Very sad day after knowing the passing of an Icon, Hero, Idol, Legend...
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister
1945-2015
R.I.P.
29 December 2015
SOUNDS FROM THE DARK PAST...
SACRILEGE
"Shadow From Mordor"
Behind The Realms of Madness
Children of the Revolution Rec.
28 December 2015
INTERVIEW with INCUBUS/OPPROBRIUM
OPPROBRIUM
formerly known as INCUBUS, are active since 1986. The band is responsible for releasing two classic
Death Metal albums in their early days, “Beyond the Unknown” from 1990 was
reissued this year to celebrate its 25th anniversary, and INCUBUS debut full-length “Serpent Temptation” from 1988 will be reissued on January
2016. Reason enough to talk with drummer Moyses M. Howard, co-founder [alongside his brother Francis - guitar/vocals] about the band´s current activities and [as always in CTODP] about the glorious
past…
Please tell us when and how was
Incubus created? Do you remember how old where you when you moved from Brazil
to EEUU? Did you get into metal when you lived in Brazil?
The band was
formed in February 1986, but before then we used to have a heavy metal band
that played covers, but we also had some very heavy original songs. I was 15 years old and Francis was 13
years old when we first moved from Brazil to the United States with our
parents, our Grandfather (r.i.p) was a natural born US citizen and he wanted us
to come live close to him in the U.S., then we all moved. I remember we used to
listen to lots of heavy rock back then, bands like Queen, Bachman–Turner
Overdrive, Dire Straits, etc., but then when we moved to the US we got into
heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy,
Motorhead, etc.
What bands influenced you to play
Death Metal?
Motorhead,
Metallica, D.R.I, Agnostic Front, etc.. Even before Incubus/Opprobrium we had
some very fast songs that we wrote for the Heavy Metal band that we had before
(Rattle Rage), it was me on drums, Francis on guitar, Scot os bass and a
singer, nothing like what we do now, but pretty fast and aggressive, so it was
a natural progression, then when we got into hardcore punk, it inspired us to
play much faster, so I started to do what they call nowdays the 'Blast Beats'.
As far as I can remember, Francis always came up with some very different brutal riffs that even back then
people didn't know how to label it, LOL. Before Incubus/Opprobrium we
"tried" to play Heavy Metal, but most of our riffs came out really
more brutal and extreme most of the time then the traditinal Heavy Metal.
In 1987 you released your Demo
"Supernatural Death", Looking back, what do you think of the demo,
and the potential that the band had?
It was a very
brutal and intense demo, very dark, I think that the brutal sound of
"Supenatural Death" (1987) made it even more agressive. That's what
real Death Metal is all about. I still love the demo. After it spread in the
underground we had many, many fans telling us that they liked the demo a lot,
plus we had great reviews in the local and international underground Metal
fanzines, so we were very happy that people liked our work. Before the release
of our debut album "Serpent Temptation" (1988) the demo used to have
10 songs in it, then after the release of "S.T." it was sold with
only the 4 songs that went on "S.T.".
If I'm not wrong, you were also in
charge of the cover artwork...where did
you get inspiration for the drawing?
I don't know,
LOL, I just tried to come out with something cool and I think it came out
pretty good, I used to draw a lot when I was a kid but I was never that good,
my middle brother Reginaldo can draw pretty good, he painted the "Serpent
Temptation" (1988) album cover.
Did you followed the brazilian scene
or had contact with Brazilian bands?
News and
information was very limited back in the '80's about Brazil, we couldn't find
no Brazilian magazines or anything from Brazil. Then in late '89 we discovered
Sepultura and others.
They got in
contact with us through management. It was very exciting to enter a big studio
to record our first record in New Orleans, also we had a chance to mix the
album at the famous Track Record Studio in Los Angeles. We were very prepared
to record the album, and we all had a lot of fun during the recording sessions.
All the production process was great.
Who did the cover artwork? Tell about
the concept of the cover and lyrics.
As I've
mentioned, my middle brother Reginaldo did the cover artwork for "Serpent
Temptation" (1988), I think he did a fantastic job, we all were very happy
how the cover came out. The concept of the cover was based on the title track
of the album "Serpent Temptation" which is based on the Book of
Genesis.
When did exactly Scot left the band
and why?
It was in late
'89.
Did you try with other singers or did Francis take the decision to do all the vocals when Scot left?
No we did not
tried other singers. Sometimes before reheasals with the band Francis used to
play around singing covers and we noticed his strong vocal tones, so we decided
that Francis take on the vocals duties. He practiced his vocals for some time
and it turned out great.
How did Nuclear Blast got interested
in you?
