She Beast/III/2016 EP Review

  She  Beast  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  ep "III".

  Horror  movie  samples  start off  the ep  along  with  some  bass  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  along  with  some  high  pitched  sludge  style  screams  and  there  is  also  a  small  amount  of  mid  paced  sections  and  blast  beats  along  with  elements  of  punk  rock  and  southern  etal.

   One  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melody  being  utilized  on  a  couple  of  songs  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  retro  and  stoner  metal  vibe  and  all  of  the  tracks  stick  to a  heavy  musical  style.

  She  Beast  plays  a  musical  style  that  focuses  more  of  the  heavier  side  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  while  also  having  some  southern,  stoner  and  punk  rock  elements,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sea  Beast  are  a  very  great  sounding  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  "The  Fly"  and  "Saw  Pig".  8  out  of  10. 

Bethmoora Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. Copenhagen based sludge/doom 5 piece Bethmoora, has existed for about a year in its current form, all members with experience from previous bands. Huge riffs, bludgeoning rhythms and disturbing vocals are key elements of the slow descent.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
2. Blackened Psychedelic Funeral Sludge Doom? It's hard to describe your own music, if you don't set out to play a specific genre from the start. We do think that we have a common base in doom metal, but try to pull in all the stuff we like, be it from psychedelic rock, sludge, funeral doom, black metal or noise. The sound is massive and we play slow and heavy music. We like the music to become physical so that we and our listeners can feel the frequencies.

3.Your lyrics cover a lot of occult topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this subject?
3. Fantasy has always been an intriguing topic and is that main genre that Anders reads. This of course will also influence what you write.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Bethmoora'?
4. It is a really cool name and it is a story of a doomed city by one of the early writers of the fantasy/horror genres Lord Dunsany. And we also like the band Bong.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
5. We enjoy every time we play: Opening the Nothern Discomfort festival was an awesome first gig. Opening for Remote with only 10 people and opening for Dopethrone with Dreich and a lot of people. All awesome shows.
The tempo is slow and thus the movement on stage is fairly scarce, but the sound is thick, immersive and blasts at you. There are no theatrics.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
6. We have four shows coming up in September and October. One of them opening for YOB. We are planning a winter European tour with Dorre (February).

7.You have a split coming out with 'Dorre', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
7. We enjoy their tracks and it is awesome that on one record you can span wide and still stay within the same genre. Which we have also tried to depict on the album cover.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
8. There has been some interest in releasing our demo, but we have not actively tried to contact any labels. We are working on material for a full length and will be more actively looking for labels.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?
9. Pretty damn well which came as a pleasant surprise.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
10. Louder, deeper, and darker ;)

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?
11. All the members come from different musical backgrounds. To name a few that we have on heavy rotation: YOB, Kataklysm (the old stuff), Conan, Fister, Cult of Occult, Indian, Coltsblood and the list goes on ... and on. Basically if it slow and/or heavy we dig it.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
12. We are five fat fathers so time not spent with the band is spent with family and friends. Being five people the interests are numerous, there are interests in beer brewing, effect pedal building, board games, and more.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
13. Our band is an outlet for most of us all. We have to have a regular session to stay sane. We would still be playing even if it had never left the rehearsal space. We are just trilled that there are people out there who seem to enjoy the noises we make.

Harri Kauppinen/Helvetin Laulat/Concorde Music Company/2016 CD Review

  Harri  Kauppinen  is  a  solo  project  from  Finland  that  plays  a  dark  form  of  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2016  album  "Helvetin  Laulat"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Concorde  Music  Company.

 Nature  sounds  and  spoken  word  parts  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  into  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  while  also  adding  in  keyboards  and  violins  while  acoustic  guitars can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  awhile  clean  singing  is  added  onto  the  recording  and  there  are  also  a  great  amount  of  goth/doom  metal  elements.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow   musical  direction  and  spoken  word  parts  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  poetic  feeling  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Harri  Kauppinen  plays  a  style  of  dark  metal  that  is  very  tragic  and  gloomy  sounding  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  and  goth  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Harri  Kauppinen are a very  great  sounding  dark  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Linnut"  "Maa  Paala"  "Katumus"  and  "Non  Oli  Hyva".  8  out  of  10.

