Condor/Sangreal/Triton's Orbit/2016 CD Review

  Condor  are  a  band  from  Columbia  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2016  album  "Sangreal"  which  will  be  released in November  by  Triton's  Orbit.

  A very  distorted  yet  melodic  guitar  lead  starts  off  the  album  and  they  are  also  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  in t he  music  and  the  songs  start  going  into  a  heavier  direction  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.

  A  lot  of  doom  metal  elements  can  be  heard  quite   bit  throughout  the  recording  and  clean  singing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  later  tracks also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  a  good  portion  of  the  songs  are  very  long and  epic  in  length  and  one  track  also  brings  in a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  Condor  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  doom/death  style  that  was  presented  on  their  previous  release,  the  production  sounds very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover  philosophy,  identity,  and  nationalism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Condor  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  doom/death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sangreal"  "Outremer" and  "Roncesvalles".  8  out  of  10. 

Warcrab/Scars of Aeons/Black Bow Records/2016 Full Length Review

  Warcrab  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Scars  Of  Aeon"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Black  Bow  Records.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  takes  the  music  into  more  of  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  which  also  uses  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  deep  death metal  growls  and  the songs  also  mix  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge.

  High  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  while  the  solos  and  leads  gives  the songs  more  of  a  melodic  stoner  metal  vibe  and  mid  paced  sections  are  also  used  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Warcrab  takes  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge,  doom  and  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Warcrab  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Destroyer  of  Worlds"  and  "Scars  of  Aeons".  8  out  of  10.

  

Gatecreeper/Sonoran Depravation/Relapse Records/2016 CD Review

  Gatecreeper  are  a  band  from  Arizona  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust,  doom  and  death metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Sonoran  Depravation"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Relapse  Records.

  A  very  heavy  guitar  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodies  and  you  can  hear  a  lot  of  90's  Swedish  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  and  they  also  mix  in a  great  amount  of  crust  and  d  beat  elements  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark,  melodic  and  old  school  fashion  and  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  while  the  music  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  past  the  production  gives  the  tracks  a  more  modern  feeling  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  during  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Gatecreeper  plays   musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  early  90's  Swedish  death  metal  genre  while  the  doom  and  crust  elements  makes  the  songs  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  substance  abuse,  apathy  and  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gatecreeper  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  crust,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  the  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Craving  Flesh"  "Rotting  As  One"  "Lost  Forever"  and  "Grotesque  Operations".  8  out  of  10.     

Ruinous Interview

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

(Matt): Ruinous plays crushing and dismal down tuned death metal. Our debut album “Graves of Ceaseless Death” comes out in November on Dark Descent Records.

(Alex): Well myself (Alex) Matt Medeiros and Shawn Eldridge all played together in the band Funebrarum. We were all unhappy with the situation in the band and left to pursue forming Ruinous. The three of us have a great chemistry and friendship that just works. The band sound is pretty simple just a combination when the  3 of us get together. It’s a real honest and a natural process being in this band. I would say we are for sure what you would call a super pure heavy death metal band without a doubt.

2.You have a new album coming out in November, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

(Alex): Its super heavy and brutal but has a lot of diversity on it as well. We have some fast mid temp and doomy evil aspects. Im very happy with the songs and the production came out great. Very well produced but also keeps its rawness. I had the idea of how Death Scream Bloody Gore sounded when it first came out. That record had the modern sonically sounding production with the dirty rawness. So i think we got the best of both worlds.

(Matt): We definitely wanted the record to have a lot of grit and an old-school feel. I think we got that with massive heavy drums and thick guitars. The songs themselves are brutal and varied, with elements of doom, but with lots of hooks. The songs will get stuck in your head, and your head will get stuck in the wall from furious thrashing! haha

3.All of the band members are extreme metal veterans, what is it that you bring it in this band that you were not able to do with past groups?

(Alex): For me it is just the vibe we get when we get together. Everything comes out different than how i would have written for a Goreaphobia or Incantation record. And that is the magic when you are working with great people.

(Matt): Musically it’s a continuation of what we were doing together before, but now we can actually write songs and make records.

