Catapult The Dead Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?



Since recording “A Universal Emptiness” we have been working on our next release which we hope to have out within the next year. We are almost done recording our half of what we intend to be a split release. On top of that, we have started composing material for the next full length.



2.You have a new album coming out in November, 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?



I would say it falls somewhere between doom/post/sludge/black metal. I do really think we found "our" sound on “A Universal Emptiness”. With the addition of Patrick Spain on drums it really helped us define our sound. All 6 of us come from varied musical backgrounds and all draw inspiration from very different places. We were able to harness this more cohesively, as a team, to make something we all feel is beautiful. With the newest album, it's much more straightforward and easier to digest, as it consists of 4 songs in a more traditional album flow. That isn't to say it's any less grandiose or captivating; I feel that this is much more tormenting and brutal. We’ve all grown a lot as musicians and as people since we started and I feel like the growth is apparent between the last two records.



3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?



To me the lyrical content in “A universal Emptiness” is very personal. It is dealing with the demons that hide in the back of your mind; casting doubt, regret, anger, or pain. If it feels like an emotional journey that is because, for me, it is. It is a way for me to convert the negative energy into positive. Music is my great catharsis and without it as an outlet, I’d probably never make it.





4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Catapult The Dead'?



 It's the first noted form of biological warfare. The practice of using siege engines to throw corpses over enemy walls. The Mongols used the bodies of those who had died of plague this way in a siege in 1346, which some believe may have led to the plague epidemic that struck much of Europe in the following years. It’s a suitably horrifying, apocalyptic, and depressing image. Picture a decrepit, disease ridden cadaver flying through the air in slow motion, looming somewhat gracefully towards the enemy. Soft with rot, the impending plague and puss filled splatter of a landing never seems to come. Just the perpetual limp lifeless flight through the sky that goes on forever without end.



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?

Playing in the Bay Area is an amazing thing. We’re lucky enough to have a constant flux of really great bands coming through the area. Some of my personal favorites would have to be Solstafir, Khemmis, North, Wovoka, Abstracter, Brume, and Chrch (just to name a few). The best venue we’ve been lucky enough to play, in my opinion, is either The Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco or The Metro in Oakland. For me personally both are venues I've dreamed of playing for a long time. Though I would say our favorite local watering hole is The Golden Bull, in Oakland.



  I would say we have quite an interesting stage performance. There is little to no stage chatter and very dim lights. I’ve heard it described as terrifyingly intense. As a six piece, there is a lot happening at all times; Garrick switching from guitar to keys or Ben pounding a floor tom while simultaneously roaring at the crowd, Tom and Emad full body head banging and all the while Patrick is pulverizing the cymbals and drums. We have a lot of fun out there but it probably looks more like pain and agony.



6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?



We’d really like to get on the road again. We are planning an album release show sometime in December and are working on a couple short tours. Unfortunately doing any long tours is difficult with all of our jobs and schedules and it turns out that road money doesn’t go very far with 6 members.



7.The album is coming out on 'Doom Stew Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?



 Yes. It’s a very small label, but we’ve been quite happy so far. All we've ever wanted to do is share our music with the world, and Doom Stew Records has made this easier for us. For that we are eternally grateful. They seem like the perfect fit for what we need at this point. You can tell that Doom Stew is a passion project and that what makes it so incredibly special..



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



It's been pretty amazing. I was more than surprised by its reach, even if it didn’t make a huge splash in the metal world. We are constantly trying to expand our fan base and honestly we are beyond excited for people to hear A Universal Emptiness.



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 of?



Emad recently came out of a 2 year hiatus of playing drums and is in the beginning stages of starting a post metal project. As of now they are a 3 piece with him on the drums, still looking to complete the line up and don't have a name as of yet, but will be playing shows by early next year. It's still quite new and top secret! Patrick is in 3 other bands at the moment. One is a doomgaze band called Dustern, Dan (the bassist in CTD) is in it as well. Patrick is also in Mountaineer, an atmospheric rock project featuring Clayton Bartholomew from Secrets of the Sky and Lycus. The third band is called None Shall Thrive, it's a 2 person acoustic black metal project spearheaded by Nick Sandy (who has also done album and t shirt artwork for Catapult in the past). Ben and Garrick have been working on some interesting, more industrial, studio only, tracks. Each band is in various stages of recording new material. It’s likely there will be a lot on the horizon in the near future.



