Botswana has metal music to show you: Skinflint

Skinflint (Botswana) The listener can hear the bass guitar lines and what is going with the bass throughout the song; you can hear the different riffs and rhythms of the guitar, so that you can follow the guitar sound in one song and trace the paths if follows; the drums sound like a real human being rocking out.

Skinflint highlights traditional, heavy metal, mid-tempo melodies, like they are found on classic heavy metal in which rocking guitars work with melodic parts. Indeed, it is not a coincidence that their album “ILKWA” has a distinct flavor of classic heavy metal in the guitar/melodic and bass guitar lines.

The vocals for Skinflint are not high heavy metal vocals, but they are not growling, either. One way to describe it is heavy metal grit. The vocals sound raspy or street, not smooth.

Finally, it’s difficult to compare Skinflint to anything happening in metal currently because the musical values are anti-trend by a band that has found its way and knows what it wants.

Check out Skinflint, but expect something different, something more traditional heavy metal, something with a more honest sound. www.myspace.com/skinflint123 www.skinflint.ironwarlock.com skinflint@ironwarlock.com @SkinflintBand (twitter) --

Hello, I have been listening to your album “IKLWA” and your EP “Gauna.” How have metal listeners reacted in Botswana and southern Africa in general?

Metal fans in Botswana appreciate what we are trying to do, and the feedback has been mostly positive from listeners in Botswana. However, since the release of IKLWA, we have been getting more response from abroad then we get from Southern Africa and Botswana.

Your city of residence is Gaborone. What can you tell us about Skinflint rocking in the city of Gaborone?

Playing gigs in Gaborone, is always trial and error. No matter how popular your band is, sometimes the shows go terrible. This is mainly attributed to the complete lack of Rock/Metal venues and promoters in the country. It is very challenging to set up shows here, as there is no support from the community and media!

It seems that in the recent period, maybe in the last 10 years, metal in Botswana has been gaining popularity and more bands are forming and recording the music and people around the world are taking notice. Can you tell us a bit about this? You have five releases?!

Rock/Metal music has been around in Africa since the 80s, but the media never covered this and therefore most people never knew about the scene. But luckily for the internet, we now have the opportunity to expose our music to people from abroad who never thought we existed. This is why, the scene is getting recognition in the last 10 years or so! There has been some confusion on our releases, as our first two release were never official. They were promo demos compiled together to try get gigs in Southern Africa. Our official releases are: Massive Destruction, IKLWA (International Debut) and Gauna EP. We were fortunate to be part of Metal Records, who helped us record all three releases.

How long have all of three of you known each other?

Kebonye (Bass) and Mothusi (Drums) went to school together in Palapye, and have known each other since childhood, while Giuseppe (Guitar/Vocals) came from Lobatse, the South of Botswana and met with them in 2007 at a Rock gig in Lobatse.

During the guitar solos in a song like “The Fallen” from the album “Iklwa” it sounds like there is not a second guitar playing. Is this true? So, in concert, your band can definitely sound like this?

When we record, we want the sound to be raw and live in your face. We do not use any samples, pro tools, or studio tricks. IKLWA and GAUNA are as close as possible to the original source sound, so that it gives the listener a feeling of being in the studio with us. Natural and honest, with straight forward traditional recording, like the 70s.

“Profit Making Funeral” is another song with a good vibe, not too complicated; heavy but with feeling. What is the story of this song? It is like 9 minutes long, is it by accident?

Profit Making Funeral, can be looked at from many point of views. There is no direct meaning to the song, it is like an abstract of cruelty, life and death. It is what you make of it! We decided to leave the song open ended, as it encourages the listener to find their own meaning to the song... As we believe that at the end of the day, we all have our own personal demons to face.

By the way, who narrates the “Intro” in the EP “Gauna”? Do you study African history to write lyrics for your songs?

The lyrics are written by Giuseppe, and he takes a great interest in Ancestral beliefs, Tribal Warfare and Botswana Folklore. Of course, some of the events of IKLWA are real historic events, but Gauna on the other hand is more Ancestral. As Gauna is believed to be the ruler of the spirits of the dead to the bushmen of Southern Africa.

The song “Gauna” is uptempo, heavy song that contrasts well with the more midtempo, melodic “Mantis Skull.” I like how the listener can hear the instruments clearly in these songs! Do you have a method?

Honestly, we do not have any rules we follow when making songs. We believe that when making any form of art, you must be free to explore new grounds and not fear doing something different. By using specific methods and approaches, it limits an artist and therefore all novelty is lost in the process.

Where did you record the live songs on the EP “Gauna”?

The live songs were recorded live in Concert. At the Ruth Khama Community Hall in Maun, Botswana.

How much experience do you have playing live in Botswana and in other parts of southern Africa?

We have been playing live in Botswana and Southern Africa for over 5 years now. SKINFLINT is more of a live band and we prefer live sound over studio!

Do you play shows together with other bands from Botswana like Wrust and Crackdust? What are other metal bands from Botswana that you like?

We have shared the stage with Wrust and Crackdust on many occasions, as well as other local groups. We like Remuda, Dust N Fire, Disciplinary, Simple Sex, Stane, Vitrified and more.

The cover of ILKWA displays a warrior with his shield and lance in battle. This painting is the work of Alessandra Sbrana. Does Alessandra have many paintings? She also painted the cover of Gauna. Does she paint for other bands?

Alessandra has many paintings, mostly African Mythology and Fantasy. The IKLWA painting was her first painting she did for a band, and she has been doing other bands since then. She just recently finished doing artwork for a Metal band from Uganda called "Vale of Ammonition".

What do you want to say the readers of the zine?!

Skinflint is currently at work on a new studio album. We will record the album in August-September and hope to have it released this year. The album will further expand on African Ancestral beliefs, as well as follow up the events of IKLWA. After the album, we hope to tour abroad! We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the readers for supporting Metal, and all the fans out there who give us the strength to continue playing the music we love. Thanx for the questions! THE END.

