Consecration/Ephemerality/UKEM Records/2014 CD Review

  Consecration  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Ephemerality"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  UKEM  Records.

  A  very  dark,  distorted  and  heavy  doom  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodies  being  utilized  at  times  and  the  music  starts  getting  even  more  heavier  after  a  few  seconds  as  well  as  adding  in  deep  death  metal  growls  and  screams  and  after  awhile  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  and  heavy  sound  to  them.

  Most  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  bring  in  more  of  a  melodic  doom  metal  sound  while  the  rhythms  remain  in  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  direction  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  to  get  more  fast  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times  while  the  main  focus  remains  on  a  slow  and  heavy  doom/death  metal  sound.  

  Consecration  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  style  of  the  genre  and  they  also  bring  in  a  very  dark  and  evil  atmosphere  to  their  heavy  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  dark,  heavy  and  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  despair,  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Consecration  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  Decayed  Embrace"  "The  Summoning  Of  Sufferance"  and  "Thy  Requiem  Lament".  8  out  of  10.

     

Arkadia/Unrelenting/Inverse Records/2014 CD Review

  Arkadia  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  heavy,  death  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Unrelenting"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Inverse  Records.

  Melodic  guitar  leads  and  symphonic  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  adding  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  clean  singing  vocals  which  seem  to  be  equally  influenced  by  both  gothic  and  power  metal  and  you  can  hear  quite  a  bit  of  doom/death  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  You  can  hear  a  lot  of  thrash  and  traditional  metal  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  all  of  the  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  mix  in  with  the  heavier  parts  and  most  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction  along  with  a  couple  of  tracks  that  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  the  last  song  there  is  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  being  utilized  along  with  some  black  metal  influenced  vocals.

  Arkadia  plays  a  very  heavy  and  melodic  style  of  metal  that  is  heavily  influenced  by  the  death,  doom  and  gothic  metal  genres  of t he  90's  which  they  also  mix  in  with  the  melody  of  NWOBHM  to  create  a  dark,  melancholic  and  melodic  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Arkadia  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  death,  doom  and  heavy  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Before  the  Dawn"  "May"  "Nothing  lasts  Forever"  and  "Unrelenting".  8  out  of  10.



    

Standing On The Floor Of Bodies/Sacrilegious & Culturally Deficient/7 Degrees Records/2012 12 Inch Review

   Standing  On  The  Floor  Of  Bodies  are  a  band  from  San  Francisco,  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  grindcore,  noise  and  brutal  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Sacrilegious & Culturally Deficient"  which  was  released  by  7  Degrees  Records.

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  distorted  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  fast  and  brutal  direction  along  with  blast  beats,  growls  and  screams  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  with  the  exception  of  the  last  track  most  of  the  songs  are  very  short  in  length  with  the  average  being  40  to  90  seconds.

  As  the  album  progresses  you  can  hear  elements  of  punk  rock  and  crustcore  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  the  music  also  alternates  between  brutal  grindcore  and  slow  sludge  material  and  they  also  bring  in  a  few  spoken  word  samples  on  a  couple  of  the  tracks  as  well  as  adding  in  digital  sounds  at  times.  

   Standing  On  The  Floor  Of  Bodies  plays  a  very  brutal  style  of  grindcore  that  they  also  mix  in  with  elements  of  death  metal,  noise  and  sludge  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  apocalyptic  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion   Standing  On  The  Floor  Of  Bodies  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  grindcore,  noise  and  brutal  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blaming  The  Creation"  "Officeworker"  "Still  Another  Cloven  Hoof"  and  "Eve  Was  Weak".  8  out  of  10.
 

    

Old Thunder Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?

I came up with the idea of Old Thunder sometime back in 2012. I had taken a break from writing music to focus on finishing my college degree, and when I started writing new material again, I realized that the previous project name I had didn’t really fit the new sound. Previously, I had played more thrash/death metal-influenced material with some crust punk vibes, but the newer material was slower and more atmospheric. Old Thunder was a name that had immediately stuck out to me. (I’ll talk about that more later.) It has always been solely me and will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Without narrowing the sound too much, I would describe it as doom/sludge metal that has a crust punk influence. When I started this project, I wanted to create music that was honest and reflected me for who I am. I find it kind of sad that so many metal bands function on hiding behind some preconceived notion of what’s “metal” and “not metal.” At the end of the day, I just want to write music that is genuine and real to me. There are definitely some non-metal influences on the EP, but at its core, it’s slow, heavy, reflective, and emotionally-charged metal.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with the newer music?