When we were
living in Tampa, Florida, in 1990 we heard about this new label from Germany
that were looking for Metal bands, so we got in contact with them, they already
were fans of our debut "Serpent Temptation" (1988) and they knew
about us, they were great fans of the band so they decided to sign us
immedia
The cover for
"Beyond The Unknown" was done by the British artist Steve Crisp, the
artwork combined very well with the theme of "B.T.U.", we loved the
concept. "B.T.U" pretty much tells about the spiritual world or other
dimensions.
How would you describe the sound and
production, compared to the debut album?
It's hard to
compare them both, they both sounds great in my opinion, it's just that
different recording and mixing techniques were used on both the debut and the
second album. But we were very happy with the production of "Serpent
Temptation" and "Beyond The Unknown", we produced the
"Beyond The Unknown" album with Tom Morris at Morrisound Studio in
Tampa, I think he did help us to bring the full power of our songs for the
album, Tom did an excellent job on "B.T.U."
Why did you decide to re-recorded
"Serpent Temptation" in 1996 with Francis' voice? Who came up with
that idea? Why did you release it with a new cover artwork?
We did not had
the new material written for the third record for Nuclear Blast, so we had this
idea to remake the first record, they liked "S.T." very much so we
decided to re-do the vocals so the fans can hear Francis sing that album. Since
it was a remake of the original "Serpent Temptation" we had to use a
different cover artwork, so Nuclear Blast based the cover artwork on the
concept of the original.
The vocals,
mixing, etc., was done at the same studio where we did the original in '88 with
the same engineer, so we tried a different aproach to make it different from
the original, that particular mixing combined very much with the atmosphere of
Francis' vocals and that's what we were looking for that final mixing. We were
very happy with the result, of course you can't compare the remake with the
more darker and more eerier version of the original.
Did you ever meet the other death
metal band incubus from Georgia? What do you think about them and their demo?
You mean the one
from Florida? [Yeah, I think the band was founded in Georgia and then moved to Florida, but I´m not sure right now- Chris]. We met one of the members the drummer Mike [Browning - Nocturnus].
Why did you have to change your name
from Incubus to Opprobrium. Tell us how did it happen and why did you chose
Opprobium?
Because the
major label Incubus from California trademarked the name and had videos on MTV
and radio airplay worldwide, so most of the people only knew about the Incubus
from Cali, and since they already took over the name and we were trying to
avoid people mix the two bands, we decided to change to a new band name, so
Francis came up with the name Opprobrium, we thought it was different, original
and brutal so we decided to use it. In a way we are very happy with the name
Opprobrium, I think it now fit us better then Incubus, because back then lots
of fans and people used to think that we were a Satanic Metal band, which we
never were LOL, so we got that out of the way now LOL, we are now Opprobrium
since the year 1999/2000.
What did you think of the early 90s
Black metal scene? Did you like any band from that eriod?
It's has been so
long that I can't remember right now.
First album under the as Opprobrium
was "Discerning Forces", how do you look back at the album nowadays?
What can you say about it now?
Looking back now
after almost 16 years, I feel "Discerning Forces" stood the test of
time, it is a very unique Opprobrium record, it was the first record when we
started write the heavy slow songs with no Skank or Blast Beats. It showed that
we are a band that can play heavy as well. I love all the songs on that album
and the production by Harris Johns was excellent. The cover artwork is awesome,
and we kept that caracter from the "B.T.U." cover artwok for the
cover of "D.F." The songs in "D.F." still very powerful and
brutal when we listen to it, everything went very well on our third record
"Discerning Forces".
How did the fans receive the new
songs in your shows? Did you expect that
the change of the band´s name affected the band somehow?
We have not played
any shows yet, but it's has been 16 years now since we changed the name and
pretty much everybody knows that we are Opprobrium now, I'm sure people will
jam when we play the new songs in our shows, we still the same band, but now
with a different name. The name Incubus is history, we are Opprobrium now, the
fans will come to our shows for our music and that's what is important, not a
name, your name won't mean nothing if you don't put out great material for the
fans.
Why did you left Nuclear blast and how how did it happen that you signed to Metal Mind Productions?
Why did you left Nuclear blast and how how did it happen that you signed to Metal Mind Productions?
After
'Discerning Forces' in 2000, we released our fourth studio record 'Mandatory
Evac' eight years later (2008), so we opt for for Metal Mind just to change a
bit, the deal was only for one album, but before that they were re-releasing
all our our back catalog licensed from Nuclear Blas, so it was a great idea to
release 'M.E.' under the same label, they (Metal Mind) reissued our earlier
albums under the name Opprobrium, so that was really cool.
