Subterranean Disposition/Contagium And The Landscapes Of Failure/Hypnotic Dirge Records/2016 CD Review

  Subterranean  Disposition  are  a  solo  project  from  Australia  that  plays  an  avant  garde  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  album  "Contagium  And  The  Landscapes  of  Failure"  which   will  be  released  in  June  by  Hypnotic  Dirge  Records.

  Nature  sounds  along  with  some  clean  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a  minute  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  while  also  having  some  experimental  sounds  in  the  background  while  the  clean  guitars  are  also  used  on  the  later  tracks  as  well  and  all  oft he  musicla  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Saxophones  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  elements  of  post  rock  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  also  make  their  presence  known  on  the  recording  along  with  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  while  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Melodic  vocals  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  an  avant  garde  edge  and  their  is  also  a  brief  use  of  female  vocals  which  are  done  in  more  of  an  operatic  style.  and  a  later  song  also  introduces  violins  onto  the  recording  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a very  slow  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Subterranean  Disposition  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  doom/death  and  mixes  it  with  avant  garde  and  experimental  music  along  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  to  create a  style  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Subterranean  Disposition  are  a  very  great  sounding  avant  garde  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Embittered"  and  "A  Life  Long  Slumber".  8  out  of  10.

 

(EchO)/Head First Into Shadows/BadMoonMan Records/Solitude Productions/2016 CD Review

  (EchO)  are a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  melodic  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  doom  and  death metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Head  First  Into  Shadows"  which  will  be  released  on  May  23rd  as  a joint  effort  between  BadMoodMan  Records  and  Solitude  Productions.

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a  minutes  atmospheric  synths  along  with  melodic  yet  depressive  guitar  leads  make  their  presence  known  in  the  music  and  all  of  the  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals  start  out  in  more  of  a  clean  singing  fashion.

  Slide  guitars  can  be  heard  in  the  music  briefly  and  the  music  also  alternates  between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  after  awhile  the  vocals  start  mixing  in  more  death  metal  growls  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  very  progressive  at  times  and  there  is  also  a  slight  touch  of  black  metal  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  mostly  a  very  slow  musical  direction  while  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  fast  playing  and  blast  beats  and  when  synths  are  utilized  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  a  psychedelic  feeling  and  the  last  track  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  violins.

  (EchO)  plays  a  style  of  doom  and  death  metal  that  is  very  melodic,  progressive  and  atmospheric  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  loneliness,  dreamlike,  sorrow  and  loss  themes.

  In  my  opinion  (EchO)  are a very  great  sounding melodic  and  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "This  Place  We  Used  To  Call  Home"  and  "Order  Of  The  Nightshade".  8  out  of  10.

  

  

   

While Sun Ends/Terminus/WOOOAAARGH/2016 CD Review

  While  Sun  Ends  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  progressive  form  of  post  death  metal  with  some  elements  of  doom  and  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Terminus"  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  WOOAAARGH.

  Ambient  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  classical  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  and after  a minute  female  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  before  going  into  a  heavier  prog  metal  direction  which  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal s creams  onto  the recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  stick  to  a  very  dark,  progressive  and  melodic  style  while  they  also  mix  female  vocals  in  with  the  heavier  parts  at  times  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  At  times  the  music  brings  in  electronic  music  elements  while  the  songs  also  alternate  between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  quite  a bit  throughout  the recording  and  one  track  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  while  the  songs  usually  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  the  cleaner  sections  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  post  rock.

  While  Sun  Ends  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  progressive  death  metal  but  also  adds  in  elements  of  black,  doom  and  post  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  humans,  society  and philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  While  Sun  Ends  are  a  very  great  sounding  progressive,  post  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  "Cycles"  "Seasaw"  and  "Elevation".  8  out  of 10.

Leather Glove Interview

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

Leather Glove was created as a studio project.  Once Earhammer ramped up into a full time job (by '08), things got too busy to focus on being a musician myself.  After many years of this, I became afraid there would be a disconnect between myself and the artists tracking and mixing here.  Being an artist who understood extreme music kept me busy.  It was imperative that this remained the case.  Around that time, I was challenged with recording bands down tuned and the next layer deeper than the previous.  It was invigorating! 

This inspired me to do 3 things:
1) Create a recording project and use my studio for art again
2) Challenge myself with hard shit to work with
3) Still write my style but use talented drummers I respect in order to sculpt a different sound for each release 

The end result of each release is meant to sound disgusting and oppressive.

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

For this demo, Leather Glove merged D Beat, Sludge, Doom, Noise rock all going through a Death Metal filter played on a very slow turn table.  The goal was to create a project that would place importance on the music over production.  The grosser and nastier, the better.  An antithesis to a majority of modern brutal and tech death metal productions where everything is clean and triggered sounding.  This was and is meant to be a very primitive, raw and visceral experience.  Thanks to Chad (Necrot, Atrament, Rude) for banging the skins on this release.

