Midhaven/Spellbound/Universal Music Group/2014 Full length Review

  Midhaven  are  a  band  from  India  that  plays  a  progressive  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Spellbound"  which  was  released  by  Universal  Music  Group".

  A  very  drone  orientated  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  dark  sounding  synths  which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  melodic  and  heavy  musical  direction  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  sludge  and  doom  metal  direction  as  well  as  using  a  great  mixture  of  both  growls  and  clean  singing  vocals.

  High  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  a  very  melodic  and  progressive  sound  to  the  recording  and  some  of  the  riffing  also  brings  in  elements  of  commercialized  metal  and  hard  rock  and  some  of  the  tracks also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  Midhaven  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  that  is  very  heavy  yet  melodic,  progressive  and  atmospheric  at  the  same time,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  mythology  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Midhaven  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Seeking  The  Divine"  "Fall  Of  Olympus"  and  "Death  Row".  8  out  of  10.

    

Steak Number Eight Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band these days?
We’ve got 2 amazing tours coming up. First up is a UK tour supporting Marmozets, which are good friends of us (we toured together on the Feed The Rhino tour a couple of years ago). In April we’re touring with the legendary PRONG throughout whole Europe. Apart from those 2 tours, we’re not doing a lot of headlining shows, since all focus is on the fourth Steak Number Eight album. We are very busy writing the new album at the moment. On rehearsal days we rehearse about 6 to 8 hours non-stop.This in a garbage-filled room full of smoke, banana peels and beer cans. We only go out to take a piss.  It’s going fine. We’re over halfway. At least we think we are cause we’re constantly changing riffs or song structures.
It takes a while but the final result will be amazing.

2.In 2013 you had released your last album, how would you describe the musical sound that was presented on that recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you had released in the past?
 The main difference about ‘The Hutch’ and the other albums is the whole picture. ‘The hutch’ is musically one piece, one story, one plot comparing to ‘All is Chaos’.
All albums are different and written in a different time of our lives. ‘All is Chaos’ has been written in a chaotic period. After Brent’s brother passed away he started writing’ All is Chaos’. Songs like Black fall can perfectly describe this.
The hutch for instance is and album written more together although the main part is made by Brent. It has a specific sound, something organic/spacy. The drums are recorded much better and musically we are more developed. We experimented a lot more with different amps, mic’s and guitars. You want to get the sound in your head as close as that in real life.

3.The band has been around since 2005 but so far there has only been 3 full lengths, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap between releases?
The band started to play together at the age of 12. It was just messing around till stuff got serious in our country. At the age of 16 we won a battle of the bands in Belgium and released immediately after this ‘When the candle dies out’ (2008). So that was our first album. In 2011 we released ‘All is Chaos’ and 2013 ‘The Hutch’. We try to release a new album every 2 / 3 years.


4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The subjects are about daily stuff. Good and bad things that happened. Those daily things are converted in riffs, melodie lines or vocals.
Whatever life brings us.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Steak Number Eight'?

Brent’s brother Thobias had a band called ‘Voidpoint’. Their singer Kenneth had made a song about his 8th girlfriend. ‘Steak number eight’ was the song called. At that time (age 12) we thought that was a cool name.
Thobias unfortunately died in 2005 at the age of 25 so to honor him, we kept the band name.
Steak number eight is a tribute name for Brent's brother. We now realise it might not be the best band name ever, and we get a lot of shit about it (“you will never be taken seriously with that kind of name”) , but when we tell the story behind it, people seem to respect and understand it more.

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?
We played gigs like Graspop in front of 8000 people which was amazing. Some London shows were amazing too. Even pub shows where only 30 people go completely nuts are awesome. These are just a few that pop in my head right now but there’s loads more.
Stage performance: Sweaty, Dying, Sweaty. We go all the way and give it all we’ve got. Brent often has to puke right after a show because he pushed the envelope just a bit too far.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yes we do!
As said befoe, we’re supporting our dear friends Marmozets in the UK the next couple of weeks. This is going to be amazing. Playing packed shows and be together with a band of the same nobhead level as we are.
And then there’s the Prong tour. This is our very first ‘big tour’ throughout Europe. Excited about this one for sure!
Hopefully loads of other tours are coming! We love support slots … seeing people’s faces when they first hear us live … seeing them becoming fans.

