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#30

Lelahell (Algeria) Erevos (Greece)

Pharaoh (U.S.)

AND:

Beneath the Massacre (Canada), Darkestrah (Kyrgyzstan/Germany), Einherjer (Norway), Hemoptysis (U.S.), Kvelertak (Norway), Mass in Comatose (Estonia), Oakenshield (U.K.), Revel in Flesh (Germany), Sektemtum (France), Shroud of Despondency (U.S.), Skeletonwitch (U.S.),

**** Metal Bulletin zine P.O. Box 1454 Mount Vernon, WA 98273 usa For more metal (and free beer, cash, cars, and pots of gold and silver) visit:

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history of Metal Bulletin zine Issue 1 to 20: (2006-2009): Wisconsin Issue 21 to 26: (2009-2010): Texas Issue 27 (2010) - present; Washington State -- metal on the radio/internet (Pacific Time) Metal Shop (Seattle, WA): Saturday 11pm-3am

FOUR ridiculous hours of the heavy stuff! KISW 99.9fm www.kisw.com Sweet Nightmares (Houston, TX): Thursday night

Bill and his pirates take over Texas! 9pm-midnight KPFT 90.1 fm www.kpft.org **** --

Lelahell (Algeria) In this short interview Lelahell gives a brief history lesson about metal in Algeria and for that alone, it makes an interesting read. Actually, here we learn about the circumstances in which the band plays death metal. The history behind the band, its motivation to keep going fuels their passion for making metal music. Death metal is in some ways an ugly, violent art form that turns off a lot of people from the moment they hear the growling. “This is just stupid”, some people say. Lelahell has had to deal with a lot of that, and more. Nevertheless, here is Lelahell and they have recorded music that you should definitely check out! The name of their most recent recording is “Al Intihar.” The contact information is given at the end of the interview. --- What’s happening with Lelahell? You are based in Algiers, correct? Have you played shows there? Lelahell is an Algerian death metal band formed by me (Lelahel) in 2011, started first as a one-man band. In January 2012 Nihil (bass) and Slaveblaster (drums) from Barbaros joined the Lelahell’s team.

Yes, we are from Algiers and we haven’t made gigs yet but it is in our plans. We are rehearsing every week, and when we’ll be ready we’ll start to invade the metal scene! Tell us about the song “Emperor“: what are the lyrics about? It’s about the emperor Nero, and his 14 years of reign. The history repeats itself, right? It’s the most brutal track of this Ep and the new ones have the same brutality! I think that it is the song that represents the future sound of Lelahell.

How did they idea for the song “Hermanos” come to be? I don’t know if the lyrics are in Spanish. This song has a nice, catchy guitar solo. Who does the guitar solo? A story of friends who are at the beginning like blood brothers, but as life goes, well, things change...Yes some lyrics are in Spanish, I just only know few words in Spanish the idea is to use one foreign language in each release of Lelahell, maybe we’ll use Italian or Portugese in our next release.

Thanks for the compliment, I made the solo it is melodic but will Lelahell will not go in this direction in the future; we’ll be less melodic and more brutal! Are any of your songs in Arabic? Are there metal bands in Algeria with lyrics in Arabic? Most of our songs are half in English and the second half in Arabic. The bands here don’t want to use too much Arabic because they think that it doesn’t sound metal! But I don’t agree with that opinion because there are some letters in Arabic that are really suited for metal!

We are the first generation of the extreme metal bands in Arabic countries and we used Arabic in my old band called Litham, it was so strange for the audience to hear metal with Arabic! What does “Al Ihtiqar” mean? That song is heavy, like some of the heaviest death metal you have done. At the same time, it’s only a bit more than 2 minutes long. Why is this song so short compared to your other ones that are 5-8 minutes long? Al ihtiqar means “The despise” it is very slow tempo death metal song and very short. Contains Just few words and some riffs to describe despise because it don’t need more! Try to listen to it; it is impossible to add more riffs everything concerning despise is present here! How is metal music viewed by your family? When you walk in the streets with an Iron Maiden or Morbid Angel shirt, do people think you are crazy? It’s been more than twenty years that I’m into metal music, so they don’t have any choice than to support me and support metal! Lol

And when I walk on the street the people don’t pay attention to my shirts because they simply don’t understand what it is! How did you all get into metal music? When were the first metal bands in Algeria formed? Were there metal bands in the 80s? Did some bands start in the 90s? Everything began in the early 90’s (1992) when I met Salim, who was a singer in a heavy speed metal band called Rascass (Rascass was formed in 1992). We had the same passion for death metal, so we rehearsed together to form a band, but it never happened.

