REVIEW: EMPEROR - EMPERIAL LIVE CEREMONY

 

EMPEROR - EMPERIAL LIVE CEREMONY (Candlelight Recs. - 2000): This is Emperor´s first live album, recorded on the tour of their album "IX Equilibrium"on 1999. Here you can see the total essence of the band, a band that if it sounds powerful in their studio albums here sounds one thousand times better. Also you can see how important is the band for the black metal genre (there are in there countless of inferior quality imitators). Ihsahn and Samoth are at their best here playing all the complex parts that you can hear in their songs without any difficulty. It is a pity that they say that they are not going to play live for a long time to concentrate on other projects because this band sounds great in this environment !! They open with a great rendition of "Curse You all Men following into a version of one of their best songs "Thus Spoke the Night Spirit". It is amazing!!. "I am The Black Wizards" succeeds in making you feel the darkness and depression on it. This CD has a great sound that helps to emphasize the whole performance. "An elegy of Icarus" follows with its enchanting melody and powerful keyboards. This recording has also great renditions of "Inno A Satana" and "Ye Entrancemperium". Emperor is a classic!!.Website: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

INTERVIEW WITH BACTERY

This band from France is formed by four young musicians who are trying to open their own way in the rock/metal scene. Their album "Price To Pay" is a rocking one! Yoann Ciclet, singer and guitarist from the band explained us about the band.

Would you describe Bactery´s sound as classical heavy metal? Why?

NO, I think our sound can be defined as a Rock/metal sound .

But the next recording will have a more powerful sound; more metal I guess.

 

Are you composing the follow up to "Price to Pay"? Have you any plans of recording?

Yes.But it's not really a new album , it's a kind of "BEST OF" WITH 3 NEW SONGS.we want to record some of our previous songs again, with a best sound to obtain a worldwide distribution by a major company.

The recording starts on 4th June and ends up at the end of the month. (or a few weeks later if it's necessary)

Since the band was formed when you were very young...how do you think you have evolved as a band? And how do you think you will continue to evolve in the future?

At the beginning it was just for fun; come and play with friends, make some noise, a few jokes and go home. But as the years went by, we became more and more"serious", we started believing in our music (and still do) and 3 years ago, we decided that our music should become our job.

And about the future ? Who knows......We know what we want to be but we don't know what will happen.

How was that Rock Contest that you won in 1998 (over 40 other bands) ?

It was a non prodessionnal contest ; there were 40 rock bands and a lot of other bands ( 30, I guess ) of other categories. We won some days of recording in a studio and one of our songs was broadcasted on TV.

Why did you include the "Marche Turque" by Mozart? It was a really special version...

Because I love this piece and I have the chance to know a fantastic piano player :Michael Guido, my cousin. So, we thought "hey! why not?"

The idea was to combine a clasical approach with a rock feeling and we found the result was quite good so we included it in the record.

Why are some of your lyrics in french and some of them in english?

For the lyrics, it's very simple. If it sounds good in French, we sing it in French. If it sounds better in English, we sing it in English. If both sound good we make 2 versions.

Are you going to use the collaboration of Michaël Guido again? Can he become a stable part of the band?

I don't think so. It was a very cool experience but Michaël is a great classical musician and he needs time to work. Moreover,since the beginning (1993), Bactery is a group of 4 friends and that's it ; I think there 'll never be another person in the band except for punctual collaborations.

Is the band going to play some shows in Europe to support de new material? What about going for example to America?

For doing shows we need to finalize a deal with a major company. The decision will be actual after the recording sessions.

Play in America ?? Of course, if the record is distributed.

How has received the media (radios, fanzines, etc.) the album "Price To Pay"? And how has the people received it?

Most radios and fanzines have a good opinion about this record but it's people's reaction which is the best. Many people come to our concerts, they know the lyrics, and they sing along, it's a very nice feeling.

 

Which is the equipment that you used to record "Price To Pay"? Has this equipment changed since that recording?

During "Price to pay" sessions

Guitars:GODIN artisan st1/ LAG rockline avenue

Bass: Leduc Drums:Pearl master, Paiste, DW

Amps:Hughes Kettner, Attax 100, Ampeg SVt3

Effects:Rocktron, Sans AmpGt2

The new equipment :

Amps: Yamaha DG130ha Preamp:mesa boogie

Is there something more that you want to say?