8.According to the Metal Archives page, the band is signed to EMI, can you tell us a little bit more about this deal?
Nah, we just signed a publishing deal with EMI Belgium for All Is Chaos. That office was shut down a couple of years ago, so now we’re just somewhere at the bottom of a pile of cd’s at some EMI Publishing Agent in the UK. We Are currently signed to Indie Recordings, which is awesome.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge metal?
There’s some nice feedback out there. It’s nice to read nice comments on last.fm or other music websites. It’s a huge compliment if people compare us to bands we love. It’s fun to read a comment from a Mexican or Australian fan begging us to come to their country. It would probably be a show for him and his friend, so we can’t make it happen for now of course … but maybe someday. Reaching fans globally is very difficult though.

10.When can we expect new material and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
The new stuff we’re writing is more psychedelic. We think more about how we’re going to bring our ideas to the people.
We hope we can play everyday in an other venue. Touring is what we love to do.
Our dream is to bring our music anywhere on this planet.

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?
We like bands like Mastodon, Deftness, ISIS, Bongripper, YOB, … These are all obvious.
We also have influences like Mahavishnu orchestra, Death Grips, Elvis,…
There’s shitloads we listen to. Too much to write down. I could talk hours about it.
For the moment I’m listening to NIN (with teeth) Neurosis(time of grace), Paul Simon (Graceland).
Every week can be different. For instance I just had 3 weeks of Behemoth mixed with some catchy 80’s song ( Land of confusion- Genesis)


12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I personally am into fitness, good foods and the benefits that come with that. In weekends I love to drink local Belgian beers (they are the best) in a cool bar. :-)
I am very interested in World War I stuff and visit a lot of old battlefields and graveyards.
Brent recently hosted a couple of movie nights at his house. Watching Alien, Aliens and Alien3 with some friends on a big screen. Good times.
In general we like to hang out in our local bar “The Polka” in our hometown.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
You mention the word “wrap". I’m gonna grill some ground beef with spinach and put it in a tortilla wrap. Thanks for the idea!

Heavy Death/X-Solus in Mortem/VIII - Futility & Death/Caligari Records/2015 Cassette Review

  Sweden's  Heavy  Death  have  returned  with  a  new  demo  that  remains  true  to their  doom  and  death  metal  mixture  while  also  adding  in  new  things  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  which  was  released  by  Caligari  Records  and  called  "X-Solus  in  Mortem/VIII -  Futility  &  Death".

  A  very  dark  and  distorted  sound  starts  off  the  cassette  before  going  into  a  doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  after  a  minute  the  music  gets  even  more  heavier  and  incorporates  death  metal  growls  and  grim  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  All  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  both  slow  and  mid  paced  parts  and  at  times  melodic  clean  singing  chants  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  also  give  the  music  more  on  an  old  school  and  traditional  doom  metal  feeling  while  being  ritualistic  at  the  same  time.

  Heavy  Death  remains  true  to t heir  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  slowing  everything  down  this  time  and  mixing  in  more  melodic  singing,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  solitude  and  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  from  Heavy  Death  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  doom  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  cassette.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Silent  One"  and  "The  Bad  One".  8  out  of  10.      

Sullen Interview

DOOMED TO DARKNESS
(www.hatredmeanswar2.blogspot.pt)


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Marcelo: We’re a progressive/ambient metal group from Portugal that lives without any musical boundaries, aiming to always bring the best of ourselves on everything we compose.

2.You have your first album coming out in February, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
M.: Very dynamic, to say the least. Sometimes it’s dark, bright, heavy, aggressive or even slow-paced and contemplative – it always depends on the moods we’re exploring.

