a) A groovy, psychedelic mix of southern rock and thrash?

b) A cheeky mix of lounge music, psychobilly and sludge fronted by a guy in a lizard mask?

c) A lurching blend of hardcore and drone with spoken word vocals performed by a comedian and performer who’s body-modded and tattooed himself head to toe like a reptile?

If you guessed C, then ding ding ding, Captain Observant! The album cover above clearly shows Erik Sprague, otherwise known as Lizardman. Maybe some of you saw him on the Jagermeister tour in 2008, which is where he hooked up with Mossy from The Heavils and Waco Jesus to create this odd project. I didn’t, but I once hired a troupe of sideshow performers to hang cinder blocks from their eyelids and eat light bulbs in my living room for a house party, so I dig that kinda stuff.

Anyway, this is slithering, droning, lunging hardcore, heavily drenched in psychedelic feedback and effects. Despite the weirdness of the concept, Lizard Skynard isn’t a joke band – it’s fairly dark and noir, with lots of hazy interludes. Bongos, warbling effects and plunking, plodding bass on “Ocean Electric,” or filthy, sinister surf rock on “Space Eels.”

But there’s still some comedy here too – the vocals are all spoken word delivery, kind of like Henry Rollins in his more mellow confessional moments. Lizardman doesn’t often crank to a bellow as Rollins does though – his delivery is a lot more wry and arch, letting the weirdness of his stories make the impact. Some of it is pretty amusing, like the deadpan, tight-ass cop of “Normal,” or the wacked-out conspiracy freak of “Space Eels.” It’s not quite on the level of Neil Fallon’s (Clutch) stream-of-consciousness poetry, but it definitely kept me tuned in for these songs.

That is, until we get to the ratatat-to-catatonic “Bell & Syndrome,” which is all one-dimensional buzz and drone, and then on through stuttery album closer “Austin Slow Trip.” These tracks move too far away from the lurching hardcore that made tracks like “Space Eels” and “Ocean Electric” so intriguing and unpredictable, and it’s at this point that the album just becomes weird, as opposed to cool and weird.

Still, you get some interesting badassery, weirdness and fairly entertaining spoken word for a good few songs, which makes this odd little project worth checking out. Curious to see what they do on the next album, if there is one. I’d personally like to see them have a little more fun and not be so dour – spend some time listening to Mr. Bungle‘s California, write some more outrageous rants, and then see what slithers out.

Austere are venturing into territory more often associate with Scandinavia or even Portland, Oregon. After the calm-before-the-storm opener “Down”, the band’s rendition of blackened suicidal metal ravages through To Lay Like Old Ashes like a wildfire, somewhat a kin to their homeland brethren Midnight Odyssey, with a slight Burzum flair. But it’s the shades of earlier Agalloch that give it a natural (i.e., mountains, lakes, forests) feel.

In my opinion, the screaming―a nearly ruinous tactic―does not lend itself to the nuances of human suffering; pain and sense of lost can be expressed in a heavier way by utilizing the full spectrum of the human voice. But just as the effect is about to over-welcome its stay, six minutes in to the second track “This Dreadful Emptiness”, the band throws in clean vocals, which have and give emotional weight to Austere‘s arboreal metal. On the next track, “To Lay Like Old Ashes” the band reverts back to their throat-scarring ways, but this time around it doesn’t feel as forced and, again, around the six minute mark we’re treated to a different style of cleans, conveying the bleak message: “Death with no redemption, we’re all heading towards the end.”

Whereas before Austere blasted like a jackhammer, “Just For a Moment…” wreaks havoc in its subtlety. Heavy on the acoustics, the music kicks in with Primordial-esque riffing and drumming. And then, then it happens. Austere unleashes its strongest weapon in its entirety: the clean vocals. No screaming. No shouting.

And how fragile, how hurt the vocals seem. The contrast it creates with the past songs almost breeds anger. Anger for sparing such qualities seems so unfair. Yet, within the contrast lies the effect. The moment becomes so grand it justifies all past sins, creates an end to the beginning and corrects To Lay Like Old Ashes in the proper context by showing the man behind the wretched soul. I’m inclined to state, that if there ever was an album worth owning for just one song, this would be one of them.

Glad I’m also for the fact that the band realizes that there’s no point of return after such a tour de force and they end the album with a 20-minute instrumental, “Coma II”. Which, I take, might be continuation to the song “Coma” from their previous album Withering Illusions and Desolation. The song consists of guitars and ambient chimes, winding down the album to the respectable sound of a distant storm.

With rough corners here and there, To Lay Like Old Ashes isn’t necessarily Top of 2009 material. However, with all the emotion loaded into the album, Austere is an extremely promising band aiming for extremely promising things. Things, that make some other bands look numb and void of soul.

[This review was completed a while back. As of today (May 19th, 2010) the band has apparently split-up. While the potential of this particular project is lost, they do have various other gigs going on (such as Grey Waters) that will no doubt inspire us all in the future. Definitely keep an eye out.]

These Seattle boys sure got some respect for the riff and not much else, judging by the songwriting and the resulting mix. If you’re hearing more than scratchy guitars, raspy vocals, and snappy snare hits, you’re certainly picking up more than I possibly could. Still, the riffs are enough to keep me entertained. The aforementioned “Warlords,” “Out of the Violent Planet,” and “Knights of the Black Cross vs. the Reavers of the Red Death” (awesome title) each rocked the shit out of my headphones with crusty, sometimes doomy, but always thrashy guitars. The mix could’ve definitely done with a little more bottom end on the kick drums, but then this probably wouldn’t have the lo-fi charm it resonates with every struck chord.

You’d think an album about people fighting on Mars and crazy Cthulhu-esque creatures ravaging the planet would be a little more juvenile. Scorched-Earth handles the material with a bizarre reverence that were any other band to handle this stuff, most people wouldn’t be able to get past the first song without dismissing it on the grounds of self-indulgent lunacy (it’s probably why I’m one of a select few that enjoy Ziltoid the Omniscient). Scorched-Earth cast aside any notion of bullshit the lyrics might suggest; the music is empowering, monstrous stuff that combines the fiercest elements of the classic 70’s hard rock bands and the sometimes crippling speed of thrash metal. There’s no sly winks nor innocuous nudges on this record. At its best, Scorched-Earth reminds me of those Australian war-mongers, Deströyer 666, circa Unchain the Wolves. At worst, Scorched-Earth goes a little overboard on some of the song lengths, but that’s a relatively minor complaint.

Barring a bare-bones overall drum sound and some overwrought songs here and there, Scorched-Earth’s Mars is about as innovative with the thrash formula as I’ve heard in recent days. Definitely worth a listen or two for those even mildly curious. Personally, I’m on my thirtieth or so with no sign of it leaving my playlist for a while.

Acheron‘s storied history includes lots of releases, dating back 20 years, and lots of dudes who’ve spent time in big-name metal juggernauts like Incantation, Angelcorpse and Death, among others. The name Acheron itself describes a Greek river which, according to mythology, spews into Hades. How unabashedly metal! (Sorta brings to mind Naglfar, named for a ship made of dead men’s finger- and toenails, although that’s Norse and a completely different subject altogether.) But enough of this filler shit, and onto the subject of the review.

The Final Conflict chronicles the fall of organized religion and the rise of heathenism, a topic not foreign to death metal, and one that’s still interesting if it’s got the right story. Acheron have played it out in a fairly straightforward fashion, using an almost doomy death-groove to get their point across. With a slightly muddled sound and solid underground vibe, tracks like “Rise of Rebellion” and “Power and Might” get heads banging, while others, such as “Salvation Through Hatred” and “Blood Oath,” get the blood heated to a gooey froth. The occasional demonic guitar interlude and satanic wording — “In my blood I sign this pact for the fucking world to see” — cement The Final Conflict: Last Days of God as a bad-ass, bone-crushing example of heavy metal heft.