Thanks a lot for talking about Bactery on your website and in your country.

We hope we'll come and play for you.

BACTERY - DISCOGRAPHY

Price To Pay - CD (1999)

ACTUAL LINEUP

Yoann Ciclet - guitar, vocals

Marc Durieux - bass

Frédéric Heyraud - drums

Lionel Terrier - guitar, vocals

REVIEW: EMBOLISM - ...AND WE ALL HATE OURSELVES

EMBOLISM - …AND WE ALL HATE OURSELVES (Erebos Prods. - 2000): Death/ grind coming from Slovakia! Thius band has been playing in the underground since 1997. This release has also some touches of black metal on it, specially on some speed riffs and in half of the vocals (there are two types of vocals, a grindcore-type growling and a more trollish vocal). After some demos and split CDs the band has finally arrived to the debut CD. I liked the beginning of the CD with the song "Have you fear?" with a rhythmic riff before the blast beat that remembered me of old Entombed. Second song "The thorns of Hatred" starts with a blast beat with black metal vocals before getting into a really interesting riff (0:42) and a stupendous break with only drums and bass. In fact I think that if the band makes more use of this type of things they will be considered a really original band: riffs like the ones in "The Wreckages of Life" (2:22 and 2:40) or the ones in the end of "Are you sleeping?" (1:29) (with an interesting double bass drum pattern), or the distorted bass break in "Fight" (1:10) are not found in most of the bands in black metal. My favorite tracks: "The Thorns of Hatred", "Fight", "Money, life and love" (killer vocals and drumming !) and "Death Causing Pleasure". Contact: embolismsk@hotmail.com

REVIEW: DISINTER - WELCOME TO OBLIVION

 

DISINTER - WELCOME TO OBLIVION (DeadSun Recs. - 2000):  "The Sleeper Awakens" a really apropriate title for this song that opens the CD: it is like receiving a kick in the stomach ! It can awaken a dead !!This death metal combo is a really good one (specially the drummer with his double bass sounding through the whole album). This guys know how to create dark moods with fast riffs (see as an example "Welcome to Oblivion", the title track (02:10)). There are certain passages that I find more interesting than others like the riff in "Followed From Death" (0:50) that repeated through the song gives a great mood or the first riff in "The Sleeper Awakens" (before the first blast beat appears). "Descendant of Darkness" is a slower number with an interesting double bass drum pattern and I think is the heavier song in all the album because is darker, it is like a beast crawling in the shadows…interesting riffs. This is a really good CD for lovers of death metal !! My favorite tracks: "Descendants of Darkness", "Holy Parasites" (the slowest song…almost doom) and "Earthen Interment/ Torn from the grave". Email: gurkkhas@aol.com

AZEROTH INTERVIEW

 

Coming from Russia where a great metal scene is developing this band of extremely original music delivers their first live album. "Live in Polygon" is a great album. We talked to them to know more about the band.

So, how is the promotion of the "Live in Polygon" album going?

The usual way. We try to invade the whole world with it, spreading a lot of promo packs worldwide. Till now we haven't had any negative review on it, so we hope a lot of people will try at least to get acquainted with it. So far about 500 copies sold in Saint-Petersburg, and we are looking for worldwide distributors, some negotiations already began. But anyone interested can contact us directly via e-mail and get a copy right now. Distributors are welcomed as well.

Was the debut album recorded with a drum machine? Why?

In summer 1997, when we had enough material for full length album, we decided to record it the same way as the first demo "Daturas Portal To Transcendentis", i.e. at our rehearsal base - as much live as it possible, plus adding second guitar and keyboards tracks later. But the result did not satisfy me and Ivan at all - not soundwise, but because of Grigoriy's crappy drumming (at the moment he was much more into money making and girls, than drumset playing). It was impossible to find new drummer good enough for us in short time (though even if we had time, it would never be easier at all - in our city, you can count skilfull drummers, devoted to heavy music, by the fingers of one hand. That's why we found new drummer only 4 years later, although we never stopped searching all the time). We decided to use drum machine instead, and that's why three first albums were recorded that way.

How was recording "Doctrine of Dark Forest" as a duo? Was the material composed very different than what you are doing this days?