Some months after, I was contacted by a friend Mehdi (who was a drummer) to play bass in Neanderthalia. Neanderthalia was a typical 90’s sounding band formed by Samir. He was searching for musicians to complete the lineup of the band. After that we were searching for a second guitarist and we found Yacine who was a student in the same university that I studied. This was the first complete line up of Neanderthalia.

In 1995 Sabri joined the band as drummer (Mehdi was replaced by Kamel, and Sabri replaced him) and recorded a 3-track demo. After that we had many problems of communications with Samir the front man of the band, so we decided to leave the band and form Litham in July 1996.

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There was hard rock bands in the 80’s, most of them where only cover bands, I heard about Khindjar and Ouechma, but never had chance to see them live. What do you have planned for 2012 and 2013? Is there a possibility of Lelahell playing shows in other parts of Africa, like Egypt? What about Spain and France? First we are planning to release a full length, and after we’ll make a lot of gigs all around the globe to spread the music of Lelahell! After that another full length and more concerts and after a third full length and more concerts ….. Yes, I have many contacts in all around the world so just wait and see! “Into the Past” has some black metal and death metal vocals. Is that the same person doing vocals? This song is good for headbanging! I’m doing all the vocal in this Ep. Into the past reminds us all the evil mankind has done throughout its existence: destruction, murder, lies, disasters, etc. ...and we continue to do it.

The music is blackened thrash with local melodies, the main riff is catchy, and as you said for headbanging! What is the best way to contact you or get shirts? We haven’t made shirts yet, but maybe after the first album we’ll make some merchandising! If you want to contact us by email: lelahellband@gmail.com, myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lelahellband facebook : http://www.facebook.com/Lelahell THE END. --

Erevos (Greece) In this interview the band explains a bit about their album “Descensus Ad Inferos,” a well-rounded black metal album that incorporates death metal and symphonic elements. Basically, it’s about grimness and brutality and majesty all wrapped in one, in varying degrees…and it’s so easy to enjoy!! Immediate impact.

In Growler’s view, the life of a black metal band under less than ideal circumstances requires a particular stubbornness. However, Erevos makes the most out of what they have, and you only have to hear “Descensus Ad Inferos” to appreciate their work in the name of metal.

Erevos is no band of amateurs. Their album has songs that bring together a lot under black metal. There’s no way to do all that without the benefit of experience and knowledge. -- “Descensus Ad Inferos” is actually your first album, correct? But the band has other recordings, even from 2005, your demo “Burning Souls.” Your album “Descensus Ad Inferos” is definitely a black metal attack. What is the situation for the band in Greece now? Hello! Thank you for the interview! “Descensus Ad Inferos” is indeed the first album of Erevos. We also have 2 other demo releases, 1 split, 1 compilation and the EP “Adou Katavasis”. Right now, we are preparing for another split release with a band from Sweden (we will announce the band soon). Everybody in the band is ok, but the economic situation in Greece is awful!

You are based in Thessaloniki? Is there a good metal scene for playing shows there? Yes, we are from Thessaloniki. The scene is great! We have many good bands especially in death and thrash metal fields. Unfortunately, there aren’t many options to choose a live stage to perform here. Also the promotion is poor in general in Greece. We have played many times in Athens and out from our town. Also we have performed in Bulgaria and France so far. Erevos is black metal, but there are also death metal vocals and that adds a cool variety. Is Growler doing the low, gruff death metal vocals, too? Do you have any computer programs for the vocals, like during the chorus? Is it totally natural, without changing the vocals with a program? Yes, Growler performs every type of vocals and he doesn’t use any kind of programs for the voice. The vocals are completely natural. Only in ‘Possessed by the Moon’, Dan Swano added some kind of effect in the song’s part. “Possessed by the Moon (of the Underworld)” shows the symphonic side of Erevos, as well as the blasting speed and both black and death metal vocals. This is one of your older songs. How has the song changed from the early days? It sounds good! Thank you! The song was first recorded back in 2006 and has been added on “Mythological Evil” demo. The production and the performance weren’t so clean and well presented. In the new recordings we have changed the keyboards and their sound and the production is way better. “Grotesque Blasphemy” is subtitled “Slaughter Pt. 1.” Tell us the story of this song and what can we expect for part 2? Well, this is a song that isn’t connected with the other songs from the album. The whole album is a concept, a little story, but Grotesque Blasphemy is like a bonus track. It is the song that we play in the end of our shows and the crowd usually goes crazy, due to its aggressiveness. We never published the lyrics for this song and we never will! There will be the second part on the next full-length album and it is gonna be a thrashing hell of a song! Is vocalist/bassist Growler the only person from the early days? Who writes the songs? Metal Archives says that actually your “previous” keyboardist Princess of Darkness is Tisiphoni, your current keyboardist. Is this true? Tisiphoni is also in the band from the early days, named as “princess of darkness”. Yes, Growler writes the lyrics and the basic melody of the songs and Tisiphoni writes the keys and does the instrumentation. All the other members add their personal style.