César: I think we achieved a sense of journey which is simultaneously oppressing and relieving. Sound wise we cover a very large spectrum which goes from very heavy to minimalistic ambient. We also make an effort to be out of the box in terms of harmonic and melodic solutions, with a lot of dissonances, which may sound a bit strange for the first time or unprepared listener. We’re not the catchiest of bands and it may require some time to grow on you.

3.4/5 of the band was in Oblique Rain, What was the decision behind disbanding that group and forming a new one?
M.: Oblique Rain had to come to an end because we were on different creative frequencies – the main goal was to explore a huge variety of new musical possibilities and approaches, and Flávio wasn’t up for it.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics that the band explores with the music?
M.: They’re mostly based on the process of self-awareness and need of change of the human being, exploring it’s darker and lighter sides.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sullen'?
João Pereira.: There's a lot in the definition of the word “Sullen” that comes close to identifying our sound, like “gloomy” “somber tone” “slow as a stream” “darkened by clouds”, so on. If you look it up in a dictionary, the adjectives all seem to make sense. Who came up with the word, I honestly don't remember. Guys?
C: It was me who came up with the idea. We were looking for some term which had something in common with the music. I believe the word Sullen suits perfectly to the dark ambience that we create in our music and all the guys liked it.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
JP.: No shows yet!

C: We haven’t played any shows yet, but you can expect a very focused and low profile performance as I think our music demands. That doesn’t mean we will be apathetic, if you know what I mean.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
M.: Yes, of course – we’re already on the go with rehearsals of the new material at our home studio, hoping to start the debut shows in the next few months.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
M.: If we happen to find one that shares our artistic vision and professional needs, then we’ll think about it – for now we’ll be working on a DIY basis.

JP.: We're actually proud of the fact that we have been doing everything on our own, composition, recording, mixing, mastering, website, online sales, social networking, merchandise, design, etc. But we may come to a time when a label might prove to be of value helping us to reach a wider audience.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of both progressive and extreme metal?
M.: It has been very positive on both ends – it’s mainly focused on the two tracks we’ve launched in advance, so we’re very curious on how it will be on the whole product.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
M.: Only time will tell – we tend to work without any creative boundaries, so it’s a bit difficult to predict the direction we’ll take. I think this project’s main goal is to always innovate, be ambitious and stay fresh, so if it keeps up to that it’s good by me!

JP.: It is funny that when we are together we already talk about the next album – there are already some ideas saved for it, so it’s clear that there's this huge hunger for creating new stuff. One of the things that we think will happen is the distinction and uniqueness of our music that in each album will grow apart from any influence that might be so easily heard in “post human”.

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?
M.: As a musician I listen to a ton of stuff, especially the most complex - rhythmically, melodically and harmonically. Lately I’ve been onto Exivious, Snarky Puppy, The Contortionist and Avishai Cohen.

JP.: The Contortionist and Gojira are both playing in my car at the moment, but then there's also Steven Wilson, Nine Inch Nails, Aphex Twin and Archive.
If I REALLY must point influences I’ll do it for the keyboards, so I will go with Opeth for traditional/classic keyboard sounds, Hammond/Mellotron/Pianos and Porcupine Tree and NIN for Synth sounds. It's a somewhat diminishing list but it gives you the picture!

C: I am influenced mainly by dark and contemplative music whether it is heavy or mellow. The bands which influenced me the most in the last decades were definitely Opeth, Devin Townsend and Tool. Right now I am listening to the newest album from Soen and Devin Townsend and revisiting some Meshuggah.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
M.: Arts in general, science, technology, gaming and cooking.

JP.: Space Science, computers, programming, web design, photography and video -the full nerd package!

C: Cosmology and other scientific stuff, watching documentaries and movies, gaming, riding my motorcycle, good food, etc.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
M.: I would like to thank you for the opportunity to spread the word – it’s really amazing to finally be able to present you with the music we spent so much time working on!