The Lurking Corpses/Traffic Death/Split Personality/Give Praise Records/2016 Split EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  Indiana's  The  Lurking  Corpses  and  Iowa's  Traffic  Death  called  "Split  Personality"  which  was  released  by  Give  Praise  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  The  Lurking  Corpses  a band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  horror  punk,  thrash  and  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  spoken  word  samples  before  going  into  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  along  with  some  punk  style  vocals  which  have a  Misfits  influence  to  them  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  and  horror  movie  samples  can  be  heard  briefly  and  on  the  second  tracks  grim  screams  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  as well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  horror  movie  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Lurking  Corpses  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  horror  punk, thrash  and death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres, you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Don't Need  It".

  Next  up  is  Traffic  Death  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays a  mixture  of punk,  grind,  thrash,  doom,  crust,  power  violence  and  hardcore.

  Their  side  of  the split  starts  out  with  melodic  riffing  and  horror  movie  samples which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  doom  metal  direction  and  a  few  seconds  later  high pitched  screams  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  and  all of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  incorporate  a  great  amount  of  grind,  and  crust  punk  elements, t he  production  sounds very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  violence  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Traffic  Death  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  punk,  grind,  thrash,  doom,  crust,  power  violence  and  hardcore,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Human  Scar".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  punk  and  extreme  metal.  8  out  of  10.

        

Rutsa/Hakissa/2016 EP Review

  Rutsa  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  crust  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  ep  "Hakissa".

  Distorted  noises  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  heavy  guitars  and  high  pitched  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  it  goes  fro  a  more  brutal  grindcore  direction  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  A  small  amount  of  stoner  style  melodies  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in a   great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast parts  while  the  vocals  also  mix  in  elements  of  death  metal  and  crust  while  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  you  can  also h ear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  On  this  recording  Rutsa  takes  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and doom  metal  and  mixes  it  with  the  speed  and  brutality  of  crust  and  grindcore  and  also  mix  in  a  touch  of  harsh  noise  to  create  a  very  dark  yet  heavy  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Rutsa  and  if  you a re  a  fan  of  sludge,  crust,  and  grindcore,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hakissa" "Egoismi"  and  "Laihua  Lothu".  8  out  of  10. 

Aeternitas/House Of Usher/Massacre Records/2016 CD Review

  Aeternitas  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very symphonic  form  of  goth  metal  with  some  doom,  death and  black  metal  elements  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "House  Of  Usher"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Massacre  Records.

  Dark sounding  keyboards  start  off the  album  along  with  some  symphonic  elements  that  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  epic  feeling  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  while  also  retaining  the  symphonic  elements  along  with  some  female vocals  making t heir  presence  known  on  the  recording  and  they  also  take  the  music  into  more  of  a  goth  metal  direction  and t here  are also some clean  male  vocals.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on the  recording  have  a  very powerful  sound  to  them and  the  sower  sections  of  the songs  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  doom  metal  elements  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  very  melodic  style  of  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  couple  of  power  ballads  can  be  heard  and  there is  also  a  brief  use  of acoustic  guitars  and  electronic  music  sounds  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Aeternitas  creates  an  album  that  moves  away  from  the  black  and death  metal  influences  of  previous  recordings  and  focuses  more  on  a  straight  forward  and  modern  style  of  goth  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  based  upon  the  Edgar  Allan  Poe  story  "House  Of  Usher".

  In  my  opinion  Aeternitas  are  a very  great  sounding  goth  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "House  Of  Usher"  "The  Prophecy"  "The  Haunted  Palace"  and  "Can  You  Hear  The  Demons".  8  out  of  10.

