Rolling Through The Universe/Lethe/Hidden Temple Records/2015 CD Review

  Rolling  Through  The Universe  are  a  band  originally  from  North  Dakota  but  now  resides  in  Oregon  and  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Lethe"  which  was  released  by  Hidden  Temple  Records.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  dark  and  melodic  post  metal  direction  and  a  few  seconds  alter  sludge  style  screams  are  added  into  the  music  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  clean  playing  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.  

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  and  the  slower  riffs  also  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  doom  metal  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  growls  and  elements  of  hardcore  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  small  amount  of  clean  singing  can  be  heard

  Rolling  Through  The  Universe  plays  a  style  of  sludge  metal  that  also  has  atmospheric  elements  and  a  great  amount  of  doom  and  post  metal  influences,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Rolli9ng  Through  the  Ubniverse  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fall  Of  The  Corona"  and  "Centrifuge".  8  out  of  10.

      

Schwarzer Engel/Imperium I - Im Reich der Gotter/Massacre Records/2015 Full Length Review

  Schwarzer  Engel  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  dark  style  of  gothic  metal  along  with  some  elements  of  doom  and  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Imperium  I  -  Im  Reich  der  Gotter"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Dark  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  epic  and  symphonic  sounds  that  have  a  classical  music  feeling  to  them  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  and  whispers  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  the  intro  the  music  remains  symphonic  while  also  adding  in  death  metal  growls,  gothic  style  vocals  and  a  heavy  industrial  metal  sound.  

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  heavier  parts  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  at  times  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic  and  also  enhance  the  gothic  qualities  of  the  songs  when  they  are  utilized  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats..

  Schwarzer  Engel  continue  the  dark/gothic  metal  sound  they  have  established  with  previous  recordings  and  also  make  the  songs  a  lot  more  heavier  by  adding  in  elements  of  black,  death  and  doom  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  German  and  cover  emotions,  solitude,  apocalypse,  nature  and  gothic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Schwarzel  Engel  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gott  Vs  Satan"  "Ave  Maria  (Die  Mutter  Gottes)"  "Meine  Liebe"  and  "Beuget  Euch".  8  out  of  10.  

  

William English Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band? Well we go by the name of William English and we are from East Anglia.
I guess you would say we are a sludge/doom band with some hardcore elements. We get down and throw our bodies around on stage and we are very very loud.


2.How would you describe your musical sound?
Horrible but at times beautiful. We don’t like saying we sound like such n such a band, or that we fall into a certain genre. We all listen and love different bands and have done for many many years. I think as you grow you appreciate the certain aspects bands bring to the table and take what you love and unintentional to your own conciseness write and put your personality to it. We like riffs. We try to bring awesome riff after awesome riff, its nothing complicated just something you feel is good that we all like and enjoy playing.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music? Ha this is a funny one, a trade secret thats never been discussed. We don’t actually have lyrics as such. Shane will come to practice we will have a song, he then screams freestyle over it. He does this to every song written. somehow remembers the pattern of the screams because it sounds the same every time. We then hit the studio. Shane will then for only certain parts write some lyrics down, normally just odd, random, disgusting words to form some cryptic sentence. It sounds mad, it is mad. But it works. The theme of the album again is quite random Some sea references, some drug references, some just plain funny random ideas.

“ They tell us we need it, Like maggots grow in the wound,
a septic puss filled landscape, a human right to consume”. - Lyrics taken from Captain Tugboat

4.The band formed out of the break up of 'A Horse Called War', what was the decision behind splitting that band and forming this one? This isn’t exactly true., William English formed without current members, Shane, Carter, Dave or Callum. Joe is the only member who’s always been in it. Before it was a hardcore band nothing big or serious although they did make an album with current guitarist dave recording it. I think theres about 100 copies sitting in goes flat somewhere. But the other members left through different times. I suppose the identity of the band started forming when carter went from bass to guitar and shane became the vocalist, also Callum joining on bass too, he can get such a great tone out of he’s gear. A Horse Called War split up because Dave set up a business and couldn’t spare time to be in a band, which is understandable. We tried to go on without him but it just wasn’t the same he was the main writer and creator of A Horse Called War and still is today. William English will always have similarities because shane is the vocalist. But Carters writing is more experimental maybe? We always said theres no boundaries i guess you might get that from the album but no matter what bands or projects we have done, we love the heavy, loud, dirty side of music. You will always get that from us.
*

