REVIEW: EUGENE CHADBOURNE AND VERTREK ENSEMBLE - DIMSUM, DODGERS AND DANGEROUS NIGHTS

 

EUGENE CHADBOURNE AND VERTREK ENSEMBLE - DIMSUM, DODGERS AND DANGEROUS NIGHTS (Volatile Recs. - 2000):  An experimental and improvisational recording from this canadian label completely focused on improvisational music. The Vertrek Ensemble is a duo consisting of Vadim Budman on guitars, trumpet, cornet, wooden flute and harmonica and Ron de Jong on drums, percussion, cymbals and bells. Together with improvisational master Eugene Chadbourne (on vocals, guitar and banjo) they create this great recordins consisting of four experimental tracks. The first track "If I were a Bell/ Variations on a Theme by Holst (or Mahler?)" starts as a country or jazz tune but suddenly turns into more experimental path with Vadim and Chadbourne trading phrases with their respective instruments. This track is a fantastic mix of diverse improvisational techniques and is almost thirty three minutes long. Second track " I Challenge you to an Epiphone Duo" shows both guitarists stretching their playing into new atmospheres and textures, creating interesting moments of tension with their use of odd harmonies.and counterpoint. "Death Lives in That Bayou" is my favorite track with loads of experimentation and the use of a banjo. This is like a country tune gone mad !! I like the spontaneityin all this recording and the open mind of this three men trying to stretch music boundaries. Email: volatile@canada.com

INTERVIEW WITH ARGHOSLENT

It has been more than ten years since band Arghoslent was created to destroy the world with their extreme death metal. We talked to guitarist Pogrom about their history, their releases and their ideas.

 

Can you tell me a little bit of the history of the band?

The band was created in 1990 from the ashes of speed/thrash/death metal bands GENOCIDE (1988) and ASFYXIA (1989). We have recorded 4 demos, one CD, one 7"ep, some compilations, and we have edited 3 T-shirts up to now.

 

I know that your CD "Arsenal of Glory" was released a while ago....are you preparing new material ? When is it going to be ready?

Yes, we are going to enter the studio in August, when our guitarist comes back from Australia. It has been more than two years since we have had everything ready: lyrics, music and art. We are only waiting for the recording label´s money to book the dates in studio, here in Virginia.

  

Why did you decided to include your 1994 demo in "Arsenal of Glory" as bonus tracks?

It was the decision of SEMPITERNAL PRODUCTIONS to include our third demo on this CD. The guy liked very much the demo and he wanted to put it with our fourth demo 'Arsenal of Glory'. The demos and the CD are totally sold out. HORROR RECORDS has almost sold all the 666 copies of the 7"ep too; I think there must be less than 40 copies left.

 

Is the new record going to be released through Sempiternal Productions or do you have a contract with other label?

No, we have signed a deal with DRAKKAR PRODUCTIONS from France, the next 2 CD/LP will be released through this label. The new record is going to be called 'Incorrigible Bigotry' and will have the following songs: 'Flogging the Cargo', 'Archaic Invincibility', 'The Purging Fires of War', 'The Impious Savant', 'Quelling the Simian Surge', 'Hereditary Taint'.

 

How do you see the evolution of the band between "Galloping through the battle ruins" and "Arsenal of Glory"?

Well, 'Arsenal of Glory' was released in 1996 as a demo really before 'Galloping Through The Battle Ruins', that was released in 1998. I think that 'Arsenal...' was something that we did with a concept in our heads, that is, all the songs were related. 'Galloping...' was our first CD, and we included songs from our four demos plus some new ones, so, even if it is a clear example and representative of what we are, it failed in tying all the songs together. The next CD/LP will have a better continuity, will be completely unmistakable, we can´t wait.

 

Are you going to rerelease someday on CD the 1991 demo "The Entity", 1992 demo "Bastard Son of One Thousand Whores" and the EP "Troops of Unfeigned Might" ?

I don´t think so, maybe we will record some song from those old demos for a 7"ep, as we did with one song from th 'Troops of Unfeigned Might' 7"ep; the song 'Jaws of the Furnace' originally appeared in the demo 'Bastard Son...',but I doubt that someone would like to put that demos on that format, because the sound is really underground, recorded on 4 tracks and you know that today those guys want only the best quality.

  

How has your music changed compared to when you started the band in 1990?