Not surprisingly, Sons of Liberty sounds an awful lot like Iced Earth. Since his primary band is practically Schaffer’s solo project anyway, there’s not a lot that’s musically different other than the inclusion of sound bites from political speeches. I’m not sure who else is involved in the project as there’s no list of contributors on the site, but Schaffer handles the guitars and vocals, and therein lies the first problem. Schaffer’s vocals are good enough to do a mock-up of a song for Matt Barlow or Tim Owens to sing and they’re good enough for back-ups and an occasional lead vocal, but they’re not good enough to carry a whole record. Songs that would otherwise be solid, like the dark “False Flag,” are weakened by the sub-par vocals. The harmonies that sound so good in Iced Earth are rough on “Our Dying Republic,” and when I listen to the venomous “Indentured Servitude,” I’m just imagining what it would sound like with Barlow or Owens. It would be one of the better songs Iced Earth has done in recent years.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad that Schaffer didn’t release this as an Iced Earth record because it is something more personal. With a few exceptions, I’m not a huge fan of heavily political music. I’ve always been part of the “just shut up and sing the damned songs I came to hear” camp. I’d rather hear Iced Earth stick with the fantasy, horror and science fiction themes that have been their stock in trade over the years (the excellent The Glorious Burden being the exception), and I think to put this out under the Iced Earth moniker would probably do more damage to a band that’s already been weakened in recent years.

Considering that this is a record with a mission to spread a message, you have to address the lyrical content. Let me preface my comments on the lyrics by saying that I’m a full-on, red-blooded, flag-waving, gun-toting redneck, so I’m not speaking from a completely opposite side of the fence from Schaffer, but I just have a hard time buying into the vast conspiracy theories of shady, evil puppet masters pulling the global strings. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been hearing about the liberal media conspiracy my whole life, and having worked in media for 15 years, I know how laughable it is. Usually, we can’t coordinate things across the room, much less across the globe, and from what I know of government agencies, I’d suspect the situation is similar there.

I’ll admit that there are some good points to the messages here. There’s much about thinking for yourself, questioning authority and standing up for your rights, all things I can firmly get behind. The main problem for me is the lyrics sound like just that – a message. More often than not, they seem to be written primarily as a sermon from Schaffer rather than song lyrics. It’s obvious that he’s passionate about the subjects here and wants to make people think. In that respect, I applaud the effort. Too often, though, it comes off sounding a little like wild-eyed craziness.

Brush-fires of the Mind features some very good moments scattered throughout, like the aforementioned “False Flag” and “Indentured Servitude.” “Tree of Liberty” reminds me of Empire-era Queensryche, and would be an absolutely awesome song with Geoff Tate in his prime handling the vocals. Likewise, I can hear Warrell Dane’s warble on “Feeling Helpless” and how good it could be. While I doubt either of those guys would feel comfortable with singing these songs, one can always dream.

Sons of Liberty is worth a listen for fans of Iced Earth, and you can hear it free on their website. With better vocals and a bit less emphasis on the conspiracy theories, I’d probably really enjoy the record. As it is, it’s much like The Crucible of Man. There are a few songs I might return to, but if I’m in an Iced Earth sort of mood, I’ll more likely grab The Dark Saga, Something Wicked This Way Comes or The Glorious Burden. Here’s hoping this record helped clean the slate so he can deliver the goods with the new Iced Earth record he’s currently in the studio working on.

As a result, everything seems to be in order on first listen. Producer Jonas Kjellgren (Scar Symmetry) gives a nice, clear playground. Unfortunately, Survivors Zero is plagued by the same problems that affected bands of the genre 10 years ago; the songs don’t have enough depth nor breadth to carry through all of CMXCIX‘s 37-minutes. While I wouldn’t say that CMXCIX ever becomes boring — the album, unfortunately, ain’t just that memorable or captivating.

Truth to be told, there’s certainly amazing talent here, as the Finns’ musicality is flawless, but the group’s mastery fails to translate when it comes to writing songs that make it all worth while. And the cock-teasing is extremely frustrating to be honest, as there are some amazing riffs and great guitar play with boner-raising powers on display here ― but, somehow these truly awesome moments fade away in the grand scheme of things, denying me of my bloody climax.

Despite “I Bury Them Deeper”, “Armageddon Cult” and “I am the Gun” pointing in the right direction, CMXCIX sounds and feels like a debut. Which the album is, but at the same time, it isn’t. The guys have a long background in heavy metal music, so is it wrong to expect more? The concept’s yet to be fully fleshed out it seems. Furthermore, for album that was made to wreak havoc and break balls, CMXCIX feels restricted. The whole shebang needs more hate, bigger explosions and louder machine gun fire! They ought to tell Dr.Phil to go fuck himself with his Ten Life Laws, too. Speaking of nice things, did I mention that I’ve been trying to find my Iniquity albums to bolster my Yyrkoon binge? I also remembered how good of an album Extreme Noise Terror’s Being and Nothing is. That shit is the bomb, yo!

Anyhoot, quite simply, Survivor Zero’s debut album is less than the sum of its parts. After it stops spinning, you won’t find it haunting your neck muscles forevermore (like Nevermore.) It’s not a bad album per se, but in the long run it’s colorless and odorless.  However, it does showcase a capable bunch and features promising playfulness here and there. Sadly, there’s no consistent energy.

While CMXCIX does fall short, there’s no denying the underlying promise and the pure talent behind it. I’d imagine that once the dudes get more mileage together, they’ll eventually deliver a haymaker that’ll make me bang my head uncontrollably against a brick wall, scream obscenities and voice my legions towards all that is metal.

At least, they’d better.

Though only 4 songs, one of the songs is over 6 minutes (“Bone Island”) and one is over 8 minutes (“Marxism”, and those two songs are the EPs best as they break from the other two tracks (“Ranger”, “Let My Home be My Gallows”) pretty standard, rumbling blast, growl  The Red Chord-ish throes of modern metal. “Marxism” starts out normal enough, but two minute in it develops a sludgy almost stoner doom track with a hefty menacing groove.  Then “Marxism” starts with a lazy, bluesy bass run before unfolding a hazy doom riff that could be old Anathema or My Dying Bride. Even when song does revert back to a more death metal/deathcore pace, its still has a loping, muddy sneer that’s a bit different to many of their polished pseudo death metal peers. However, it ends with a killer sludge rumble befitting Birds of Prey or The Abominable Iron Sloth.

Top things off with the fact the band can rough it up with the best of them, as shown in, “Let My Home be My Gallows”, and you have a modern UK band that nicely balances the popular trend over there right now but adds a bit of character that shows some promise for a future full length.

Greek trio Wheelrunner has a lot of problems, the main one being that they can’t decide if they want to play traditional metal in the vein of Judas Priest or glam rock. They end up pulling from some of the worst of both, as on album opener “Proof of Love,” which sounds like a cross between Twisted Sister and some of Priest’s more pop leanings without having the appeal of either.

It doesn’t stop there. “Street Child” is just a mess, blending Kiss, punk and Priest, though the Vito Bratta-influences guitar licks early on the song are interesting. “Rock Star” sounds like a throwaway track from one of Ratt’s later records with a chorus that plays to some of the worst that the 1980s had to offer. “A Walk Through the Rain” is the completely uninteresting ballad that shows the considerable weaknesses in the vocals of Mike Madness.

It’s not all horrible. I like the southern-fried groove of Madness’ main guitar riff on “Snake Bite,” and there’s some nice bass work on the song by Panagiwtis Savage. Madness returns to the southern-influenced sound on the opening of “In Cold Blood,” but the glam quickly takes over again.

Even when the songs are not bad, as with “On Fire,” other elements spoil it. The mix on the record is a big weakness, featuring that hollow sound common on garage-recorded outings. “On Fire,” in particular, has a very rough mix, especially with the drums. Some static on the louder drum parts sounds like the recording levels might have been a little too high. It’s strange since the drums are a bit buried on other songs.

Lyrically, these songs are full of a cocky bravado that the music just doesn’t back up with the same confidence and swagger.

Originally released in 2008, “Bloodpaint” certainly hasn’t gotten better with age, and it pales in comparison with records in a similar vein that are out there now. If they want to compete in the genre, it may be time for Wheelrunner to head back into that garage and work on their chops.

There’s some fairly solid early-to-mid 1980s hard rock here, falling a little more toward the commercial end of the spectrum. The bands that come to mind when listening to the record are acts like Krokus and Fastway. The music is pretty solid for the style, but there’s more than a fair share of cheese here, mostly in the vocals and lyrics. Singer Vince Venom has that particular screechy rasp that was popular at the time, but can get very annoying in its upper registers.

