Switzerland´s DEAHTCULT will reissue the great debut "Demo ´12" on March 28th via Invictus Productions on a CD version."Demo '12"was originally released in 2012 on cassette by Invictus, this special reissue comes as digipack with debossed logo, new cover artwork and one bonus track.
The demo features vocalist/guitarist Ketzer, who after the release of the EP "Pleading For Death...chocking On Life" left the band to focus on BÖLZER. If you missed our interview with O. Ketzer and M. Goathammer you can read it by clickinghere. DEATHCULT are currently working on the debut full-lenght. "Demo ´12" tracklist reads like this:
CANDLEMASS are celebrating 30 years of Doom releasing a brand new EP named "Death Thy Lover" and set to be released on June 3rd by Napalm Records. It features four studiotracks with Mats Levén on vocals, who was announced by the band as the permanent singer. Find the album track listing and release info below:
Track listing:
Death Thy Lover
Sleeping Giant
Sinister N Sweet
The Goose
Available formats: 4 Page Digipack, 1LP Gatefold Edition & 1LP Gatefold Webstore Edition & Old School "Skull & Cross" Slipmat
Coincide with the 30th anniversary, Peaceville is also relaeasing "Behind the Wall of Doom", a commemorative 3CD/2DVD set featuring an expansive 92 page book by writer Per-Ola Nilsson.
"Includes never seen before photos dating from the mid-1980s "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" period to the present day. Also included are the Candlemass demos, plus rare and previously unheard tracks from the band's early rehearsals in 1985, alongside choice tracks from CANDLEMASS's early classic releases, as selected by Leif Edling and former vocalist, Messiah Marcolin."
"The set is completed with extensive DVD footage featuring several integral band performances over the decades, including the much sought and revered Dynamo performance from 1988, plus other exclusive material."
"Behind the Wall of Doom" is presented in deluxe 12" hardback book format. Pre-order for 29th April release.
Peaceville will also release a special limited edition picture disc of the legendary [and Cult!] 1986 debut, "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" on 16th April.
Brazilian war black metallers JUSTABELI have just released an official video clip for the title song of their last full-lenght "Cause The War Never Ends..." released through Mutilation Records.
It is their second full-lenght following "Hell War" released in 2008. The band was fomred in 2001 influenced by bands like Mayhem, Lord Belial, Dissection, Immortal, 1349, Amazarak, Sarcófago, GoatPenis, Rebaelliun and Krisiun.
The band is now working on material for the new LP to be released in early 2017. In the meantime they keep battling onstage in local events, a national tour is scheduled to later this year and also some gigs in countries such as Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. Enjoy the videoclip with "lovely" warfare images and prepare yourself for war, ´cause...
Iron Bonehead Productions have just released a Tape Boxset of MEGIDDO. "Necrodemonomancy" is limited To 300 Copies and it includes: 5 Professional Manufactured Tapes, Housed In A Sturdy Cardboard Box:
Sepulchral Voice Records andGRAVE MIASMA announced that the band have completed work on their new mini-album "Endless Pilgrimage" to see its release on CD & LP in cooperation with Profound Lore Records on May 6th.
The EP consists of five tracks in a 35 minutes running time, featuring a re-recording reprise of the 2002 track "Glorification Of The Impure" [from the band’s demo days]. Check out the song "Purgative Cricumvolition" and full track listing below:
GORGUTS revealed title and launched single for the ucoming EP "Pleiades´ Dust" that will be out on May 13th through Season of Mist. Luc Lemay has the following comments about the ep and about the first single "Wandering Times":
“As our EP ‘Pleiades’ Dust’ consists out of a single long
narrative composition, it was not written with the intention of being edited in
segments. As the storyline proceeds in chapters though, I was able to isolated
this part called ‘Wandering Times’ which will give the listener a good idea of
the composition aesthetics which are present throughout the whole piece. The
lyrics tell the story of the ‘House of Wisdom’, which is referring to a library
that was based in Baghdad sometime between the 8th and the 13th century. There
much of the intellectual activity of the Middle Age took place while Europe was
stuck in the Dark ages after the fall of Rome. Many scientific discoveries were
made at the time such as algebra, optics, astronomy and many more… Without the
translation movement that brought this library to life, we would have never had
the Renaissance that we know. It is a story about curiosity, beautiful minds
and sadly, about how man destroys great discoveries and achievements.