The lyrics for the EP were written over the course of about a year and a half. A lot happened in that time, for me personally and in my family. That fueled a lot of the lyrics – this sense of loss, betrayal, helplessness as a result of those events. Long story short, one of my close relatives had come to a turning point in his addiction to hard drugs, and it landed him in some serious legal trouble, some of which my family is still dealing with now. Between that and me dealing with some bouts of insomnia and a job layoff (fortunately, I’m employed again) among other things, things for me got pretty tense for a time. That’s reflected in the lyrics, even the ones based on literature. Finally, having grown up in Appalachia has had a huge effect on me. It’s a very disadvantaged part of the states that a lot of people shrug off, but it’s beautiful in its own way and there’s nowhere else I’d rather live.

4.According to the fb page you are influenced by the writings of William Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemmingway, and William S. Burroughs, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these authors?

Absolutely. For me, as a huge fan of American literature, I consider all of those guys the quintessential authors of 20th century American literature. I discovered them around the time I was 17-18. Each of them were rebels with what they did in their writing. They took the ideas about what you could with words on paper, threw those notions out the window, and forged their own paths. Their writings are brilliant and are instantly recognizable. McCarthy and Faulkner especially appeal to me because so much of their work is based in either the South or in Appalachia, and they’re able to write about the people of this area in a very real and believable way. All of those writers explored every part of the human condition and wrote about it in a way that few have touched since then.

5.According to the Metal Archives page this musical project started out as 'Sulphur Grace', what was the decision behind changing the band name after a 2 year hiatus?

As I mentioned earlier, I took a break from writing music for about two years to focus on finishing my Bachelor’s degree, and I also started teaching English around that time. It was a very busy time, and I didn’t have much leisure time to write music. When I started writing music again, it was far different than anything I’d written. Sulphur Grace was faster and more aggressive, and I had basically sort of grown out of that sound. So I laid Sulphur Grace to rest, though a lot of the ideas and principles from that project stayed with Old Thunder. The name change reflected the change in sound, basically.

6.I know that the band name came out of Herman Mellville's novel 'Moby Dick', how does the name fit in with your musical style?

Interesting question. Old Thunder is a great name for a metal band, haha. Old Thunder was another name for Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. And really, when you think about Captain Ahab, he’s a peculiar individual. He’s driven by a single passion and has one goal for his whole existence: To destroy the white whale. He’s willing to sacrifice anything and everything – even his crew – to achieve his goals. He’s most definitely a madman. Captain Ahab has a sort of unhinged and maniacal passion to make him both admirable and dangerous. And I try to apply that idea to art, specifically music. It’s a huge driving force in my life, and the name Old Thunder to me represents relentless pursuit of passion and art.

7.With this project you record everything solo, do you feel this adds to the creativity of your musical sound?

In some ways, yes. Since I’m solo, I have the only say in how the music comes out. When I recorded the EP, the guy who did the engineering and mixing/mastering helped some with the sound of the guitars and drums, but as far as the songs themselves, that was all on my shoulders. I put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to songwriting. I have to be honest with myself if I don’t think something is my best work, and that pushes me to want to continue to grow as a musician and a songwriter. I’m always listening to new music, both metal and non-metal, to continue to take in ideas and influence. So because of that, I think that I were working with another person or a full band, I might get stuck in a rut, so to say.

8.Originally you were a part of a few bands in Ohio but know reside in Kentucky, what was the decision behind the move?

I grew up in southern Ohio and moved to Kentucky for university work. After I got my Bachelor’s degree, I wanted to stay in Kentucky because I had fallen in love with the state and everything about it. It had begun to feel like home. On top of that, it was much easier to find jobs here in Kentucky than in Ohio. I’ve been living in Kentucky for about 5 years now and absolutely love it here. It’s a beautiful place.