10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?



I’d say this will be our most straight forward, metal release. We plan on going back to writing longer, dynamic, and cinematic songs again. Probably not as long as the 37 minute, All is sorrow, but I can say the next thing we release will be a 20 minute long piece which I feel is the best piece of music the band has composed thus far. We’re continuing to do what comes naturally and constantly trying to get better at it. We have a good base for the Catapult the Dead sound now, we just need continue to hone in and elaborate on it.



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?



We draw inspiration from a large variety of bands and styles. Some of the big ones would be Cult of Luna, Breach, Type O Negative, Russian Circles, SubRosa, Neurosis, and Bongripper.



12.What are some of your non musical interests?



That’s a tough one to generalize as a whole. Dan is a bit of a book worm. Patrick is a grease monkey always working in the garage. He spends a lot of time camping and off-roading. Garrick does a lot of video editing and screen printing. Tom works at a cannabis dispensary, playing with his dog in spare time. Emad has an affinity for cooking and visiting Tom at the dispensary. Ben is an avid angler, spending a lot of time kayaking on the water.  I’d say the main tie that binds us, outside of our music, is our love for the woods and outdoors.



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



Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. We are immensely appreciative of our friends and fans that have been supporting us along the way. We hope to share our music with all that are willing to listen and follow us on our sonic journey.

Amplified Memory Interview

The interview was answered by the band’s main songwriter and keyboardist Simon Bodesheim.


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
> We have released the album a week ago, so at the moment we are waiting for reactions on the album, while at the same time we are preparing new shows and some promotional stuff. This is also what we have done for the last few months. It has been a lot of work.

2.Recently you have released a new 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?
> The foundation of our sound has always been inspired by Gothenburg melodic death metal, like the one of Dark Tranquillity and early In Flames. But over the years my taste in music shifted more to progressive and black metal, so of course those genres influenced my writing for “Vas Hermeticum” a lot. It still is kind of this melodeath from our first album “The Ever Spinning Wheel”, but there are so many other elements and ideas, that you usually wouldn’t find in this genre, which make it a bit experimental in some moments. It’s hard to describe. I would suggest to you that you just listen to a few songs and you will see, if you like it or not. The songs are all very different from each other, so it’s very probable that even if you don’t like some parts of the album, there will be something else on it you can enjoy.

3.This is your first album in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
> Between 2013 and 2016 we were focused on playing live and writing the material for “Vas Hermeticum”. Since we had three line-up changes in that period, a lot of time had to be spent on practicing with the new members. I guess the album could have been finished at least a year earlier if our line-up had been stable the whole time. In March 2016 we started recording the material, but the mixing and mastering wasn’t completed until early 2017, which is quite a long time. One reason why it took that long was, that we were very fussy this time, so everything had to be perfect for us. We needed a lot of sessions, where we did some minor changes. The other reason was, that we had some problems with the studio, so the mixing and mastering had to be postponed repeatedly. But we were now able to release it, finally. I hope the next album will not take another four years, but you never know…