Your last and current full-length,
"Mandatory Evac" was released in 2008. Tell us about the concept of
this album? How do you describe the sound and style on this album?
It's a very
intense, extreme and brutal album, Francis decided to write some short songs
for that album, but it was a very direct album, we kinda went the same raw and
brutal style from the demo 'Supernatural Death'. We decided to take a loose
approach on that album, there were no rules, it's a very original album.
Francis wrote all the lyrics this time but he came out with some very cool
topics that deals with the human struggle and dillemas of life and death, the
title track is about hurricane Katrina that destroyed our home state south
Louisisna and the city of New Orleans, we lost everything, but thank God we and
our families evacuated in time, so that's why the record is called 'Mandatory
Evac'. We used every type of tempos on that album, from the Skank beats, hammer
blast beats and even we went back to our traditional Blast beats that we used
to do on "Serpent Temptation'.
Let´s talk about the reissues of the Incubus albums, First was Beyond the unknow on golden disc, digitally remastered and next January Serpent temptation will follow. Tell about the idea of remastering and give details about “Serpent Temptation” will include the demo as bonus?
Let´s talk about the reissues of the Incubus albums, First was Beyond the unknow on golden disc, digitally remastered and next January Serpent temptation will follow. Tell about the idea of remastering and give details about “Serpent Temptation” will include the demo as bonus?
Yes, 'Beyond The
Unknown' was re-released again this year 2015 by Metal Mind to celebrate it's
25 years anniversary, this reissue of 'B.T.U.' have a sticker mentioning the 25
years anniversary. Next year (2016) Relapse Records will re-release our debut
album 'Serpent Temptation' the original from 1988, so we are very excited about
this re-release by Relapse. It's has been almost 30 years since 'Serpent
Tempation' was out of print, we are very happy that Relapse Records will
reissue the album, it was the perfect label to re-release it, so many fans kept
asking us for years to re-release 'S.T.' so finally it wil be out on January
15, 2016, the album will have a worldwide release so all the fans will be able
to get it. But the fans can pre-order 'Serpent Temptation' now at: http://www.relapse.com/opprobrium/
Which are
your fave tracks from the Incubus era and why?
It's a difficult question, LOL, all our
records have it's own power, so for me all the tracks from all our albums are
my favorite tracks, 'Serpent Tempation' (1988), 'Beyond The Unknown' (1990),
'Discerning Forces' (2000) and 'Mandatory Evac', they all my favorites LOL, all
the tracks from all albums are unique.
Name your
all time fave Brazilian records
I can't recall right now, but there are
many that are my favorites, including Metal and non Metal artists from Brazil.
What do you
think about current Sepultura and Cavalera Conspiracy
Great bands.
Are there
any bands from the current scene that you respect for their attitude and/or
music? Latest records and bands
Yes many bands.
What would
you submit as the proudest moment you've had in your career thus far?
I think that everything that we do as a
band, from albums to shows, when we find a new Opprobrium fan...we are very
happy for all the moments.
What´s the strangest place and the most shocking
place you have been?
I
would say when we played in east Germany
in 1991 right after the wall came down, it was a very interesting
experience for the band, it was fascinating, plus many more places in North and
South America that me and Francis went during our personal travels for
vacation, too numerous to mention.
Tell us
about your next steps, will there be a new Opprobrium album? Do you have new
material?
Yes! All the new material is finished,
we are just fine tuning the new songs at the current moment. It's going to be a
monster album, it will be killer, it took us about 3 years to write it. It will
be brutal and technical at the same time. We can't wait to show it to the fans.
We will record soon for a 2016 release.
Thanks for
your time, anything else you'd like to add to this interview?! Last comments...
Thank you Chris and Cult to our Darkest
Past for the inteview, we really appreciate your support for Opprobrium! Also
thanks to all our Death Metal Opprobrium fans worldwide for all their support
over the years!
22 December 2015
18 December 2015
MEFISTO "Void" Promo Clip
Swedish band MEFISTO have just launched promo clip for the digital single "Void". The track taken from the upcoming album "2.0.1.6". is the first new wong since 1986. The album will be releases by Vic Records on February 22nd 2016 [Europe, Asia and USA] and February 26th 2016 [Germany & Austria]
www.facebook.com/Mefisto
www.facebook.com/Vic-Records
17 December 2015
16 December 2015
SOLOTHUS "Tower In The Mist" song revealed
SOLOTHUS revealed a new track from "No King Reigns Eternal" the forthcoming album of teh Finnish band. "Towers In The Mist" is the second track revealed, the first one was "Malignant Caress" [here]. "No King Reigns Eternal" will be out soon Via Doomentia Records.
www.facebook.com/Solothus
/www.facebook.com/DoomentiaRecords
RIPPER Official Promo Clip
Chilean death/thrashers RIPPER launched promo clip from the song "Neuronal Unity", taken from the upcoming full-lenght "Experiment Of Existence". To be released on March 4th via Unspeakable Axe on CD and Dark Descent on LP.
www.facebook.com/ripperchileoficial
www.facebook.com/UnspeakableAxeRecords
www.facebook.com/DarkDescentRecords
SOUNDS FROM THE DARK PAST...