The record starts off with the cheese-filled anthem “Rock ‘n’ Roll Tonite.” The song is waaaay over the top, and gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the rest of the record. Second track, “The Time is Right,” is surprisingly restrained with a nice main riff from guitarist Mike “H.C.” Slutz (I wish I were kidding). They’re quickly back into overkill mode though with the shouted chorus of “Roll Out (Or Get Rocked.)”

 Armour offers up a heavier side as well, influenced by the likes of Accept and WASP. “Satan’s Knight” is the first of these, a high-speed rocker, that’s a little less flamboyant. The other Accept-flavored burner, “Hellfire,” ends up being one of the better songs, despite the fact that it’s a tune we’ve heard over and over from a variety of bands.

When Armour dials it back a little, though, they can be pretty good. “Ready to Attack” features a nice opening riff and never gets too out of control, making it probably my favorite song on the record. Likewise, the WASP-influenced “Can’t Resist Your Spell” is a pleaser for the spiked wristband-wearing metalhead in me, despite some occasionally painful lyrics.

And speaking of painful lyrics, there’s some quality comic relief to be found here at times. “Sex Demon” offers us some of the worst sexual metaphors since Spinal Tap’s “Sex Farm.” “I’ve got a gun loaded with a shot/ girl you’re gonna scream tonight when my bullet hits the spot,” for example.

 It’s not that Armour is any worse than many of the bands I listened to in the early and mid-1980s. In fact, they’d fit in quite well, and if I’d heard them back then, I probably would have loved them. The problem is more the fact that I’m not 12 any more, and many of the songs here are either sophomoric or a bit silly in the lyrical department. Unlike, say, White Wizzard, which seems to embrace the cheese factor and have fun with it, Armour, at least to my ears, seems to be very serious about it, which often makes it unintentionally funny.

 If you’re looking for a little trip back to your adolescent years, and don’t mind a healthy helping of cheese, you could do much worse than picking up Armour’s full-length debut. Though it won’t likely stick with me long, I have to admit that it’s at least good fun for a short time.

The band has undergone their share of obstacles. After Kraft Foods, makers of Jell-O brand gelatin, threatened to sue them in 1992 for copyright infringement, the band changed their name from Green Jellö to Green Jellÿ. Then the Kellogg Company found the portrayal of their classic cereal characters (Toucan Sam, the Trix rabbit, the Lucky Charms leprechaun, and Snap, Crackle & Pop) disturbing, forcing the band to change the cover art and video content of Cereal Killer. Finally, Metallica—possibly the band with the highest number of lawsuits in metal history—threatened to sue because the riff from “Enter Sandman” was copped on said album. Despite these setbacks, Green Jellÿ managed to capture the enthusiasm of the ’90s MTV generation, toured with Testament, and jumpstarted the careers of Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and Danny Carey, both of who played on Cereal Killer.

Musick to Insult Your Intelligence By is the band’s first studio recording since 1994’s nearly forgotten 333. It reunites the original Cereal Killer line-up, minus (of course) Keenan and Carey. Opener “Sugar & Spice” is indicative of the overall vibe here. With lyrics like the kindergarten rhyme “snails, nails, and puppy-dog tails,” you know what level of humor/absurdity can still be expected from these guys. Any band that writes a song called “Gefilte Fish” with the verse “gefilte fish, don’t skimp on the horseradish”—not to forget another verse sung entirely in Yiddish—deserves props.

Not at all a tune about sandwiches, “Albert Fish Liverwurst” harnesses the lyrical prowess of Church of Misery as interpreted by Dr. Seuss. “Stabby the Clown” is half Stephen King’s It, half Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, similar to Gwar’s metal vision. Green Jellÿ do love their punk roots (“Geek Girl,” “You’re Gone,” “Trick or Treat”), and “Nothing to Say” features female vocals like a cross between L7 and Babes in Toyland.

“The Ballad of Swing Low Scroty” is mind-numbing pap that ends with a cheeky “I got blisters” line that mimics the coda of the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.” Musick to Insult Your Intelligence By isn’t going to win over any fans of current metal (Lamb of God fans, steer clear), but it does serve as a nostalgic reminder of what constituted early ’90s MTV metal, no Internet or iPods, cassette tape trading, Anthrax T-shirts, sending cash in concealed envelopes, and the simple joy of scouring record stores for unknown albums with cool cover art.

From here on out, bands should take note of how this once-platinum-selling band rebounded after the ultimate impediment, the death of their lead singer: don’t find a soundalike. In 2000, Cantrell befriended Comes With the Fall singer William DuVall, who then became Cantrell’s touring guitarist/singer. So DuVall had plenty of practice singing AIC tunes before the recording of this album, and it shows in every solid track: not one clunker on the album.

Opener “All Secrets Known” has a distinct Tool vibe that crests with each chorus. DuVall and Cantrell’s vocal harmonies are perfect—so much that fans might swear, just for a moment, that this is an unreleased lost track with Staley. The radio single “Check My Brain” introduces the ‘new guy’ with its entrancing chorus, though DuVall still affects Staley’s throaty warble surprisingly well. The ballad-like “Your Decision” with its acoustic intro is reminiscent of Jar of Flies’ girth.

One of many standout tracks, “A Looking in View” heaves a metal crunch out of the gates, later revealing unexpected melody in the choruses. “When the Sun Rises Again” is a magnificent number à la the Sap EP—acoustic with hand percussion—to the point that aficionados might expect to hear Chris Cornell’s golden pipes at the choruses. The slow-burning “Acid Bubble,” accentuated by Cantrell’s signature lazy string-bending, sports an energetic tempo shift during the choruses/bridges, creating the most “prog” cut on the album.

“Lesson Learned” is a straightforward number, traditional verse/chorus/verse with guitar solo. “Take Her Out” runs with the same head-down gait as “Angry Chair,” and “Private Hell” is another rock-hard track with Cantrell’s award-winning harmonies. The title track, with chords as limpid as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and piano interspersed throughout, seems as if it were written strictly for slow-dancing. There is no question that Black Gives Way to Blue is one of AIC’s finest hours—yes, it’s right up there with Facelift and Dirt. Especially in today’s music climate, where has-been grunge bands are merely an afterthought (ahem, Pearl Jam), Alice in Chains rise again to enjoy their sweetly deserved success.

On a positive note, Future is Tomorrow plays a brand of power/prog without a lot of shameless showing off, which I appreciate. I’m of the school that the song should come before virtuoso performances. On the down side, the band sticks with a lot of very common power/prog themes. It’s very well done, but there’s not a lot of variation from song to song.

One of the more interesting elements of Fit to Die is the use of a male choir on the several songs. They first appear on second track, “Another Soul,” offering a chant to open that moves to a surprisingly upbeat guitar riff. They’re back again on “All For You,” this time with some electronic sounds and power chord punctuations that are quite interesting before the band reverts to the more typical prog/power gallop. Finally, they pop up again on “Stories to Tell,” a slower number with a heavier synth presence.

As usual, I prefer when the band treads heavier territory. The title track is one of my favorites, opening with a charging guitar riff that drops off into a very cool groove riff that’s the best on the record. It does veer back into the standard prog territory a little with a lot of Rush influence on the verse, but it’s still solid. “Awakening the Ghosts” opens with one of the heavier riffs. The guitars are a little chunkier on this song, and some growled vocals from guest Alberto de Rech make a brief appearance here. Those return on “Save Us, Source of Mercy,” which also features one of the more aggressive deliveries by regular vocalist Max (no last name given).

At this point, though, I’m really wishing they would make more use of the gruffer vocals, as I like the interplay in a set of songs that’s otherwise fairly squeaky clean. As if they’d read my mind, they deliver on album closer “The Day of Retribution.” After opening softly with some dark symphonic string sounds and nice clean guitar work, it moves into heavier territory with Max and de Rech trading vocals on the verse. That section reinforces my feeling that they should use the technique more often as it brings a completely different feel to the sound.

As I said at the start, the music on Future is Tomorrow’s debut is very well played and put together. The guitar work of Michael Snidaro and Paolo Furlanis is good, and drummer Fabio Tomba, who is also the creative force behind the concept, and bassist Matteo Campo Dall Orto lay down a solid foundation. Max’s vocals are quite good, if a little predictable. I can certainly recommend Fit to Die for fans of the style. I only wish that the band would take a few more chances here and there and do something that I haven’t heard before.