We recorded «Doctrine of Dark Forest» in the following way:

Ivan was writing piano parts, after that I was making arrangements for guitars and drums, (programming drum machine at the same time, to let Ivan write bass parts), also doing some keyboard parts (not piano kind). Actually, it is our distinctive feature, I think: all the compositions are being written on piano in the beginning, and all other parts are written after - as it was before, and it is now, when Ivan left the band. The only difference is that piano parts are written by our present keyboard player Alexey. Well, after we have written and arranged all the songs for «Doctrine of Dark Forest», we recorded it approximately in a week, using rented PC, but everything, except MIDI drums, was really played, not programmed. Due to limited memory resources we had to record all tracks for one song, after I've been mixing it to 2 tracks, all intermediate tracks were deleted, and we started it anew with the next song. So, we did not just write the album as a duo and recorded it, but we have done all the studio engineers work as well. As for differences for writing material nowadays, as I said before, there are not much of them, maybe, the arrangements are just more thoughtfull and are being done by all the musicians.

How different are the new musicians than the original ones (maybe this question should be for Denis)? What did they bring to the band?

The essential difference of new musicians is their undoubtfull professionalism. This is exactly what they brought to the band, raising it much higher, as especially could be seen at the live acting. Regarding new winnowings... it's difficult for me to discuss, as I am always watching the band from inside, and it seems to me that there are no drastical changes, Azeroth remains Azeroth, easy recognizable. And changed approach to arrangements is natural process of band development.

Which is the relation between Azeroth and Painful Memories?

Ah, it is pretty clear. After Ivan left the band I was looking for new lineup, and at the same time Painful Memories were searching for second guitarist and singer. We have talked a bit, and decided that I'll be playing guitar in Painful Memories, and they all will complete Azeroth lineup. After that PM played 2 times without a singer and splitted, so we all concentrated upon Azeroth activity. Some time later drummer and bass player decided to leave the band, being not capable of playing fast and technical material. They were replaced by musicians from other bands very soon. I.e. nowadays Azeroth lineup includes two musicians of Painful Memories - guitarist Konstantin Drabkin, and keyboard player Alexey Dvoretsky (played viola in PM).

What can you tell me about "Mosquallica"?

Not much to say. We don't like Metallica and participated in this just to let more people to get acquainted with our band. We made the cover of Metallica song in our own Azeroth manner, treating it like Azeroth song, instead of many other bands, just being stupid copiers, so we think that if someone likes our cover version, he would appreciate our own material as well. The only bad point is that the cover turned to be pretty long and moody, opposite to our own songs, but this is not our fault, but Metallica's (though we still regret we didn't shorten this song). As for album in overall, I don't like the tribute as much as I don't like the original, and of all bands participated, I liked a few (2-3) that made really original and interesting covers, but in whole it is really dull album. I won't call the names, since I don't want to spoil relations with anybody.

Has the band found a new label to distribute their music?

Not yet, we are still working upon it. There are some negotiations, as I mentioned before, but we are still accepting proposals.

Are you starting to record new material? Is it very different from the last studio album?

We did not begin record sessions, but we have written most of the material for the next album, already played some amount of songs live, and - rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. The last studio album was recorded by myself, almost alone, so the arrangements were conducted without any limitations, layed by live performances, and we do not play songs from this album because of that (except first and last ones, that we do not like to play anyway). New material, without losing symphonic and polyphonic features of third album, is 100% live oriented and is composed at rehearsals, instead of «Gallery of Dreams», that was written in studio and never played live before recording.

How different is playing drums in Azeroth compared to Ora Pro Nobis?

Well, the Azeroth approach to the music in whole is really different from Ora Pro Nobis. My previous band was more amateur and, at the same time, experimental - I mean, we never thought as much about the final product, just wanted to make things interesting for us only. And it was not good for music and, thus, for listener. So, I'd name the following differences - much faster and technical parts, much more attention to details, much more consistent drum parts (we had a lot of improvising in OPN, and do not have it at all in Azeroth). And I think that in summary it is more professional approach. I'd like to add that between leaving OPN and joining Azeroth I've been attending drum class of one jazz/fusion drummer, and rudimental technique I learned gave me the ability to play what the band needed. I mean, I had to improve my technique drastically to had an opportunity to play in Azeroth, though, of course, I never thought about it, when I started to learn again.

