Hate & Merda Interview

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

Unn1: We are a psychotic duo from Firenze. Two friends that had need to spit out all the discomfort and rage of the last year. We play with a black socks on our head. It’s not necessary to see the face of the musicians. It’s not important to be protagonist in this shitty life. Especially you, who are watching the show.

Unn2: Hi, we're Hate&Merda, a sonor terroristic duo.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?

Unn1: It’s hard to describe in words what you are doing in another form. I think we sold our soul to various demons living in our minds and blood. That’s the sound of the band.

Unn2: I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it certainly tastes like sludge, hardcore, blues, noise, industrial and ambient. We play in some different projects that are more defined than this one. HM is absolutely our free dimension where we burn our dirtiest ideas. Everyone associates our sound to a lot of different bands, some of them I've never even listened to. Personally I guess I've been influenced by Concrete, Cursed, Old Man Gloom, Converge, as well as Robert Johnson, Massimo Volume, Ovo or Neil Young Dead Man soundtrack.
As you could say, nothing and everything.

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

Unn1: The lyrics speaks about how terrible life can be if you feel it differently compared to some others. How terrible is to walk in a fucking hot summer down to your house’s street. How many scars and blood rain over you after that summer. How terrible it is to find that there is no love, there is only compassion.

Unn2: I think it's important to say first that we've chosen italian language because we wanted to be totally and immediately understood by our people. Our lyrics reflect the attitude and the motivation of the project, they don't have a secret message, it's all rough and ruthless. Each song is a different story, but they all have the same nihilistic point of view. People, love, dreams, loneliness and death, all seen in our sick and distorted way. So tired of everything. So disenchanted.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Hate & Merda'?

Unn1:  We were out of the famous store “H&M”. I remember that I’ve told to Unn2: “mmm, if we form a band together we should call it Hate & Merda. (“merda” means “shit” in Italian). I think it’s a name that you could remember easily and it scalps in your mind.

Unn2: We know each other from a long time but we started working together in the underground scene only few years ago, long before playing together as a band. The very first year we started organizing concerts, festivals and events together we got a lot of criticisms from our city, just because we were doing our own things in our personal way. That's a typical florence behaviour. You have to complain and do nothing, if you try to change this system you're an egomaniac and you deserve to be defamed. So, in this sense, we got a lot of hate and shit from our city, so now we're just turning back the favour. But it's also true that the first time we came up with this name we were just coming home after buying some underpants at H&M.

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

Unn1: We want to remain a duo, but we would like to have some guests on records and why not, to play  together on stage too. I think there are no holes in our sound, and it’s like a bomb especially on stage.

Unn2: We wanted this band to be absolute essential. We didn't start as a duo because we didn't have a bass player, it's all about the feeling we have playing together due to the same feeling we have against our lives and our city. We're friends, we collaborate, so it was predictable we would end up playing together, and we understand each other at the time when we improvise. I really think it's a fact of attitude. We appreciate friends featurings, but the two of us is HM, and that's it.

6.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?

Unn1: Live show it’s the real dimension of our band. We were born to play live. Our band was born like a totally impro performance for an opening concert. So we are playing some dates, and we still want to do it.

Unn2: The band started with a live show, we totally improvised everything and it came out really good and strong, and some things you hear on our record are ideas born that night with no changes at all. Then we rehearsed just few times and then immediately record what became L'Anno Dell'Odio (The Year Of Hate). After that we started playing live the most we can, a bunch of shows around Florence, we opened for ?Also from Ovo, Carla Bozulich, Orannsi Pazuzu, Marnero, we went on tour with our friends La Cuenta, we played secret shows, a festival in a very small town in middle of mountains and fog, a birthday party..really everywhere. And now that the album is out we're taking the road again and planning some other tours.

7.The album was released on Toten Schwan Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Unn1: Marco of Toten Schwan saw our first live (the totally impro ones). He came to meet us after the show and told us that we were fantastic and we need to fix this music on an album. And of course, he could help us. It sound like an 80’s classic story about fortune, gold, glory and happy ending. So Marco was the first person who trusted in our band, even before us. There are also two label involved in this release: UTU Conspiracy and Dio Drone, that are really close to us.

Unn2: We met Marco of Toten Schwan the first time we played live, and he trusted in our project immediately, even before we started to consider it seriously. He insisted to put our noise on a record, we talked a couple of times and he really seemed to understand our thing. But mostly, we felt him and Davide to be simply two like us, so we joined this brotherhood. They truly care of what their label promote, and it's not a fact of money or simple support. They really believe in it, like we do.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your album by fans of underground music?

Unn1: The album is having a extraordinary positive feedbacks. We did not expect it, because we've played in other underground bands for years.

Unn2: When you choose a name like Hate&Merda (hate and shit) you don't expect to be taken seriously. Truth is that we didn't expect anything at all, this project started as an exorcism and this was enough. But surprisely L'Anno Dell'Odio is having a great feedback. We had very good reviews from CVLT Nation (Usa), The New Noise (IT), Metalitalia (IT) and several european zines. We're really stunned and thankful for this support. Everything we get is always a gift.