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
> The main topics we deal with on “Vas Hermeticum” are the concepts of reality and illusion. Everyone has his or her own clear definition of what is real and what is for example imagination, a (day)dream, hallucination or even just an idea. Those things are often not clearly separable. We looked at this topic from different points of view. Some of the lyrics are more narrated examples of these cases. “Into the Shelter of a Mind” deals with losing consciousness as a way to escape paranoid thoughts, because in this state you feel safer and more protected from a danger that feels real to you, but from a “rational” point of view is just not there. “Soporific” tells about a person, who lost some loved ones and can only stay in (imaginary) contact with them in the dream state, so he/she uses drugs to induce and extend his dream phases. “A Walk on the Crystalline Path” is a very metaphorical narration about processing a traumatic event in your dreams. Other songs like “Non-Construct” or “End of Transference” or “Multipolar” use a more philosophical and psychological approach on discussing this reality-illusion-topic.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Amplified Memory'?
> It is about forgetting and therefore the imperfection of straight conscious reality and different layers of it. I find it fascinating that memories can be “saved” in your brain without you being able to actively remember them, but subconsciousness brings them up every now and then (for example in your dreams) without you realizing it. And as there are certain psychological techniques to intentionally “amplify” them, I thought of this term as a name for us. Considering that we chose psychological themes for our lyrics, it is an adequate name for our concepts.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
> The show at the big German Out & Loud festival 2016 was really cool. We were playing the newcomer stage there, while some of our idols played on the main stages. Our three shows in Zwickau were all really awesome. People there are much more interactive than in our hometown Munich, so we had the time of our lives up there on the stage. In Munich there’s a festival called “Inzestival”, where bands, who have members playing in each other’s bands, are sharing two stages. It’s like a big family meeting of Munich’s bands. There’s always a lot of people, and they’re mostly very open-minded. Although the festival has completely mixed genres, people who usually listen to pop and ska music watch black and death metal bands and vice versa. So, the space in front of the stage is always crowded and it’s a big party. We shot our music video for “Ammon’s Eclipse” at the last edition of this festival.
Concerning the question how we would describe our live performances, maybe it would be best to watch this video (or other live videos of us on YouTube), since it shows quite well the way we are on stage. I’d say we try to be dynamic and energetic on stage, while trying to act appropriate to the feel of the music, which means that when a song is sad, we won’t fool around and make jokes, because this would lower the atmospheric and emotional effect of the song. Since the album release, we are wearing new stage outfits, which some people may find a little strange. We are wearing lab coats with Rorschach inkblots on it. We think this outfit properly connects both the alchemic and psychologic themes of our album.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
> We are currently in the process of booking shows for 2018. Because of the unclear situation with the album, we weren’t able to book shows for late 2017, so people unfortunately have to wait some months until they’ll see us live with our new album.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme and melodic metal?
> Mostly very positive. Of course, since we mix really many elements and different styles and genres, some people find it too much, or there are always some parts which they really love and some that just don’t match their personal taste. But that’s the price you have to pay, if you try those things. On the other hand, all of them are agreeing, that the album is executed very well and the music is very creative and beautiful. If people find something on the album they like, we’re happy.

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 of?
> Our drummer Felix is also drummer in German avantgarde black metal band Nebelkrähe. They are currently working on their third full length album. Fantastic music, also very experimental and creative stuff. Our lead guitar player Chris used to play in a blackened death metal band called Gilgamesh, but after their singer and songwriter (who also contributed guest vocals in the song “Multipolar” on our new album) left the band, he left, too. He is, however, currently part of a new project, for which details will be revealed soon. I myself have been keyboardist and percussionist of German ska rock band Rapid for the last four years, in which Felix is also playing the drums, but I left the band one month ago. Felix is still part of the band. It’s something else, musically, which is always good to broaden your musical horizon, but ultimately, I was never really into that music and played there rather for reasons of fun. You get much bigger club and festival gigs and more active audiences than as an underground metal band.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
> We want to dive more into this progressive style we have been including on our new album. I think in straight melodic death metal, we already said everything we had to say on our debut “The Ever Spinning Wheel”. “Vas Hermeticum” might be the very expanded and experimental transition to a more musically complex, but still very melodic, catchy, focused and emotional style of extreme metal, which we will aim for in the future.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Basically, I think you can still and maybe will always hear a classical Gothenburg melodeath influence of bands like Dark Tranquillity (my favourite band) or In Flames, since this has always been the foundation of our music. But as I said, I prefer progressive and black metal nowadays, so on “Vas Hermeticum” I was influenced more by bands like Der Weg einer Freiheit, The Ocean, Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved, Opeth, Dark Funeral, Wintersun and many others. This year I have been listening to Leprous a lot, especially their new album “Malina”, as well as “Finisterre”, the latest album of German black metal band Der Weg einer Freiheit.

