Cathedral Fever are from the US and play Hardcore that’s chaotic, Crusty and dark.
The cover intrigues me. What lies within?
The answer is anger. Anger lies within.
Cathedral Fever are the kind of band who always sound loud, even when played at low volumes. It’s no mean feat. Their sound seems strong enough to overcome mere physical limitations of air vibrations and get to the very meat of the matter – sounding pissed and playing pure rage.
The songs have personality and the band understand what makes this kind of violent Hardcore Metal interesting. Rather than just being one dimensional displays of rage and anger they understand the need for dynamics, a bit of variety, (within stylistic limitations of course), and the importance of a good riff.
They don’t neglect the bass either, which is a very undervalued and under-used instrument in my opinion. Good stuff.
Another interesting element to their sound is an almost Old-School Metal/Rock feel to some of the riffs on occasion. It’s not a huge part of their sound but it’s there enough to make a note of. The blending of Metallic Hardcore guitars with a Rockier sound to some of the riffs works well. Add this to the Crust vibe that covers everything and the songs work well.
This is a really good EP from a band with enough talent to force people to take notice of them. Check them out and see if they can knock you down.
Colombian Necktie are from the US and this is their début album.
The band have a basis in Hardcore but build elements of Sludge and Metal on top of this to create something heavy, raw and nasty. I’ve been watching this band’s development over the last few splits and EPs that they have released and it seems that with this album they’ve taken everything they’ve learned and ramped it up to the maximum.
A suitably crushing sound heralds the start of the album and it immediately draws you in. The recording is arid, focused and everything sounds both tight and loose at the same time.
Colombian Necktie have a relatively varied sound that employs bits from many different Metal subgenres and puts them to work creating this monument to Hardcore Sludge. Sludgecore, if you will. And I’m glad they did as it sounds just great.
This belongs to the same stable of bands such as Charger, Eyehategod, Enabler, Mistress, Serpent Eater, Ilsa, etc. – bands that are doing their own thing by their own rules and make a virtue out of the heavy, filthy and unclean.
For the most part Colombian Necktie’s songs are tightly compressed balls of rage. Hardcore and Sludge sensibilities combine along with the odd Stoner Rock moment to create an album with a vicious swagger and an attitude that just won’t quit. Add to this the odd synth effect, some other interesting ideas and the emotional closing track Kevin’s Song, (which is by far the longest track here), and you have an engaging and diverse album.
The singer is impressively rabid the whole time and sounds like he would be great live, which of course can be extended to the entire band.
Considering their past releases I was hoping this would be a good album but they have more than exceeded my expectations in this. I knew it would be of a certain quality but wasn’t expecting an album of this depth and nuance.
A highly recommended listen for all connoisseurs of heaviness.
Australasia are from Italy and play Post-Black Metal Shoegaze.
Well, I love the album cover, so that’s a good start.
These are largely short compositions although they have all of the time they need to make themselves felt.
These are songs that are as emotive and translucent as any in the style. They take the listener through the usual gamut of emotions typical of Shoegaze releases of this nature.
Post-Black Metal comes about when Black Metal and Post-Metal meet, as can be expected from the name. The addition of the Shoegaze tag usually specifies something similar, only in my experience tends to mean that the band have a fragile, brittle sense about them; not in any negative way but rather in the sense of everything being pushed and focused into making the songs as expressive and emotive as possible.
In Australasia’s case the emphasis is on the Post-Metal side of the equation rather than the Black Metal side, (although this aspect of their sound is still present). In addition to this the band also employ some Electronica influences and use this as a further aspect to their sound.
All of this describes Australasia perfectly as they have the hauntingly fragile delivery and highly evocative emotional appeal that typifies this kind of music. And they do all of it very, very well.
There are largely no vocals, so the instruments take centre stage. The only exception to this is some female vocals which are strong and assured; they appear very briefly as a small but important enhancement to a few tracks.
A recommended listen for seekers of sensation everywhere.
Ukrainian band Narrow House play Progressive Doom and this is their second album.
This is varied and atmospheric Doom, with elements of their Funeral Doom past widened and expanded to included a much larger musical framework.
Playing heavy, dark and slow is still a feature for the band, however, but now they also use additional tools in their toolbox, including non-standard Doom implements such as choirs, saxophone, cello and contrabass, as well as orchestration, piano, keys, etc. that are more typical of the style.
A lot of the songs are more upbeat and have more of a Progressive feel to them. Some tracks such as The Midwife to Sorrows, for example, still have Doom aspects but can also be thought of as Progressive Metal songs with slow parts.