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

If I extrapolated on the lyrics too much, I would have to kill you...  You seem like cool people.  For that, just know it usually covers very oppressive subject matters, which can take a turn to "so over the top its just plain ridiculous at times" like the title track "Skin on Glass".  "Rods of Steel" covers Classism.  "Conduit to Misery" covers the subject of being force fed pharmaceuticals.

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

The project which I plan on always keeping a dark undertone will evolve its sound over time.  The need to find a name that is neutral to genres was important.  Leather Glove can paint both a brutal, comforting or a sexy mental image upon first sighting.  Leather Gloves have many associations from hiding fingerprints while making attempts to burglarize, murder and sabotage to keeping warm, protecting your hands to down right sleazy and sexual content.  Its weird how inanimate objects develop such associations.  In my head, someone could see the name "Leather Glove" and think "what the fuck kinda music is this going to be?"

5.With this project you record everything by yourself but have experience playing in other bands, how would you compare the 2?

Well, I borrow drummers for this as there is no desire to get good enough at them to pull it off.  But other than that I do everything.  The process is slightly different.  I have a very specific sound in mind while writing riffs / songs.  With Brainoil, Deathgrave and other previous bands there are tendencies, skill sets and interests that vary from member to member.  When riffs get thrown into a band environment, one has to be willing to see it soar in a different direction than intended.  When doing Leather Glove, there is only a drummer to bounce riffs off of.  So I write whatever I feel like knowing it can be layered exactly as intended once the beat is discovered.  The drummer has a lot of input due to their ability and desires on how to treat the riff.  But in the end, there is only 1 other person beyond myself to weigh in on song structure.  Believe it or not, it makes a big difference. 

6.You have played in plenty of bands for the past 20 years, what is it that motivates you to keeping going after 2 decades?

A desire to create and refine myself and music is what keeps me alive.  I received my first bass 25 years ago and knew so much could be done with it.  Real music is an organism that constantly evolves for those who pay attention.  It can't be mastered and should not be tamed.  Knowing this has signed me up for a life long journey of music.

7.You have also engineered plenty of albums over the years, can you tell us a little bit more about it?

Its my full time job.  Not only do I feel honored and lucky to have such a career, but it also keeps one humble and in check.  I've produced 100's of records at this point that involve many directions of extreme music.  I still live hand to mouth and see musicians whose talent is so superior to "professional" artists that its criminal they are working pizza joints and coffee shops.  A few bands I've worked with (other than my own) are Graves at Sea, Vastum, Noothgrush, Lecherous Gaze, Saviours, Badr Vogu, Amber Asylum, Iron Lung, Asunder, Necrot, Worm Ouroboros, Extra Action Marching Band, and Lycus.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your solo material by fans of extreme metal?

So far, so good.  Its cool to hear people enjoy the noise in my head.  No deaths or casualties in relation to listening to the stream, so my slate is clean.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that you are a part of?

Brainoil - writing our 3rd LP.  Really happy with the direction its going in and feel this will be our best effort to date.

Deathgrave - 2 songs short of our 1st LP.  Very excited about the music on this as well.  It will crush all our previous records in my opinion.  Split 7" with Endorphins Lost is at the pressing plant and probably won't be out in time for our SW tour in June (common story these days). 

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

2nd release will be very similar but slower and noisier.  3rd release will be much faster.  After that, who knows?  But it will be messed up somehow as avoiding too much 4/4 is a hobby of mine.

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

As far as this release, Deep gross and terrifying sounds was the end goal.  Many elements created the underlying basis for this release. But a few notable ones were merging tempos akin to Coffins, Grossness of Undergang, Grooves of Brainoil, and repeating chromatic phrases with delayed guitars inspired by Zeni Geva and Swans.  I am on a new musical tangent every week it seems so a list would be futile.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

I enjoy hanging out with my partner Fern, hiking, camping, reading and films (especially dissecting the foley and scores within them).

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

Thank you for the interview.  Special thanks to Mattia (co-releasing tape), Chad (drums), and Boo Boo Danger (artwork).  May 20th will be the release date where:

1)  The whole demo will stream on www.cvltnation.com

2)  Tapes and Digital Downloads will be available through both Sentient Ruin and Leather Glove's Bandcamp

3)  I will have digital downloads and/or streaming on itunes, spotify, youtube, soundcloud and many other digital domains.

Feel free to spread the word and thank you for reading this far!

AlgomA 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 split?