The music has not changed too much since our beginnings. Maybe now the lyrics are batter organized, or maybe we have a better understanding of the composing process.We see progress as something negative in this type of music. I know bands that use the excuse of "progress" to change their style completely and sell out like a whore...You only have to take a looka a bands like SAMAEL, TIAMAT, or THE GATHERING to see that they betray their underground roots to make a living of their music, a totally rotten act in our view. This bands appeared because thay had a big quantity of followers in the underground taht were mistakenly thinking that they were supporting an ultra heavy band dedicated to profanation, when they were only using people to become rock stars. Fuck Them!!! When SAMAEL came to Washington to play in their first US Tour, they did not play a fucking song of their demo, not even of their 7"ep, or first CD!! TIAMAT was called TREBLINKA and that was a really brutal and satanic band. ARGHOSLENT remains faithful to its extreme anti-life metal style, dedicated to social negativity, and pro everything that scum that mankind is...Our furious and bitter sound is a fingerprint, we can not change it.

 

How do you see the black metal / death metal scene now compared to the one that existed in the beginning of the nineties?

The scene is completely saturated and with bands that don´t have anything new to offer, and nothing to do with DEATH METAL. All the scene died completely in 1994, since then it has been only a false, platic, poser entity full of people with socio-political attitudes. How can a band be calles DEATH METAL singing about social problems like poverty, unemployment. Politicians and nature? How can this be? The problem is that the DEATH METAl feeling was not recognized by a lot of the assholes that flood the scene today. I don´t pretend to do friends through the underground and I never did. A friendship based only in the liking of the same musical style is kind of ridiculous, I think. I don´t know, I have found that the 'heavy' or 'metalheads' are usually drugaddicts and alcoholics; why should I be a friend of them? DEATH METAL is about an attitude, the violence, the intolerance, the anti Judeo-Christianity. When we started this battle more than ten years ago, perhaps I had a less negative attitude, but it didn´t took so long to create this way of thinking. EI South America, specailly, DEATH METAL (not to be mistaken as thrash/heavy/speed) has taken the place of the PUNK/HARDCORE movement, used as an anti-system alternative, through which you can express de frustration with the governement, with the police, with capitalismo and the lack of civil rights. I say it again, the TRUE FUCKING DEATH METAL has nothing to do with this!!!

 

Which are your influences and the ones of the other members of the band?

Most of the time we are listening to extreme bands as PANTHEON, FANG, CORPUS ROTTUS, NEGATIVE APPROACH, R.K.L., GOATPENIS, DWARVES, URBAN WASTE, VOID, ROOT, JERRY'S KIDS, ANTEAUS, UNBORN-SF, BLOOD FEAST, ZEMIAL, ABOMINOG, V.O.N., NO REMORSE, THE EXPLOITED, COUNTESS, REAGAN YOUTH, UTIMATUM, THUNDERBOLT. Particularly, Kommando (bass) listens to NUNSLAUGHTER, CRUCIFIER, MASTEMA (Fra), WALLACHIA, KING DIAMOND, BATHORY, DESTRUCTION, CORONER. Von Demonicus (vocals) listens EDGE OF SANITY, DISSECTION, STARS & STRIPES, SKREWDRIVER, MORBID ANGEL. The Marauder (guitar) listens DARKTHRONE, SATYRICON, MASTER'S HAMMER, VADER, BURZUM. I listen RAZOR, POSSESSED, CARNIVORE, VIO-LENCE, ADL 122, VAGINAL JESUS, SPEAR OF LONGINUS, AUTOPSY, BARATHRUM, CHAOS 88.

 

Which equipment do you use live and in studio?

I don´t know, we don´t have that much, we always use the things of other people, we have not play a gig since 1998, it is senseless in front of the scum that comes to see us. The studio usually has equipments that everybody usesu..

 

What happened with the Wood-Nymph label? Which troubles happened with it?

The label was in bankrupcy because their previous bands had a problem with the distribution of their CD's. They were boicoted in Germany and many places in Europe. When it arrive the turn for us to be distribute, the label was already fucked up and it had no exit. They left the scene completely with a lot of hate to the left-winged hippies that boicoted it. The CD 'Galloping...' was only released in 1000 limited copies, the first 200 copies included rat bones in the plastic box. There are labels interested in rereleasing the debut CD, we´ll see what happens.

 

What do you think about the fact that religions who preach things like "Thou shalt not kill" have ended, ironically, causing a lot of the wars historically? How do you see the fact that man always wants to impose his ideas over the others even through violence?

