Black metal – Page 202 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Mithridatic

Blackened Death Metal can sometimes be a bit hit or miss, but with the début album Miserable Miracle from French band Mithridatic, it’s a definite hit. It’s a very strong album in more ways than one, and I was curious to find out more, so I caught up with their guitarist Romain Sanchez to find out what makes a miserable miracle…

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

Hi! Firstly Mithridatic is just a band in the middle of a plethora of bands, created in 2007 in Saint Etienne France. Our inspiration is in old school death metal with some modern touches. We try to make an uncomfortable feeling, and to give much violence and power to the auditor. We pass by diverse styles of extreme metal such as doom, or fast as death brutal and using dark atmospheres of black metal.

Give us a bit of background to Mithridatic

Mithridatic is formed by 5 musicians all from the same region in France.

The drummer Kevin Paradis joined the band for the release of our demo “Hunt Is On”. Since Kevin’s entrance to the band we brought our style to a faster way, more extreme music, more hostile and oppressive. We are musicians with a lot of different influences. It allows us to pass by various styles of rhythms and various feelings. By the opportunity to have in the team musicians with a lot of technique, we want to achieve our goal: to give extreme music and to accomplish ourselves with our skills.

What are your influences?

We all have different influences, but I am going to begin my influences: the groups which marked me the most for making our song tracks are Morbid angel, Slayer, Arkhon Infaustus, Mayhem, Immolation, Angelcorpse etc. Mithridatic is a mix of an heavy atmosphere with ultra fast beats!

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

At the moment I would like to recommend Dead Congregation, Portal, Lvcifyre, Conan.… and I know Guitou is into Kerasphorus, Abhomine and Peter Helmkamp’s other works these days…

How do you feel that you fit into the wider Extreme Metal scene?

We still have a long way….But we are very enthusiastic to expose our music in various situations, we just want to play more and more!

Give us a bit of background to Miserable Miracle – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?

The main idea of this album is to overcome different kinds of harmful situations… we describe nocebo effects, social anxiety, precarious existences…lyrics are inspired by some writings from French authors like Antonin Artaud, Henri Michaux etc. and some strange movies…Guitou had a kind of surrealist approach for its works for this album. We tried to create a ‘bardo’ state and to give a transcription of our anxiety and sickness…and this is also the way for the next album. Miserable Miracle is an important album for us because it’s our first “official” album for almost 10 years of activity. We hope the first one of many others! It also marks our entry into the French label Kaotoxin and Miserable Miracle has a better exposition than our old productions very underground. We also changed our habits of production by recording in two professional studio “DLM Studio” and “Sainte Marthe Studio”. We are all satisfied by results and by the sound of this album between old school and modern stuff. Kevin our drummer decided to record in a most natural possible way to get a sound close to our live performance. We wanted an organic and human sound.

Tell us about the album artwork

Damien Guerras’s illustration gives a free interpretation….I’m going to speak to you about mine: it represents the Adam and Eve tree in our world and society! The perversion of humankind have exceeded all the limits, the tree decomposes. The poison of perversion intoxicates our nervous system….This is a pessimistic picture of our miserable human condition.

How do you go about writing your songs?

I lock myself at home with my guitar for several days to record many riffs. It’s long process and sometimes inspiration doesn’t comes. I need time to get into a negative state of mind. Sometimes it can go very fast for example riffs of “Dispense the Adulterated ” and “Oxydized Trigger Sabotage” were written in the same week…Once riffs are recorded I send it to Kevin. It helps for structures of tracks and he makes his personal drum parts. Then we discusses of our ways to develop harmful songs…In rehearsal Alex and Remolow also composes with the material for bass parts and leads guitars. To finish Guitou places his vocals…The lyrics process is a quite difficult to describe because it’s an everyday process…. Miserable Miracle is a team work and everyone gives its personal style or feeling to get the riffs richer. Everyone is involved in an extreme vision of life and music.

How did the recording process go?

We recorded all the songs in the DLM Studio in Saint-Etienne and the mix/master was made by the Sainte-Marthe Studio in Paris. We decided to make the mix/master in Sainte-Marthe Studio with Francis Caste because we like his works on Svart Crown, Arkhon Infaustus, Kickback or Cowards for example. Francis Caste is a great professional, very fast, and an effective worker. Dupont Ludovic of the DLM Studio allowed us to record without stress at 20 minutes from home with a very good analogue equipment. Everything is very well.