This record is, apparently, the third in an attempt to do a metal version of Wagner’s operatic treatment of the epic German poem Nibelungenlied. I must, of course, say that, being unable to speak German, I don’t know how good their lyrical adaptation is. Of course, that doesn’t keep me from enjoying Wagner’s version, and it certainly doesn’t keep me from enjoying Siegfried’s.

It’s a bit difficult to analyze this piece track by track, as it is arranged a bit like an opera, and should probably be taken as a whole. It’s not an album that will give you a few songs here and there to blast on your car stereo as you head down the highway. The closest you’ll come is “Brunhild,” dominated by Schleret, and one of my favorite individual tracks. Rather, Nibelung is an experience. The kind of thing you put on the stereo, lay back and relax with. Unfortunately, these days, I have precious little time to do that, so I’m writing the review a bit on the run.

Even without the ability to enjoy the record as I’d like to, though, I remain impressed. There are a lot of different metal styles at work here. The power, goth and traditional you might expect given the scope of the record and the subject matter, but there’s also a healthy dose of raspy black metal in the symphonic bits and the snarls of one of two male vocalists, Bruder Cle. There are also some nice, dark classically influenced bits sprinkled throughout the record that do, at times, recall Wagner in tone, at least.

Siegfried also uses three vocalists to provide variety to the characters of the story. Cle, with his decidedly darker vocal style, portrays the villains. Second male vocalist Werner Bialek portrays the hero Siegfried with a slight growl. Schleret handles the female voices with vocals ranging from the more restrained tones that she uses with Elis, to some over-the-top, operatic soprano.

It’s all very tight, well done and impressive. If you’re into high-concept metal and don’t mind a bit of the melodramatic, Nibelung definitely deserves a listen.

You know something really awesome or really crappy is about to erupt from your speakers when an album opens with samples from the Rambo movies. Thankfully and much to my delight, when the music kicked in nearly two minutes later, I was laid out and left reeling from a blitzkrieg of Sodom-esque thrash riffs and pulverizing drums – my jaw may have hit the floor, I don’t really remember as it’s kind of a blur now.

Nocturnal Fear make no bones about their Sodom/German thrash worship either; lyrically, they take cues from the Germans by way of all war themed topics; vocally, session vocalist Doomy G. Blackthrash of area thrashers Sauron provides that trademarked, raspy and blackened style; musically, it’s written all over the place, also bringing to mind other German stalwarts Kreator and Destruction; even the album art depicting a gas masked, assault rifle toting soldier recalls several Sodom albums.

Metal of Honor provides little respite through it’s ten tracks – the only break given is found in “Reign of Terror”, a track that opens with another movie sample that I can not place before diving into a short and slightly slower instrumental piece that acts as more of an intro into album highlight “The Enigma of Steel”. Occasionally, such as on “The Enigma of Steel” or “Nuclear Deathstrike”, they lock into a short burst of high speed thrash groove – don’t let this deter you, as I’m not referencing something like Pantera – where they couple a simple chugging riff with rapid fire double bass to create an undeniable and crushingly heavy groove. Other than this, the album is akin to a mac track barreling full bore through your skull. There’s no room for such trivialities as diversity or variation because the rampaging thrash attack is top priority.

You’ve heard this before – it’s nothing new. But there should be little debate that Nocturnal Fear do it just as well as anyone before them, including Sodom. Metal of Honor is 50+ minutes of ripping, neck snapping, warp speed thrash metal in the Teutonic mold to make it one of 2009’s most devastating thrash albums. Go listen, now.

The first thing many will notice before even pushing play are the similarities of Vektor‘s logo and artwork to that of Voivod, and as expected, their influence is present on Black Future by way of adventurous, technical/progressive minded songs and sci-fi themed lyrics. Though as I was told and soon found out for myself, their sound has more resemblance, whether intentional or not, to sadly little known German thrashers Deathrow, namely their Deception Ignored album. There’s also hints of influence from the usual German suspects, though Vektor present it in a more, um, refined way.

The album opening pair of tunes “Black Future” and “Oblivion” make it immediately apparent that this isn’t your usual retro thrash fare – nary a shade of Bay Area presence is felt, instead opting for a more manic and intricate approach rife with unexpected change ups in both feel and pace. These traits only increase as the album progresses, but are most apparent and jarring on the longer songs “Forests of Legend”, “Dark Nebula” and “Accelerating Universe”, each clocking in at 10 minutes or more. The highlight of the album is easily “Forests of Legend” with it’s eerie, clean picked intro which leads into a riff and lead work that recalls Rust In Peace-era Megadeth. From here the song touches upon much more frenzied grounds throughout, and a somewhat psychotic vocal display from David Disanto, moving from his usual high pitched, blackened rasp into an even higher shrieking style and back for great effect. These high-end shrieks are bordering on falsetto high and are peppered all throughout the album.

Though it’s not until that closing pair of “Dark Nebula” and “Accelerating Universe” that Vektor truly reach levels of bat shit crazy. Each of them are still very much in the same mold as previous tunes, but up the ante with more change ups and explore even weirder territory; both breakdown at their mid sections into spacey, bizarre-o land, then return to familiar terrain.

Vektor and Black Future are a breath of fresh air for the thrash world. Hopefully they’ll keep pushing forward the boundaries of thrash as they have with Black Future. From here, their future looks bright, not black.

Psychotic is a 6 track offering book-ended by an intro and outro, cleverly titled as “Dreaming” and “Awakening”, respectively, leaving four proper songs. From what I can tell of these four, they have a slightly different take on the genre than the usual fare, relying more on groove and melodic bits rather than balls out thrashing and speed. Chugging, groove based mid-tempo riffs occasionally give way to melodic sections and searing solos. If there’s one thing they have down, it’s the solos. Each track has at least one, somewhat exceptional solo.

Their biggest downfall are the vocals, which are…not good, or at the least, average – very monotonous and boring. The riffs are also kind of lifeless and dull. Sure they groove, but they don’t stick.

The guitarists in Amorphead clearly have some talent as evidenced by their solo work, but they need to focus on writing some better riffs and convince their vocalist to try a new approach, or find someone new.

Lynn – We started in about, I think, summer 2006, the four of the lads had been in a band before that, they changed their drummer and got me in and changed the style a bit, we basically wanted to write the heaviest death metal we could write. There were good bands like Amputated, Desecration that had been around for a long time and we wanted to take it to the next level make it heavier and even more crushing.

Nice, so what were they doing before you joined?

Lynn – they were in a band called Age of suffering, it was the same four lads but with a different drummer, I was playing in a band called Crepitation at the time which was from Manchester also, and we we’re all good friends, their drummer left and I started doing sessions for them and that’s how it started, I was meant to play a few shows but it got more comfortable so we said, let’s make a go of it.

Nice, in fact, that’s the first point I wanted to go through with you, what’s the deal with Crepitation?

Lynn – We’re all good friends, with Mark, the singer, all of them in fact. Basically I and Sean left, about 2 and a half years. One of the members of Crepitation wasn’t into what we were doing and he sort of fell out with the rest of us, but we didn’t care, we were still friends with all the rest of them. Obviously it comes around on the internet all the time that there is beef between us but we don’t care, people make up that shit.

That’s the impression I got, that people are reading a bit too deeply into it.

Lynn – It’s like forums, I don’t post on them, I read them now and again but I don’t post on there it’s full of wankers most of the time.

It’s true, usually its people with too much time on their hands and no other real interests

Lynn – That’s how it is innit.

So have you played live with Crepitation lately?

Lynn – Nah, we aint played with them for years. I think that we’ve played 2 or 3 shows since we (Lynn and Sean) left 2 years ago. They got a lot of members in their band, their singer is in Amputated, their guitarists are in Neuroma, and their drummer was in infected disarray, I think it’s a side project kind of thing more then anything.

Ah ok, because they also have a couple of guys that were in Days of Perversion, Adam.

Lynn – Ah yeah, from Blasphitized, he’s a cool guy. I went to see Desecration about a week ago and Blasphitized were playing .

So that comes to my next question, there is a view that the direction you were taking your sound was viewed as somewhat “blasphemous,” what are your thoughts on that?

Lynn – I mean we take a lot of influences from different music, we don’t try to coin ourselves as one kind of genre, I mean we are death metal and we try to play the most brutal death metal in the UK. There’s a lot of bands in the UK, the more modern ones anyway that have a cleaner production, where those in the underground are a lot rawer, and basically all we want to do is write the music we want but have a clean production that sounded heavy, that’s it really.