Well, obviously religions have been used for the interest of kings, politicians, etc... But I think that violence is the only way to impose changes and I am pro discipline through violence, I don´t support hipocritical religions that profess the contrary. Something that we all can coincide is in the weakness of religion. But there are times when I think that today liberals, that support organizations like AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL or GREEN PEACE, are not different from jesuitas or preachers, trying to force their humanitarian and of social equity ideas to the rest of the world. Every person wants to feel like he is doing something good for humanity, but in reality, that person is only dreaming. Idealists are going to suffer, human life means nothing. The effort will be in vain, traitors will not have other option than praying, like every weak man does in the end. Our music tries to capture dos feelings of cowardy, suffering, torture and war. The songs grab you by the balls and they never let you go until you shit in your trousers. This music can only be extreme, there is no other way.

 

Something more that you want to add?

Our next CD will be released through DRAKKAR PRODUCTIONS in France and DRAKKAR VINLAND (Canadá) in America. We don´t recommend it to nobody. A vinyl edition LP will be available through a german or spanish label, only for coleccionists. Bands interested in trades should only send their material to our address, we have been doing this for eleven years, don´t be afraid. If you are a frustrated hippie, do us a favor and kill yourself now, stop bothering people around you, nobosy wants you, FUCK OFF AND DIE!!! HAIL THE ARGHOSLENT KOMMANDO!! FUCK YOUR PETITIONS AND PHILANTHROPY!!

ARGHOSLENT,

P.O. Box 393

Oakton, VA 22124

USA

E-mail:

arghoslent@hotmail.com

 

ARGHOSLENT - DISCOGRAPHY

The Entity - Demo (1991)

Bastard Son of One Thousand Whores - Demo (1992)

The Imperial Clans - Demo (1994)

Arsenal of Glory - Demo (1996)

Galloping Through the Battle Ruins - CD (1998)

Troops of Unfeigned Might - 7´´ EP (2000)

Incorrigible Bigotry - CD (2001)

 

ACTUAL LINEUP

Pogrom - guitars

Kommando - bass

Von Demonicus - vocals

The Marauder - guitars

 

 

REVIEW: ERIC MERTENS - WHITE WORKER

 

ERIC MERTENS - WHITE WORKER (Carbon 7 Recs. - 2001): This a really interesting record for people who like experimentation with lots of melodies. In fact the work of Eric Mertens and his band (that has in the lineup extremely good musicians) made me remember records of the seventies like for example those of great bands like Return To Forever or in some cases Weather Report or Mahavishnu Orchestra. Plus the band has a more modern sound and feeling like something more modern. The mix of jazz, fusion and contmeporaneous classical music along with some eastern influences and the use of not so characteristic orchestrations and unsusual instruments (as tuba, doublebass, french horn and bassoon) gives this recording a unique feeling. What I would like to remark on this CD and that I think that gives a special touch to the music are the superb vocals by Anne Mertens. In songs like "Watchman" she does a harmonie with Eric´s voice that is very delicate and interesting, and on "Soylent Red" she chooses to follow some keyboard lines in order to accentuate the feeling that the whole band is bringing to the listener. Eric Mertens has made a really good job with this record demonstrating that he is a great composer and creating this album that would not be out of place as a soundtrack of a movie. Great quality musicianship!. My favorite tracks: "Belgiques", "Watchman", "Explosion by Sympathy" and "Soylent red". Email: carbon7records@compuserve.com

INTERVIEW WITH INTERLOCK

Can you tell me a little bit of the history of the band?

We've been going (from the first track written as Interlock) since late 1995, we've had a few years of searching for other members that would be suitable. There have been a few releases from us over the years; Demo '97, still Interlock but with a 4 track, still, it sounded bloody good for that; Rest (one song on No Holy Additives 2 compilation) our first track with Emmeline; Submerged our last 'proper' release and Seventh Harmonic Vs. Interlock, our collaboration with Ethereal darkwave band Seventh Harmonic, which mainly consists of remixes we did of them and a couple of tracks that aren't available elsewhere.

What can you tell me about the MCD "Submerged?

Our first release with Emmeline as a full time member. It was essentially a mixture of all the different styles and contrasts we're about. Death metal, Industrial, Dance (Trance, Drum n' Bass, House), Trip Hop, Nu metal, Doom... loads of stuff really. It's been brilliantly recieved, though I think some people are slightly unsure of how to take us.

How is the story of your participation in a Napalm Death cover version competition?

Haha, well, It was the Napalm 'do a cover version' competition they ran with the release of 'Inside the Torn Apart'. We just decided to do something that no-one else would do and sort of re-mix/cover 'Cursed to Crawl'. It ended up sounding like some bizarre drum n' bass chaos. We didn't win of course, that was the honour of some German act that just blasted out some note perfect carbon copy of something from 'From Enlavement...'