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'William English'?
Again this is nothing thought out or serious. If i am correct Shane & Joe thought that the name William English would be fitting for an old school looking bare knuckle fighter with a huge mustache. The name sorta stuck around in joe’s head when forming the band, I think he liked the idea of having a persons name as a band name.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance? Stage performance is easy just check our video to budvessel. Its sums us up really, although there wasnt alot of room to move for the video. We just get down and have it as hard as possible. you will never see us just standing there going through the motions. Its been our philosophy ever since being in bands, even in the early days as teenagers we had it. Shane makes himself look like a bit of a crazy dude really. As for live shows we love playing Colchester. they have a really good scene down there and some great bands doing well already. Theres a real small place in Bury St Edmunds we sometimes play thats decent. Our recent show at the unicorn with Children Of God was a really good show.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We hope to play several shows around england for the rest of the year and hopefully next year the plan is to do a little European tour and smash the uk to pieces aswell. This year our guitarist Carter is having he’s second Child so we will work around that whilst playing gigs promoting the album. Our next show is in Norwich 10th May at the owl sanctuary.

8.The new album is coming out on Grandad  Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
This new label has been formed by our drummer Joe. He's very passionate about music and one of he's “life goals” was to make an album with he's best mates and release it on a label that he created. The main target for this label is to find real underground bands and just help them out a little bit by offering to contribute towards either the making of a record or helping press it and generally be a starting platform for good, unnoticed talent. And see where it goes from there really.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner and sludge metal? We, so far have had good feedback whoever or wherever our stuff has been shown. Its been a good time to bring out the album really with the stoner/sludge scene picking up immensely. Im not sure if its been as big as it is now. If we don’t make heads turn though, it’s no loss we will keep doing this till we’re all 6 feet under i think. Some of us started making this sort of music ten years ago, it wasn’t as popular then than it is now but we never cared. We will just keep doing what we do, maybe something will come of it, who knows.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We hope to just keep writing. We would like to concentrate on bringing out splits and E.P’s. Releasing vinyl would be nice to. But the music will still be hard, loud and heavy. I doubt it will always stay the same, it will progress and at times we may surprise you.

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?
A lot of old stuff is always on like, Eyehategod,Crowbar,Pissing Razors. we try and support underground artists. The recent Telepathy album is absolutely amazing, those lads are so talented. The Art Of Burning Water are so heavy and relentless and all the lads from colchester are doing well,(Three Thrones, Jotnar, Slabdragger, Old Man Lizard).

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Three of us are family men, so that takes up the majority of our time. Joe likes to travel and eat. Callum spends most of he’s time casting new magic spells, He is a wizard you know.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? Mainly just please check out the album, have a look at the video, Youtube-William English, Budvessel. And if you have the time leave us a comment on what you think, good or bad. If you’re near a show check us out and if you put on shows please contact us, we love playing shows. Thanks to anyone showing support, its very important to support your local music scene, get out to the shows and buy the merch, its not easy doing this. Thanks to DewarPR as well, they are a major driving force behind this band.

@willenglishband - Twitter
williamenglishband@gmail.com
www.williamenglishband.bandcamp.com

Pohjoinen Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. We play slow and heavy downtuned stoner/doom, with mostly clear vocals. I have also always said that we are not just heavy and sludge, that there is this classic rock element with Pohjoinen, maybe not in the sound, but in song structures, we use lotsa verse chorus stuff, we have guitar soloes, stuff like that.

2.Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
2. We only have done 1 demo tape before, but from the start Pohjoinen haas gone quite a journey. The band started with totally different mindset about what kinda music it should do, but the road we started to travel did not lead where we tought it would lead, and after few change in the line up, we are here with our first album. Also I have to say, that the journey continues, and when ever our next album will be out, it will be some what different compared to this one.

3.This is the first release in 3 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
3. I think the previous question answer to this one also, but it has been a journey, we have been making songs, in fact we make lots of material, some of them new go to live gigs, some we maybe play on one gig and then forget, throw away, the band is an ongoing proses, there is no goal, no end, only the journey and the love for music and arts in general.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
4. With this record, death is a big theme, but in various forms, also personal growth is one big theme, some occult/spiritual stuff, but mostly its about being a human being, this body and mind, we born, we live we die and we expereince all kinda stuff. Thats what I write about, everything that I experience... and about death :) Death is something I need to explore and music has always been my way to proses things.