12.Does Occultism play any role in your music?
> No. No one in the band has ever had interest in that topic and to be honest, I can’t understand why so many bands today still cover those themes in their music. Everything about it has been said decades ago. There are so many interesting things out there in our world. Occultism, for me, isn’t one of them.

13.What are some of your non-musical interests?
> I myself am very much into movies and I think I have watched nearly 1000 movies so far. Besides, politics are very important to me. Moreover, most of us are students. Our guitar player Eley and I are both students of chemistry, so science is also one of our interests. Eley is very much into strength training. Wolfgang, our singer, studies psychology (you may get the idea, where the album concept and our outfits come from) and loves discussing philosophical topics a lot. Chris, our lead guitar player, is studying geography. Our drummer Felix is studying computer linguistics and I often get the impression you can get him interested in nearly everything. He has an impressive common knowledge. Our bass player Michi is working as a software consultant. He and Chris also love playing video games.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
> Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us in the last nine years, in whatever way. We would be happy if you remain faithful to us. To everyone who discovered us recently (or maybe with this interview): Listen to our new album “Vas Hermeticum”! We hope you’ll like it!

Apotelesma Interview

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

Apotelesma is a doom/death metal band, hailing from the Netherlands (Utrecht/Gelderland province). We were founded in 2011 under the name of Monuments, but in 2014 we changed our name to Apotelesma. Though firmly rooted in the doom metal style, we have always had a tendency to build up to faster paced (and sometimes blast-beat driven) sections, reminiscent of black metal. Add to that the solemn clean vocal sections of lead vocalist Mitch, and you arrive at something that alternately evokes a spirit akin to Ahab or Mournful Congregation and at times something much closer to atmospheric black metal.

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

‘Timewrought Kings’ is the result of many hours of arduous, passionate, and sometimes frustrating work. Following the EP, ‘The December Sessions’, ‘Timewrought Kings’ chronicles one’s apprehension at the transience of time and a growing disgust at the weakness in man, yet clinging on to some measure of hope and pride rooted in a sort of staunch steadfastness, and eventually abandoning society altogether. In a sense, one is wrought, or made into that which one is, by the inescapable arrow of time, constantly pushing one into a ceaseless industriousness celebrated by modern society. As such, the tracks tend to stretch beyond the ten minute mark, taking the listener on a pensive and somber journey through landscapes of apprehension and gloom.

3.Your lyrics cover Nature and Esotericism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

I think esotericism and nature are connected to each other, since the beauty of nature can bring you in a state of inner peace. The beauty and the solitude in nature can be overwhelming. That solitude, that feeling of dependence on nature is forgotten in our current society, where people love things more than the things that actually matter: their friends and beloved, and the sheer beauty nature provides us. Therefore, we also tend to write about anxiety, the decaying of our time as a human being on this earth and the loss of the things we should care about most. Nature, too, can be seen as a sanctuary in those subjects.

4.Originally the band was called 'Monuments', what was the cause of the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Apotelesma'?

When we started as a band, we didn’t know there was a relatively small djent band called Monuments too. We thought this wouldn’t be an issue, but when that band became very big very fast, a lot of people confused us with that band. On a certain point, people accused us of stealing their band name and began calling us names and rip offs. Since we didn’t want to get copyright problems when we released an album and we were getting pretty damn sick with all the name calling, we decided then to change our name.

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’ve played the Dutch Doom Days in 2014, which was one of our best shows to date. We also played a show together with Eye of Solitude and Faal back in 2015, which was memorable for the friends we made and the enthusiasm the other bands received our music with. We have a very straight forward stage performance, because we think you should emphasize the music and not the stage performance. We let the music do the talking!