What are you searching in the vocal duets between Matt and Emmeline (or any of the female singers)? Are you trying to have more vocal range, more contrast, more textures?

Mmmm. Well Matt is no longer with us, we just found new singer, Hal, in the last couple of months... but things are going well so far. As for all of the vocals and experimentation within, I think Interlock strives for extreme within the contrast of the vocals. One reason for having two singers in the first place. The vocals allways need to be emotiotive for the listener. Be it a soulful duet that's soft and beautiful or a screaming slathering beastlike interplay between them.

How different are the vocals of the four female singers that you had through the history of the band: Anja, Sian, Pixie and Emmeline?

Pretty different really, Anja, didn't really stay around long enough to make that huge an impact in our sound. Sian, who sang on our first demo was doing it as a favor towards us... her style was VERY airy, and ethereal. I heard when she got the demo she was really dissapointed and wanted to know what I had 'done' to her vocals! hahaha... That's how she sounds! Pixie was our first 'proper' singer, though we never recorded anything for release with her. She had a firmer way of singing. Then there's Emmeline, who has been in the band for about 2 years now. She's really taken what Interlock sounds like and made it her own. It's just how she sounds... we never forced her to change or anything. her sound is slightly punky, really raw and emotional... it's cool.

Which is the evolution that you see between your first and your second demo?

Better production, having full time singers and therefore proper female vocal lines. The first demo's cool but not 100% what we're about. The material is still industrial and metal but there's a weakness to the production that lets it down in my opinion.

How important is experimentation in Interlock? How do you approach it?

Extremely important. We never ever reject an idea just because its hip hop or something slightly different to what we've done before. the point of Interlock is to experiment and keep it listenable and interesting.

How are Interlock Songs composed? Is the role of Lauren´s keyboards becoming more important?

Lauren isn't that bigger part of Interlock at the moment. She has other commitments. The majority of Interlock tracks are written by me, sitting at a computer with a guitar. Though the others are involved in the direction and style of what's going on and riff writing. After the musics almost finalise d, I'll give a track to whoever is writing the lyrics. It used to be only Matt, but now he's gone Emmeline and Hal look like they are writing a bit together.

What can you tell me about Cruciferous?

Cruciferous was a band I was in before Interlock, basically a Death Thrash outfit. We played one gig with them in feb 98.

Are the main influences of the band coming grom gothic music or are any other styles that have influenced you more?

I personally don't like goth that much, so as I'm the main songwriter, I find it amusing that people say our music is heavily influenced by goth! Maybe it's the way we look or something? I myself am much more into metal and dance. Hal's very metal and Emmeline's more goth and 80's... God alone knows all the stuff Syan listens to.

Which is the meaning of Interlock´s lyrics?

The lyrics tend to be fairly personal. No dungeons & Dragons or 'the world is being taken over by robots!' stuff.

Are you composing new material ? Will this be a full length release? How is the material compared to your other releases?

Indeed we are. We have a few tracks being written at the moment which are sounding cool. I doubt it will be a full release. It will be another ep/demo thing that we'll send to labels and the like, see what they make of them and if we don't get any responce then we'll put it out ourselves. This stuff could well be slightly heavier than before what with the live drums and Hal joining. Of course that doesn't mean that's all we'll be doing. We allready have a kinda hip-hop thing in the pipeline and lord only knows what else will happen in the next couple of months.

Something more to add?

Thanks for the interview. We hope to play wherever you are are when we're famous and rich! ; ) Check out our web site at www.interlock.freeserve.co.uk

 

INTERLOCK - DISCOGRAPHY

Demo 97 - demo (1997)

No Holy Additives 2 - compilation, Song: Rest

Submerged- CD

Seventh Harmonic Vs. Interlock - CD remixes

ACTUAL LINEUP

Matt -vocals

Emmeline May - vocals

John - programmer, composition

Syan - bass

INTERVIEW WITH INHUMATE

Grind/death band form France, Inhumate has released their new album "Growth" with a great sound and really good grinding tracks. Bassist Fred answered very gently our questions.

How is "Growth" doing now that nine months have passed since its release?

Very well !!! We already had to repress it . The first pressing was of 1000 copies and they were sold out and traded in approximately 6 months. I think that for a self produce band it's a good score ! Besides of this I did 50 interviews (with this one ) for mags and zines and we already had more than 50 positive reviews !

What can you tell me about your first demos "Abstract Suffering" and "Grind your soul" ? Do you still like them?

