The Fifth Alliance Interview

 1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
As you might know, we’ve just released our first full length album ‘Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin’ through Demons Run Amok and we’re quite pleased with response we’re getting on the album since it came out. Furthermore we’re doing some nice shows in the next coming months and in between we’re always writing new songs. If all goes well, we might even release some new material by the end of the year. Or maybe later.

2.How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?
At first, we started out as a chaotic hardcore band influenced mainly by bands like Converge, Botch, Coalesce. Those kind of bands really got us into forming a band ourselves but we’ve all been into a huge variety of musical genres like doom, sludge, post-rock/metal as well, so after a while we started shifting to a broader sound combining those elements which resulted in Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin. We didn’t want to restrict ourselves to just playing one kind of genre or style of music or stick to one kind of sound because we started out like that. If you have listened to Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin, you will discover hints of most of the genres I just mentioned but you will still find similarities within the songs. Just listen to opening track ‘Hollow’ which is a 10+ minutes sludge/post-metal-ish song and compare it to a ending track ‘Standing Tall’ which is a doomy, fast fucker and still you will know it’s the same band.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Silvia, our vocalist writes most of the lyrics and they are mostly from the heart and written out of her personal perspective, but most of the things she writes can apply to all of us. Lyrics on ‘Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin’ deal with subjects like blind consumption and the lack of consideration in peoples choices and therefore not seeing the impact on earth, human- or animal welfare, and basically the overall self-destructive nature of man, also issues like isolation, loss and acts being justified in the name of religion.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
To be honest.. there’s no deeper meaning about our bands name, it’s just what it is, five individuals in a band forming some kind of “alliance” together and sharing the same passion and ideas about certain issues. We came up with this name 5 years ago and we decided to stick with it.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
It’s hard to pinpoint “our best shows” because we always try to perform at our best ability and make it as interesting for our audience as possible. I think our release show was one of the highlights for this year because of the great atmosphere and response we got. But we have some cool shows coming up soon, which could be potential highlights of this year. As for stage performance.. we’re quite energetic but since our music became slower due to the sludge and doom influences in our music, guitars are flying around as fast as they used to but there’s still enough energy when we’re out on stage.  

6. Do you have any touring plans or shows lined  up for the future?
There’re no concrete plans on touring right now, but we’re trying to get something on the road for this coming fall. And we’re always looking for new places to play and open for anything really. We were supposed to do some shows and a festival in Germany last weekend but unfortunately that whole trip got cancelled by some stupid mistakes. But we do have cool shows coming up with Downfall Of Gaia, In The Heart Of Emperors, Mouth Of The Architect and Atlantis. Looking forward to those.  

7.Currently you are signed to Demons Run Amok, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you describe the support they have given you so far?
Around the time, when we recorded Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin, we were looking for a label to release our album on. After a while we got in contact with the guys from DRA who were interested in releasing the album. We knew the label for their releases for some Dutch bands but also for bands like Hierophant and Trapped Under Ice and the guys at DRA still have the true DIY attitude, so they will do whatever they can to support their bands as good as possible.  
8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom metal, sludge  and  hardcore?
Overall feedback has been very positive, there has been lots of incredible reviews on the new album but there have been some really bad ones as well. But hey.. you can’t please everyone of course and it basically like you either hate it or love it. And that’s okay.. I don’t like every band around as well and it’s all a matter of taste, right.

9. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
Our other guitar player Ivo is currently also in another band called DORDT FOR LIFE, which is basically an old school punk/hardcore band. And Ruud, our bass player is a grind-hardcore/metal band called PIGTEETH. Check them out.

10.What  direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
I think our music will keep heading more into the doom/sludge/post-metal direction but there will always be some hardcore fiber in our music I guess. But yeah.. nothing is sure when you’re writing new songs and anything can happen really, so we might up doing country songs on our next album..

11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
For our last record it’s pretty hard to name bands but musically influences are mostly from sludge, hardcore and doom acts. Most band members grew up on hardcore and metal and for me, I got to say that bands like Converge, Neurosis, Cult Of Luna and Isis will definitely have left their mark on our sound. I listen to tons of bands like Panopticon, Cough, Amenra, Ash Borer Eagle Twin, Breach, Full Of Hell, The Smiths, Light Bearer, Masakari, Nails, Electric Wizard, Townes van Zandt, Altar of Plagues.. I could go on for days..  

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thanks for this interview and hopefully we’ll see you all somewhere along the road!


