AN NCS INTERVIEW: COFFIN CURSE

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Jun 112024
 

(For various reasons the interview you’re about to read got lost in the ugly bowels of the NCS HQ, and because it’s one of the best discussions Comrade Aleks has produced, thanks significantly to the flair of his conversation partner Max Neira, our editor is flagellating himself for the delay with extra-bloody vigor.)

Two years ago we did the interview with the Chilean band Inanna. You probably remember these tough guys who do top-notch death metal with a twisted Lovecraftian touch. Two of those guys also have their own death metal band – Coffin Curse. Max Niera (guitars, bass, vocals) and Carlos Fuentes (drums) started it in 2012, and since then they do not stop. No rest for the wicked, so you say.

A few days ago I heard the absolutely malevolent and bloody straightforward death metal album The Continuous Nothing, which is their second full-length. Memento Mori released it on April 22nd. As the official press kit states, you should expect “a logical continuation of that not-inconsiderable debut: timeless, taut, and terrorizing”. And there’s hard to add something else to this laconic and capacious definition.

Naturally we had a lot to discuss with the band, and Max Neira provided us this detailed and thoughtful interview. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: EL MORTA

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Jun 102024
 

(The Irish trio El Morta includes current or former members of Mourning Beloveth, but in this new configuration they’ve followed very different and much harder to pin down directions. They released their debut album last month, and around that time Comrade Aleks spoke with El Morta‘s Adrian, producing the following extensive and interesting interview.)

I know that besides me there are a couple of people here who remember the Irish death-doom band Mourning Beloveth and are waiting for a new album from them. They seem to be writing something, but it’s not clear how soon we’ll get it. Meanwhile, their much-ex-bassist Adrian de Buitléar and still-listed guitarist Brian Delaney and vocalist Darren Moore recorded their first album under the name El Morta.

The project previously launched two EPs, but although the Metal-Archives describe these records as “death-doom”, it is simply a label hung on El Morta by inertia. Their album The Man Who Laughs does indeed have doom forms and moods at its core, but this material gives a stronger impression of heavy, experimental, almost avant-garde psychedelia.

Vague instrumental images and a certain monotony of the narrative, cycle after cycle, song after song, keep the outline of the album unbreakable, although El Morta cannot be accused of monotony. The futility of existence, the exhausting pressure of reality, and some kind of latent premonition of trouble form a deafening emotional vacuum, a feeling of claustrophobia that is very obvious thanks to the detached voice of Darren. Strange, uncomfortable, and a bit crazy album. We discussed it with Adrian recently. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CRYPT SERMON

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  1 Response »
Jun 072024
 


Photo credit: Scott Kincade

(Today we’re very happy to present Comrade Aleks‘ excellent interview with frontman Brooks Wilson from Crypt Sermon, whose new album is set for release on June 14th via Dark Descent Records.)

The Philadelphia doom crew Crypt Sermon took the matter seriously from the very beginning, and the first album Out of the Garden (2015) became, if not a modern classic, at least a significant phenomenon for the doom scene. The second release The Ruins of Fading Light (2019) cemented Crypt Sermon’s reputation as one of the most relevant “new” epic doom bands, but how to grow further with such a triumphant start?

The band’s new album The Stygian Rose is to be released on June 14th, and its lyrics are partly inspired by the ideas of American medium and occult writer Pascal Beverly Randolph. They mix very traditional doom with magical retro metal, combining crushing riffs and shimmering guitar melodies, and Crypt Sermon go into the large-scale and epic doom-ascension with no final destination.

Crypt Sermon are endearing due to their fidelity to heavy metal doom roots and their artistic take on the rigid form of the genre. We have done the interview with the band’s frontman Brooks Wilson, and it’ll help us learn more about the story behind The Stygian Rose and further. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ARÐ

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May 312024
 


photo by Gavin Forster

(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Mark Deeks, the man behind the UK doom band Arð (and a member of Winterfylleth). The delay in presenting the interview is entirely our fault, but fortunately it remains a timely and engaging discussion.)

It was in the Pantheist interview… As you probably remember, the band took part in the Organic Doom event together with Arð from Newcastle upon Tyne. It was a live gig where two doom metal bands performed their sets with church organ, and even the BBC was interested and covered this gig. As Pantheist included their live set in the new EP Kings Must Die, so you can find Arð’s set as a bonus to the band’s new album Untouched by Fire, released by Prophecy Productions on April 26th.

The only man who stands now behind this band is Mark Deeks. He performs all instruments and sings, though during the recording he relied on the help of Atavist’s drummer Callum Cox. Untouched by Fire is Arð’s second album in five years, and Mark keeps on exploring Nothumbrian history and culture through this authentic melodic doom metal. I invite you to make a trip to the world of medieval Anglo-Saxon doom together with Mark himself. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: FUNERAL STORM

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May 242024
 

(Not long ago the Greek black metal band Funeral Storm released their newest album, and on its heels today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of the band’s Wampyrion Markhor Necrowolf.)

We go further into the catacombs of Hellenic Black Metal, and this time Funeral Storm is our guide. This band started by Wampyrion Markhor Necrowolf in 2001 under the name Raven Throne, then he changed the moniker to Funeral Storm in 2002, but took a pause in 2007 that lasted until 2012.

