Gateway Interview

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

Gateway is a one-man death/ doom project infused with dreadful sludge and ancient medieval horror.

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

The demo went really fast and sloppy, this can be heard in the overly compressed sound. It's a loud and harsh offering but it was well-received. The full length has a more thick and old school approach to the sound. It's dynamic and low-end to give it a more claustrophobic, capturing sound.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?

Torture, inquisition, the dark ages, grotesque fictional beings.

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

Maybe a transition between reality into a dark, fictional world. An entrance where my emotions and concepts form into sonic stories. Other than that I think it's a simple, mysterious name that speaks images.

5.With this musical project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer the solo route?

Well, I'm actually meeting some musicians to finally hit some (local) stages in 2016. So I'm definitely open for that. Gateway grows only stronger with added vision and ambition from other like-minded people.

6.Hellthrasher Productions is releasing your album in October, can you tell us a little bit more about how you got in contact with this label?

Hellthrasher contacted me shortly after the release of the full length. I was actively searching for a good label and they knew I wanted to do a physical release, we closed a deal and that's it. Glad to be on board.

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

At this point pretty good as far as the underground goes.

8.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musicain in the future?

On a dusty stage, bulldozing people's ears and minds.

9.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?

Mainly the early 90's death/ doom metal and sludge scenes had a great amount of influence on the sound of Gateway: Winter, Autopsy, Cianide, Rippikoulu, Grief, Buzzov•en, Noothgrush,...

New albums by Ahab, Windhand and Uncle Acid are on heavy rotation around here.

10.Does Occultism play any role in your music?

Sure, but it's done to death in extreme metal. I rather try to reinvent that kind of symbolism with personalized tales. Instead of writing songs about Satan, I try to create my own Satan. The track "Kha'laam" is such an embodiment for example.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Nature, family, friends, horror movies, tea and beer.

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

Doom what thou wilt.

Vhod/Dreamcleaver/Inverse Music/2015 Full Length Review

  Vhod  are  a  solo  project  from  British  Columbia,  Canada  that  plays  an  experimental  mixture  of  death,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a review  of  his  2015  album "Dreamcleaver" which  was  released by  Inverse  Records.

  Heavy  guitars  starts  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  later  programmed  blast  beats,  fast  riffs  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the music  which  also  has  an  industrial  feeling  at  times  and  you  can  hear  hear  melodies  being  added  onto  the  recording  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced and  fast  parts.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  in  the  old   school  death  metal  tradition  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  music  bring  elements  of stoner  and doom  metal  onto  the  recording while  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  getting  more  atmospheric  and  experimental  while  a  later  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  while  another  song  also  uses  a  small  amount  of  clear  guitars.

  Vhod  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  old  school  death  metal  but  also  brings  in  elements  of  experimental,  stoner and  doom  metal  to  create  a  style  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Vhod  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  mixture  of  death,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Spectre's  Behest"  "Dragon  Sand"  "Flesh  For  Our  Swords"  and  "Dreamcleavwer".  8  out  of  10.

Gateway/Self Titled/Hellthrasher Productions/2015 CD Review

  Gateway  are  a  solo  project  from  Belgium  that  plays  doom/death  metal  with  a  touch  of  sludge and  this  is  a review  of  his  self  titled  2015  album  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Hellthrasher  Productions.

  Distorted  drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  ritualistic  spoken  word  parts  a  few  seconds  later  and  after the intro the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  doom/death metal  direction  which  also  brings  in  deep  guttural  growls  and  tortured  screams  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  style.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  a  lot  of  the  slow  heavy  riffs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  sludge  and  spoken  word  parts  also  make  their  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  groove  while  solos  or  leads  are  rarely  utilized and  every  track  remains  true  to  a  very  slow,  dark  and  heavy  musical  direction.

  Gateway  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  heavy  and  dark  in  the  90's  tradition  while also  adding  in  elements  of  sludge  and  keeping  everything  slow  and  heavy,  the  production  sounds  very  dark,  old  school  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  depraved  tales  of  ritualistic  horror  and  grotesque  beings  in  a  conceptual  Medieval  theme.

  In  my  opinion  Gateway  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  doom,  death  metal  and  sludge  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vox  Occultus"  "Vile  Temptress"  and  "The  Shores  of  Daruk".  8  out  of  10.  

Sloth Interview

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

It is my solo doom/sludge metal project inspired by the pace and sheer velocity of the sloth. It's been active for about a year now, and my first album comes out at the end of the month.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the album?

If I was to put it into one sub-genre I would say doom metal, but others have described it as post-rock and stoner. It's mostly sludgy/doomy riffs which get broken up by clean sections full of echo and reverb. Sometimes I get distracted and start throwing black and death metal into the mix too.

3.When you have lyrics, what are some of the topics and subjects you cover?

Well the only song with any real lyrics is 'Awaken That Which Lies Amongst The Trees'. It's about a lost traveller stumbling upon an ancient, hibernating giant sloth. He wakes it up and the sloth proceeds to destroy him and then begin its path of destruction across the planet. That last part isn't actually in the lyrics, but it's how I imagine the story to continue realistically. I might do a sequel to this song in the next album.