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I’ve not really actively been looking for a label. I’d like to get some more new music under my belt before I start that search. I’ve not received any label interest per se, but I had someone contact me about featuring Old Thunder on a compilation. I’m also working with a PR firm for publicity over in Europe, and that is starting to pick up as well.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom and sludge metal?

It’s a little too early to say, since the EP has only been out for a month. I’ve had a few reviews so far, all of which have been pretty positive. People via social media and Bandcamp seem to have responded positively. Of course, since it’s my first release, I’m not looking for universal acclaim. I know there’s still plenty of room to grow with this project, and I’m pushing to make new material even better than the EP.

11.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I started writing new material literally a week after the EP came out, haha. The plan right now is to demo some new tracks in the winter and start recording a full-length next spring/summer. Tentatively, I’m hoping the full-length will be out by next fall at the latest. Musically, I think I’m starting to discover more of where I want to go. Expect more of the crust punk influence to come out more on the full-length. What I’ve written so far isn’t as melodic as the EP; it’s more on the sinister and ugly side of doom metal. But I’m still early in the writing process, and a lot of things could change.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

It’s hard to pin down everything that has influenced Old Thunder. So much of it comes from living in Kentucky and from literature, but musically, some of the bands that have influenced me are Katatonia, Amebix, Massmord, Cult of Luna, Celtic Frost/Triptykon, Crowbar, and Khanate. As far as what I’m listening to today, I’ve been digging into another one-man Appalachian metal project named Twilight Fauna. It’s very raw and atmospheric black metal, but it’s unlike any other atmospheric black metal I’ve heard. It has its own sound to it. Very unique stuff. I’ve also been getting into a lot of classic funeral doom: Evoken, Mournful Congregation, Catacombs, etc.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Outside of my full-time job and music, I obviously spend a lot of time reading and love researching movements in 20th century American literature and American history in general. I’m revisiting Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls right now. I am also a coffee home-roaster. Unlike most Kentuckians, I love pro hockey, namely the Columbus Blue Jackets.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

I want to say thanks for the interview, firstly. Also thanks to everyone who has listened to the EP and enjoyed it or reviewed it. Be sure to check out the Old Thunder Facebook and Twitter pages. Be on the lookout for new demo tracks happening in the winter and a full-length sometime next year!

Old Thunder/Slings & Arrows/2014 EP Review

  Old  Thunder  are  a  1 man  band  from  Kentucky  that  plays  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  with  elements  of  crust  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2014  ep  "Slings  &  Arrows".

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  doom  metal  sound  starts  off  the  ep  and  after  a  minute  the  music  starts  to  speed  up  a  bit  and  brings  in  crust  elements  and  blast  beats  along  with  some  aggressive  sludge  style  screams  which  also  have  a  death  metal  feeling  to  them  at  times  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  to  alternate  between  fast  and  slow  parts.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  onto  the  recording  they  bring  a  more  melodic  feeling  to  the  songs  they  are  present  on  and  you  can  also  hear  some  clean  playing,  melodic  vocals  and  spoken  word  parts  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  every  track  sounds  different  from  each  other  which  also  makes  the  ep  have  a  more  diverse  approach.

  Old  Thunder  takes  a  very  atmospheric  style  of  doom  metal  and  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  along  with  the  energy  of  crust  punk  and  a  few  progressive  touches  while  doom  metal  is  the  main  influence  to  create  a  very  dark,  melancholic,  melodic  and  heavy  sound  on  this  ep,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  suffering,  loss,  faith  and  Appalachian  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Old  Thunder  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "June  2,  1910"  and  "Rainroom".  8  out  of  10.

      

The Von Deer Skulls/The Damned Chapter - Remixes & Rarities/2014 CD Review

  The  Von  Deer  Skulls  are  a  band  from  France  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  post  rock,  industrial  doom  metal  and  sludge  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "he Damned Chapter - Remixes & Rarities"  which  will  be  released  on  Halloween  and  contains  re-mixes  from  their  albums  and  some  unreleased,  live  and  bonus  tracks.