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

Unfortunately, shortly after we finished the recording of our album, we decided we go on an indefinite hiatus. We don’t know what the future will bring us, but the chances of us getting back together and play shows or tours are very small.

7.The album was released on 'Solitude Productions', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

Solitude Productions have been very supportive and kind to us! We are honored to have our album released by such a great label where a lot of our musical examples have released music as well.

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

We only have a few reviews in, but they’re all very positive. Friends and fans of ours, who happened to hear the album before the release date, are also very enthusiastic about the music. We hope people around the world react positive when they hear the album for the first time.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

As I’ve mentioned before, this is the only album we will be releasing. We don’t know what the future will bring us, but releasing music in the nearby future as Apotelesma is very unlikely.

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?

We have a lot of musical influences, but the main influences are bands like Ahab, Katatonia, Doom:VS and Solstafír.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Martijn: in my daily life I’m a history teacher. I also like to work out a lot; I think you can heal the mind by taking care of your body and pushing it to the limits.

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

Support the underground metal scene, especially the local metal bands who are trying to take their music to the next level. Hopefully you like the album. If so, order a copy from the band or at Solitude Productions.

Atlases/Penumbra/Pest Records/2017 EP Review

  Atlases  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  very  melancholic  form  of  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2017  ep  "Penumbra"  which  was  released  by  Pest  Records.

  Dark  yet  melodic  riffing  starts  off  the  ep  which  also  takes  the  music  into  a  heavier  direction  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  vocals  being  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  and  the  music  also  incorporates  elements  of  atmospheric  doom  metal.

  Clean  playing  and  synths  ca  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  a  great  amount  of  post  metal  elements  while  some  of  the  tracks  also  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  some  of  the songs  also  bring  in  melodic  vocals  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  ep  progresses  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  as  well  as  one  of  the  tracks  being  an  instrumental.

  Atlases  plays  a  style  of  post  metal  that  is  very  melancholic  and  also  adds  in  touches  of  black and  doom metal  to  create  a  sound  of t heir  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  melancholic themes.

  In  my  opinion  Atlases  are  a  very  great  sounding  melancholic  post  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Passage  Through  Nebula"  and  "Medusa".  8  out  of  10.      

Amplified Memory/Vas Hermeticum/Sliptrick Records/2017 CD Review

  Amplified  Memory  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  progressive  and  melodic  form  of  death  metal  with  some  elements  of  doom  and  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Vas  Hermeticum"  which  was  released  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Dark  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  more  heavier and  melodic  side  of  the  music  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  and  screams  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  During  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  the  music  mixes  in  elements  of  90's  era  melodic  doom/death  metal  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  riffs  also  mixing  in  elements  of  modern  prog  metal  at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Elements  of  black  metal  can  be  heard  in  the  fast  tremolo  picking  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  acoustic  guitars  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  saxophones  and  stringed  instruments  on  a  couple  of  the  tracks,  a  couple  of  the  later  songs  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  female  and  male  vocals. 

  Amplified  Memory  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  melodic  death  metal  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  black,  doom  meta, progressive  rock  and  avant  garde  music  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sound s very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dreams,  personal/psychological  concepts.  philosophy  and  cosmology  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Amplified  Memory  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  progressive  death  metal  band  with  elements  of  black  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Maze  Of  Gyri"  "The  Aether  Apparatus"  "Ammon's  Eclipse"  and  "Into  The  Shelter  Of  A  Mind".  8  out  of  10.     

Catapult The Dead/A Universal Emptiness/Doom Stew Records/2017 Full Length Review

   Catapult  The  Dead  are  a  band  from  Oakland,  California  that  plays  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal  and   this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "A  Universal  Emptiness"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Doom  Stew  Records.

  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  angry  sludge  style  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  while  clean  vocals  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  bass  guitars  also  sounding  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction.