*note:  maybe you can put some line note underneath that you can listen our entire new album Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin on:  http://thefifthalliance.bandcamp.com/

Absent/Minded/Earthtone/2013 CD Review

  Absent/Minded  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom,  sludge  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  album  "Earthtone".

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  drumming  with  no  fast  playing  or  blast  beats  being  present on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  heavy  riffs  that  combine  doom,  sludge  and  post  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  some  melody  and  clean  playing  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  post  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  use  finger  picking  to  enhance  the  dark  atmosphere  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  doom/death  metal  growls  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  melodic  singing  being  utilized  for  a  few  seconds  on  one  song,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  dark  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  album  where  you  can  hear all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Absent/Minded  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  doom,  sludge,  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ghosttower"  "The  Lesser  Evil"  and  "Earthtone".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Snailking Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

We’re a three piece doom/sludge metal band from Sweden. Jonas lives in the woods outside of Kalmar, me and Frans both come from Jönköping, about 250km away from Jonas. We started the band a couple of years ago, Jonas has been with us for the last 12 months or so.
On the 17^th October last year ConSouling Sounds released our debut album/demo on CD and we’ve been playing some shows since then supporting that record. We’re currently working on our second album.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
Riff-heavy down-tuned doom/sludge metal with a touch of the occasional psychedelic vibes.

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

The lyrics are inspired by everything from personal hardships to general boredom. I want the listener to make their own assumption/interpretation of what they’re about, that’s the way I usually listen to music and I think it’s much more interesting that way.

4. I know that the band was named after and Ufomammut album, what was it that interested you about this album title to use as a band name?

Before we chose to use Snailking as a band name we called ourselves Muskox until we realized there was another band from Sweden named just that. I came up with Snailking and got it from the Ufomammut album, we joked about it but it never really left our minds. We hesitated for 2-2½ years before going with the name. I like Snailking, it’s a mysterious/weird name. When I hear it I think of some mythical beast that has crawled up from depths to take back what once was his. On a side note; the Ufomammut album is awesome though and you really should check it out if you haven’t.

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

We had an awesome show in Copenhagen this year, we played this place called Ungdomshuset that’s the same venue where they hold the Heavy Days in Doomtown festival each year. It’s run entirely by volunteers and it’s very well organized! We also played at the Droneburg III festival in Hamburg in April and that was really good, great crowd, great food, great organization. We have been trying out a new song on our European tour, besides that the live set consist of the three songs of Samsara. I’d describe the performance in general with one word; loudness.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

Not at the moment, we have some loose shows planned here and there which we really can’t reveal just yet. But we don’t have an extensive tour planned right now. It’s not that we’re don’t doing shows, we’re just not looking actively at the moment because we’re writing new material. However, if something was to pass us by we’re always up for a gig! When we feel that we’re close to be finishing the new album we will start planning for a larger European tour together with ConSouling Sounds, hopefully we can make sure to visit a larger part of the Europe this time around.

7. The last release came out on ConSouling Sounds, do you feel they did a lot to to get your name out there a lot better?

Absolutely! We couldn’t be happier with the co-operation we have with ConSouling Sounds. Without them I’m sure we wouldn’t have reached out to half the people we have, they’ve made sure that reviews have shown up in larger magazines around the world which we never would be able to reach otherwise. They’re a great couple of guys and I’m really happy they gave us the opportunity to work with them.

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

All in all positive I’d say, people generally seem to like it. There hasn’t really been that many criticism at all.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

We usually don’t go in with the ambition of creating anything, it kind of materializes as we go. Certain riffs stick and others you forget about after a while, eventually a song is born. The main difference this time around is that we’re writing all songs from scratch as a three-piece. I’d say the new stuff we do is kind of a continuation of Samsara but more refined. We have a new song which we’ve played live six times, and it’s been well received each time. I think the new material we have is heavier, angrier and more delicate than before at the same time.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?Besides the obvious ones; Black Sabbath, YOB, Sleep, Neurosis we all have broad tastes in music. Nowadays I’m enjoying some old Rwake albums, I’ve never really gotten into them before, but “I’ve seen the light” now with them I suppose. Jonas is working with a side project of his own called Droneologist, he has released an album online recently. (http://droneologist.bandcamp.com) The new Kongh and Ocean Chief records are also spinning in our vinyl players a lot.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Frans does bicycle a lot. He’s competing in Sweden’s largest endurance race for bikes. It’s called Vätterrundanand it’s a lap around lake Vättern, 300km. I’m an avid Video Game nerd, I’ve recently invested a whole lot of time in playing old Nintendo Entertainment System games, I’m also working on some new artwork for Snailking. Jonas is building his own motorcycle on his free time, he usually keep busy with music projects or studio recordings of other artists though.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Thanks for the interview, and thanks for all the people who have checked us out so far. We hope to see you guys on the road, and we can’t wait to show you what we’re cooking up for the next album!

https://www.facebook.com/SnailkingSWE

Graveyard Of Souls/Shadow Of Life/FDA Rekotz/2013 CD Review

  Graveyard  Of  Shadows  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  melodic  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Shadows  Of  Life"  which  was  released  by  FDA  Rekotz.