That was the real start of the band as the records finally began to appear: split albums, compilations, and finally the first full-length Arcane Mysteries (2019), which gained its portion of praise and helped to win Funeral Storm its share of recognition.

Now, five years later, the band is back with Chthonic Invocations. I’m not sure that you’ll find the answers to all the questions this album may raise, but at least we tried. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DISTORTED REFLECTION

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  No Responses »
May 212024
 


Left to right: Stelios Pavlou, Kostas Salomidis, Vangelis Yalamas

(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Kostas Salomidis, founder of Sorrows Path and of the now-ongoing Distorted Reflection, whose debut album Doom Rules Eternally was released earlier this year on Iron Shield Records.)

All of us come from traditional metal in many of its forms; thus, sometimes we publish here the stories of very clean singing bands, and it never hurt anyone (as far as I know). Although our readers are rather into Hellenic Black Metal, a well-known cultural phenomenon, today we have for you an example of Hellenic Doom, a rare thing in itself.

Distorted Reflection’s essence is rooted in the code of the first Greek epic doom band Sorrows Path, as its founder Kostas Salomidis left Sorrows Path two years ago in order to start something new and still traditional. As a result, Distorted Reflection’s first album Doom Rules Eternally serves as a good representative of traditional yet quite epic doom.

Kostas (guitars, vocals) joined his efforts together with Stelios Pavlou (drums) and Vangelis (bass, synths), but if it was a sort of declaration, he invited three guests to take part in the creation of this album, and one of them is the now 70-year-old Ross the Boss, Manowar’s original guitarist.

Now you know what to expect from Doom Rules Eternally, and I invite you to learn more through this interview with Kostas. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: YAKOR

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May 152024
 

(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Vadim Baev, guitarist from the Russian doom/death metal band Yakor (Яkорь).)

Onega is a town in the northwest of Russia, situated not far away from the White Sea. And Yakor / Якорь (translated as “the anchor”) is probably the only doom metal band in this entire region. The band was formed in 2016 with the following lineup: Vadim Baev (guitar), Vitaly Rudy (guitar), Sergei Belov (vocals, bass), Sergei Kostin (drums). Evgeniy Zhuravsky from the Trawler band took the second guitarist’s position when Vitaly left, but that’s not the point of this interview. It’s just that from the very beginning, Yakor was strongly inspired by the melodic doom influenced KYPCK, and these men didn’t hide this influence.

However, with the release of the third album under the ambiguous name Russkaya gotika / Russian Gothic (and that’s not about gothic metal or whatever) through Soundage Productions, the rules of the game seriously changed, and the band’s individuality looks clearer and sharper.

This short interview with Vadim Baev will answer some questions that arose while listening to the new songs. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: IMPERATUS (PART 2)

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May 082024
 

(Today we present the second part of an interview by Hanoi-based NCS contributor Vizzah Harri with Nguyễn Tấn Đạt, aka Nattsvärd, from the Vietnamese black metal band Imperatus. You can find Part 1 of the interview here, and Harri‘s review of the debut Imperatus album At the Mercy of the Wind here.)

This is the second instalment of an interview with Nattsvärd from Imperatus. Part 1 focused on their origins, inspiration for their sound, as well as the technical facets of recording, whereas Part 2 focuses more on lyrics, writing/composition, as well as some thoughts on the scene and what the future holds.

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You used a quote from Anthony Burgess — “When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.” Which reminded me a lot of the Avenged Sevenfold song Bat Country (I was today years old when I realized this is a quote from none other than Dr. Seuss haha): “He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man”. Together with the cover art and the sound clips, what was the feel you were going for conceptually?

Great insight and connection! I will never shy away from the fact that Avenged Sevenfold was my gateway band to metal music haha. And the said quotes do share a resemblance. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: IMPERATUS (PART 1)

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May 072024
 

(Today we present Part 1 of an interview by our Hanoi-based contributor Vizzah Harri with Nattsvärd from the Vietnamese black metal band Imperatus. Part 2 will follow tomorrow.)

Imperatus is the latest black metal act hailing from Hanoi, Vietnam. Their debut album that we reviewed here can be described as nothing other than a piece of music that commanded my attention from the moment the first chords struck.

I had the privilege of meeting with Nguyễn Tấn Đạt, aka Nattsvärd, to discuss their album, At the Mercy of the Wind, and this first part of the interview lights upon their beginnings, influences and the technical aspects of the recording project. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HEMOTOXIN

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May 062024
 

(What you’ll find below is Comrade Aleks‘ in-depth and wide-ranging interview of Michael Chavez, the mastermind behind the California death/thrash band Hemotoxin, whose new album When Time Becomes Loss is set for release on May 17th via Pulverised Records.)

Fresh and savage death metal from Hemotoxin is rooted in thrash and shaped in twisted progressive forms. The band itself was started in 2010 by Michael Chavez (vocals, guitars, bass), and after three full-length albums and global lineup changes it reaches its new top with the fourth album When Time Becomes Loss.

Or, as the official press-release states, “discordant in euphonious harmony yet ruminative in essence, riff-mogul Michael Chavez inflicts a gaping wound that perfectly intersects forward-thinking thrash and prog metal”.

So many people, so many opinions… However, let’s now devote our own time, as Hemotoxin’s mastermind Michael Chavez provided us the in-depth story of When Time Becomes Loss and far more. Continue reading »

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