but stubborn tenacity and patience have paid off in spades. The album is ushered in by ‘Thurisaz Dreaming’

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which begins innocuously enough with the quiet soothing sound of a wave crashing gently on the shore. Within seconds though, this gentle beginning is thoroughly expunged by a full-on raw, spiky and venemous-sounding black metal riff. Angry riffs join forces with furious drumming and gutteral screams in an effort to pummel and bewilder the listener. From even this early stage, the increase in those black metal influences from the bands early days are striking. As is the Enslaved way, it offers a slightly different path from their more recent output via ‘Riitiir’ and ‘Axioma Ethica Odini’ before that. This black metal reintroduction effectively forms much of the bedrock upon which ‘In Times’ handsomely sits. Enslaved then revert to type as it isn’t too long before the composition introduces other ambitious elements in order to create drama and intrigue, cleverly juxtaposing the tumult that rages around it. Clean vocals flit in and out of the track, as do moments of quiet reflection and snatches of near-discordances flirt with the peripheries of the opener. If anything, and in almost direct contrast,the follow-up,’Building With Fire’ is positively catchy. The opening riff gallops along with an upbeat tempo and a lovely melodic, rocking groove. The soaring clean vocals are mesmerizing too, adding an extra layer of immediacy to proceedings. The growls aren’t too far away and neither are the black metal references but they’re never as confrontational as seen within the opener. A lead guitar solo then joins forces with subtle piano work to create a stunning moment before those beguiling clean vocals return atop the anthemic opening riff that re-enters with joyous gusto. The pace drops away towards the end and the post-rock influenced guitar tone really helps to emphasise the gorgeously rich and organic production that has been achieved by messers Grutle, Larsen and Bjørnson with the mastering assistance of

Fascination Street Studios. Infectious and majestic are just two adjectives that can rightly be thrown at this monster of a composition. A haunting melody welcomes ‘One Thousand Years of Rain’ before the song veers into a more chaotic construction. It also offers a demonstrable folk metal feel that increases as the track ebbs and flows from one seemingly disparate idea to another and in so doing, tests the listener’s resolve throughout. ‘Nauthir Bleeding’ in contrast sees an increase in the otherwise subtle keyboards and symphonic embellishments, giving it genuinely epic feel. The melodies are again more pronounced and at the midway point, the track erupts into an almost euphoric stomping riff that’s complimented by a stunning and wonderfully indulgent lead guitar solo, all of which breaks up the more impenetrable extreme excesses to great effect. The title track is the longest on the album and it provides some of the harshest and heaviest material on the record. The gutteral screams make a forceful return but just as the track threatens to become too overpowering, the tempo is slowed. So pronounced is the change of pace, it is the musical equivalent of being pushed over the precipice into the abyss. The swirling and jagged hypnotic riffing is replaced by sections that are almost soothing ambient post rock in their construction. But, rather than sounding forced or overly contrived, the apparently disparate elements are brought together seemlessly and rather beautifully. ‘In Times’ then concludes with ‘Daylight’ another epic track that fuses many different styles into a homogenous and euphoric triumph of a track. A mid tempo stomp dominates large sections of the track where

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the drums really come to the fore. The relatively simplistic elegance of the percussion is then wonderfully embellished by further clever lead guitar work and understated vocals that create an almost hypnotic crescendo of sorts to the album. Topped off by utterly gorgeous artwork courtesy of long-term collaborator Truls Espedal, ‘In Times’ is an almost peerless album that manages to seemlessly blend extremity with genuine compositional intelligence, in the process creating another unique body of work that cannot be referred to as anything other than a majestic masterpiece. Or, to put it more simply, if you want your mind blown, it is absolutely imperative that you own ‘In Times’. The Score Of Much Metal: 9.25 www.manofmuchmetal.wordpress.com Majestic Downfall (Mexico): … When Dead (Pulverised Records) Majestic Downfall is death doom led by old school death metallers Zombiefication's Mr. Jacko, who, according to Metal Archives, here does vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass and drums (programming?). Mr. Jacko, as Zombiefication demonstrates, is a death metal warrior, but Majestic Downfall, you could say, reveals a different side. The growled vocals, the downtuned guitars, some bursts of speed and the heaviness are present here, too, yet, the exploration of melancholy within the heaviness makes Majestic Downfall an experience of a much more melodic range. I wouldn't have guessed that this project is connected to Zombiefication just from listening to Majestic Downfall. For me, the great difference is that melody and atmosphere are given more room to breathe and there is no hurry to speed up within a five-minute limit, like the normal Zombiefication song. There are really just four songs, from about 11 to 15 minutes long, but it's not