  When  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  while  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody,  elements  of  post  rock  can  also  be  heard  at  times  as  well  as  some  acoustic  guitars  and  growls  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Catupult  The  Dead  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge,  atmospheric  doom  and  post  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Catapult  The  Dead  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  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  "Anti-Aether"  and  "Burning  Womb".  8  out  of  10.    

Ixion/Return/Finisterian Dead End/2017 CD Review

  Ixion  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  mixture  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  doom,  death  and  goth  metal  with some  elements  of  ambient  and  electronic  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Return" which  was  released  on  October  30th  by  Finisterian  Dead  End.

  Melodic  and  heavy  doom  metal  riffs  start  off  the album  along  with  some  elements  of  electronic  music  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  clean  vocals  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  elements  of  ambient  are  also  used  at  times  along  with  some  songs  also  adding in  goth rock  influences  and  when  screams  are  utilized  they  add  in  a touch  of  black  metal  as  well  as  some  songs  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Ixion  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  goth  and  atmospheric  doom  metal  while  also  mixing  it  with  elements  of  death  metal,  ambient  and  electronic  music  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  void,  space,  death  and  love  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ixion  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  mixture  of  goth  and  doom  metal  with  some  elements  of  ambient  and  electronic  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Out  Of  The  Dark"  "Back  Home"  "Contact"  and  "Stranger".  8  out  of  10.  

Coughdust/Worldwrench/Suicide Records/2017 Full Length Review

  Coughdust  are  a  band  from Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Worldwrench"  which  was  released  by  Suicide  Records.

  Distorted  amp  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  doom  metal  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  the  vocals  also  mixing  in  sludge  style  screams  at  times.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  great amount  of  stoner  rock  elements  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  can  be  heard  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow musical  direction.

  Coughdust  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  stoner  and  doom  metal  while  also  mixing  in  the  heaviness  of  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  hate,  anxiety  and  social  commentary  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Coughdust  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Serpents  Of  The  Earth" and  "Dead  Calm".  8  out  of  10.   

Accidental Suicide/Dead Erotica/Vic Records/2017 Compilation Album Review

  Accidental  Suicide  where  a  band  from  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin  that  played  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  compilation  album  "Dead  Erotica"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Vic  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  doom  metal  influenced  sound  starts  off  the  compilation  along  with  some  morbid  sounding  melodies  while  the  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  when t he  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  At  times  the  riffing  gets  very  technical  for  the  era  it  was  recorded  while  synths  can  also  be  heard  briefly on  one  of  the  tracks  and  also  brings  in  the  atmosphere  of  a  horror  movie  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording,  some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts.

  Accidental  Suicide  played  a  style  of  death  metal t hat  was  very  different  and  underrated  for  its  time  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  metal,  the  production  has  a  sound  that  was  very  typical  of  the  90's  death  metal  albums  that  where  not  produced  by  bigger  known  producers  while  the lyrics cover  death,  serial  killing  and  murder  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Accidental  Suicide  where  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  with  a  touch  of  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "God  Just  Let  Me  Die"  "Flesh  Parade"  "World  Gone  Mad"  and  "Evil  Fate  (Fuck  The  Dead)".  8 out  of  10.  

Apotelesma/Timewrought Kings/Solitude Productions/2017 CD Review

  Apotelesma  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Timewrought  Kings"  which  will  be  released  on  October  27th  by  Solitude  Productions.

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  musical  direction  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  as  well  as  some  black  metal  screams.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  clean  singing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  most  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental  track  which  also  introduces  keyboards  onto  the  recording  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  Apotelesma  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  atmospheric  while  also  mixing  in  a  touch  of  black  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Apotelesma  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  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  "The  Weakest  Of  Man'  and  "Remnants".  8  out  of  10.

Sleeping Romance/Alba/Napalm Records/2017 CD Review

  Sleeping  Romance  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  symphonic,  gothic  and  melodic  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Alba"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Napalm  Records.