You can chek out "Wandering Times" at this location.
Polish artist Zbigniew M. Bielak unveiled his cover art and gave adetailed description about the concept of this illustration with these interesting words:
"As a child I was fascinated by the Middle East. My uncle used to work on civil engineering contracts in Libya and Iraq, so we kept receiving exotic, mosque-graced postcards throughout the otherwise lacklustre eighties behind the Iron Curtain. I have a genuine affection towards the region’s architecture, climate and aesthetics, therefore it was a pleasure to illustrate Luc Lemay’s new concept, which is a tribute to the scientific heritage of the Islamic Golden Age.
Although the pun of the album title was not intended – as much as NASA supercomputer Pleiades today, Baghdad’s Bayt al-Hikma – The House of Wisdom, epitomized the Middle East’s scientific sophistication. Boasting the largest library of the medieval world, this vibrant multicultural research and educational centre, drew in learned scholars including those of Jewish, Christian or Buddhist origin to translate, preserve and further develop important works of scholarship from across Europe and the Middle East whilst the Occident regressed into Dark Ages.
Spanning from the 8th century of our calendar to its symbolic ending with Genghis Khan’s grandson’s bloody Siege of Baghdad in 1258, resulting in obliteration of the House of Wisdom, The Golden Age of Islam left the world much indebted also to its numerous original contributions in diverse fields. From astronomy and medicine, to humanities and mathematics, Islam’s heritage helped pave the way for the rise of the West to its present prominence.
The mind-bending intricacy of GORGUTS’ aural landscapes portrayed in this single, over thirty minutes long piece of almost classically structured music, lends an aptly dramatic narrative to the story of a leading civilisation abruptly returned to dust."
High Roller Records will reissue a classic album released in 1986,EXORCIST´s "Nightmare Theatre"will have at last an official reissue! The expected release date is next May 13th, available on CD in three different versions and on mighty LP. The vinyl has been re-mastered and includes one bonus track called"Spin Your Head Around Backwards" .
Formats description:
Transparent ultra clear vinyl, ltd x 100, HRR mailorder exclusive, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, poster, bonus track
Transparent red vinyl, ltd x 500, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, poster, bonus track.
Black vinyl, ltd x 400, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, insert, poster, bonus track.
Double CD, three different versions, with bonus tracks, slipcase, bonus tracks.
On a recent interview withswordsandtequilavocalist Damian Rath, aka David DeFeis talked about the different CD versions, called"The Father", "The Son"and"The Unholy Spirit",containing different mixes and rare material.
In the same interview DeFeis also talked about the other project he was involved, ORIGINAL SIN, and the possibility of reissuing the album, "Sin Will Find You Out".
"Obsessed By Cruelty", the 1986 Cult debut album ofSODOMwill be available on a special reissue, on the 30th anniversary of the album’s original release. Both versions of the debut full-length, one released by Metal Blade in the U.S. and the second released by Steamhammer in Germany willappear together for the first time next March 25th via Wax Maniax. Fully remastered and packaged in a deluxe gatefold jacket featuring several previously unreleased period photos. A must!!!
Spanish Death Metallers GRAVEYARD will release their third LP on April 29 through War Anthem records. "...For Thine Is The Darkness" will be available on CD & LP, including 17 tracks recorded at Moontower Studios, mastered by Patrick W. Engel [Temple of Disharmony] and the cover artwork was created by Daniel Corcuera.