Well, since the recording and release of the new split, we have been recording our track for our next split with Hooded Menace. Which is coming out on Doomentia Records sometime later this year. We've been playing live shows both locally and out of town. We have been setting up a tour for June in Southern Ontario, which is shaping up to be really awesome! We love playing Southern Ontario, we have a lot of great friends down there and love playing with new bands too! We've also been doing some jamming and working on writing some new songs.


2.Recently you where a part of a split, 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 think the recordings on our recent split with Chronobot are a lot more raw and aggressive sounding, This isn't your pretty polished metal! haha This is really gritty stuff. Not for the masses at all. I think our previous recordings are also very raw, but on the split material we recorded live off the floor, which gives it a a very raw and abrasive sound. I think our tracks on the split are a lot more aggressive and I also think the vocals are a lot more angry and intense on these recordings. Overall, the new material compared to the old material, we are still writing the same slow sludge filled tracks. Very down-tuned, distorted, ugly stuff.


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

Well, we have two songs on the recent split with Chronobot, one is about ancient Tuberculosis, called "Phthisis". It's the third song in our disease trilogy ( the other songs in our disease trilogy are on our first album "Reclaimed by the Forest", "Tertiary Syphilis" and Extinct Volcanoes"); and the other song is called "Electric Fence", about Camp 14, a labor camp in North Korea. All our lyrical topics and subject matter for all our music is definitely dark and depressing subjects. Songs about death, torture and rabid dogs. We like to choose unique topics and talk about things from a different perspective. Our upcoming song for the Hooded Menace split is about a stunt man having a very bad accident. It's a very depressing tale! We're a sludge band, we're noisy, heavy and abrasive, songs showing the darker side of life just fit for this kind of music.


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

The steel mill in my city used to be called "Algoma Steel" before it was sold and changed it's name. We were inspired to name our band "AlgomA" because our music is heavy as an iron bar! Boyd and I were sitting in his basement after a jam, and we looked up at the steel support beams with the name AlgomA stamped in the side of them and we thought it was perfect! There is also something really dirty, gloomy and depressing about an old steel mill, it fits well for a sludge band!


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?

We've played some awesome shows with other great Canadian bands like Chronobot, the Golers, Horse Lung, Biipiigwan, Black Tremor, and IRN. Some of the best shows were down in Toronto, It's always great getting down to play in the big city. Playing with our buddies in Shit Liver is always a great time too! It's too hard to pick just a few, it's always a great time!! We really enjoy playing live! Sludge is great music to experience live, it's loud and very intense! The crowds get fully immersed in the heavy down-tuned riffs. As far as our stage performance goes, it's 3 dudes on stage, lots of feedback and screaming at you! haha We like to rock and enjoy ourselves. It's a sonic wall of chaos and feedback!!! it's pretty standard rocking out, no choreographed dance sequences or anything! haha


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

This summer we have a tour planned for Southern Ontario. We'll be playing in Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, London and a few more. We also have a few local shows to play as well. In July we are playing a show with Iskra, a cool blackened crust/grind band from British Columbia, so that should be a lot of fun too!


7.Recently you where a part of a split with 'Chronobot', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?

We love Chronobot!! Awesome guys, really easy going and fun dudes! They write some killer doom riffs and deadly tunes! We played live with those guys back in 2014, it was a ton of fun and we really hit it off! Gotta show some love for our fellow Canadian doomsters! It would be great to meet up again sometime for a show and smoke a bowl or two! Hopefully we do that sooner than later! Cheers to the Chronobot boys!


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

We've gotten really great feedback from the doom/sludge fans. We are really proud and happy about that! Local fans who were never really exposed to sludge before are also really digging us too! We appreciate everyone who comes out to our shows! We received some great reviews for our first album "Reclaimed by the Forest". The new split with Chronobot has been really well received too, everyone seems to be digging it, so that's awesome!!


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

We are currently writing new songs for our next full length, so that's been a lot of fun! We're writing tons of slow stuff, but we might also have a few faster tracks as well. We're not exactly sure when the next full length will be out, sometime in 2017 most likely! Who knows what the future holds, but our music will always be noisy and heavy, I don't see us changing musical directions.


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? 

Some of the bands that we have been influenced by are definitely the Melvins, Eyehategod, Boris, KIttens, Black Flag , Shallow North Dakota, and ton a more! We're basically influenced by a lot of different music genres, like sludge, noise rock, hardcore punk, etc. Lately I've been listening to Discharge, Scholastic Deth, 16, Pyramido, Melvins, Of Spire and Throne, Trees, Buzzoven. plus lots of death metal and other punk stuff! Everyone in the band has very eclectic taste in music.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

We all have a bunch of different interests...watching movies, playing video games, cooking, photography, writing, hiking, among others. Myself, I collect a bunch of different things like dvds, cds, vinyl, video games, and books. I like to go searching through pawn shops and thrift stores for cool junk! haha



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

Thanks for the interview!! Cheers to all our fans and supporters!! Tune low, play slow.. Sluuudge!!