Are there plans of touring when the new album is released?

It is kinda much too early to talk about it, fitrst we have to record this album at very high technical level, after we have to find good contract with some record company to release it worldwide, and just after that start touring the western countries, since in Russia there are not much opportunities for such an activity,

 

Any final words for people in Argentina?

We hope that our music will reach you, even if you are so far away. Hope to see ya on our gigs at Argentina once! You are welcome!

Visit our website:

http://azeroth.spb.ru

AZEROTH - DISCOGRAPHY

Chasma Pelorion - Cassette (1997)

Doctrine of the Dark Forest - CD (1998)

Temple of Shadows - CD (1999)

Live In Polygon - Cassette (2000)

ACTUAL LINEUP

Evgeny Trefilov - drums

Denis Devichensky - guitars, vocals

Konstantin Drabkin- guitars

Alexander Kulikov- bass

Alexey Dvoretsky- keyboards

REVIEW: DEREK BAILEY & VERTREK ENSEMBLE - DEPARTURES

 

DEREK BAILEY AND VERTREK ENSEMBLE - DEPARTURES (Volatile Recs. - 1999):  Total sonic experimentation is what you will find in this recording by the improvisational duo Vertrek Ensemble and guitar master Derek Bailey. People fan of traditional guitar playing will be horrified by this because Vadim Budman and Derek Bailey approach their instruments in a completely experimental way trying to discover new sounds, new textures, new ways of playing and breaking boundaries within the guitar realm. Ron de Jong´s percussion doesn´t follow a pattern of rhythms that can be easily swallowed, in fact he supports the guitars with shorts bits of percussion that are also experimental and are like phrases in themselves. Listening to this recording is like listening to a dialog between three persons being each instrument one of them…I am saying this because the musicians prefere to play short bits each one instead of doing very long lines that could be more difficult to understand. I like the recordings of people like this that are not afraid of trying to bring a new dimension to their instruments despite if what they do is popular or not. A five star release for fans of sonic boundaries braking. Contact: volatile@canada.com

REVIEW: CURSED - THE COLDEST DEATH INFINITE...

 

CURSED - THE COLDEST DEATH INFINITE… (Independent - 2000):  Black metal in the vein of Immortal and Marduk is what we have in this MCD from this French band. This means speed, complex riffs, dark atmospheres, rotten vocals. What I specially liked from this band are the guitar solos tat seem to be based in great melodies and not only on speed. I think that "The Coldest Death Infinite …" is a really great title for this record because listening to the band´s music you have this sense of darkness, cold, death. The overall sound of the recording is good, but I would have liked in the mix the drums to be more in the front, that here are a little bit in the back, maybe the cymbals are covering a little bit the sound of the drumkit. The guitars have a really original sound, sounding a little bit muddier than in most of the bands of the style where they sound more raw (overdrive effects). For fans of black metal this is an excellent band for you to check. Contact: CURSED@ifrance.com

AUTUMN TEARS INTERVIEW

 

Autumn Tears is a really special band. Their music can be dark, depressive, gothic and extremely beautiful. The beauty of their music lies fundamentally in the vocals of Erika Swinnich and Jeniffer LeeAnna who have done a great work in their latest album " Love Poems for Dying Children - Act 3: Winter and the Broken Angel". Erika Swinnich explained the trilogy to us and a lot of other things.

What is the saga of "Love Poems for Dying Children " about? Why was it made in three acts?

Erika: Hi Federico! The story that spans the three full length CDs is about a vampiric nature spirit, "Autumn the Beautiful." She represents the season of wither --Autumn -- and brings death to all she meets. This lonely existence pains her, as she is continually surrounded by the dead while desperately longing to have living companions. The CDs explore her journey

through self-realization (Act I), her search for, discovery of and final rejection of redemption (Act II), and what results from that rejection (Act III). It is not a story with a happy ending. Autumn never learns to make sacrifices for what she wants and is eventually consumed by her anger. As to why we put the story out in three parts - well, it just worked out that way.

Originally we thought it would take 4 CDs to tell the story, but we realized

it was finished with three. We're all kind of glad about that, because now

we can move on to different subject matter.

