Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Hate & Merda Interview


1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Unn1: We are a psychotic duo from Firenze. Two friends that had need to spit out all the discomfort and rage of the last year. We play with a black socks on our head. It’s not necessary to see the face of the musicians. It’s not important to be protagonist in this shitty life. Especially you, who are watching the show.

Unn2: Hi, we're Hate&Merda, a sonor terroristic duo.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?

Unn1: It’s hard to describe in words what you are doing in another form. I think we sold our soul to various demons living in our minds and blood. That’s the sound of the band.

Unn2: I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it certainly tastes like sludge, hardcore, blues, noise, industrial and ambient. We play in some different projects that are more defined than this one. HM is absolutely our free dimension where we burn our dirtiest ideas. Everyone associates our sound to a lot of different bands, some of them I've never even listened to. Personally I guess I've been influenced by Concrete, Cursed, Old Man Gloom, Converge, as well as Robert Johnson, Massimo Volume, Ovo or Neil Young Dead Man soundtrack.
As you could say, nothing and everything.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Unn1: The lyrics speaks about how terrible life can be if you feel it differently compared to some others. How terrible is to walk in a fucking hot summer down to your house’s street. How many scars and blood rain over you after that summer. How terrible it is to find that there is no love, there is only compassion.

Unn2: I think it's important to say first that we've chosen italian language because we wanted to be totally and immediately understood by our people. Our lyrics reflect the attitude and the motivation of the project, they don't have a secret message, it's all rough and ruthless. Each song is a different story, but they all have the same nihilistic point of view. People, love, dreams, loneliness and death, all seen in our sick and distorted way. So tired of everything. So disenchanted.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Hate & Merda'?

Unn1:  We were out of the famous store “H&M”. I remember that I’ve told to Unn2: “mmm, if we form a band together we should call it Hate & Merda. (“merda” means “shit” in Italian). I think it’s a name that you could remember easily and it scalps in your mind.

Unn2: We know each other from a long time but we started working together in the underground scene only few years ago, long before playing together as a band. The very first year we started organizing concerts, festivals and events together we got a lot of criticisms from our city, just because we were doing our own things in our personal way. That's a typical florence behaviour. You have to complain and do nothing, if you try to change this system you're an egomaniac and you deserve to be defamed. So, in this sense, we got a lot of hate and shit from our city, so now we're just turning back the favour. But it's also true that the first time we came up with this name we were just coming home after buying some underpants at H&M.

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

Unn1: We want to remain a duo, but we would like to have some guests on records and why not, to play  together on stage too. I think there are no holes in our sound, and it’s like a bomb especially on stage.

Unn2: We wanted this band to be absolute essential. We didn't start as a duo because we didn't have a bass player, it's all about the feeling we have playing together due to the same feeling we have against our lives and our city. We're friends, we collaborate, so it was predictable we would end up playing together, and we understand each other at the time when we improvise. I really think it's a fact of attitude. We appreciate friends featurings, but the two of us is HM, and that's it.

6.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?

Unn1: Live show it’s the real dimension of our band. We were born to play live. Our band was born like a totally impro performance for an opening concert. So we are playing some dates, and we still want to do it.

Unn2: The band started with a live show, we totally improvised everything and it came out really good and strong, and some things you hear on our record are ideas born that night with no changes at all. Then we rehearsed just few times and then immediately record what became L'Anno Dell'Odio (The Year Of Hate). After that we started playing live the most we can, a bunch of shows around Florence, we opened for ?Also from Ovo, Carla Bozulich, Orannsi Pazuzu, Marnero, we went on tour with our friends La Cuenta, we played secret shows, a festival in a very small town in middle of mountains and fog, a birthday party..really everywhere. And now that the album is out we're taking the road again and planning some other tours.


7.The album was released on Toten Schwan Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Unn1: Marco of Toten Schwan saw our first live (the totally impro ones). He came to meet us after the show and told us that we were fantastic and we need to fix this music on an album. And of course, he could help us. It sound like an 80’s classic story about fortune, gold, glory and happy ending. So Marco was the first person who trusted in our band, even before us. There are also two label involved in this release: UTU Conspiracy and Dio Drone, that are really close to us.

Unn2: We met Marco of Toten Schwan the first time we played live, and he trusted in our project immediately, even before we started to consider it seriously. He insisted to put our noise on a record, we talked a couple of times and he really seemed to understand our thing. But mostly, we felt him and Davide to be simply two like us, so we joined this brotherhood. They truly care of what their label promote, and it's not a fact of money or simple support. They really believe in it, like we do.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your album by fans of underground music?

Unn1: The album is having a extraordinary positive feedbacks. We did not expect it, because we've played in other underground bands for years.

