Wonderbox Metal

Deprive – Into Oblivion (Review)

This is the début album from Spanish band Deprive. They play Old School Death Metal. Actually I should say “he plays”, as Deprive is helmed by just one man.

Into Oblivion has a morbid, ancient sound that evokes images of graveyards in decades past. For all this though the production is still warm and suited to the feel of the band.

This is 90’s-style Death Metal with a sound that’s even older than that. There are some eerie, emotive melodies amongst the riffs and the mastermind behind the band also has a nice grasp on some Doom licks, which are spread out liberally around the tracks.

Blast beats, mid-paced sections and Doom riffs all coalesce in Deprive’s songs to produce an album that sounds both authentic and satisfying.

The singer has a quality voice that’s deep and aggressive yet still as old and as venerable as the music.

Sometimes I feel I’ve reached my saturation point with Old-School Death Metal, but then a band like Deprive comes along and I can’t help but totally dig it. Their incorporation of blasting aggression and Doom-inflected passages into the standard Old-School template makes Into Oblivion a compelling listen.

The best thing, of course, is the songs themselves; all of these different elements are arranged naturally so that the band end up with tracks that are actually song-based as opposed to a collection of knitted-together riffs.

Deprive has impressed. Here’s to Into Oblivion!

Arthedain – Arias Exalted (Review)

Arthedain are from Germany and play Black Metal. This is their second EP.

Arthedain play Black Metal that’s powered by the frosted winds and icy to the core.

Razor sharp Blackened riffs cut though the chill and the blasting drums pummel all who dare expose themselves to these bitter elements.

When the band slow themselves down they show themselves perfectly capable of getting themselves into a good groove.

Subtle atmospheric highlights enhance the compositions and the band create suitably darkly majestic soundscapes to accompany their art but without ostentation or vulgar overtness.

At 14 minutes in length this only a short introduction to the band really, but it’s one that I have really enjoyed. Arthedain play their Black Metal very well indeed.

Here’s hoping their début album will be as good as this.

Half Gramme of Soma – Marche au Noir (Review)

Half Gramme of Soma are from Greece and play Hard/Stoner Rock. This is their latest EP, their second release.

Half Gramme Of Soma have a sound that rolls out of the speakers with earthen grit and a confident gait.

This EP has a warm sound that makes the guitars come alive with a glorious fuzziness. The production is top notch and thankfully the songs match the sonic quality levels.

The singer’s voice is all gravel and character. He has a powerful voice that’s like a slightly dirtier version of the singer of Disturbed. It sounds great and the performance level is always high.

These songs speak of a confident band who know what they want to do and know exactly how to go about achieving their goals. These are very mature compositions that may sit neatly in the Stoner Rock genre but also borrow from others, such as Hard Rock, Modern Metal and Doom.

This refusal to play entirely by the Stoner template works entirely in their favour and as such Marche au Noir has a lot of different flavours across its 5 tracks. From the upbeat opener Marche, to the jaunty/doomy juxtaposition of Hitch Hike and the crowning centrepiece Cage, this EP has more to offer in 5 songs than most bands of this ilk do in 10.

Marche au Noir is a decent length EP at 25 minutes that showcases the band’s ample talents.

Definitely a recommended listen.

Interview with Bloodscribe

Bloodscribe have a produced an extremely satisfying first album with Prologue to the Apocalypse. Spreading the word about his band and all things Bloodscribe is their vocalist Jasan…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We’re a 5 piece death metal band currently made up of Jasan (vocals), Joseph (Guitar), Michael (Guitar), Jesse (Drums), and Dennis (Bass).

Give us a bit of history to Bloodscribe

Bloodscribe was formed by Jesse and myself (Jasan) in 2004 strictly as a way for us to spend time and have fun with music, never did we imagine playing so many shows and getting as far as we have now. After a few member changes we seem to have reached a pretty solid line up that has giving the band the sound we have today.

Where does the name come from?

The name was actually completely made up by Jesse after skimming through and dictionary and seeing the word “describe” and simply added “blood” to it. There’s no real wow factor to the name and in no way is it related or influenced by Lamb of God.

What are your influences?

We all agree on 3 major influences, Dying Fetus, Disgorge, and The Black Dahlia Murder.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

We all listen to different thing aside from metal if you’re open minded then definitely check out.

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

The goals for this album are endless and by no way have we set limits going in to this album but we definitely want to play some shows out of the country.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

We’re certainly happy with the end result but we have already raised the standards for the next album.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Well the lyrics are influenced by current events in society as well as ongoing ones, one big topic for us is religion and its weakening influence on its followers.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

We all tend to have our own unique ideas which we bring to practice to share and build on as a band. We usually pick one idea and grind it out till we’ve written something we all agree on.