Swedish Death Metallers INTERMENT revealed covert arwork and release date of the new album "Scent Of The Buried". The band´s second full-lenght is set for an April 1st 2016 release date, via Pulverised Records [Europe] and Dark Descent Records [North America] respectively. The date release for the vinyl version, that will be released under Germany's Cyclone Empire, shall be announced soon. The Album was recorded and mixed by Tomas Skogsber at Sunlight Studio and the artwork was done by Juan Castellano.
"Scent Of The Buried" continues the raw old-school swedish death metal of the first album "Into The Crypts of Blasphemy" released in 2010, with influences of early Entombed or Grave. A proof of it is the brand new track "Chalice Of Death", and you can listen to it here below...
"Perennial Void Traverse" the debut full-lenght of Norwegian Death Metal band REPTILIAN will be out on April 22nd through Edged Circle Productions, distributed by Diger [Norway], Season Of Mist [Europe] and The Omega Order [USA]. The LP will be available as limited edition [400 black vinyl and 100 white vinyl]. Tracklisting and premiere song "Swamp" below...
A young band burst onto the scene with full force. EKPYROSIS from Italy have shown a fast and mature evolution in their short existence. Their latest release "Witness His Death" portrays a fierce Death Metal band to be reckoned. With the release of their debut full-length on the horizon, we talked with vocalist/guitarist Nicko about the path they have walked so far, and about what is yet to come...
Please Introduce
the line up and tell us something about those days when the band was brought to
life, can you share the full story?
We were actually very young when we started [I was 16 at the time]: Mark
and I were attending the same high school and we decided to put on a band to
play something like a mix of old school black metal, thrash metal and death
metal, while our drummer Ilaria was engaged with Mark and got involved in the
band. The bassist, who was a schoolmate of joined a few time later, and in late
2012 we started rehearsing some covers of Bathory, Kreator, Slayer, Venom,
Mayhem, Darkthrone, Death… I took a few more time until we started writing
original material, and we also played a few small dates in 2013 to get used to the
live experience. We could say Ekpyrosis officially began in January 2013.
How did you come
up with the name and what is its actual meaning?
I found this word in
the novel The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, who used this word as a metaphor
for the attitude of old thing to get afire. In Greek philosophy, it was
believed that history was cyclic, with the world ending up in a spontaneous conflagration
to be reborn again from its ashes. This event was called Ekpyrosis. We thought
it was kind of fascinating, even it’s not that simple to get stucked in
people’s mind, but it’s fairly more particular than any “old school” band name
involving the words “death”, “necro”, “grave” [which are still cool, don’t get
me wrong]… And we still think it fixes good with the music.
Your first release was the EP “In Pulverem Reverteris” released in
2013 all by yourself. How was the
process of putting these songs together and recording them? How was the
response from the fans and zines?
Those ones were pretty
much the first songs we put together in the first few months of rehearsing. You
can still hear the different influences coming up in each song, which are
actually pretty dissimilar one to each other. We actually did have no experience
in songwriting, yet still we managed to write and record a decent demo, that we
called In Pulverem Reverteris since we were quite stucked with the Latin thing
in the beginning. The recording process was an exciting experience for us, but
looking back we didn’t take wise choices on studio, sounds and stuff like that. This was pretty much
due to a lack of experience, but we were 17-18 y.o. and it was ok, I guess.
Nothing to do with the band style nowadays, by the way. Still, response was
good, since the songs were catchy, decently played and clearly recorded. It
worked good to spread our name and get us some first live dates with some
others band of our local scene.
What bands inspired the sound and style of the band in general and
specially on this first release? Tell some words about the cover artwork and
the title of the EP.
As I told, we were not
really certain about the style to develop at first, so the songs were quite
dissimilar, yet fairly representing our main influences. We have a more Swedish
death influenced song like Sepulchral, or a more classic US death metal one
like Paradise Lost, while Pulvis et Umbra was more a black/death song. Also,
the more “melodic” component has now quite totally disappeared.
Last year you released the demo rehearsal, were the people surprised by
this release? How did you come up with this idea? How was the response to the demo in general?