The songs are surprisingly short but still manage to pack a lot in. Narrow House are high on content and depth where they are lacking in length of song. The level of orchestration, effects and additional instrumentation on the tracks mean that each song is densely packed with layer upon layer of musical interest.
The clean vocals are dirge-like and full of depth and authority, whilst the occasional growls are low key but powerful.
This album is a surprise as I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band. From the Progressive Metal-style album cover to the name that gives nothing away, this is an atypical release in many respects. This is a very good thing, as the band have produced an extremely good album that manages to ably differentiate itself from the ravening hordes whilst keeping quality levels high and having a lot of personality and colour.
This will probably be a bit too left of centre for some Doom fans, which is a shame as this is a remarkable release that deserves a wider audience. This is a hugely impressive album that won’t settle for being average and definitely stands out in a sea of mediocrity.
Listen with an open mind and you’ll find that Narrow House have produced quite the corker.
Hod specialise in rough Death Metal with no commercial shine or anything that could resemble nicety of delivery. This is raw, underground and reeks of evil.
There is a Blackened feel to much of what goes on in these songs, which only goes to enhance the darkness and nastiness that the band generally give off.
The riffs are largely fast and melodic in a sharp, Blackened, way. The majority of time efforts are spent creating music that’s dark, dirty and brutal, although they do throw in the odd solo to add a splash of colour here and there.
The guitars, and in extension the songs, have a lot of good ideas and Hod pursue their Blackened Death Metal art with clear enthusiasm for the kill.
References? Bits of Morbid Angel, Master, Arkhon Infaustus. Snippets of others.
There is no softness on this album, no moments of respite from the chaotic Blackness and brutal assault. This is not a band who want to be your friends or play nice. This is music purely designed to destroy and worship the foul Gods of the Metal underworld, wherever they dwell.
Maybe you should open up the Book of the Worm and read this hymn for yourself?
Methedras have recently finished their latest album System Subversion and are getting ready to unleash it on the world. This is a hard working band who clearly love and believe in what they do, so I decided to get a bit more information from them…
Give us a bit of background to Methedras
Quintessence of the most direct-in-your-face thrash-death style, Methedras sets among the leading underground Italian bands, a real war-machine which has been able to release a demo and three full-length albums during its 18-years old activity, as well as have performed hundreds of concerts throughout Europe, many of them in support of big names of the international metal scene (Testament, Dismember, Hatesphere, Destruction, The Haunted, Onslaught, Exodus, Overkill, Sepultura, Deicide, Hirax and many others), without ever losing an ounce of anger and energy. Quartet formed by Claudio (vocals), Eros (guitar), Andrea (bass) and Daniele (drums), originally near Milan in 1996 with a double-guitar line-up, the band has changed over the years various members preferring in the end a solid line-up with only one guitar, arriving to a proper own style with no compromise: a sort of derived thrash metal spiced with more typical death metal influences and a groove-hardcore approach concerning the vocals.
What are your influences?
I think our influences are everything rock and heavy, ‘cause our background is right that. We love thrash and death metal, of course, but we also do listen from hard rock to grind and brutal, we have no kind of musical prejudice, for example we’re actually attracted by the industrial side of some of the new stuff written…we are in “experimental mode on” right now, and cannot say at the moment where this will end up, for us it’s enough to be free to create, without mental chains. By the way let me say everything that comes from the american bay-area of the early ’80s, being inspired by such big bands like Metallica, Testament, Megadeth, Exodus, Slayer and many others, then we grew year by year opening our minds to a more specific North-European death metal attitude, trying to mix in our sound these two different and typical metal streams.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
I’m currently in love with the killing productions of the German thrash metal heroes Kreator and Destruction, especially “Enemy Of God” and “Violent Revolution” for Kreator, and “The Antichrist” for Destruction. These cds are a brutal assault to the ears of each metalhead, with brilliant productions, and great riffs and solos.
From USA I recently listened a lot of Exodus, Machine Head, Nevermore and Overkill. Especially Machine Head are one of my favourite bands of the last decade, they started their career with an incredible album like “Burn My Eyes”, recently repeated by two CDs like “Through The Ashes Of Empire” and, of course, “The Blackening”, in my opinion the best Thrash Metal album of the latest years, with an incredible production, tons of killer riffs and solos, and a supreme singer like Rob is. I think that “The Blackening” broke with the actual returning of the 80’s thrash metal, it is a modern way to see this kind of music, with some new ideas that brings a breath of fresh air. The same that Nevermore has done until few years ago, with their personal vision.