Unn2: When you choose a name like Hate&Merda (hate and shit) you don't expect to be taken seriously. Truth is that we didn't expect anything at all, this project started as an exorcism and this was enough. But surprisely L'Anno Dell'Odio is having a great feedback. We had very good reviews from CVLT Nation (Usa), The New Noise (IT), Metalitalia (IT) and several european zines. We're really stunned and thankful for this support. Everything we get is always a gift.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Unn1: I think it’s important for us to be free to do what we want to do. So we don’t want chains about genres, our sets or instruments. It’s important the act, the sound, the scratch. So: who knows?

Unn2: We have to go deeper and deeper, until the surface is no longer visible. Exploring our own limits and our most extreme edges. But nothing's written and there's no rule. No plans, just the truth. You know, '..you have to put your own dick in the middle of the story..destroy the ego and tell the truth..'. Just this.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Unn1: I think I've not been influenced by particular bands. I’ve only tried to add the drums beat on the Unn2’s guitars and screams. Some bands cross my mind and probably they are connected to my band: Ministry, Scorn, Swans for exemple, I’m thinking about them. Nowadays I’m listening Chelsea Wolfe, King Dude, Indians, Coil, Marnero, Si Non Sedes Is.

Unn2: We obviously like heavy stuff, and it was clear from the beginning that HM should be strong and evil. But we're into a lot of different kind of sounds, even ambient, blues or witchouse, things that to me don't minimize the sense of the word 'heavy'. If you want me to say which influences I hear in our music I could say Black Flag, Motorpsycho of Demon Box, Birthday Party, Concrete, Eyehategod, Ovo, Code Orange, Zu, Illogo, as well as the Neurot family and the Church Of Ra.
Actually I'm listening to King Dude, Corrections House, Si Non Sedes Is, Ovo and the new Amenra acoustic stuff.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Unn1: Drinking and depress myself. Ah, I was forgiving: watching mockumentaries and found footages films in the night.

Unn2: Music fills our lives on a lot of different levels but I love movies and books as well, everything that has the strength to take you somewhere else. But my main interest is to stay away from people for the most of my time.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Unn1: Thank you for your interest in our music. I hope you will hear some others albums in the future.

Unn2: Thanks for this talk. See you in your city, soon or later.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Mangled/Through Ancient Times/Vic Records/2015 CD Compilation Review


  Mangled  where  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  played  a  very  doom  orientated  style  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  compilation  album  "Through  Ancient  Times"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Vic  Records.

  Death  metal  growls  and  a  very,  dark  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  band  also  adds  in  high  pitched  screams  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of t he  bands  musical  style  and  when  keyboards  and  spoken  word  parts  are  added  in  they  add  more  to  the  doom  side  of  the  bands  musical  style  as  well  as  adding  in  some  atmospheric  elements  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  bring  in  more  of  a  melodic  death  metal  sound  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  one  of  the  tracks  also  brings  in  a  black  metal  feeling  while  one  of  the  alter  tracks  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  female  vocals  which  gives  the  music  more  of  a  gothic  doom/death  feeling  when  they  are  utilized.

  Mangled  played  a  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  that  was  very  underrated  and  ahead  of  its  time  and  the  music  was  heavily  influenced  both  the  Swedish,  English  and  Dutch  death  and  doom  metal  scenes  of  that  era,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  the  time  these  songs  where  recorded  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  occult  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mangled  where  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Raise  My  Face  In  the  Fist  Of  God"  "The  Sleeping  Paradise"  "The  7th  Key"  and  "Call  Of  Silence".  8  out  of  10.

Dead End/Forever Is Not Eternal/VIc Records/2015 CD Review

 
   Dead  End  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  has  been  around  since  the  mid  80's  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Forever  Is  Not  Eternal"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Vic  Records.

  A  very  dark,  melodic  and  old  school  sound  starts  off  the  album    and  after  a  minute  death  metal  growls  are  added  into  the  music  and  after  awhile  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  also  bring  in  more  darkness  and  melody  to  the  bands  musical  style  which  is  also  heavily  rooted  in  early  90's  doom  and   death  metal.

    At  times  a  small  amount  of  violins  are  added  into  certain  parts  of  some  of  the  tracks  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  a  few  of  the  tracks  being  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  few  seconds  of  classical  guitars  and  spoken  word  parts.

  As  the  album   progresses  some  of  the  songs  start  bringing  in  small  amounts  of  keyboards  and  whispers  which  also  gives  the  bands  musical  style  more  of  an  atmospheric  edge  while  some  of  the  alter  songs  bring  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  which  shows  the  more  old  school  death  meal  side  of  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams.