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  no  fast  drumming  or  blast  beats  being  present on  this  recording,  while  the  synths  bring  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  to  the  recording,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  doom/death  metal  riffs  that  utilize  a  good  amount  of  melody  as  well  as a   great  amount  of  early  90's  influences  in  the  riffing a s  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  doom  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  with  some  slides  being  used  at  times.

  Vocals  are  mostly  early  sounding  doom/death  metal  growls  and  screams  that  have  a  black  metal  feeling  to  them  at  times  along  with  some  clean  singing  being  utilized  on  the  last  song,  while  the  lyrics cover  dark  and  depressing  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  dark  and  old  school  sound  to  it  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Graveyard  Of  Shadows  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  doom/death  metal b and and  if you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shadows  Of  Life"  "Follow  Me"  "Solitude's  My  Paradise"  and  "There  Will  Come  Soft  Rains".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Undergang Interview

  1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We’re currently writing more new songs for our 3rd album. Wrote two new songs the summer of 2012 and have not written anything new till May 2013, so it feels good to play new songs again.
Other than that, we recently played a show in Copenhagen supporting US legends Repulsion, which was pretty cool. Sick performance from Repulsion, about all I could ask for.

We’ll play our next show in London on June 29th at something called Chimpyfest along with a ton of grind bands. Guess we’ll stand out a bit.
Guess that sums it up pretty good right now.


2. How would you describe the musical sound of the newer material and how it differs from previous efforts?

Without trying to force it, to me the newer songs sound like a blend of primitive heaviness of “Indhentet Af Døden” and the overall darkness of “Til Døden Os Skiller”. We don’t want to reproduce anything we’ve done before, but it feels like the next album will be a bit like a mixture of our previous outlets. Also, we’ll try to mix up the album a bit more and introduce shorter fast songs and longer dragging doom ridden ones thrown into the mix of what you’d already expect from Undergang. I’ve also lowered my voice a bit, so expect an overall more sickening and putrefactive continuation of what you already know from our side.


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

It’s going to sound all cliché, but it’s all about madness, blood obsession, decomposition, child murder, grave desecration, necrophilia, skin eating and everything you imagine as visual aspects if the music of Undergang was the sound track to a horror movie. The same as when we started out, only perhaps a bit more depraved for each written lyric sheet. Personally, I find the most fitting subject to Death Metal to be evolving around …DEATH! I just try to out gross my last lyric for each song we (de)compose. I love horror movies, so to me it’s the natural thing to fit to our music in the form of words hidden in low-end grunts and suffocating shrieks.


4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band’s name?

Undergang is a Danish word that means something in the lines of “Demise” or “Downfall”. I usually describe the meaning as “World Downfall” to outlanders who ask into the meaning of the word, as that’s pretty much the feeling we wish to present with our music. Doomy, brutal, world destroying Death Metal putrefaction.


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

I don’t really know about best shows…It’s hard for me to say if a show really went good, as we usually have an entire different feeling of how things sound and feels on stage compared to what it sounds and looks like out in front. Way too often we get bad sound because the sound engineer either doesn’t understand us and our music or the sound in the monitors on stage just suck. We usually leave the stage feeling like our performance sucked, but luckily it often seems like people attending liked it. Not so much in Denmark, as people don’t really give two shits about us, but when we play outside of Denmark we do get a better reaction from the attendees at the show.

The most memorable gig for me is probably the show we played in Brooklyn, NY, in 2012 with Autopsy, Funebrarum and Unearthly Trance. Autopsy has been my all-time favorite band since I was like 13, so it was a big deal for me to be invited to play with Undergang at that show.

Our stage performance goes something in the lines of us rocking out to the point of nearly passing out from exhaustion while trying to deliver the best possible versions of our songs. No bullshit Death Metal thrashing. I do like it at times when other bands put a lot of work into making a certain atmosphere for their shows, dressing up or whatever, but it’s not for Undergang. Just 3 dudes playing Death Metal extremity like there’s no tomorrow.


