Interview – Page 14 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Uhtcearu

Are you a fan of melodic black metal? Do you crave darkness in your music, but still like some vibrant and addictive streaks of colour amidst the blackness? If the answer is yes, then you could do a whole lot worse than checking out Uhtcearu’s début album The Plight of Wanderers. Zach Ostrowski, (bass/vocals), took time out from weaving dark magics to give us a bit more info on this US band…

What are your influences?

We have a ton of influences that range musically from death and black metal to genres of classic rock, fusion, jazz, and prog.

Name five things you’ve listened to recently that you’d recommend

Here are 5 bands:
Northless – https://northless.bandcamp.com
Vukari – https://vukari.bandcamp.com
Capture the Sun – http://music.capturethesunband.com
Vow of Thorns – https://vowofthorns.bandcamp.com
Hot Coffin – https://hotcoffin.bandcamp.com

Honorable Mention – Mgla – https://no-solace.bandcamp.com Continue reading “Interview with Uhtcearu”

Interview with Gutter Instinct

Age of the Fanatics is Gutter Instinct’s début album, and what an album it is. Their ability to merge Swedish death metal with evil blackened auras has proven to be a stroke of twisted genius, and Age of the Fanatics is definitely one to keep returning to again and again.

Curious to find out more about a band with one of the most diabolical sounds around, Hannes, (rhythm guitars), and Oscar, (lead guitars), were kind enough to give me a tour of the Hellish landscapes that they have created… Continue reading “Interview with Gutter Instinct”

Interview with Battle Path

Battle Path’s latest album Ambedo sees the band expanding their sound into wider arenas, creating an extremely enjoyable 47 minutes that improves upon their already impressive earlier work. I managed to have a chat with the band about their latest release and its place in the grand scheme of things…

How did Battle Path form?

Battle Path formed out the ashes of Murfreesboro band Under the Earth. It originally started as a drone project with Casey, Todd, and Nathan, very shortly afterward Chase and Adam joined, and that is how Storm and Stress was created. After time, Chase moving and Casey having an injury that prevented him from drumming, it evolved into what it is today. Continue reading “Interview with Battle Path”

Interview with Abnormality

Abnormality have just recently released their latest album, Mechanisms of Omniscience, and it’s a ripping, tearing 39 minutes of utter brutality. In honour of this ode to devastation, I took the chance to catch up with frontwoman Mallika Sundaramurthy about the how things are going in the Abnormality camp…

Introduce us to Abnormality!

Abnormality is an extreme metal band hailing from Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA. We formed in 2005 and have been releasing albums and blasting eardrums ever since.

What are your influences?

We are largely influenced by fast, technical and heavy bands like Cryptopsy, Origin, Deeds of Flesh, Suffocation, Krisiun, Hate Eternal, etc. Continue reading “Interview with Abnormality”

Interview with André Aaslie (Images at Twilight/Abyssic)

You may not know who André Aaslie is, but hopefully that’s about to change. He’s the man behind both the atmospheric splendour of doom-titans Abyssic and the symphonic black metal of Images at Twilight. Both bands are doing something a bit different and a bit special with their respective styles, down in no small part to their classical/orchestral parts, courtesy of André . Abyssic’s A Winter’s Tale and Images at Twilight’s Kings are both a firm hit with me, so when I got the chance to quiz the man himself, I didn’t hesitate…

What are your influences?

My main influences for Images At Twilight is the black metal scene from the nineties, and especially bands like Dark Funeral, Marduk, Emperor, Limbonic Art, Tartaros, Bal-Sagoth, Satyricon, Nokturnal Mortum, Obsidian Gate, Dimmu Borgir, Anorexia Nervosa a.o. In Abyssic, I need to mention My Dying Bride as the main influence for both me and Memnock. Until now we have made all the music together for Abyssic. In both bands I could mention several film-score conductors. And also a lot of progressive rock from the seventies, as well as the one and only Devil Doll, who influences just about everything I do in music. Continue reading “Interview with André Aaslie (Images at Twilight/Abyssic)”

Interview with Arallu

Arallu are a band that have been releasing quality music for almost 20 years, and their fifth album, Geniewar, sees the band losing no momentum or creative power. It’s an engrossing listen, and by rights the band should be at least twice as popular as they actually are. With that in mind, let’s take the time to catch up with Arallu and find out a bit more about what makes this very individual black metal band tick…

Introduce us to Arallu!

