LACHRYMOSE: “THE UNSEEN”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  No Responses »
Jun 122018
 

 

(Vasilis Xenopoulos, a guest writer from Greece who has contributed to NCS in the past, rejoins us with this review of the new EP by the Greek band Lachrymose, which was released in May and is an exception to the “rule” in our site’s title.)

Doom metal and tragedy are intertwined. The music, slow and heavy, leads gradually towards redemption and serves as a means for the unfolding of the stories of the pain and woes of man. Doom metal is a dance, a bleak and sorrowful waltz that sings of the suffering of man while at times praises the spirit of revolt and the pursuit of salvation.

In 2015 Lachrymose released the story of a witch who was accused and sentenced to the pyre for the crime of defiance against the dogma of religion. Carpe Noctum is doom metal that brings to mind the aesthetics of Paradise Lost in the times of Gothic and Icon. Through their music we follow her journey, as it is performed by vocalist Hel, from life to death and her return from the dead by a necromancer’s ritual.

But something went terribly wrong. When the thin veil between the living and the dead opened, vengeful spirits passed through and got inside her now living body. Her mind remained in the medium world, between the living and the dead, where everything and nothing is true, where spirits dwell in the fog of the underworld. Continue reading »

ZEALOTRY: “THE LAST WITNESS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 142016
 

Zealotry-The Last WItness

 

(Bill Xenopoulos, a guest writer from Greece who also writes for Rock Overdose and has his own music blog here, rejoins us with this review of the new album by Boston’s Zealotry.)

Zealotry is a Boston based death metal band and they have been around since 2009, when they released their first demo. The Last Witness is their sophomore album and my first exposure to their music. Their members play in various other known bands. Tougas, for example, plays in Chthe’ilist, who released an impressive debut album earlier this year, and First Fragment, who will release their first full-length in the next month. Zealotry play a unique and difficult-to-approach death metal and The Last Witness is a tough nut to crack, but once you’ve done that, you’ll be exposed to a mesmerizing creation.

But who is the last witness? And what is he a witness of? Let us begin from the artwork and then proceed to the music. Maybe this isn’t a very common approach, but neither is Zealotry’s music. Continue reading »

SUNNATA: “ZORYA”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Apr 062016
 

Sunnata-Zorya

 

(Bill Xenopoulos, a guest writer from Greece who also writes for Rock Overdose and has his own music blog here, reviews the new album by Poland’s Sunnata.)

I like bands that put together slow, rolling, riff-laden, psychedelic, hook-laced, head-bobbing, transcending, sludge-crushing, spiritual-exploring, doom albums. I think I covered everything that may or may not appear within you, while listening to Sunnata’s sophomore album, Zorya.

Poland is known mostly for her black metal industry, and I like the foggy darkness that comes from there (there are more than 2000 bands from Poland, but I will leave the fog reference as it is). Darkness is good, but there is a different approach to the exploration of heavy electric music, and Sunnata are moving on that territory. They’ve been around since 2013 and have been working their craft, giving shows with some well-known bands, like Conan and Kylesa, and writing long and heavy songs that build themselves around psychedelic hallucinations. Continue reading »