Vomit Fest II: Imprecation finds the ways to blaspheme and brutalize the unsuspecting people of Texas

Vomit Fest II took place this weekend.

Imprecation brought their death metal heaviness to Houston.

See for yourself here:

www.fuglymaniacs.com

ORDER IS RESTORED: Avenger: Bohemian Dark Metal

Avenger (Czech Republic): Bohemian Dark Metal (Deathgasm) [Rating: 9 out of 10. It is not a 10 because I have been threatened with a severe beating if I give it a 10. Today I do not want to get beat up because of Avenger. Sorry, Avenger! I don’t like violence when it is karate kicks aimed at my poor noggin. Plus, I bruise like a peach and have no idea how to defend myself. But maybe I can interest you in a sarcastic comment?] -- Avenger. Finally, order has been restored. The universe is once again unfolding just like it should.

Avenger is excellent. Here is why. Avenger knows exactly what I was thinking about heaviness. (Mind readers? Maybe. If you like classic Bathory, Celtic Frost and of course Master’s Hammer, then you know, that, indeed, Avenger has read your mind very well.)

Heavines. The atmosphere is great: the heaviness is accentuated with the sounds of timpani, and let me tell you, that really makes a huge difference. Heaviness is not “loudness” and heaviness is a “breakdown” or a chugga-chugga riff. Heaviness is a musical perspective and a feeling. With Avenger, you can hear the guitar riffs, and there is something in the air about the whole sound that is twisted and dark. What is timpani, you ask? Listen to this and you will know.

What Avenger has is personality, in a big way. If you like black and death metal, but you want a lot of quality , then Avenger is most definitely for you.

If you hear this album and you don’t “get it” at first, just make the correct conclusion: your ears are not working correctly. Play it again and your rusty brain will start operating again.

Speed, heaviness, doom, atmosphere, and strong songs: it is all here. “Vstric dalkam” is doomy, and then blasts into spirally twisted chaos. What a great song! “Vitej zpatky doma…” is ominously stormy sounds of doom and darkness. “Dark Metal” has such a wonderful initial riff and atmosphere, and from there, it just gets better and only sucks because it ends. “Fales apatie” is a black metal storm of speed, headbanging riffs like it is the end of the world and those twisted, sick vocals make this perfect. And this is not all the songs, those are some specific examples.

It would be easy to write 4 pages for a review, but if I do that, then Fuglymaniacs will, in fact, administer that severe beating that I mentioned before. Avenger is awesome for many different reasons. These are just some. www.bandzone.cz/avengerband www.deathgasm.com ---

Fester (Norway): A Celebration of Death (Abyss Records) [7.5 out of 10]

With this band, they do not hide their songs behind any tricks. There is no gimmick going on because they do not need any. Fester’s music is centered on the objective of creating a mood. Therefore, what is essential is not how fast, brutal or grim the songs sound, though Fester sounds completely within the territory of death/black/doom.

The result is songs that are surprisingly easy to remember and get into and to make you nod along in agreement with the first couple of listens since it’s easy to keep up with the uptempo/midtempo pace.

“The Black Tower” is very likable, despite the fact that it is dark, brooding and grave in mood: it is a miserably catchy song.

“I’ll Hunt You Down” is just fun. Sounds like an angry gremlin, from his tiny cave, threatening the whole world. Fester will hunt you down with their evil guitars and melodies and make you rock out: “Resistance is futile, Fester is not!”

“Metalized” is a bit on the brutal side of things. No messing around, just a heavy, uptempo number. Fester is not a band to do blasting speed, the music goes a uptempo/midtempo pace, that way the listener can keep up more easily, without distractions. You don’t need to hear the music 50 times to figure it out and decide if you like it or not.

A word about the production: this album does sound like it was recorded in a cave. You can turn it up really loud, and you still won’t feel like you are right there where the action is taking place. It will sound like it is “down the hall,” as the nice man known as “the master” likes to say.

Be that as it may, fact: this album has feeling and it has plenty of sinister heaviness, as well as fun hidden melody. www.reverbnation.com/festernorwaybm www.myspace.com/festernorway

Hellyeah: ¿La banda más estúpida del mundo?

Hellyeah tiene nueva música y se llama "Band of Brothers" ¡¡y probablemente es la música más estúpida del mundo!! Por lo menos eso es lo que piensa Fuglymaniacs www.fuglymaniacs.com

Hellyeah: Could this music BE any more stupid??

Hellyeah: Band of Brothers Is there a band making music that is more stupid than Hellyeah?? Maybe, but maybe not?? What do you say?? see what www.fuglymaniacs.com says maybe you disagree?? really?

Gojira: No, seriously, why all the hype? What's the deal?

Every time I turn around, someone is declaring Gojira the greatest band on Earth...again!! What's going on? Is it a conspiracy? See what Fuglymaniacs says here: www.fuglymaniacs.com

Fear Factory review at Fuglymaniacs

Check out this review of Fear Factory at Fuglymaniacs www.fuglymaniacs.com

Just when you were getting comfortable: Kremathorium (Panama)

http://www.reverbnation.com/kremathorium











Kremathorium  (Panama)

“New Wave of Latinamerican Metal” is the band’s debut and it brings intensity and heaviness together for a style that appeals to the death metal and thrash metal taste.

                  It might sound like death metal at first, but soon you’ll notice that there is some subtle variety, although maybe you won’t notice because of the overall heaviness. For example, the bass guitar is very, very audible and that gives the sound a fullness that is pleasing.

                  I found the music to be effective. It’s about the metal energy that sounds perfect for the stage, although if you start moshing around your computer, Kremathorium won’t stop you, either.

                  At the bottom of the interview you will find the band’s website and from there you can go listen to the music yourself. Their album is a strong beginning for what hopefully will be a long run!!

