Search Results metal

Black Altar – Suicidal Salvation

by Jon Wild on October 11, 2013

If you’re tired of having fruity alt-rock interrupting your metal experience, you’re not alone. Polish black metal band Black Altar is set to release their EP Suicidal Salvation via Darker than Black Records; and thankfully, the release avoids many of the flaws of contemporary bands.

Playing black metal in a modern style, Black Altar builds songs based around winding guitar riffs and arpeggios. Vocals are of the shouted lower-pitched variety: strong, though rather derivative of the melodies established by the guitars. Drums are present in a minimal role which matches the needs of the guitar-voiced music. What deserves special mention is the layering present within riffs: the band is able to construct overlapping riffs that simultaneously merge and deviate.

This provides a more complex listening experience than there would be otherwise, amplified by synthesized instruments, somewhat reminiscent of Burzum or Beherit. Production (for this genre) is clear, allowing each element room to be heard. This allows each to have more individual impact but decreases atmosphere for the whole.

The release is not covering any new ground; what it does has been done before. There may not be any moments of discovery, crying “Eureka!” as original black metal inspires. However, what the band has in its favor is that it does its style well and provides an intriguing listening experience amid a field of bands increasingly bland and indistinguishable. Thus, it lends itself well to being a soundtrack to an afternoon at work — or desecrating a burning church.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-ksvDEWfjs

No Comments

Tags: black altar, Black Metal

Osmose productions re-issuing Graveland In the Glare of Burning Churches

by Cory Van der Pol on October 11, 2013

As part of the continuing acceptance of the radicalism of black metal, Osmose Productions will re-issue Graveland’s first two works on LP. The releases feature new artwork, remastering and bonus tracks plus extended booklets.

In the Glare of Burning Churches will have four bonus tracks and remastering, in addition to new graphic design and a 20-page booklet featuring tributes from Nergal (Behemoth) and other black metal musicians. Also included will be previously unreleased photos.

The Celtic Winter (now titled Celtic Winter) will use a different mix that has not previously seen the light of day, including alternative bonus tracks. The booklet gets the same makeover, with tributes by black metal musicians, unreleased photos and new graphic design.

While in the 1990s it would have been inconceivable for such public leaders of the scene to reach into the radical underbelly of black metal, over the past twenty years black metal has acknowledged its radical origins — war against modern civilization and the morality of equality — and thus radicalization has been more accepted.

For black metal fans, the re-release of In the Glare of Burning Churches and Celtic Winter is a victory, since these essential works of third-wave black metal remain unknown to many new fans who instead must content themselves with third-wave imitations of these seminal works.

For more information, look to the Osmose page announcing the releases.

No Comments

Tags: behemoth, Black Metal, graveland, osmose productions

Interview with Paul Ryan of Origin

by Brett Stevens on October 10, 2013

origin-ultravioletsocialclub Originating from Kansas in 1998, Origin contrive unprecedented mastery of musicianship and merge cosmic and horror concepts to differentiate themselves from the slew of other technical death metal bands.

Their debut album Origin established a well-rounded sound that would cater to casual death metal listeners, as well as those who approach the genre looking for the most technically proficient of brutal wizardry. Since then, Origin have released four more albums and are in the process writing the next one.

We are fortunate to have virtuosic guitarist Paul Ryan reveal the happenings of Origin. Point your browser here for the full interview with Origin’s Paul Ryan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Qzg53DoIk

1 Comment

Tags: Origin, Technical Death Metal, tek-deth

Interview: Origin

by Mike Arsenyev on October 10, 2013

We are fortunate to have virtuosic guitarist Paul Ryan reveal the happenings of Origin.

You’re currently writing material for your next album. What do you hope to accomplish with your next release? Will there be new elements that Origin hasn’t expressed yet?

