Interview: Zloslut

We reviewed Zloslut in our latest Oration of Disorder reviews. Response was good, and so we wrote to the band and asked if they’d do an interview. Hunter of Zloslut was good enough to respond and create this interview.

What does “Zloslut” mean? Why did you choose this name?

Zloslut is a Serbian word that means “The one who feels evil coming”; the translation in English is “Ominous.” This word simply best describes our music, lyrics and state of mind.

When did Zloslut form? Did you face any opposition from the society
around you?

Zloslut made its debut during 2010 in Serbia as a one man band; last year we turned into a real band. No, we did not face any opposition with society, except humanity in general.

What makes the members of Zloslut choose to play black metal music? Wouldn’t you rather make post-metal and sell lots of albums?

We didn’t chose what we are going to play, and create… We just wanted to play music that best fits our ideas. And it is black metal.

Selling a lot of albums is not my purpose. If it would be, then yeah, I would play post metal, haha.

How many releases do you have so far? Can you tell us what is different about Zloslutni Horizont – Donosilac Prokletstva, Ocaja I Smrti?

From our inception through the present day we have made a solid discography, including a demo, split, EP, compilation, an album and several singles.

The different thing about Zloslutni Horizont – Donosilac Prokletstva, Ocaja I Smrti is that it is simple; it’s our zenith. We have advanced ideologically and also musically.

Is this latest album a concept album? If so, what’s it about?

Yes, it is a conceptual album… The strangest thing is that I don’t like conceptual stories… But it turned like that from itself.

The main pillar of the album is death and its philosophies, the second is misanthropy and its spiritual effect, and the last one is more like a question about nothingness.

Where can people in the US and the rest of Europe hear this album? Are there places in EU and US where they can buy Zloslut albums?

Since people today are more and more ignoring phisical releases, I decided to upload the whole album on YouTube, and several tracks on bandcamp and myspace. All of our releases are of course available physically, and can be purchased on our official website.

There are several labels and distros that hold some of our releases, but it’s been a while since i was in contact with them. Currently I am working with distros all over the globe, and in the months to come you can expect to see Zloslut releases in the lists. Until then you can order from me.

You sing in your native language. Why did you choose to do this?

I think that every band should sing on their native language.

But you know, it also depends on the ideology… Some texts are better fitting in English.

I personally didn’t choose that. I have some texts from my demo that are in English and also in French.

Some of my new tracks that will appear in the future are not all in Serbian.

How do you define black metal?

For me black metal is surely not to be close-minded as many of them today are, especially the new trend of Watain wannabe.

Personally, I am a very open minded person when it comes to music, books and so on…

We all know that religious people are close-minded, stopped from following their heart… Because of what? It’s not the question now.

We also all know that in the beginning of black metal, it was an opposition to all kind of religion, political direction etc…

So, to come to the point, black metal is not stopped from following the heart, black metal was always open minded, even when there is something that doesn’t fit its inner direction.

What is being open minded? Certainly not to like and support at once whatever you see, hear and feel… But its to consider what you don’t know or see the first time, analysed it, and then you know what is your personal definition on that subject.

I am not selling education about black metal, but only what I can say… Black metal has been dead for some time now… We might play it, but it’s only a massive tribute to that cult. Maybe one day it will be resurrected, but that I can’t tell you.

What is the process of songwriting in Zloslut? Do you start with an idea, or just play and see what happens? Or something in between?

I don’t have a special way of working. Sometimes I can take a guitar at a party, play it, and accidentally I come to an interesting riff, melody…
And when I make a song, I assemble them, piece by piece, just like puzzles… Until I come to something that may reflect to a song.

What’s next for you — will you tour, release more music, or change style?

2014 will surely be a year of concerts… We have been confirmed so far only in Serbia, but we are still persistent to cross the border and play some European dates. (Promoters get in touch!)

When it comes to releases, we have finished 95% of the second album. When this is going to be recorded/released, is still far away in my mind, maybe middle of 2015… We are also working on a split release where we will contribute with one completely new song. I can’t tell more for now, since we can never see our next obstacle.

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Codex Obscurum zine releases issue #4

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The recent revival in non-ultra-niche zines for underground metal continues with the success of Codex Obscurum, an old-school style zine that takes advantage of modern technology. Our previous coverage of Codex Obscurum chronicles its development from the early days to mastery of aesthetic and content.

When the underground was new, zines were the way to find information for metalheads in a world that refused to air, play, show or print information about such a tiny and unprofitable genre. With the rise of niche marketing, glossy zines have taken over much of the underground, driving most xeroxed print zines into ultra-niches where they cover topics specific to about 500 people each. Codex Obscurum resurrects the general-purpose underground metal print zine in about 50 xeroxed pages of interviews, reviews, features and reports.

