Korpsesoturi/Self Titled/Death In Pieces Records/2017 EP Review

  Korpsesoturi  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  with  elements  of  doom metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their self  titled  2017  ep  which  will  be  released  on  November  21st  by  Death  In  Pieces  Records.

  Music  box  samples  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  direction  which  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  along  with  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  bringing  in  elements  of  doom  metal.

  A  lot  of  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  while  high  pitched  screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in    decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the ep  progresses  a  brief  use  of  synths  and  spoken  word  samples  can  be  heard.

  Korpsesoturi  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  metal  into  the slower  sections  of  the  songs,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Koprsesoturi  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  with  elements  of  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pohjoinen  Perkele"  "Kaivo"  and  "Kypara".  8  out  of  10.

  

Schwarzer Engel/Sinnflut/Massacre Records/2017 EP Review

  Germany's  solo project  Schwarzer  Engel  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  the  dark  symphonic  style  of  goth  metal  from  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  ep  "Sinnflut"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Massacre  Records.

  Dark  gothic  horror  style  keyboards  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  industrial  style  vocals  which  also  bring  in  black  metal  screams  at  times  while  clean  vocals  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  goth  and  extreme  metal  together  as  well  as  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  80's  and  90's  influences.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  symphonic  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  when  they  are  utilized  along  with all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  most of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  solo  or  mid  tempo  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  a  piano  track  and  club  remix.

  Schwarzer  Engel  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  dark  and  symphonic  style  of  goth  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics a re  written  in  German  and  cover  emotions,  suicide,  apocalypse,  nature  and  gothic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Schwarzer  Engel  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  and  symphonic  goth  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Sinnflut".  8 out  of  10.

Shadowpath/Rumours Of A Coming Dawn/2017 Full Length Review

  Shadowpath  are  a  band  from  Switzerland  that  plays  a  musical  style  which is  a  mixture    dark,  melodic  death,  progressive, symphonic  and  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Rumours  Of  A  Coming  Dawn".

  Rain  and  thunder  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  keyboards  and  female  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  along  with  the  slow  riffs  also  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  metal  as  well  as  the  music  also  getting  very  symphonic  at  times.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  while t he  music  also  gets  very  progressive  at  times  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  death  metal  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful,  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording. 

  Shadowpath  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  dark,  melodic  death,  symphonic,  progressive  and  power  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  depressive  and  emotional  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Shadowpath  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  dark,  melodic  death,  doom,  progressive,  symphonic  and  power  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Chaos  Equation"  "Another  Inquisitor"  and  "Beta".  8  out  of  10.

V/Pathogenisis/Suicide Records/2017 Full Length Review

  V  are  a  band  from  Sweden t hat  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Pathogenisis"  which  will  be  released  on  November  8th  by  Suicide  Records.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  some clean  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  to  a  heavier  doom  metal  direction  while  the  vocals  add  in  sludge  style  growls  while  elements  of  post  metal  are  also  utilized  at  times  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Clean  singing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses clean  guitars  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction  as  well  as  spoken  word  parts  also  being  utilized  briefly.

  V  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Social  political  and  nihilism  themes.


  In  my  opinion  V  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  doom  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band,  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "At  The  End  Of  Your  Time"  and  "Suspended  Animation".  8  out  of  10.  

DeathCrawl/Acceptable Level Of Misery/2017 Full Length Review

  DeathCrawl  are  a  band  from  Cleveland,  Ohio  that  plays  an  apocalyptic  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Acceptable  Level  Of  Misery".

  Distorted Drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  heavy  doom  metal  riffs  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  high  pitched  sludge  style  screams  as  well  as  utilizing  growls  at  times  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies.

  At times  the  vocals  add  in  touches  of  hardcore  as  well  as  having their  melodic  stoner  rock  moments  while  blast  beats  are  also  utilized  briefly  when  the  music  speeds  up  along  with  a  few  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  psychedelic  elements  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  the  main  focus  being  mostly  on  a  slower  musical  direction.

  DeathCrawl  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  stoner,  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  apocalyptic,  death,  war,  and  depression  themes.

  In  my  opinion  DeathCrawl  are  a  very  great  sounding  apocalyptic  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  "False  Oracle"  "Entombed  By  The  Things  We  Seek"  and  "Perpetually  Damned".  8  out  of  10.    