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

(Matt): Lyrically the songs are about the horrors that lie beneath the surface of the mortal world, the torment of eternal damnation and other cheery topics. I take inspiration from all sorts of supernatural horror sources, writers like Lovecraft, Poe, and Clive Barker, horror movies and tv shows.

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

(Matt): Continuing the lyrical themes, our music is Ruinous. I also wanted something that I wouldn’t have to repeat a hundred times, and then spell, when asked “what’s your band called?”

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

(Alex): We have not played live yet with Ruinous but when the 3 of us played with Funebrarum live it is full on high energy. Expect the same but times 10 now without the weak link we had in the past.

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

(Alex): We are working on stuff yes!

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

(Alex): So far it has been super awesome! People and close friends who have heard the record are all ecstatic about Ruinous. I am super pleased with the responses.

(Matt): The most important thing for me was that the three of us were happy with the record. We are, and now that people dig it, that’s a huge bonus.

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

(Matt): Kalopsia has a new record, “Angelplague,” coming out in February 2017. It was recorded at the same time as “Graves of Ceaseless Death,” which meant I was doing double duty for several sessions. I’m psyched about the material. It’s simultaneously our most brutal, and our most sophisticated release. Huge moshes. Epic melodies. These two records are the best things I’ve ever done by a huge margin.

(Alex): I have a heavy metal band called Eturnus that i am hoping to release music in early 2017. I am working with some super great musicians with this. Very dark stuff but also very melodic. Completely different than anything I have done before and also something else I maybe involved with in the future.

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

(Alex): I would say the next one will be much darker and musical.

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?

(Alex): It the same stuff I grew up with 60's 70's rock and classical music. Early heavy metal like Maiden and Priest and Celtic Frost, Voivod, Bathory etc.. I really don’t like much new music at all to be honest. Lately in the record player it has been Thin Lizzy, Autopsy, Pink Floyd and David Bowie.

(Matt): I came up in the thrash and punk scene before finding death metal, so bands like Slayer, Gwar, Megadeth and the Misfits are on the eternal playlist. Then classics from Grave, Deicide, Suffocation, Malevolent Creation, etc.

I’m super fortunate that a lot of my friends are in awesome bands, so I’m jamming new stuff from Hammer Fight, Cognitive, Dysentery, Abnormality.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

(Alex): I like fishing and reading about history. Especially Russian history and early cultures. And most importantly just spending time with my wife.

(Matt): Non musical interests? Never heard of em! Haha! When not working or doing band stuff, it’s netflix, video games, books, board games and thinking about music!

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

(Alex): Thank you for your support and everyone lookout for our record November 11th and hopefully see some of you on the road. Cheers!!


www.facebook.com/weareruinous

http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/

Old Chapel Interview

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

Pavel: The recording of this album was really long because of troubles with line-up. In fact, the process of writing these songs was much shorter than recording. It was not a good period for the band. And after the last track was recorded the band split up for a year. But since spring of 2016 we try to find ways to form new line-up or gather the previous.

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

Pavel: New stuff is better arranged in comparison with our past releases. Great efforts have been put into production, and I hope it brought the results.

Sergei: We've been trying to make every song special and memorable, with unique mood and feeling in each of them.

Alexei: New sound. It's evil and powerful as it always been but now the quality is higher.

3. Your lyrics cover a great amount of horror topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this genre?

Pavel: It's a good theme for death metal. I don't want to translate any deep philosophical things through our music. That's why I write horror stories. It's a sort of amusement as for me. But sometimes something inner and sick breaks out. You can hear it in 'Towards the End', 'Leaving a Body' and 'Excommunicated from Light' for example'.

Sergei: I'm a fan of horror movies and giallo. It's a great source of inspiration for lyrics and art-works. And it goes well with metal music. For example the last track on our new album is an interpretation of Fabio Frizzi's music to Lucio Fulci's "City of the living dead".

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

Pavel: Just suitable mystical atmosphere. It forms the needed mood.

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?

Pavel: Our performance history is poor. We have no line-up to play shows.

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

Pavel: We even haven't a guitar player. Alexei lives in other city now and it's difficult for us to gather and play again. I don't think that something will change in the near future. But we're still searching for people. I'm very worried of this situation lasting for years. I think of bad carma or something, seriously. Most of people we've been working with were fucking weird freaks with no ambitions. Laziness, complaints, selfishness, emotions instead of work - we're fucking tired of this. Maybe the reason is the city we live in. May be the reason is the specifics of music we play.