5.I know that the band name is Finnish for 'north', how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
5. When this band was formed we  used lots of time to come up with the name, but we just could not think a name good enough. We wanted it to finnish, dark, deep. In fact it was none of the band members, present or former, who came up with the name, it was one of our friends, he just said: "how about Pohjoinen", and it clicked rightaway, in one word it told where we are coming from, physically and mentally. So its not just the north of this planet, its also a "mental-north", dark and cold nights, but also long days when the sun never sets :)

6.What are some of the best shows that the band ha splayed so far nad also how would you describe your stage performance?
6. I must that our last show, the realease gig for this record is one the best we have ever played. It was a two day bar-festival for this kinda music here in Helsinki, Finland, and we were the first band, so all those things I think gave us all the little bit more energy and focus.
For our live shows I for one try to make a performance, also give something to watch for the people, but as I have guitar, singing and all the effect pedals at my feet, its sometimes hard to find the time for the performance bit, but when I have the time, I try to take everything out of it. I also have this bad habbit of singing with my eyes closed, so I also try make an eye contact with everyone in the audience, atleast once. As Jim Morrison said, there is no audience without the permormer, and there is no performer with out the audience, they both need each other, and what else is performance than exhange of energy? So that´s why it is important that you try your best to include the audience to the show and also they are a great source of energy, even if there is only few people there, you only need one to exhange with :)

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
7. We have no tour booked, just gigs here and there, but we are trying to make something happen. As we have to do it all ourselves, its little slow and hard, but little by little it will get easier. There is no limit for gigs, we can and will play as much as we get.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner and doom metal?
8. The feedback we have gotten has been good, you could see the language as a barrier, but you can also see it as unique thing, its a part of that puzzle that makes us us. Thats why we are not afraid of pushing this also outside of Finland.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
9. As I said, this is a ongoing journey, the new songs we have, some of them are even doomier, some are more classic rock, some are more psychedelic, some are more the same, so you could say, we will be more us, we will have more of everything we now have and we will go where ever this road takes us, what ever it will be.
The stupidest thing you can do as an artist is start to limit yourself when you can be much happier when you just let everything flow through you and let manifest to music freely through you, not making too many rules and limits.

10.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?
10. When people ask what kinda music you play, I dont like to use the term stoner rock, I usually say "We play Black Sabbath kinda music", so there is one big influence.
For bands, there is lot and they differ from member to other, but for me as song writer the biggest once have been Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Down, Church of Misery, Weedeater, Opeth, Pink Floyd, and many many others, Mastodon etc...
I do listen a lots of different types of music, from Lana del Rey to Napalm Death, so there is no short answer to this one :)

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
11. Movies, spirituality in all of its forms, arts in general, be it poems or paintings, any kind of "food for the souls", be it from this world or where ever, with open but critic mind.
One thing that has hitted me hard in recent times has been stand-up comedy. But not the basic one liner dudes, I mean people like Robert Anton Wilson and Doug Stanhope. Our bass player infact told me about Doug and I started to dig him from that very moment, listening to our bass player telling me these stories. When I got home from those rehersals I started up youtube and watched everything I could.
Its not just the comedy I like about him, as I said, I could care less about those people who just try to be funny with oneliners, with Doug, hes there to tell you about the world where you live in, make you think and hold nothing sacred, sacrfice everything in the altar of comedy for the sake of kwonledge and could I say "enlightenment", to make you think, and better than that, to make you question things and to make you realize! I think that is his main goal, to make us realize something, but I bet he would say hes main goal is to get drunk free of charge or something like that, but hey, thats ok too :P

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
12. Thanks for this interview, this is in fact the first one we have done. Everyone go and check our record from pohjoinen.bandcamp.com! - Tumppi/Pohjoinen.

Austerymn/Sepulcrum Viventium/Memento Mori/2015 CD Reiew

  Austerymn  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  started  out  more  as  a  melodic  doom/death  metal  band  but  have evolved  into  more  of  a  straightforward  death  metal  direction  over  the  years  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Sepilcrum  Viventium"  which  was  released  by  Memento  Mori.

  Dark  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  melodic  old  school  death/doom  metal  sound  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  the  music  has  a  very  heavily  influenced  early  90's  sound  along  with  the  songs  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  very  dark  and  melodic  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  old  school  Swedish  and  Finnish  death  metal  influences  into  their  musical  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  last  track  also  brings  in  a  few  seconds  of  keyboards  and  spoken  word  parts.