There are also vocals in 'Nothing But Leaves', but they're mostly just samples of David Attenborough talking about sloths.

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

Originally I wanted the music to be more stoner metal than doom. I was brainstorming names with my friend and thought of Sloth and I just immediately knew that was the one. It's the animal embodiment of a stoner! It's one of the seven deadly sins too which gives it a slightly more metal double meaning.

5.With this musical project you record mostly everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo instead?

I've got some loose plans to get a band together so that I can do this live. By 'loose plans' I mean that I want to do it, but haven't made any plans whatsoever. I don't really have the time at the moment, or any of the appropriate equipment.

I feel like making music on my own lets me dedicate my time to the music a lot more than when working with others. I can just sit down and start recording, instead of waiting for three other people to stop talking and scrolling through Facebook. So I would say I prefer recording solo, but if I were to ever do this live it would definitely be with a band.

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

I haven't sent it to any labels, I wanted to release this on my own and see what happened first. I would be happy to record with a label as long as they don't try to get a sloth mascot to jump around on stage with me while I'm playing.

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

It's been pretty positive so far from the couple of reviews its had, but not many people have heard it yet. We'll see when it releases on the 28th how it's received.

8.Are you also involved with any other musical projects?

Yes, but none of them are active at the moment. Another solo black metal project called Empyreal Blasphemy. I wrote one song for a concept album and never got round to finishing it off because Sloth took over.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?

Well I'll definitely be recording more Sloth albums, whether it's in a studio or in my bedroom. I've got plans to record something with a friend or two, but we don't know what it's going to be yet, probably black metal. That should be next year.

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?

Bongripper, Boris and Pallbearer are the main influences for Sloth. One song which I would say is the root of Sloth is 'Farewell' by Boris on the album Pink. That song changed my life.

Other than that, some of my favourite bands include Nile, Winterfylleth, Municipal Waste and Gojira.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Screenwriting and novel writing. Sloth actually started when I hit a wall in the novel I'm writing called 'Jobseekers'. I'm still stuck at that wall, I really should get writing again soon.

I also like football and video games, but who doesn't? Arsenal are my team, so I've got a naturally untrusting nature haha.

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

Just want to do a shout-out to Ra, God of the Sun, for all he's helped me with in my life. And a big thank you to you for the interview.

Nekyia Orchestra Interview

Interview w/ DoomedToDarkness Zine
Answers by: Wolf (full name: Wolf-Georg Zaddach), guitar and composition
Contact: zaddachmusic@gmail.com

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We’re a 5-piece band from Berlin, Germany, founded in 2012 as an instrumental band. After playing a few shows we quickly decided that we wanted to work with a vocalist, too. In summer 2013 our vocalist Felix joined us. We had all played in several different bands and projects before, from sludge to death metal to jazz. Our music can probably described is a compelling and progressive combination of such different sounds and style.

2.So far you have put out 2 releases, how would you describe the musical sound that is present on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?
The sound quality developed a lot between the two recordings. Our first EP “Limbus”, released in 2013, is rather rough and unfinished production-wise - the vocals, especially, are not intense enough. It was a first demo recording. The step between the first EP and “Magnum Chaos” is huge, I think. In Backdraft Audio from Berlin we found a very professional working producer who really helped us enhance our sound. We’re really proud about the crisp and manifold sound of the album. Every instrument and the voice are important for the overall sound, everyone plays an important role in the music. He really understood that. We also developed a lot musically, I think. The first EP had an overall dark and doom-ish sound, whereas “Magnum Chaos” is way more diversified. We combined more diverse musical sub-genres of metal and tried to create a unique sound.

3.Your lyrics cover Greek mythology, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
Greek mythology offers a lot of inspiration, especially the themes of tragedy, pain and suffering in combination with deeper philosophical insights. A lot of timeless problems and fears and the unfathomable depths of human nature are reflected upon within Greek mythology. It offers us a very abstract way to talk about extremely complex problems we observe in our society today – they still work, so to say. The lyrics aren’t meant to be a nostalgic retelling of old myths at all. The Song “Charon” for example isn’t just a story about the ferryman who takes the souls of the damned to Hades. It’s also a story about depression and isolation. Our vocalist Felix, who wrote all the lyrics, uses the ferryman as a metaphor for the escape people seek in suicide. It’s a very dark song.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nekyia Orchestra'?
A nekyia is a necromantic rite in Greek mythology. It narrates how a godlike hero or a human being walks down through the fires of Hades and bring a doomed soul back to life. It describes the power that pure willpower can develop to face Thanatos and the inevitable death he brings. It’s a myth about unbreakable desire and extreme willpower. We found it very fitting to describe the uncompromising sound of our music. A journey through death and hell, and back to life, accompanied by a modern, dark sounding orchestra.