We felt our sound
matured a lot during 2014, taking us from that undefined style to something
more coherent, and also more aggressive. I personally wrote much riffs in that
period, which actually ended up in our latest EP Witness His Death, and that
definitely redefined band sound, leaving most of the black metal influences
behind and fully focusing on death metal. This new songs were heavily inspired
by bands like Incantation, Morbid Angel, Necrophobic, Nihilist… Also Ilaria did
the main step forward developing her drumming and increasing her speed; we
worked on the vocals trying to get more guttural, and also paid more attention
to the guitar tones in order to get that old school death metal sound you can
hear, and we hopefully succeeded.
So we booked the studio
for February 2015 to record Witness His Death, but meanwhile we recorded a
rehearsal to better listen to our songs and check them out properly before the
professional takes. But that raw rehearsal sound worked great with the songs,
so we released it on taped just like the old tradition, and we sold them out in
just a couple of weeks, since more people were getting interested in our latest
musical form, we could say.
The sound of your
demo is very good, despite the fact that it’s a rehearsal. So how did you manage
to get such a good sound? Was it recorded in your rehearsal room?
We recorded it in a cool rehearsing space not far from where we usually
rehearse. They had an open panoramic microphone and a PC to record songs, and
after that I edited EQ and stuff like that to make it sound better and clearer,
and the result was surprisingly decent, as you said, so we were convinced to
put it on tape.
I asked Darak of Extirpation [black/thrash punks you should definitely
check out!] to do the cover art, and he got inspired by the lyrics of Eternal
Recurrence. That songs is about Nietzsche’s eternal return, and the drawing
represents the black serpent (probably the ouroboros) coming out from the mouth
of the man, who is metaphorically enslaved by the cyclic shape of time. This
came out pretty gruesome, and so we also had a cool title for that tape.
Evil distro handled
a cool release of the demo, how many copies where distributed? How did you get
in touch with them? Actually the guy from Evil Distro contacted me since he wanted to put out
something like a rehearsal or a live demo for Ekpyrosis, strictly on tape. This
was one of the main reasons we recorded this “demo”. He managed to do
everything in the old manner: photocopying and printing the inlay card,
hand-numbering each copy, cutting and pasting pictures and tracklist etc. and
also making some flyers to promote it… It was limited to 66-copies.
Tell about the
choice of Death´s “Zombie Ritual” and Necrophobic´s “The Nocturnal Silence”
covers recorded on the rehearsal.
Well, I am a Necrophobic maniac, and I love their The Nocturnal Silence
album [so do I - Chris], so I proposed this cover which was pretty much uncommon and absolutely killer,
even if tuned down to C, and we liked it a lot, so we included it in this
rehearsal, cult! A few weeks later we had the beautiful possibility to open up
for Necrophobic here in Italy, it was exciting…
Zombie Ritual by Death, on the other hand, it’s a total classic, and
Scream Bloody Gore was my very first death metal record when I was 14, and some
of the first riffs I played on guitars as soon as I took a few lessons… Me and
Mark used to rehearse it in his basement way before Ekpyrosis were born, so it
was a matter of feels to get it into this tape.
A few months later
you released, which is in my opinion your best release so far, Witness his
death, tell me about the songwriting process and the recording, and how do you
see the ep compared to your previous releases.
As I told, that was the peak of a period when we matured a lot, figured
out exactly what we were looking for as a band, and putting down some
conditions to our sound, while old school death metal influences were
definitely taking over. We wrote those songs during 2014, and they kinda grew
up with us, becoming more aggressive as much as we did as a band. Some of the
songs started up in a way and ended up more fast and brutal, until the day we
recorded them. Working in Toxic Basement Studio was fantastic, since Carlo has
got the right know-out and helped creating a good working atmosphere, since he
is both professional and irreverently fun! He immediately understood how this
new songs were supposed to sound, and went straight to the point, and so did
we.