  Symphonic  sounds  along  with  some  stringed  instruments  start  off  the  album  while  choirs  are  also  used  briefly  along  with  some  classical  music  elements  as  well  as  the  synths  adding  in  goth  touches  and  they  also  mix  the  symphonic  and  heavy  stuff  together  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion.

  Female  goth  vocals  are  also  used  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  riffs  also  mixing  in  elements  of  melodic  death  metal,  some  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length,  one  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  male  vocals  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  briefly  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Sleeping  Romance  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  symphonic  and  goth  metal  while  also  adding  in  the  aggression  of  melodic  death  metal  to  the  guitars  and  drums  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  human  soul  and  its  interactions  with  the  world.

  In  my  opinion  Sleeping  Romance  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  symphonic,  goth  and  melodic  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Where  The  Light  Is  Bleeding"  "Forgiveness"  "Everything  Behind"  and  "Alba".  8  out  of  10. 

Until The Sky Dies/The Year Zero Blueprint/Cimmerian Shade Recordings/2017 CD Review

  Until  The  Sky  Dies  are  a  solo  project  from  Rhode  Island  that  plays  an  avant  garde  mixture  of  doom  metal  and  post  hardcore  along  with  some  industrial  and  electronic  music  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "The  Year  Zero  Blueprint"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Cimmerian  Shade  Recordings.

  Melodic  guitar  leads  and  avant  garde  elements  start  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  death  metal  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  clean  vocals  and  grim  screams  are  also  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  experimental  while  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  being  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  elements  of  industrial,  electronic  music  and  post  hardcore  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.,  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard.

  Until  The  Sky  Dies  plays a   musical  style  that  takes  avant  garde,  doom,  death  metal,  post  hardcore,  electronic  music  and  industrial  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dystopian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Until  The  Sky  Dies  are  a  very  great  sounding  avant  mixture  of  doom  metal,  post  hardcore,  industrial  and  electronic  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "II"  "V"  and  "VIII".  8  out  of  10.  

Nero Doctrine/II-Interitus/Boersma Records/2017 CD Review

  Nero  Doctrine  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  with  touches  of  doom  and  dark  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "II-Interitus"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Boersma  Records.

  Static  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  some  angry  screams  and  death  metal  growls  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  elements  of  doom  and  dark  metal  along  with  the  music also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  some  songs  also  bringing  in  prog  and  thrash  influences  and  a  couple  of  the  later  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  with  one  also  introducing  acoustic  guitars  onto  the  recording,  on  the  last  song  keyboards  and  stringed  instruments  can  also  be  heard.

  Nero  Doctrine  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  melodic  death  and  modern  thrash  while  the  prog,  doom  and  dark  metal  elements  gives  the  songs  more  originality,  the  production  sounds very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  nihilism  and  cynicism  themes.

  In  m y  opinion  Nero  Doctrine  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  with  touches  of  doom  and  dark  metal  and  if  you  are a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "...And  The  Stones  Began  To  Speak"  "From  Defiance  To  Defeat"  "The  Eyes  Of  Truth"  and  "See,  Those  Fires  Burn".  8  out  of  10.    

Lord Of The Lost Interview

D: Quite a few things, since the album recordings were already done in June. Since then, we signed a record deal with our new label, Napalm Records, played a bunch of summer festivals, shot four videos for the upcoming album and had an awesome week playing six shows together with legendary KMFDM in UK in the beginning of September.

2.You have a new album coming out in October, 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/
GARED: The new album is going to be our second acoustic album on which we present our classical side. It’s featuring original songs specifically written for this album as well as some of our „old“ songs re-arranged in a classical way.

3.The music on the new album is more acoustic and classical orientated, what was the decision behind going into this direction on the new recording?
GARED: This is something that we already did before with our first acoustic album in 2015. The idea of forming this what we like to call a band-internal side project emerged from our appearance at „Gothic meets Klassik“ in 2013, where we performed classical versions of 5 of our songs with a 40-piece orchestra. This experience blew us away so hard and showed us that our songs work perfectly in this new guise so that we decided to do our own version of it. The idea of „Swan Songs“ was born.