How has been "Winter and the broken Angel" doing through Europe and America? Are you composing new material?

ERIKA: "Winter..." has been selling fabulously well. It's the fastest

selling Autumn Tears CD to date -

almost 5000 copies in less than a year!

Mostly thanks to Europe - that's where people are buying it. We do sell it

in America (South American especially well), but Europe has always been

where we've seen the most success.

We're writing some material, but not a lot. Ted and I run Dark Symphonies

and lately that has kept us so busy that there just doesn't seem time for

eating, sleeping and also Autumn Tears! But we will eventually get a new

album written. We're not ones to rush things. We want it to be better than

Act III, and that will take some time and effort. It will come out when

we're happy with it... which unfortunately means at least not for another

year.

How did you hook up with Ted to do such an atmospheric and dark music?

ERIKA: Ted and I had been friends since college, so that means we've known

each other for over 10 years now! How time flies! We're both lifelong metal

heads, with an appreciation of other forms of dark music. When Ted started

the project, another woman was going to speak poetry over the music - there

was no singing planned. Quickly Ted realized that would be boring, so he

asked me to sing, I said yes, and the rest is history.

How different are the three parts of "Love Poems for Dying Children"?

ERIKA: Each one is more complex and better constructed. The greatest change

shows between Act II and Act III - three years passed in between those CDs.

Anyone constantly involved in music will change a great deal in three years,

which is what happened to us. The addition of Jennifer LeeAnna to the band

really added an inspiration for me, as she is a professionally trained

vocalist while I'm just making it up as I go! We really found our stride as

a trio; the first 2 CDs are good, but they have their basic, sometimes

repetitive parts and the vocals could be more adventurous. Thanks to Jen we

don't have that problem any more!

Where do you get the inspiration to compose your music?

ERIKA: It all comes from the heart and soul. Autumn Tears is very much based in emotion and life experiences. Sometimes the best music is written when we

are sad and things aren't going well - it just all pours out into the melodies.

I know that you are a writer too...What can you tell me about your novel?

ERIKA: Ah, the dreaded novel question. It's currently in a box in the stack behind me somewhere (I just moved). Unpublished, uncut, overly long and in need of a major edit. Where's the time? I can't even keep up with my email and right now I don't even have a regular day job - all I do is freelance and work on Dark Symphonies stuff. Perhaps someday I will revamp it so that it fits a little better with what's popular with the sci-fi world right now... however, publishers don't like long first novels from unproven

authors, so what I really should do is finish the other, much shorter story

I have half done and try to get that published!

Is the influence of literature important for Autumn Tears music? Which kind of literature is more interesting for you?

ERIKA: Literature really doesn't cross paths with Autumn Tears that much. We're not inspired by Shakespeare or anything like that. Like I said, the heart of Autumn Tears is our souls, hopelessly gothic and romantic they may be.

As far as which kinds of literature I find most pleasing, I would say modern fiction in general. I'll read anything from Stephen King and Tom Clancy to Michael Moorcock and Robert Jordan. If a book is well written, I'll read it, regardless of what it's about. No, I'm not into pouring over Shakespeare or other, older writers - I did that in high school and college and it was torment. Life's too short to spend it doing things you don't like to do.

How big was the change when Jeniffer entered the band? I know that shehas an amazing background...

ERIKA: I think I hinted at that earlier. When Jennifer came into the band,

she originally was going to be the lead singer, because I was busy banging

my head against the wall over the "dreaded novel." When I heard what she did on "The Intermission," I thought to myself, "no WAY will I ever compete with her. I better practice in case Ted asks me to do some more session vocals."

As it was, when I rejoined the band, I'd improved a little bit and had more

confidence. Having Jen to work out duets with is great. So much better than

doing all the vocal lines myself in the studio. Her voice lends a new

texture to the music that it needs. We're all very happy she's with us.

Are the music and lyrics in "Absolution" different from the ones

contained in the three acts of "Love Poems for Dying Children"?

ERIKA: On two out of three songs. "The Never" appears on that mini in a

slighly rawer form than on Act III. "The Absolution of What Once Was" and

"The Dance" don't have anything to do with the concept story. "The

Absolution..." was done for the Palace of Worms "Power of the New Aeon"

comp, and "The Dance" was just a fun experiment.