  Dead  End  bring s in  2  different  sides  with  their  musical  style  having  more  of  a  melodic  doom/death  metal  sound  on  some  of  the  tracks  while  going  into  more  of  a  traditional  and  old  school  style  of  death  metal  on  some  of  the  later  songs  and  the  album  sounds  like  it  could  of   easily  been  recorded  and  released  in  the  90's,  the  production  sound  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dead  End  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Forever"  "Revelations"  "Joke"  and  "Tales  From  Real  Life".  8  out  of  10.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Lumberjack Feedback/Noise In The Church/Kaotoxin Records/2014 EP Review


  The  Lumberjack  Feedback  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  an  instrumental  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Noise  In  The  Church"  which  was  released  by  Kaotoxin  Records.

  A  very  distorted  reverb  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  very  heavy  sludge  metal direction  and  after  awhile  melody  is  added  into  the  music  giving  the  music  a  post  metal/hardcore  feeling  at  times  along  with  the  first  2  tracks  being  recorded  live  and  the  slow  riffs  and  heaviness  also  bring  in  a  heavier  style  of  doom  metal.

  At  times  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  brings  into  the  songs  are  very  dark  and  melodic  sounding  and  all  3  of  the  tracks  are  one  and  epic  in  length  with  the  last  song  being  a  bonus  demo  track  from  2009.

  The  Lumberjack  Feedback  play  a  style  of  doom/sludge  metal  that  is  all  instrumental  while  also  being  very  heavy  and  melodic  at  the  same  time  and  the  production  on  the  recording  has  a  very  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  The  Lumberjack  Feedback  are  a  very  great  sounding  instrumental  mixture  of  doom  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Dreamcatcher".  8  out  of  10.      

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Hate & Merda/L'Anno Dell 'Odio/Toten Schwan Records/2014 Full Length Review


  Hate  &  Merda  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  an  experimental  mixture  of  noise,  alternative  hardcore  and  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "L'Anno  Dell  'Odio"  which  was  released  by  Toten  Schwan  Records.

  A  very  dark  sounding  drone  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  more  dark  and  heavy  sludge  metal  direction  which  also  brings  in  melodic  guitar  leads  at  times  as  well  as  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  distortion  and  reverb  and  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  post  hardcore  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  When  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  very  high  pitched  sludge  screams  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  on  some  of  the  songs the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  and all  of  the musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  couple  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  spoken  word  parts  and  on  the  last  track  melodic  chants  are  added  into  the  music.  

  Hate  &  Merda  take  a  very  heavy  style  of  sludge  and  mix  it  in  with  the  melody  of  post  hardcore,  the  reverb  and  drones  of  noise  and  experimental  music  along  with  a  touch  of  alternative  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Latin  and  cover  dark  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  hate  &  Merda  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  experimental,  noise,  alternative,  hardcore  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ascoltare  Con  Dolore  -  Carne  Gotica"  and  "L'  Eternita'  Di  Unestate  Terrible".  8  out  of  10.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Condor/Duin/Gommorah Records/2015 CD Review


  Condor  are  a  band  from  Columbia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  heavy,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Duin"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Gommorah  Records.

  Soft  acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  and  they  bring  a  classical  music  feeling  to  the  recording  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  goes  into  a  more  heavy  and  melodic  direction  as  well  as  bringing  in  solos  and  leads  that  utilize  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  as  well  as  being  a  very  huge  part  of  all  the  tracks.

  After  the  intro  the  music  goes  for  more  of  an  old  school  doom  metal  direction  while  also  adding  in  fast  parts  and  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  music  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  along  with  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  acoustic  guitars  also  make  their  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  At  times  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  are  brought  into  the  music  along  with  some  synths  which  are  only  used  briefly  and  elements  of  progressive  rock  and  a  few  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  later  on  during  the  album  clean  singing  vocals  are  brought  in  at  times  and  one  of  the  later  tracks  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  influences.

  Condor  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  progressive  at  times  while  also  bringing  in  a  touch  of  traditional  metal  which  also  gives  the  recording  an  old  school  feeling,  the  production  sound s very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover Philosophy,  Identity  and  Nationalism.

  In  my  opinion  Condor  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  heavy,  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "El  Lamento  de Penelpe"  "Condordale"  and  "Duin".  8  out  of  10. 

Helevorn/Compassion Forlorn/BadMoodMan Music/2014 C Review


  Helevorn  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  mixture  of  doom,  gothic  and  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Compassion  Forlorn"  which  was  released  by  BadMoodManMusic.

