Eternal Rot Interview

1 For those that never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Eternal Rot is 2 piece doom/death metal project done Polish guys living in UK, obsessed with death metal we grew up with and everything associated with it. Idea has been exhumed in the mind of Mayer in 2012, trying to express himself in best possible way with sounds slow, heavy and nasty. After finishing 2 tracks, he was convinced by good friend that there are good enough to be shared in some way in the Underground. At that point Grindak joined in as we share same vision for this project, he came out with the name, general imagery, and lyrics to one of the completed tracks ("Crawler") and it has been released as "Promo Tape 2013" on cassette. 100 tapes sold out quicker than worms can eat the body and not long after same 2 tracks has been pressed on vinyl as "Grave Grooves" (by Fallen Temple Productions). Eternal Rot took part in "Vestibule of Hell" compilation (Wolfsbane Records) alongside few much bigger bands. Now it is time for something longer and smellier, so "Cadaverine", 4 tracks in 29 minutes, will be released on CD on 17th of September by Godz Ov War Productions.

2. In September you have your first full length coming out, what are some of the things you have done differently with this release that you where not able to do on your previous ep and demo?
There was not much of a difference, except the fact that album is properly proper mixed and mastered. But laying down the tracks has been done in the same way as the demo.

3. You refer to your music as 'putrid doom/death metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?
There is no bigger philosophy in this, it just fits perfectly to general feeling we want to invoke in listener. There is no place for reinventing the wheel here, it has to crush, smell with freshly opened grave, peel faces off and vocal delivery has to be full of vomits. When you read about the band with "putrid" adjective sticked to it then you can't expect clean crisp production, intricate solos and lyrics about environmental issues, just filth. So if you like it you can dive here blindly and be happy. 

4. This is your first release in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
[GRINDAK]  Life happened, kids happened, work happened. We're far too busy than we would want but passion for this hypnotic death groove is burning strong.
[MAYER] During that time in a slow pace we crawled between the graves in search for an inspiration. Honestly – families and work take most of our times. I also took part in the Noise Nihilist project whose 7 "flexi split with Impetigo (2 live tracks from Central Illinois Metal Fest 2007) will be released by Left Hand Patches Rec.

5. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
[GRINDAK]  Lyrics here have to be exact reflection of the music so as you can imagine they deal with all the death metal topics which come with it. Cemetery feel, losing your mind surrounded with most horrid thoughts, fine dose of gore obviously. It is purely work of my imagination and I put effort into the lyrics and try to do my best to make them good. From the other hand I know they are drowned in growls so anyone who wants to find them will succeed. To spice things up I can say that 2 lyrics on new album were prepared before recording, and other 2 were done after, just like in good old John Tardy way: vomit yourself first, find the meaning later. Somehow it works fine, apparently dead ones approve it.

6. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Eternal Rot'?
[GRINDAK]  Inspiration is very unintentional but I first I have to say that very good Foul Stench album was known to me before. When we briefly discussed band name I was away on holiday, got exceptionally drunk & stoned one night and had some fucked up dream containing us, some death metal noise and this name all over it. Possibly it was stored somewhere in back of my consciousness and appeared in such way. Mayer said yes and we never looked back, some time later I've realised that his is not original idea but fuck it, there are so many bands named after someone else's track that one more won't do difference. It my opinion this name pictures everything about this music and our approach to it.

7.One member lives in the United Kingdom while another one lives in Poland, what kind of impact does this have on the musical style that you play?



This sentence is wrong, but we understand from where this little mistake originates. In our bio we say that this is UK/Polish band but this is to underline the fact from where we are now and for where we're coming from. Nowadays both of us live in UK from over 12 years.  Years earlier we could get ourselves wasted on countless of gigs in London as we were living there then. We moved out to different cities and meetings are rare as fuck so impact is almost same as we would live in different countries anyway.

8. Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
Currently there are two of us, but on next release there will be a live drummer, which does not mean that we will be doing any gigs.

9. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of doom and death metal?
It is far greater that we could expect, your review of the album and this interview are the living proof of it. So far it is so great feedback that it just surreal for us. We are overwhelmed by the response of everyone who got in touch. We're fans of such kind of vibe in music and we know we're not alone in this. Everyone who reaches out to us welcomed like fresh zombie to the horde.

10. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
[MAYER] We would like to record some good LP, EP or splits. We do not expect contracts with large labels, our place is in the deep Underground.
[GRINDAK] Down into the madness.