Issue #4 of Codex Obscurum is now available for pre-order at the Codex Obscurum fulfillment site. The zine costs $3 + shipping and handling and will hit the mails at the end of this month. This issue features interviews with Blaspherian, Autopsy and Primordial, a selection which reveals the breadth of coverage that Codex Obscurum delivers.

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Satan “Life Sentence” tour 2014 kicks off in April

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Satan won 2013’s Best of the Year award from Death Metal Underground for its album Life Sentence which shows the best of NWOBHM merged into the powerful techniques of the speed metal the band inspired back in the day.

Now, for the first time, Satan is touring North America starting in April. You can catch this classic metal band (which shares personnel with Blitzkrieg) at several locations already announced for the east coast, with more to come.

If you enjoy metal anywhere from the late 1970s through late 1980s models of technical, inventive riffcraft bearing and emotionally complex metal, Satan Life Sentence provides an older and wiser take on that era with just as much invention and perhaps more intensity.

  • 4/11 – Black Bear Bar, Brooklyn NY
  • 4/12 – Katacombes, Montreal QC
  • 4/13 – Ralph’s Rock Diner, Worcester MA
  • 4/14 – Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia PA
  • 4/15 – Strange Matter, Richmond VA
  • 4/16 – The Metro Gallery, Baltimore MD
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Thevetat enters studio to record EP

thevetat-logo

Necrotic NYDM band Thevetat will enter the studio on February 19, 2014 to record three songs for an upcoming EP on Dark Descent Records.

“While the style is akin to the early material, a progression can be heard,” said main composer and band anchor Thomas Pioli. The lineup is Thomas Pioli (vocals, guitars, bass), and John Mischling (drums).

Thevetat rocked the underground and old school metal world with Disease to Divide, a short but potent EP of raging fermentive occult death metal with doom undertones.

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Triptykon announce Melana Chasmata release on April 14

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Ex-Celtic Frost guitarist and compose Tom G. Warrior releases the second album of his Triptykon project, Melana Chasmata (“dark valleys”) on April 14 in Europe and April 15 in the USA through Century Media Records/Prowling Death Records Ltd.

This follows up on the first Triptykon album, Eparistera Daimones, which introduced the modern speed metal (think Pantera or a more artistic and slower Meshuggah) style mixed with Gothic and doom metal elements that so far has characterized the band.

The album will clock in at 67 minutes of music and will feature an HR Giger cover. Century Media has planned several special releases including a box set and a single on vinyl to commemorate the album. The band has recorded additional music to be released as an EP or mini album later in 2014 or early in 2015.

Tracklist:

  1. Tree Of Suffocating Souls
  2. Boleskine House
  3. Altar Of Deceit
  4. Breathing
  5. Aurorae
  6. Demon Pact
  7. In The Sleep Of Death
  8. Black Snow
  9. Waiting

Lineup:

  • V. Santura (guitar, vocals)
  • Norman Lonhard (drums, percussion)
  • Vanja Slajh (bass, vocals)
  • Tom Gabriel Warrior (voice, guitars).

Triptykon Live:

  • 21.02.2014 Bergen (Norway) – Blastfest / www.blastfest.no
  • 13.04.2014 Tilburg (The Netherlands) – 013 / Roadburn – Afterburner / www.roadburn.com
  • 20.04.2014 Munich (Germany) – Backstage / Dark Easter Metal Meeting
  • 22.05.2014 Baltimore (USA) – Maryland Deathfest / www.marylanddeathfest.com
  • 06.-08.06.2014 Gelsenkirchen (Germany) – Rock Hard Festival / www.rockhardfestival.de
  • 27.-29.06.2014 Dessel (Belgium) – Graspop Metal Meeting / www.graspop.be
  • 30.08.2014 Wörrstadt (Germany) – Neuborn Open Air Festival / www.noaf.de
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Poland names roundabout after Jeff Hanneman

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Last May, the metal community and the world lost someone who was arguably the most inventive innovator in modern music, a person who invented the tremolo-strum style death metal riff and song structure and many of the conventions of all metal genres to follow, influencing many within and outside the metal community.

Jeff Hanneman was more than a musical whirlwind but also a human being who left behind many who miss him, including bandmates, a wife, an extended family, and many of us who have benefited from his wisdom and spirit over the years. As often happens when someone truly great dies, the world at large did its best to ignore him.

Enter Poland. This lonely country, itself having suffered enough death and horror over the past century to launch 10,000 first person shooters, decided to offer up a roundabout such that its name would be chosen by the person who won an auction. Someone threw down the cash and named it after Jeff Hanneman.

The official sign says:

Jeff Hanneman’s Circle Pit
unforgettable Slayer guitarist

During the XXII Final of The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, the President of Jaworzno put up for auction the traffic circle in the city centre, which was later autioned by ART-COM Ltd. The company could give the name to the traffic circle and became its ‘symbolic’ owner for the period of one year. The money gathered during the XXII Final of The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity was allocated for the purchase of specialized equipment for children’s emergency medicine and deserving health care of seniors.