The first nickname [“princes of darkness”] was taken under pressure, so we changed it. So, Tisiphoni definitely has experience with the keyboards for a long time in Erevos? Yes, she does! Though we had many criticisms for keys in the beginning, Tisiphoni gives a characteristic style in the songs and dares to put keyboards in parts which most people could consider difficult to fit.

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Recently, in Greece a lot young people, students and workers are protesting against the government. Your lyrics are not about politics, of course. But do you think that Greece is in an economic crisis that will become worse? Are you all students? Most of us are students and we are looking for a job in order to support the band, too. The situation is beyond worst! Everyone is looking for a foreign country to live in. The things will get tougher for sure! How do these things affect the band, if you have less money? It is nearly impossible to find a decent job, even if some of us have university degrees. Of course, this situation affects Erevos, due to the lack of money. But even if we had money it wouldn’t have any difference due to the lack of promotion and mentality of people here. If you want to succeed you have to get out from Greece, unfortunately! (With or without economic crisis). Tell us your future plans. Are you receiving more interest since the album? What can people do to support your band? Oh, yes! Dan Swano helped on that, too! We also cooperate with Clawhammer promotions from USA, which does excellent job worldwide. We received tons of good reviews and we came in contact with important people mostly from big bands. Our plan is to find an agency and perform shows abroad. A European tour would be excellent! We already had some propositions in order to play in US, but the travel costs are too high!

Right now we are composing new songs for our second album and preparing the split release. People can support us by leaving comments on the social networks and of course come to our live shows and buy our cd and merchandise through us by e-mail. Take care and good luck in the future. Thank you my friend, from Growler and Tisiphoni! Continue your good work! You can contact us and find info’s about us on: www.erevosblack.gr www.myspace.com/erevos666 www.facebook.com/pages/Erevos/141389422543650 http://www.facebook.com/clawhammerpr THE END. --

Pharaoh (U.S.) The guys from Pharaoh understand very well what makes a good metal song. Once you hear the album, it’s clear they are something like scientists of heavy metal songwriting. “Bury the Light” is their new album and it is quality metal music from beginning to end. The main thing is intelligently constructed, compact and memorable songs that will be appreciated by listeners who demand real talent in the playing and seriously good singing: whether it is Tim Aymar’s singing or Matt Johnsen’s guitars or simply the awesome songs. If you are picky and demand talent and great songs, you will find that Pharaoh is all those things. Matt (guitar) explains the band’s take on metal. www.myspace.com/pharaohmetal www.facebook.com/Pharaohmetal -- So, “Bury the Light.” Another Pharaoh album. Another display

of quality, catchy traditional heavy metal. I was midway through the second listen, when it clicked and then it was on! How do you keep doing this? Are you adding an addictive secret ingredient?