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?
[GRINDAK] Without a doubt with atmosphere we're influenced with such great bands like Funebrarum, Hooded Menace or Disma but this is quite clear because they are the best. When it comes to death metal we agree on many things. OK so here is the festival of namedropping from mine side. I used to grow up with bands like Black Sabbath, Running Wild, King Diamond, Iron Maiden, Manowar and blaming here my older brother I discovered far too early such ones as Bathory, Celtic Frost... quickly been catapulted into everything good the verge of 80's and 90's had to offer from thrash metal, death metal or grind-core side. Crawling in Autopsy, Gorguts, Winter, Carcass or Entombed or all the obvious ones on everyday basis, and nothing has changed here till today. Diving into such an amazing hidden gems like Windham Hell or Mindrot or Darkified was great feeling. Nowadays I still try to soak the most of the stuff coming out, because there is so much top notch things going on all over the world. Seems like almost every country has something good to offer in disgusting Death Metal. Fuckin' Undergang, Krypts, Mortuous, Ghastly, Inisans, Ossuarium, Malignant, Coffin Stench, Rotted ...  just first few which caused shivers recently. By the way - in USA you have such an amazing scene in certain cities that it seems unreal, so many fucking good bands, and they keep coming! Beside metal related thing I'm into many other genres, from things on the verge of silence to extreme noise and everything good in between. Eternal love to Steve Roach, Robert Rich, David Sylvian and Bvdub. Mayer currently is very much into Pink Floyd, beside this he enjoys stuff like Dead Can Dance and tons of extreme underground stuff.

12. What are some of your non-musical interests?
[MAYER] Not enough free time but I love cycling.
[GRINDAK]  Waiting for death. Dull existence of the living corpse. Beside this whenever time allows it is computer gaming (currently Witcher3: Wild Hunt), history in general, being in new places people call travelling, good books, but mostly it is music, this is biggest passion. Day is still stubborn fucker and refuses to have 76 hours so for now it has to stay like this.

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

[GRINDAK]
Big thanks for an opportunity (is gone....) to be featured in Doomed to Darkness! If you like slow hypnotic metal from the grave, feel free to listen to this, I think you won't be disappointed. Let's Rot.

[MAYER] Thanks and see you at the cemetery.

Deep Memories/Rebuilding The Future/Heavy Metal Rock Records/Misanthropic Records/Invasion Of Solitude Records/GS Productions/2018 Full Length Review

  Deep  Memories  are  a  solo  project  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  goth,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2018  album  "Rebuilding  The  Future"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Heavy  Metal  Rock,  Misanthropic,  Invasion  Of  Solitude  Records  and  GS  Productions.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  goth  style  synths  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  influenced  by  doom  metal  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  using  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  the  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams  that  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal.

  A  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  clear  vocals  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  as  well  as  one  track  also  adding  clean  playing  onto  the  recording  and  at  times  the  music  gets  very  progressive  and  the  album  closes  with  an  instrumental.

  Deep  Memories  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  progressive,  goth,  doom  and  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  loneliness  and  death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Deep  Memories  is  a  very  great  sounding  progressive  and  melodic  mixture  of  goth,  doom,  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "When  The  Time  For  My  Last  Breath  Comes"  "Between  Two  Dimensions"  and  "Explicit  Way  To  Relieve  Pain".  8  out  of  10.

Pulchra Morte/Soulstench/The Painless/2018 7 Inch Review

  Pulchra  Morte  are  a  band  from  the  United  States  that  plays  an  old  school  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2018  7  inch  "Soulstench/The  Painless".

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  single  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  vocals  being  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams  as  well  as  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  the  music  is  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's.

  Female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  along  with  the  second  track  being  a  cover  of  Paradise  Lost's  "The  Painless"  and  both  tracks  also  stick  to  a  very  slow  direction.

  Pulchra  Morte  plays  a  style of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Pulchra  Morte  are  a  very  great  sounding  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  single.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Painless".  8  out  of  10.

      

Quintessente Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Well, we’re working on our second video, Delirium. It took some months recording, because this time a story will be told in this video. Besides, we’ll be doing some gigs.

2.Your first full length was released in 2017, what where some of the things you where able to do musically with the current material that you where not able to do with previous releases?
I think all of us evolved as musicians, so we’re more open to experience all of our musical influences. “Songs From Celestial Spheres” wanders through different kinds of music and each song is peculiar.

3.From 2000 to 2016 there was no new music being released, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time frame?
We were dedicating ourselves to our own careers besides music. Unfortunately, it’s hard to survive only as musicians. But we were also studying our instruments, composing and writing lyrics.