However, I usually listen to a lot of other genres, in death metal I loved so much the reunion’s album of Carcass, all the recent production of Cynic (but it’s hard to define “Death Metal” their last albums, I think it’s better to say “Prog Metal”) and many other bands.
What are your opinions on the current state of the Thrash Metal in 2014?
In the latest years, Thrash Metal is having a new life, with numerous band that resurrected the glories of the 80’s, with modern sound and most of all brighter productions, in some case also new ideas which carried the genre into new territories.
For example the Italian scene is healthy and continuously growing, despite the very few occasions where to show up and the total lack of a more professional approach by the music system. There are tons of very good bands worthy to be discovered and listened to, but interests from media, promoters, venues and labels pretty always focus on the usual four old big names.
They’ll never get the chance to arrive to a bigger audience if this kind of situation keeps on going, we’d need the help from everyone involved in the underground in order to let these bands grow and become more-exposed, we all should finally act as a whole family, not only when it’s time to fest and hang out!
What did you want to achieve with your new release?
Ten years ago we imagined Methedras still on the road betting to gain a place on stage just a step behind heavy metal legends like Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Destruction, Entombed, Dismember, The Haunted, Onslaught and many others.. well, we won that bet ‘cause we really did it, and all of them teached us the real meaning of the music we love: blood, sweat and passion, ever! We learned that lesson (in violence ahahah) and we kept it as a way of life, everyday, on and off the stage…so, openly speaking, with the new release we’d love to imagine the same thing but at an even bigger level.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Oh yes definitely satisfied man. We believe to have reached a milestone in our career with System Subversion, achieving the long-time target to build up a delicious platter full of tastes and well-balanced. We have to infinitely thank our dudes at Domination Studio (RSM) for this, in the persons of Simone Mularoni and Simone Bertozzi, who followed all the sound tuning, recording, engineering, mixing, mastering and producing processes leading to a final great outcome such the album you’ve listened to.
Talk to us about the lyrics
The lyrics are all written by Claudio, the singer, and are mainly about experiences he directly lives on his own skin everyday. So we can consider ’em a kind of belief-extensions directly coming from his mind, outlining how he’s used to analyse such political, cultural and lifetime subjects, viewed through his eyes and deformed by his apparent pessimism and nihilism, which instead lead to, if focused to a deeper level, an unwavering and immovable faith in the humankind and his capacity to always resurrect from his foundation, no matter how bad have been his actions, like a phoenix who recursively arises from its own ashes after being dead.
Tell us about the themes behind the album
The new songs are literally more aggressive, faster and well-balanced, rather than our past stuff, offering to the listeners a varied mix of modern heavy thrash-core, spiced with the usual band-trademark death influences, which gave to the music something darker and groovier. Let me say we believe to have been able to put together ten real killer songs which are gonna blow out your mind!
How do you go about writing your songs?
Usually the songwriting process starts with the guitar player breaking through with a killer riff, then the drummer and bass player follow building under a bone-saw drumming and some harsh bass-lines and finally the singer finishing spitting over all the shit of the world, simply telling the truth, the best thing to do the most of the times.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
Well at the moment is too much early to analyse any kind of further development, the new album is still in a pre-release step, and has been kickstarted literally few days ago, so the time spent has been really too short in order to reply to this question…what I can say is that a couple of reviews already arrived and they seem to be very optimistic and enthusiastic. The most part, pretty everyone, of media and music biz related people in Italy who have had the possibility to listen to it, tell this is our best album, with killing, fast and very exciting songs in the name and spirit of the best thrash-death metal around…so let’s see what kind of feedback we’ll first receive with this one before to start thinking about a new path for the band 😉
What can we expect from the future of Methedras?
Of course releasing System Subversion worldwide, hopefully under some good label, trying to catch the more attention possible as we believe this new album deserve a serious hype around, it’s really well-done, aggressive and brutally melodic, if you’re a fan of thrash-death-speed metal, then you should definitely diggin into it…moreover we’ll be soon engaged in a couple of imminent summer fests to officially present the new songs, at Metal Crowd in Belarus on the 16th of August, headlined by Hate, and at Malta Death Fest in Malta on the 6th of September with our bros Hour Of Penance headlining…and finally during the next fall, we should take also part to the “Sentencing Europe Tour”, supposed to happen end of November and beginning of December, and directly supporting the mighty US thrash-death maniacs Solstice from Florida, for the first time appearing in Europe. So the imminent future seems to be great for us and we’ll try to our best as usual!
Thanks so much for this interview and your time to read it, we hope to see you all at our next live events truly supporting what is the most important thing: the real metal attitude.. we exist because of you, thank to all of you out there!!