Again, that leads to my next point, then, how pleased are you with the album?

Lynn – I’m very pleased, I mean whenever you do anything, you always look back on things that you could change, and obviously for this, that’s the case, I mean we love it and for a debut it’s great but we’ve already started writing for the next one and we are saying we can do that better and this better. Everything’s a learning curve and look to be more innovative on your next one.

And to keep moving forward, because that’s something I usually discuss with people, in that I always prefer it when a band improves what they are rather then abandoning what they are and going onto something completely different.

Lynn – A lot of bands do that. With us, we all love similar things but we also listen to different music, I might listen to Coldplay or Radiohead, Sam might listen to Madonna, but we it comes to death metal we all like the same bands so its good when we write together because we have those similar interests.

How do you feel the album compares to the split with Crepitation and Kastrated?

Lynn – I think it’s a massive improvement, the production is better, the song writing is more grown up, we’ve grown up within ourselves and as songwriters. It’s like the older bands like Slayer, who get to a certain point of comfort and keep improving their skills, even if people say they’ve been writing the same songs for 25 years, it’s not true. For us, it’s just the beginning and we want to keep improving as songwriters which we feel we have done from the split to the album and we hope to for the next one.

We’re you tempted to re-do all the split

Lynn – No, I don’t think, I mean it did cross our minds, but I think it would have made the split a bit pointless. We like to keep the old songs as they are.

So from here Lynn, where do you see the band going (musically)?

Lynn – We just did a show in Southend and we were talking about this and where we are going to go. Sean writes the main structures and he’s already wrote about 10, then he’ll come to me and I’ll add some further tuning and we’ll keep layering it but in the end we want it to be as heavy as possible and also catchy to make a memorable album.

Great, I think that’s the best way to go! So what made you start playing drums?

Lynn – My dad was a drummer, he played in drums in the 60s, 70s, for old rock bands playing Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy covers. I got a drum kit, started playing, listening to drummers like John Bonham from Zeppelin, kept playing and playing, getting into heavier stuff when I was about 11 or 12, stuff like Slipknot, Slayer, Pantera, from there Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura , Deicide, Nile, you just keep playing, keep finding new things.

So when did you start playing?

Lynn – When I was about 11 or 12

Jeez, so you must be conditioned

Lynn – Yeah (laughs)

Now, I have a question here, my favourite styles are real particular, I can even go beyond the boundaries of metal or hardcore and identify something even more particular, so what stands as my real favourites are bands that play the 90s, new school hardcore, so Earth Crisis, Morning Again, Day of Suffering but that, and proper slamming death metal, Devourment, Prophecy, Viral Load

Lynn – Music with groove.

Exactly, and then from there, tough, heavy hardcore.

Lynn – When I was reading your review, the comment about UKHC struck me and us as a whole, because nobody ever says that, Sean and I listen to bands like Terror, Knuckledust, Hatebreed, it’s not a main influence, but the bands you listen to invariably influence your playing.

Right, it’s just when I was listening to the full length, and hearing the breakdowns and the chugs, I was thinking, “god this is pure LBU fodder,” I mean if you played with LBU bands, it would go off in a big way, because when I hear it I’m thinking BDF and Ninebar in some instances, not in such a direct way but it’s there, more so then some of the American influences, at least to my ears.

Lynn – I mean, at the moment, you have people trying to divide the scene, at the end of the day, metal is metal and hardcore is hardcore, but, take slamming death metal, it wouldn’t be what it is without hardcore, so it’s kind of pointless to cut the scene up, there should be cross pollination and mixing of styles, it just breeds better music in the end.

Gotcha, and I definitely am with you on those points. Right, my next points are to do with Annotations of an Autopsy (AAOA – who Lynn was a member of until recently when he stepped down from the band). When I got the Annotations full length, I have to say I was slightly disappointed, for me it didn’t really live up to the promise of the EP. I am not saying that to be a cocksucker, for me, it’s just the honest truth, now, with your full length (Ingested), that’s what I was expecting from AAOA, I have played that so many times, whereas with the AAOA, I think it’s the production that ruins it for me.

Lynn -You know I didn’t drum on that album?

Of course, it was a completely different line-up. The only original guy now is Steve no?

Lynn – It’s Steve and Jamie.

So clearly they’ve gone through a lot, maybe that’s why the album didn’t sound as it should have done, because to me it doesn’t sound like they were really there, because the songs are good but it lacks something.

Lynn – I really don’t know, from what I gather Jamie wrote all of it with Steve with little or no input from other members, coupled with the fact that they were fighting against a deadline. Not to mention that it was so hyped up and everyone was waiting for it, so I think that was a factor, but above all, the fact that they had no other input from a drummer, or other members, but still, I think it’s a good album.

I mean it is good, but compared to what I was expecting and especially after the EP I was thinking “Jesus, the band is killing it, they’re on it,” so from there I expected the album to be like the EP but X 100, which is what I got with your (Ingested) album, but not with AAOA. It’s still a good album, but I don’t play it as much, maybe when the new one comes out, that will change. That being said, I am really interested in the new one, when’s it due?

Lynn – It’s due in January, I don’t know the exact date.

It’s going to be on Nuclear Blast no?

Lynn – Siege of Amida in the UK and Nuclear Blast for the rest of the world.

Cool, now, do you think (and this may seem like a crazy question), Ingested can reach the same level of hype as AAOA?

Lynn – I don’t see why not, I just think it will take more time, when AAOA bought out that EP, everyone wanted to hear that, whereas what we were doing was more extreme but I think now that all the kids that were into that will like us now. Take all the kids that were into Funeral for a Friend, now they are into heavier bands, then you have kids that were into Bring me the Horizon discovering Whitechapel and then Devourment and Cannibal Corpse, so now everyone is listening to more extreme music so I think we’ll get there.

Great, thank you, now my next question is on UKDM, in my eyes its gone bloody bananas in the last few years, why do you think it has mushroomed in this manner?

Lynn – Personally, I think it’s the best its ever been for a long time, especially since the days when Napalm Death started to play DM and Carcass were in their prime, and then UKDM was dead for such a long time, nothing was happening at all (for about 10 years).

However, even then there were bands you could cite as being good, but now, there are so many amazingly good bands that really understand what they are playing.

Lynn – Not only that; they are getting younger.

Too right! And even more talented, so do you think it’s got the staying power?

Lynn – As long as people stay dedicated then yes, the problem with a lot of UK bands is that they give up if they fall at the first hurdle. I really don’t see why it can’t happen because the UK is a small place so it has a lot of potential, especially compared to say the States which is so huge.

Or even Germany.

Lynn – Right. People don’t think to tour all the smaller towns and just stick with Glasgow, Manchester (BDB – no need to mention London, that’s a given), so when we did the Trigger the Bloodshed tour in June, we were playing all these little towns like Torquay, Exeter and the shows were sick. I think that’s how you get out there more, and that’s what the underground Death Metal bands need to start doing.

Cool, so who do you think are the best bands in the UK right now?

Lynn – Dyscarnate, Dead beyond Buried, Trigger the Bloodshed obviously, Embryonic Depravity, Infected Disarray, Fleshrot, there’s so many, Man Must Die is another good band.

You could go on all night.

Lynn – Amputated is another one.

Of course, they’ve got a new album out soon haven’t they?

Lynn – Yeah, I stayed at Mark’s house (vocalist of Amputated) and I heard it, it’s really, really good.

Wicked, how’s it sounding, is it more slam?

Lynn – Definitely more slam, it’s wicked, it’s got a gore-grind influence in the vocals, Mark’s off his head and comes out with some sick shit.

I am looking forward to it, it’s going to be a good one. Right, last question, where do you want Ingested to be in a year’s time?

Lynn – Keep on touring, we’re doing Bonecrusher in January, hopefully that will be a forecast of things to come, we might go to America next year but we’ll see. We want to find new fans, show them what Ingested is about!

Are you excited about the upcoming European Bonecrusher tour with 3 Inches of Blood, Necrophobic, Obscura, The Faceless and Carnifex,?

Lynn – Really can’t wait.

The bill is insane.

Lynn – It is, when we first got the bill, we were amazed, it’s such a mix with brutal Death Metal, and then Black Dahlia, which is just Black Dahlia and then 3 inches of Blood, Necrophobic, should be really good.