How is the music in Autumn Tears composed?

ERIKA: Ted writes 90% of the music. He'll come up with a main foundation and

build upon it, layer by layer. Sometimes we knit pieces together to make

entire songs, sometimes the song is written in skeletal form in one sitting.

It's a long and complex process of layering. After the music is mostly

complete, I'll take the tape and start working vocal tracks over it,

layering them in a similar way as Ted does the instruments. Then it's to the

studio to fight with the MIDI software and the inevitable flu I get the day

before I'm scheduled to do my vocals. A bumpy road, but one with a

satisfying ending.

How was the "Arcana Tarot Compilation"? Why did you choose to

representthe "Death" card?

ERIKA: I don't remember if we got to choose or were assigned the card.

Regardless, it worked out well, because the lyrics our friend Claudia had

written were perfect for the subject matter.

What can you tell me about the project Pandora?

ERIKA: There isn't much to say... I don't think Peter (from Arcana) has the

time any longer, nor do Ted and Jen. Oh well... we need to concentrate on

Autumn Tears first and foremost in terms of music projects.

Is there something more that you want to say?

ERIKA: Thanks to all who have listened to and liked our music, especially

you, Federico! As long as all of you are willing to listen, we will continue

to make our music. Hail your dark hearts!

AUTUMN TEARS WEBSITE: http://www.darksymphonies.com/autumntears

 AUTUMN TEARS - DISCOGRAPHY

Autumn Tears "Love Poems for Dying Children......Act I" - CD (1996)

The Garden of Crystalline Dreams......Love Poems for Dying Children......Act II - CD (1997)

Love Poems for Dying Children ... Act 1; REPRISE MCMXCVIII - CD (1998)

Autumn Tears "Absolution" - MCD (1999)

Love Poems for Dying Children - Act 3... Winter and the Broken Angel - CD (2000)

ACTUAL LINEUP

Ted - Composition, arrangements, piano, keyboards and vocals.

Erika Swinnich - Lead and backing vocals, composition and keyboards.

Jennifer LeeAnna - Lead and backing vocals, vocal arrangements, composition and keyboards.

session musician:

REVIEW: CANDIRIA - 300 PERCENT DENSITY

 

CANDIRIA - 300 PERCENT DENSITY (Century Media - 2001): This is the fourth album of one of the most original bands to come out from the scene in the nineties. This band uses influences of metal, hardcore, jazz, fusion, rap and many more styles to construct their tracks. It is amazing to hear all the breaks and tempo changes that they make within their songs. Also you can find clean guitars used in an unconventional way, with chord progressions that are very different from what most bands would do. This is an extremely technical bands that have rehearsed their music a lot of times to achieve this result. The first tracks from this CD, "300 percent density" is a clear demonstration of what they can do along five minutes of playing their music. This is a band not afraid of experimenting, which seems to have influences as different as Machine Head, Biohazard, Messhuggah and John Coltrane. "Signs of Discontent" has a really strange introduction and base that I have not yet developed how it is played….it is really weird. I would totally recommend this bands to people that like the bands to be original regarding which style are they getting their inspiration from…because it is sure that this band takes it from a lot of different places. Favorite tracks: "300 percent density", "Constant Velocity is as natural as Being at Rest", "Channeling Elements" and "Contents under Pressure". Contact: www.centurymedia.com and www.candiria.com

REVIEW: BARRY GUY / MATS GUSTAFSSON - FROGGING

 

BARRY GUY / MATS GUSTAFSSON - FROGGING (Maya Recordings - 1997): We all know what bass master Barry Guy can do. But if you put him together with Mats Gustafsson, a man that plays sax, flutes, french flageolet and other wind instruments you have this great album. With a lot of fun they have titled their songs as some frog species, I think, and like frogs, one of the main charachteristics of this CD is the jumping-like sound of the instrumentation. "Bufo punctatus" starts de experimentation with phrases from Guy and Gustafsson in a totally unconventional manner. "Hyla Pickeringii" is still more strange…I still don´t know how Gustafsson does all this sounds with his instruments. "Lythodytes Ricordii" starts with Guy using the bass almost as a guitar with some rhythms before getting into phrases and more phrases. This record is esesntial for fans of experimentation done in a great way. Email: maya@eircom.net