Friday, May 31, 2013

Fatality/Psychonaut/2013 CD Review


  Fatality  are  a  band  from  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with a  musical  style  I  would  describe  as  being  old  school  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  self  released  2013  album  "Psychonaut".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to fast  old  school  style  thrash  metal  riffs  that  utilize  a good  amount  of  melody  in  the  riffing  along  with  a  brief  use  of  soft  and  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  and  old  school  sounding  thrash  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  range  from  thrash  style  vocals  to  clean  singing,  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  occult  and  thrash  metal  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  album  with  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Fatality  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Enter  Purgatory"  "Before  The  Collapse" and  "Satan's  Shepard".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Gloryful Interview

Jens „Shredmaster JB“ Basten, guitar-player of 
GLORYFUL,  28.05.2013

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never
heard of you before?
Johnny and me started the band in 2010 as a two piece without having any 
professional aim in mind. The only thing we got in mind was to pay 
tribute to the bands which are most important for our lives, like they 
are the most important bands for a million heavy metal maniacs in the 
world: These bands are maybe Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Manowar. We 
did the "Sedna`s Revenge demo EP" which contains our very first three 
compositions. The feedback was quite nice so we had to extend the 
Gloryful line-up and to bring the band up on stages. The current line up 
is  Johnny la Bomba (vocals), Vito Papotto (guitar), Oliver Karasch 
(Bass) and Hartmut Stoof (Drums), … ah and it´s  me on the other guitar. 
We signed a record deal with Massacre Records in January 2013. Our debut 
album is called „The Warrior´s Code“. It has been released 5 days ago 
(may 24th) and we are very about that!

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
It´s not that typical european power metal with that high pitched vocals 
and keyboards. Johnnys voice is way more mid-ranged and the music is 
rather classic heavy metal with it´s own note. We play heavy metal. You 
will recognize a lot of famous heavy metal bands that influenced us, 
though we for sure never sound like a copy of one of these bands. We got 
our own special style regarding songwriting, guitar- and vocal-melodies 
and Johnny got a very exclusive sounding voice that makes a difference 
to most of the typical heavy- and powermetal acts out there. We try to 
keep things simple and integrate some nice hooklines and singalong-parts 
in our songs. Some people say we sound like early Maiden and Priest 
mixed with some Lizzy and Running Wild. But we are not compareable to 
those numerous retro-trend acts. We don`t try to be a poor copy of 80`s 
bands with a lot of silly glam-fashion, downsized sound to express 
authenticity

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the music?
We started writing about the saga of sedna, a story which is part of the 
inuit-mythology. You can find these themes in the tracks „Sedna´s 
Revenge“, „Death Of The First Earth“ and  „Breaking Destiny“. Besides 
that stuff it´s all about heavy metal brotherhood, and ecspecially about 
heavy metal as something you can´t get rid of once you became a real 
part of it. We are actually exploring our inner selfs. And we tell 
peolpe that heavy metal it nothing you can buy or imitate as it is a 
part of your heart and soul. Heavy metal is just more than meets the eye.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
There is no specialmeaning behind that. One day in 2010 I suddenly had 
this name along with some conceptional ideas as the inuit-mythodology in 
my head. Johnny liked the idea so we started that way.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?
One of the best shows was the show with Powerwolf in 2011 in Essen: it 
was a sold out show and half oft he audience was singing our songs 
without knowing the stuff! We was simply blewn away and that day we 
truly started believing in what we started. Another great gig was the 
show with Cicagos´ High Spirits in Hamburg in April´13.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
Of course we need to support the album with a fitting tour soon. But 
nothing is fixed so far and maybe we will organize a little underground 
package tour through Germany/benelux states in late summer if nothing 
bigger happens sooner or later.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans
of metal?
The press-response on „The Warrior´s Code“ is just incredible so far. 
The sellings via amazon are suprisingly nice what no one expected. We 
got a lot of messages from people all over the world, but itßs 
impossible to draw a picture at the moment. The record was released only 
5 days ago. So far it really seems pleople diggin´ the shit.

8. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?
Surely Gloryful is actually taking the main part. Vito is part of new 
german melodic metallers Exotoxis while i work on new Night in Gales 
demo-tracks. There will be a german-romanian black metal collaboration 
called „The Wake“ later this year i will be involved in as well.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
There will be no other direction for Gloryful. We started Gloryful for 
what is now and it hopefully stays the same for the next couple of 
albums. Most oft he tracks for our second album are already written and 
we will record the new album this summer. There will be no bigger 
changes, we just tried to do some shorter songs as well this time.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I started at the age of 8 with bands like Dio, Crue, Maiden, Helloween, 
Guns n´ Roses and Wasp. We strongly believe, that the bands you listen 
to in your youth are the most important in life. And that´s what 
Gloryful is all about: You are not choosing heavy metal – metal chooses 
you!


11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Honestly, for me there is actually no fucking time left for anything 
besides Music and Work. If there´s some little sparetime between music 
and work, i really need that time to relax. Johnny is a lot into 
X-Box-games, comic-series and of course the whole Marvel-stuff, hartmut 
is a semi-professional table-tennis player, Olli is wearing the Karate - 
black belt while Vito is working as guitar-teacher.

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
I`d like to thank all of you real heavy metal maniacs out there that 
support us. Everyone should check out our album which will be released 
as alimited vinyl-edition on Metalizer Records in Juli as well as our 
soon to be released first official music-video for the titletrack „The 
Warrior´s Code“ on youtube and www.gloryful.net! Get in touch with us 
for booking and merchandise requests easily at facebook. Stay metal, Cheers!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

SaaR/The Last Day/2013 CD Review


  SaaR  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  mixture  of  instrumental  atmospheric  post  metal  and experimental  noise  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released   2013  album  "The  Last  Day".

 Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  no  fast  drumming  or  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording,  while  the  synths  and  sound  effects  bring  elements  of  experimental,  drone,  noise  and  atmospheric  music  to  the  recording,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  atmospheric  metal  with  post  rock  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  some  melody  being thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  heavy  sounding  distortion  along  with  a  brief  use  of  soft  and  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  post  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  and  song  writing  are  all  absent  form t his  recording  with  the  music  being  all  instrumental,  while  the  song  themes  cover  darkness,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  powerful,  heavy,  dark  and  professional  sound  with t he  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  

  In  my  opinion  SaaR  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  instrumental,  atmospheric  post  metal  and experimental  noise  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Part  II  and  Part  IV".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Gloryful/The Warriors Code/Massacre Records/2013 CD Review


  Gloryful  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  epic  sounding  hybrid  of  heavy  and  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album   "The  Warriors  Code"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  no  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  traditional  and  power  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  being  thrown  into t he  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  and  melodic  sounding  heavy/power  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  which  are  only  utilized  briefly  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  add  more  epic  qualities  to  the  recording.

  Vocals a re  mostly  clean  signing  heavy/power  metal  vocals  with  some  back  up  shouts  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  fantasy,  epic  and  heavy  metal  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  old  school  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Gloryful  are  a  very  great  sounding  epic  hybrid  of  heavy  and  power  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heavy  Metal-More  Than  Meets  The  Eye"  "Breaking  Destiny"  "Fist  Of  Steel"  and  "Death  Of  The  First  Earth".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Circle Of Silence/The Rise Of Resistance/Massacre Records/2013 CD Review


  Circle  Of  Silence  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The  Rise  Of  Resistance"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  some  fast  drumming  and  a   brief  use  of  blast  beats  being  present on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  old  school  power  metal  riffs  that  utilize  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  power  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  they  are  only  used  on  the  last  song  and  they  use  finger  picking  to  bring  a  power  ballad  feeling  to  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  clean  singing  power  metal  vocals  with  some  aggressive  sounding  back  up  shouts  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  everyday  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Circle  Of  Silence  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  power  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Eyes  Of  Anarchy"  "An  Oncoming  Storm"  "In  The  Absence  Of  Your  God"  and  "The  Architect  Of  Immortality".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Ignis Fatu/Wenn alle Worte schweigen/TrollZorn Records/2013 EP Review


   Ignis  Fatuu  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  folk  metal  and  mittelalter  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  ep  "Wenn  alle  Worte  schweigen"  which  was  released  by  TrollZorn  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  no  fast  drumming  or  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording,  while  the  flutes  and  bagpipes  bring  a  very  dark  and  medieval  sound  to  the  recording  as  well  as  some  sound  effects  they  bring  elements  of  electronic  music  to  the  recording,  as  for the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  folk  metal  and  mittelalter  rock  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  some  clean  playing  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on t his recording.