  Clean  and  soft  guitar  playing  which  are  also  used  on  soem  of  the  other  tracks  as  well  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  synths  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  bring  in  a  good  amount  of  atmosphere  to  the  songs  which  also  leads  to  more  of  a  heavier  and  symphonic  musical  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  being  added  into  both  the  solos  and  riffs.

  When  vocals  are  added  into  the  music  they  are  very  deep  sounding  death/doom  metal  growls  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  a  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  elements  of  gothic  rock  find  their  way  onto  the  recording.

  In  certain  sections  of  the  album  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  very  early  90's  style  of  melodic  doom/death  metal  into  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  some  screams  that  have  a  black  metal  feeling  to  them  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  closer  to  the  end  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars.

  Helevorn  plays  a  style  of  gothic/doom  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  style  along  with  a  great  amount  of  the  melodic  death/doom  metal  sound  and  a  touch  of  black  metal  being  added  into  their  musical  style  to  create  a  very  dark,  melancholic  and  heavy  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Solitude,  Dreams  and  Past  Times  along  with  the  last  2  songs  being  written  in  Spanish.

  In  my  opinion  Hellevorn  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  gothic  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Inner  Crumble"  "Unified"  and  "I  Am  To  Believe".  8  out  of  10.  

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Trigger Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

T: We were on Tour at Westcoast in the United States of America to play shows with the guys of Catheter and Lovemachine for 17 days at the end of October and beginning of November. We had a lot of great shows in Citys like Seattle, Vegas, Portland, Phoenix, Denver and Salt Lake City. In before we a had lot stress to get our Equipment there, because the Sound of Trigger should be intense and loud. That's why we send a lot our handmade Effects there, that we have the best possiblity to present our first Album in the best way.

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and   also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

T: I think the whole sound of the album is stronger than on the older releases and we practised a lot, to play the new songs more straight to the point than maybe  the older recordings ;) Enrico is also singing now in some songs and we have new kinds of screams in our material. Almost we cranked up the Speed
of the whole music. The complete music could be described as an Inferno of Blasbeats, Disbeats and lot of moving parts combined with an really distorted Basssound destroying yours ears in addition with a screaming and growling voice which is a bit of unique in Grindcore/Power Violence.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

T: On the newer songs we`re still singing about things which are working in an false way in our society, but also in our scene. We are still no fans from any kind of racism, sexism, (old and new kinds) of facism or patriotism, many songs from our older stuff and also from the new songs are against this themes. Some songs all also against homophobic attitudes or religious insanity which we can`t understand and don`t want to support them in anyway. We also have songs about animal liberation and against the exploitation of animals for any senseless using like clothes, medicine and so. .On the last split Ep with Attack of the mad Axeman we started to write and sing our lyrics in English, so we hope that it`s easier for people to understand the meaning of them, as they were in German.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Trigger'?

T: Trigger have many meanings. the first coming to everybodys mind is to pull the "Trigger" of a gun, but that's not our point of view of the Band Trigger. We see it a bit more like an conditioned stimulus in an psychological consideration. It's something like the "Trigger-Reactment" when somebody is going to freak really out.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

T: Ohh, I think we had a lot of good shows with pretty much great bands and awesome people in the pit. I remember for example about a show in Minsk (Belarus) which was murderous because we played in an empty ware house next to the stairs. The people there we`re making (really!!) party there from the first second on, circlepits and crowdsurfing (also with everyone of us!) and they were all totally friendly and also very thankful that we came there to play. But as I said, this was just one of many awesome shows also on our tour in US and many places, but i think there are to much  over the years to write them all down here :) Our stage performance.. I think the chaos in our music is the chaos that we want to bring out on stage, that`s why we jump down on the floor and scream without microphones sometimes to bring some more energy to the people and having just 20 minutes of violence.


6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

T: At the end of december this years we will touring the east of europe and Germany for 13 Days in total again. Of course in the next year we would really love to play some tours to Spain, Italy, UK, France and especially we want to focus on some Festival shows.



7.On your bandcamp page you refer to the band as 'Drum'N'Bass Grind Violence', can you tell us a little bit more about this tag?

T: Drum`N`Bass is just because we never found someone who wants to play guitar at Trigger ;) Grind Violence is because we`re making some kind of old grindcore but also have some typical Powerviolence parts. That`s why we called it Grind Violence to make people know that we`re in the middle of both.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of grindcore?