I should come along, it looks good and I hope you don’t have to endure any nonsense like the recent Hell on Earth tour in London which had a grand attendance of about 100 people (in a 800 venue).

Lynn – Jesus, I hope not.

Should be ok, what with Black Dahlia headlining, I just hope people come and see you.

Lynn – We’re on quite early, a bit later in Europe, but in the UK it’s half 5, but we don’t care; we’ll go nuts either way.

Cool, let’s hope so! Right, last, last point, favourite records this year?

Lynn – This year so far, Despised Icon has been a great record, new Job for a Cowboy, just go the new Nile album and listened to that, really good (he had an advance copy), new Dying Fetus is amazing, the Abysmal Torment. Loads of good stuff, but you know, I was saying to the lads the other day that it’s so difficult to keep up with everything that’s coming out.

It’s almost impossible.

Lynn – Bloody Marduk is bringing out a new album this year, I didn’t even know that till yesterday, there are so many bands, it’s hard to keep track. However, it’s better now because it was the case that there were so many bands and lots of them were shit, but now, it’s the opposite.

Too true, what did you make of the Devourment album?

Lynn – I was a bit disappointed to be honest, I think it’s a good album, but Mike Majewski was saying this is going to be the best Devourment album ever and that they were going to bring new elements to it but it’s the same shit really.

Great, that’s it then, thanks very much Lynn, that’s my lot!

http://www.myspace.com/ingesteduk

The fact is though, Australia’s The Red Shore, despite all the above going against them they are more along the lines of As You Drown, And Hell Followed With and label mates Those Who Lie Beneath in so much they deliver modern tech death metal with a slight deathcore lean, and while the land of Oz has some solid death metal/deathcore (Gallows Grace, Thy Art is Murder), this might be the heaviest thing to come out of Australia since…… er … Psycroptic?

Even with a choppy tech backbone and ultra beefy tone that reminded me of Decapitated, The Red Shore, like acts like The Faceless, and now defunct country mates Hiroshima Will Burn, is one of those bands many will dismiss as jumbled, tech death wanna be deathcore. However, even the most jaded metal heads will be hard to pressed to pass off the sheer heft and savagery of the likes of “The Garden of Impurity”, “Misery Hymn”, murderously heavy “The Architects of Repulsion” and as they forgo any sort of melody or atmosphere in favor of unadulterated brutality. No synths, no arpeggios, just overbearing, pummeling heaviness and occasional huge groove (“Deception:Prologue”, “Your Chariot Awaits”) rendered with a guitar tone that might be responsible for the Haiti earthquakes (too soon?). Only “Nephillim” offers a short instrumental respite before its blown away by closer “Vehemence of the Phoenix”.

Now, that all being said, this US/Rise Records release of Unconsecrated comes with a bonus album called Lost Verses, which feature the band’s 2006 Salvaging What’s Left EP as well as recorded demo tracks. And  these tracks, despite being basically a free album for the price of one, unfortunately shows the band’s much more distinct and trendy deathcore/blackcore leanings, including synths and lots of typical breakdowns. It’s not bad and still fierce and technical, and fans of Winds of Plague, Born of Osiris, or The Crimson Armada might even find tracks like “The St Valentine Day Massacre”, “Knives and Wolves” ,“Pulling Teeth” and “Thy Devourer” a real treat.

Still, you basically get over 60 minutes of music and two full albums on this version of Unconsecrated, and the first 9 alone make this a worthwhile purchase for open minded fans of uncompromising heaviness.

Wodensthrone: We focus on the Anglo-Saxon era of England’s history on the new record and indeed our band name is in reference to this period. Wodenism was the folk religion of the period in question before it was usurped by the Romans, who brought Christianity to our shores.

Lyrically, we’re not stuck in the past, however. We allude to the past but we’re not offering a kind of history lesson to the listener or trying to lecture people about how great this period in time was. We’re concerned with looking at the world we live in now through the eyes of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors and, being from the North East, we feel we have a certain geographic and ancestral connection with the people and spirit of that time.

Our struggle to preserve our identities, culture and individualism in the age of Globalisation very much mirrors that ancient struggle against the invading hierarchy posed by the Romans. Also, Sunderland was a stronghold for these Pagan beliefs and the tribulations of the times were documented by Bede, himself a native of the region. We pay little attention to the political milieu of the time and focus more on the spiritual traditions, which were perniciously repressed by an alien dogma seeking to control mankind under the auspices of religion.

We obviously rely on the knowledge that has filtered down through the ages to give credence to these ideas we present, and we’re very firmly rooted in understanding what’s happening now in the world instead of turning away from modernity in search for truth. It’s no use railing against the oppressors of ancient times if you can’t see the same tyranny in front of your eyes right now in the world.

How did you become interested in this subject? Any interesting travels or sites around the UK that are close to your heart?

The interest in Anglo-Saxon England is chiefly Hréowsian’s passion and something he has studied more than the rest of the band, but it’s fair to say that heathenism is something we can all relate to even with a basic understanding of the conflict between Paganism and Monotheism and the tragic legacy of the betrayal of our folk traditions.

Perhaps the most noteworthy site in the North East of England is Bamburgh Castle, which was first referenced in the 547 AD as the seat of King Ida of Bernicia. The site was chosen due to its formidable position above the coastline, and it still stands today, although obviously in a restored condition.

Another relic of the period – again still standing to this day – is St Peter’s church in Monkwearmouth, built in 674 AD, which is one of the oldest stone churches in England. This is an important site because it is one of the earliest Christian churches built in our country and serves as a reminder of Rome’s influence on our land even after their imperial conquest had ended over two centuries previously. We know that orders were sent from Rome to convert the ruins of heathen temples into Christian churches in an attempt to overshadow the ancient places of worship that threatened their religious monopoly.

As a metaphor, Anglo-Saxon England is relevant to what we’re trying to convey through our lyrics, but beyond that, the historical aspect of the period is really not that important. Again, there are crucial lessons to be learnt from this period in England’s history, but they are often timeless, recurring struggles that persist to this day because of a lack of awareness within man. So we’re trying to redress this imbalance as well as invoke the more apparent historical conflicts the history books deal with; the missionaries arriving to replace the folk traditions, the battles and so on.

Therefore we’re very keen to point out that one cannot understand the disastrous effects of human conflict without contemplating the microcosm of man himself; the fragmented consciousness, the role of the ego in determining one’s belief system and so on. The ways in which we defile our inner republic, either through the absence of truth or proper spiritual leadership, inevitably leads to a lack of awareness which can then be preyed upon by establishments with pernicious agendas that seek to divide, control and exploit humanity as a resource.

Moving onto the music itself – can you talk about your goals in evolving your sound from the Niroth and Folkvang splits to the writing and recording of Loss? What was the writing process like?

For Wodensthrone, it has always been something of a natural progression as far as the writing process is concerned. We find ourselves evolving as musicians, evolving spiritually, and in turn our sound and atmosphere has developed and matured over our three releases.

The timeframe in which Loss was written was roughly one year. We did not rush any of the songs; we took as much time as we needed to compose the music and write the lyrics, as we had no particular deadline to work towards. The concept of Loss is not focused on one narrative of perspective. Lyrically, as well as the metaphorical aspect, there also a journey through personal experiences we have all faced over the years, as well as playing together as a band.

Some of the songs were written at home, some written together in the rehearsal room, but I feel that the songs on Loss are consistent throughout and integrate together well as a full length. For future releases, I am sure we will work in a similar way. Indeed, the writing for the next album has already started.

You performed with Negura Bunget and Fen in 2007 – a show that I’m sure many black metal fans wish they’d been to – myself included. How did you hook up with those bands, and what led you to record Loss in Romania?

The opportunity to work with the guys from Negura Bunget came when we played a show with them in Sunderland in 2007. This was before I joined the band, though I was one of the many enraptured fans in the audience that night. I think we were all fans of what each other were doing musically and then we quickly bonded with Edmond and Michael (ex-guitarist/vocalist and bass player, respectively), who then suggested we contact them when we were ready to record the debut album and welcomed us to do it at Negura Studios.

There was some time between this initial idea and the plans being realised, but all the time it was in the back of our minds that we had this incredible offer on the table. Put simply, we couldn’t turn down a visit to Romania, where we could enjoy the culture, take a holiday as a band and come back with the album finished. So when Marty at Bindrune offered to pay for the studio time if we could fund the rest, we found an affordable apartment, paid for six flights and soon after began the journey to Timisoara.