  Austerymn  moves  away  from  the  melodic  doom/death  metal  sound  of  earlier  recording s to  go  back  to  a  more  90's  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in the  Nordic  tradition,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  despair,  hope  and  suicide  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  recording  from  Austerymn  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  old  school  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Feeding  the  Grotesque"  "Excarnation"  "Necrolation"  and  "Riven".  8  out  of  10.  

Crimson Sky/Transcendental Trip/Metal Scrap Records/2015 Cd Review

 

   Crimson  Sky  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  plays  a  gothic  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Transcendental  Trip"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Scrap  Records.

  A  very  dark,  and  atmospheric  sounding  synth  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  takes  the  music  into  a  doom  metal  direction  which  they  also  mix  in  with  the  atmospheric  parts  at  times  and  you  can  hear  violins  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls.

  Black  metal  screams  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  along  with  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  female  vocals  are  used  they  give  the  album  more  of  an  operatic  feeling  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  very  melodic  and  demonstrate  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill.

  At  times  the  music  can  be  very  symphonic  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  on  some  of  the  tracks  a  small  amount  of  classical  guitars  can  be  heard  along  with  a  few  instrumentals  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  slow  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  recording  and  on  the  last  track  a  small  amount  of  saxophones  are  utilized.

  Crimson  Sky  plays  a  gothic  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  and  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  death  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature,  sadness   and  existence.

  In  my  opinion  Crimson  Sky  are  a  very  great  sounding  gothic  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Spirit  Mind  Wraith"  "Ember  Of  Deities"  and  "Beyond  Senses".  8  out  of  10.

Arson Under The Sea/Stolen Kidneys/2015 Split Album Album

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Finland's  Arson  Under  the  Sea  and  Stolen  Kidneys  which  was  self  released  in  2015  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Arson  Under  The  Sea  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  metal,  sludge  and  hardcore.

  Distorted  drones  and  reverb  starts  off  their  side  of  the  split  and  goes  into  a  heavier  sludge  direction  a  few  seconds  later  as  well  as  adding  in  aggressive  growls  and  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  melodies  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  You  can  also  hear  elements  of  hardcore  in  some  of  the  songs  and  the  vocals  also  have  a  melodic  tone  to t hem  at  times  and  the  leads  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  when t hey  are  utilized  and  the  music  also  speeds  up  on  one  of  the  tracks  and  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Arson  Under  the  Sea  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  meal  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Man  Of  Filth"  "The  Observing  Self".

  Next  up  is  Stolen  Kidneys  another  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  metal  and  hardcore.

  Distorted  guitar  riffs  start  off  their  side  of  the  split  and  start  getting  a  lot  heavier  a  few  seconds  later  along  with  some  shouting  style  vocals  and  elements  of  noise  rock  and  the  songs  bring  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  slow  musical  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Stolen  Kidneys  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture of  sludge,  doom  metal  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of t he  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Dethrone  The  Fear".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  sludge,  doom  metal  and  hardcore.  8  out  of  10.

      

Shrine Of The Serpent Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Well, Shrine of the Serpent is a 3 piece form Portland, Oregon consisting of myself, John Boyd and Garret Hubner. Garret and I have been friends and in bands for the better part of 10 years. John and I are both tattooers so we knew each other from that. We would sometimes talk about bands we were into and guitar nerdery.  As Tenspeed Warlock was grinding down in the early part of 2014, John and I had been talking about forming SOTS and Garret and I wanted to continue what we had been pushing towards with Roanoke/ Tenspeed  so he was a shoe in for that and we started writing soon after. We are very picky about what we write. We probably scrapped and cannibalized like 10 songs before decided on the three we recorded. We had a bassist early on but John and I tune super low so we figured it wasnt necessary. At our first show we had people come up and tell us it took  a few before they realized we didn't have a bassist.

2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Death doom is what I keep hearing from folks.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
 Basically all my lyrics are based off the Occult, movies and writers like Lovecraft, Barker, and such.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Shrine Of the Serpent'?
It has to do with my fascination with Oroborus, the symbol for the cycle of life. none of us can escape the wheel. We all must follow the cycle and way of things to the inevitable end. Do we repeat it? Who can say? So many theories and the truth is well hidden.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance? We actually just started playing shows. We like low light so if that tells you anything. I mean, we are a doom band. We dont move a whole lot.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yes. We are currently working on a tour from Seattle to Oakland in June. Our friends from Eugene in Hiding are going with us on this. We also have a couple local show as as well. April 25th at Wisp house in Salem Oregon with Hungers, Hiding and Eye of nix and May 8th at the High Water Mark here in Portland with Eye of Nix, Hiding and Usnea. I try to keep the webpage updated with all that .  I will soon be trying to get a tour together for fall on the east coast and I'm planning on Europe for next year.