Matt Johnsen: We're very self-critical. Two of the guys in the band were longtime metal journalists who spent many years thinking about what, exactly, makes a metal album good. I guess that kind of introspection has paid off in terms of our songwriting. On the other hand, it makes everything take a long damned time to finish. It's pretty satisfying to write a song, and pretty much anything you make with your own hands is going to appeal to you at some level. The secret is being able to back up and ask, "Yes, it was fun to write and fun to make, but will it be fun for the people who didn't make it?" I think a lot of bands fall into this trap. They write a song, they have fun doing it, they have fun playing it, and so they assume it's a fun song, when it's not. We never make that assumption. “The Year of the Blizzard” is a hit with this zine! That’s pretty much a perfect song right there. It’s also your longest track. Do you have any insight into the song that you can tell us about? I have to ask, do you agree that that riff that begins at 1:10, after the acoustic part, sounds Rush-inspired? “Temples of Syrinx”, anyone?! Are you offended by the reference? Too cool for Rush? Ha, no. I didn't write the song (it was Chris Black's baby through and through) but as soon as I heard his demo riffs, I said, "You know, that sounds exactly like Rush." Although, on further reflection, it could also be a Who riff, which is probably where Rush got the idea. But yeah, there's no getting around the fact that this song looks backwards to the 70s for its inspirations, which is new for Pharaoh. It was a blast to record, because I got to use a ton of different guitars to achieve all those textures. I think I used six different guitars throughout the course of this song! And finally, no, we're not too cool for Rush. Rush rules hard. Did you ever wonder, “How are we going to top (previous album) ‘Be Gone’?” Did you go through a dry spell? How many guitars are playing in a song like “The Spider’s Thread”? Are there four or five guitars going at any one given time, like after the :30 second mark, with those melodies? How many guitars is that? Can two guitar achieve that? Two guitars cannot achieve that, no. I believe there are five distinct guitar parts there (two rhythm parts and three melody parts) although it might only be two melody parts. It's been a while since I tracked it!

And yes, I wondered how we could top Be Gone. I also wondered how we could top The Longest Night, and I'm sure I'll wonder if we can top Bury the Light. My problem after Be Gone was, "what can I do now that will be different?" and to the extent that I went through a dry spell, it was that I had a hard time coming up with riffs that didn't sound too much like the ones on Be Gone. Eventually, I had to admit that we had come to a sort of plateau with Be Gone, and that to make the SONGS different, I would have to add more textural elements and hope those were enough to compensate for some riffs that were relatively similar to Be Gone riffs. In the end, I think it worked, but I don't think I can do it again, so I'm going to have to come up with some really clever new ideas

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for the fifth album. Do you think it’s disingenuous for gore metal bands, who are like 105 years old, to write lyrics about zombies and horror movies clichés? “Hmm, let’s see, I have written literally hundreds of song lyrics about zombies, but I guess I gotta keep selling the same product, unless I wanna get a job at the local factory. OK! Zombies, it is!!” Can people in their mid-40s really be “inspired” or “excited” about zombie lyrics, and zombies and corpses on the cover of their albums? I think you're mistaken if you think there are any gore grind musicians that DON'T have day jobs! That shit doesn't pay the bills.

Regarding your question, though, there are two possible scenarios, and the one you described is probably the preferable one, the cynical one. Less pleasant is the notion that these 50-year-old men ARE still that emotionally and intellectually invested in zombies and knife rape. You have to wonder, also, whom they envision as the target audience for their lyrics: are they singing to the other 50 year old manchildren, or do they imagine they're singing to the modern equivalent of their pimply teenaged selves, hunched over back issues of Fangoria listening to Autopsy record in their headphones. Heavy metal was invented and framed as adolescents' music, but over the course of its 40-year run, it has become an adult music almost against its will. I think too many metal musicians who got into this style as teenagers still imagine they're making and selling music for teenagers, when in reality, they're making music for other adults. I have to think the quality of metal lyrics, or at least the sophistication, would increase if that wisdom would sink in en masse. It probably won't, though. Having said that, how do y’all go about your lyrics. Are they just afterthoughts? And don’t stupid lyrics bring down the work and effort put by the guitar player, bass and drummer into a song? How do you construct your lyrics? Your lyrics tend to be indirect, but still not too weird. They're an afterthought in the literal sense, as they're almost always written after the music. But, we don't shortchange the lyrics on account of their order in the songwriting process. Personally, I try to write lyrics about things that matter to me, be they political or personal subjects. At the same time, especially when writing political lyrics, I think its important not to instantly date myself with specific references. We can all think of some corny old thrash song that harps on about Ronald Regan or Margaret Thatcher or Mikhail Gorbechev. So, I personally try to write allegorical lyrics that are thinly veiled political screeds that can be read on a more typical "metal" level without drawing back that veil.