I can't say that I like them, it's months that I didn't listen to them... But they're a part of our past, a part of INHUMATE's life so I think this are interesting thing to understand the band's evolution through the years.

Looking back to all your career...are you satisfied with what you have done up to now? Is there something you would have changed?

When I look back I'm really satisfied of what we did with INHUMATE. The only thing I should change if everything was to be done again is that I'd investigate the underground scene and world earlier. I began to jump in that underworld and really promoting INHUMATE in 1995 / 1996. It's late I think... If I'd began to do it earlier, maybe should things have been further now... Who knows...

How much have you evolved since the "Internal Life" CD up to "Growth"?

It's always difficult to answer to such questions... I think this is a mag or zine's job to answer this. I could say that we play better and I think our music and lyrics are more interesting but I think it's all I can say if I wanna say objective...

Have the different line-up changes modified the music of INHUMATE?

2 line up changes really changed something in our music. The first one was the arrival of Valentin, our second drummer. When he arrived he brought the absolute grind core playing in INHUMATE. Before his arrival we were playing classical death metal but he wanted us to play faster and after his departure we understood that it was the only for INHUMATE to be ! The second big change happened of course when Christophe and Yannick arrived (in 1996) to create the actual line up. With them we began the true life of INHUMATE, after the dark we entered the light !!!

Can you make a comparison between the ex members of INHUMATE and the actual members of the band?

The actual line up was made to play in that fucking band ! What else can I say ? All the guys that played in INHUMATE were cool guys and helped the band the best they could, time's passing and things were changing, now it can't anymore...

What expectations do you have of the show that you are going to make with Sepultura on May?

I think it is gonna be a really great show because we can expect more than 3000 people. We never played in front of such a big crowd. But in the other side, the problem is that the people that will come to visit that show have never heard about grind core I think... So we gonna play and they gonna cry... Ah, ah, ah... Hope so !!! You know I don't really care what people gonna think about our music and how things will be. I'm sure it will be killer for us just because of the size of the stage ! The only interesting thing we can do there is to bring some fashion follower to the true underground scene.

How was "Growth" composed and recorded?

Like all other INHUMATE stuffs. We compose in our rehearsal room, than Christophe makes the lyrics, then we work all the music with a metronome and finally we enter the studio for the recording. We work very hard to have interesting song and a good sound.

Why are three parts of the song entitled "I want to kill some..."? Which is the concept behind? Where is the second part?

There is absolutely no concept behind those tracks. The missing word is free... Everybody can put his hate in the last (missing) word. So if you wanna kill your neighbour, when you listen to the track you just have to say his name is the noise moment... Ah, ah, ah !!! The second part of it is a ghost track on our 1st CD "Internal Life".

Do you like doing split tapes or CDs with other bands? Do you think that that is the way for people that don't know about the band to know your music?

I think all the ways to be known by other people are interesting. Split tapes, split EP, split CD, compilation tapes or CD, etc...We did several split tapes (with FUNERAL MARCH, DISEMBOWEL, TRAUMA TEAM, MAGGOT SHOES, EXHUMATOR, SANGUINARY, TRAUMATISM, DEPRAVED, MUCUPURULENT, BLOODSHED, PULMONARY FIBROSIS) and many compilations (to know the exact list feel free to have a look on our website (http://www.inhumate.com). All this always helped us to promote INHUMATE and we think that it's the only way for a self produced band because we're not rich enough to buy full pages adv. In magazines...

Is there anything more that you want to say?

Thanx a lot for this interview and I'm really glad that you enjoyed our show in Gent. We always try to give all we can on stage. To all readers I just wanna say that they can write me at

INHUMATE

c/o Fred ANTON

1 rue du college

67170 BRUMATH

FRANCE

INHUMATE@ifrance.com

http://www.inhumate.com

We do also have a huge underground distro with only brutal death and grindcore stuffs (most CD), write at :

GRIND YOUR SOUL Distro

c/o Yannick GIESS

61 route de l'hopital

67100 STRASBOURG

FRANCE

yannick.giess@free.fr

All letters will be answered, we are 100% underground and 100% no rip off !!! STAY SICK !!!

