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Art in its Blackest form

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Grave Pleasures – Motherblood

November 5, 2017 by Line Evensen Leave a Comment

We’ve been listening to Grave Pleasures ever since they called themselves Beastmilk. Back in 2010, when they first entered the scene, we thought they were a fresh breath with really appealing aestetics. We covered them when they changed name to Grave Pleasures, and released their ‘Dreamcrash‘.

Now they have unleashed their brand new ‘Motherblood’ on Century Media, and we’re in awe. Once again Grave Pleasures feels like a fresh breath! The lyrics are poetic in all their gloomy post-punk apocalyptic catchiness. Just sing along to these lines:

Be My Hiroshima
Be my great destroyer
Make these crimes of my heart erupt
Like flowers on the far horizon

They have made some changes in the line-up since Dreamcrash, and the band now consists of  writers Mat McNerney/Kvohst (Hexvessel, Beastmilk, Code, DHG) and Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu, Atomikylä), Aleksi Kiiskilä on guitars, Valtteri Arino on bass and Rainer Tuomikanto on drums. Frontman Mat/Kvohst explains ‘Motherblood’ this way, and we can’t but agree:

If you have never danced with the skeletons, then this album is your gateway drug to all the nihilistic pleasures of the grave. Apocalyptic post-punk never sounded so desperately bleak and wild yet never grinned so maniacally and writhed so fervently with tongues that whip the tombs.

You can find out more about the band here:
Facebook
Gravepleasures.com

And listen to them here:

Germ Bomb to release their 3rd full length ‘Under a Fading Sun’

May 7, 2015 by Line Evensen Leave a Comment

Swedish punk thrasher duo Germ Bomb is releasing their 3rd full length this spring, titeled ‘Under a Fading Sun’. In that regard we had a little chat with Hampus, wanting to know more about the band and their plans for the future.

Germ Bomb! Photo courtesy of the band.

Germ Bomb! Photo courtesy of the band.

First off, could you tell us a bit about Germ Bomb? I know you are two swedish guys playing thrash, and I’ve heard rumours that you found your band name listening to Dead Kennedys?

Yeah, it’s true we came up with the name while listening to a Dead Kennedys song titled “Kinky sex makes the world go round”. ‘Germ bomb’ is in the lyric somewhere and we thought it sounded cool.

Me (Hampus) and Pierre started Germ Bomb when our former band Hathor split up, we were playing some kind of punkrock at that time and felt we had to change direction. I had just dicovered bands like Toxic Holocaust, Bastardator and Children Of Technology so we started writing songs that was harder and darker than before. We have always listened to all kinds of music. 80’s thrash, punk, 82punk and metal so it came natural for us to create a blend of all that. Germ Bomb was born! Maybe it’s thrash metal, we really dont care as long as it feels right!

We were bored with almost all metal at that time, perfect produced radiometal or melodic shit which we both hated.

It was liberating to listen to all those metalpunk bands and all of a sudden we were part of some kind of metalpunk movement. One thing led to another and we discovered 100 more bands and metal was fun again!

Germ Bomb - Under a Fading Sun

Germ Bomb – Under a Fading Sun

This is your 3rd full length album, and while your cover art in the past has been pretty stereotypical for the thrash genre, the new album seems to be alot darker visually and not so caricatured as the previous ones?

You are right, we wanted something different for this album cover, as you said it’s darker and not so stereotyped as for lot of thrash metal bands. We don’t consider us as a thrash metal band, we don’t want a label but we know people tend to place bands. We are big fans of polish artist Beksinski so we searched the net for artists influenced by him and we found Lenore Ani.  She got some instructons, “keep it dark and gloomy” and she nailed it, we think it’s killer!

It’s not only the album cover that has darkened. In my opinion some of the material on ‘Under A Fading Sun’ leans more over to Black’n’roll, sounding heavier and slower. Is this Germ Bomb evolving, or moving away from the thrash genre?

I think you have to evolve and not create the same album over and over, so it came naturally. We are big fans of Midnight and Celtic Frost and we wanted it to sound more dirty and raw. We have been into doom bands a lot recently and I think you can hear that in the music as well.. We also changed studio for this album, it’s recorded in Welfare Sounds Studio (Bombs of Hades, Bombus) with Per Stålberg and Olle Björk behind the knobs. And they created that raw soundscape that we were looking for.

I’m always curious about where artists find their inspiration. Could you tell us something about what and who has inspired you along your way?

Germ Bomb. Photo courtesy of the band.

Germ Bomb. Photo courtesy of the band.

Everything from movies, books, music or whatever that comes in your way can inspire to a song. We always try to be open for all kinds of music.

Obviously Motörhead has been a big inspiration for us together with Slayer, Celtic Frost and a lot of punk bands like Exploited and GBH.

Nowadays bands like Saint Vitus, Electric Wizard, Einsturzende Neubauten, Of The Wand And Moon or Velvet Underground can inspire us. We have to mention Satyricon as a big influence and especially Frost and his drumming. It’s awesome!

So what is in the future for Germ Bomb? Are you planning any touring after the release of ‘Under a Fading Sun’?