7.The ep was released on Materia Prima Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Materia Prima is a label I'm just getting off the ground. Also Im using the web page to draw attention to other bands and projects I feel people need to hear. I just concentrate on doing small run duplication .Sometimes with alternative packaging. the next one Im putting out is a dark ambient project from Slovakia called Morvranh. I found him on Soundcloud, he composes great music with excellent atmosphere. materia-primalabel.blogspot.com

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom and death metal?
 Very good! Its been selling pretty steady just on word of mouth. Very positive feedback. Cant wait to play more shows. Especially Europe!

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part off?
Well Garret plays in a stoner rock band called Dwarf Giant who should have an album coming out later this year and I have a dark ambient project called Withering of Light that I have a few releases with. Im currently working on new material for that as well. As far as Aldebaran goes, we all of  have a bunch of different music projects so it may be a bit before that beast emerges from slumber again.

10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future? Maybe not a full length. We tend to write long songs so maybe 4 or 5 songs on the record is the most your gonna get. We will be recording 2 new songs for a split with Hiding that will come out on Belief Mower records later this year.

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?
 I've been listening to a TON of stuff! Cauchemar, Dead Can Dance, Lurker of Chalice, Bewitcher, Leviathan, Discharge, Crass, Death in June, Shroud of the Heretic, Sempeternal Dusk, Loss, Corrupted, Coffins, Sisters of Mercy, Valenfyre, Burzum, Darkthrone, Lycia, Samhain, Nails, Asunder, Dismeballerina, My Bloody Valentine, Mournful Congregation, Arditi, Funeral Mourning, Masturbatory Dysfunction, Forn, Locrian, Gnaw their Tounges, Rush and Nortt just to name some.

12.Does occultism play any role in your music? Yes to certain degree. Some of what I study and fits in to what we do but some of it I'm obligated not to say much about. Some will know what I mean by that.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Well Ive been a tattooer for the better part of 20 years and own Imperial tattoo in Portland, Or. so there is always that. I like bicycling quite a bit, I actually hate driving so that's primarily how I get around. Hiking, shooting and practical self defense as well as spending time with my family and doing illustrations I feel inspired to do .  I study runes and Odinism as well as a the occult, sociological and political happenings world wide. I like to read about history quite a bit. I also build speaker cabs for guitar and bass and housing for amps on a per order basis. I know, not super exciting but you did ask.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks to those who have been listening and supporting us thus far. Thanks for your time.

Dysteria/Fuck The Future/Vetala Productions/Rad Nauseum/Bones Brigrade/Wooaaargh/2015 Vinyl Review

  Dysteria  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  crust,  d  beat,  grindcore  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Fuck  The  Future"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Vetala  Productions,  Rad  Nauseum,  Bones  Brigrade  and  Wooaaargh.

   Avery  old  school  crust  grind  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  the  faster  sections  bring  in  a  good  amount  of  blast  and  d  beats  while  the  slower  sections  are  heavily  influenced  by  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  at  times  the  music  does  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  some  songs  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  samples  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.

  Dysreria  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  sludge  and  doom  metal  but  also  mixes  in  grind,  crust  d  beat  and  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their own,  the  production  sound s very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dysteria  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  crust,  grind,  d  beat  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Thirst"  "Defaultocrat"  and  "Mephistophees".  8  out  of  10.

    

William English/Basic Human Error/Grandad Records/2015 CD Review

  William  English  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner,  doom  metal  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Basic  Human  Error"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Grandad  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  brutal  melodic  hardcore  punk  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  which  also  leads  to  the  music  adding  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  along  with  a  small  amount  of  melodic  post  hardcore  style  vocals.

  A  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  incorporating  more  elements  of  stoner  and  southern  metal  but  done  with  more  heaviness  and  at  time s some  of  the  tracks  speed  up  a  bit  and  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and  as  the  album  progresses  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  briefly.

  William  English  plays  a  musical  style  that mixes  the  heaviest  parts  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  together  along  with  a  touch  of  crust  and  post  hardcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  William  English  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge,  doom  metal  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Bud  Vessel"  "Captain  Tugboat"  and  "A  Monger".  8  out  of  10.    