INHUMATE - DISCOGRAPHY

Abstract Suffering - demo (1993)

Grind your Soul - demo (1995)

Internal Life - CD (1996)

Ex - Pulsion - CD (1997)

Growth - CD (2000)

ACTUAL LINEUP

Christophe : vocals

David : guitar, backing vocals

Fred : bass

Yannick :drums

REVIEW: DANISH INTUITIVE MUSIC

 

DANISH INTUITIVE MUSIC (Intuitive Recs. - 2001): I would really love to know more about intuitive music. The Group for Intuitive Music was founded in Copehagen Univerity Institute of Music in 1974 and it inludes such great musicians as Jørgen Lekfeld, Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen and Elisabeth Klein. As one can see in the booklet this people use different ways of expressing, musically and in paper (I would love knowing how to read their partitures). There are in this CD three works by Jørgen Lekfeldt, three by Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen, two tracks by Ivan Eugen Vincze and two by Jørgen Plaetner and the recordings feature things from the seventies like "Madison Music" or "A Meditation on Inner Global Life" up to the nineties "October 6th" and "Taking a Walk". Here the experimentation with instruments, vocals and whatever they can is the main feature. I find this recording very interesting with extremely great musicianship and it looks like this people is always anxious to discover new lands in the music world. Contact: http://hjem.get2net.dk/intuitive

INTERVIEW WITH GORY BLISTER

This italian band has released their new album "Art Bleeds" showing that they have improved through the years in playing their extremely technical death metal style. The two main brains behind Gory Blister, (guitarist Raff and drummer Joe) answered our questions.

How has "Cognitive Sinergy" been received by the underground audiences?

Joe: When we released the Cognitive mini album we always got great reviews worldwide, and the worst words people were able to say were that it was too technical, but very death metal! The audience reaction was no different, and we got our Cds almost sold out , even if we kept few copies for ourselves that we are still asked for! People keeps still on writing for it!

Are all the songs in "Cognitive Sinergy" new songs (except from "Voyage-Out")?

Joe: indeed Cognitive Sinergy was the only entirely brand new; it was written by me and Raff with the help of Nick Curri on vocals, within the period the band seemed running to the split-up; then with the contribution of Nosferatu rec. we put into the same Cd Cognitive Sinergy plus all the previously anavailable songs that were recorded by the old line-up: The Voyage Out, Where Thoughts Flow, Premonitions Through The Ageless Land, and Spoil (reprise from the first demo). That CD could have represented our 'swan song', but it was our strong conviction to make it our rebirth!

Have you presented "Cognitive Sinergy" on stage?

Joe: of course yes, since we got our line-up completed! Our gigs have always been of a great Death Metal attitude!

How different is the role of the new members Dome and Michele compared to Luigi´s approach?

Joe: well, I have to say that at least on stage the old line-up attitude was not very professional; when things had to get more and more serious, Luca and Luigi left the band; Michele is a real musician, and Dome a good singer, that's all;

Which is your opinion on the first Gory Blister demos "Spoilt by Greed" and "Hanging down the sounds"? I know that in that time you were not a member of the band...

Raff: I've always liked the first two Gory demos also when I had no idea of becoming a band member; I used to say they were the masters of tempo! But I prefer Spoilt by Greed because it is more spontaneous and rough! Of course after some years you improve as a musician so that you can hear all the mistakes on those old songs, but the ideas into them were greatly future if you consider it was 1993!

Are you planning to add a second guitar? because you had two guitars before Luca left the band...

Raff: No, for now I don't think so; maybe in future, if there will be the conditions; I use to make a studio version of the song, based on two or more guitars, and a live version in order to play the same riff as similar as possible with one guitar. It seems to work well enough!

How did the music of Gory Blister changed when you entered the band?

Raff: The Gory Blister style has always progressed towards personal identities and you can just listen to this; anyway, since I came from a more brutal grinding band, maybe I brought some Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse attitude to our sound.

Has Michele bass playing become more technical when he joined Gory Blister compared to when he played in Thy Nature?

Raff: Michele was a good bass player with Thy Nature, but he improved his skills very much with our complicated song structure.

How different are the vocals of Dome compared to the ones of Nick Curry?

Joe: I don't think there is big difference, and anyway this is not important now; we have changed two singers since the last recordings; Yes, we have recorded a new album entitled ART BLEEDS with Dani from NODE on vocals (he played really great!) and now ADRY will be our singer for next live concerts. I have to say that we have also a new great bass player, Luca, because Michele left the band to play a totally different music.

Do you think that this sentence that was said of Gory Blister´s music at the beginning of the band´s career is still valid: "MOMENTS OF TRUE DELIRIUM AND IMMENSE LUSTFULNESS, CONTRIBUTING TO THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR ROOM"?

Joe: Yes, I think it is! our music is still the mix of death metal 100% and technical skills that we have improved thru this years; just now we are working on the equilibrium of these two features into our music, and the new songs are more and more 'first approach', but keeping a technical level that it is hardly listened into metal albums; The Transcending the mundane (New York most important metal 'zine) review of ART BLEEDS begins with the sentence "has Chuck Schuldiner reformed DEATH?".