Time for a pilgrimage, especially if Vader still play tunes from their first album. More information and pictures can be found here (in Polish).

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Brutal Truth announces final European dates

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Many of us are still in mourning from the recent announcement by NY grindmasters Brutal Truth that the band would be disbanding shortly. However, Brutal Truth is going on one last world-destroying tour and they’re releasing European dates for that tour now.

In addition to announcing their final tour dates, Brutal Truth has also unveiled the brand new video for the track “The Stroy.” Taken from their split with powerviolence band Bastard Noise, “The Stroy” shows Brutal Truth at its most vicious.

Famous for spearheading second-wave grindcore in the early 1990s, Brutal Truth imposed death metal technicality on grindcore without adulterating the raw punk nature of the genre. Culminating in their innovative and bizarre Need to Control in 1994, the band’s journey into grindcore showed that the genre was far from dead and did not need to be adjusted for the death metal audience.

Confirmed BRUTAL TRUTH European shows:

  • 5/02/2014 Temples Festival – Bristol, UK – Last ever UK show
  • 5/03/2014 Neurotic Deathfest – Tilburg, NL – Last ever Netherlands show
  • 5/21/2014 Hellfest – Clisson, France – Last ever France show
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Resurrection slates March as release date for Soul Descent – March of Death on Old Metal Records

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Second-wave Tampa, FL blasting death metal outfit Resurrection plans to release its newest work, Soul Descent – March of Death on Old Metal Records this coming March.

The deal will see the release of the band’s first full-length since 2008’s Mistaken for Dead. Due out in March, Soul Descent – March of Death will be released in conjunction with the “March of Death” European Tour, which kicks off on March 14 in Germany and will take Resurrection through Germany, Belgium, Holland, Czech Republic and Poland.

Many will remember Resurrection for their 1990s coda to the Tampa, FL death metal scene, Embalmed Existence, which combined the gritty sound of Florida death metal with percussive speed metal riffing and melodic songwriting. Since that time, many have eagerly awaited the return of Resurrection and look forward to this new release toward that end.

resurrection-soul_descent-march_of_deathRESURRECTION – March of Death European Tour 2014 dates:

  • 3/14 – Hamburg, Germany @ Bambi Galore
  • 3/15 – Weissenfels, Germany @ Schlosskeller
  • 3/16 – Chemnitz, Germany @ La Casa
  • 3/17 – Katowice, Poland @ Korba
  • 3/18 – Poznan, Poland @ U Bazyla
  • 3/19 – Most, Czech Republic @ TBA
  • 3/20 – Berlin, Germany @ TBA
  • 3/21 – Deinze, Belgium @ TBA
  • 3/22 – Amsterdam, Holland @ TBA
  • 3/23 – Aalen, Germany @ TBA
  • 3/24 – Munich, Germany @ TBA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOA3YDFrvFs

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Lucifers Hammer signs to Destro Records for The Mists of Time MMXIV

lucifers_hammer-the_mists_of_time_mmxiv

Here’s the official word from Destro Records:

US black death metallers Lucifers Hammer have landed a deal with Destro Records to reissue their long out-of-print albums. The first release will be “The Mists of Time MMXIV” album. It will consist of the original 1997 album, “The Mists of Time” untouched and unspoiled, and also include demo bonus tracks. Naturally there will be new artwork, lyrics, commentary and more.

Lucifers Hammer formed in 1986 and their career ended roughly in the early 2000s after releasing a second album. The band are excited to be part of Destro Records, and believe in quality over quantity. “The Mists of Time MMXIV” is slated for a March/April release date.

At the moment the focus for the label is this release and news regarding other material by the band will come shortly.

There will be a bandcamp site launch for Destro Records very soon, physical and digital copies, and other special deal announcements soon.

http://www.facebook.com/officialdestrorecords/

Destro Records is a NY-based label with a long history of producing quality releases, including through the association of its management with their own musical projects such as Ceremonium and Thevetat.

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Imprecation tshirts and merchandise

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Crushing old school death metal band Imprecation have unleashed new merchandise upon the world, but it takes a bit of old school engineering to get your hands on it. The new merch is specifically a tshirt designed by notorious underground artist Mark Riddick, a tshirt featuring the cover of last year’s Satanae Tenebris Infinita, and a logo patch for your killcoat or backpack.

imprecation-shirt-satanae_tenebris_infinita

According to the band, these may be acquired by sending PayPal funds to guitarist Milton Luna at meltinmoon@gmail.com. You will need to write first for prices and totals.

imprecation_patch

The band adds: “On that note, thanks for supporting Imprecation.”

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