Dreich interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We're four guys from very diverse, multicultural backgrounds, all living in Copenhagen, Denmark. We formed last year but in true Dreich style we've kept very busy at it.
We have Turkish, Egyptian, Portugeuse, Israeli and Scottish heritage to name a few.
We practice in an underground bunker that predates WW2.
We play loud.
We play nasty.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
We live in a dark world, in darker days and play music that reflects that.
Given our difference in cultural backgrounds, influences and other projects we've worked on we're not exactly your average doom band. We expect to continue and expand in that style.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Our lyrics are bleak like our music, but also an honest portrait of one's experiences in life. They revolve around loss, depression, hopelessness and other human emotions that we all know too well and struggle with. All of them contain real life narratives and they recount the past and the present in life. In a sense they also strive to mould the future.
"Into the abyss" is a song that lyrically based on a recurring nightmare, it's about the feelings of restlessness and dismay concerning personal life. The use of different vocal styles (Death metal growls/High pitch screams) makes it easier to create a lyrical universe that is dynamic and profound.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Dreich'?
Dreich is an old Scottish word and means bleak, miserable, gloomy, depressing etc. It's most commonly used as an adjective for a particular type of grey, wet, bleak, miserable weather.
As one of us has a Scottish heritage and that concept had been in mind waiting for the appropriate project to come along, this was definitely that project.

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've played a range of shows from gigs in places reminiscent of the Catacombs, bigger live music venues, small fucked up and totally awesome bars and everything in between. We've had the privilege of sharing that with some truly great people/musicians. This year we've played with heavy hitters Dopethrone (CAN) Mantar (DE) and just completed a mini-tour of the Netherlands and Germany, which was even better than we could have hoped for and were some of the first shows we've played outside of Denmark.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We've recently been announced for Blast Beast's 'The New Shit 2016' which is a showcase of Denmark's most promising new bands and features a show @Pumpehuset (Copenhagen 7/1) and @ Atlas (Aarhus 21/1). We're playing Ungdomshuset's Birthday with our friend's from SLAEGT (Copenhagen 3/9).
We have some other things in the works for other countries and always into invitations, but mostly our focus is going into writing and recording our first full length.

7.Recently you where a part of a split with 'Mares Of Diomedes', what are you thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
Mares are both stand up fellas and great musicians. As a whole the band thinks they're moving from strength to strength and their new material really demonstrates that. We're very humbled to have been approached by them. Musically, it's a great fit and we're hoping to set up some shows with them in 2017. It's certain to be colossal.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and doom metal?
We're pretty fresh out, but so far we've had some really great reception. We do what we do, but it's been great to see that received well and we're getting a slew of great international reviews (even in French and Spanish!). We've had some offers to play in some pretty great places like Turkey, Ireland, The U.K., USA and Australia to name a few. We're looking forwards to making those shows happen.

9.Currently the band is signed to 'Heavy Earth Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
For a smaller label they've been super great to collaborate with. They've got it together and we think they're doing some awesome shit.

10.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
Most of us have slimmed down to just focus on Dreich, life is hectic, however, we put a lot into this project. Malik (bass) plays live with Decaying Purity and Tiago (vocals) is often approached for guest appearances.

11.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We're in the thick of the writing process. We feel as though we're really beginning to take form and solidify our own approach to music. We'll continue to evolve as we don't have appreciation for stagnation.

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?
Outside of life experience we're musicallly influenced by many genres and musicians. It's a tough question and individually we all answer differently.
We have different musical paths from with some roots in classical, punk, death metal etc. There of course are bands who have shaped us seperately in regards to our world views, musical taste and musical styles.
Isak (drums): Bölzer, Necros Christos, Black Sabbath
Malik (bass): Diabolizer, Hellsodomy, Engulfed, Humbaba.
Tiago (vocals): Early Bathory and Scandinavian Black metal. Florida Death metal/ early Chris Barnes stuff, Bolt thrower, and Uk crust punk, and bands like Iron Monkey.
Lewy (guitar): Bolt Thrower, Yob, La Ligne Maginot.
Recently on our mini tour we had a collection of mix cds. Judas Preist and CCR definately were on high rotation as was the Mares side of our split. Answering goes far more in depth than most care to know so we've picked a few local bands we think are worth checking out : Slaegt, Solbrud, Demonhead, Taphos, Bethmoora and Undergang.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Nothing//Nothingness. Music consumes us.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We'd like to express our gratitude to everyone who's helped us on our journey with the band thus far. Mares Of Diomodes, Heavy Earth Records, Ballade Studios, Twoheadeddogart and of course Doomed To Darkness Zine for the interest and taking the time to interview us.
Cheers // skål // Sláinte