How important is for the band to rehearse the songs? Are songs that are too complicated to play live?

Joe: Yes our songs are not easy at all to play live! This was also one of the reasons of our line-up problems; As I have said above we have improved very much our skills and now we have a line-up who is able to reproduce the songs live as they are; of course just a couple of weeks of non rehearsal is enough to get it worst!

Which is the fundamental feature of Gory Blister´s music: the death metal feeling or the technical aspect of the songs?

Joe: I think that our death metal feeling is as important as ever in our playing, but the technical aspect is a bit changed, improved, yes, but maybe towards a different target; first of all any second of the song must be played perfectly, but the technical skill is more concentrated in the right moments of the song which has otherwise an intense furiosity.

Any final thoughts?

Joe: Our musical choices and concept has ever been a somewhat problem with labels who are still saying we are not as commercial as they would like. I don't know when you can buy our ART BLEEDS album into your fave record shop, but we believe in it, please be with us, write us back (artbleeds@katamail.it) go and watch our live video on www.bullet-tv.de (video section and MP3 section) and e-mail them about us!

GORY BLISTER - DISCOGRAPHY

Spoilt by Greed - demo (1991)

Hanging Down The Sounds - demo (1993)

Cognitive Sinergy - MCD (2000)

Art Bleeds - CD (2001)

ACTUAL LINEUP

Raff - guitars

Adry - vocals

Luca - bass

Joe - drums

REVIEW: DAEONIA - CRESCENDO

 

DAEONIA - CRESCENDO (Candlelight Recs. - 2001): Daeonia´s follow up to their acclaimed debut album "Craven" is a symphony of darkness. This guys have big influences from gothic bands from the eighties but they have a more modern sound. The influence that comes to my mind while listening to "Crescendo" is the Sisters of Mercy. But I think that despite this similarity, Daeonia is reaching a different part of the gothic specter. What I like most from this album is the combination of the keyboards and guitars ( the former playing dark backgrounds and the later doing repetitive phrases in order to create the climate for the vocalist to do his job). The only thing that I would have changed is the mix of the second guitar that i could have mixed higher to give more power to the music (the way Paradise Lost did with "Draconian Times"). Songs like "Drowned" or "Meridian (12311999)" have solid hooks and strong melodies. I think the mood of the songs is deeper for example in "The Bridge and The Ashes" where the atmosphere is more oppressive with more presence from the keyboards or "Within The Blink of An Eye" with the piano and vocals intro. My favorite tracks: "Thoughtograph", "Within The Blink of An Eye" and "In Cimmerian Dreams". Contact: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

INTERVIEW WITH DIAMOND

"Doctor Lost" is the name of this Brazilian band latest opus. We learned about the change of vocalist in their lineup in this interview with them. Let´s see what they told us. 

How did you end participating on the "Mostrando A Cara" CD?

We were invited to record a track on this compilation, with more than 12 bands that also rehearsed on IGT Studio. This studio was our main rehearsal place that year and they made a selection with about 120 bands, to choose the best ones.

Is the new version of "Doctor Lost" different from the one recorded for the "Mostrando A Cara" CD?

The second and new version, as well as in all the tracks of the CD " Doctor Lost ", it was totally recorded live, with all the members playing at the same time, as if it was a rehearsal. The voices were recorded separately. There is still a perceptible difference in relation to the musical evolution of the band and it is much more heavy, the guitars and the bass are stronger than in the first version of the " Mostrando a Cara ".

Where the songs in the "Doctor Lost" CD recorded live in the studio?

Yes, all songs were recorded alive, only the voices were recorded in separate. We opted for that recording type because we were very well rehearsed, besides being faster and less costly. A detail, the CD was recorded and produced in an independent way. At first, we planned to place 4 musics in that CD, but in the day of the recording we decided to place the bonus track "Lost in E Minor" (instrumental).

Are you happy with the production in the "Doctor Lost" CD or would you have preferred another thing?

Actually, it was only recorded and mixed, in a few hours. The studio is good. The equipments, the atmosphere and the technical personnel, everything favored us. We couldn´t afford a real production, but afterall the final mastering pleased us all, mainly because it was a demo cd. It would be necessary a very larger time to really accomplish a professional production. Obviously we intend to have a better production on next recordings.

Are you influenced by classical heavy metal bands or are there also another bands from different styles that have influenced you?