We will soon premiere our first official video “1000 Suns” from the upcoming album. We would like to thank Black Forest Mag for the interview and hopefully we will hit the stage and create some chaos.

See you soon!

You can find more information and updates from the band here:

https://www.facebook.com/germbomb
https://germbomb.bandcamp.com/

Falls of Rauros releases new album called Believe in no Coming Shore

August 4, 2014 by Line Evensen Leave a Comment

Falls of Rauros have been around for a while, and will be releasing their third full-length album some time soon through Bindrune Recordings in the US, and Nordvis in Europe. The album has been characterized as a atmospherically charged form of black metal with desperately screamed vocals, passionate guitar work that finds influence in classic rock, classic country, folk, yet not sounding like any one genre specifically. We had a chat with one of the founding members Aaron about their new album ‘Believe in no Coming Shore’, and their future plans.

Falls of Rauros


When we last heard from you, you did a split with Panopticon. Is the new material following in the same direction? Can you tell us a little about what we can expect this summer?

After hearing the record however-many-times it’s difficult to say if the new material is similar or not to the songs on the ‘Panopticon’ split. The instrumentation on ‘Believe in no Coming Shore’ isn’t quite the same; for example we traded out the clean singing and woodwinds found on ‘The Purity of Isolation’ for textural keyboards and a couple lap steel appearances. It’s also our first release to feature 5-string bass throughout its entirety and we left plenty of space for that expanded range in the mix. The bulk of the album is still based around a guitars-bass-drums configuration as we wrote the album in a live setting with plans to perform these songs and not have to sacrifice or omit many components or details. I guess I would say the new record doesn’t really sound much like our recent split or last couple records. We had no intention of writing a “sequel” to ‘The Light That Dwells in Rotten Wood’ or ‘Hail Wind and Hewn Oak’ and that’s certainly not how it turned out.


When I looked at the tracklist, two of the songs contained the word ‘ancestor’. It almost gave me the impression that the record is conceptual?

The album is vaguely “conceptual” in the way that our last couple records were, but is by no means a concept album. Whatever headspace I’m in while writing lyrics will usually be nurtured and carried through till completion so there are several lyrical themes and motifs that surface from track to track. The goal was cohesion without any outright narratives or a rigid concept. ‘Ancestors of Shadow’ and ‘Ancestors of Smoke’ were written as one long song and wound up being two. They work on an individual basis but are intended to be played consecutively as they share musical ideas more prominently and obviously than the rest of the record.


It seems you are touring a bit this autumn? Will you just tour in the US, or are you coming overseas? 

For now we’re just going to be touring in the US. It will be a very a brief East Coast tour that essentially takes us down to Tampa, Florida for the Southern Darkness Festival on August 23rd. We hope to do more touring this winter and it’s a goal of ours to play out more in general. We’ll see exactly when and to what extent. Playing in Europe would be an absolute dream but logistically doesn’t seem in the cards for us at the moment. Rest assured, some day we’ll make it out there.

Falls of Rauros - Believe in no Coming Shore

Falls of Rauros – Believe in no Coming Shore

For more information about the band and their music, you can check out their Facebook, Blog, and Bandcamp.

Tracklist:
1. Blue Misshapen Dusk
2. Ancestors of Shadow
3. Ancestors of Smoke
4. Waxen Voices
5. Spectral Eyes
6. Believe in No Coming Shore

 

Alfahanne – Alfapokalyps

July 3, 2014 by Line Evensen Leave a Comment

Alfahanne - AlfapokalypsWhen Alfahanne released their debut black’n’roll album ‘Alfapokalyps’ in february 2014, they were pretty new to the scene, allthough some of the members have been active in the black metal movement since the early 90’s in bands like Vinterland and Maze of Torment. On this debut album as Alfahanne, they managed to get guest vocalists such as Hoest from Taake and Kvarforth from Shining. In fact, Alfahanne did a split with Shining last year.

Alfahanne says they play “…alfapocalyptic rock exclusively”. And their formula is black metal with a mix of classic rock, punk and some goth influence.

Tracklist:

1. Bättre Dar – guest vocals from Niklas Kvarforth (SHINING)
2. Ormar Af Satan
3. Såld På Mörkret – guest vocals from Hoest (TAAKE)
4. Dödskult
5. Rocken Dör
6. Syndarnas Flod
7. Alfa Hordes
8. Indiehora – guest vocals from V’gandr (HELHEIM, TAAKE)
9. Där Drömmarna Dör
10. Alla Ska Mé

Alfahanne

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Reverbnation

Idre – when eerie darkness strikes you with a massive melancholy

June 28, 2014 by Jan F. Lindsø Leave a Comment

Idre is probably a new name for the most of you, at least it was for me. They released their first album on May 5th, 2014 through Dust House Records. Their two track album really has a special atmosphere, and even shows some true potential to become something even greater. You can stream the full album at the bottom of this article.

After listening to their album, I decided to hook up with Ryan Davis (guitar, vocals) and Nicholas Wojcik (drums) of this Oklahoma-based trio.

Idre live

Give us a short introduction to the two tracks on your album. What stories does the songs tell, and does the album have a concept?