Whispering Woods Interview

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?

Doru: We finished recording the album last year in August and the final masters arrived in November. In the meanwhile we were really busy filming a clip for one of the new songs, discussing the final artwork
and booking some gigs. There's a lot of work involved in the making of an album and not all of it is related to the musical side of things.

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?

Doru: Well, the first album was an experiment; it was all DIY and we had no previous experience. We can only thank the people that were involved back then and helped us to understand the process. With
'Perditus et Dea' we already knew all the steps we needed to take and this helped us to be more focused. After we got into touch with Hiili Hiilesmaa (known for working with a lot of great bands like Him,
Apocalyptica, Amorphis, Swallow The Sun, Lordi etc.), who agreed to do the mixing and mastering, we were even more determined to produce a good raw material that would match his and our expectations.

3.This is the first album to be released in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

Doru: The first album got released late in 2011 in digital form. After that, we had to undergo a series of procedures to get it out in physical format, but this was not that easy taking in mind that we didn't had any
label to back us up at the time. In the end, in 2012 we finally managed to produce the CD after which we started writing material for the new album. In the meantime we sent out hundreds of emails for trying to get
a contract with labels or agencies but we didn't have much success there. Our luck changed in 2013 when Loud Rage Music contacted us and we started discussing a possible collaboration. All went well but we
decided not to rush things with the new album and we dedicated the entire year 2014 for this. I can say we planned it well since everything went according to our schedule.

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

Doru: As with the first album, the lyrics and concept are based on mythology and fiction. The main concept evolves around the ancient story of the Androgynous. We explored Greek mythology and also added a touch of Romanian folclore. The lyrics for one of our songs are entirely in Romanian and some of the other tracks include Latin texts as well.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Whispering Woods'?

Doru: When searching for a band name we were looking for something that could express our love for nature and the conceptual themes that have been around for so many years. We believe that the name we found can give a hint to the fact that our songs have stories to tell and that when put together they compose an even bigger tale.

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?

Doru: I think that all of our shows had something special, at least that's how I see it. We had a couple in Bucharest that we really enjoyed and we had a lot here in Cluj in which we felt great, like the one we
played for the first edition of the Transylvanian Book Festival.Our stage performance has always been well received by the public and media, but we are definitely trying to improve it. On the technical side of things, we're taking advantage of our sound engineer without whom we would be completely lost. On the visual side of things, we're trying to get better and better and find new things that would appeal to the
public and help our concept. With the new album we are preparing a few surprises in this regard, at least for the shows here in Romania.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Doru: Yes. We are preparing a tour over Europe in April. Stay tuned for more details :-) We are really looking forward to it!

8.The new album was released on Loud Rage Music, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Doru: LRM is a young label with much potential. We have a great communication with them and I really appreciate the trust that they have placed in us. Thanks to them our new material will have a worldwide
distribution and we hope that it will be easy for anyone to get it! Check them out at www.loudragemusic.com.

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

Doru: So far people seem to have liked what they've heard. Our first album had good feedback coming from all over the world. The distribution company which sells our physical CD told us that they sold albums to
Russia, Brazil, the States, Western Europe and many other places. Also, our CD has been amongst the top abroad selling albums, so that has to mean something, right? The feedback on the social media like Facebook or Vampire Freaks has been really great. We want to thank our fans from all over the world for being so awesome and we hope they will enjoy the new material as well!

10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other musical projects these days?

Doru: Yes, actually most of them are! Cătălina is an active member with the German band Haggard and she has been with them everywhere! István, our bass player has also been involved with a lot of local bands, but I think he has reduced their number now. Our live keyboard player, Radu, has gigs every week with a band from his hometown and Alex, our drummers is part of a small local project. Last but not the least, our two
sopranos are active members within the Cluj and Timișoara Philharmonics.