Deathkings/Rozamov/Midnite Collective/2015 Split EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  from  Los  Angeles,  California's  Deathkings  and  Boston,  Massachusetts  Rozamov  which  will  be  released  in  may  by  Midnite  Collective  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Deathkings  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  off  with  clean  post  rock  style  playing  along  with  some  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  that  are  both  rough  and  melodic  which  leads  up  to  a  more  heavy  sludge  metal  direction  and  after  awhile  melodic guitar  leads  are  added  into  the  7  minute  long  along  with  some  clean  singing  vocals  and  towards  the  end  the  song  speeds  up  a  bit  and  adds  in  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  song  more  of  a  black  metal  feeling,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Deathkings  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band. 

  Next  up  is  Rozamov  another  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal.

 Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  and  melodic sludge  metal  sound  along  with  a  few  blast  beats  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  once  screams  and  growls  are  added  into  the  music  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  crust in  the  faster  sections  of  the  song  while  the  leads  add  a  touch  of  stoner  metal  to  the  song  and  towards  the  end   you  can  hear  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover dark  and  paranormal  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Rozamov  are  a  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust,  sludge  and  doom  metal    and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  sludge and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10. 

Shrine Of The Serpent/Self Titled/Materia Prima Records/2015 EP Review

  Shrine  Of  The  Serpent  are  a  band  from  Portland,  Oregon  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2015  which  was  released  by  Materia  Prima  Records.

  A  very  distorted  and  ritualistic  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  that  have  a  demonic  atmosphere  to  them  which  leads  up  to  a  very  heavy  sludge/doom  metal  sound  that  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  to  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of melody  at  times.

  All  3  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  a  couple  of  tracks  a  small  amount  of  atmospheric  sounds  can  be  heard  along  with  a  brief  use  of  grim  vocals  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow,  dark  yet  heavy  musical  direction  that  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  90's  doom/death  metal  at  times  and  spoken  word  parts  make  their  return  on  the  last  track.

  Shrine  Of  The  Serpent  plays  a  very  slow  and  heavy  musical  style  that  mixes  the  darkest  and  heaviest  elements  of  sludge,  doom  and  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  occult  themes.

In  my  opinion  Shrine  Of  The  Serpent  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "King  In  Red".  8  out  of  10.  

Show Of Bedlam/Roont/PRC Music/2015 CD Re-Issue Review

  Show  Of  Bedlam  are  a  band  from  Quebec,  Canada  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Roont"  which  will  be  re-issued  in  May  by  PRC  Music.

  Avant  garde  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  to  get  more  heavy  and  goes  for  more  of  a  doom  metal  sound  that  also  bring s in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  along  with  some  clean  singing  female  vocals  and  a  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  aggressive  screams  at  times.

  Spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  small  amount  of  psychedelic  sounds  along  with  some  elements  of  ritualistic  and  noise  music  and  some  of  the  tracks  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls  and  blast  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  and  when  solos  and  leads  are utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.    

  Show  Of  Bedlam  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  along  with  some  atmospheric  and  occult  rock  elements  as  well  as  a  touch  of  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  mental  illness,  shame  and  alienation.

  In  my  opinion S how  Of  Bedlam  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Roont"  and  "Dress  For  Sale".  8  out  of  10.

    

Pohjoinen/Self Titled/Inverse Records/2015 Full Length Review

 

 Pohjoinen  are  a  band  from Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  metal  and  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  which  will  be  released  on  April  10th  by  Inverse  Records.

  A  very  heavy  bass  guitar  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  alter  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  70's  influenced  doom  metal  sound  and  you  can  also  hear  acoustic  guitars  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  all  done  in  a  clean  singing  approach.

  A  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  some   death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  solos  and leads  are  utilized  they  brings  a  70's  rock  feeling  to  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  guitar  riffing  also  brings  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  at  times.

  At  time s the  music speeds  up  and  adds  in  elements  of  crustcore  and  blast  beats  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  elements  of  stoner  rock  are  added  into  the  bands  musical  style  while  the  high  pitched  screams  also  gives  the  heavier  sections  of  the  bands  musical  style  a  sludge  feeling.

  Pohjoinen  plays  a  style  of  doom  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  70's  but  also  mixes  in  elements  of  stoner  rock,  sludge  and  death  metal  to  make  their  style  more  up  to  date  and  modern,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finish  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Pohjoinen  are  a  very  great  sounding  of  mixture  of  doom,  death  metal  and  stoner  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "RJD"  "Joki"  "Lehto"  and  "Elo".  8  out  of  10.