Desert Storm/Horizontal Life/Blindslight Records/2013 CD Review

  Desert  Storm  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  with  a  touch  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Horizontal  Life"  which  was  released  by  Blindsight  Records.

  A  70's  style  stoner  rock  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  melody  and  heaviness  and  after  awhile  aggressive  yet  melodic  vocals  become  a  part  of  the  music  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added into  the  music  they  continue  with  the  70's  classic  rock  sound  and  you  can  also hear  a  good  amount  of  groove  metal  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  At  times  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  samples  and  elements  of  space  and  ambient  music  are  added  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  more  of  a  death  metal  influence  at  times  and  a  few  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  after  a  few  songs  the  band  brings  in  psychedelic  elements along  with  small  amounts  of  clean  playing  and  acoustic guitars  while  they  still focus  more  on  heavy  parts

  Desert  Storm  takes  a  style  of  stoner  rock  and  brings  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  as  well  as  adding  in  a  touch  of  death  metal,  ambient,  space  and  psychedelic  music  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Mythology  and  Metaphysical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Desert  Storm  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shadow  of  An  Eagle"  "Enslaved  in  The  icy  Tundra"  "Lunar  Dromes"  and  "Scorpion".  8  out  of  10.

Cryptic Brood Interview

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

We are three maniacs from Wolfsburg/Germany. Because of our lust for rancid and rotten death metal, we started the band CRYPTIC BROOD at the beginning of the year 2013.


2. So far you have released a demo and a split, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings?

For the sound on both records I'm able to give you a very short answer: Mostly I would describe our sound as earthy and natural. No triggers, no samples. Just three guys playing death metal, captured by few mics in a room. Most of the songs on our demo are "fast" or somewhere in the mid-tempo-range, whereas the songs on the split with GRAVEYARD GHOUL contain more slower parts but still have those grinding eruptions.


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

Most of our lyrics are about morbid rites of black magic ending up in bloodshed and/or summoning the power of death. Some are about gore, some about zombies or just lying there and being exposed to putrefaction.


4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cryptic Brood'?

The “cryptic brood” are the creatures behind those nameless rituals described in your question about our lyrical topics. Creatures, acting at misty, gloomy places - evoking dark powers.


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 played club and open air shows. Crowded shows, not so crowded shows. Local shows and shows in other countries. Every show is special in it’s own way. The smaller shows are more intense, the bigger ones impress with the huge amount of people in front of the stage. Driving far away to play shows is a great experience we hope to relive again a lot of times. We love to meet new friends and say hello to those old friends from far away, you only meet at festivals or when they are on tour with their band(s).


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

The number of played and still scheduled shows is fine. We also did some weekend tours with two or three shows in a row. We would love to play a tour for a longer time. Hopefully this will happen in the future.


7. Recently you where a part of a split with 'Graveyard ghoul', what are your thoughts on the other band and also how would you compare their musical style to yours?

I/we know GRAVEYARD GHOUL for a longer time. Great guys! Their passion for death metal is huge. Doing a split was just a question of time as our mindsets are in a similar vein. But the music still differs enough to make our split interesting.


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

We’re always looking for ways to spread our plague. There’s some interest, yes. But there’s nothing concrete. That means, we’re open/searching/whatever…


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

The feedback has been amazing so far. Our demo was re-released by Coffin Filth Records (Germany) and Chaos And Hell Productions (Greece). One more re-release gonna follow by Morbid Bastard Records (Indonesia) very soon.


10. What is going on with some of the other bands musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Micha plays in a black metal band called PURGAMENTUM. They just released their first full-length. Check them out. I (Steffen) play in DISSOULED. We’re not playing shows right now. But there will be new stuff some day.


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

A full-length will come, when the time has come for it. We just write our music, play our songs. The growth of new material is self-explanatory. So let’s see, what will happen.


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

You will get different answers on this question, depending on who of us you’re asking. As you can read in the question about other band-projects, the musical taste is spread wide. But we all meet at Death Metal!