Bandcamp link - https://algoma62.bandcamp.com/album/split-w-chronobot
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Ceremonia/La Existencia Humana Debe Ser Un Error/2015 Full Length Review

  Ceremonia  are  a  band  with members from France and Columbia  that  plays  an  atmospheric  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "La  Existencia  Humana  Debe  Ser  Un  Error".

  Drum  beats  and  atmospheric  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  seconds  the  music  starts  to  go  into  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  while  the  screams  have  a  black  metal  tinge  to  them  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  speeds  up  briefly on  one  of  the  tracks  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  keyboards. 

  Ceremonia  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  dark,  heavy  and  atmospheric  and  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Latin  and  cover  depression,  lonliness  and  suffering.

  In  my  opinion  Ceremonia  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  band  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those musical  genres,  you  should  check  out t his  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Amanecer  Fallido"  and  "Existencia  Humana".  8  out  of  10.     

The Drowning Interview

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

We’ve been playing live, at home and abroad since completing in the studio. We’ve also been busy with pre promotion for the new album “Senescent Signs” as well as working on material for the next album.



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

We entered a different studio from previous albums with producer/engineer Joe Thompson who has previously worked with fellow Welshmen Desecration as well as bands such as The Rotted and Overoth. We knew we were going for a whole new production. The writing being very intense leading up to this we felt was a whole new take in itself.



3.      This is the first album to be released in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during the time span?

After the 2011 album Fall Jerusalem Fall and the departure of vocalist James Moore it kind of left a hole in the band. At a local show we were introduced to Matt Small who was performing that night with a local metal band. After a few rehearsals we knew that he was the man for the job. 2012 saw us performing shows across the UK still promoting the previous album (FJF).  Joe Thompson and his colleague approached us and soon we began talks of recording a new album.  We hit the studio summer 2013. The recording process was going well, and then bad news came from Joe telling us of massive technical problems with the software of which the recorded material was sadly lost along with all back up. Not only did we suffer this blow, four other bands at the time also lost their material. Morale was low for the band after this, still performing shows but with no album to promote. January 2014 saw us back in the studio to start from scratch, and this time with all technical problems behind us we hit this new recording head on.



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

Lyrically there's an overall theme of the break down of things, society, relationships the sense of self; of decay and the passage of time, the fact that you can reflect on what has gone before and the helplessness experienced when you realize you are a victim of what has gone before. The individual tracks fundamentally are based in personal experience and the artwork reflects the themes of decay and of being haunted by what has gone before.



5.      What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name “The Drowning”?

In the beginning the name came to me (Mike) in more of a ritualistic murder sense, The Drowning.  As time has gone on with the themes of the albums and lyrics alike you can use The Drowning in a wider context whether drowning in sorrow, passion, or even anger.



6.      What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performances?

We’ve had some fantastic shows over the years, from playing our hometown to as far away as Malta and Europe. Crowd response has always played a part to how we perform. We feel as a stage band we give a lot more energy and aggression than many other bands in the genre, giving the crowd true entertainment.



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

We set off this spring for shows in the Netherlands and will be booking a lot more when the album is released to see us through the year.



8.      The new album is coming out on Casket Music, are you happy with support that thy have given you so far?

To be truthful as a label they do very little - so we become the promoters, organizers, managers etc. We have recently signed up with Imperative PR who are acting on our behalf. We have a great relationship with the guys at Imperative and are very happy with how we’ve been treated so far.



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

You will always find there are divides in genres. People who love death will only love death. People who love doom will only love doom. So being a combination of the both can get mixed reactions. Generally our music is well received as we capture not just the above but other elements of metal.



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

We always continue to work very closely as a band, and new ideas are always brought forward, enabling us to try different angles of writing but still retaining the true sound of The Drowning, which we believe will hold us in good stead for 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?

Ok, this is interesting, as players we come from different backgrounds, I myself (Mike) from a young age was brought up on thrash metal as well as heavy metal, which moved on in time to black metal/dark metal. Jason came from a more commercial scene even going back to American rock. Steve as a drummer was influenced by a lot of the 80’s glam rock as well as the more intricate progressive metal. These days I’m (Mike) very into the neo folk scene along with a lot of the German dark metal bands, which have influenced my writing over the years.



12. What are some of your non-musical interest?

Drinking, if you count that as an interest?  Steve’s a professional Tattoo artist, I myself (Mike) am big on horror movies, cooking and collecting American made guitars. Matt seems to have an obsession with medieval weaponry, sporting an impressive collection.



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

The Drowning are here, and will be for many years to come. Pushing harder and further and continuing to fly the flag of British Doom Metal!