What’s your favourite song on the album and why?

We all really took a liking on “Enslaved by Deceptions” because it really portrays the sound we are going for thus making it an easy choice for our first single and video.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

We’ve actually already started writing for the next album and feel we are headed towards a heavier and better plotted sound that will make an impact in the metal scene.

What’s next for Bloodscribe?

For now we plan on really pushing the album by promoting and touring as much as possible, while doing that we will continue to write and hopefully have some new material to go into the studio with in the near future.

Apocrophex – Suspended from the Cosmic Altaar (Review)

This is the début Technical Death Metal album from US band Apocrophex.

Building on their short but very promising EP Wheels Within Wheels, Apocrophex are now back with a full album, one that I’ve been quite looking forward to.

Opening straight up with some dense widdling and technical mayhem, Apocrophex make a grand entrance. I love the fact that their sound is equal parts heavy brutality and technical mayhem.

But what’s this? There’s an increased depth and maturity of songwriting here that was absent on their first release. It lends these songs an air of gravitas as they are an impressively realised collection of Technical Death Metal tracks.

Importanly, the technicality never takes over from the songs themselves and there are some quality emotive passages and high energy riffs here amidst the chaos.

Some Technical bands concentrate too much on what the lead guitar is doing, leaving the rhythm essentially providing just filler material. Apocrophex do things differently though; they put just as much effort into the rhythm guitars as they do the complicated and flash leads/solos. The result is songs that marry the best of both worlds and Suspended from the Cosmic Altaar is a real gem of an album because of this.

The vocals are as equally impressive as the music. The deep growls have come a long way since the EP and are hugely satisfying. High screams accentuate the aggression and there are even some semi-clean shouts that rise up out of the carnage on occasion to really add emphasis where it’s needed.

I think I’ve just found my new favourite Technical Death Metal band.

Essential listening for all Extreme Metal fans.

Interview with Unhold

After releasing their fourth album – Towering – Unhold are in a great position with such a strong album under their collective belts. I wanted to find out a bit more information and background to this impressive album. Let’s delve in…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We’re four guys and one gal: Daniel on drums, Leo on bass, Miriam on piano/synths and vocals, Thomas on guitar and vocals, and Philipp also on guitar and vocals, I’ll try to answer your questions on behalf of the band.

Give us a bit of history to Unhold

Unhold was born from the heads & hearts of four teenagers, we decided to get instruments and give it a shot. That was around 1990, ages ago. At first we just jammed around, occasionally riffing after bands like Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, Entombed. We started making our own songs pretty quick, that was more leaning towards Death/Thrash Metal. After the first couple years and a bunch of shows we gave it a more serious thought, changed our name to «Unhold». Around 2000 our original drummer decided to quit, we were lucky to have Daniel join, he also was from our little community who listened to heavy music and visited shows out of town. We released «Walking Blackwards», our début. That already had elements of Noiserock and Stoner on it. Not the heaviest production, though. 2004 we released «Loess», I think the angriest of our albums. That as well as «Gold Cut» (2008) was recorded with Serge Morattel in Geneva. We toured with that album for a good two years, then got back to work on new material. In 2012 we celebrated our 20 year anniversary, had a lineup change and started working to finalize the fourth album.

What are your influences?

Sometimes it’s hard to distinct between bands that we just purely like to listen to and bands that actually influence the way we do our music. Definitely there’s bands like Neurosis, Unsane, Black Sabbath, Helmet, Clutch, Melvins, Kyuss that made an impact. Younger bands also of course don’t pass us without notice, we’re often referred to bands like Isis, Kylesa, Cult Of Luna and the like, but they’re more like a big cousin with the same ancestors, than an actual influence.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Let me think, what was played and discussed in our van… Royal Thunder, Chelsea Wolfe, Watter, Type O Negative. I’d personally recommend Ty Segall’s «Manipulator», Mojave Lords «Unfuckwithable», pretty much everything by Killing Joke…

What did you want to achieve with your new album?

I think the main focus was to implement the new members and the new elements into an existing skeleton framework of songs. To take Unhold and make the next natural/logical step.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Yes! Very much so! We took a bit a different approach this time, recorded locally with Remo Häberli at Hidden Stash and mixed/mastered remotely with Latch Manghat from Gonga and Andy Henderson at Retrosonic Studios in Bristol. Perhaps with the new lineup we also instinctively took a step aside from a full on cutting edge metal production, more basically thinking about rock songs when editing and mixing.

What’s your favourite song on it and why?