  Crowd  noises  and  distorted  drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts,  acoustic  guitars  and  synths  a  few  seconds  alter  which  also  makes  the  music  sound  a  lot  more  experimental  while  also  adding  in  elements  of  industrial  and  distorted  guitars  that  also  bring  in  a  metal  influence  to  the  bands  musical  sound.

  After  awhile  the music  starts  adding  in  doom  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  and  on  the  second  track  they  do  a  cover  of  Tool's  "Right  In  two"  which  sounds  nothing  like  the  original,  on  the  3rd  track  they  have  Umbre  do  a  remix  of  "Memories"  and  they  bring  in  a  more  ambient  sounding  twist  on  the  song  as  well  as  bringing  clean  singing  vocals  into  the  mix  while  the  band  also  keeps  around  their  heavier  side.

  The  next  few  songs  are  re-mixes  by  Exil,  Nequam,  and  Peter  Skull  and  all  of  these  songs  show  the  band  experimental  with  a  variety  of  many  different  electronic  music  styles  while  also  never  forgetting  their  metal  roots  and  the  last  3  songs  follow  a  3  part  concept  as  well  as  adding  in  more  avant  garde  sounds  with  the  musical  instruments  and  they  also  evoke  a  lo-fi  feeling  into  these  tracks.

  The  Von  Deer  Skulls  keep  around  the  heaviness  of  doom  and  sludge  metal while  also  having  more  of  an  avant  garde  and  experimental  feeling  this  time  around  and  they  also  bring  in  some  electronic  music  to  create  some  of  the  most  underground  and  hard  to  label music  to  be  ever  created,  the production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  lyrics  are  rarely  utilized.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  The  Von  Deer  Skulls  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  music  that  has  its  roots  in  sludge  and  doom  metal  but  not  afraid  to  experiment,  you  should c heck  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Right  In  Two"  and  "The  Paranoid  Rooms".  8  out  of  10.  
   

  

2 Wolves/Shelter/Inverse Records/2014 CD Review

  2  Wolves  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  death,  gothic  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Shelter"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Inverse  Records.

  A  very  dark,  atmospheric  and  gothic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  the  gothic  style  mixing  with  melodic  metal  and  a  few  seconds  later  clean  singing  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  way  they  are  composed.

  Most  of  the  music  sticks  to  more  of  a  slow  to  mid  paced  direction  and  mixes  the  modern  gothic  metal  style  with  the  more  90's  style  of  melodic  doom/death  metal  while  they  also  use  some  semi  fast  tremolo  picking  at  times  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  also  show  the  band  adding  clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  incorporating  elements  of  industrial  and  the  last  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  2  Wolves  cover  a  lot  of  ground  with  their  music  taking  the  modern  day  gothic  metal  sound  and  mixing  it  with  the  80's  era  of  melodic  death  and  doom  metal  as  well  as  giving  their  music  a  progressive  touch  to  create  some  dark  and  melancholic  music,  the  production  sound s very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  a  tragic  love  story  that  is  set  in  a  haunted  house  setting.

  In  my  opinion  2  Wolves  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  gothic,  doom  and  melodic  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Wake  of  Beauty"  "Serpentine  Paths  In  The  Autumn  Night"  and  "The  Lake  Of  Black  Swans".  8  out  of  10.

 

       

Tyrant's Kall Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Right now we're recording the follow-up for Dagon, which will be entitled "Gla'aki" and will be released by Witches Brew somewhere during next winter.
The album “Dagon" is released on Witches Brew on vinyl as we speak, in october we'll do a release-show for that vinyl. We're all very excited about the vinyl and Witches Brew.


2.So far you have released on ep and a full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

The first EP, which was just a rehearsal/demo tape, represents a few of our songs in its rawest form, recorded with an old fashioned cassette-deck!
We re-recorded 2 songs of that tape for our debut "Dagon": The Swamps and The call of the Tyrant.
The difference between the EP and Dagon is that we recorded Dagon in a professional studio, the music remains true to Tyrant's Kall's vision.


3.Your lyrics are based on the writings of Lovecraft, what are some of the things you have done with his concepts that set you part from most bands that  are influence by the same author?