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

My favourite song of the record is surely Oxydized Trigger Sabotage…I like the particular atmosphere of this track. Doom and tortured. The vocal performance by Guitou is awesome!

What does the future hold for Mithridatic?

The maximum of gigs to defend our music on stage. We hope to build and to acquire a solid place in extreme metal! We will work on new material as soon as possible! We have a lot of motivation to make a second album and to make good shows!! See you on stage!! Thanks for your interest!

Abstracter/Dark Circles – Split (Review)

Abstracter are a Sludge/Doom band from the US, and Dark Circles are a Hardcore band from Canada.

Both of Abstracter’s full length albums, (Tomb of Feathers and Wound Empire), feature regularly in my listening. And with good reason; their brand of heavy, blackened Sludge/Doom is expertly done. On this release they contribute 2 tracks, lasting almost 20 minutes in total.

Barathrum starts off showcasing the band’s blackened aspect, with dark, murky blast beats charging through a sea of tar. This rather quickly spends itself, leading into a slow, sludgy crawl through murkiest waters as Abstracter embrace their dirty Doom side. Occasional forays into speed and groovier territories comprise the remaining running time, with the singer’s thick growl accompanying you the entire way.

If you haven’t encountered Abstracter before then this song is as good an introduction as any into their harsh, underground Sludge Metal.

But we’re not done yet, as there’s a second track; Where All Pain Converges. This is a little longer than the first and generally a bit slower and more considered. If Barathrum showcased the band’s harsher side then this one showcases their more atmospheric. That’s not to say this isn’t harsh and heavy, (it is), but that it also has more of a blatant emotive quality to the guitars than the soul-crushing nihilism of the first. Mixing slower sections with some more upbeat parts, the overall mood is maintained throughout and Abstracter once again show why they’re so very good at what they do.

After this onslaught of despair and misery, we leave Abstracter to wallow in their pit of pain, and approach, timidly, Dark Circles. This band offer up a different form of gloom with their characterful brand of dark Hardcore. Being familiar with their previous work on MMXIV, it’s good to catch up with them again and here they give us 4 songs, lasting just under 13 minutes.

Ashen starts us off with a squeal of feedback before violently picking up the pace with the band’s dark blend of abrasive Hardcore. One of the things I like about Dark Circles is their ability to inject an emotive bleakness into their raging chaos, engaging the listener and prompting them to move closer, despite the inherent danger. The second track Void follows on in a similar theme, (but with added atmosphere), and both initial tracks blur by in a haze of anger and distorted malice.

After these typically short and nasty affairs both of the next tracks are much longer by comparison, relative to this split and to their work on MMXIV. Isolate starts immediately, all blackened teeth and bile. The longer playing time allows the band the opportunity to flesh out the more atmospheric side of their sound that briefly reared its head during Void. This shows itself to be an apocalyptic Sludge/Doom influence, heavy and foreboding, before the Hardcore energy picks up once more.

The final track is called Epilogue (Quietus) OP. 28 No. 4 and is a little different, as the name suggests; here the band give vent to a dark ambient side and swamp the listener with a slow-building tense piece of drone that creates a nicely unsettling and worrying atmosphere.

Both bands have contributed some very nice work to this split release, and although they do play different styles they also have more than enough overlap and similar themes to complement each other perfectly. As splits go, this works a treat and is definitely one you should check out.

Bloodthirst – Glorious Sinners (Review)

This is the latest EP from Polish Blackened Thrashers Bloodthirst.

I enjoyed their last album Chalice of Contempt, so this new EP was gratefully received. Here we have over 20 minutes of scathing Black Metal and 80s Thrash influences.

These songs continue the band’s previous path of combining second-wave Black Metal with atavistic Thrash elements, striking the right balance so that they’re poised between two styles, waiting to strike.

Blast beats and spiky riffs blur by in a whirlwind of energy and dark melodies. The songs have personality and the band embrace the roots of both genres, forging them together down the path they want to take.