T: We wanted to make some kind of grind which has nothing good sounding at all, that means no melodies, no guitar solos or something else, just twenty minutes of noisy fast and brutal shit without a break. Most people who like grindcore liked it because the said we`re sounding like some of the good old grindbands from the 90`s ,but we also had some shows where the people didn`t like our music, cause it's a way to much chaos for them. I remember one show in the past, after two songs the whole concertroom was empty except the organizer and Enrico`s girlfriend :)

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

T: We will keep staying fast and noisy as well ,but we also want to make the music become more rounder and more rich in variety, but staying fast is still the most important thing about the music for itself:)

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

T: The style of using just a bass guitar we looked up from bands like Godstomper ,Bizarre X or (old) Water Torture. We loved this sound because it was something different than other bands and we still love the dark and noisy sound. But I think we have changed really from our first Sound up today, it's almost a new Sound. Today everyone of us is listening to a bright mass of music, but not everything we`re listening is for being an influence for trigger. Next to some Grind Crust and Powerviolencebands we like Doom and Sludgebands also, some Blackmetal and Postrockbands, but also some Screamo and Punkrockbands.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

T: We`re organising shows and doing some festival on our own, called the "Killed System Festival". This year we had the third edition of having this festival. Kevin also record some bands in his studio to make sure that young bands have a chance to record something. Enrico is doing a label to help and release stuff of friendly Bands. That's almost a lot with music...


12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

T: Thank you for this interview and everyone who helped us to be able for doing shows and releases and made Trigger able to got this interview! Thanks :)

Monday, December 15, 2014

Dawn of Eternity Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
Well we did play a cupple of shows all over Germany and Chechz Republik and released our first official music clip this October. At the moment we are in the proces of songwriting, arranging and some pre productioning, the next album is planned for some time in the middle of 2015, but we all know how that goes :D

2.Recently you have released you first full length album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the album you had released in 2010?
Well the sound is a mixture of what we have accomplished in the years before and what we have
accomplished since we started taking it more serious. It differs from the EP of 2010 so far, that we have changed a lot since then. In 2010 we were Sara, Johannes and David, playing in the basement of Johannes' parents, we had no real idea of recording, and the process. For the "GUILTY" Album we had become Sara Johannes Sven and Torsten, with a real practise room, weekly sessions and a lot more knowledge.
For our sound, someone once said it is like at first you are being wraped in silk by this voice, and that you get kicked in the ass by the growls and the guitars. It's a mixture our of Gothic, Death, Melodic Metal with several different influences.

3.The band has been around since 2007 but so far their has only been an ep and 1 full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap between releases?
The band you can hear on the album "guilty" exists since 2012, before that, we didn't approach the whole thing professional, also in 2007 Sara and Johannes started to make music together, under the name "Buried Alive" what was a form of pre-existence of Dawn of Eternity, "Buried Alive" recorded 6 songs, that should still be on myspace somewhere ;)

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Most of the lyrics are written by Johannes, who is a big fan of german expressionistic-poets and nihilistic-literature, so he takes things that annoy him, personal tragedies sadness, fears etc and tries to put it into a Georg Trakl style.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Dawn of Eternity'?
It may be birth, it may be death, it is yours to choose. The story behind it, Sara wanted to change the name "Buried Alive", and she is always right :D, so we threw in names until one was all right for everyone, and that name turned out to be Dawn of Eternity.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Johannes: The best show so far was in Blatná, Czech Republik, supporting Lord Volture, it was an amazing show, amazing people who really kept a party going, on a work tuesday.
Sara: Can't make a range what was the best so fare. It's allways great!
Our performance are very energetic since we give in everything we can and use full stage's place...
Come and see ;)

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We have several shows planned, that you can check out on our webpage or facebook, and our plans are, to play as much as possible, you request us, and if it is arrangable we will play it. Also we want to make a new album as mentioned before next year and simply go on and grow...

8.The new album was released on NRT- Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Well we got to that through two friends from Austria, Major Tom Proll (king size)  and Jana from She Wolf. NRT is a small label but they still have passion and faith in what they do and not just long for the big
money. They really did do a lot for us even though we just joined them in October!

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by the fans of gothic or extreme genres of metal?
As far as we can tell pretty well ;)

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Evanescence is done for, due to a post of Amy Lee, so there is a big gap to fill in the genre of female fronted goth metal.... we will see..... ;)

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
In the songwriting, you can hear influences of Iron Maiden, In Flames, Tarja, My Dying Bride, Evanescence, System Of A Down and many more. The nex album will show a little more/different influences but it'll still be Dawn of Eternity.
We exclude no type of music, that is based on musical instruments, not that hipster minimal electro crap or disco-dubstep, that shit is amazingly annoying, but we all have a tendency to harder music musical interests?
Sara and Johannes are in University, so besides going to a pub or some concerts, music consumes most of the spare time, other free time activities are working and drinking. Thorsten also loves to repair stuff and ferrets :D

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Yes, we will start a kickstarter project next few weeks for the album 2015 since we're all broke and we'd love you to support us!! Beneath that there's the usual stuff, check out our webpage and facebook, listen to our music, come to our shows and rock on \m/, - Cheers
www.dawnofeternity.de
www.facebook.com/officialdawnofeternity

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Formes/Dysphoria Part 1/No Fun Intended Records/2014 CD Review


  Formes  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  a  psychedelic  mixture  of  doom,  sludge,  death  and  post  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Dysphoria  part  one"  which  was  released  by  No  Fun  Intended  Records.