"The Wolves" is not about wolves, therefore, but if you don't feel like reading into it, well, it still makes some kind of sense. Everyone in Pharaoh writes lyrics, and I'm sure everyone has their own process and philosophy when it comes to writing, but I think we're a rare group to have four guys who can all write intelligent and meaningful words. Is “Graveyard of Empires” about the war in Afghanistan? Awesome, job. Pharaoh telling it like it is. Imperialism sucks. It is about Afghanistan, and while it's about the U.S. today, it could be about the U.S.S.R. 20 years ago, or Great Britain 170

years ago or, probably, China in 40 years. It never fucking ends for that country. I'm pretty strongly anti-war in the general sense, but this engagement specifically was a stupid idea from the start (if not quite as stupid as the war in Iraq. We're on a tear with our foreign policy, as you can tell.) To be honest, though, I wrote the song around the title, because that's a pretty badass heavy metal title, I think you'll agree! The day I needed to start working on those lyrics I saw the phrase used in some editorial, and I was off to the races. Better than calling it "Aukland's Folly", for sure. What do y’all as a band think about the radical idea of recording WITHOUT triggered drums, sound replacement of instruments, looping, vocal programs and other things that “perfect” human performances? I think those are all noble goals! But, Pharaoh doesn't really live by them. We only have so much money and time available for recording, so some shortcuts are taken here and there. It's best to not be obvious about such things. A lot of bands these days, you can actually hear that they only recorded a riff once, then just copied and pasted it. Drum editing has gotten completely out of hand. And don't get me started on auto-tune (we don't tune Tim at all. I make that sorry bastard get it right on his side of the microphone!). But for Pharaoh to make albums at the level we do without any postproduction trickery would require us to rehearse 5 nights a week for months on end, and we simply can't do that.

If you can't tell when it's all said and done, then it doesn't really matter. Sometimes, it's best to not see how the sausage is made. What can your listeners do to show support for your band? Email orders@professorblack.com to inquire about shirts. We have only one design for sale now, but we will have two more in the next couple months.

We are currently scheduled to play the Ragnarokkr fest outside of Chicago on May 18, along with Virgin Steele, Brocas Helm, Voltax, Slauter Xtroyes, and a bunch of other cool bands. We'll also do some east coast shows in the summer, and anyone who wants to see Pharaoh in their remote part of the world need only pony up enough to get us there without us having to break the bank!

Thanks for your support, and for an excellent interview! THE END. --

REVIEWS by MMB Beneath the Massacre (Canada): Incongruous (Prosthetic) So, just how much do you like technical, blasting death metal? A lot? No, I mean, a whole lot?! Beneath the Massacre plays something like “spazzoid ADHD warp speed death metal.” If you want to groove, then this is not for you. No grooves, you understand? But if you want to be confused and to be left asking questions, like “What are they doing?!” and “Just how many time changes occur in this song?”,

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Then, welcome to Beneath the Massacre, spazzoid friends! Fast, technical, puzzling, freak-ish, totally ridiculous and outrageous…and it sounds so good!! I can’t tell you how one song differs from another one because it’s all a big swirling chaos of technicality. Maybe after I will have heard it some 94 times, this will be more memorable. So, what happens when the music ends? I have no idea because I do not remember…like, at all. My slow, old brain is trying to unscramble the tangled wires after this music. This band is ridiculous. This band is annoying. This band is frustrating. Awesome! More confusion, more chaos, more technical wizardry, more, more, more! Bring it! www.myspace.com/btm Darkestrah (Kyrgyzstan/Germany): Khagan (Osmose) “Saga of Temudgin” (9:28): Raw, atmospheric, symphonic black metal with high shriek vocals and upfront keyboard landscapes rock out for several minutes. Then there’s a soft/mellow transition. Then symphonic black metal returns at an uptempo (not blasting) speed, that is, until the blasting shows up again. By now, it seems like the song has turned into a fast black metal semi-instrumental number, with a strong symphonic element. This song has some “clear” vocals, but it sounds like an evil monk chanting from the middle of the woods. Good stuff.

“Onon River” (2:58): A simple acoustic, instrumental piece for the total time of duration that is, more than anything, a transition to the next track.

“Khagan” (10:55): This has also several minutes of fast black metal and quiet/mellow transition to midtempo black metal. This type of song, of course, has several moods within it, from heavier, grim moments, to stretches of total speed, and other things in between.