I find it easy to be turned off by Black/Thrash a lot of the time, but I do enjoy Bloodthirst as they seem to have that intangible special something that raises them up to be greater than the sum of their parts. It’s the songs, of course, and the feel of them. Glorious Sinners just hits the spot for me and does what it sets out to do very well indeed.

A professional production rounds the package off, and Glorious Sinners is an eminently enjoyable listen.

Interview with Kampfar

Kampfar’s seventh album Profan is like a fine wine that just improves over time. Their bassist Jon Bakker gave me some insight into their world…

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

I’m Jon, the bass player of Kampfar.

Give us a bit of background to Kampfar

Kampfar came to life back in 1994. Over the years we released 7 albums via different labels. We are currently signed to Indie Recordings and our latest release, Profan, was out November last year. The last 13 years we have been a 4 piece, doing several tours in Europe and North America.

What are your influences?

We were teens in the 80s so naturally our favourite music and inspiration comes from that time. Can be everything from Heavy Metal, Thrash and early Black Metal like Kiss, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Sodom etc. Of newer times everything that makes a difference might inspire us.

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

There are some cool records being released nowadays. Personally I like Tribulation, Alfahanne, Mgła, Melechesh, Secrets Of The Moon and so on. I’m also into new thrash bands from Norway actually. Inculter, Reptilian and Nekromantheon rocks.

How do you feel about the Extreme Metal scene in 2016?

As I mentioned above there’s still hope for Extreme Metal. The new trend is to be different, and that may not be a bad thing. I’m pretty sick of bands trying to copy others though. It’s enough with one Abbath creature and one band like Darkthrone…

Give us a bit of background to Profan – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?

The whole idea behind Profan is to dig as far down in the filth as possible. It’s a search for hope and a journey to see if there’s anything that can save mankind. If you follow the lyrics the answer is pretty clear. There’s no hope, no hymns, no chants and no mercy. But there will be fire!

Tell us about your songwriting process?

Our process works with sharing ideas. It’s a long process for sure. One song is changed many times before everyone is satisfied. Then we meet in the rehearsal room and check the live potential.

How did the recording of the album go?

Everything went very smooth. The recording was done in different levels and places. Bergen, Pärlby/Sweden and Oslo. We’re very happy with everyone involved. Jonas and Stamos did an excellent job for us.

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

That’s difficult. I have favourites for every mood. Daimon is a killer live song while Tornekratt have a great groove and wildness.

How do you see your sound developing in the future?

To the extreme. We will not do another Profan nor Djevelmakt. If we ever find the inspiration for a new album, we will do it. If not, who knows…

What’s next for Kampfar?

We’ll play live as much as we can. We have a good package of excellent live songs now, and now its the time to get it out to the world.

Krigsgrav – Waves of Degradation (Review)

Krigsgrav are a Black Metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.

This is long and expansive Black Metal with a melodic edge. It’s vibrant and exploratory without losing focus and across these lengthy tracks the band take the time to unfold their vision of what Black Metal should look, feel and sound like in 2016.

If you take the depressive core of a band like Forgotten Tomb and add some Post-Black Metal influences, then you’ll be in the right area of where Krigsgrav lurk. Elements of depressive and melodic Black Metal round this out, as well as some aspects of funeral Doom.

With a decent recording the band’s compositions take on a dark life of their own. All of the instruments sound clear and precise, and I always like an album that you can hear the bass on, especially when it makes a valid and noticeable contribution to the music.

Additional instrumentation appears here and there, adding extra tools to the band’s repertoire and deepening the depths of sound that they create.

The vocals are notably impressive; ragged screams that sound like the singer is ripping his throat out are enhanced by the occasional deeper growl and some powerful cleans.

The songs describe harrowing tales of misery and hopelessness, set against a backdrop of just enough light and possibility so as to make the dark atmospheres all the worse. The mixture of lighter sections and heavier, blackened distortion work well and the build/release Post-Metal mechanic is used effectively in a Post-Black Metal environment.

Waves of Degradation is an impressive listen and has more than enough content to compel you to visit it again and again.

Recommended.