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

Doru: I think the new material will be heading towards an even more doom-ish sound and we may add a bit more growls on the vocal side. Anyway, as until now, we will continue experimenting and having fun,
that's for sure!

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?

Doru: I think that all the music with which you come into contact influences you in a way or another. Ideally, I would want to say that our music has not been influenced by anyone, but that would be a lie. I am a big fan of Therion so probably that's where the influence started and after that you can add almost any other symphonic band that's out there. I also really enjoy the more melodic doom bands like Swallow the
Sun, Katatonia etc. and I'm sure that part of the mood that we induce has been inspired from them. Of course, besides the metal bands you have the classical music and Opera, which always offer a great variety and substance.

Recently, my playlist includes a lot to Ahab and Riverside and I have just stumbled upon Vulture Industries. There are a lot of amazing bands out there, you just need to find them and enjoy their work!

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Doru: Besides music I like all kinds of sports, especially cue ones, tennis and football. When not watching or playing any of these I like to sit back and devour a good movie. I've also recently started reading Moby Dick which, by the way, goes really well when you're listening to Ahab haha!

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

Doru: Thank you so much for this opportunity and thanks to all of you that took the time to read these lines! I hope you enjoy the new material and stay close because we are preparing a lot of goodies! If
you want see us in your town, get in touch with a local promoter and have him contact us! Cheers! \m/

R.E.T/Coming Soon.../Parat Magazine/2014 CD Review

  R.E.T  are  a  band  from  the  Czech  Republic  that  plays  a  mixture  of  gothic  and  doom  metal  with  some  elements  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Coming  Soon..."  which  was  released  by  Parat  Magazine.

  A  very  symphonic  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  as  well  as  mixing  the  2  previous  mentioned  elements  together  in  their  musical  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful sound  to  them  and  the  music  brings  in  more  of  a  goth  sound  once  the  operatic  female  vocals  are  added  onto  to  recording.

  When  growls  and  scrams  are  utilized  they  give  the  album  more  of  a  black  and  death  metal  feeling  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  even  more  of  a  melodic  feeling  to  the  songs  they  are  used  on  and  a  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  some  of  the  tracks  a  small  amount  of  classical  guitars  are  utilized  along  with  some  tracks  also  bringing  in  clean  singing  male  vocals.

   R.E.T  plays  a  style  of  doom  metal  that  is  very  symphonic  and  gothic  influenced  and  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  death  and  black  metal  to  take  their  musical  style  into  a  heavier  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression  and  sadness  themes.

  In  my  opinion  R.E.T  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  mixture  of  gothic  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Twisting  Fools"  and  "Coming  Soon".  8  out  of  10.

      

Dira Mortis/Rusty Razor Blades/Defense Records/2014 Compilation CD Review

  Dira  Mortis  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  brutal  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  compilation  album  "Rusty  Razor  Blades"  which  was  released  by  Defense  Records.

  A  very  dark  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  compilation  along  with  some  synth  sounds  before  going  into  a  very  slow  and  heavy  doom/death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  the  music  also  speeds  up  at  times  and  adds  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  which  also  makes  the  bands  musical  style  more  brutal.

  You  can  hear  a  lot  of  early  90's  doom  and  death  metal  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  band  also  adds  in  a  few  tracks  that  are  under  2  minutes  and  you  can  hear  element s of  grindcore  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music,  when  melodic  riffing  is  utilized  the  songs  start  bringing  in  an  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  feeling  while  the  heavier  parts  have  more  of  a  British  sound  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  synths  make  their  return  at  times  briefly  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Dira  Mortis  shows  a  great  amount  of  diversity  over  the  years  throughout  the  compilation  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  doom,  death  metal  and  grindcore  an  all  of  the  tracks,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death  and  the  undead  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  compilation  from  Dira  Mortis  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  doom,  death  and  grindcore,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cruel  End"  "The  Return  of  Evil"  "False  Prophecies"  and  "Sentence".  8  out  of  10.