Hello from Jerusalem.

Arallu was founded in Jerusalem, in the middle of the conflict between the religions around the old city of Jerusalem in the 90s. When you live as the terror is surrounding you. Want it or not, it inspires you whatever you do. Continue reading “Interview with Arallu”

Interview with Earth Rot

Australian death metal band Earth Rot have produced one of the most exciting and jaw-droppingly impressive EPs in recent memory. Chthonian Virtues is its name, and merry destruction is its game. Jared Bridgeman, he of the inhuman lungs, told me a bit more about this energetic band…

Introduce us to Earth Rot!

We’re a 4 piece black/death band from Perth, Australia. We have 3 releases to date: Chthonian Virtues, Follow The Black Smoke and Dirt. Listen here and figure out for yourself what we’re about: http://www.earthrot.com.au Continue reading “Interview with Earth Rot”

Interview with Gridfailure

For someone who’s not massively into noise/drone/experimental/whatever music, Gridfailure has been a bit of an eye-opener for me. It differentiates itself from a lot of its peers simply by being pretty damn good. That’s it, really. The soundscapes on Ensuring the Bloodline Ends Here are made up of just good music; here we have something that builds, turns, changes and emotes, exactly what you want out of an album, no matter what it’s composed of. David Brenner, the evil genius behind the band, was kind enough to give a bit of insight into the birth of Gridfailure…

Introduce us to Gridfailure!

Gridfailure is comprised of only myself, David Brenner; the act is as of now a solo project that happened “by accident”. I’ve been playing live and recording with Theologian since last year, Summer 2015, and within that time have heavily expanded upon the bass/vocal or vocal-only responsibilities I’ve had with any of my prior acts many moons ago. All of a sudden I was unloading a wealth of accumulated ideas, recording for Theologian, in the meantime creating a plethora of toxic runoff that would not be used on our records. One day this past February I was playing with unused recordings from random sessions basically just learning how to use music creation software. Suddenly these songs just kind of “happened” within layering this dark waste, and I started creating new material to merge them together in a very Frankenhooker fashion. Gridfailure was a random name I came up with while writing lyrics for a then non-existent band in the dark during our blackout of Hurricane Sandy, then just sat there in a folder… it just popped out while these tracks were aligning, and the project was brought into existence right then, randomly dicking-around with abandoned source material and old scribble. Continue reading “Interview with Gridfailure”

Interview with I Am Noah

The Verdict by I Am Noah; here is a heavy-as-Hell metalcore album that has melodic, almost post-metal flourishes to it, making for a very satisfying listen. It’s definitely one of the best recent releases of this sometimes-maligned sub-genre and is good enough to easily remind anyone of just how effective metalcore can be when played with passion, conviction and substance. I took the time to catch up with the band just as The Verdict is being unleashed on the world…

Explain the concept behind the band name

I Am Noah is our way to address things and share our emotions. “Noah” is a fictional character who questions and condemns the boundaries of our intellect and behaviour which are omnipresent. On our record we intended “Noah” to be thought-provoking. He should speak for us as a band and reflects all our feelings, opinions, positions. Continue reading “Interview with I Am Noah”

Interview with Tothem

Tothem’s latest release Gemini shows a band that are progressing their sound, making best use of all of their assets and stripping away those parts which are unnecessary. The end result is an album that takes the Gothic metal style and imprints its own personality on it. I got the chance to find out a bit more, so read on…

Introduce us to Tothem!

Tothem is a band of five musicians sharing the same passion for music and art in general. We’ve been together for many years and this is definitely a positive thing for the cohesion of the band.

What are your influences? Continue reading “Interview with Tothem”