  Spoken  word  parts  start  off  the  album  before  adding  in  blast  beats,  heavy  riffing  and  high  pitched  screams  which  also  leads  up  to  more  of  a  slow  doom/sludge  metal  direction  which  also  keeps  around  the  spoken  word  parts  and  mixes  in  psychedelic  and  post  rock  sounds  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  at  times  along  with  some  clean  singing  and  slide  guitars  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  music  gets  very  heavy  when  death  metal  growls  are  utilized  in  the  songs.

  A  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  at  times  the  music  can  be  very  experimental  and  also  adds  in  small  amounts  of  harsh  noise  into  certain  sections  of  some  of  the  tracks  and  as  the  album  progresses  there  are  a  lot  of  post  rock  elements  being  mixed  in  with  the  heavier  doom/death  metal  sound  of  the  recording  and  one  of  the  later  tracks  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars.

  Formes  takes  the  heaviness  of  death,  doom,  sludge  and  post  metal  and  mixes  it  with  psychedelic  rock  to  create  a  sound  that  is  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Formes  are  a  very  great  sounding  psychedelic  mixture  of   doom,  sludge,  death  and  post  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Tumult"  and  "Dead  Ends".  8  out  of  10.

        

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dreamgrave/Presentiment/2014 Full Length Review


  Dreamgrave  are  a  band  from  Hungary  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death,  doom,  folk,  symphonic  and  progressive  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Presentiment".

  A  very  dark  sounding  drone  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  symphonic  sounds  and  clean  playing  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  heavy  and  melodic  direction  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  progressive  metal  elements  while  also  keeping  around  the  symphonic  elements.

  When  blast  beats  are  utilized  the  music  has  almost  a  black  metal  feeling  while  the  clean  singing  female  vocals  add  a  gothic  and  operatic  feeling  into  all  of  the  tracks  they  are  utilized  on  and  the  music  at  time s brings  in  a  modern  approach  to  prog  metal  with  both  the  riffs  and  solos  as  well  as  the  keyboards  while  you  can  also  hear  a  bit  of  70's  prog  and  psychedelia  at  times  and  at  times  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  tracks.

  Most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  there  are  also  some  clean  singing  male  vocals  being  utilized  on  some  of  the  songs  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  on  the  later  tracks  the  lead  guitars  start  bringing  in  more  of  a  depressive  and  melodic  sound  to  the  recording.

  Dreamgrave  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  melodic,  symphonic  and  progressive  sounding  and  they  also  bring  in  elements  of  folk  and  a  good  amount  of  prog  metal  and  rock  elements  to  create  some  very  original  sounding  music,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dreamgrave  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of   death,  doom,  folk,  symphonic  and  progressive  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Black  Spiral"  "The  Last  Drop  Falls"  and  "It's  Ubiquitous".  8  out  of  10.  




Monday, December 8, 2014

Ghoulgotha/The Deathmass Cloak/Dark Descent Records/2015 CD Review


  Ghoulgotha  are  a  band  from  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "The  Deathmass  Cloak"  which  will  be  released  in  2015  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  A  very  dark  sounding  keyboard  and  distorted  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  dark  and  melodic  doom/death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growls  and  guitar  leads  that  add  in  depressive  sounding  melodies  and  you  can  hear  a  lot  of  early  90's  death  and  doom  metal  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  High  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow  and  mid  paced  parts  while  they  also  bring  in  fast  sections  and  blast  beats  in  some  of  the  tracks  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  band  starts  adding  in  small  amounts  of  clean  playing  into  some  of  the  tracks  while  the  main  focus  remains  on  a  very  heavy  and  dark  doom/death  metal  sound  and  the  last  track  is  11  minutes  in  length  and  also  adds  in  atmospheric  and  experimental  elements.

  Ghoulgotha  plays  a  very  dark  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  tradition  while  also  having  more  of  an  updated  take  on  the  genre  with  their  music,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occultism  themes.

   In  my  opinion  Ghoulgotha  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gazing  Into  Melted  Night"  "Saturnal  Rites"  "Citadel  Of  Heathen  Flesh"  and  "Levitate  Within  The  Curse".  8  out  of  10.