Catapult The Dead Interview

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



Since recording “A Universal Emptiness” we have been working on our next release which we hope to have out within the next year. We are almost done recording our half of what we intend to be a split release. On top of that, we have started composing material for the next full length.



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?



I would say it falls somewhere between doom/post/sludge/black metal. I do really think we found "our" sound on “A Universal Emptiness”. With the addition of Patrick Spain on drums it really helped us define our sound. All 6 of us come from varied musical backgrounds and all draw inspiration from very different places. We were able to harness this more cohesively, as a team, to make something we all feel is beautiful. With the newest album, it's much more straightforward and easier to digest, as it consists of 4 songs in a more traditional album flow. That isn't to say it's any less grandiose or captivating; I feel that this is much more tormenting and brutal. We’ve all grown a lot as musicians and as people since we started and I feel like the growth is apparent between the last two records.



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



To me the lyrical content in “A universal Emptiness” is very personal. It is dealing with the demons that hide in the back of your mind; casting doubt, regret, anger, or pain. If it feels like an emotional journey that is because, for me, it is. It is a way for me to convert the negative energy into positive. Music is my great catharsis and without it as an outlet, I’d probably never make it.





4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Catapult The Dead'?



 It's the first noted form of biological warfare. The practice of using siege engines to throw corpses over enemy walls. The Mongols used the bodies of those who had died of plague this way in a siege in 1346, which some believe may have led to the plague epidemic that struck much of Europe in the following years. It’s a suitably horrifying, apocalyptic, and depressing image. Picture a decrepit, disease ridden cadaver flying through the air in slow motion, looming somewhat gracefully towards the enemy. Soft with rot, the impending plague and puss filled splatter of a landing never seems to come. Just the perpetual limp lifeless flight through the sky that goes on forever without end.



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?

Playing in the Bay Area is an amazing thing. We’re lucky enough to have a constant flux of really great bands coming through the area. Some of my personal favorites would have to be Solstafir, Khemmis, North, Wovoka, Abstracter, Brume, and Chrch (just to name a few). The best venue we’ve been lucky enough to play, in my opinion, is either The Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco or The Metro in Oakland. For me personally both are venues I've dreamed of playing for a long time. Though I would say our favorite local watering hole is The Golden Bull, in Oakland.



  I would say we have quite an interesting stage performance. There is little to no stage chatter and very dim lights. I’ve heard it described as terrifyingly intense. As a six piece, there is a lot happening at all times; Garrick switching from guitar to keys or Ben pounding a floor tom while simultaneously roaring at the crowd, Tom and Emad full body head banging and all the while Patrick is pulverizing the cymbals and drums. We have a lot of fun out there but it probably looks more like pain and agony.



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



We’d really like to get on the road again. We are planning an album release show sometime in December and are working on a couple short tours. Unfortunately doing any long tours is difficult with all of our jobs and schedules and it turns out that road money doesn’t go very far with 6 members.



7.The album is coming out on 'Doom Stew Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?



 Yes. It’s a very small label, but we’ve been quite happy so far. All we've ever wanted to do is share our music with the world, and Doom Stew Records has made this easier for us. For that we are eternally grateful. They seem like the perfect fit for what we need at this point. You can tell that Doom Stew is a passion project and that what makes it so incredibly special..



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



It's been pretty amazing. I was more than surprised by its reach, even if it didn’t make a huge splash in the metal world. We are constantly trying to expand our fan base and honestly we are beyond excited for people to hear A Universal Emptiness.



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?



Emad recently came out of a 2 year hiatus of playing drums and is in the beginning stages of starting a post metal project. As of now they are a 3 piece with him on the drums, still looking to complete the line up and don't have a name as of yet, but will be playing shows by early next year. It's still quite new and top secret! Patrick is in 3 other bands at the moment. One is a doomgaze band called Dustern, Dan (the bassist in CTD) is in it as well. Patrick is also in Mountaineer, an atmospheric rock project featuring Clayton Bartholomew from Secrets of the Sky and Lycus. The third band is called None Shall Thrive, it's a 2 person acoustic black metal project spearheaded by Nick Sandy (who has also done album and t shirt artwork for Catapult in the past). Ben and Garrick have been working on some interesting, more industrial, studio only, tracks. Each band is in various stages of recording new material. It’s likely there will be a lot on the horizon in the near future.