  Vocals  are  all  clean  singing  male  and  female  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  German  and  cover  dark  and  medieval  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Ignis  Fatuu  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  folk  metal  and  mittelalter  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should c heck  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Der  Rabe  und  der  Wolf".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Pale Horseman Interview


1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
1 - We are a four piece sludge metal band from the South suburbs of Chicago; one drummer, one bassist, and two guitarists/vocalists. We started jamming this project with this line up about a year ago, but all the members have known each other and jammed with each other on and off for the better part of the last 15 years. Three of us were in a band called Couldron several years ago. That band existed from around 2000 to about 2008.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
2 - Honestly, we really don't know how to describe ourselves. We like to think we have our own unique style of course, and I'd say we definitely have an "old school" more traditional sound. We utilize elements of several different styles of metal, but we're pretty sure we fit somewhere within the doom and sludge sub-genres. We were actually hoping to get some feedback from others as to what we sound like but the only things we've heard so far are actually pretty eclectic. So far we've been compared to Carcass, Obituary, Sepultura, and even Primus by several people we know who've been listening to metal for a long time, and we take all of those comparisons as flattering compliments. But you have to keep in mind that it's all subjective and we understand completely that people are going to compare you with whoever they themselves are personally familiar with, and that's going to be different for every individual. Everyone seems to be content calling us "sludge metal" and we're fine with that. We welcome everyone's opinion of our sound because it's difficult for us to describe it ourselves.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
3 - Our lyrics are inspired by the paranormal, misanthropy, depression, hallucinations, ancient people, ancient beliefs, rituals, religions, the end of the world, the book of revelation, the dark side of the books of the bible as well as the apocryphal books, legends, personal life experiences, world history, the evil, malevolent, and destructive nature of humanity, the subconscious, dream sequences, trial and tribulation, time travel, the occult, the afterlife, spirituality, mythical gods and beings, ancient astronaut theories, the wonders of the world, astral projection, the dark side of nature, plagues, death, mourning, awakening, and transformation.


4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
4 - It's taken directly from the last book of the bible, the book of revelation which is the one that describes how the world will end. The Pale Horseman is one of the four horseman of the apocalypse, he is the fourth and final one to be exact. Many books, movies, and songs have dealt with the same passages; the seven seals, the four horseman, the plagues, the final battle, etc. The first three horses were white, red, and black. Their riders carry different objects such as a bow, a crown, a scales and a sword, but they have no names. The fourth horseman is the only one who is given a name but carries nothing. The exact quote from the book is something like this: (Revelation 6:8) "Behold a pale horse. His rider's name was death. And hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, with famine, with pestilence, and with the beasts of the earth." The whole story around that short passage is a pretty interesting read but in the same breath, we do not by any means endorse or condone christianity or any other religion. It's just one of the many belief systems that we find interesting, and having a band name that no one else has is important 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?
5 - We always have a good time playing live, but our best show by far was actually our very first one which was June 10th 2012 at a venue called Mayne Stage located in Chicago's far North side. We had the honor of opening up for Japanese doom lords Church Of Misery and local favorites Earthen Grave. It was the last date of the Church Of Misery U.S. Tour 2012. For all the other dates that came before, it was a package tour with Hail!Hornet and The Gates Of Slumber. But for whatever reason, those other two bands didn't stick around for the Chicago show, and by the grace of the metal gods a blessing was bestowed upon Pale Horseman to step in and open the show. Mayne Stage is a venue that does not typically host metal shows. It's way up North in an upscale neighborhood. It's a large venue that had recently been remodeled and everything was shiny, new, and beautiful, even the restrooms. Out in front of the building they have a large colorfully lighted marquee where the advertisements scroll by. Inside there are all these big oak liquor bars and the wait staff was all dressed up like you were at the opera or something. The stage and the room itself were both huge with balconies everywhere. All the sound and stage hands were very professional and respectful. The sound was spectacular and everyone treated us very well. It was just a real classy place overall. I've been gigging in metal bands since the late 80s and I can honestly say that was the nicest venue I've ever played in my life. It was a once in a lifetime shot for a place of that caliber. I think the closest thing they've ever had to a metal show like that was having a Geoff Tate (from Queensryche) solo performance a couple weeks prior to the Church Of Misery show. 