A continuation in the development in the sound of the band. I guess that the thing for me is that I am a old metalhead who enjoys a lot of different styles of metal which in the early days of the band I only presented a more straight-forward stylistic approach… I am using a couple of ideas from the past in technique and in dynamics to not present the same album again… I hope to keep both old and new listeners entertained by something fresh on every Origin album… During our live shows while playing I kept asking myself what can we bring to our live set that we don’t have yet… I feel that is what influenced my writing the most!

You’ve been ranked as one of the best guitarists in metal by several publications. Do you have any advice for guitar players that hope to advance their technical abilities?

Well I must say it comes with practice, practice, practice. There wasn’t Youtube or professional lessons online when I was growing up & now there are so many resources out there today to assist a young emerging guitarist to get very good, very fast. Something that I’ve noticed in today’s generation is that it isn’t always about composition on a computer, but being in the garage with other musicians brainstorming ideas & grinding it out (some of the funnest moments as a musician I’ve ever had). I spent many days of my life going to shows/practices just learning about how other bands worked as well.

A lot of Origin’s lyrics and titles encompass how small and minuscule our existence is. Is there a philosophical standpoint behind the band or is this something that’s derived from general contemplation?

Prior to Origin I played Death metal with typical Death Metal lyrics. Once I realized that I wasn’t going to kill anyone (unfortunately a few friends of mine did), I wanted to find something to write about that wasn’t so singularly based. Sci-fi & Horror always entertained me & Music took me away from the hell that I heard in my head. It was a positive release of negative energy. I was just looking for something that was endless that could be written about… The unknown.

So, Origin’s listeners can assume that you desire to reach a more broad scope to what the band wants to convey? Not just about blasphemy, blood and guts, but about a more meaningful or challenging way to look at life as a whole? Something that each individual ponders about, but may have a different take on?

When i’m listening to music & reading the lyrics I want to go on a Cerebral Journey. I hope that in some way my music can take someone out of the moment of their own personal life & just sit back & listen to music. I dunno if there is personal enlightenment in our message other than I hope we are conveying some new topics to think about.

What bands have inspired you over the years? Which are your favorites? Can you pinpoint any musicians that have had a profound influence on you?

Well in the very beginning of my playing it was Slayer, Celtic Frost, Cryptic Slaughter, & Yngwie Malmsteen. These bands influenced my early playing style & eventually crafted what I am today. Death, Napalm Death, Suffocation, Early Carcass, Early Deicide, and Bolt Thrower had a lot to do with it as well.

What are your hobbies outside of music?

Music is my life. I work in a music store. Other than playing music I enjoy exercise & spending time with my girl, going to shows & MORE GUITAR!

Origin has extensively toured over the years and has succeeded in reaching a very broad metalhead fanbase. Which shows have been the most memorable?

Oh man there are too many to name… You always remember your first & last I guess… Every show has HAD ITS MOMENTS OF INSANITY!!! Always playing a new venue, city, or country is a pleasure. My mentality has been this..

Every show. Every Fan. Every City. Every State. Every Country. Every Time…
I try to give it my all every time. I want people to enjoy a show they paid for no matter the turnout whether its a 100 or a 1000.

You’ve enlisted Lonegoat from Goatcraft to aid with some synthesizer work for the next album. How did this come to be?

Basically as a musician on the road you get guys handed cds by many other musicians… I try to listen to everything that I get…. Once you get something good you don’t forget it. One night of driving all night to the next gig I popped in a cd that took me on a journey!!! I listened to the album all night on repeat!!! Basically I just contacted him directly & said I really enjoy your work & I have a piece of music that fits what you do perfectly!!! Hopefully we can put something else together as well!!!

Many guitarists treasure their gear and guitars. What’s your current setup like? What will you use on the next album?

I use a Jackson Warrior w Emgs
Mesa Boogie Stereo 100 power amp
RecPre Dbx166xl compressor-limiter-noise-gate
a bbe Sonic Maximizer 882e
Mesa Boogie cabs
Monster Cables

Do you think your sound is evolving? If so, from what and to what?