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



I’d say this will be our most straight forward, metal release. We plan on going back to writing longer, dynamic, and cinematic songs again. Probably not as long as the 37 minute, All is sorrow, but I can say the next thing we release will be a 20 minute long piece which I feel is the best piece of music the band has composed thus far. We’re continuing to do what comes naturally and constantly trying to get better at it. We have a good base for the Catapult the Dead sound now, we just need continue to hone in and elaborate on it.



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?



We draw inspiration from a large variety of bands and styles. Some of the big ones would be Cult of Luna, Breach, Type O Negative, Russian Circles, SubRosa, Neurosis, and Bongripper.



12.What are some of your non musical interests?



That’s a tough one to generalize as a whole. Dan is a bit of a book worm. Patrick is a grease monkey always working in the garage. He spends a lot of time camping and off-roading. Garrick does a lot of video editing and screen printing. Tom works at a cannabis dispensary, playing with his dog in spare time. Emad has an affinity for cooking and visiting Tom at the dispensary. Ben is an avid angler, spending a lot of time kayaking on the water.  I’d say the main tie that binds us, outside of our music, is our love for the woods and outdoors.



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



Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. We are immensely appreciative of our friends and fans that have been supporting us along the way. We hope to share our music with all that are willing to listen and follow us on our sonic journey.

Amplified Memory Interview

The interview was answered by the band’s main songwriter and keyboardist Simon Bodesheim.


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
> We have released the album a week ago, so at the moment we are waiting for reactions on the album, while at the same time we are preparing new shows and some promotional stuff. This is also what we have done for the last few months. It has been a lot of work.

2.Recently you have released a new album. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
> The foundation of our sound has always been inspired by Gothenburg melodic death metal, like the one of Dark Tranquillity and early In Flames. But over the years my taste in music shifted more to progressive and black metal, so of course those genres influenced my writing for “Vas Hermeticum” a lot. It still is kind of this melodeath from our first album “The Ever Spinning Wheel”, but there are so many other elements and ideas, that you usually wouldn’t find in this genre, which make it a bit experimental in some moments. It’s hard to describe. I would suggest to you that you just listen to a few songs and you will see, if you like it or not. The songs are all very different from each other, so it’s very probable that even if you don’t like some parts of the album, there will be something else on it you can enjoy.

3.This is your first album in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
> Between 2013 and 2016 we were focused on playing live and writing the material for “Vas Hermeticum”. Since we had three line-up changes in that period, a lot of time had to be spent on practicing with the new members. I guess the album could have been finished at least a year earlier if our line-up had been stable the whole time. In March 2016 we started recording the material, but the mixing and mastering wasn’t completed until early 2017, which is quite a long time. One reason why it took that long was, that we were very fussy this time, so everything had to be perfect for us. We needed a lot of sessions, where we did some minor changes. The other reason was, that we had some problems with the studio, so the mixing and mastering had to be postponed repeatedly. But we were now able to release it, finally. I hope the next album will not take another four years, but you never know…