monotonous funeral doom, which can test the listener’s patience for its riff-less repetition; this album has various colors and moods, including death/black metal fury; it's not all slow 24/7. Overall, not just talking about a song in particular, I get the sensation that Mr. Jacko has worked at adding melody, melancholy and guitar spice to the songs, and that's why I have kept listening to this album. Being heavy is easy for Mr. Jacko; adding variety to the heaviness, that's not so easy for anyone; that requires more effort. Death doom supporters could find Majestic Downfall’s “… When Dead” a very interesting album, the band's fourth. www.facebook.com/majestic.downfall www.pulverised.net Sempiternal Dusk (U.S.): Sempiternal Dusk (Dark Descent Records) Sempiternal Dusk is exclusively for those into lo-fi, necro and cave primitive atmospheric death/black/doom. The music is protected from casual listeners by an impenetrable wall of thick fog that requires from the listener a dedication to primal, obscurantist underground metal. Sometimes these invocations are very slow, sometimes it is bestially fast, it is all always heavy. Sempiternal Dusk appears to be a Portland, Oregon-based project, with Tim Call on vocals and drums. Tim seems to be involved with many projects, all of which seem to be underground metal, as far as I know, though I have not heard all of them, only several of them. The impression that Sempiternal Dusk gives changes according to the particular moment of each song: atmospheric; contemplative doom; and primal, cavernous, low-growled death metal; or, a primitive, downtuned black metal feel, in about 45 minutes of metal darkness. The specific concoction of this album reaches deep down and far back into the underground that the big metal media seldom cover in a serious or respectful way.

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Despite that, no one can doubt or deny the greatness and allegiance that this represents for enthusiasts of archaic metal of darkness. Can you get through fog?! www.facebook.com/SempiternalDusk www.darkdescentrecords.com Hammer King (Germany): Kingdom of the Hammer King (Cruz del Sur Music) Patrick Fuchs, the singer, used to be in a band called Men of War, a Manowar tribute band. Patrick is also the singer in Ross the Boss, the band led by former Manowar guitarist Ross the Boss. Now, this band is named Hammer King. You can't accuse this band of deceptive advertising. This is anthem metal all the way. They tell you right away what you are going to get, and they give it you, just like they said they would. So, let's get to it and let's do it right! Hammer King seeks to prove that they are the kings of metal, and want to live on the road and make speakers explode. They don't attract wimps because they are too loud and the true metal people are Hammer King's crowd.

Who are you? Do you think it is "ridiculous" to be metal like Hammer King? Do you feel like you are above this style? Do you think that you are too smart and too superior for this? Well, this band is not for you, then! Catchy heavy metal anthems, and song structures to bang your head, that's what Hammer King has waiting for you. Especially now that the old kings sound tired and ready to retire, it could be time for the new kings. Do you want to join this ride into the future? Hammer King could go a long way, but they won't if nobody cares and listens. They have the songs and that's what the kingdom needs: metal anthems. Bring on the new kings. www.facebook.com/thehammerking www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/?s=Hammer+King Adversarial (Canada): Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism (Dark Descent

Records) The infernal amalgamation of war metal, death, black metal seems as strong as ever in the underground, and Adversarial is an excellent exponent of this extreme metal of nihilism that bands from Canada are taking to the end of the line. Bands from Canada are known for brain metal like Voivod and Rush, low IQ metal like Anvil, cult thrash like Razor, Sacrifice, Exciter, Infernal Majesty, so on and so forth. Then, there’s the most extreme sounds of Blasphemy, Conqueror, Revenge, Axis of Advance, Dire Omen, Begrime Exemious … If it’s misanthropy and nihilism, don’t count out Adversarial because it is more than just song titles like “Old Ruins Slumber in a Crushing Hatred of Man” or “Cursed Blades Cast Upon the Slavescum of C…”; it is the construction of chaos of alienating and cold bestial metal made exclusively to express cacophony and sadism through guitars, bass, drums and vocals. This new album, which comes out August 21, extends the abhorrent sounds that they began in 2008 with their demo and in 2010 with the album “All Idols Fall Before the Hammer,” and other splits and EPs since then. The album won’t be released for a little while, but you don’t have to wait for a long time to hear a bit of this album. Dark Descent Records has a sample with a new Adversarial song called “Eonik Spiritual Warfare.” If you like what you hear, I can tell you now that this new song represents the album’s horrid sounds accurately. www.darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/new-release-sampler-3 www.facebook.com/AdversarialOfficial www.adversarial.ca