Yeah to the outside world. I am very private & most of my music isn’t ever heard by Origin fans…I have literally hundreds of riffs that didn’t make it to a Origin album that I enjoy playing; it’s just that the Death Metal scene is very singular in what they want to hear on a album. I think I have learned a lot about the guitar since the beginning of this band & feel that most fans only enjoy what they hear first from a band… To say that my earlier work is stronger than my latter is comical as a musician.

What genre is Origin’s music? What are the primary influences on that genre as a whole?

DeathShred!!!

I hear a lot Origin’s influence in the Death/Grind/Core scene today… I am very humbled by that.

A lot of your earlier music had themes to it. Are you going to continue along that direction, or relax a little and get more down-to-earth?

Well we are still in the writing process for the next album, so I can’t give you a correct answer to that. We are very excited to see & hear what this lineup can bring with Jason Keyser contributing to this album vocally & lyricaly… It will be Origin, but even in just the new demoing of the material Jason has a different approach which I feel will add another dimension to the music!!

Entering the studio for the next album in January so expect a spring/summer release on Nuclear Blast Records in 2014

Also in the mix is re-releasing A Coming Into Existence with Bonus material of the bands I was in before Origin & the DVD is slowly becoming a reality!!!

Thanks for the interview!!!

Visit Origin’s facebook page here.

2 Comments

Tags: death metal, Origin, Paul Ryan, Technical Death Metal, tek-deth

Apocryfal – Aberration of Mind

by Cory Van der Pol on October 9, 2013

This new band synthesizes faster death metal with the mid-tempo pacing of classic Swedish death metal. That method gives their songs a grind effect which, combined with the rhythm and melodic hooks to their chorus riffs, create the power of heavy metal balladry within simple death metal.

Aberration of Mind is a solid EP which gives a glimpse of where this band is headed. Apocryfal generally make a good synthesis of this although at times when they are unsure of how to proceed they fall back on bouncy heavy metal downstrum riffs, which at this point sound not only dated but incongruous. However the majority of their riffs would fit on a later Vader or Fleshcrawl album.

Strong vocals understate their own case but let the guitars carry the day, and percussion shadows guitars as well. Moderate technicality avoids both showing off and shortcuts. If they develop this another level and stay old school it could allow them to create an interesting album in the future.

Stream Aberration of Mind here

No Comments

Tags: apocryfal, death metal

Celtic Frost cover band Morbid Tales live in San Antonio, October 11

by Brett Stevens on October 9, 2013

From the cluster of San Antonio bands who have provided a steady stream of necrotic underground metal since the mid-1980s comes a new project, a Celtic Frost cover band named Morbid Tales, which plays live on Friday, October 11 in San Antonio.

Composed of Bjorn Haga (Necrovore, LaSanche, Hod, Thornspawn) on guitars, Art Espinoza (Deguello) and Rob Garcia on drums, Morbid Tales revives the roaring glory days of Celtic Frost as it re-invented metal to be a more primal and psychic assault.

For more information on Morbid Tales, visit their Facebook page or contact Art Espinoza via email at Deguellosatx@gmail.com.

Morbid Tales, Las Cruces and Reign of Tyrants
October 11, 2013
Nightrocker Live
605 San Pedro Avenue, San Antonio, TX 78212
210-265-3573
$5 adults, $7 minors (18+)

No Comments

Tags: art espinoza, Bjorn Haga, celtic frost, hod, LaSanche, morbid tales, Necrovore, rob garcia, thornspawn

Interview with Brad Moore, designer of Morpheus Descends cover

by Brett Stevens on October 9, 2013

Most of us who emerged into the classic death metal milieu are familiar with Morpheus Descends‘s classic album Ritual of Infinity and its striking cover art that remains controversial to this day. The illustrator who created that polarizing work has launched an online presence and is designing metal art of similar caliber.

Morpheus Descends rose after the early years of American death metal but before the solidification of the style, and created a grandfather template for both New York death metal and heavy percussive death metal in general. Their most notable influences were on bands like Suffocation and Incantation, who took the blueprint that Morpheus Descends created and pushed it to new heights of complexity and technicality.