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

Unn1: I think it’s important for us to be free to do what we want to do. So we don’t want chains about genres, our sets or instruments. It’s important the act, the sound, the scratch. So: who knows?

Unn2: We have to go deeper and deeper, until the surface is no longer visible. Exploring our own limits and our most extreme edges. But nothing's written and there's no rule. No plans, just the truth. You know, '..you have to put your own dick in the middle of the story..destroy the ego and tell the truth..'. Just this.

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?

Unn1: I think I've not been influenced by particular bands. I’ve only tried to add the drums beat on the Unn2’s guitars and screams. Some bands cross my mind and probably they are connected to my band: Ministry, Scorn, Swans for exemple, I’m thinking about them. Nowadays I’m listening Chelsea Wolfe, King Dude, Indians, Coil, Marnero, Si Non Sedes Is.

Unn2: We obviously like heavy stuff, and it was clear from the beginning that HM should be strong and evil. But we're into a lot of different kind of sounds, even ambient, blues or witchouse, things that to me don't minimize the sense of the word 'heavy'. If you want me to say which influences I hear in our music I could say Black Flag, Motorpsycho of Demon Box, Birthday Party, Concrete, Eyehategod, Ovo, Code Orange, Zu, Illogo, as well as the Neurot family and the Church Of Ra.
Actually I'm listening to King Dude, Corrections House, Si Non Sedes Is, Ovo and the new Amenra acoustic stuff.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Unn1: Drinking and depress myself. Ah, I was forgiving: watching mockumentaries and found footages films in the night.

Unn2: Music fills our lives on a lot of different levels but I love movies and books as well, everything that has the strength to take you somewhere else. But my main interest is to stay away from people for the most of my time.

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

Unn1: Thank you for your interest in our music. I hope you will hear some others albums in the future.

Unn2: Thanks for this talk. See you in your city, soon or later.

Mangled/Through Ancient Times/Vic Records/2015 CD Compilation Review

  Mangled  where  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  played  a  very  doom  orientated  style  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  compilation  album  "Through  Ancient  Times"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Vic  Records.

  Death  metal  growls  and  a  very,  dark  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  band  also  adds  in  high  pitched  screams  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of t he  bands  musical  style  and  when  keyboards  and  spoken  word  parts  are  added  in  they  add  more  to  the  doom  side  of  the  bands  musical  style  as  well  as  adding  in  some  atmospheric  elements  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  bring  in  more  of  a  melodic  death  metal  sound  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  one  of  the  tracks  also  brings  in  a  black  metal  feeling  while  one  of  the  alter  tracks  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  female  vocals  which  gives  the  music  more  of  a  gothic  doom/death  feeling  when  they  are  utilized.

  Mangled  played  a  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  that  was  very  underrated  and  ahead  of  its  time  and  the  music  was  heavily  influenced  both  the  Swedish,  English  and  Dutch  death  and  doom  metal  scenes  of  that  era,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  the  time  these  songs  where  recorded  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  occult  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mangled  where  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Raise  My  Face  In  the  Fist  Of  God"  "The  Sleeping  Paradise"  "The  7th  Key"  and  "Call  Of  Silence".  8  out  of  10.

Dead End/Forever Is Not Eternal/VIc Records/2015 CD Review

 

   Dead  End  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  has  been  around  since  the  mid  80's  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Forever  Is  Not  Eternal"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Vic  Records.

  A  very  dark,  melodic  and  old  school  sound  starts  off  the  album    and  after  a  minute  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  and  after  awhile  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  also  bring  in  more  darkness  and  melody  to  the  bands  musical  style  which  is  also  heavily  rooted  in  early  90's  doom  and   death  metal.

    At  times  a  small  amount  of  violins  are  added  into  certain  parts  of  some  of  the  tracks  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  a  few  of  the  tracks  being  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  few  seconds  of  classical  guitars  and  spoken  word  parts.

  As  the  album   progresses  some  of  the  songs  start  bringing  in  small  amounts  of  keyboards  and  whispers  which  also  gives  the  bands  musical  style  more  of  an  atmospheric  edge  while  some  of  the  alter  songs  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  which  shows  the  more  old  school  death  meal  side  of  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams.

  Dead  End  bring s in  2  different  sides  with  their  musical  style  having  more  of  a  melodic  doom/death  metal  sound  on  some  of  the  tracks  while  going  into  more  of  a  traditional  and  old  school  style  of  death  metal  on  some  of  the  later  songs  and  the  album  sounds  like  it  could  of   easily  been  recorded  and  released  in  the  90's,  the  production  sound  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dead  End  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  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  "Forever"  "Revelations"  "Joke"  and  "Tales  From  Real  Life".  8  out  of  10.

The Lumberjack Feedback/Noise In The Church/Kaotoxin Records/2014 EP Review

  The  Lumberjack  Feedback  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  an  instrumental  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Noise  In  The  Church"  which  was  released  by  Kaotoxin  Records.