  

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Nihilo/Dum Spiro Spero/2014 CD Review


  Nihilo  are  a  band  from  Switzerland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  old  school  death  metal,  grindcore,  and  doom  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Dum  Spiro  Spero".

  A  dark  sounding  intro  with  spoken  word  samples  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  an  old  school  death  metal  direction  which  also  brings  in  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  as  well  as   adding  in  high  pitched  screams  at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  you  can  hear  hear  a  heavy  grindcore  influence.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  bring  in  more  of  a  chaotic  death  metal  sound  while  also  having  a  good  amount  of  melody  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  elements  of  doom  metal  are  added  into  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  and  on  one  of  the  tracks  a  small  amount  of  symphonic  sounds  and  acoustic  guitars  are  utilized  and  the  last  track  is  over  20  minutes.

  Nihilo  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  old  school  and  closer  to  the  mid  90's  style  and  they  also  mix  in  grindcore  and  doom  metal  to  make  their  music  have  more  of  a  diverse  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violence  and  war  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nihilo  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  metal,  grindcore  and  doom  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "On  The  Brink"  "Last  Man  Standing"  "Homicidal  Pleasures"  and  "Dum  Spiro  Spero".  8  out  of  10.

  

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Dawn Of Eternity/Guilty/NRT Records/2014 CD Review


  Dawn  Of  Eternity  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  death  and  gothic  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Guilty"  which  was  released  by  NRT  Records.

  Dark  sound  effects  and  clean  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  and  melodic  female  vocals  that  bring  in  the  gothic  elements  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  with  high  pitched  screams  that  have  a  black  metal  feeling  to  them  and  they  mix  in  with  the clean  singing  and  there  is  also  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  both  the  riffs  and  leads.

  You  can  hear  a  lot  of  melodic  doom/death  metal  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style  which  also  bring s in  growls  at  times  and  there  is  also  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  present  throughout  the  recording  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  add  in  more  of  a  modern  metal  sound  as  the  album  progresses.

  Later  on  during  the  recording  acoustic guitars  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  couple  of  power  ballads  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  a  good  portion  of  the  later  tracks  bring  in  more  of  a  traditional  gothic  metal  sound  while  still  having  its  roots  in  death  metal  and  the  last  4  songs  are  bonus  tracks  taken  from  their  2010  ep  which  have  the  same  style  of  the  full  length  but  done  with  more  of  a  raw  approach.

  Dawn  Of  Eternity  plays  a  very  modern  style  of  gothic  metal  that  is  a  lot  more  aggressive  and  guitar  driven  than  most  bands  of  this  genre  and  they  also  mix  it  in  with  the  heaviness,  growls  and  screams  of  melodic  death  metal  to  create  their  own  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  sadness  and  tragedy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dawn  Of  Eternity  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  gothic  and  melodic  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ego"  Sing  For  Me"  "You  Suck"  and  "My  God,  My  Foe".  8  out  of  10.



    

Monday, December 1, 2014

Edge Of Haze Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

Everyone in the band has actually been unusually busy traveling around the globe this autumn which has been great and inspirational music-wise. In between these travels we've been preparing for live gigs next spring and promoting "Illumine", our new record. We also have a new lyric video coming up for the song "Into the Red Sun" (it has probably been released when this goes public though) which was animated by a talented young motion designer called Sequoya Finn from the US. We aimed for a little bit different lyric video than most bands in metal are doing and the result looks really pleasing, can't wait to show it to everybody!



2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Yeah we released "Illumine", our second long-play a few months ago! As musicians everyone in the band is really open to all kinds of new ideas, there are influences from doom metal, soundtracks, electronic music and so on. Our biggest goal with music is to create something that sounds original but still somewhat familiar. I guess the best situation would be that when people hear our music they'd go "this sounds like Edge Of Haze" instantly. A friend of mine described our music as Gojira meets Hans Zimmer meets Swallow the Sun and I guess that isn't too far off.

As "Mirage", the first record, was more about the best songs we had written so far, "Illumine" was definitely more thought through as a whole. The songs on "Illumine" are a lot more mature and better written. We have also gotten a lot better in our instruments and as a band since "Mirage", as we were only 16-17 years old back then haha. I guess the songs are a bit heavier, too but on the other hand the softer parts are more atmospheric and beautiful than before. So to sum it up every aspect has evolved further since the last release.



3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

"Illumine" is actually a concept album that tells a story about a future dystopia, where everything is controlled by a higher power and the citizens only purpose is to fulfill their rulers orders and maintain their place in the system, kinda like in a futuristic communism. The album's protagonist is a man who sees a vision one night about his city burning, realizes how rotten the system is and decides to attempt an escape to the wild. The songs are divided into two groups, the first five tell about the protagonist's time in the city and the last five about his time in the wild, running away from the tyranny.

