Deep Memories Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
First of all, thank you for this interview!!
Well, Deep Memories is the materialization of an old goal that I had: to compose, produce and record an entire album alone. Every time I grabbed my guitar and some good riffs came up I always recorded with my cell phone and this material kept increasing. When I realized, I already had a huge amount of material but I did not have the "courage" to face the challenge of executing all the instruments. But in the end I completed this task!

2.So far this year you have released one ep and a full length, musically how do they both differ from each other?
The EP was a promotional material released only in Brazil by Heavy Metal Rock and Misanthropic labels. This EP contains 2 songs from the full-length album. This EP managed to spread the name of Deep Memories and brought me an amazing feedback from the whole Brazilian metal scene.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored with the music so far?
In the lyrical part, the first five songs of the album talk about the same subject, they tell the story of a guy who realizes he is living his last moments of life and finally ends up dying. But to his surprise, he realizes an existential continuity after life and there are several intriguing situations happening to him. The others relate to personal experiences related to times of overcoming, loss, introspection and sadness.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Deep Memories’?
When I was choosing the name for my project, I knew that it would have to be something that would involve all my knowledge as a human being, gathering all the experiences that I lived in a single name, and Deep Memories was the best one. The songs and lyrics of this project revealed my deepest inspirations and admiration for the heavy metal movement as well as my biggest psychological ghosts and an alternative post mortem view.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover?
We will have two different covers for "Rebuilding the Future". The cover of the Brazilian and Russian versions were made by me, and the cover of the Japanese version was elaborated by the artist Caio Caldas from CadiesArt.
The cover design was aiming at the materialization of the idea of "Reconstruction of the Future". When we think about this, we naturally reflect on where we are, where we can go, and what we need to do to get there. But I believe that giving more details about these covers would "limit" the viewer's interpretation possibilities, so I would like everyone to come up with their personal interpretation of the illustrations, reflecting on: "What would you do to rebuild your own future?"

6.On the recordings you recorded everything by yourself but have worked with a full band before in the past, how would you compare the two?
When you are in a band the tasks divide, even if only in the execution of the instruments, but when you do everything by yourself, your limit is tested all the time, who questions you is your own conscience! Throughout the process of refinement of the compositions to the beginning of the recordings, mixing and mastering, many concepts that existed in my mind of how it would be to record everything alone was changing, I saw myself much more inspired and dedicated than at the time I was in a band . It was an incredible journey!

7.The new album was released through a variety of many different labels, can you tell us a little bit more about the labels you worked with on this recording?
At the end of the mastering of the album, I noticed from the comments of the friends who were accompanying the process, that the material had gotten a much higher quality than expected. So I started contacting record labels around the world to release the album, and to my surprise, four showed up interest in releasing the material on CDs: Heavy Metal Rock and Misanthropic Records in Brazil, Invasion of Solitude Records in Japan and GS Productions in Russia. The album title is "Rebuilding the Future".
In addition to being released on CD the album will also be released on all digital platforms and Bandcamp.

8. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of melodic death and doom metal?
It has been much better than I imagined! I knew the result was good, but the feedback from the media and especially the metal fans has been incredible. Every day I get messages from different countries in America, Europe and Asia. That impressed me a lot! Thank you all very much!

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
I see myself as a more mature musician and producer, giving a huge importance to small details and feelings. These little nuances bring a differential to music. Today we have many musical styles and what differs the metal from the others is that there is a soul behind each chord, each verse. I’m proud to be a musician who can express myself through metal.

10.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?
My biggest inspiration come from the bands that brought me to the metal like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Pantera. These bands will always inspire me!
In the influences part I can mention the bands that I hear with great frequency as: Theatre of Tragedy, Bathory, Dark Tranquillity, Rotting Christ, Dimmu Borgir, Whitin Temptation, Katatonia and Hipocrisy.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?
If I take the music out of my life, there won’t be much left! But I really enjoy watching some videos on YouTube, I also spend good hours watching series! I'm a big fan of the TV series from NBC like Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Law and Order SVU.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks to Doomed to Darkness for the great interview! To the reader who wants to know more about Deep Memories, visit our official website www.deepmemories.com.br or our social networks: Facebook: @deepmemoriesbrazil and Instagram: @deepmemoriesbrazil

Brainoil/Singularity To Extinction/Tankcrimes Records/2018 CD Review

  Oakland,  California's  Brainoil  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  their  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  crust  and  hardcore  from  their  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Singularity  To  Extinction"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Tankcrimes  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  doom  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  also  capturing  the  heaviness  of  sludge  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  high  pitched  screams  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  Death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  the  fast  and  mid  tempo  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  elements  of  crust,  hardcore  punk  and  d  beat  along  with  some  blast  beats  also  being  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies.