Ryan: I wrote “Factorie” over the course of two years or so, during which time I had a few experiences as a migrant laborer. The song itself was highly influenced by these experiences, particularly the multifaceted degradation that my coworkers and I experienced and the toll it all took on our bodies and minds. Though it clocks in at over 26 minutes, the song was initially much longer–it probably could have been a full-length release on its own, and was written for classical guitar, cello and vocals before our current lineup was together. It was also my first attempt to tell a fictional, though very personal, story through a song. When Andon joined on bass we ended up trimming it down.

I think the reason for it’s seemingly incorrect spelling was a desire to make the factory itself a proper noun and to give it agency as the malevolent entity I believe it to be.”Witch Trial” came about much more fluidly and was the first song that our band in it’s current form had all been a part of the writing process together on, and lyrically, is also a kind of Western style story that follows a protagonist.

Thematically and tonally speaking, feelings of anger, alienation, depression and anxiety, coupled with self-destruction and a generally shitty outlook surely play a decent role in the whole songwriting process.

Your music is quite dark and heavy. Where did you get the inspiration for it?

IdreNick: “Dark and heavy” – thanks, we’ll take that as a compliment. On a basic level, Ryan is responsible for writing the guitar work on the album, which ultimately set the stage for everything else. Beyond that I can only speak for myself. As a drummer, I have a particular interest in dynamics and tonality, and I guess I do tend to stray towards the darker side of things when it comes to the ways in which I explore the drum kit. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music from across the globe, so naturally I do find myself drawing inspiration from other artists, but also equally from outside sources that carry their own sense of power and weight, such as the natural landscape, personal experiences, etc. At rehearsal, I’ll come up with something to compliment Andon and Ryan and test it out. We’ll all talk about it and figure out what works and what doesn’t. Again, we like to take our time. The end result is always something we all collectively feel good about and confident with.

Ryan: I feel as though “dark” comes fairly natural to me as a songwriter. I’ve never been one to listen much to or ever play “fun” music. There’s almost always some sense of melancholy or somberness present in the music I find myself relating to, whether it be as a listener or songwriter. Thematically and tonally speaking, feelings of anger, alienation, depression and anxiety, coupled with self-destruction and a generally shitty outlook surely play a decent role in the whole songwriting process. As far as heaviness is concerned, Nick and I are just a couple of metal heads.

When will we hear more from Idre, and what are your ambitions?

Nick: We have skeletons for 3 new songs we’ve been working on and they seem to pick up right where our debut album left off. We are all anxious about the new material, but we are not ones to rush the creative process either; we like to take our time, start with a framework and build, ironing out all the little nuances along the way. We’ve analyzed the self-titled record ad nauseum and discussed ways in which we’d like to take the next recording to bring forth something that shows that we are growing as a band, as a unit – we have no interest in rehashing the same record over and over. Our plan is to enter the studio before the year’s end, with live dates mixed in there as well. As far as live dates go, this past spring saw us playing a heavy number of regional shows, including some festival dates, so we would therefore like to shift gears and concentrate more on playing cities/states we’ve never been to. It would be great to eventually get to Europe and elsewhere…We certainly welcome any such opportunities that come our way…

We’re really looking forward to what the future brings for Idre, and hopefully you’ll be able to see them live somewhere nearby. Until then, you may check out their album below:

[bandcamp width=500 height=208 album=3145078986 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=e32c14 artwork=small]

 

More:
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Pitch black headphones for the blackhearted

March 19, 2014 by Jan F. Lindsø Leave a Comment

A few years ago, Marshall Headphones released their Pitch Black models. The headphones are, as the name says, completely colorless, and we must say they simply looks amazing. We haven’t tried them yet, but with Marshall being known for quality, we’re sure they sounds good as well.

For more information, reviews and ordering, check out the link below:
http://www.marshallheadphones.com/product/major-pitch-black

Major Pitch Black © Marshall Headphones

Major Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones

 

Minor Pitch Black © Marshall Headphones

Minor Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones

 

Major Pitch Black © Marshall Headphones

Major Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones

 

Minor Pitch Black © Marshall Headphones

Minor Pitch Black
© Marshall Headphones

I Am Heresy with teasers for new album and video

February 8, 2014 by Jan F. Lindsø Leave a Comment

I Am Heresy - Thy WillLast summer we got a chance to see I Am Heresy (Delaware/New Jersey) at our trip to New York. It was a new experience. Hardcore-oriented music is not really our favorite, but I Am Heresy, is so much more than that. They mix in occult influences, and different genres; all from more acoustic parts, to black/death metal and punk. Really refreshing, and definitely a live band to look out for.

Now they are soon ready to release their album “Thy Will” on Century Media (March 3, 2014 in Europe/Australia/NZ and March 4, 2014 in USA/Canada). They already released a teaser for the album late 2013. Watch it below:

They have even released a track from the album called ‘Rahabh’ , with a lyrical video:

Now they will soon be releasing an official music video for their song ‘March Of Black Earth’, which is taken from their upcoming album. Watch the teaser below:

More:
Facebook
iamheresy.com
Bandcamp

 

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