Friday, May 25, 2012

As Autumn Calls/Emotionless/2009 EP Review


  As  Autumn  Calls  are  a  band  from  Canada  that  plays  an  atmospheric  and  melodic  form  of  doom/death  metal  ans  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2009  demo  "Emotionless".

  Drums  are  all  slow  drumming  with  no  fast  playing  or  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them, as  for  the  synths  they  are  mostly  in  they  back  ground  and  they  bring  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  are  all  slow  riffs  that  combine  doom  and  death  metal  together  with  a lot  of  dark  sounding  melodies  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  with  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads, as  for  the  classical  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  enhance  the  darkness  of  the  music.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death/doom  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  screams  that  have  a  black  metal  feeling  to  them  as  well  as  some  clean  singing  being  used  on  the  last  song  in  addition  there  are  some  spoken  word  parts  on  the  same  song,  while  the  lyrics  cover  depressing  and  dark  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  As  Autumn  Calls  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  and  melodic  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  this  recording  out.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK "Resignation".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Unfold Interview


1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Elie (guitar/keys) : Well, we’ve released our new album called « Cosmogon » last September through Division Records. The vinyl version (picture disc LP), limited to 250 copies worldwide, has been released last month and looks really great. We are playing some shows and already writing new songs for a future realease.


2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?
The sound of the new album was designed to be a bit more lively and less compressed than on our previous albums. But i twas also important for us that it doesn’t sound small. We wanted a rough, dynamic and powerful sound that would fit the songs the best.


3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release?
Well, the way we use lyrics is maybe kind of untypical, as we focus more on the « resonance » of words than on a concept. However, the lyrics are a coherent entity with different meanings and levels of interpretation. We love them subtle, thoughtful and dark.


4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
There is no real meaning or inspiration. We just thought it sounded good and at the time we were really convinced that this name made sense to us.


5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
We really focus on giving intense shows. There have been a lot of good shows and great memories until now an dit would be difficult to point one out.


6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
As we all have jobs , it has become difficult to tour, but we love to play live, so we do our best to play as many shows as we can.


7. On a worldwide level how has your newer music been recieved by fans of underground music?
Pretty well. We have had a lot of good reviews and we are happy that most of the reviewers did understand what we tried to do on this album. But inevitably some others haven’t understood anything at all. Some reviews on websites or blogs are pretty unprofessionnal and we miss good quality writers and journalists who really have a strong musical background and culture.


8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line-up?
This is a full time line-up for everybody, except for our singer Danek, who also plays with Sludge and Yverdoom.


9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
I cannot really answer this question, as we haven’t written any new material, but we’ll always try to experiment and bring new ideas in our songs.


10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Common influences in the band go from metal/hardcore to indy rock, electronica or black/death metal. Some are old bands and some are new, but most of them are non-commercial bands which really bring something good and sincere on the table. We now listen to many bands. Here are some of them : Enslaved, La Dispute, Converge, Meshuggah, Andreya Triana, Melissa auf der Maur, and so on.


11. Outside of music what are some of your interests ?
Listening to music and going to concerts. When we have time…


12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thank you very much for this interview and your interest in Unfold. We love you.