Interview with Sarke

Upon the release of their fourth album Bogefod, Sarke have unleashed a shambling horror of an album on an unsuspecting world. Dark, sinister and mysterious, it’s an album I can’t stop listening to and keep returning to again and again. I wanted to find out a little bit more about this impressive release…

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

I am Sarke, plays bass. I am the main songwriter in Sarke.

Give us a bit of background to Sarke

Sarke started out as a solo act. After tons of band releases I wanted to release an album were I did almost everything myself. Write all the song and lyrics, play all the instruments and produce the album. The album did well and the record company wanted to release more albums. I did not feel like doing another solo album, so I got together a full line up band.

What are your influences?

My influences are Norwegian nature like forests, mountains, lakes. Paintings by Kittelsen. Music from the 70s and 80s.

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

I don’t listen to much these days. When we play concerts ourself I focus on our own music.

How do you feel that you fit into the wider Black Metal scene?

Sarke is not only a black metal band. Our music has a big range. We have a lot of different style in our music. The members of Sarke have played all kind of metal.

Give us a bit of background to Bogefod – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?

Bogefod is a concept album. Its based on a 1000 year old Viking saga. Its about Torolv Bogefod, a Viking king that dies, comes back from the dead and terrorises the village as a walking dead.

Tell us about the album artwork

It’s done by Terje Johnsen. The artwork is taken from the movie SAGA, a film that Sarke is involved in and has also made a lot of the music in the film.

How do you go about writing your songs?

Its mostly written at home on acoustic guitar. We finish the song at rehearsal with the whole band. And usually add some riffs or parts together to make it work, so we get a complete song.

How did the recording process go?

It worked out great. We planned the recording process in advance. We start with drums. Acoustic drums with no trigging and so on. Then guitar, bass, keys and then Nocturno comes and do the vocals as the last thing.

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

Hard for me to pick one song. Maybe Taken because of the guitar solo.

What does the future hold for Sarke?

Not easy to say, but hopefully we will get some good shows and the people will check out Bogefod.

Ifrinn – Ifrinn (Review)

Here we have some Scottish Black Metal; Ifrinn’s début release.

This is raw Black Metal that nonetheless doesn’t restrict itself to the generic, Darkthrone-esque classic style, as many bands of this nature do. The album cover should give some mysterious clues away; this is music that mixes in the esoteric and occult into its vicious, spite-filled delivery.

After a dark and menacing ambient intro track, the music soon reveals itself to be equally dark and menacing, albeit also layered in distortion, speed and hateful invective. Ifrinn embrace the core nature of Black Metal and turn its simplistic pleasures to their advantage, wallowing in their self-generated atmospheric and moody soundscapes.

The music is darkly spirited and the songs wallow in the mysterious, otherworldly ambience that they create. The third track, (Sulphurous Oscillations), is another mood-piece, reinforcing the feeling of something strange and unsettling going on.

We end with a final song that shows a good grasp of bleak melodics and primitive auras, showing the mastery of shaded blackness that the guitars in particular employ .

Screamed vocals that frequently turn into agonised groans are a tortured accompaniment to these tracks, fixating in the listener’s mind the idea of something unhinged and tormented, barely concealed beneath the surface of the reality that the music allows you to glimpse.

This is a quality release. The music has an atavistic atmosphere that is a joy to revel in, without the emotive content becoming maudlin or stale; it’s warm enough to be inviting and cold enough to be strong and unforgiving.

Highly recommended.

Chaos Moon – Amissum (Review)

This is the latest EP from Chaos Moon, who are a US Black Metal band.

Having previously enjoyed their 2014 album Resurrection Extract, this is a re-released version of their 2015 EP of the same name, with two extra tracks added on for a total running time of 44 minutes spread out over 6 songs.

Chaos Moon’s music is atmospheric and raw, with elements of Shoegaze and Dark Ambient. Theirs is Black Metal with character and a grimy, occult lustre that marks them out as something a bit special.

Obscure melodies and sinister vibes are never too far from the blackened action, and the relatively subtle keyboards are artfully hidden just the right amount behind hateful distortion, which allows them to come to the fore when the guitars are absent.

My favourite track is probably the title, (and opening), song Amissum. It’s one of the bonus tracks and is a seething mass of blackened bile and repressed atmosphere. It’s an impressive piece of music and as the newest song here it bodes well for their upcoming album.