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

Pavel: There were some good words about our previous release 'Symptoms of Possession' from different corners of Earth.

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

Pavel: I think we should to increase the level of aggression and morbidity in our music. Now I'm trying to write new lyrics in this vein. Also we have two songs written during the creating of 'Visions from Beyond' which don't fit this release. We're about to unleash these strange bastards as a EP or something like that.

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?

Sergei: Old metal, regardless of style. Now I listen to all bands with Wino, all bands with Phil Swanson, Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Pentagram, Alice in Chains, Mad Season and of course Black Sabbath.

Pavel: I can say nothing about influence, but old school death and thrash work always. Also some traditional doom as Pentagram or Gates of Slumber must be mentioned. The newest love of my life is Sweden Vanhelgd. They're motherfucking killers! Oh, yes, and Beethoven of course - that's my very speical disease.
Alexei: Probably, all bands we listen to make some influence on our music. Speaking for myself I mean classic heavy bands like DIO, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, WASP, Helloween… this list is so long, you know... I love early Skid Row so much! Certainly, there are a lot of bands that are more similar with us in genre, headed by Dismember and Entombed. I want to mention some unexpected and interesting from nowadays like Gogol Bordello. They're so cool gypsy punks. Also I listen to a lot of instrumental music like Andy James or Conquering Dystopia.

10. Does Occultism play any role in your music?

Alexei: No. I think music should not be a carrier of any ideas. Even if I would have such beliefs it must be out of music.

Pavel: Nope, it's exciting while watching movies or reading books. That's an interesting part of world culture just like religion or mythology. But it can't be taken seriously in real life, because I'm sure that the greatest force in this world is the power of your own mind, it can create and kill any god or demon.

11. What are some of your non musical interests?

Pavel: Reading.

Sergei: Wasting my life and killing time, haha)

Alexei: My job of course - digital drawing and animation. Also I feel an interest in natural sciences, but now I have no time for this little hobby.

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

Pavel: Stay metal and don't forget to check out 'Visions from Beyond'!

Alexei: Many thanks for the attention. Listen to tje new album because it's awesome.

Order the CD: http://store.chaos- records.com/old-chapel-ru- visions-from-beyond-cd/

Algos/Amongst Monoliths/2016 Full Length Review

 Algos  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  doom  and   death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Amongst  Monoliths".

  Symphonic  sounding  keyboards  start off  the  album  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  that  bring  in  a  touch  of  post  rock  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams.

  Death  metal  growls  can  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  keyboards  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections at  times  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  one  of  the  tracks  is  all  instrumental.

  Algos  creates  another  recording  that  takes  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  doom  along  with  some  symphonic  elements,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Algos  and  if  you  are  a fan  of  doom  and  melodic  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Metempsychosis"  "Blessed  With  Weakness"  "I  Am Sin"  and  "Poisoned  Well".  8  out  of  10.

Ruinous/Graves Of Ceaseless Death/Dark Descent Records/2016 CD Review

  Ruinous  are  a  band  from  Pennsylvania  that  consists  of  members  from  Incantation,  Gorephobia,  Disma,  and  Funebrarum  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death  metal  with  some  elements  of  doom,  thrash  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Graves  Of Ceaseless  Death"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  A  very  dark, heavy  yet  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  the  music  speeding  up  and  adding  in  blast  beats  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in a   great  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  and  the  music is  also  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast parts.

  A  great  amount  of  doom/death  metal  elements  can  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  very  dark,  melodic  yet  old  school  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very powerful  sound  to  them  and  some  of  the  songs  bring  in a   great  amount  of  grindcore  influences  and  one  of  the  tracks  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  album  also  remains  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Ruinous  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  rooted  in  the  90's  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  thrash,  doom  and  grindcore  along  with  a  more  modern  approach  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark a nd  blasphemous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ruinous  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  old  school  death  metal,  doom,  grindcore  and  thrash  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Tombs  of  Blasphemy"  "From  Flames  Of  Malice  Born"  "Plague  Maiden"  and  "Torn  Forever  From  the  Light".  8  out  of  10.