4.A lot of your albums have been concept albums, can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics the new album covers?
GARED: Well, I wouldn’t call them concept albums, at least not in the progressive rock kind of way like Pink Floyd and similar bands did. But yeah, on most of our albums, a sort of golden thread can be found in the lyrics. On „Swan Songs II“, we cover topics from loss, dealing with one’s own shortcomings, fantasizing about how to kill your worst enemy up to getting a sense of belonging even if you feel lost and alone.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Lord Of The Lost’?
GARED: We’re all lost in various ways. We want this band to be a safe haven for people who feel lost, forlorn or afraid. And that includes us as well.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
GARED: It’s so hard to even pick a few shows. It depends so many factors and sometimes the shows where we least expected it were the best ones. I guess it’s fair to say that our stage performance is highly energetic sweat-inducing both on and in front of the stage. We always strive to become one with our audience and to have an amazing party together.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
GARED: Yes. We’re doing a small tour of seven shows in Germany. We’re gonna have our chamber orchestra with us and the concerts will be seated, so things are about to get fancy ;-)

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of dark rock and gothic metal?
GARED: We’ve been on the road with this band now for over eight years and I think it’s fair to say that the response from the scene is and has been positive. Otherwise we wouldn’t be on the radar anymore. But of course, every band has its haters and ironically, they are almost as important as fans. You can’t please them all and we don’t aim to do that. But we’re happy and thankful for every single fan (and hater, for that matter) who supports us. We have so much yet before us, so many new countries to visit, so many more albums to write, but so far, it’s been an amazing adventure and the feedback has been tremendous.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
GARED: There are enough bands out there copying themselves over and over again with every new album. We’re not like that. We hate to repeat ourselves. So far, every Lord Of The Lost album displayed a different facet of us without ever losing the connection to what this band is about. It’s all us. And we’d like to keep it that way in the future. I’m sure we’re gonna keep up our band-internal side project that is Swan Songs, but other than that we still have a lot of influences and musical ground to cover. So far, signs are pointing to our rather heavier side.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
GARED: If you listen to our music, you’ll recognize many different elements. Heavy guitars, electronic elements, orchestral arrangements, pop-compatible song structures, clear as well as guttural vocals, just to name a few. So you can tell we have this huge melting pot of various influences and styles.
There are a few artists that are on heavy rotation in my CD player recently, including the mastermind artist Steven Wilson (and any of the projects he’s involved in), a British prog band called Frost* and IAMX, the latter of which might be the most appropriate for the scene we’re roaming ;-)

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
GARED: There’s not so many, to be honest. However, I quite enjoy cycling and cooking, if I find the time for it.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
GARED: Yes. I wonder why this kind of question keeps showing up in every interview. Like, what does the reader/listener want to read/hear in this bit? Will I ever find out?

The King Is Blind/We Are The Paradise, We Are The Cancer/2017 Full Length Review

  United  Kingdom's  The  King  Is  Blind  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  with  continues  the  death  and  doom  metal  mixture    if  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "We  Are  The  Paradise,  We  Are  The  Cancer"  which  will  be  released  on  October  13th.

  Harsh  noise  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  whispers  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  which  also uses  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  samples  while  the  vocals  bring  in  aggressive  screams  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  using  blast  beats.

  Death  metal  growls  are  also  used  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  songs  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Most  of  the  slower  sections  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  meta while acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  a  brief  use  of  melodic  and  spoken  vocals  and  the  music  is  also  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  elements  of  d  beat  and  thrash  and  one  track  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  keyboards.

  On  this  recording  The  King  Is  Blind  go  into  more  of  a  faster  old  school  d  beat  influenced death  metal direction  while  elements  of   doom  metal  are  still  utilized  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  The  King  Is  Blind  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  d  beat,  doom  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Patriarch"  "Mantra  XIII"  "As  Vermin  Swarm"  and  "The  Burden  Of  Their  Scars".  8  out  of  10.