13. What are some of your non musical interests?

Combine one or more of the following with your favorite intoxicant: music, visiting concerts & festivals, (b-)movies, trading card games, table top games… I guess you don’t read this for the first time. Haha.


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

Uargh!!!

Eastfrisian Terror/EastfrisiaApokalypse/Rotten Roll Rex/2014 CD Review

  Eastfrisian Terror  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  brutal  mixture  of  doom,  sludge,  groove,  grindcore  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "EastfrisiaApokalypse"  which  was  released  by  Rotten  Roll  Rex.

  Sound  effects  and  synths  start off  the  album  giving  the  recording  an  epic  feeling  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  grindcore  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growls  as  well  as  adding  in  high  pitched  screams  at  times  along  with  the  riffs  adding  melodies  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerdul  sound  to  them.

  There  is  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  present  throughout  the  recording  along  with  pig  squeals  being  mixed  in  with  the  growls  and  when  solos  are  added  into  the  music  they  give  the  album  a  very  dark  and  melodic  doom  metal  feeling  and  they  also  bring  a  symphonic  sound  to  one  of  the  tracks  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  before  making  a  return  to  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  sound  and  towards  the  end  of  the  album a  few  seconds  of  clean  palying  are  dded  into  the  music.

  Eastrisian  Terror  add  in  more  groove  and  deathcore  elements  this  time  around  while  also  keeping  around  the  grindcore,  doom  and  death  metal  elements  of  their  previous  recording  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  progress  in  their  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  German  and  cover  Eastfrision  History  and  Tradition.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Eastfrisian  Terror  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Klaus  ohm"  "EastfrisiaApokalypse"  "Dospaddell"  and  "Eala  Freya  Fresena".  8  out  of  10.  

Ewigheim/24 7/Massacre Records/2014 CD Review

  Ewigheim  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  dark  form  of  gothic  metal  that  is  slightly  influenced  by  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "24  7"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  A  very  old  school  gothic  rock  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  depressing  sounding  keyboards  and  a  few  seconds  later  melodic  clean  singing  starts  becoming  a  huge  part  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  getting  more  heavier  and  adding  in  a  metal  sound  that  they  also  mix  with  goth.

  On  some  of  the  later  tracks  a  good  amount  of  industrial  influences  are  added into  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  whispers  are  added into  the  recording  the  music  starts  having  more  of  a  black  metal  feeling  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added into the  music  they  add  in  more  of  melodic  gothic  metal/rock  sound  when they  are  utilized.

  Some  of  the  later  tracks  bring  in  spoken  word  parts  and  traces  of  neo-classical  music  and  after  the  first  half  of  the  album  which  is  all  originals  they  go  into  the  second  parts  which  is  all  cover  tunes  and  do  their  own  versions  of  songs  from  Laibach,  Sots,  Soko  Friedhof,  Neue  Weltordung,  and  Bluter.  and  they  go  for  more  of  a  goth/industrial  direction  on  these  tracks  while  also  remaining  true  to  their  metal  roots.

  Ewigheim  creates  a  very  interesting  sounding  recording  with  this  album  bringing  in  6  of  their  own  songs  that  continue  the  dark,  gothic  metal  sound  of  previous  recording  while  also  bringing  in  cover  tunes  that  also  show  their  industrial  roots,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  German  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Ewighem  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Tanz  um  dein  Leben"  "Gloria"  "Heimweg"  and  "Morgenrot".  8  out  of  10.

          

Spiralism/Chakras/Inverse Records/2014 CD Review

  Spiralism  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  psychedelic  form  of  post  metal  with  elements  of  doom  metal  and  this is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Chakras"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Inverse  Records.

  Psychedelic sound  effects  and  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  post  rock  style  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  the  music  starts  to  add  more  melody  and  metal  influences  after  awhile  along  with  a  mixture  of  growls,  screams  and  clean  singing.