How did you enjoy your time in Romania – what are your impressions of the country? (Curious just from a traveler’s perspective). Did your time there or your connection with Negura Bunget affect or influence the recording process for Loss?

Our time in Romania was very special to us, not only because we were working with our friends in Negura Bunget, but also because it was an opportunity to visit them in their homeland this time. We spent most of the fortnight in sweltering conditions at the studio in Timisoara (temperatures in July tend to be in the 30s Celsius), but we did manage to spend some time in the city and at our apartment, which was a few kilometres away from the studio itself.

The overall impression I came away with was that the Romanian people are enjoying their independence and are adapting to a more Western style of life after the fall of Communism, the relics of which are identifiable amongst the newer developments. It’s not uncommon to see bullet holes in building walls; more poignant reminders of the struggle to overthrow Ceausescu.

Timisoara seems to embrace the kind of consumerism that we are familiar with in Britain, only perhaps maintaining their cultural efficacy more in the presence of such corporatism. A proud and defiant independence was also noticeable in the cafes and restaurants in the city, which collectively ignored the newly-imposed the smoking ban. The historic city centre itself was beautiful, featuring the famous Orthodox Cathedral and many other buildings reminiscent of the architectural style found in Vienna, not to mention the quaint tram system that runs throughout Timisoara. So we found Timisoara to be a place of amazing cultural distinction, but in terms of its influence on the record, that’s hard to put into words.

Certainly working with Edmond Karban and Michael Zech (the former members of Negura Bunget who have gone on to found Dordeduh) was a unique experience. Their vision, in terms of what they could bring to the music in terms of the mixing and mastering, contributed a great deal to the impact that Loss has had. Edmond spent quite a long time on achieving the right guitar and bass tone, not to mention endless tweaking of the microphones around the drum kit. Edmond also insisted that we record the drums to a click track, which was a new experience for Hréowsian, albeit one that he saw the benefits of after hearing the subtle difference the metronome made to his performance. Since the release of the album, many reviewers have commented on the ‘Negura sound’ qualities of Loss and I think that’s most evident in the production, which does suit a band like ours making this kind of record.

Most of the music was written before we arrived in Romania, but there are moments on the album where spontaneous ideas were worked into the original compositions to create some special moments on the album. This is probably most noticeable on “Pillar of the Sun,” where we had to learn some new techniques for recording the acoustic instruments and then crafted the song in the studio. And since our session player, Padraig, was in France, we had to email him the tempo for the song and wait for him to send his files back. So this track was pieced together quite differently to the others.

For the most part though, aside from the diligent work of Edmond and Michael on the mix and master and their input as engineers, the album is exactly what we imagined ourselves capable of as a band. We only hope we can work with experts of such calibre again when we are ready to record the next opus. And in fact, Michael has already put ideas into our heads by saying we’d be welcome at his studio in Munich. Perhaps another Wodensthrone recording adventure awaits us in 2010.

It’s easy to be transported back into time with your music, provided you have the proper imagery to fill your imagination. Can you describe a scene that plays in your head when you write or perform this music?

The appropriate imagery to accompany our music would be heathen landscapes, far removed from the sprawling urban setting we find ourselves amongst on a daily basis. Black Metal has always been an artistic mode that shuns the crowded cityscape, seeking refuge in the natural world, and we embrace this both lyrically and visually.

Our impulse is to transport the listener back to a time when man relied on the land for all his needs, before that moral and spiritual connection was replaced by the hollow pursuit for materialism, before technology presented us with a means to make our lives comfortable at the expense of tearing up the earth for profit. Even we are guilty players in these tragic circumstances (we all live in the city), so the escapism the music provides us with is crucial as a kind of protest – as well as an expression of our lost culture and semblance of selfhood.

The importance of nature in Black Metal cannot be understated. As a Heathen band using the Anglo-Saxon framework, the natural order and our spiritual place within it is of the utmost importance. Nature is something we are part of, no matter how much we are led to believe otherwise by religious and political demagogues who present a skeptical view of it and tell us it’s something we should be fearful of. This happens, of course, in many subtle ways through the mass media, as well as in more obvious ways, through religious dogmas and collectivism. Not only do we defy these false ideologies in our lyrics, but we try to conjure scenes that uplift the listener and take them on a pastoral journey.

The other side of our music leans towards the martial aspect of England’s history, so images of ancient battles would be the suitable visual overlay to mirror those particular moments. However, we are quite content with the listener creating their own landscapes and feel that it’s more important that they bring their own individuality to the music than embrace any pre-ordained view of it. This should be the focus of all serious art and not on the intentions of the creators, which are mostly irrelevant to its appreciation.

Given how rich and atmospheric the music is, how do you carry over those elements to a live setting? In other words, what should we expect from a Wodensthrone show? Any plans to tour outside of Europe?

Our live performances re-frame the recorded songs in a way that doesn’t betray the original atmosphere, instead adding to it in terms of the intensity of our playing. This is amplified by a loud but clear mix where all the instruments are present. The more subtle qualities on the new record tend to get lost in the live setting because of the sheer volume, though we still retain some of the dynamics during the calmer moments.

Visually, we’re known for wearing blue Woad paint striped over our left eyes, which is again a nod to the martial aspect inherent in our music; a symbol the Northern tribes of old wore when going into battle. Recently, we’ve also started to incorporate video projections into our live performances after having the opportunity to display visuals for a gig we did in Derby. The venue there had a screen behind the drum kit, so I put together a video incorporating some of the high resolution album art photos that Moga of Kogaion Art manipulated, as well as some impressive time lapse nature footage that I found on the internet. Although for this particular video montage I relied on other people’s work (with permission from the respective artists), I intend for the band to journey to our surrounding Lake District and Northumberland hills to record our own footage so that we can then think about making an official video for at least one of the songs on Loss.

In terms of where this band could play live, at the moment, the furthest Wodensthrone has been from home has been London, but we are hoping to get over to Europe and further afield in the coming months. We’re on the verge of a big announcement that will hopefully make those plans easier to achieve in due time. We also hope to do a few dates in Germany with Odem Arcarum, who our friend Michael Zech is involved with, since plans to do a few dates together fell through earlier on in the year.

We also had tentative plans to tour the UK with Cold Northern Vengeance, who are of course our label mates in the USA. While that hasn’t happened yet, we’re eager to get over to the States instead as we seem to have a good following there judging by some very positive album reviews.

We’d also use that opportunity to visit Marty Rytkonen, our label boss, who has had as much faith in Wodensthrone as we have ourselves. Since we’ve only talked on the phone and via email, we’d love to meet the man who gave us the opportunity to record Loss in such a memorable setting and to thank him personally, and if that involves touring at the same time, all the better.

Last question – what are you guys currently listening to?

Rædwalh (guitar, vocals):

• Absu – Absu
• Pink Floyd – Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
• Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest

Wildeþrýð (guitar, vocals):

• Prurient – The Black Post Society
• The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World… EVER!
• Swallow the Sun – New Moon

Gerádwine (bass):

• Absu – Absu
• Neurosis – The Eye of Every Storm
• Aura Noir – Increased Damnation

Hréowsian (drums, percussion):

• Absu – Absu
• Weakling – Dead as Dreams
• Envy – Abyssal

Brunwulf (vocals):

• Katatonia – The Great Cold Distance
• Immortal – At the Heart of Winter
• Behemoth – The Apostasy

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While most of the metal media seems to take heed of the more artistic side of US black metal (Krallice, Wolves in the Throne Room, etc), or its more depressive elements (Xasthur, Leviathan and their clones) the fact is acts like Averse Sefira, Kult of Azazel, and Legions of Astaroth are playing a very competent form of classic, Scandinavian inspired black metal – and I don’t mean the likes of Sothis or Abigail Williams.