Another great show for us was one we just played on May 4th 2013 at a local bar in Blue Island, Illinois called The Forge. It was an outdoor show with six other awesome local bands - several of which are good friends of ours - and it was in this big beer garden they have there. The weather was beautiful that night and the sound was pretty damn good out there too. We just love the outdoors and whenever we play that close to home, many old friends who we never usually see come crawling out of the woodwork. We gave away a lot of CDs too. Good music, good friends, the outdoors, some beers, and a little money in our pockets. It was a pretty perfect night. As far as our stage presence, I would describe a Pale Horseman performance as energetic. We all go for it on stage and we get a lot of comments about it too so we know people are taking notice. We all feel and look like we just ran a marathon after our shows, and sore necks are always on the agenda for the following day. 



6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
6 - We have three shows on the books right now: May 20th at Cobra Lounge in Chicago, June 29th at The Cactus Club in Milwaukee, and then July 27th we're playing Beard Metal Fest 2013 at Casa De Linda in Custer Park, Illinois. Eric and I are both attending Maryland Death Fest next week. I will also be going to Scion Rock Fest in Memphis the following week, and Days Of The Doomed Fest in Milwaukee in June. We plan on giving away a ton of our CDs at all these events. 


7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or received any interest?
7 - Last week was the first time I had a chance to send a batch of CDs out to some labels. We haven't heard anything back yet but it's only been a few days. A label would be nice as far as having some help with money and advertising, but I wouldn't say we're aggressively seeking one out. We're just happy doing our thing, playing shows and writing music. We've all been doing this so long without any type of recognition or reward, we're just going to let the chips fall where they may. We're putting ourselves out there fairly well by ourselves, if someone wants to work with us, they'll contact us.


8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to  your music by fans of sludge metal?
8 - People seem to dig it and they're spreading it around as well. So far a good portion of our downloads are going to Europe. We think we have a good solid album and it seems like people are taking notice. It's always a trip when we see links to our album download popping up on blogs from other countries in foreign languages.


9. Are there any other musical projects going on these days?
9 - No other projects right now. Chris and I are both married, Rich and Chris both have small children, and we all have homes and mortgages. We all spend most of our free time on Pale Horseman.

10.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
10 - We have already written one new song since making the debut album, and it's a crusher we're very proud of. I don't foresee any major changes coming on future releases. It will most likely just be slight variations of the same recipe.

11.What are some band or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
11 - GODFLESH, Warhorse, Autopsy, Isis, Hooded Menace, Obituary, Neurosis, Sleep, The Melvins, Acid KingCarcass, Mare, Church Of Misery, Entombed. Eric and I do all of the songwriting and we both spent many years listening to thrash and death metal, but our favorite metal band of all  will always be GODFLESH. Heavy, gloomy, anda rock solid crushing groove, that's what we're all about.

12.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
12 - We all enjoy camping and the outdoors in general, and we go out boating regularly on the local rivers and lake. We also enjoy traveling. Mostly we just drink, smoke, and hang out wherever we go.


13.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
3 - An interesting fact about our album is that it was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Dennis Pleckham of the mighty Bongripper. He did an amazing job and was extremely affordable and super easy to work with. We think our  album came out sounding great, especially for a one man production start to finish and we'd like to help him make more of a name for himself in the recording world if we can. We highly recommend him for any type of recording. 

Other than that I would just like to say thank you for your time and interest, and plug our free album download at palehorseman.bandcamp.com


Friday, May 17, 2013

Across Tundras/Electric Relics/2013 CD Review


  Across  Tundras  are  a  band  from  Nashville,  Tennessee  that  plays  a  mixture  of  post  doom,  blues  rock,  and  Americana    and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  album  "Electric  Relics".

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  no  fast  drumming  or  blast  beats  being  present on  this  recording  along  with  some  percussion  work,  while  the  pianos,  organs,  synths,  drones,  mellotron  and  trombones  bring  a  psychedelic  sound  to  the  recording,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  post  doom  metal,  with  blues  rock  and  Americana  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  blues/hard  rock  guitar  solos  and  leads  along  with  a  brief  use  of  guitar  slides,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords to  enhance  the  Americana  and  southern  folk  elements  of  the  album.

  Vocals  are  all  clean  singing  hard  rock  vocals, while  the  lyrics  cover  hidden  truths  of  bygone  times  and  modern  mysticism,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  dark,  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  with the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.  