That’s really hard to say. One song that excites me a lot is «Southern Grave», because it strikes a new chord in regards of songwriting and the use of vocals. Maybe we’ll see more stuff in that manner in the future, who knows.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Generally our lyrics are more focused on the inner realm of being a human in this day and age. For me personally «I Belong» is probably the track I have the strongest relation to because of the story it tells. When I tell people I’m a quarter native american they ask me if I can hear trees talk… good fun! Specifically it describes my attempt to relate to the past, although geographically dislocated I feel a strong connection and I try to find words to describe what goes through my head. Every human being has an urge wanting to belong, to be remembered, recognized, to leave a trace of some sort. The song also deals with the slow and quite silent passing of a rich culture and tradition.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

We have a pretty democratic way of working on songs, basic ideas come from individual members, yet we also have a jam-based method where we gather pieces and bits. The process can be time-consuming, but I think we gain a closer relation to the resulting song in the end, you know which piece belongs where and for what reason. We’ll see with the new members if that still suits best or if we find new ways to come up with material.

As you have multiple singers in the band, how do you decided who sings which part?

Basically who comes up with lyrics gets to vocalize the song. With «Southern Grave» we made an effort to actually explore our voice-range a bit, which was exciting and also a challenge, but I think we’ll try to investigate further what we can do as a «choir».

How do you see your songs/direction developing for your next release?

It’s a bit early to foresee what it’s going to sound like exactly. Our aim and hope is to make the new material even more dense and entangled. Having all instruments from the beginning contributing to the building of the song. Maybe also start with the voices for a change or maybe pursue a theme/concept for the whole album. The first song we made since finishing «Towering» came pretty natural and all in almost one evening, so I hope there’s more up the sleeve!

What are your thoughts on the current state of the wider Metal scene and your place within it?

All in all it’s good to see that the good and strong stuff survives. Younger kids dig the newer Metal a well as the old classics. As long as Metal allows a certain amount of innovation and renewal I think it will keep evolving and stay exciting. When you’re in it for such a long time it’s interesting to observe who and what survives. For the kind of «Metal» we make there seems more and more an established niche evolving with festivals and a loyal following. We’ve always been a bit between scenes, since we also don’t really have one back home it’s not such a big deal. Although I sometimes miss to have a couple brothers in arms, so to speak.

What will the future bring for Unhold?

We hope for a broader audience, good opportunities to play live and tour. For sure also a next release, we’re looking forward to have more exclusive time to write new stuff and experiment.

Thanks!

Unrest – Grindcore (Review)

Unrest are from the US and play Grindcore, as you can probably tell. In fact, what do you do with an album titled Grindcore? Well, I’ll tell you what you do; you play it really damn loud.

Unrest appear to exist purely to play tribute to Nasum. In theory, this could end very badly indeed as Nasum are just sooooo good. However, in an unexpected twist of fate, Unrest manage to pull off quite the paradox by faithfully reproducing Nasum’s sound without sounding like a cheap knock off. Colour me impressed!

So, if you know what Nasum sounds like you know what Grindcore sounds like, and you can take that sentence in multiple ways really. Unrest’s Grindcore is tight, focused and furiously aggressive modern Grind that chokes the listener with almost 27 minutes of sharp, tasty Grindcore treats.

Like their heroes, Unrest know that Grind isn’t just about the blasting; dynamics, groove, feeling…these things are all important ingredients in the perfect Grind cake. Of course, this album isn’t perfect, but it is better than most.

Featuring some actual songs amidst the carnage and enough cutting riffs to maim the unwary, Grindcore delivers the goods time and time again.

Quality Grindage.

Eerie – Into Everlasting Death (Review)

Eerie are a Black Metal band from Poland and this is their début album.

With an album cover that screams “QUALITY METAL”, Eerie explode out of the speakers like a freight train, all speed and power. Their brand of Black Metal is of the underground, yet-still-state-of-the-art variety.

Blasting drums and Blackened melodies merge into a holistic listening experience that transcends mere descriptive words. This is elemental Black Metal, torn from the void and given form by practiced hands.

This is not a one-dimensional blast-fest though as Eerie have degrees of venomous attack and enough variety and light/shade to provide the listener with real depth.

Powerful vocals dominate proceedings, be this Blackened screams, commanding shouts or subtle cleans; the performance level is high and the delivery faultless.

These songs have the feel of exciting, otherworldly Black Metal that was highly prevalent in the late 90’s/early 00’s and Eerie take me back to those days whilst still managing to sound completely of the here and now.

Into Everlasting Death is a well-composed, highly realised incarnation of high Black Metal art. Seek it out.