The vocalist Ezekiel answered the questions here.
--

Your album “New Wave of Latinamerican Metal” has come out this year. Have you played concerts this year in Panama?

Right, we’ve just released it. Looks like it’s been well received by locals and hopefully we’ll be playing some gigs in a couple months. The band formed in 2010 but it was on a hiatus for almost a year. We didn’t call it quits, only that it wasn’t the right time to go out and spread the disease hahahahaha. 

  

Have you had opportunities to play in other Central American countries?

Not yet, but we’re positive we’ll be able to contact some promoters for one, two or more gigs out of Panama. Some of the band members have made good friends in Costa Rica but I’m not sure if we’d have any fans there. 

  

Can you tell us about the four members of the band?

Caos (drums): an intense dude! PARCEROOOO! 

Manitou (bass): Death metal lover 

Hoptan (guitars) known for his love of extreme sports, cars and superbikes 

Ezekiel (vocals): I currently write the lyrics. Musically, our intention is that we all put some ideas and work them out until we feel satisfied about the final product. For this first record, most of the riffing is mine but as long as we come up with new material the rest of the guys will get more involved. As you may have noticed, our music ranges from death metal to thrash, groove and some industrial if you’d like to call it that way. We’re open to trying with other styles, though. 

  

“Commercial Empire of Religion” and “Fairy Tales of the Apocalypse” show your interest in social commentary. What do you see in Panama and the world? 

It’s all we are dealing with, my friend! You can see it everywhere; in Newspapers, TV and this entire social media thing. Violence, Lies, Death, Hypocrisy, Disease, Selfishness it’s everywhere! It’s not a local thing. Maybe it gets worst at “third world” countries where for poor people or even mid-class individuals SURVIVAL is the rule of thumb. We “try”(hehehe) not to blame or to point out at someone with our lyrics. We just try to portray our own view and interpretation of things that are probably part of the so-called downward spiral to our demise as society.  

So far, you mostly have lyrics about religion, correct? But do you have an interest in economics, history and politics, too? Do you think that the history or politics of Panama certainly have many topics for lyrics for Kremathorium? 

Let’s say this album was way too critical about Religion since the lyrical content was conceived at some point where I was getting sick of people taking advantage of other’s ignorance and weaknesses, seeing how many idiots would rather go to a church instead of helping others and wondering why’d someone still believes in a second, third or whatever coming. I did personally have had issues as many others but at least I’ve been able to identify when someone just wants to get dough from my pockets, for example. I hate that! Don’t you think that hits our economics in some sort of way? Hahahaha. 

                  We’re sure there’re plenty of other topics (besides religion) to be covered on future releases. Word! 

Panama has repeatedly been a victim of U.S. government/corporations direct and indirect intervention in Panama. Invasions and occupations are just one aspect of a much broader range of illegal, unethical and murderous actions. How do you personally view these things? Do you view the capitalist government in Panama as collaborators of U.S. imperialism? 

Being a Panamanian, I can say the US invasion implied some sort of unnecessary force. Too many civilians dead when it was just one person to be caught. It was a fucking excuse to test on new technologies at that time. Historically, the US has only been interested in their own benefit. That’s clear to everyone. I guess it’s the north for every nation to be on top in order to secure “progress” and wealth. Man, all Latin-American countries in some sort of way will always (hopefully, not always) be collaborators of US imperialism. It’s like in class; you try to socialize with the more knowledgeable kids to secure nice grades. Kind of cruel, but it’s as it is. I do personally think we should be thinking of socializing with another “kid”. They won’t be eternally almighty. 

You’ll see what will happen when Chávez finally dies. (I’m not a prophet ok hahaha). 

  

Why did you call your album a “new wave”? Are there in Panama more metal bands now?

It’s not that we were brewing some kind of “exclusive” thing. I think that came out due to our current extreme metal reality in Panama. You can find death metal, heavy metal, thrash metal, black metal and even symphonic metal bands here but we noticed everyone was deeply involved in their respective metal sub-genre and not trying to let’s say, get out of that box. We love all those extreme styles so why not mixing them a little bit up? Some people call it Crossover but we only think it’s a mishmash of rhythms we do like. We’re definitely pleased to know there are some more new bands/supporters doing their stuff here. 

Your album is independent, correct?

The band just played its first gig about four weeks ago. The album was released the same day. Before that, we haven’t reached out to anyone yet. It’d be awesome getting to sign some deal. So, anyone running a label and reading this interview feel free to get in touch. We’ll send you a copy. 

  

Tell us about your song “Ballad for the Eternity.” Do you remember how the band wrote this song? 

I (Ezekiel) wrote that song 6 months ago. It’s a short story about a close friend who decided it was time to leave this world. She suffered of depressive episodes and had been treated with pills. Ironically, those pills triggered her soon departure. So, you make a conclusion. 

  

By the way, can you please tell us what other Panamanian bands have published demos or albums in 2012 or 2011? There has been a boom in terms of local releases and that’s good for sure. We would like to mention the releases from Sargon, Antagonized, Equinoxio and Cabeza de Martillo. Basically, I consider these as the benchmarks from recent years. Now, bands like Sehlah, Noctrifer, Death Incarnated, Empire of Gore and others are soon to release their material or have released it recently just as Morttus did few months ago. Actually, Manitou is the only one active in another metal band. He’s in the ranks of Sehlah, a local Death metal combo. They’re releasing their IGNORING THE CULT EP soon on Kremathorium records. 

  

What else to know about Kremathorium?

Sure, just a few words: BE YOUR FUCKING SELF. We want to thank you for this interview. Keep on doing such a great job letting others know more about the underground. Support? As long as you spread the word you’ll be supporting us big time. Stand strong! Now, if you reading this and after listening the tunes feel the band deserves some help, we’re open to receive your collaboration either by purchasing our stuff or booking some gigs. We’d love to play anywhere out of Panama and get to know more free-thinking people.  