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At the Dawn (Italy): Land in Sight (Bakerteam Records) This band has arrived to do one thing and one thing only, and they do it exceptionally, undeniably well: high-quality, elegant melodic traditional, catchy metal with a bit of a prog edge. The songwriting is paramount for At the Dawn. The recording is professional and modern. The singing is pleasant to the ear, perfect for the band; it sounds like a full voice, not thin, not annoying, not weird. The singing is very attractive trait for listeners that like this style.

At the Dawn has another characteristic that is very appealing. They seem aware that some listeners will not give a band more than one chance; some listeners will listen to half a song and decide right then and there if they like it or not. At the Dawn's songs require just one listen to make a decision. It doesn't mean that there is not more aspects to discover with more listens, but it does mean that one listen works well for connecting with the public that is interested.

I'll tell you something else that is true: I have not heard this album many times yet! I have decided that I did not need to wait more time to figure out my reaction. I know that I will listen to this album more, but I know that I do not need more listens to know that it is a strong album. At the Dawn does everything right. I recommend it to listeners into melodic metal, music that has a wide appeal, for those looking for mature, song-centered, non-extreme metal. www.facebook.com/atthedawn www.atthedawn.it Frosthelm (U.S.): The Endless Winter Bands that play black thrash frequently show certain sophistication in taste and experience. Thrash has a wonderful energy, speed and tightness, but with some thrash you also get unprofessional/amateur hardcore vocals, all anger, not so much talent or skill. Thrash bands

play fast, but often lack distinctive riffing. On the other hand, some black metal sounds like it could be great, but the garage sound quality ruins the experience.

Consider the black thrash of Frosthelm: professional, clear production, grim vocals, huge thrashing riffs, black metal melodies and hooks, some blasting and tight execution. You can hear the music well; they are not hiding behind bad sound quality; you can hear the real melodies of black metal. This band is from North Dakota, U.S. They have an EP from 2012 and this 2015 album. The EP was real good, in my opinion, and now we get the answer to the question: Can this band keep up the quality and the great vibe of the EP?! Absolutely! Don't ignore them just because they are from North Dakota, and not from some famous big city like Yakima, Washington or Ferndale, Washington. I don't know if they still live in North Dakota or not, but it does not matter. They have a special quality in their "black thrash" and that's what's important. Let's hope that this is just the beginning. There is metal in North Dakota, friend. www.facebook.com/frosthelm Wooden Stake (U.S.): A Feast of Virgin Souls (Razorback Recordings) I like the various musical endeavors by Vanessa Nocera. She's dedicated to metal and is involved in several things all the time. I'm always curious to hear what she's plotting next. I guess people associate her with brutal death metal, but Wooden Stake is something different: doom. The guitar sounds like classic doom. I hear Candlemass, Sabbath and the guitarist William Wardlaw demonstrates his doom allegiance everywhere he goes, whether it’s the grocery store or the local funeral house, where he hangs out every afternoon for fun. As the years go by, Vanessa is getting more and more fearless: singing, black metal witch vocals, death metal barbaric grunts, it’s all in here. Wooden Stake

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is a lot more traditional than the doom/sludge/stoner bands that in 2015 are categorized as doom. First, this music is not all slow; there are headbanging moments; there are slow, heavy moments, too, of course, but this is not a monotonous album at all. The faster moments sound a lot like old school heavy metal. This variety makes the album an interesting listen, and leaves you thinking that you need to hear it again to figure it out better. The combination of traditional metal and extreme metal in Wooden Stake is a nice change of pace from the current doom trends. No “post-metal” here. www.razorbackrecords.com www.facebook.com/woodenstake Iron Kingdom (Canada): Ride for Glory Iron Kingdom (from British Columbia) plays traditional, screaming heavy metal, with a sound akin to perhaps late 70s Judas Priest and pre-1982 Maiden: an uptempo/midtempo guitar-centered sound in which the drums and the bass are clearly heard, and in which the whole band shines through in the songs. The singing is traditional, high/melodic singing that goes for the high notes.

What is important and what is not important to Iron Kingdom? The things that are not important are: playing fast for speed’s sake, having the most computer savvy sound. The issues that are important: play heavy metal that underlines the song, and let the riffs, the singing, the drumming, let it be in the service of the song.