The rest of the music here is no disappointment, mind, with the remaining songs showcasing the band’s mix of aggression, mood and blackened sensibilities. Each track has something a little different to offer the listener and taken as a whole it’s a very well-rounded package.

Overall the band’s songwriting is suitably strong, and Chaos Moon are definitely improving over time. This latest release keeps up their high quality levels and exceeds them in some ways, producing an album-length EP that is extremely enjoyable indeed.

Highly recommended.

Interview with Vredehammer

Vredehammer’s second album Violator is an incredibly enjoyable 35 minutes of blackened aggression that I can’t seem to stop listening to. Wanting to know more, mainman Per Valla provided me with some more information…

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

We are Vredehammer from the north of Norway. We play extreme metal. Some people compare our music to Decapitated, Keep of Kalessin and Testament etc.

Give us a bit of background to Vredehammer

I started Vredehammer as a soloproject in 2009 without putting too much effort into it really, but when people seemed to like it and I had several offers from labels, I decided to start taking it more seriously. Before we started doing live shows Vredehammer had already released 3 EP`s. After this we signed to indie recordings and started releasing albums and doing tours etc.

What are your influences?

Probably the same as for all metalheads my age I would say. Testament, Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura and so on.

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

At the I am listening a lot to the new Dream Theater album “The astonishing”. I definitely recommend it. A real masterpiece!

How do you feel that you fit into the wider Black Metal scene?

Personally I don’t think we are a black metal band, but more just an extreme metal band. Given that we live far north in Norway we don’t really associate with the rest of the Norwegian bands, this way I think we have more freedom to do our own thing and create our own sound with time. Besides that I feel we offer the same amount of quality as other established artist in the genre.

Give us a bit of background to Violator – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?

The music was inspired and written after having done a couple of tours with Six Feet Under. I was never really into their music until I saw them live, and the power they distribute with their groovy material. I wanted to adopt this feeling and offer a more groovy sound and feeling live. The lyrics are mainly inspired by books from Stephen King, war and some personal lyrics where I share my views on ignorant people and the state of the world.

Tell us about the album artwork

The album artwork was created by Remi Juliebø and Indie Recordings. They thought it looked cool and so did we hehe.

How do you go about writing your songs?

I write all the raw material and the lyrics. In the studio all members of the band put their personal touch on the songs through their instruments.

How did the recording process go?

This time the recording process was insanely smooth. No bumps in the road plus we had a really great studio technician Stamos Koliousis. Basically I tracked the guitars at home, sent the files to our bass player who did the same, and in the end our drummer Felix tracked the drums in a studio in Oslo.

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

My favourite song is Deadfall. It’s a heavy motherfucker!

What does the future hold for Vredehammer?

Hard work and quality releases. That’s basically what we can offer. The rest is up to our listeners, promoters, festivals etc.

Rats of Reality – Obsequies (Review)

This is the latest EP by Rats of Reality, who are a Blackened Crust/Thrash band from the UK.

A short EP at only 11 minutes in length, Rats of Reality manage to have an unexpected start to this release which throws me slightly, before proceeding to demonstrate that yes, they may play some gnarly, crusty, fast-paced blackened grimness, but they do it in unusual and unexpected ways.

On paper, bands like this are plentiful and there’s sometimes very little to differentiate them from each other. As mentioned though, Rats of Reality are a bit different as they also use riffs that are a whole lot more emotive than most bands of this ilk write. They don’t always do this, (Leeches, for example, is a much more straightforward proposition), but when they do the melodies sometimes border on something you’re more likely to get from a Post-Metal/Shoegaze band, and at other times definitely are. Deafheaven plays Crust? Kind of.

Regardless, it’s an interesting and unusual slant on a well-worn sub-genre and overall Obsequies is enriched by these more melodic, emotive guitars. The ugliness of the core style is still here, but now it’s a beautiful ugliness. Or something. Just listen to it, you’ll get what I mean.

I’m pleased by this, as Rats of Reality have surprised and impressed me. I always enjoy it when a band does something a little different, especially if you weren’t expecting them to, and this certainly qualifies.

Highly recommended.