                  You can contact us here: Kremathorium@hotmail.com and listen the tunes at: www.reverbnation.com/kremathorium 

Remember, SILENCE SUCKS!

THE END.

Dying Fetus, or How Frenzy Will Affect

Dying Fetus (U.S.): Reign Supreme    (Relapse)

It’s not clear how they make it sound so much fun. Let’s see what we can figure out.

“Invert the Idols” is the work of the Tazmanian Devil eating the microphone. This track sports a mosh superbreakdown. OK, roger that.

“Subjected to a Beating” offers bursts of blasting speed and midpaced superlow brutality. Check out the catchy riffing. Aight, we may be on to something.

“Second Skin” is open invitation to a circle pit, at the concert or right there in grandma’s basement. You gotta what you gotta do. Check out the quick melodic guitar semi-solo. They are teasing there, before continuing into the chaos.

“From Womb to Waste” is a lesson on how to do chugging guitar rock. Do some chugging, but do other licks with that. Blast in the right places. Inject a little technicality, for good measure. That’s the ticket.

“Dissidence” is track number 5. You gotta keep people’s attention still. How do you do it? Deliver good songs. Major chugging/breakdown moments here.  Got it, will-a-do.

“In the Trenches”: Look out! A thrashy riff but tuned down and incomprehensible growling. Then, speed it up, there’s a wee bit of thrash under all this guttural brutality, methinks. Nice!

“Devout Atrocity” has a bit of pinch harmonics, but not too much to avoid annoying. Oh, wait, I was wrong: here is the most breakdown, most chugging moment on the whole album, perhaps.

“Revisionist Past”: a melodic guitar intro, some positively catchy riffing. Do people realize how different this song is? Can I get a witness? The guitar work here is the best on the whole album. Maybe. It’s definitely memorable. Dying Fetus is no slouch! Air guitar time! Go!

“The Blood of Power” is the last song. Blasting, mosh moments, plus a very nice melodic guitar solo. That’s it, some 37 minutes. It’s over. Play it again.

Conclusion:

Dying Fetus knows very well how to get people to mosh and how to make people try to do the low guttural growling. “I dare you not to growl along,” says the music.

Why fight it? You know they’re right.

My only gripe is the drums. I think they sound a bit too soft and too plastic. They could use a more solid punch, make it hit with power and strength. Overall, the album is too clean, I think. I would be curious to hear the grittier, stronger, nastier, dirtier sound. Would not be more brutal? Maybe take a page from their earlier albums and get more of the nasty back.

 http://dyingfetus.bandcamp.com

The legions of brutality, and the legions of stupidity and mediocrity

Brutally Deceased (Czech Republic): Dead Lovers’ Guide (Lavadome)

The quick, easy way to describe Brutally Deceased is: a younger, hungrier, rawer Dismember with well-placed bursts of ultra-high speed used for emphasis.

Traditional, classic Stockholm/Sunlight Studio from 1990-1991 is what really, really drives Brutally Deceased.

Example 1: “Blissful Desecration”: begins with a midpaced, total buzzsaw riff, slightly melodic in a raw way, then it speeds up and the superlow growling kicks in, as the song settles into a pace that alternates between uptempo and fast. The middle of this song has a quick guitar “solo,” a bass “solo” and a nice little drum “solo,” too. It then speeds up and ends. Done.

Example 2. “All That Rots and Withers”: The start is total death metal blasting low-growl brutality. Wunderbar! The middle part slows down to an uptempo, galloping speed. This is where you raise your fist and growl along. Don’t get too comfortable, here comes the blasting once again. And done.

¿Comprende? I think so! Oh, yup, they do a cover of Dismember’s “Override of the Overture.” This is less polished than the original because Brutally Deceased is rawer.  

www.myspace.com/brutallydeceasedband

Cardiac Arrest (U.S.): Vortex of Violence  (Ibex Moon)   

Cardiac Arrest plays nothing but brutal death metal. The growling is low, and the blasting is constant.

Oh, well, what about the melodies?

What melodies, what you say?! The guitar work is meat and potatoes, direct chainsaw-sound guitar.

This band must hate all those trendy thrash bands, the emo/core bands, and the bands with breakdowns.

Here’s a clue. Suffocation. Lock Up. Bands like those. Mainly, fast and heavy. Lots of heaviness, and on a death metal mode of blast and growl and bang your head, now.

If you hate the brutal stuff, you best keep walking because Cardiac Arrest don’t like you very much and want you to go listen to whatever you like, as long as you stay away from them. Cardiac Arrest is just nasty stuff. Fun, too. www.cardiacarrest666.com

Fisthammer (U.S.): Devour All You See (Horror Pain Gore Death)

Part brutal, blasting death metal, part melodic/thrashy Fisthammer wants everybody moshing.

Not really a bad to stay within one particular, narrow style, Fisthammer appears to be brutal death metal, with other spices. The low, growled vocals and blasting certainly create a particular image.

Tell Fisthammer what you want!

They have it. Speed? Check. Blasts? Check. Fury? Check. Power ballads? Nope! Jazzy parts? No!

Alright, so, they don’t have everything, but they are a-ok. Now, if they could figure out how to do a jazzy power ballad of brutal, blasting death metal, then they would have everything in the world. C’mon, Fisthammer, you can do it!

www.myspace.com/fisthammerband

Kraanium (Norway): Post Mortal Coital Fixation (Comatose)

This just has very little energy, or creativity or intensity, so it’s difficult to see where is the excitement.

Of course, this is exciting to the band themselves, and also maybe metallers who are new to the genre of midtempo/slow-ish “woof-woof, burp-burp…brootal” dog-barking metal.

                  The low-level of creativity and lack of energy really do destroy any possibilities for headbanging or even nodding along.

                  Investigate if you like slow/midtempo, very basic, repetitive burp “brootal” music that has extremely low-IQ horror/gore lyrics. www.comatosemusic.com

                 

Sexcrement (U.S.): Sloppy Seconds   (Comatose)

This type of chugging guitar—all the songs sound like “chug-chugga-chugga-chug” and repeat—lacks imagination.