With a clear but grainy production and emphasis on frosty, oft melodic and precise riffage, one might think of the likes of Dissection, Marduk (lite) and such but with a bit more pacing and melody. There are no synths (other than the intro), but the band does delve into some slower more atmospheric sections here and there, but it’s never one man basement black metal realms. But for everything the album does right with its solid riffs and Scandinavian prose, its not quite ‘there’ as far as staying power. Nothing on the album truly seethes or bites with tangible malevolence, despite some decent moments that vary from tremolo picked fury to moody mid paced marches all contained within the 10 tracks (i.e. “Discipline Regarding The Will To Conjure”, “The Temple Within (Becomes As Essence Without)”, “Chaos From The Infernal Mouth (Breathes Life Thus Duality)”) but I can safely say I never really was blown away or eager to revisit a track or riff, though “Forms Made Flesh” came close and the atmospheric closing of final track, “Cursed Unto an Agless Dawn” has some promise.

And while vocalist Occaxial is rasping titles like the above or “Science Of Threefold Initiation” and “Nescience Conjoined To Self”, don’t be fooled, the songs aren’t as complex or intellectual as the titles would have you believe, which makes things a little superficial in my eyes. That all being said, Rites of Somatic Death is a relatively solid if unspectacular (and at 54 minutes, slighty drawn out) US entry into black metal that makes no bones about its influences and isn’t trying to be artsy fartsy or suicidal. Plus, the Cd layout from Enucleation is pretty cool.

If you are familiar with European grind such as Afgrund/Nasum/Rotten Sound and especially former label, Obscene Productions’ stuff (Birdflesh, Blooduster, Cripple Bastards, Captain Cleanoff etc), you’ll be right at home with Grindvirus, as I was, even though I have not heard anything this lot has done since 2005s Love Songs. Furious, beefy, mid range, groovy and surprisingly catchy grindcore with ultra deep vocals and tongue planted firmly in cheek.

The 13 songs are all in the 1- 3 minute range with standout “Child Victims” coming in at a whopping 3 ½ minutes and all have the huge wall of sound production that is Mieszko Talarczyk’s legacy. Starting with the phlegmy hack of the title track, Grindvirus is full throttle for 28 minutes on the legs and arms of drummer Mariusz “Melon” Miernik. When the band does slow down its a brief groove or bridge (“Wriggler”, “Sheepy Dag”, “Nose Lunger”, “Anodal Closing Odour”) into some paint peeling vicious blasts (i.e “D.I”, “Hamsters in Your Head”, “Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Ass”).

An album like this does not really need too much dissection, but I imagine grindcore fans and fans of any bands mentioned above already have this, but if you don’t, you should get this album from one of the genres most reliable and consistent bands.

First things first, I have a confession to make – I’m not all that familiar with the works of Onslaught. I listened to their 2007 “comeback” album Killing Peace a few times, but it never really stuck with me, so going back to hear the older stuff got put on the back burner. They’re just one of those bands that I’ve been familiar with by name for some time but never got around to really diving into. So I can’t comment much on the song selection, but can tell you what’s here and about the sound quality.

Everything on the album comes from the bands performance at the 2008 Damnation Festival in Leeds, England. There’s not much chit chat or between song banter going on – they just bash out song after song. The album opens with the scathing title track from their last album, “Killing Peace”, the one song I do remember enjoying. Also from that album comes “Destroyer of Worlds”, “Planting Seeds of Hate”, and “Burn”. From their classic era, they completely passed on including anything from 1989’s In Search of Sanity – I’m guessing it wasn’t exactly a fan favorite. From The Force there’s “Let There Be Death”, “Metal Forces” and “Demoniac”, and from the debut Power From Hell, they close the album/set with the title track. I should also mention that when the set ends, someone, I’m not sure who or if it was possibly a part of their set at the show, included the beginning snippet of The Door’s “The End”, and fades as soon as the vocals kick in. A strange touch I thought.

As far as sound quality goes, it was mixed by Andy Sneap, so you know it’s clear as can be. The vocals seem to be pushed forward a little too far in the mix, but that’s a pretty minor gripe when compared to just how clear it is for a live album.

Once again I can’t comment on the song selection as I’m not familiar with the material really, but at the minimum fans should be pleased with the sound quality. Certainly a release for the diehards only.

Not surprisingly, my favorite moments on the record are when they veer off into thrash territory. Granted, they don’t ever stay there long, but it’s a treat when they do. Particularly interesting is the opening of “Speeder,” one of the heavier numbers, which reminds me a bit of Machine Head. It’s a solid tune throughout with a cool slower riff toward the end. Also entertaining is the thrashy opening of “Don’t Make Me,” which is followed by a more bouncy commercial riff, then a nice angular riff. The verse is very commercial, with vocals that remind me a bit of Gavin Rossdale, but the chorus gets a little heavier.

Like An Entire Legion, Tricore also flirts regularly with old-fashioned traditional metal. “For the Missed,” which featuers some nice guitar harmonies that return mid-song. Unfortunately, the rest of the song is nothing to write home about. “Fyrom,” on the other hand, features one of the most memorable riffs on the record. A funky hard rock verse leads into a much more aggressive bit of mechanical thrash riffing. The song is very catchy, despite some almost rapped vocals, and is probably my favorite track on the record. “Slap” opens with another solid trad metal moment, moving into a heavier groove riff. The chorus is a bit weak, though.

The commercial rock vibe breaks through on songs like the System of a Down-influenced :”Kings” and the Godsmack-flavored “Sign Off.” Then there’s the trippy arthouse opening of “Smallbird,” which is the only interesting thing about perhaps the record’s most commercial offering.

Less than Man, More than Rabbit does have some solid offerings for fans of the heavier end. “Xenon” opens with some solid riffing, then the chorus blasts through like a steroided version of some of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ older material mixed with Metallica. “Xhibish” offers perhaps the heaviest moment on the record with some riffing that approaches death territory on early on and then settling into a Pantera-inspired groove. The bouncy verse kind of ruins the mood for a minute, but the song picks back up.

But that’s the problem with trying to bounce around from style to style. Inevitably, there are going to be some weak moments for every listener. A perfect example is the song “Tight Shadow,” which treads the heavier end of the spectrum in the early going. There’s some nice proggy angular riffing, and good variety in the vocals with the more commercial approach punctuated by some more aggressive thrash growls. Then we get to the slow, jangly breakdown that reminds the listener, quite unfortunately, of Creed. I leave the song thinking it would have been really good if they’d stuck with the heavier stuff. Likewise, a fan of the commercial will probably leave thinking that part was nice, but they could do without the heavier stuff.

Give them credit, though, for trying to do something more interesting, and more often than not, succeeding. Musically, it’s solid. Vocalist Chris Kerley ( who also handles the drums) shows some depth and variety. The guitar work of Rich Wood and Mark Carstairs is nice, and the record is just fairly solid all the way around. It’s definitely worth checking out for those who don’t mind a few commercial leanings.

“Death Metal is Eternal under the Ibex Moon!” No phrase could be more appropriate for the likes of GRAVEHILL! Sharing a label home with bands like INCANTATION, GOREAPHOBIA, ASPHYX, ACHERON, FATALIST, HOD and DIVINE EVE is exactly where GRAVEHILL belongs! Due to our new partnership we have 3 new releases to discuss…

The first order of business is the 12” Vinyl Release of “RITES OF THE PENTAGRAM” which will contain special packaging strictly for the die-hard collector! Look for this release on IBEX MOON RECORDS in February/March 2010’!

The second order of business is the CD re-release of “RITES OF THE PENTAGRAM” which will include the 5 song “METAL OF DEATH / ADVOCATION OF MURDER & SUICIDE” EP, complete with new packaging and under the black mark of IBEX MOON RECORDS! This re-release will soon follow the vinyl version in the spring of 2010’!

The last order of business… Summer of 2010 will see the release of GRAVEHILL’s sophomore record “PRAVUS TYRANNIS!” Returning to Trench Studios (again) under the skilled engineering helm of John Haddad, we hope to commission Kris Verwimp for all artwork but sadly may have to settle on a secondary choice. Some titles set to appear on this release are “Unholy Executioner”, “Suffer No Man to Live”, “When All Roads Lead to Hell”, “Devil Worshiper,” and “War Prayers” to name a few.

In closing… early 2010 will also see the release of the Relapse Records “Death Metal EP Series”, this is a strictly 7” EP vinyl release featuring one band per side, the first of said series features GRAVEHILL and CARDIAC ARREST. This exclusive release has the song “OF WOLVES AND WICKEDNESS” recorded during the “METAL OF DEATH / ADVOCATION OF MURDER & SUICIDE” EP session. This series will eventually see a CD release; refer to www.relapse.com for more details.