This EP totally represents our stile now, since it has the crushing
energy of American old school death metal [Sadistic Intent, Morbid Angel], some
rawness of the Swedish death metal era [Grave, Grotesque] and also some
doom/death riffage à la Incantation that everybody noticed at first. And also,
we think this is way more solid than anything else we’ve ever wrote. Also
response is going great, we almost sold our copies out and the one under the
label are being traded all over Europe.
The Cover artwork
looks awesome, totally old school, Tell me about the author, Ivory Crux, did
the band had anything to do with the design of this blaspheme piece?
Yes, we were stoked about it when it was finished. Ivory Crux is a
brilliant and young artist from Italy, she’s been doing some great and gruesome
china pieces and also some surrealistic paintings on oil [I guess], mixing
occultism, gore and erotica. I suggested her to do something like a monk
preaching under a rotten cross, who could get along with the album title
“Witness His Death” [“His” refers to God]. She came out with this incredibly
detailed artwork with much esoteric symbols and a kind of surrealistic vibe. We
thought the red version was killer on the CD cover, while we used the original
black and white one for the tape.
If I´m not wrong
the first press was for 300 copies, and then distributed by F.O.A.D. records, how did they interested in
the band and in the distribution of the EP?
You are right. Actually Slaughterhouse Records [who published the CD] is run also by the guy who recorded the EP, who cooperate with FOAD records doing remasters of old death/thrash/grind/HC classics they put out. So they also managed to get our EP distributed via FOAD itself, who helped a lot in terms of trading and distribution, which is totally cool.
There is also a tape
version, which was released this January…
It has been released by Unholy Domain, an Italian label who’s been
publishing lots of tapes and 7” lately, digging in Italian and international
underground and producing mainly old school death metal acts, and some doom metal
ones too. Each one of this bands is totally killer in my opinion, so we were
pleased that Unholy Domain offered us this possibility, and the guy behind this
label is a friend. Also, tape version is absolutely amazing, trust me!
Lyrically where
do you draw the inspiration from for the lyrics? Are you into religious -
blasphemous movies, books…?
Mostly we take inspiration from books we have read, or from philosophy,
and always maintained a studied approach to lyrics, even if we talk about usual
themes like death or religion. I drew inspiration from Nietzsche for some of
the lyrics on Witness His Death, like Morticians of God which is based on his
aphorisms on the death of God.
Or it could also be from a book, something we have studied, or some
personal feelings about those kind of subjects. Most of them are openly
anti-religious, yet not really bluntly blasphemous, but there are some
exceptions like Unholy Fornication, who turned out to be something Nunslaughter
could have wrote ahah!
The band has been
very busy playing live lately, Tell how are your gigs, and with which bands you
shared stage so far. Is there any good or funny story to share?
We are having a good live response lately and much gigs proposal around
Northern Italy, with much people showing support and sincere appreciation.
Since our style it’s quite direct, it’s easy to get a bit physical on stage,
with much headbanging stuff going on and some “foot on the monitor” attitude,
ahah! At least we look energic, and I hope we sound, too. By the way, we are
improving also this aspect of our playing, since live shows are crucial for any
band. We’ve been also in some not-really-comfortable situation, especially in
the beginning, now we are learning how to keep our cool and play tight. We had fun sharing stage with much underground band from Italy and from
abroad too, and also had the possibility to open the show of some of our favorite
bands like Necrophobic, Drowned or Funerus. Receiving the likes of John McEntee
of Incantation, checking out our live set, has been an experience we won’t
really forget! We hope for great things to come for the future, actually we’re
playing some really cool shows in this 2016!
Do you include any
cover songs in your live sets?
Yes, we usually do. We often start rehearsing a new cover and put it in
the live sets for a few time, then change again. Lately we have been playing
Deicide’s Lunatic of God Creation almost at every show, it’s killer, you know!
I´m into Mortuary
Drape and younger bands like Into Darkness and Profanal, what are your fave
bands from your country and what is your opinion about the current Italian
scene?