Interview with Epi-Demic

Epi-Demic’s recent split with Solanum – Passages to Lunacy – proves that there’s plenty of life left in underground Thrash Metal in 2015. Adam was kind enough to answer some questions about the band and what they’re up to…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Epi-Demic is a group of three guys from Calgary Alberta Canada playing a furious style of Crossover/Thrash Metal. Adam (that’s me), I play guitar and do the vocals, Kyle plays bass and Aaron plays the drums and does backup vocals. We have all been friends since high school when we started hanging out and playing music together. All of us were into Old school Hardcore Punk/Thrash Metal/Crossover and we wanted to start a band in that style. When we started jamming we wanted to create a sound that was heavy and aggressive but also unique and all our own. In the beginning learning how to play our instruments the music had a hardcore punk feel to it but as we got better as musicians it developed into a Crossover/Thrash style. The three of us have been playing music together for almost 10 years. We love what we do and hope to do it for a long time to come.

Give us a bit of history to Epi-Demic

Aaron and I started jamming when Aaron got a drum set and started practising. I had jammed with a few other people with no real results, but when me and Aaron started playing something clicked and we knew we had something that we could develop and put some work into that would be good. After a while we began looking for a bass player, we tried a few people out and kept writing material. Kyle had been playing with another group at this time, which eventually disbanded. In 2005 Aaron and I asked Kyle to jam with us and Epi-Demic was born. As we started to form a sound and an identity as a band we set our sights on getting a set together and playing some shows, eventually we landed a show at a local bar but there was a problem…I was still a minor! We managed to sneak around that roadblock for about a year with the help of a fake I.D. and a little luck, and we have kept going from there. Since then we have played many, many local shows, toured the west coast of Canada and the U.S., released a demo (The Plague Begins) and a full length (Madness) and have had a lot of fun doing it.

What are your influences

Like I said earlier we all started off listening to Hardcore/Crossover/Thrash music in High school when we started Epi-Demic so that was our main influence. Musically We’re into bands like: Cro-Mags, Warfare, Autopsy, No Mercy, English Dogs, Dr. Know, Ludichrist, Attitude Adjustment, Possessed, Demilich, Exodus, Overkill, Artillery, Excel, Beyond Possession and Asphyx just to name a few. My band members are an influence to me, they inspire me to play better and write better stuff all the time. Life in general is an influence for me for sure, the world around me both the good and bad definitely play a part in the music and lyrics I write.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Here are 10 albums I’m really into right now:

1. Anacrusis, “Suffering Hour”

2. Autopsy, “Acts Of The Unspeakable”

3. Corrosion Of Conformity, “Technocracy”

4. Fear, “More Beer”

5. Morbid Angel, “Gateways To Annihilation”

6. Sodom, “Mortal Way Of Live”

7. Demilich, “Nespithe”

8. Excel, “Split Image”

9. Broken Bones, “Trader In Death”

10. Pestilence, “Malleus Maleficarum”

What do you think about the current state of the Thrash Metal scene in 2015?

Overall it’s doing really well and is healthy in my opinion. I think the scene is the scene, It’s usually really good but it can suck at some times. Sometimes you go to a show and have a blast sometimes it’s populated by dick heads and that can be a drag. Bullshit aside, I think it’s a good thing that there are bands both new and established playing thrash in 2015 and there are venues for these bands to play and for people to go enjoy themselves. I think that there is good music coming out right now and some that’s not so good but that’s not a new thing. Sometimes it feels like there are bands that go for a style that is derivative of things that have been done to death already. I like bands that don’t go for the lowest common denominator and push the envelope, thankfully there are bands like this in the thrash scene today.

Epi-Demic Band How did your new split with Solanum come about?

The split with Solanum was sort of a spur of the moment kind of thing actually. Epi-Demic had not planned on recording a split at all, but a friend of ours showed us their demo and we really liked the music. We got in touch with them and they sent us a few copies of their album and we sent them a few copies of ours. After that they decided to do a short tour of the west side of Canada so we helped them out by hosting a gig for them in Calgary, a few months later we went out to Winnipeg where they are from and played a couple of shows. Along the way the idea for a split came up and we were all into it so we made it happen. It all came together very quickly and it was a lot of fun to do.

What did you want to achieve with this new release?

First of all we wanted to make an album that was heavy! The songs we chose for the split are songs that we have worked very hard on, and put a great deal of practise and thought into. Now that the album is pressed and available at http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/store/hpgd103.html we want to take it as far as we can and get it into as many ears as possible. The split has received some very positive reviews so far which is good to hear, hopefully it will get both bands more exposure on an international level as well as at home.

Are you happy with how it turned out?