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 a lot of amazing shows in the past years. Highlights this year were, for sure, the Doom Rotten Death Fest in Berlin and just a few weeks ago a show with Rosetta from Philadelphia. Some of the best and most fun shows were probably the spontaneous DIY-shows we played in abandoned houses and squats. Those were insane. I remember a gig we played in a squat in Berlin. There was no stage, we just played right in the middle of the audience. It was way too loud, it was extremely hot and the acoustic was horrible. On a show like that the band just becomes a part of the audience which creates an unbelievable atmosphere.
Our stage performances are in generally pretty intense, I think. We usually have little and minimalistic cold light from the ground, and everyone moves heavily the way he likes and feels in the moment. Together with the music it’s hopefully an experience of pure compelling energy.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yeah, we’ll have a few shows this year in the beginning of October and November. We hope to play some festivals in 2016 and maybe put a little tour together to cities where we haven’t played yet. Booking for an unsigned band, however, isn’t easy. But we’re really excited to hit the stage again – we can’t wait.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Yeah, we’re still unsigned. We’d definitely be happy to find a good deal at some point. We did negotiate with labels for that album but couldn’t find a solution. Honestly, I think the most labels we contacted didn’t even, unfortunately, listen to our stuff. The music business is pretty tough, and the first steps, especially for young bands, are very hard. 

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
The album has been out for several days now and we already got great feedback from fans and journalists from Argentina, the UK, and Russia. In general, the support of the community is awesome. We just released a video for “Odyssey,” too. This video is a professional and great production by fans and friends of the band, who got inspired by the music and the lyrics – and presented us with that. We’re really grateful for that. We’re also a little bit proud that one of our just few Facebook likes is from Jason Netherton of Misery Index.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We’re looking for a unique sound. We really love to bring together many different subgenre-sounds in a narrative way. That’s why our songs are usually a bit longer. I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to write a 3:30 min song. Would be an interesting challenge though… The first new songs of the next album combine post-black metal and groove sounds in a progressive manner, with a jazz fusion touch in harmony and rhythms. We definitely want to make the music we like and can stand up for.

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 all embrace a lot of musical styles. I studied, for example, jazz guitar and musicology, and have been a metalhead since my teenage times (I am even writing a Ph.D. about metal). So I listen all the time to jazz, classical music, and of course metal. If the band would have a shared playlist, it would probably include music by Between the Buried and Me, Lord Mantis, Celeste, The Contortionist, The Bad Plus, Decapitated, Opeth, Wayne Krantz, Nile, KRS-One, Intronaut, Shostakovich, to name just a few spontaneously. A common ground for our sound are definitely Neurosis and Meshuggah, for their expressivity and musical vision.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Music is everything, everything is music.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Folks, if you are into interesting, complex extreme metal music, listen to our stuff on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes or so, support us and spread the word. Thanks a lot! 

Sloth/Slow As Shit/2015 Full Length Review

  Sloth  are  a  solo  project  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2015 album  "Slow  As  Shit"  which  will  be  released  on  September  28th.

  Distorted  sounding  drones  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro drum  beats  and  heavy  guitar  riffs  start  becoming  a  huge  part  of   the  recording  along  with  some  shoegaze  sounds  and  melodic  post  metal  style  leads  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  good  portion  of t he  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Elements  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  can  be  heard quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  most  of  the  tracks  stick  to  an  instrumental  direction  while  some tracks  do  bring  in  a  small amount  of  clean  playing  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  as  well  as  a  small  use  of  screams  on  a  couple  of  songs  that  have a  black  metal  influence  to  them and the  whole  album  remains  true  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  while  the  last  track  does bring  in  elements  of  electronic  music.

  Sloth  plays  a  style  of  sludge  metal  that  is  mostly  instrumental  but  also  brings  in  post  rock  and  shoegaze  influences  along  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  to  create  something  very  original  and  the  production  also  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  lyrics  when they  are  utilized  cover  nature  and  pot  smoking  themes.     

  In  my  opinion  Sloth  are  a  very  great  sounding  post  sludge  metal  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Green  Sunrise"  and  "Nothing  But  Leaves".  8  out  of  10. 

Dimlight/The Last Chapters/Five Starr Records/2015 Full Length Review

  Dimlight  are  a  band  from  Greece  that  plays  a  symphonic  mixture  of  dark,  gothic  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "The Lost  Chapters"  which  was  released  by  Five  Starr Records.

  A  very  dark,  ritualistic  and  atmospheric  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  death  metal  sound  that  uses  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  symphonic  elements  while  the  female  vocals  add  a  touch  of  goth  to  the  bands  musical  style  while  growls  and  screams  are  also  used.

 Elements  of  90's  gothic   doom/death  metal  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  while  there  are  still  a  decent  amount  of  modern metal  elements  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  some  tracks  also  add  in  a  slight  touch  of  black  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  the music  starts  to  speed  up  at  times  and  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of   blast  beats.

  Dimlight plays  a  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  symphonic,  gothic  and  death  metal  genres  while  elements  of  black  and  doom  metal  can  be heard  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  original  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover are  a  concept  album  based  upon the  Egyptian goddess  hathor.

  In  my  opinion  Dimlight  are  are a  very  sounding  mixture  of  symphonic,  gothic  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Spawn  Of  Nemesis"  "Dark  Things  Of  The  Desert"  "Fear  Of Heavens"  and  "Flesh  Of  Carnage".  8  out  of  10.