The fact that our music is not to be put in a very specific style, already makes it different. It is of course difficult to be original with lyrics when you are digging in a source that has been used so often before in music, movies, art, …Even if it is such a vast source of inspiration. But we believe that everybody who reads those stories, has a different experience while doing so. Esmee has an intrinsic interest in the dark side and she tries to make those stories part of herself. So when we are performing them, it comes from within. I can't speak for other bands, or what they do, but this is what Lovecraft does for us.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tyrants Kall'?

We represent the call of the Tyrant (Cthulhu)!


5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Our stage performance is pretty straight forward rock 'n roll, the only thing we try to do is have lots of smoke and green lights, other than that, we just play the hell out of our gear.


6.DO you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Not really, but we are open for suggestions.


7.Recently Witches brew has re-issued your 2012 album on vinyl, what are your thoughts on the final result?

Everyone in the band is a fan of vinyl so we are very pleased with it! We hope our fans will like it as well.


8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom and death metal?

Mainly positive. We try not to hold to only one genre, because we all have a wide taste of music. So we're influenced by the mighty Black Sabbath through Entombed and Darkthrone...
Sometimes people try to compare us with other bands and then you hear the weirdest things....


9.What is going on with some of the other musical projects or bands these days that some of the band members are involved with?

I play in "Dark Ages" (melodic black/death), we will release an EP somewhere in the near future.
Our drummer has a noise project called 'True Deep", which is very cool, unearthly sounding.
Our bassplayer is in a few other bands that are just starting to jam...
Our singer lends her voice to some other projects or bands sometimes. There's possibly a song with another band to be released in the near future. But I don't have definite information yet.


10.When can we expect new material and also where do you see the band heading into  musically during the future?

New material will be released somewhere during the next winter. Musically we are getting the best out of ourselves and make the best songs we can.
I think we had almost 50 jam-tapes to choose from for the next album....


11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

As said before we all have a wide taste of music. Somedays you wake up and want to listen to Wovenhand and other days that can be "Hell Awaits" from Slayer.
Right now I'm listening to "Pleasure to kill".


12.What are some of your non musical interests?

I just finished up my house-building project so right now it's all about relaxing, and spending time with the kid, he already detunes my guitar, hahaha.


13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Stay true to yourself and listen to the music that you like!
IA, you motherfuckers!

Albez Duz/The Coming Of Mictlan/Archaic Sound/2014 CD Review

  Albez  Duz  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  metal  and  occult  doom  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Coming  Of  Mictlan"  which  was  released  by  Archaic  Sound.

  A  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sounding  drone  and  loop  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some tribal  beats  and  spoken  word  parts  a  few  seconds  alter  that  gives  the  recording  a  ritualistic  feeling  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  slow  and  old  school  doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  death metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  they  also  incorporate  small  amounts  of  black  metal  elements.

  You  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  atmosphere  in  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  some  synths  that  combine  the  70's  rock  style  with  the  more  atmospheric  side  of  90's  gothic  metal  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  amount  of  clean  singing  and  a  bit  of  Black  Sabbath  influence  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  more  in  the  90's  melodic  style  of  metal  when  they  are  utilized.

  A  good  portion  of  some  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  of  the  music  sounds  like  what  Type  O  Negative  or  Moonspell  might  of   sounded  like  if  they  utilized  more  psychedelic  elements  in  the  90's  and  halfway  through  the  album  the  band  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  which  takes  the  music  into  more  of  a  psychedelic,  gothic,  neo-folk  direction  before  return  back  to  a  heavier  musical  direction  on  the  following  tracks.

  Albez  Duz  goes  back  to  the  90's  era  of  gothic  metal  and  atmospheric  doom/death  and  mixes  the  genre  with  some  70's  doom  metal  along  with  the  psychedelic,  folk  and  occult  rock  scenes  from  that  same  era  to  create  some  music  that  is  very  dark,  heavy,  retro,  ritualistic  and  original  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Occultism,  Mayans,   and  Aztecs  mixed  in  with  some dark  and  depressing  themes.

 In  my  opinion  Albez  Duz  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  dark  metal  and  occult  doom  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fire  Wings"  "Feathered  Snake"  and  "Twisting  My  Sobriety".  8/5  out  of  10.