WHIPLASH
"The Burning Of Atlanta"
Ticket To Mayhem
1987 Roadrunner Records
15 December 2015
MASTER "Face Your Fear" [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
MASTER launched video for "Face Your Fear", new track taken from the forthcoming album "An Epihany Of Hate" to be released on January 16th as CD/Digital and on February 26th as LP via FDA Rekotz / Soulfood.
www.facebook.com/Master
14 December 2015
12 December 2015
FUNERAL WHORE "Phantasm"
Oldschool Death Metal band FUNERAL WHORE signed with FDA Rekotz for the release of the second full-lenght "Phantasm". The album will be released next 18/03/16 on CD and digital.
Some quotes from the band about "Phantasm"...An album, relentless, pure and evil throughout all of it's 11 murderous tracks. Fundamentalistic roots of old school death metal madness hammering your soul at maximum brutality. A concept built upon the cult classic horror "Phantasm" and reincarnated by the members of FUNERAL WHORE"
Below is the full track listing and "Traces Of Death", one of the songs included on the split 7" with Obscure Infinity "Summoned the Undead" released this year through Final Gate Records.
Phantasm
Evil Manifestation
Reanimated
The Tall Man
Population None
The Graveyard Silence
When Life Turns To Ashes
Down The Abyss
Morningside Cemetery
Only The Coffins Remain
The Mortuary At Night
Evil Manifestation
Reanimated
The Tall Man
Population None
The Graveyard Silence
When Life Turns To Ashes
Down The Abyss
Morningside Cemetery
Only The Coffins Remain
The Mortuary At Night
11 December 2015
TEMPLE BELOW Premiere Song
"Ave Trivia Ekati" is the premiere song taken from the upcoming TEMPLE BELOW MLP "The Dark Goddess", to be released On January 22nd 2016 by Iron Bonehead!!
10 December 2015
ROTTING CHRIST "Rituals" Full Details & Premiere Song
ROTTING CHRIST revealed the premiere song from the band´s twelfth studio album "Rituals". The magnificent an teathrical song "Ἐλθὲ Κύριε [Elthe Kyrie)]" which translates as "Come Lord", is available through several official media sites like Metal Hammer.de [here]. The album will be released on Februry 12th via Season Of Mist and is available for pre-orders on several formats such as CD, Digibook with extras and Double LP Gatefold [here]
Details such as full tracklisting and guest musicians has been unveiled...
In Nomine Dei Nostri
זה נגמר [Ze Nigmar]
Ἐλθὲ Κύριε [Elthe Kyrie]
Les Litanies De Satan [Les Fleurs Du Mal]
Ἄπαγε Σατανά [Apage Satana]
Του Θάνατου [Tou Thanatou]
For A Voice Like Thunder
Konx Om Pax
देवदेवं [Devadevam]
The Four Horsemen
Lok'tar Ogar [bonus track]
זה נגמר [Ze Nigmar]
Ἐλθὲ Κύριε [Elthe Kyrie]
Les Litanies De Satan [Les Fleurs Du Mal]
Ἄπαγε Σατανά [Apage Satana]
Του Θάνατου [Tou Thanatou]
For A Voice Like Thunder
Konx Om Pax
देवदेवं [Devadevam]
The Four Horsemen
Lok'tar Ogar [bonus track]
Guest musicians [in order of appearance]
Magus - NECROMANTIA - In Nomine Dei Nostri
Danai Katsameni - NATIONAL HELLENIC THEATER - Ἐλθὲ Κύριε [Elthe Kyrie]
Vorph - SAMAEL - Les Litanies De Satan [Les Fleurs Du Mal]
Nick Holmes - PARADISE LOST - For A Voice Like Thunder
Kathir - RUDRA - देवदेवं [Devadevam]
Magus - NECROMANTIA - In Nomine Dei Nostri
Danai Katsameni - NATIONAL HELLENIC THEATER - Ἐλθὲ Κύριε [Elthe Kyrie]
Vorph - SAMAEL - Les Litanies De Satan [Les Fleurs Du Mal]
Nick Holmes - PARADISE LOST - For A Voice Like Thunder
Kathir - RUDRA - देवदेवं [Devadevam]
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