  In  my  opinion  Across  Tundras  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  post  doom  metal,  blues  rock, and  Americana  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pining  For  The  Gravel  Roads"  "Solar  Ark"  and  "Unfortunate  Son".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Left For Dead/Devoid Of Everything/A389 Recordings/2012 CD Review


  Left  For  Dead  are  a  band  from  Ontario,  Canada  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  hardcore  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Devoid  Of  Everything"  which  was  released  by  A389  Recordings.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  playing  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  old  school  hardcore   riffs  that  utilize  some  punk  and  metal  metal  influences  in  the  riffing  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly  hardcore  style  shouts  and  screams  with  some  spoken  word  parts,  while  the  lyrics  cover  hateful  and  political  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Left  For  Dead  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  hardcore  punk  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pliant"  "Nothing  There"  "Left  For  Dead"  and  "Ripped  Up".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.    

Monday, May 13, 2013

Polkadot Cadaver Interview


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

We did 200 tour dates last year with Static-X, Korpiklanni, Wednesday 13 and Blood on the Dancefloor.  We just finished a tour with Psychostick last month and our new album Last Call in Jonestown comes out tomorrow on the record label that we own, Razor To Wrist Records. 
2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous efforts?

I find it to be stylistically somewhere in between our first 2 albums.  Purgatory Dance Party was very experimental, Sex Offender was more of a rock and roll album.  Last Call in Jonestown has elements of both, a mix that seems to be where we are heading. 

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

Todd's hatred of George W. Bush, mass suicide/murder... oh and the ins and outs of teenage heartbreak.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

I like to tell people that it's a black plague reference, but the truth is that there really isn't a story, it's just something that Todd really liked.  It's odd, but it has worked really well for us from a marketing standpoint, everytime a celebrity dies, apply dots to a picture and voila!  New shirt.

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

We've played a ton of great shows all over the US and Canada.  Home is always Cleveland, but we have added a lot of "Home" cities lately.  Lots of new faces showing up, it's been fun.  We try to have a ton of energy on stage.  I try to not fuck up too much while laying on top of people in the audience.

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

Yup, we leave for a few weeks in June with Exotic Animal Petting Zoo and One Eyed Doll.  It's our first headlining tour in a while and we're excited about playing new material.  We also plan to do a full US run in the fall. 

7.Currently you are signed to Razor To Wrist, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you describe the support they have given you so far?

We actually own Razor To Wrist Records.  It's the single greatest business decision we have ever made.  The modern music industry does not require you to have a major label behind you.  In a lot of ways labels do more to destroy a bands career, then help them have one.  We have been signed to some really big labels, and no one will ever help us as much as we will help ourselves.  We will be signing other bands and they will be treated fairly and with the respect they deserve. 

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

We have fans all over the world, It's actually pretty remarkable.  Our old band Dog Fashion Disco is doing a couple of reunion shows at the end of the month and there will be people there from the corners of the earth.... Croatia, Russia, Finland, UK, Australia, Germany all will be represented. 

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

The beauty of being in a band like Polkadot Cadaver and owning your own label is you don't have to make these decisions.  We have always and will always just write what comes out, and that will be what makes it onto the record.  It's very liberating. 

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

There are tons of bands and artists that have influenced us over the years, Clutch, Metallica, FNM, Beck, Muse, Slayer.... I mean the list goes on and on and on.  I just picked up the new Mastodon album "The Hunter" and I like that quite a bit.  We toured with those guys a few years back and it's amazing to see how far they've come since then.

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I really like designing things in Photoshop and Illustrator.  I do a lot of our art, which I personally find as rewarding as writing songs.  It's exciting for me to see a new shirt printed that I designed.  I also love tinkering in the stock market.  I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but someday I'll have a new honda to show for my efforts.

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Support us!  Go buy our album....  Profits don't go to some industry fat-cat doucebag.  They go in our gas tank! 

Jasan Stepp 

Demon Lung/The Hundredth Name/Candlelight Records/2013 CD Review


  Demon  Lung  are  a  band  from  Las  Vegas,  Nevada  that  plays  a  very  heavy  and  old  school  form  of  occult  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The  Hundredth  Name"  which  was released  by  Candlelight  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  playing  with  no  fast  drumming  or  blast  beats  being  present on  this  recording,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a v ery  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  doom  metal  riffs  that  are  very  heavy  and  old  school  sounding  with  a  great  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  which  are  only  used  briefly  use  finger  picking  to  enhance  the  dark  atmosphere  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  all  clean  singing  traditional  doom  metal  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism  and  Occultism  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  dark  and  professional  sound  with  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Demon  Lung  are  a  very  great  sounding  heavy  and  old  school  occult  doom  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Binding  Of  The  Witch"  "Heathen  Child"  "Incantation(The  Hundredth  Name)".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.