Phobiatic are from Germany and this is their second album of Technical Death Metal.
Phobiatic’s Death Metal is both technical and brutal and takes cues from the likes of Dying Fetus – huge brutal riffs combine with intricate, swirling leads to create a monster of a Death Metal assault.
The songs are largely short and sadistic affairs, averaging about 3 minutes each; every track makes a virtue of aggressive complexity juxtaposed with a simpler and more brutally direct attack.
The production sounds fine and the band know what they’re doing with their respective instruments.
The vocals are deep, guttural and in your face. A band like this, however, has no need for subtlety and the forthright approach goes hand in hand with the nature of the songs.
Fragments of Flagrancy is an enjoyable album that’s short enough to satisfy the urge for instant destruction and technical enough to satisfy the desire for a deeper chaos.
Give the album a listen and see what they do for you.
This is the début album from The Hole, who are a Spanish Death Metal band with Thrash leanings.
The Hole thunder nicely out of the speakers with a heavy sound and crushing presence. It’s riff-heavy music intent on causing as much destruction and devastation as possible.
I’m not sure why but based on the album cover I was expecting this to be more commercial than it is, and I’m pleased to be mistaken as this is pleasantly brutal and harsh.
I think I was maybe expecting the Thrash element of their sound to be the dominant partner, but no; although their Thrash influence has its place and keeps the album from sounding stale, it’s the harsher Death Metal sound that is the driving force here.
The Thrash edge lends the songs a more considered side than if it was pure Brutal Death Metal, but nonetheless this is raging and storming music for the most part. Some of the riffs and ideas are actually quite inventive and the band strive to keep the album as varied and interesting as possible, which is to be commended.
The heaviness is offset with occasional melodic moments and the band know their business. A good amount of solos are played too, which is always nice.
Blast beats and mid-paced double bass sections force the guitars to keep up, and the bass actually has a presence in the songs which is good to hear.
The vocals alternate between deep, evil sounding growls and higher rasps. Both sound good; both do the job. Good vocal rhythms and structures are used.
An enjoyable and solid release. Have a listen to this.
Having just released their impressive, diverse and very individual second album Moon Worship, I caught up with the band to find they’re only just getting started…
Give us a bit of background to Giant of the Mountain
Giant of the Mountain is a Dallas based metal band started by me and my wife Randi (the drummer) in 2008. We both started on guitar, went through member changes and Randi switched to drums. Since then, we’ve released a few recordings, and evolved into what we are today.
What are your influences?
I would say my main influences are Opeth, Emperor, and Death.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Right now, I’m listening to Mournful Congregation. I haven’t been able to put The June Frost and Concrescence of the Sophia down lately. They are incredible. I’ve also been jamming Laethora out quite a bit. They haven’t put anything new out recently, but it’s so dark, brutal, and a little crusty too. I also recommend the new Infestus, and the new Imogen Heap is really great too.
You have a wide range of styles in your sound – how would you describe your music?
Basically everything I write is me trying to make my own My Arms, Your Hearse (Opeth). We have a little death, a little black, and we also try to be progressive about it. We also welcome singing and acoustical passages. I guess I just have a song in my heart, and I can’t help but show it to the world, you know?
What did you want to achieve with your new album?
Well we are constantly growing and evolving as a band, and I wanted to fully capture our progression and growth on tape.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Yes, most definitely. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done to date.
What lyrical themes/feelings have you covered on it?
Mostly it’s Lovecraftian lore. There are songs about Dagon, Yig, a Cthulhu/Shub-Niggurath spawn and one about the moons in The Elder Scrolls lore (Masser and Secunda).
What’s the meaning of the album title?
Mostly the songs are about the moon, and reverence to it. It’s about the moon calling its followers the depths to Dagon.
Your songs have a lot of variety and interest to them – how do you go about writing your songs?
It’s hard to say where exactly inspiration or that magical special riff that makes the song comes from. Once something that really strikes my fancy comes along I start building on that until I have a whole song. After that we start working on adding the drums and bass, and then I write the lyrics and working them into the songs. Then we practice them until we feel they are the best they can be.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
I definitely want more of everything. I want more complexity, brutality, and blackness. I want more acoustical passages and I want to top the vocal harmonies we did in moon worship. To me there is no limit, and we are at the beginning. I haven’t even begun to think of my best idea yet.
What can we expect from future releases?
Hopefully it’s something you wouldn’t expect. I want something to take you off guard and pull you in at the same time. Who knows what we’ll come up with!
What’s next for Giant of the Mountain?