  This is supposed to be heavy and brutal, but it’s not possible to be heavy if the music has no intensity in the playing. Doing play-on/chugga-chugga repetitive guitar riffs offers little in the way of interesting things to the listener looking for frenzied energy, aggression, power, anger, creativity or just a good amount of musical talent.

Deadly Remains (U.S.): Severing Humanity  (Deepsend)   

Chugga-chugga death metal and blast and groove. 

They depend a lot on the play-on riff: the chugging guitar riff that seeks to make the audience mosh. They want the listener to stand up, and mosh.

The growling thrives on the low-muttered completely woof-woof.

Deadly Remains objectives are basic. So the music sounds basic.

The guitar sound is particularly annoying because it comes from the Zakk Wilde school of playing: at every moment the guitar makes a high-pitched irritating sound. Pinch harmonics is one of the most annoying things in guitar playing, but especially when it becomes “the thing” about the songs.

Play a real riff. Do a solo. Anything else that would involve creativity.

Pinch harmonics is the equivalent of that annoying kid who thinks that nails on a chalkboards is a fun sound.

It’s only fun to you because you are making it.

The rest of us want to kill you.

Final verdict: good energy, nice blasting, loving the intensity. Now Deadly Remains only has to stop their guitar player from being so annoying. Stop! Stop! Just play a riff, man! www.deepsend.com

Deadborn (Germany); Desultor (Sweden)

Deadborn (Germany): Mayhem Maniac Machine (Apostasy)

Deadborn relies on speed—fast riffs and fast drumming—to get their point across: loud and fast death metal.

Deadborn’s reliance on speed, of course, will be perfect for those that prefer no-nonsense death metal. If you want your music not messing around, then Deadborn knows your name. The songs are between 2 and 5 minutes, on average: very little fat, all muscle.

 As such, for this very reason, Deadborn is quick to get the job done and be gone. Once the cd stops, the speed and fury will remain in your head, for sure.

Where Deadborn will need to improve is the guitar work. The blasting tends to obscure the fact that the guitar work, while competent, could use more outstanding riffs. For that reason, Deadborn will rock you, but they will not yet really make its presence felt once the music stops, besides the speed.

Most of all, Deadborn sound eager to get in front a group of human beings that want to hear some loud music! They believe in not wasting people’s time with wankery, bass and keyboard solos and long songs. So, in that sense, this is from the Motorhead-Tankard-Overkill-Destruction-Cannibal Corpse school of metal: the goal is to thrash the audience, nothing super complex nor dazzling, just a lot intensity. Deadborn’s music is closer to blasting death metal than any other category, so the energy level is high throughout. www.myspace.com/deadborn666 www.myspace.com/deadborn666

Desultor (Sweden): Masters of Hate (Abyss Records) I was listening to the second song called “Another World” and I thought, “Nevermore with blastbeats.”

Of course, that’s totally not true. Maybe “extreme metal with traditional/high vocals” would be more accurate. After all, Nevermore’s guitar work doesn’t really sound this thrashy and the drumming is not this fast, so and so forth.

Desultor, as a musical idea, probably sounds strange to some people: Thrashy/speedy guitar work, with some definite death metal leanings (so, basically, heavy stuff); fast/blasting drum work, but with clean vocals.

Really, clean vocals? Can that work? Well, it’s certainly different from the speed combined with some talentless jerk “vocalist”, just hollering and screaming.

So, on this album, with all the speed and thrashiness and death metal speed, at no time is there some talentless hack cupping the microphone and eating it like a turkey sandwich and just burping into the mic and claiming he is doing “vocals”??

No!! There is not!! There is no one barking like a dog on this album, and no one growling about zombies and horror movies. Oh, yup, I almost forgot to mention the songs. Yes, Desultor keeps it fast, blasting, thrashy/deathy and it is easy remember it all because of the clean vocals.

“Nevermore” with blasting speed is not the best description, but if you are curious, that should at least sound like a proposition to look into.

Yes, I know, this doesn’t actually sound like Nevermore. That’s because this is not Nevermore. This is Desultor. A different band. See how that works? www.myspace.com/desultorsweden www.myspace.com/desultorsweden

Hemoptysis (U.S.): Misanthropic Slaughter This is a self-release. The name of the band is slightly strange, maybe. The name of the album is a generic metal title, slightly moronic or downright moronic. The artwork—zombies and gore—for the album is stupid and infantile.

Thus, This band does not make a good impression. BUT, and this is a huge but: The music is good.

In this case, people have to overlook the stupid things mentioned already. A song like “Shadow of Death”, which has ‘metal hit’ written all over it, has a shredding, melodic thrash quality. It’s a catchy song, with a very good opening mini-solo and a fun, extended guitar solo that rocks. So, am I saying the music is NOT stupid? Exactly. There’s talent in this band.

It’s not just the guitar solos, though. It’s the way that each song revolves around the almighty riff for creating headbanging music. The band is in the category of thrash. The shrieked vocals and the extended guitar soloing round out the features of the band. The energetic drumming fits the music really well.

“The Cycle” is a thrash attack, “Hopeless” is festival of riffs, “Impending Doom” is a call to get off your glutes and start moving, “Blood Storm” blends thrash, melodic black metal and great guitar solos.

On the other hand, if a listener does not like thrash, I doubt they would like this band, why, with the all thrashing going on here and whatnot. Hemoptysis should reconsider their image, though. People judge a book by the cover. And the cover of this book is less than hot. After all, it is possible that not everyone listening to this music is a 13-year-old kid obsessed with zombies, vampires and gore. www.myspace.com/hemoptysismetal www.myspace.com/hemoptysismetal

fascist black metal and Greece

Blabbermouth recently ran a news story about a black metal bassist in a Greek band that got elected to the Greek parliament. He is from the fascist black metal band Naer Mataron and he was making racist declarations, against immigrants.

www.fuglymaniacs.com, which just ran interview with black metallers Erevos (pictured here) from Greece, wanted to get Erevos’ views on the relation between racism and black metal.