4.Your lyrics deal with a lot of philosophical, mythological, magick and existentialism themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those topics?
In our last album we focused on philosophy and psychology, because nowadays we’re more identified with contemporaneous themes, like everything we live daily and make us think over.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Quintessente'?
It cames from the five elements of the universe. Ancient philosophers believed air, fire, water and earth can explain the complexity of everything. The fifth element, also known as “quintessence” would be the material that fills a region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere and this element has a pure and heavenly quality.
The word “essente” is a neologism of Philosophy. It is the vision of the essence of being as the foundation of existence and as the very existence itself.
Quintessente represents these 2 words.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
The cover represents the five elements in the cosmos. We wanted to bring something that could reflect our music and Marco Lorenzett portrayed it very well.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
It’s hard to choose, but the last gigs were really great! A few days ago we went to São Paulo for the first time to play in Botucatu Metalstock and everything was exactly how we’ve been idealizing. We always try to recreate the atmosphere of our songs interacting with the audience.

8.Do you have any touring or show for the future?
We will play in 2 festivals and both will be in October. All informations will be in our website and social media. Stay tuned!

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Sure, we’re looking for a label. Our first album was independent and just like every metal band we need support from a label and ditributor. We’re searching this kind of support to release our second album.


10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of extreme and progressive metal?
We’re receiving an extremely positive feedback from the public and the media. After so many years, it has been rewarding to know that expectations have been reached or overcome with the new album. A big part of the media didn’t know the band until the release of "Songs From Celestial Spheres" and we have noticing incredible reactions. All of this makes us very happy. We dedicated ourselves entirely to the album when we decided to return with the band. We want our music to reach as many people as possible to consolidate Quintessente into the metal scene.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Since the return of Quintessente (after a long break), we don’t want to get stucked into a specific style of music and I believe everything will be this way in the future. Our music is the result of all our different influences and that’s what make us form our musical identity as a band.

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?
Paradise Lost has always been our great inspiration, but we are also influenced by Black Sabbath, Moonspell, Amorphis, My Dying Bride and Theatre of Tragedy. Nowadays we’re listening to Insomniun, Oceans of Slumber, Jinjer, Lacuna Coil, Soen, etc.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Science, Geography, Philosophy, Psychiatry, Psychology, etc. Everything so diverse like our careers.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for this space. We invite you all to meet Quintessente and our album, Songs From Celestial Spheres. We worked hard on something that came from within our soul and we want to spread it to all Metal fans.

Dead Hand/Reborn of Dead Light/Divine Mothers Recordings/2018 CD Review

  Dead  Hand  are  a  band  from  Georgia  that  has  had  an  album  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Reborn  Of  Dead  Light"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Divine  Mothers  Recordings.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  angry  sludge  style  screams  and  growls  along  with  most of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Clear  vocals  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  keyboards  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  slow  riffing  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  sludge  and  doom  metal  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody,  elements  of  post  metal  can  also b e  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  clean  guitars  are  also  utilized  on  some  of  the  tracks  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  slower  direction.

On  this  recording  Dead  Hand  remains  true  to  the  mixture  of  sludge  and  post  metal  from  their  previous  release  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Dead  Hand  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge  and  post  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Alabaster  And  Bone"  and  "Amaranthine".  8  out  of  10.

Eternal Rot/Cadeverine/Godz Of War Productions/2018 CD Review

  Eternal  Rot  are  an  international  duo  with  members  from  Poland  and  the  United  Kingdom  and  Poland  that  plays  a  very  old  school  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Cadeverine"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Godz  of  War  Productions.

  A  horror  movie  orientated  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  before  adding  in  a  very  powerful  sounding  bass  guitar  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  along  with  the  slower  riffing  being  heavily  rooted  in  doom  metal  an  the  music  also  has  its  roots  in  the  90's.

  All  of  the  songs  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  screams  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  horror  soundtrack  soundscapes  also  being  added  on  the  later  tracks  as  well  as  the  growls  also  getting  very  guttural  at  times  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  style  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction.

  Eternal  Rot  plays  a  musical  style  that  goes  back  to  the  early  90's  era  of  doom/death  metal while  also  updating  the  style  for  the  modern  era,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  death  and  zombie  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Eternal  Rot  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  styles,  you  should  check  out  this  duo. RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Undying  Desolation"  and  "Slough  Of  Despond".  8  out  of  10.  

Dormanth/IX Sins/Necromance Records/2018 CD Review

  Dormanth  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  melodic  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "IX  Sins"  which  was  released  by  Necromance  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  the  vocals  being  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  atmospheric  while  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  while  the  riffs  also  utilize  a  lot  of  melody  along  with  the  slower  riffing  being  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  as  well  as  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  faster  riffing  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  tremolo  picking.

  Dormanth  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  doom  and  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  melancholy,  death,  faith  and  sadness  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  Dormanth  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Human  Claim"  "Like  Ice"  "Misery"  and  "Sands  Of  Frozen  Tears".  8  out  of  10.