Would it be correct to say that Iron Kingdom has rebelled against robotized computer metal? It sure appears that way. Vocally, 70s Judas Priest/Rush are good reference points, in that the band is not shy about high screams in the songs. Sing-along chorus lines are part and parcel of Iron Kingdom. The band also likes to contrast big riffs with some quiet melodies, one moment

it’s heavy metal glory, then it’s mellow melodies, before coming back to the thick of the song.

Despite all the references to the classics of heavy metal, to my ears Iron Kingdom sounds like Iron Kingdom only. The band carries itself with a sense of purpose and seriousness about the tradition that they uphold. You can hear the devotion in the songs, the effort to make a quality album, and a certain amount of experience.

Supporters of younger bands that have picked up the flag of classic-style heavy metal should certainly seek this band. www.iron-kingdom.com www.facebook.com/ironkingdom?fref=ts Ctulu (Germany): Sarkomand (Black Blood Records) What would you say that is the biggest problem with fast, extreme metal bands? Do you think that many groups sound generic, all speed, but you can’t remember the songs after the album ends? Is it that many bands simply do not have good riffs, so they hide behind the speed? It all depends on how you view it: how much blasting extreme metal do you hear each day?

Fortunately, these problems do not apply to Ctulu because the band works on making each song memorable through guitar work that stands out. Considering that this is blasting black metal, it impresses how much each song has extra hard work on the guitar hooks and melodies. Some people have observed that there is a classic-Dissection quality to the music, although it is rather inaccurate to make it appear like Ctulu sounds like Dissection per se. Speed is only one part of what the band does, not everything. Most of the material is fast, but there are other energies and vibes that make this interesting album even more worthy. This album is from 2011, but it is being reissued on vinyl. Given that the album has been around

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for several years, it is generally agreed that this is fast, melodic black metal and this album has received some very positive reviews in the past. Also, remember that Ctulu is still active today and that they have another album that has come out after this one. www.ctulu.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/ctulumetal www.ctulu.de www.blackbloodrecords.de BY MATT SPALL, Man of Much Metal Artist: Cradle Of Filth Album Title: Hammer Of The Witches Label: Nuclear Blast Year Of Release: 2015 Let’s get it out in the open immediately – Cradle Of Filth hold an important and cherished place in my heart. They have had their share of both positive and negative press over the course of their twenty year career but in spite of being the darlings of metal one minute and then seemingly the most hated band the next, my admiration has remained steadfast. And why are Cradle of Filth so important to me? There are two main reasons. Firstly, they were the first properly extreme metal band that I got into. And when I say I ‘got into’ them, I really mean it. I was in the fan club, I owned every album and I bought a vast proportion of their merchandise. However, whilst the imagery and the notoriety was appealing, it was the music that was most important for me. Tracks like ‘Funeral In Carpathia’ and ‘A Gothic Romance (Red Roses For The Devil’s Whore)’ were awe-inspiring to me as a teenager finding his feet in anything heavier than Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. It was those middle sections of the aforementioned songs that drew me in;

initially, I would listen to the extreme sections just to get to the melodic breakdowns, those segments that would stop me in my tracks and give me chills and goosebumps every time without fail. They still do, truth be told. But little by little, I’d appreciate the faster, more extreme elements and come to love them equally as much as the more immediate moments. Secondly, the band hailed from Suffolk, my home county. In fact band leader, the larger-than-life Dani Filth lived in Ipswich, my home town. He still lives there, about 500 yards from my childhood home as it happens. The idea that a world-renowned band could be based so close to my home was intoxicating as a youngster. As I have aged, I realise that this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be but back then, when the Internet was just starting in earnest, it was a major factor towards their appeal. Having set the scene, I must now add further context and in so doing, admit to the inconceivable. I have not really wholeheartedly enjoyed a Cradle of Filth album since around 1998. The 1994 debut, ‘The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh’, 1996’s ‘Dusk…And Her Embrace’ and the 1998 release ‘Cruelty And The Beast’, not to mention the 1996 EP ‘Vempire/Dark Faerytales In Phallustein’ are all peerless in my eyes, just about perfect. In fact, ‘Dusk…’ remains one of my all-time favourite records. Since then, the quality has diminished in my opinion. There are songs here and there that appeal but no album has reached the dizzy heights of the holy trinity of full length albums released at the beginning of the band’s career. Until now, that is. Beset by line-up changes that would rival the comings and goings of some of the worlds’ most famous soap operas, it would appear that, based on this output, Cradle of Filth