Fuglymaniacs asked: What do you think about this admiration of fascist dictators, like Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, and others?

Is there a scene of fascist black metal bands and fans, that promotes hatred and murder of foreigners, and Jewish people?

In Greece there are fascist political parties. Some people are voting for them. Who is voting for fascism? What do you think about all this?

Erevos vocalist Growler responded, saying:

ANSWER

There were rumors about Naer Mataron and their beliefs. There have been many incidents at their live shows in the past. It is true now that their bassist, Kaiadas, is in the parliament and he belongs in the Golden Dawn’s party…

They don’t admit, officially in our media, that they admire those persons, but all of us who we remember Golden Dawn before the elections; we know their extreme ideology. Particularly, they were against immigrants (illegal or not). Now we know that they are against homosexuals, religions (everything but Orthodoxies and the Ancient Greek Religion) and everyone who has avoided the mandatory army.

The NS black metal scene is not only in Greece, it is everywhere. They have a certain group of fans, but this group is limited. The real problem in those bands is that they concentrate more on the ideology than the music. For us, every genre of metal is about MUSIC, not political ideologies!

As we said before there is the NS black metal scene, which promotes those ideas but it doesn’t locate only in Greece. In fact, the whole thing started from Norway, we think.

There are no serious fascist parties; the only extreme group is golden dawn. There is a big problem with illegal immigrants in Greece and especially in Athens, because the governments until now couldn’t do anything to protect their citizens. In contrary, they wanted those immigrants for their votes, without caring for the quality of life, neither for immigrants nor for locals. As a result, the citizens got angry from all those exhausted and irrational measures and naturally turned against the different, so they voted an extremist group just to avenge the politicians. So we believe that this was a desperate movement from the Greek people. Greeks are not fascist, they invented Democracy!

Racism, sexism, nationalism, fascism belong to the past. They are ideologies which must be vanished, because they are keeping humanity back, although there are still sexist residues in the Mediterranean countries. www.fuglymaniacs

.com www.erevosblack.gr

Lelahell (Algeria): the stubborn will to play metal!!

Lelahell (Algeria) In this short interview Lelahell gives a brief history lesson about metal in Algeria and for that alone, it makes an interesting read.

Actually, here we learn about the circumstances in which the band plays death metal.

The history behind the band, its motivation to keep going fuels their passion for making metal music. Death metal is in some ways an ugly, violent art form that turns off a lot of people from the moment they hear the growling.

“This is just stupid”, some people say. Lelahell has had to deal with a lot of that, and more.

Nevertheless, here is Lelahell and they have recorded music that you should definitely check out! The name of their most recent recording is “Al Intihar.” The contact information is given at the end of the interview. ---

What’s happening with Lelahell? You are based in Algiers, correct? Have you played shows there?

Lelahell is an Algerian death metal band formed by me (Lelahel) in 2011, started first as a one-man band. In January 2012 Nihil (bass) and Slaveblaster (drums) from Barbaros joined the Lelahell’s team. Yes, we are from Algiers and we haven’t made gigs yet but it is in our plans. We are rehearsing every week, and when we’ll be ready we’ll start to invade the metal scene!

Tell us about the song “Emperor“: what are the lyrics about?

It’s about the emperor Nero, and his 14 years of reign. The history repeats itself, right? It’s the most brutal track of this Ep and the new ones have the same brutality! I think that it is the song that represents the future sound of Lelahell. How did they idea for the song “Hermanos” come to be? I don’t know if the lyrics are in Spanish. This song has a nice, catchy guitar solo. Who does the guitar solo? A story of friends who are at the beginning like blood brothers, but as life goes, well, things change...Yes some lyrics are in Spanish, I just only know few words in Spanish the idea is to use one foreign language in each release of Lelahell, maybe we’ll use Italian or Portugese in our next release. Thanks for the compliment, I made the solo it is melodic but will Lelahell will not go in this direction in the future; we’ll be less melodic and more brutal!

Are any of your songs in Arabic? Are there metal bands in Algeria with lyrics in Arabic?

Most of our songs are half in English and the second half in Arabic. The bands here don’t want to use too much Arabic because they think that it doesn’t sound metal! But I don’t agree with that opinion because there are some letters in Arabic that are really suited for metal! We are the first generation of the extreme metal bands in Arabic countries and we used Arabic in my old band called Litham, it was so strange for the audience to hear metal with Arabic!

What does “Al Ihtiqar” mean? That song is heavy, like some of the heaviest death metal you have done. At the same time, it’s only a bit more than 2 minutes long. Why is this song so short compared to your other ones that are 5-8 minutes long?

Al ihtiqar means “The despise” it is very slow tempo death metal song and very short. Contains Just few words and some riffs to describe despise because it don’t need more! Try to listen to it; it is impossible to add more riffs everything concerning despise is present here!

How is metal music viewed by your family? When you walk in the streets with an Iron Maiden or Morbid Angel shirt, do people think you are crazy?

It’s been more than twenty years that I’m into metal music, so they don’t have any choice than to support me and support metal! Lol And when I walk on the street the people don’t pay attention to my shirts because they simply don’t understand what it is!

How did you all get into metal music? When were the first metal bands in Algeria formed? Were there metal bands in the 80s? Did some bands start in the 90s?