  A  very  distorted  reverb  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  very  heavy  sludge  metal direction  and  after  awhile  melody  is  added  into  the  music  giving  the  music  a  post  metal/hardcore  feeling  at  times  along  with  the  first  2  tracks  being  recorded  live  and  the  slow  riffs  and  heaviness  also  bring  in  a  heavier  style  of  doom  metal.

  At  times  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  brings  into  the  songs  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  and  all  3  of  the  tracks  are  one  and  epic  in  length  with  the  last  song  being  a  bonus  demo  track  from  2009.

  The  Lumberjack  Feedback  play  a  style  of  doom/sludge  metal  that  is  all  instrumental  while  also  being  very  heavy  and  melodic  at  the  same  time  and  the  production  on  the  recording  has  a  very  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  The  Lumberjack  Feedback  are  a  very  great  sounding  instrumental  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Dreamcatcher".  8  out  of  10.      

Hate & Merda/L'Anno Dell 'Odio/Toten Schwan Records/2014 Full Length Review

  Hate  &  Merda  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  an  experimental  mixture  of  noise,  alternative  hardcore  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "L'Anno  Dell  'Odio"  which  was  released  by  Toten  Schwan  Records.

  A  very  dark  sounding  drone  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  more  dark  and  heavy  sludge  metal  direction  which  also  brings  in  melodic  guitar  leads  at  times  as  well  as  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  distortion  and  reverb  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  post  hardcore  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  When  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  very  high  pitched  sludge  screams  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  some  of  the  songs the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and all  of  the musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  couple  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  spoken  word  parts  and  on  the  last  track  melodic  chants  are  added  into  the  music.  

  Hate  &  Merda  take  a  very  heavy  style  of  sludge  and  mix  it  in  with  the  melody  of  post  hardcore,  the  reverb  and  drones  of  noise  and  experimental  music  along  with  a  touch  of  alternative  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Latin  and  cover  dark  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  hate  &  Merda  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  experimental,  noise,  alternative,  hardcore  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ascoltare  Con  Dolore  -  Carne  Gotica"  and  "L'  Eternita'  Di  Unestate  Terrible".  8  out  of  10.

Condor/Duin/Gommorah Records/2015 CD Review

  Condor  are  a  band  from  Columbia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  heavy,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Duin"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Gommorah  Records.

  Soft  acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  and  they  bring  a  classical  music  feeling  to  the  recording  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  a  more  heavy  and  melodic  direction  as  well  as  bringing  in  solos  and  leads  that  utilize  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  as  well  as  being  a  very  huge  part  of  all  the  tracks.

  After  the  intro  the  music  goes  for  more  of  an  old  school  doom  metal  direction  while  also  adding  in  fast  parts  and  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  music  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  along  with  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  acoustic  guitars  also  make  their  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  At  times  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  are  brought  into  the  music  along  with  some  synths  which  are  only  used  briefly  and  elements  of  progressive  rock  and  a  few  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  later  on  during  the  album  clean  singing  vocals  are  brought  in  at  times  and  one  of  the  later  tracks  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  influences.

  Condor  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  progressive  at  times  while  also  bringing  in  a  touch  of  traditional  metal  which  also  gives  the  recording  an  old  school  feeling,  the  production  sound s very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover Philosophy,  Identity  and  Nationalism.

  In  my  opinion  Condor  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  heavy,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "El  Lamento  de Penelpe"  "Condordale"  and  "Duin".  8  out  of  10. 

Helevorn/Compassion Forlorn/BadMoodMan Music/2014 C Review

  Helevorn  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom,  gothic  and  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Compassion  Forlorn"  which  was  released  by  BadMoodManMusic.

  Clean  and  soft  guitar  playing  which  are  also  used  on  soem  of  the  other  tracks  as  well  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  synths  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  bring  in  a  good  amount  of  atmosphere  to  the  songs  which  also  leads  to  more  of  a  heavier  and  symphonic  musical  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  being  added  into  both  the  solos  and  riffs.

  When  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  very  deep  sounding  death/doom  metal  growls  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  a  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  elements  of  gothic  rock  find  their  way  onto  the  recording.

  In  certain  sections  of  the  album  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  very  early  90's  style  of  melodic  doom/death  metal  into  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  some  screams  that  have  a  black  metal  feeling  to  them  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  closer  to  the  end  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars.

  Helevorn  plays  a  style  of  gothic/doom  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  style  along  with  a  great  amount  of  the  melodic  death/doom  metal  sound  and  a  touch  of  black  metal  being  added  into  their  musical  style  to  create  a  very  dark,  melancholic  and  heavy  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Solitude,  Dreams  and  Past  Times  along  with  the  last  2  songs  being  written  in  Spanish.

  In  my  opinion  Hellevorn  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  gothic  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Inner  Crumble"  "Unified"  and  "I  Am  To  Believe".  8  out  of  10.