Darkestrah requires patience for the changes in mood and speeds. Not for the casual listener of black metal, since, one would think, the demands of the music weed out those who want instant gratification. The dedicated listener will understand better after repeated listens. www.darkestrah.vze.com

www.myspace.com/officialdarkestrah Einherjer (Norway): Norrøn (Indie Recordings) The first song, “Norrøn Kraft”, is some 13 minutes long and it is Einherjer’s way of announcing their return to action in the studio since 2003’s “Blot.” Einherjer is harsh black metal vocals, but with big, easy-to-get-into rhythms and riffs. The song is a midtempo song that explores progressive metal moments and different moods. This song is also good for finding out who has the patience and endurance to stay around and get all they can from the music. The track is very gratifying and fun, you just have to give it the room necessary to breathe.

Songs like “Naglfar” (5:11) and “Varden Brenne” (6:21) display that Einherjer-ish midpaced, sing-along melodic sensibility. This band utilizes gang-shouted backing vocals a

lot. Those vocals may be humming or pirates-on-a-ship group vocals or the collective shouting of particular phrases.

These are also show a rock and roll simplicity of the guitar solos that focus on melody, not technicality.

FYI, the song “Alu Alu Laukar” (2:51) is a super, super ridiculously catchy song. Great for singing along. The song is a cover by Norwegian band Ym:Stammen. To the point. The album is wonderfully coherent mix of several styles, Einherjer’s “Viking metal” awaits the more adventures listeners. www.einherjer.com Hemoptysis (U.S.): Misanthropic Slaughter

This is a self-release. The name of the band is slightly strange, maybe. The name of the album is a generic metal title, slightly moronic or downright moronic. The artwork—zombies and gore—for the album is stupid and infantile. Thus, This band does not make a good impression. BUT, and this is a huge but: The music is good. In this case, people have to overlook the stupid things mentioned already. A song like “Shadow of Death”, which has ‘metal hit’ written all over it, has a shredding, melodic thrash quality. It’s a catchy song, with a very good opening mini-solo and a fun, extended guitar solo that rocks. So, am I saying the music is NOT stupid? Exactly. There’s talent in this band. It’s not just the guitar solos, though. It’s the way that each song revolves around the almighty riff for creating headbanging music. The band is in the category of thrash. The shrieked vocals and the extended guitar soloing round out the features of the band. The energetic drumming fits the music really well. “The Cycle” is a thrash attack, “Hopeless” is festival of riffs, “Impending Doom” is a call to get off your glutes and start moving, “Blood Storm” blends thrash, melodic black metal and great guitar solos.

On the other hand, if a listener does not like thrash, I doubt they would like this band, why, with the all thrashing going on here and whatnot.

Hemoptysis should reconsider their image, though. People judge a book by the cover. And the cover of this book is less than hot. After all, it is possible that not everyone listening to this music is a 13-year-old kid obsessed with zombies, vampires and gore. www.myspace.com/hemoptysismetal Kvelertak (Norway): Kvelertak (Indie Recordings) What do you get when you combine The Sex Pistols and Thin Lizzy and turn up the intensity, and add raspy/scream/growl vocals? Does that idea sound confusing? Not really, it just sounds like loud classic rock, with punk energy and screamed vocals. What’s really going to make you fall down from your bicycle is the fact that Kvelertak are fantastically successful at this little concoction.

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It sounds way more interesting than this review makes it appear. The crucial part is that the band wants to make fun, rowdy rock. “Boogie punk scream rock metal,” anyone? Those that prefer their categories of music to be kept clear, might not enjoy the objective of this band. But those who want music to be a good time will appreciate this type of rock. Check out the songs “Sultans of Satan” and “Fossegrim” to hear what the hype is all about. Kvelertak is shameless. Thin Lizzy’s guitar harmonies and melodies, punk guitar riffs and drumming, plus screamed vocals = catchy rock songs. www.myspace.com/kvelertak Mass in Comatose (Estonia): Sempiternal Nightmare Industry (Wasteland)