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
> The main topics we deal with on “Vas Hermeticum” are the concepts of reality and illusion. Everyone has his or her own clear definition of what is real and what is for example imagination, a (day)dream, hallucination or even just an idea. Those things are often not clearly separable. We looked at this topic from different points of view. Some of the lyrics are more narrated examples of these cases. “Into the Shelter of a Mind” deals with losing consciousness as a way to escape paranoid thoughts, because in this state you feel safer and more protected from a danger that feels real to you, but from a “rational” point of view is just not there. “Soporific” tells about a person, who lost some loved ones and can only stay in (imaginary) contact with them in the dream state, so he/she uses drugs to induce and extend his dream phases. “A Walk on the Crystalline Path” is a very metaphorical narration about processing a traumatic event in your dreams. Other songs like “Non-Construct” or “End of Transference” or “Multipolar” use a more philosophical and psychological approach on discussing this reality-illusion-topic.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Amplified Memory'?
> It is about forgetting and therefore the imperfection of straight conscious reality and different layers of it. I find it fascinating that memories can be “saved” in your brain without you being able to actively remember them, but subconsciousness brings them up every now and then (for example in your dreams) without you realizing it. And as there are certain psychological techniques to intentionally “amplify” them, I thought of this term as a name for us. Considering that we chose psychological themes for our lyrics, it is an adequate name for our concepts.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
> The show at the big German Out & Loud festival 2016 was really cool. We were playing the newcomer stage there, while some of our idols played on the main stages. Our three shows in Zwickau were all really awesome. People there are much more interactive than in our hometown Munich, so we had the time of our lives up there on the stage. In Munich there’s a festival called “Inzestival”, where bands, who have members playing in each other’s bands, are sharing two stages. It’s like a big family meeting of Munich’s bands. There’s always a lot of people, and they’re mostly very open-minded. Although the festival has completely mixed genres, people who usually listen to pop and ska music watch black and death metal bands and vice versa. So, the space in front of the stage is always crowded and it’s a big party. We shot our music video for “Ammon’s Eclipse” at the last edition of this festival.
Concerning the question how we would describe our live performances, maybe it would be best to watch this video (or other live videos of us on YouTube), since it shows quite well the way we are on stage. I’d say we try to be dynamic and energetic on stage, while trying to act appropriate to the feel of the music, which means that when a song is sad, we won’t fool around and make jokes, because this would lower the atmospheric and emotional effect of the song. Since the album release, we are wearing new stage outfits, which some people may find a little strange. We are wearing lab coats with Rorschach inkblots on it. We think this outfit properly connects both the alchemic and psychologic themes of our album.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
> We are currently in the process of booking shows for 2018. Because of the unclear situation with the album, we weren’t able to book shows for late 2017, so people unfortunately have to wait some months until they’ll see us live with our new album.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme and melodic metal?
> Mostly very positive. Of course, since we mix really many elements and different styles and genres, some people find it too much, or there are always some parts which they really love and some that just don’t match their personal taste. But that’s the price you have to pay, if you try those things. On the other hand, all of them are agreeing, that the album is executed very well and the music is very creative and beautiful. If people find something on the album they like, we’re happy.

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?
> Our drummer Felix is also drummer in German avantgarde black metal band Nebelkrähe. They are currently working on their third full length album. Fantastic music, also very experimental and creative stuff. Our lead guitar player Chris used to play in a blackened death metal band called Gilgamesh, but after their singer and songwriter (who also contributed guest vocals in the song “Multipolar” on our new album) left the band, he left, too. He is, however, currently part of a new project, for which details will be revealed soon. I myself have been keyboardist and percussionist of German ska rock band Rapid for the last four years, in which Felix is also playing the drums, but I left the band one month ago. Felix is still part of the band. It’s something else, musically, which is always good to broaden your musical horizon, but ultimately, I was never really into that music and played there rather for reasons of fun. You get much bigger club and festival gigs and more active audiences than as an underground metal band.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
> We want to dive more into this progressive style we have been including on our new album. I think in straight melodic death metal, we already said everything we had to say on our debut “The Ever Spinning Wheel”. “Vas Hermeticum” might be the very expanded and experimental transition to a more musically complex, but still very melodic, catchy, focused and emotional style of extreme metal, which we will aim for in 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?
Basically, I think you can still and maybe will always hear a classical Gothenburg melodeath influence of bands like Dark Tranquillity (my favourite band) or In Flames, since this has always been the foundation of our music. But as I said, I prefer progressive and black metal nowadays, so on “Vas Hermeticum” I was influenced more by bands like Der Weg einer Freiheit, The Ocean, Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved, Opeth, Dark Funeral, Wintersun and many others. This year I have been listening to Leprous a lot, especially their new album “Malina”, as well as “Finisterre”, the latest album of German black metal band Der Weg einer Freiheit.

12.Does Occultism play any role in your music?
> No. No one in the band has ever had interest in that topic and to be honest, I can’t understand why so many bands today still cover those themes in their music. Everything about it has been said decades ago. There are so many interesting things out there in our world. Occultism, for me, isn’t one of them.

13.What are some of your non-musical interests?
> I myself am very much into movies and I think I have watched nearly 1000 movies so far. Besides, politics are very important to me. Moreover, most of us are students. Our guitar player Eley and I are both students of chemistry, so science is also one of our interests. Eley is very much into strength training. Wolfgang, our singer, studies psychology (you may get the idea, where the album concept and our outfits come from) and loves discussing philosophical topics a lot. Chris, our lead guitar player, is studying geography. Our drummer Felix is studying computer linguistics and I often get the impression you can get him interested in nearly everything. He has an impressive common knowledge. Our bass player Michi is working as a software consultant. He and Chris also love playing video games.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
> Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us in the last nine years, in whatever way. We would be happy if you remain faithful to us. To everyone who discovered us recently (or maybe with this interview): Listen to our new album “Vas Hermeticum”! We hope you’ll like it!