Brad Moore, who designed the iconic cover, was able to give us a few moments of his time to describe his art, life and time with Morpheus Descends. For those curious about the band, our interview with Morpheus Descends is a good place to start, or peruse our brief explanation of the band and its context.

Read the full interview here.

No Comments

Interview: Brad Moore, who designed legendary Morpheus Descends cover

by Brett Stevens on October 9, 2013

How did you get started in art?

Like many who decide to become full-time artists, I began in grade school as the guy who could draw really well. I specialized in dinosaurs, hot rods and sci-fi. My classmates always got me to draw for them. It was my Junior High art teacher who first made me aware, that since I spent all day drawing anyway, why not make it my career and be paid for it? My brain did a back flip, as I did not know such a thing was possible, having been brought up in a very small country town. I credit my High School art teacher, Barbara Allen, who is now a top portrait painter, and two professors in college, Herbert Fink, and Ed Rollman Shay. They REALLY showed me the path! Eternal gratitude flows forth.

How did you get started in metal? Were you a metalhead? Did you “study” any heavy metal art?

Although my career began as a horror style comic book artist (I worked for comics publishers like Fathom Press, Boneyard Press, Graphomania, London Night Studios, etc) I was always a metalhead! When bands would tour, they often bought and read comics on the road. It wasn’t long at all before I got mail, asking me to draw or paint t-shirt designs, logos, cassette, and CD covers. Soon after, ‘zines came, asking for gory covers, inside illustrations, and dark comic strips. I was doing 3-5 fliers a week back then for metal shows. I didn’t really study any “metal” artists, as I have broad tastes, and enjoy a ton of different stuff. I’ve been to Richard Corben’s house, and viewed the original painting he did for Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell. I did an art exhibit with H.R. Giger in Switzerland and saw his sketches for what became covers for Celtic Frost and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. But I’ve always had my own approach; no one has ever said that my art resembles the work of anybody else.

What other influences exist on your art, like other artists, morbid dreams, etc?

Dreams, DEFINITELY!!! I’m also very into the films of European directors, and the famed Polish Poster movement. I’m an ardent Surrealist.

How did you end up doing the Morpheus Descends cover? Are you a Morpheus Descends fan?

I was, and still am, a major Morpheus Descends fan! When I first got and heard their cassette “Corpse Under Glass,” I was hooked, feeling that they were the heaviest I had ever heard at that time. The band, as luck would bequeath, turned out to be horror comics readers who knew of my work. Ken, their bassist, wrote me, and we discussed the possibilities for the art that became the cover of Ritual of Infinity. In the original sketch, the “wizard” character had his hands raised, and an infinity symbol carved into his bleeding chest. I think his eyes might have been bleeding, as well, and in one hand, he held a bloody, ancient scroll. After another phone discussion, the “Carven-Diety” had its hand positions changed, and the “wizard” was now in the pose we all have grown used to: that of sawing the head off an androgynous cadaver. An ad for Ritual of Infinity featuring the debut of the cover art in b/w was published as the back cover of gore/horror comic book Cadaver, issue # 1, by Fathom Press, in ’92’-93. Funny thing: the record company’s name (J.L. America) is misspelled.

The Morpheus Descends Ritual of Infinity cover art uses some rather unorthodox (for metal) color combinations. What inspired your choices here?

Yes, the issue of the cover has stirred as much hate, as it has admiration, and I think that’s the best thing you can hope for. The colors I chose WERE very strikingly different for what was happening with other illustrators at that time. (Or, for any time, really.) The painting was a combination of oil paint and Rotring dyes, and it strode counter to the monochromatic approach that most others were doing. When I look even now at a box full of CDs at a merch table, I am struck by how many generic looking, grey and black compositions I see. Most are great looking on their own, but a table full of them are monotonous, and do disservice to the music and bands. I knew Morpheus Descends weren’t going to be on MTV, any time soon, so their CD cover, love it or loathe it, had to nail you across the room.