  Brainoil  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  crust  and  hardcore  punk  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  introspective  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Brainoil  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge  metal,  crust  and  hardcore  punk,  you should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Preface  To  Madness"  "Singularity  To  Extinction"  and  "Halcyon  Desolation".  8  out  of  10.  

Vanhelgd/Deimos Sanktuarium/Dark Descent Records/2018 CD Review

  Vanhelgd  are  a  band  form  Sweden  and  on  this  recording  goes  into  more  of  an  old  school  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Deimos  Sanktuarium"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  elements  of  doom  metal  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  music  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  early  90's  era  death  metal  growls  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  old  school  and  melodic  style.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  blast  beats  are  also  added  into  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  one  track  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  Gregorian  chants  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  and  clear  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  On  this  recording  Vanhelgd  expands  on  their  old  school  style  of  death  metal  by  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  of  Swedish  and  English  and  cover  occultism,  necromancy  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Vanhelgd  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  doom  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Plea  For  Divine  Necromancy"  "Profaned  Is  The  Blood  of  The  Covenant"  and  "The  Silent  Observer".  8  out  of  10.   

Owl/Nights in Distortion/Temple Of Torturous/2018 CD Review

  Germany's  Owl  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  into  a  mixture  of  ambient,  goth,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Nights  in  Distortion"  which  was  released  by  Temple  Of  Torturous.

  Clean  playing  along  with  some  ambient  style  synths  start  off  the  album  while  drum  beats  are  added  onto  the  recording  a  few  seconds  later  as  well  as  some  clear  vocals  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  slow  and  heavy  riffs  bring  in  elements  of  doom  metal  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  goth  metal  influences  as  well  as  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  and  at  times  a  touch  of  sludge  is  added  both  in  the  vocals  and  riffing,  when  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  they  give  the  songs  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  and  when  guitar  leads a r e utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style,  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  on  the  closing  track.

  On  this  recording  Owl  ads  more  goth  elements  into  their  mixture  of  ambient,  doom  and  death  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  doom,  death,  dreams,  depression  and  darkness  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Owl  and  if  you  are  a f an  of  goth,  doom,  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "We  Are  Made  For  Twilight"  and  "Madness  id  The  Glory  of  This  Life".  8  out  of  10.

The Atrocity Exhibit/Extinction Solution/Wooaaargh/2018 CD Review

  The  Atrocity  Exhibit  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  has  had  music  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  grindcore,  sludge  and  crust  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Extinction  Solution"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Wooaaargh.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  album  going  into  a  very  fast  grindcore  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams  along  with  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  mixing  in  elements  of  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length.

  A  small  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  music  also  mixes  in a  great  amount  of  crust  elements  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  back  up  shouts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them, as  the  album  progresses  spoken  word  samples  also  make  a  brief  return.   

  On  this  recording  The  Atrocity  Exhibit  remains  true  to  the  mixture  of  sludge,  crust  and  grindcore  from  their  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  society  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  The  Atrocity  Exhibit  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  sludge,  crust  and  grindcore,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hatred  Disease"  "Cage  Of  Cities"  "Go  Down  Screaming"  and  "Post-Human".  8  out  of  10.

Ruin/Human Annihilation/Memento Mori/2018 CD Review

  Ruin  are  a  band  from  California  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  with  elements  of  grindcore  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Human  Annihilation"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Memento  Mori.

  A  horror  movie  orientated  sound   starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  style  along  with  the  vocals  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  screams  and  death  metal  growls  as  well  the  slow  riffs  also  bringing  in  elements  of  doom  metal.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  blast  beats  and  grindcore  influences  can  also  be  heard  while  the  music  is  also  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  some  horror  movie  samples  and  keyboards  also  being  used  briefly  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Ruin  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  their  old  school  mixture  of  death,  doom  metal  and  grindcore,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  serial  killers,  murder, destruction  and  occult  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Ruin  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  death  metal,  doom  and  grindcore,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Secreted  Guts"  "Death  Meditation  Trance"  "Purification  Rite"  and  "Shadows".  8  out  of  10.      

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.