6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Both actually. We’re usually planning a lot of things all the time. As mentioned before, we’ll do our first UK performance in London on Saturday June 29th at Chimpyfest, followed by a show in Copenhagen with Coffins in August. Then in October 2013 we’ll do an 8 show long European tour with our friends in Anatomia. We’ll also have our shared ( long delayed) split 8” out in time  for the tour, thanks to the great Me Saco Un Ojo records.

We’ve already started talking about another US tour in July 2014. We’ll try hitting the East Coast this time and we’ve been talking with Funebrarum about sharing some of the tour with them again, as we did in Europe in 2012, and then end up with possibly recording our 3rd album in California when the tour is done. Might play a show or two around that while we’re there as well, if we can get a promoter interested.
So, there are always things brewing in the Undergang-pot.


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

In general I’ll say that the feedback from outside of Denmark has been the best and most supportive ones. But I also know that our music isn’t for everyone, nor is it intended to be. Some people find it too primitive, lacking repetitive choruses, sloppy, or whatever. For those who enjoy it, that’s great, but we’re not aiming to please anyone in any way. We play severely down-tuned and crude Death Metal brutality, so I guess you kind of have to love that for what it is to enjoy Undergang. Join the Neanderthal slaughter or go suck a chode…If you don’t like it, fine by us, but don’t waste your time on badmouthing what we do or feel the need to express it to us. We couldn’t care less about those opinions.


8. Are there any other musical projects going on these days?

A ton, I’m sure. But regarding members of Undergang, Our drummer plays bass in a local punk band called Dårligt Selskab with some of his friends. Our bassist don’t have any other music projects right now, but he used to do some different electronic music some time ago We all listen to a lot of other genres than just Death Metal, that just being the passion we share.
Personally, I have several other bands going on. I have a side project with Takashi Tanaka from Anatomia, called Wormridden, where we play extremely down-tuned Doom Death Metal inspired by the Grave “Anatomia Corporis Humani” demo and Funebre’s second demo. Our second demo will be out this year on tape through my label Extremely Rotten and 7” through Me Saco Un Ojo. It’ll be entitled “Festering Glorification”.
I also play guitar with Kill-Town Death Militia newcomers Mold. It’s heavy and dark Death Metal, in the ancient Scandinavian tradition. Heavily influenced by the early Finnish Death Metal bands.
Lastly I have a fuzzed out stoned doom Death Metal band called Reefer. Started out as me and a friend trying to play some Sabbath like heavy rock, but because of down-tuning and not being able to find a proper singer and instead just having me handling the vocals, it ended up with a more deadly result.
Sooo…I’m keeping well busy, hehe.


9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

I don’t see much changing; we basically already play what we wanted to from the beginning. But one never knows. Maybe we’ll do the Carcass move?


10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

The influential bands for the music of Undergang is generally mixed metal genres and bands that we’ve listened to growing up. Be it Thrash, Doom or Death Metal…A lot of things have found its way into our heads and given ideas in one way or another. That and horror movies and the music from there at times. I love Goblin, so one might find a riff or two that have been inspired by some of their music as well.
At the moment I listen to a lot of different bands and genres, I guess. Lately the most played bands at home are probably Meat Puppets and Demilich.








11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Music does take up a good portion of my time in general. I rehearse with my bands 3 or 4 days a week, run a small Death Metal tape label and distribution, do illustrations for various projects and participate in the organizing of the Kill-Town Death Fest. When I’m not dealing with those matters, I have a full time job so after all I usually just enjoy sitting back with a movie and a Bob Marley cigarette. Horror movies and comics might be something I could describe as an interest to me as well, but other than what is mentioned already I spend my time with my friends hanging out or going to shows (we have a LOT of shows around here at the moment) and spend time with my girlfriend as much as I can. I guess I’m not any deeper than this.



12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

I think we’ve covered just about everything I can think of, hehe. Thanks for the interest in Undergang, I always appreciate answering a good interview.

Total support to Underground Death Metal!

In decay,
D. Torturdød / Undergang
May 2013.

https://www.facebook.com/undergangktdm/

Schwarzer Engel Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that never
heard of you before?

Our band is called “SCHWARZER ENGEL” (which means Black Angel in
English) and we are a Dark Metal/Gothic Metal Band from Germany. We
already released two fulltime-albums via our former Label “Trisol Music
Group”in the past. Our debut is called “Apokalypse” and the second one
is entitled “Träume einer Nacht”. Now we joined forces with the mighy
Massacre Records for the release of our third Fulltime-Album called “In
Brennenden Himmeln”, which means “In Burning Skies” in english.