You’ve just gone online. Are you offering other services to metal musicians? What other directions do you hope to take your art in?

I just finished designing the T-shirts and poster for the Stoner Hands of Doom fest, as well as the T-shirt for Argus’ upcoming European tour (I did all three of their album covers); I’m working on two new CD covers, for two new bands, The Swill, and Foghound; I will have art featured in the winter issue of Churn magazine (Issue # 11); I am designing and building the special effects props for an upcoming film named “Platypossum”; and I am masterminding a civic project that I have dubbed “Mobile Murals.” Watch for the cover I did for Ed (ex-Monster Magnet) Mundell’s next solo LP; it’s one of the greatest I’ve ever done. Check out my page at bradmooreartwizard.com, or hit me up on Facebook @ Brad Moore’s Illustration Station.

1 Comment

Tags: cover art, death metal, death metal cover art, metal art, morpheus descends

Massacra demos re-issued on CD/LP as Day of the Massacra

by Brett Stevens on October 9, 2013

In the early days of death metal, a band from France vitalized the style by taking Slayer’s phrase-riff technique to a new extreme, laying the groundwork for a type of death metal later developed by a diverse cast including Incantation and Vader.

Massacra, the band that launched that stylistic vein, put out two legendary albums — Final Holocaust and Enjoy the Violence — before unfortunately suffering the loss of two of its most vital composers and becoming a different band entirely. However, a series of three demos were never pressed to wax or polycarbonate.

Twenty-five years later Century Media prepares to re-issue three classic demos on one CD. “Nearer From Death,” “Final Holocaust” and “Legion of Torture” demos from 1987-1989 will see realization on Day of the Massacra, a compilation that is now in pre-order in Europe.

Composed of these early works, and assembled with the help of guitarist Jean-Marc Tristani, the compilation was remastered at DMS by Ulf Horbelt (Morbid, Asphyx, Grave, Necropsy) and comes with a 24-page booklet of rare photos, an interview with Tristani, and other historical information.

Further, Century Media has stated its intent to release the first five Massacra albums, including Final Holocaust and Enjoy the Violence.

According to Century Media’s Nikki Law, however, Day of the Massacra will not be released in the USA, but some imports will make their way to these shores for those diehards who want to celebrate this pillar of early death metal.

Tracklist:

“Nearer From Death” demo 1989
1. Apocalyptic Warriors (Chapter Final) (06:04)
2. Sentenced For Life (05:15)
3. Nearer From Death (07:48)

“Final Holocaust” demo 1988
4. Intro (00:43)
5. Apocalyptic Warriors (03:36)
6. Final Holocaust (04:40)
7. Dream Of Violence (03:18)
8. Troop Of Death (04:24)
9. Outro (00:36)

“Legion Of Torture” demo 1987
10. Intro: March Off / Apocalyptic Warriors (05:59)
11. Toxic War (05:45)
12. Legion Of Torture (03:06)
13. The Day Of Massacra (04:15)

To order:

4 Comments

Tags: death metal, massacra

Interview: Heresiarch

by Brett Stevens on October 7, 2013

An eruption has occurred within death metal over the past years where bands have been attracted to the linear phrasal riffing of old Incantation, Demoncy and Havohej and have hybridized it with the ripping war metal of Angelcorpse, Conqueror and Perdition Temple, producing a sound like the roar of battle from within a cavern.

Leading this charge is New Zealand’s Heresiarch, whose Hammer of Intransigence introduced a stunned world to this new assault two years ago. Currently, the band prepares to release its Waelwulf EP and embark on a new series of combative adventures to further saturate the world in its violence.

With this in mind, we pitched NH of Heresiarch a few questions about the band, its direction, and the volatile ferment of motivic forces that provide a warlike impetus that is able to avoid destroying itself. For his answers, which demonstrate the raw visceral approach of both this style and its existential attitude, read the full interview here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqhuiuNR98

No Comments

Tags: death metal, heresiarch, War Metal

Classic reviews:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z