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version 2015 is the strongest in the last decade and a half. With ‘Hammer Of The Witches’, Messrs Dani Filth (vocals), Richard Shaw (guitars), Ashok (guitars), Lindsay Schoolcraft (vocals/keyboards), Daniel Firth (bass) and Martin Skaroupka (drums) have finally rediscovered the magic and recorded an album that returns Cradle Of Filth to the upper echelons of heavy metal once more. ‘Hammer Of The Witches’ opens in classic Cradle of Filth style, with an instrumental, ‘Walpurgis Eve’. It is dark and foreboding but grandly cinematic, setting the tone nicely for what is to follow. First track proper, ‘Yours Eternally’ wastes absolutely no time in grabbing my attention and within seconds that trademark scream of Dani’s that reeks of barely controlled malevolence pierces through the full-on majestic tumult of double pedal drumming, scything dual guitars as well as atmospheric keys and orchestration, which provides that recognisably rich Gothic sheen. The ‘Dusk…’ overtones are there to be heard and enjoyed immediately and the track emphasises, if emphasis was needed that black metal remains at the heart of the Cradle Of Filth sound. It may have taken on new influences and directions over the years but black metal is definitely at the dark core of the band. ‘Enshrined In Crematoria’ follows and opens in a manner that immediately calls to mind the track ‘Nocturnal Supremacy’ before going in a direction that apparently borrows as much from the 1990’s Gothenburg school of melodic death metal as it does from classic black metal. But the most compelling aspect of the track is the simple but wonderfully brutal and groovy riff that is injected at points throughout its length; it is impossible not to nod your head and grin from ear to ear every time it makes an appearance, brilliantly juxtaposing the more technical and fast-

paced material that surrounds it. Next up is a personal favourite, ‘Deflowering the Maidenhead’. It spews forth with an absolute ton of lush orchestration, creating a savage and dynamic listening experience. And then, in true Cradle Of Filth style, a melody hits from almost nowhere that is stunning and beautiful. In a flash, it is gone to be replaced by frenetic guitar solos and relentless drumming. But then it returns, bigger, better and more grandiose than before, opening the door to a galloping closing sequence that calls to mind the best moments of ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ thanks to the strong riffs, the groovy tempo and the subtle cheekiness that pervades. And then, as if that wasn’t enough, it is immediately backed up by ‘Blackest Magick In Practice’. At the centre of this composition lies the most impossibly catchy guitar-led melody. It reminds me a little of ‘The Bathory Aria’ in terms of its immediacy, hummability (if such a word exists) and its slower tempo. That said, the track soon reveals a grittier, more extreme side that works nicely atop a backdrop of tinkling keys and dark atmospherics before returning to that riff to close out another cracking piece of music. There is simply no let-up in the quality either as the title track breaks open the harpsichord to compliment more wonderfully wrought staccato riffing and a mass of symphonic and cinematic theatrics that underline the fact that Cradle Of Filth are at their best when they are churning out pompous, grandiose and downright over-the-top music that revels in its own decadence and malevolent extravagance. Elsewhere, the lead ‘single’ ‘Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych’ offers bombast, plenty of melody and heaviness whilst also bringing the male/female vocal jousting to the fore. Lindsay Schoolcraft has a

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great voice that’s the perfect fit for Cradle Of Filth thanks to a demonstrable flair for the dramatic. Importantly, ‘Hammer of the Witches’ is no out-and-out homage to the band’s past. Whilst fans of Cradle Of Filth’s early days may well rejoice, this record does not exclude or ignore the grittier and more impenetrably heavy output of more recent albums ‘The Manticore And Other Horrors’ (2012), ‘Darkly, Darkly Venus Aversa’ (2010) and ‘Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder’ (2008). If anything, it is the mixture of all eras of the band that makes this record the utter triumph that it is. The intensity and outright enjoyment is, after nearly an hour, finally brought to close by the ‘Twisted Nails Of Faith’-esque mid-tempo ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ which then segues seamlessly into the closing instrumental piece ‘Blooding The Hounds Of Hell’. And with that, ‘Hammer Of The Witches’ is over. The music itself is then strengthened by the poetic, sinister and occasionally darkly humorous lyrical content that has become a staple of the Cradle Of Filth armoury as well as the first-rate production job. Praise must go to the band and to Scott Atkins of Grindstone Studios, also based in darkest Suffolk, because the entire behemoth of an album has been afforded an impressive and powerful clarity that only enhances the enjoyment of it. Put all this together and we’re inexorably heading towards an overall package that simply cannot be ignored. As I said earlier, this is the most excited and enamoured I have been with Cradle Of Filth since the late nineties and there’s a reason for that; ‘Hammer Of The Witches’ is an exceptional album, one of the band’s very best. The Score Of Much Metal: 9.5 Matt, Man of Much Metal has reviews and