Touring ! We want to play everywhere, and we want to meet more great people from around the world. Metal really does have the best fans. It seems like no matter where you go, and what city you’re in metal folks are always cool to be around.
Unaussprechlichen Kulten have recently released their third album Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath and it’s a veritable feast of occult Death Metal. Between bouts of blasting it out at high volume I quizzed guitarist/vocalist Joseph Curwen about the album hoping he could shed some light on the dark depths within…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
To the readers of Wonderbox! Of course all of you are unfamiliar with our band! We come from the end of the world: Chile, so the” third world” sends his curses to the “first world”!
Give us a bit of history to Unaussprechlichen Kulten
We start in early 2000 in Santiago, Chile with a couple of demos, inspired at Lovecraft’s “literary”. Our style: OCCULT DEATH METAL, taking inspiration from old and new metal.
Until now, we have 3 albums, some 7 inches and some splits, this year 2014 (September) we will do our second European tour.
What are your influences?
The “Olds Ones” are our spiritual influences! About Metal influences, you know from classics like SLAYER (old), MERCYFUL FATE, INFERNAL MAJESTY until INCANTATION, MORTEM (Peru), NECRODEATH, INCUBUS (USA), GORGUTS, SHUB NIGGURATH, IMMOLATION, PENTAGRAM (Chile), MORTA SKULD, DISMEMBER, NOCTURNUS and of course The Almighty SADISTIC INTENT.
We have a foot in Swedish/Finnish, and the other in American and South American DEATH METAL (80-90s) and a bit of influence (guitars) from some new bands like Deathspell Omega.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
From Chile: GODLESS (maybe the best Chilean band!), DEMONIC RAGE, FORCE OF DARKNESS, MAGNANIMVS, ATOMICIDE, HADES ARCHER, DIABOLICAL MESSIAH, ANCIENT CRYPTS, SLAUGHTBBATH, INVICIBLE FORCE, HORRIFYING, ATHANATOS… Pure feeling!
Foreign: POISONUS, DAEMONIC, ATARXYS (Arrrg the last album rulezzz), VOIDS OF VOMIT, ZOMBIFICATION, SWALLOWED, TOMBSTONE (Italy), IMPOSER,ABYSS (Canada), ECTOVOID, BLESSED OFAL, INCARCERATION, NECROHOLOCAUST, EVOKED TERROR, HATESPAWN, LATERN, AFTER DEATH, MASADA, ORDO INFERNUS SKELETHAL, SULPHUR AEON, GOREPHILIA, HAEMOPHAGUS among many others.
Tell us about your new album
The concept background of this new Chapter it is a consolidation of mythology in relation with the “Goat Worship”, the Eliphas Levi´s Baphomet, the God Pan and Lovecraft´s Shub Niggurath, mixed with universal mythology and even Chilean legends.
Was recorded in one month at DM6 studio, at home, this year 2014. We have recorded all of our albums there and also our rehearsal room is there. The owner of this studio (Pablo Clares) knows how Death Metal must be recording.
The cover art was painted by Daniel Corcuera in a fuckin awesome way!
Are you happy with how it turned out?
I’m pretty satisfied, until now the album have good promotion from both labels: IRON BONEHEAD and DARK DESCENT. Talking about music, to me is our better work, but the best, will come in the future.
What can you tell us about the lyrics/themes of the songs?
As you may know, mainly the Lovecraft’s myths and their relation with the “Mysteries of Death” are the core of our lyrics. The deities of Lovecraft represent archetypes present in different cultures and every culture has something that we called “The Memory of the Blood”, that’s what creates “worships”, myths and religions in relation with “common” monsters like Hydras or Sea Serpents, so we take the Lovecraft terminology to explain with “his words” spiritual concepts that otherwise we would be forced to use “christians” or “common” terms.
How do you go about writing your songs?
About Metal, first I do the riffs, arrangements and disharmonies of guitars, in accordance to what lyrics need, like faster, slower or thicker parts, thinking in the “concept” under the lyrics all the time. After “a-melodic” line are ok, I show guitars to Butcher, drum is 100% his responsibility. Then we adjust the structure and cuts, together in the rehearsal room.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
The most twisted, morbid and creepy that our capabilities allow. Special techniques or sound??? Who cares?…..
What’s next for Unaussprechlichen Kulten?
In September of this year 2014 we will be in Europe in our second tour with INCARCERATION and ZOMBIFICATION in Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Holland and Belgium, and finally with DECAPITATED CHRIST! In Spain, France and Portugal.
Cathedral Fever are from the US and play Hardcore that’s chaotic, Crusty and dark.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Talk to us about the lyrics
What are your influences?
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Wonderbox Metal 