Five songs (23 minutes) of total death metal brutality. Mass in Comatose’s sound has elements of classic death metal music, which they celebrate by making their own brutal songs. Of course, right now, as always, there are particular trends, be it bands with doing clean/growl singing or be it thrash, but Mass in Comatose just sounds oblivious to that stuff, as the sheer death attack of “Undead Terror of Dominance” demonstrates. This is not melodic and you would have to search far and wide to find anything “catchy” to hang on to. The band relies on big, fat death metal riffs, speedy and blasting drumming and death metal vocals, like in “Chemical Lobotomy.” Heaviness and sickness is the deal. Mainly, it is the energy. It is the overall feeling. They want to keep it heavy, keep it low, and keep it friendly towards headbanging and moshing or any type of physical movement on the part of the listener, such as with “Indoctrination.” Heavy riffs that call on the listener to move that neck and those elbows. If you like death metal, this is very comforting. There’s no funny or stupid joking around, just heaviness. There’s a comfort in the music of a bunch death metal maniacs seeking to find their way to their own creation of the craft that they love. www.estonianmetal.com/bands Oakenshield (U.K.): Legacy (Einheit Produktionen) Oakenshield is violin folk melodies at front, surrounded by folk metal. Also, the violin is often accompanied or takes turns with another folk instrument, could be a flute or something like that, I do not know. At any rate, “Earl Thorfinn” is a prime example of the violin folk spirit, for its memorability. Then again, “Jorvik” has a little bit more a symphonic quality to it, and it’s also a good song. “Clontarf” is a groovy little ditty of violin folk metal growling and clean singing.

The music is always midpaced and a bit on the slow side, so that speed is not found here. The not-too-fast, not-too-slow approach gives the violin and flute a major role, and puts it at the center the songs.

The folk metal elements are the foundation: the (programmed?) drums and the guitar chug along. There are clean and growled vocals, both work well with the music, which also has a less-pronounced symphonic feel at times.

However, Oakenshield wastes very little time in getting to the melodies, which are a tremendously crucial element here. The sing-along objective of Oakenshield is achieved very well. In some ways, this is very typical European folk metal, but if you like those melodies, you’ll enjoy this one-man band Ben Corkhill’s re-arrangements of traditional melodies. Should be fun for the Viking/folk enthusiasts, as long as people understand that this is a studio thing, since it is a one-man entity. It takes a long time and a lot of dedication to put together an album like this. By the way, I have no knowledge if that “flute” is played by a human being or programmed, given that such information is not really explained at the band’s website. Does that mean that it is a computer program? Could be. Otherwise, why not list the instruments played? www.oakenshield.org Revel in Flesh (Germany): Deathevokation 1. The name of the band is Revel in Flesh.

That is the name of the third song on the album, “The Left Hand Path” by Entombed in 1990, the frontrunner in the Stockholm style of death metal, with the Sunlight Studio production, featuring the buzzsaw guitar sound. 2. The name of this album is called “Deathevokation”.

“Death Evocation” is the name of a song by Dismember, the number 2 band of the Stockholm style of death metal, with the Sunlight Studio production and guitar sound. (Carnage recorded the same song in 1990 on the album “Dark Recollections” also in Sunlight Studio. The big difference between Carnage and Dismember was that guitarist Michael Amott [Arch Enemy] was in Carnage, but not in Dismember.) Therefore, this band Revel in Flesh is nothing but that style of death metal. Revel in Flesh have basically made a pledge, with their name and the name of the album, that they will not disappoint you. You want Stockholm style death metal? You got it. “Black Paled Elegy” is pretty much a flawless song and is a standout track. The guitar solo on this one is just easy to remember and to like. “Bloodfeast” wastes no time and just invites you to bang your head. “Shadowbreeder” is one heavy and uptempo monster. Well, you get the idea. Check this out if you can’t get enough of the death metal style of early Entombed, Dismember/Carnage, Unleashed and Grave. www.revelinflesh.jimdo.com Sektemtum (France): Aut Caesar Aut Nihil (Osmose) The vocalist for Sektemtum is Meyhna’ch, from black metal entity Mütiilation and another person, Six, used to be in black/deathsters Arkhon Infaustus. The sound of Sektemtum is raw, yet clear. The drumming often goes at uptempo speed and sometimes goes into high-speed or blasting, which gives a good, varied level of energy.