Everything began in the early 90’s (1992) when I met Salim, who was a singer in a heavy speed metal band called Rascass (Rascass was formed in 1992). We had the same passion for death metal, so we rehearsed together to from a band, but it never happened. Some months after, I was contacted by a friend Mehdi (who was a drummer) to play bass in Neanderthalia. Neanderthalia was a typical 90’s sounding band formed by Samir. He was searching for musicians to complete the lineup of the band. After that we were searching for a second guitarist and we found Yacine who was a student in the same university that I studied. This was the first complete line up of Neanderthalia. In 1995 Sabri joined the band as drummer (Mehdi was replaced by Kamel, and Sabri replaced him) and recorded a 3-track demo. After that we had many problems of communications with Samir the front man of the band, so we decided to leave the band and form Litham in July 1996. There was hard rock bands in the 80’s most of them where only cover bands, I heard about Khindjar and Ouechma, but never had chance to see them live.

What do you have planned for 2012 and 2013? Is there a possibility of Lelahell playing shows in other parts of Africa, like Egypt? What about Spain and France?

First we are planning to release a full length, and after we’ll make a lot of gigs all around the globe to spread the music of Lelahell! After that another full length and more concerts and after a third full length and more concerts ….. Yes, I have many contacts in all around the world so just wait and see!

“Into the Past” has some black metal and death metal vocals. Is that the same person doing vocals? This song is good for headbanging!

I’m doing all the vocal in this Ep. Into the past reminds us all the evil mankind has done throughout its existence: destruction, murder, lies, disasters, etc. ...and we continue to do it. The music is blackened thrash with local melodies, the main riff is catchy, and as you said for headbanging!

What is the best way to contact you or get shirts?

We haven’t made shirts yet, but maybe after the first album we’ll make some merchandising!

If you want to contact us by email: lelahellband@gmail.com, myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lelahellband www.myspace.com/lelahellband

facebook : http://www.facebook.com/Lelahell www.myspace.com/Lelahell THE END.

Revel in Flesh (Germany)

Revel in Flesh (Germany): Deathevokation 1. The name of the band is Revel in Flesh.

That is the name of the third song on the album, “The Left Hand Path” by Entombed in 1990, the frontrunner in the Stockholm style of death metal, with the Sunlight Studio production, featuring the buzzsaw guitar sound.

2. The name of this album is called “Deathevokation”.

“Death Evocation” is the name of a song by Dismember, the number 2 band of the Stockholm style of death metal, with the Sunlight Studio production and guitar sound. (Carnage recorded the same song in 1990 on the album “Dark Recollections” also in Sunlight Studio. The big difference between Carnage and Dismember was that guitarist Michael Amott [Arch Enemy] was in Carnage, but not in Dismember.)

Therefore, this band Revel in Flesh is nothing but that style of death metal. Revel in Flesh have basically made a pledge, with their name and the name of the album, that they will not disappoint you. You want Stockholm style death metal? You got it.

“Black Paled Elegy” is pretty much a flawless song and is a standout track. The guitar solo on this one is just easy to remember and to like. “Bloodfeast” wastes no time and just invites you to bang your head. “Shadowbreeder” is one heavy and uptempo monster.

Well, you get the idea. Check this out if you can’t get enough of the death metal style of early Entombed, Dismember/Carnage, Unleashed and Grave. www.revelinflesh.jimdo.comwww.revelinflesh.jimdo.com

Insecticide performing live

Check out this video of thrashers Insecticide rocking out in Houston!! www.fuglymaniacs.com

Fuglymaniacs.com

Check out www.fuglymaniacs.com for underground metal videos and reviews and interviews

Erevos (Greece)

Erevos (Greece) In this interview the band explains a bit about their album “Descensus Ad Inferos,” a well-rounded black metal album that incorporates death metal and symphonic elements. Basically, it’s about grimness and brutality and majesty all wrapped in one, in varying degrees…and it’s so easy to enjoy!! Immediate impact. In Growler’s view, the life of a black metal band under less than ideal circumstances requires a particular stubbornness. However, Erevos makes the most out of what they have, and you only have to hear “Descensus Ad Inferos” to appreciate their work in the name of metal. Erevos is no band of amateurs. Their album has songs that bring together a lot under black metal. There’s no way to do all that without the benefit of experience and knowledge.

-- “Descensus Ad Inferos” is actually your first album, correct? But the band has other recordings, even from 2005, your demo “Burning Souls.” Your album “Descensus Ad Inferos” is definitely a black metal attack. What is the situation for the band in Greece now?

Hello! Thank you for the interview! “Descensus Ad Inferos” is indeed the first album of Erevos. We also have 2 other demo releases, 1 split, 1 compilation and the EP “Adou Katavasis”. Right now, we are preparing for another split release with a band from Sweden (we will announce the band soon). Everybody in the band is ok, but the economic situation in Greece is awful!

You are based in Thessaloniki? Is there a good metal scene for playing shows there?

Yes, we are from Thessaloniki. The scene is great! We have many good bands especially in death and thrash metal fields. Unfortunately, there aren’t many options to choose a live stage to perform here. Also the promotion is poor in general in Greece. We have played many times in Athens and out from our town. Also we have performed in Bulgaria and France so far.

Erevos is black metal, but there are also death metal vocals and that adds a cool variety. Is Growler doing the low, gruff death metal vocals, too? Do you have any computer programs for the vocals, like during the chorus? Is it totally natural, without changing the vocals with a program?

Yes, Growler performs every type of vocals and he doesn’t use any kind of programs for the voice. The vocals are completely natural. Only in ‘Possessed by the Moon’, Dan Swano added some kind of effect in the song’s part.

“Possessed by the Moon (of the Underworld)” shows the symphonic side of Erevos, as well as the blasting speed and both black and death metal vocals. This is one of your older songs. How has the song changed from the early days? It sounds good!

Thank you! The song was first recorded back in 2006 and has been added on “Mythological Evil” demo. The production and the performance weren’t so clean and well presented. In the new recordings we have changed the keyboards and their sound and the production is way better.

“Grotesque Blasphemy” is subtitled “Slaughter Pt. 1.” Tell us the story of this song and what can we expect for part 2?