2.How would you describe your musical sound ?

I describe our music genre with “Modern Dark Metal”. Our sound is a mix
of Melodic Death- & Black Metal, Dark Metal, Gothic Metal and
Industrial. As influences I would like to mention bands like Rammstein,
Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth and Amon Amarth. For the new record I
would also like to add the “old” In Flames as influence, because there
are a lot of Lead Guitars in it.

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

Our music is a soundtrack for the End of the World. Lyrical topics are
the Apocalypse, War, the failure of mankind but also old myths and
natural impressions. Our debut-album “Apokalypse” explores the concept
of the apocalypse on earth, on the second one “Träume einer Nacht”
(Dreams of a night), splitted in thirteen chapters, each song told one
dark dream. Now on the new record “In Brennenden Himmeln” the ultimate
collapse of this world is taking place once more. This collapse also
takes place in the music, which is more brutal than before. The album is
going to be a weapon.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

I chose the band’s name “SCHWARZER ENGEL” after I had a dream. In this
dream, I saw a big angel with powerful black wings flying over an
abandoned battlefield. Maybe I just watched too many horror and war
movies in these times…I don`t know. But fact is, that on the next
morning I wrote the first track for the debut album of SCHWARZER ENGEL.
The angel represents the bringer of justice and revenge!


5. I have read that the project is solo in the studio and you use a live
line up for shows, have you considered hiring a band for the albums?

No, cause if you can play all instruments that you need, you don`t need
to hire a studioband for the albums. With each note I do exactly what I
want. So I don`t have to do any compromises... But besides I´m writing
all music and lyrics on my own, I like to work with guest-musicians for
some special tracks on the albums. So in the past, I did collaborations
with members from metal-acts like LEAVES EYES, LIV KRISTINE, ATROCITY or
SAMSAS TRAUM as well as gothic acts like DIARY OF DREAMS or IN STRICT
CONFIDENCE. On the new record “In Brennenden Himmeln” also some
exceptionally gifted musicians, like “El Friede” from the german
industrial band OOMPH! or opera singer “Johanna von Orleans” (E NOMINE)
appear as guest-musicians. Besides drummer Stefan Dittrich (Ex-Mystic
Prophecy) recorded the drum-tracks. You see, I really like to work with
very talented guest-musicians on the records, but I really don`t need a
complete band in the studio. I like it to be autonomous.


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

One of our best shows was the show at the Center Stage of the
Wave-Gotik-Treffen (The biggest Gothic-Festival in Germany) in 2012. It
was fantastic for all of us. The crowd and the atmosphere were great.
Besides we also played some great shows on our 2010-Tour with THE VISION
BLEAK and AHAB. For this year we will play shows at the Mera Luna and
the Rockharz Open Air Festival. I`m really looking forward to these shows!

7. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We will see…we have plans, but I´m not sure if they are realizable.

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

The feedback has been fantastic! And I’m really interested in hearing
what people outside of Germany think about our music, because it`s a
view just about the music and fades out the lyrics. That`s really
interesting for me. Besides it`s very interesting for me, to see that
music is able to built bridges besides the language differences.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

We will continue the way we chose from the beginning. SCHWARZER ENGEL
stands for bombastic Gothic-Metal from Germany!

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

As I mentioned before, Rammstein, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth and Amon
Amarth can be seen as influences. Nowadays I´m listening to german
country music. No, that was a joke - It`s all about metal.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I like mountain-biking, fishing and enjoying the nature. But music is
the main part of my life, definitely. I play music, I hear music, I live
music. Music is life!

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Horns up, metalheads! ;-)

https://www.facebook.com/schwarzerengelband

Toscrew/Choices were made/Five By Five Records/2013 CD Review

  Toscrew  are  a  band  from  Hungary  that  has  been  featured  before in  this  zine  continuing  the  hybrid of  doom  metal  and  hard  rock  from  the  last  recording  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Choices  were  made"  which  was  released  by  Five  By  Five  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  no  fast  drumming  or  blast  beats  being   present  on  this  recording,  while  the  keyboards  when  they  are  utilized  bring  a  very  dark  and  psychedelic  sound  to  the  recording,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  traditional  doom   metal  with  hard  rock  together t o  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  in  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  doom  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  range  from  clean  singing  doom  metal/rock  vocals  to  deep  growls  and  high  pitched  sludge  screams  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  parts,  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  drug  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  recording  from  Toscrew  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  doom  metal  and  hard  rock,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Humanoid"  "Bad  Trip"  "Slaughterhouse  Blues"  and  "Answer  Me".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.