We were influenced mainly by classical metal bands, such as Iron Maiden, Dio, Helloween, and so on, but we have many others influences on the band, depending of the member, such as Progressive Rock, Hard Rock and Power Metal.

What can you tell me about Diamond´s members previous bands?

Eduardo Sofiati - Upside Down - a power trio, playing covers of Megadeth, Metallica, Iron Maiden, among others. No mustache - another power trio, playing covers of Iron, Pantera, Metallica, among others.

Roberto Junior - Eros - a rock band, playing covers of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and its own songs.

Rodnei Dias - Capitães do Além - a rock band, playing covers of brazilian bands and hard rock bands.

Leandro Bolla - Several bands, playing covers of brazilian rock bands and hard rock and heavy metal bands, such as Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath.

Fernando Goya (the new vocal) - Several bands, playing covers of progressive rock and heavy metal bands, such as Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Helloween, among others.

I noticed that most of your songs are over five minutes long. Is this a conscious effort or is this the way the songs come out naturally?

We join ideas and then we realize we have a long song. Many times we decide to cut some parts, to not make only long songs, which we like too.

This happens naturally, as we are creating the compositions. We didn't worry a lot about that detail, but we intended to vary the time of the songs. We join ideas and then we realize we have a long song. We have some music that are not in the CD " Doctor Lost ", some have more than ten minutes, another at the most five. I think that we really like to create long, but not complicated music.

Are you satisfied with Nimbus Studio or is there any studio or producer you would like to work with?

Yes, we are very pleased with this studio. The recording crew were very helpful. They set all instruments in a short time, and the sound we got from the recording become better than we expect. We intend to record there more times and we have some other producers and studios in mind. Our decision respects will be taken when we are ready for our next recording.

Are there plans of any tour to support the material?

We couldn't find a manager yet, to release the band, as we would like.

Yes, we would like a lot to play in countries of South America, mainly in Argentina. We have some contacts in Europe and Japan that can be summed up shortly, but for while we are just playing here in Brazil. This is because we couldn't find a manager yet, to release the band, as we would like.

A novelty: in the beginning of the year 2001, we had to stop for some time with the concerts, because we had vocalist Bruno Faria's sudden exit. The substitute is Fernando Goya, that soon will be presented to the public. In this moment, we are rehearsing and preparing the musics for the next shows. Last this phase, we will think again of recording, because we have a good material that is already concluded.

How different is the bass style of Rodnei compared to that of Marcelo?

Rodnei is very hard-rock and classical oriented, which influences of Glenn Huges, Roger Glover and Steve Harris. Marcelo used to play more harder, because of his metal influences.

Is there something more that you would like to say?

We would like to thanks this opportunity and we really hope to play in Argentina, we believe that the people will like a lot.

Well, regarding the CD "Doctor Lost", we would like to say that it will become rarity, because with the exit of Bruno and the coming of Fernando to the vocal of the band, we didn't intend to distribute it anymore.

Thanks for your support. Are you recording new stuff?

We are thinking of recording a multimedia track, besides a CD with a record label, contends ten songs more or less. For while, we are looking for a manager, playing in concerts and recording our rehearsals, what will give us larger experience and some B-sides. Thanks a lot.

 

DIAMOND WEBSITES: www.diamond.showz.com.br ((mp3))

www.diamondband.hpg.com.br

 

DIAMOND - DISCOGRAPHY

Mostrando a Cara - Compilation - Song: "Doctor Lost" (1998)

Doctor Lost - MCD (2000)

 

ACTUAL LINEUP

Fernando Goya - vocals

Rodnei Dias - bass, vocals

Eduardo Sofiati - guitars

Roberto Junior - guitars, vocals

Leandro Bolla - drums

REVIEW: BARRY GUY / PAUL PLIMLEY - SENSOLOGY

 

BARRY GUY / PAUL PLIMLEY - SENSOLOGY (Maya Recordings - 1997): Amazing album of duets between Paul Plimley on piano and Barry Guy on double bass. This two musicians are geniouses as you can hear in the tracks that compose this CD. This are thirteen tracks of pure madness, great improvisation, great compositional skills. The opening with"This is not much less than flat" is full speed with runnings and phrases from both instruments that play different things but in a really coherent way. This CD can open a lot of minds with its music, and with this attitude to music where the important thing is to experiment with mind and body. Jazz, fusion, experimentation, avant garde are some of the words that come to my mind when listening for example "Short steps until it finally dawned" or "Sensology" or "Jazz for now and never more" with their atmospheres and textures. I would like to pinpoint one of the tracks but the whole CD is amazing. Email: maya@eircom.net