Well this is a song that isn’t connected with the other songs from the album. The whole album is a concept, a little story, but Grotesque Blasphemy is like a bonus track. It is the song that we play in the end of our shows and the crowd usually goes crazy, due to its aggressiveness. We never published the lyrics for this song and we never will! There will be the second part on the next full-length album and it is gonna be a thrashing hell of a song!

Is vocalist/bassist Growler the only person from the early days? Who writes the songs? Metal Archives says that actually your “previous” keyboardist Princess of Darkness is Tisiphoni, your current keyboardist. Is this true?

Tisiphoni is also in the band from the early days, named as “princess of darkness”. Yes, Growler writes the lyrics and the basic melody of the songs and Tisiphoni writes the keys and does the instrumentation. All the other members add their personal style. The first nickname [“princes of darkness”] was taken under pressure, so we changed it.

So, Tisiphoni definitely has experience with the keyboards for a long time in Erevos?

Yes, she does! Though we had many criticisms for keys in the beginning, Tisiphoni gives a characteristic style in the songs and dares to put keyboards in parts which most people could consider difficult to fit.

Recently, in Greece a lot young people, students and workers are protesting against the government. Your lyrics are not about politics, of course. But do you think that Greece is in an economic crisis that will become worse? Are you all students?

Most of us are students and we are looking for a job in order to support the band, too. The situation is beyond worst! Everyone is looking for a foreign country to live in. The things will get tougher for sure!

How do these things affect the band, if you have less money?

It is nearly impossible to find a decent job, even if some of us have university degrees. Of course, this situation affects Erevos, due to the lack of money. But even if we had money it wouldn’t have any difference due to the lack of promotion and mentality of people here. If you want to succeed you have to get out from Greece, unfortunately! (With or without economic crisis).

Tell us your future plans. Are you receiving more interest since the album? What can people do to support your band?

Oh, yes! Dan Swano helped on that, too! We also cooperate with Clawhammer promotions from USA, which does excellent job worldwide. We received tons of good reviews and we came in contact with important people mostly from big bands. Our plan is to find an agency and perform shows abroad. A European tour would be excellent! We already had some propositions in order to play in US, but the travel costs are too high! Right now we are composing new songs for our second album and preparing the split release. People can support us by leaving comments on the social networks and of course come to our live shows and buy our cd and merchandise through us by e-mail.

Take care and good luck in the future.

Thank you my friend, from Growler and Tisiphoni! Continue your good work! You can contact us and find info’s about us on: www.erevosblack.gr www.erevosblack.gr www.myspace.com/erevos666 www.facebook.com/pages/Erevos/141389422543650 http://www.facebook.com/clawhammerpr THE END.

Skeletonwitch (U.S.)

Skeletonwitch (U.S.): Forever Abomination (Prosthetic)

Skeletonwitch’s take on thrash has a little bit of a different angle, which is a plus for them. First, the use of some black metal guitar work here and there adds an element of variety to the thrash riffing and makes each song stand out a bit more. Just as important, and probably a bit more so, is the band’s use of black metal shrieked vocals. It adds a different feeling from the yelling of hardcore and thrash bands, like Municipal Waste, Lich King, Gamma Bomb, and New York hardcore bands. Of interest is also the fact that Skeletonwitch’s approach makes them accessible to the ear, despite the black metal vocals and “extreme metal” tag. The clarity of the guitar work, and the general memorability makes them a lot more “rocking” than you would expect. For example, heaviness and brutality are not the number one objective, but rather songs that thrash and that you can remember. The 32 minutes demonstrate very little to complain about, and lots to enjoy. Given that, personally, I usually get bored with “pure” thrash bands, I found Skeletonwitch “impure” thrash to be a cool listen and one that I have heard lots of times and it seems to get better every time. My only gripe with the album is that it is too clicky and a bit too perfect. The drums sound needs a bit more power, I think. Anyway, don’t dismiss Skeletonwitch as a just another thrash band. www.Skeletonwitch.com

Shroud of Despondency (U.S.)

Shroud of Despondency (U.S.): Pine

About 58 minutes of black metal prog doom post black metal folk. Shroud of Despondency is trippy and no category limits the prog doom black folk depressive aggressive space rock nature of the music. Shroud of Despondency makes Opeth look like a bunch of narrow-minded uptight people… and make Motorhead and Slayer appear as unimaginative, one-way, assembly-line totalitarian bureaucratic absolutism of robotic production of carbon copy unmusic. “Light Words, Dark Graves” (4:31) is raw black metal for 3 minutes and 20 seconds, then the last minute is a spoken word with a piano piece that ends with a cartoonish voice. What? What’s the deal with this spoken-word bit? “The Great Sadness Descends” (5:27) is the definition of doom. It is slow and craws at the speed of a turtle. The band rides out the main melody for a long time. You would have never known that you can play the same melody for this long and make it work. This band just did it. “Half Open Gates” (8:58) is a good example of the different things the band does. This track is, to a large degree, an obvious case of black metal. Yet, it would be incorrect to see it that way because the folky, melodic elements create a doom atmosphere that takes over the song, so that between beginning and end something takes place and it takes about nine minutes to achieve the transition. Hence the song! “Nameless End” (5:15) starts off as a slow cave-recorded black metal that speeds up by 1:45 and continues as an intense, raw song until 4:00, when it slows down and just jams. “Wanderlust (Lightning Precedes Fire)” (2:27) is a keyboard, space music piece, that has the last 45 seconds of coughing and growling. What just happened here? Does someone need medication? That cough sounds awful. Call 911. “The Unchaining of an Animal” (6:27) begins with acoustic guitar and folky singing, like stereotypical hippies singing in the woods…wow, and they actually kept the whole song this way until the end. I was expecting them to bust out with some dogs barking or sounds of vomiting. But no. Just folk. Voilá, y’all!! Perfect music to play for the good times in life, to party and live it up…in the insane asylum. Shroud of Despondency is loco in the coco in Wisconsin. www.facebook.com/shroudofdespondency www.myspace.com/shroudofdespondency