interviews on his blog. www.manofmuchmetal.wordpress.com Poenari (Poland): Wrath, War, Lucifer (EEE Recordings) Poenari plays a form of brutal black metal that is easy, fun to get into and headbang because of the relentless, blasting drumming that sounds good and the trance-style fast tremolo appears to go so fast that it sounds like it is not moving. Some people say that this is death/black metal, maybe due to the frenzied Hate Eternal/Krisiun-style blasting, but it all depends on what you hear/like. It is true that the blasting is by far the dominant form of drumming going on, but there’s something a bit special that makes it sound good; maybe the drum sound, maybe the personal traits of the drumming. The vocals are mostly the harsh black metal style, but not too screechy (which is annoying), and with some substantial segments of lower death metal growling, too, as if there is (or was) some ambivalence about the vocals’ direction. Personally, the black metal vocals are my preference, but Poenari makes everything sound good. This album was originally released in 2013, but EEE Recordings is doing the reissue. Listen for yourself here. www.eeerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/wrath-war-lucifer www.facebook.com/POENARI.official In Defence (U.S.): Don’t **** with the Dungeon Master Oh, boy, here they go again! The Minnesotan thrashers In Defence don’t claim to be the sharpest tool in the shed and they don’t even spell “defense” correctly, just to frustrate the school teachers in Minnesota! (The British teachers are not upset). In Defence writes songs about the meaning of life and the future of humankind. Their conclusion is: eat more tacos, as in “Tacos Til Death.” They have songs about beer and grilling. They have so

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many gang shouts in their songs that Gary Holt calls them on the phone every night and begs them to dial down the gang shouts, but this band is not able to understand West Coast English, so they just say to Gary, “Yeah, sure, ya betcha, Gary.” This is crossover party beer taco anti-pizza thrash for moshing and passing out. www.indefence.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/InDefencepunx

FREE METAL MUSIC Violblast (Spain): Permanent Hate If you like old school pure thrash, like the Bay Area and the German bands, check out this free/name-your-price EP. 1.Permanent Hate 2.Journey to Nowhere 3.Insane 4.Wicked Beholder 5.Denial Act www.violblast.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/Violblast Warburst Command (Brazil): Barbarian, Conqueror They named themselves after an old Sodom song, when Sodom was primitive and infernal, and you know these Brazilians want to continue the tradition. This is a free EP. www.warburstcommand.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/warburstcommand Insomnio Mutante (Chile): Mundo desconocido This is a free album of fairly traditional thrash (with a bit of melodic guitar solos) from Chile. The band says that they formed in 1998 and this is their 2014 album. 1.Living 2.In the Purgatory 3.Vida desperdiciada 4.Catalepsia 5.Obispo …

6.Mundo desconocido 7.Moderadamente ido… 8… De miedos y angustias www.insomniomutante.bandcamp.com/releases www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008180648777&ref=tn_tnmn

Haunting (U.S.): Sealed Shut This free EP showcases primitive, old school death metal of the late 80s and early 90s. The band is from Atlanta and they call themselves “Atlanta death metal” which means real death metal for Haunting. www.hauntingofficial.bandcamp.com/releases www.facebook.com/HauntingOfficial

Razboinix (Russia): Razboinix This free/name-your-price album is for crossover thrash enthusiasts. Not much information to tell you, but the band says this about itself. The link below is for the album. “Cold crossover punk impact from the bosom of the world and centre of Siberia. 5 outcasts, 5 brigands and only 7 notes. Social lyrics with tart and sparkling drop of satire. The defiance to luxary and meanness, arrogance and cowardness, boasting and spinelessness has been bidden. The modern sequel of cause of Robin Hood and all the outcasts with the heart. Guitar instead of knife, drums instead of knuckle-duster, bass instead of bow, microphone instead of garrote. Crushing blow in the head, steel blade straght to the heart, music devastating the wallets. Leave your words, kid, prepare your heart and cash!” www.razboinix.bandcamp.com July 22, 2015