The idea behind the concept came from our drummer Janne, who was inspired by a book called "Escape from Camp 14" by Blaine Harden. The book tells a story about a North Korean prisoner who one day decides to escape from the labour camp he's been imprisoned to since he was a kid. On an universal level the album is also about courage and daring to stand up for yourself.



4.The band was originally known as 'Damage' what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Edge Of Haze'?

Damage was the name of the group in 2007-2010 when the band only consisted of me, Janne and our guitarist Lenno. We knew there were a lot of bands out there with the same name and we wanted to change it to something more defining and original. When our keyboard player Akseli and our former guitarist/singer Iivo joined the band in 2010 we knew it was a good time to change the name. Janne had this old demo called "The Edge Of Haze" which sounded right for the band. Actually, that demo is now known as "A Storm at the River", the track number eight on "Illumine"! Iivo then left the band in 2011 due you know, the usual musical differences and he's in Arion now if you've heard of them (if you haven't, go check them out). Markus then joined a few months later to fill his spot.



5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Hmm, this is a though one. It was pretty surreal to play in Nummirock Metal Festival in 2013, with bands like Children of Bodom and Amon Amarth in the line-up there that year and it was actually only our sixth performance in total. Another awesome gig was our album release show in Semifinal, Helsinki this August. The place was full of people doing moshpits and coming to the stage to party with us. We like to do pretty crazy stuff when we are performing, like jump around the stage and invite friends to join us there. The focus is still always in delivering the music to the audience but we try to put on the best and most energetic show as possible every time we enter the stage.



6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

This is not yet set in stone but we probably have a tour in Finland next spring with a pretty big Finnish metal act, can't say the name yet but we'll keep everyone updated on our Facebook-page! Every show we've planned for next year are pretty much in our home country but we'd love to play shows abroad, probably somewhere around Europe at first. We'll hopefully work that part out soon too!



7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Yeah, so far we've done everything by ourselves which has been great because we've had full control of our actions but on the other hand it has kept us very busy. We are looking for a record deal, and we have some really potential labels in consideration. Our plan definitely is to release the next record through a label to bring our music for more people to know!



8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of the progressive, doom and death metal genres?

The feedback has been really flattering, actually so far we haven't seen a single bad review for "Illumine"! It feels really nice to read these reviews of people complimenting something so personal that you've created for sure. For fans of progressive, doom and death metal (like myself) I believe that everyone can find something for their likes on the album: "Drawn" and "Into the Red Sun" have more progressive vibe to them, "Crushed", "The Pyre" and "Unlearn" are more from the death metal side and "Rainfall" and "The Newfound Horizon" dig deeper into the doom world.



9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We've been already trying some new stuff out for the next release! I guess the songs are more to the point this time than on "Illumine", which has a lot of longer tracks such has "The Newfound Horizon" and "Rainfall" for example. And don't get me wrong, we won't be forgetting the longer, storytelling songs either as I for example am a huge fan of those kind of tracks if they're done well and with a good taste. Now we have also approached songwriting more from the lyrical and vocal point of view, as on "Illumine" the instrumental tracks pretty much already existed before we started working on vocals. We already have a shitload of new song ideas, probably 20 or something for the new release as everyone in the band is writing. I think it is great because everyone brings in something slightly different to the table and we can then choose whatever world we want to explore with the new music we're going to put out.


10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I guess some of our biggest influences since me and Janne founded the band have been Katatonia, Swallow the Sun and Devin Townsend. Lately we've been drawing inspiration from loads of different artists and bands: from modern metal acts such as Periphery and Sybreed for example, but our influences go all the way from post-rock to pop, jazz, classical and even funk. Lately I've been really digging the new Skyharbor-album, The Coal by Leprous and Toto's Mindfields-album. So basicly everything that we find enjoyable goes for us and can inspire our songwriting, despite the genre.



11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I myself like sports a lot and follow NBA almost on a daily basis. Everyone in the band likes to travel a lot too, as mentioned before, learn about other cultures and see the world generally. As a group we're really good friends, so we like to do lots of different stuff together when we're not rehearsing or recording, like go to the movies, have video game tournaments and just generally hang out and do stupid things. You can find out some pretty idiotic videos on our Youtube-channel that show evidence of this haha.



12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Generally a big thank you for everyone who has bought, listened or reviewed "Illumine" and supported the band, it really means the world to us! Stay open-minded for there is so much good music out there. Hopefully we'll see you in our shows in the future and if you see us somewhere feel free to come chat and hang out with us. And thanks to   Doomed to Darkness for having me, cheers!