  Most  of  the  tracks  on  the  recording  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  focuses  more  of  a  psychedelic  sound  that  is  heavily  influenced  by  70's  rock  but  more  up  to  date  and  at  times  the  music  also  brings  in  a  stoner  rock  vibe  to  some  of  the  tracks  and  a  few  songs  are  instrumentals  and  a  good  portion  of  the  music  has  an  improv  and  experimental  feeling  at  times.

  Spiralism  plays  a  very  heavy  form  of  psychedelic  rock  that  also  brings  in  some  of  the  heaviness  of  doom  and  post  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Spiralism  are  a  very  great  sounding  psychedelic  post  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album. RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sophia"  "Gnosis"  and  "Passages  of  Nuit".  8  out  of  10.

Graveyard Ghoul Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Shame on this people! We´re GRAVEYARD GHOUL from Germany and we play old school Death.

2.So far you have released 2 full lengths, a demo and a split, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on those recordings?
We like the old raw and dirty sound not the high production shit.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Our lyrics about horror, death and fun !

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Graveyard Ghoul'?
The inspiration is from old horror movies from 50´s to 1980´s. But the name is from the same song “Graveyard Ghoul´s” from the Swedish band Tribulation.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Some awesome shows. The best gigs was with our friends from REPUKED. And the gig in our hometown with the mighty Sadistic Intent…awesome. Pure Death Metal.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yes, a short tour with CRYPTIC BROOD and we want to play on Festivals in 2015.

7.Recently you where a part of a split with Cryptic Blood, what are your thoughts on the other band that participated on the album?
First, the band called BROOD not Blood, sorry. So, CB are good friends of us and we think that was a good way to make a split with the guys…buy and die!

8.Currently the band is signed to Final Gate Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
No. It´s a very good label. Enough said!

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?
Ohh, the feedback was very good, I think the people love the old metal…again. That´s great!!!

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
At the moment  we are satisfied. We hope we recorded more records and play more shows.

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?
Sooo many bands. A big influence is Autopsy and some other bands with Reifert. Other bands like Old Pestilence, Cancer, Necrophagia, Repulsion, Death…are a big influence too. But we still listen to other (not metal) music.

12.How would you describe your views on Occultism?
Occultism is ok, but all religion stuff is shit. The better way is – drink beer and worship music!

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Me and Disgracer are biiiig Horror Movie Fans…we damn fuckin maniacs about that!  We still collect all from our favorite movies.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interview…and listen/buy our music.
Uuuurrrghh….

Edge Of Haze/Illumine/2014 CD Review

  Edge Of  Haze  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  progressive  and  gothic  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Illumine".

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  progressive  rock  style  keyboards  and  you  can  also  hear  some  clean  playing  being  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  elements  of  prog  metal  and  a  great  amount  of  clean  singing  vocals  and  when  growls  are  utilized  they  bring  in  a  heavy  death  metal  influence  to  the  bands  musical  style.

  A good  portion  of  the  tracks a re  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  and  on  some  of  the  songs  evil  sounding  whispers  and  screams  are  utilized  and  bring  in  more  of  a  black  metal  feeling  when  they  are  utilized  and  there  are  also  moments  on  this  recording  where  the  music  speeds  up  a  bit  and  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats.

   When  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  bring  in  even  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  to  the  tracks  that  they  are  utilized  on  and  some  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  that  also  bring  in  a  melodic  death  metal  influence  to  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  spoken  word  samples  along  with  female  vocals  can  be  heard  at  times.

  Edge  Of  Haze  plays  a  melodic  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  they  also  mix  in  with  prog  metal  and  goth  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  as  well  as  making  this  genre  have  a  wider  appeal  with  the  way  they  structure  their  songs,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  loosely  based  on  the  book  "Escape  From  Camp  14".

  In  my  opinion  Edge  Of  haze  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  progressive,  goth,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Drawn"  "Crushed"  "Unlearn"  and  "Rainfell".  8  out  of  10.