Mortuary Drape is an absolutely milestone in extreme metal history, not
only in Italy, where they still maintain a cult status, and they are an
important inspiration for all of us, literally. I guess it’s now a tradition
for Mark to play on stage wearing his All The Witches Dance shirt, we say it
brings bad luck ahaha! Other classic acts from our country like Necrodeath,
Schizo or Bulldozer have hugely influenced me in my thrash period. Yet we have a killer old school death metal scene, most of which are my
friends and have been sharing stage with us: Funest, Necro, Terrorsaw, Into
Darkness and Profanal as you said, Sepulcral, Valgrind, Gravesite and Undead
Creep, Blood of Seklusion, Voids of Vomit, Bastard Saints… All these bands are
worth a few listens to say at least! Lately I’ve got involved in a new Swedish
death metal styled project, Daemoniac, with ex-bassist of Horrid and drummer of
Funest, and we will record a full length this year at Sunlight Studios in
Sweden, and it will be out via Xtreem Music. So, apart the difficulties of the underground world in Italy [booking
shows, finding venues, go around…], I think we have a solid scene with real
maniacs and music aficionados, with some of them making their way through the
underground and crafting some excellent records. Also heavy, thrash, hardcore,
brutal, doom and black scenes have their great representatives, and the list
goes on and on and on…
When the band is
not playing or on tour, what do you do? Do you have day jobs? What other
interest besides music do the band members have?
We are all studying at university. I’m studying Physics [yes, I’m a kind
of science nerd ahah], both the Marcos are studying Psychology and Ilaria will
become an obstetrician. Our non-musical interest includes books, cinema,
travelling… And I’m trying to talk also from their point of view, if I may…
You announced
recently a deal with Memento Mori for the release of your debut full length. How was it you ended up signing with them?
After we got the master of Witness His Death, we contacted almost any
death metal label that I knew, and Raul of Memento Mori got interested in our
music and proposed us to sign for them for a debut album. Needless to say, we
were absolutely pleased to have received the likes of a cool label like it and
finally have the possibility to deliver our debut album though a solid
partnership like this one. They’ve been putting out some amazing death and doom/death albums in
these years and Memento Mori is growing strong, so it will be the perfect home
for our debut. This was actually way beyond the expectations we had when we
started, yet now we feel prepared for this step, which looks natural at this
point, since we matured our style and started playing more constantly and in
more interesting musical situations.
Do you have new
songs completed? Will you follow the same path or do you anticipate any changes to the EKPYROSIS
sound and style? Can you reveal some
details about the new material?
We are working on new music right now, some of the songs are already
being regularly rehearsed and others are being composed by me and Mark. We are
working hard in the rehearsals every week, yet we have a busy schedule for the
next months, but we have clear ideas and solid material to work on. Recordings
are booked for August 2015, at the Toxic Basement studio again, since it’s a
referring point for metal and hardcore band here in Milan.We are following the path that we took with Witness His Death, possibly
enforcing the features that we consider the strongest. We feel we are growing
up constantly, as long as we try to do our best, whatever this could sound
like… You should expect an aggressive death metal, with little melody but much
riffing variety, who goes really fast on d-beat or much slower on some frequent
doomy sections. Double bass and blast beats are getting stronger, and double
vocal assault will be hopefully more gruesome.
Old school death metal acts like those I already mentioned still remain
our referring point, and we are trying to deliver you about 8 tracks with some
stylistic variety yet personality, and much attitude to the genre. Still we are
realist and we know there is some hard work to get done. We are also planning
to do a very special and unique cover song for this album…
What is the
strangest place and the most shocking one that you´ve been?
Not really shocking situations, some not-so-good experience, some better
ones, of course… But we saw a guy throwing his own shit in a plastic dish to
another guy ones, in a venue we played once. That much says all, ahaha!
Do you have any final comments to make in order
to close out this interview?
Thank you very much for this amazingly written questions, it’s clear you inquired about Ekpyrosis first, and it’s great to see such interest and support for a young band like us. I hope our answers were exhaustive, and stay tuned for further news about our debut full-length and future plans in general. Keep on supporting death metal music, only death is real! 666