Absolutely! It’s everything we wanted it to be. Both bands put down some killer material that speaks for itself when you hear it. The production is raw and gritty, which I think helps the album as far as the atmosphere goes. The cover art is something that really stands out to me and it could not have turned out better. It’s a haunting image that fits the title of the album “Passages To Lunacy” perfectly. The whole process from meeting the guys from Solanum, to recording the songs, getting the album together and finally releasing it has been a very smooth process. We had high expectations for the split and so far it has delivered on all fronts.

What can you tell us about the lyrics?

Epi-Demics lyrics deal primarily with the darker side of being human and the world around us. On the split in particular the lyrics are about suffering and pain. “Time Is Running Short (Dying On The Cross)” deals with the psychological pressure placed on people in this day and age, and how giving up in a tense situation is the worst thing that one can do for oneself. “Famine” is about starvation and hunger in all of its wicked forms. “Nuclear Dream” is about us as humans losing our way as a people and needing to make changes and start again. Finally “Stewing In Misery” is about depression and desperation, and wanting to break away from these negative feelings at any cost.

Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.

We write all of the music together for the most part, when one of us has an idea we jam it out and see where it goes. As we get a feel for the song we add new parts and experiment with different ways of playing things until we get it the way we want it. Once we have the music written we practise it until it’s ready to play live. At this point I take the song and explore the overall feeling of it until I create a theme for the lyrics and figure out what I want to say. After the lyrics are completed once again we practise it over and over until it’s ready for performance. We don’t force anything that we feel isn’t working, we like to let the music come naturally.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

I can see the music getting more textured and complex in the future, the foundation of the band will always remain the same, crossover is what we play and that will not change. I think as we progress as musicians the songs will get more intricate even if we didn’t want them to, maybe they will get longer maybe not. Bottom line is that we will always play fast, heavy, aggressive music. It’s hard to say exactly what Epi-Demic will be like in the future but you can rest assured that it will intense and unique in its brutality.

What’s your favourite song on the split and why?

Good question. From Solanum’s side I would pick “Manipulated”. The song is sheer insanity and has some really cool riffs and grooves. Cam’s vocals on it are hard and unforgiving. If you like to bang your head make sure you check this song out. On the Epi-Demic side my favourite song is “Nuclear Dream”. From the opening riff to the last, this song is something that I’m very proud of. The duelling vocals between Aaron and I really worked well on this song, and every instrument comes through and plays its role well. This song took some time to write, so finally hearing it recorded was very satisfying to me. I also feel like the lyrics are some of the best ones I have ever written, and for that reason I would say it’s my favourite on the album.

What’s next for Epi-Demic?

Epi-Demic is going to have a busy year. It is our intention to record and release a new full length album before the end of summer 2015, the majority of the songs have been written already but we want to do a couple more to really fill the album up. In addition to the new album we hope to do a tour of the east side of Canada and the east coast of the United States this summer. Starting in Calgary and going all the way to the tri-state area will be a large undertaking but we are optimistic and excited to break new ground in cities that we have not played before. We’ve done most of our shows on the west side, so to go play uncharted territory is something we need to do. And as always we will keep the underground spirit strong, piss on fashion, and assault eardrums everywhere we go.

Album stream: https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/passages-to-lunacy-split

Order CD: http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/store/hpgd103.html

Epi-Demic facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theplaguebegins13

Gristnam – Even Less (Review)

Gristnam are from the US and play Grindcore/Sludge.

This is underground, aggressive Grind that takes elements of extreme Hardcore’s hateful violence and Sludge’s nasty groove to produce eleven tracks of Grind’n’Roll that is good for what ails ya.

Deep vocals populate the songs with a throaty aggression that fits the music well. The singer has a charismatic bark that has an appropriately Southern twinge to it, adding personality to the bile.

The production is fuzzy and heavy, allowing the band to be their filthy, nasty selves without detracting from the intensity of the music.

The songs have the Southern groove of Eyehategod, the confident swagger of Brutal Truth and the pure-blooded confidence of the Southern Metal scene. Indeed anyone familiar with the hotbed of earthy Metal talent that is Louisiana will recognise the tell-tale signs of this scene in Gristnam’s sound. Yet remarkably, like all of the output from this area, Gristnam have their own personality stamped into these tracks and Even Less is definitely its own beast.

These songs will leave you breathless and I imagine would transform a live show into a heaving mass of sweaty bodies and bloody carnage. The aggressive groove and dangerous assault of Gristnam is positively designed for the live environment.

Even Less has won me over effortlessly. What’s not to like here? Fans of underground, heavy, nasty music will no doubt lap this up, as they well should.

Check them out.