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Not very close to a strict category of “black metal,” yet that is the closest association to be made. The difference is that the speed is not the number one priority, nor are other things like rawness, or heaviness, nor brutality or anything like. Of course, all those things are present. What Sektemtum has going for it as a particularly good quality is their experience, knowledge and feel for writing songs that are effective, that get to the point and that the listener can easily understand. But beware. This has a nasty bite. The vocals are of the tortured-soul kind, the overall sound might not appeal to people who want “studio perfection.” At this level of experience, for a band like Sektemtum, this sound is not an accident, not at all. There is, in fact, a “rocking” quality to the music, which goes along with the black metal guitar work. The music sounds like it is played by people and sounds relatively genuine, without too much studio trickery and overdubbing, compared to the over-processed, clicky and perfect sound that many other bands seem to prefer, like Behemoth, Hate Eternal, Belphegor, etc. The songs are not difficult to remember, but some people will have to get used to the sound. Once that happens, though, a song like “Low Spread” will sound positively “rocking”: simple, upfront and just a good vibe. The title track is another one that’s easy to enjoy. So, is “Conference Catastrophe,” which functions on the basis of less-is-more mentality.

Other songs are…just forget the details. You already know what you need to know. www.reverbnation.com/sektemtum Shroud of Despondency (U.S.): Pine

About 58 minutes of black metal prog doom post black metal folk. Shroud of Despondency is trippy and no category limits the prog doom black folk depressive aggressive space rock nature of the music. Shroud of Despondency makes Opeth look like a bunch of narrow-minded uptight people…

and make Motorhead and Slayer appear as unimaginative, one-way, assembly-line totalitarian bureaucratic absolutism of robotic production of carbon copy unmusic. “Light Words, Dark Graves” (4:31) is raw black metal for 3 minutes and 20 seconds, then the last minute is a spoken word with a piano piece that ends with a cartoonish voice. What? What’s the deal with this spoken-word bit? “The Great Sadness Descends” (5:27) is the definition of doom. It is slow and craws at the speed of a turtle. The band rides out the main melody for a long time. You would have never known that you can play the same melody for this long and make it work. This band just did it.

“Half Open Gates” (8:58) is a good example of the different things the band does. This track is, to a large degree, an obvious case of black metal. Yet, it would be incorrect to see it that way because the folky, melodic elements create a doom atmosphere that takes over the song, so that between

beginning and end something takes place and it takes about nine minutes to achieve the transition. Hence the song!

“Nameless End” (5:15) starts off as a slow cave-recorded black metal that speeds up by 1:45 and continues as an intense, raw song until 4:00, when it slows down and just jams.

“Wanderlust (Lightning Precedes Fire)” (2:27) is a keyboard, space music piece, that has the last 45 seconds of coughing and growling. What just happened here? Does someone need medication? That cough sounds awful. Call 911.

“The Unchaining of an Animal” (6:27) begins with acoustic guitar and folky singing, like stereotypical hippies singing in the woods…wow, and they actually kept the whole song this way until the end. I was expecting them to bust out with some dogs barking or sounds of vomiting. But no. Just folk. Voilá, y’all!! Perfect music to play for the good times in life, to party and live it up…in the insane asylum. Shroud of Despondency is loco in the coco in Wisconsin. www.facebook.com/shroudofdespondency www.myspace.com/shroudofdespondency Skeletonwitch (U.S.): Forever Abomination (Prosthetic) Skeletonwitch’s take on thrash has a little bit of a different angle, which is a plus for them. First, the use of some black metal guitar work here and there adds an element of variety to the thrash riffing and makes each song stand out a bit more. Just as important, and probably a bit more so, is the band’s use of black metal shrieked vocals. It adds a different feeling from the yelling of hardcore and thrash bands, like Municipal Waste, Lich King, Gamma Bomb, and New York hardcore bands. Of interest is also the fact that Skeletonwitch’s approach makes them accessible to the ear, despite the black metal vocals and “extreme metal” tag. The clarity of the guitar work, and the general memorability makes them a lot more “rocking” than you would expect. For example, heaviness and brutality are not the number one objective, but rather songs that thrash and that you can remember. The 32 minutes demonstrate very little to complain about, and lots to enjoy. Given that, personally, I usually get bored with “pure” thrash bands, I found Skeletonwitch “impure” thrash to be a cool listen and one that I have heard lots of times and it seems to get better every time. My only gripe with the album is that it is too clicky and a bit too perfect. The drums sound needs a bit more power, I think. Anyway, don’t dismiss Skeletonwitch as a just another thrash band. www.Skeletonwitch.com --- Check out this zine and other info at:

www.fuglymaniacs.com May 26, 2012