INTERVIEW WITH SACRED SIN

Portugal´s metal scene is growing stronger every day and here we have one of the main exponents of that scene, Sacred Sin. Jose Costa, bassist and vocalist of the band talked with us:

Do you consider yourself a progressive death metal band or is this term a little bit too narrow to describe your music?

Well I always defined SS as a extreme Metal band. We have a very vast number of influences that goes from one side of the Metal spectrum to the other. We love such different bands as IRON MAIDEN, SLAYER, MERCYFUL FATE, CELTIC FROST, ACCEPT, DARK ANGEL, SAVATAGE, POSSESSED, HELLOWEEN, etc . We have our roots in the 80´s thrash, we have the intense and brutal Black / Death Metal touch, lots of atmosphear and melodic leads and different kinds of vocals as the concept of the song demands. The mixing of all this styles came in a very natural way when we are doing the songs.

What can you tell me about "Translucid Dream Mirror"?

It was recorded between December 2000 and January 2001. It includes 13 new tracks plus a cover from SLAYER «Evil has no boundaries».

Finally on this last album we had the time to do all that we imagined when recording the songs, instead of doing a more simple and direct aproach as the previous records. All the concept of our music is much more clear now because we had enough studio time to let all the ideas flow and we were carefull on the mixing so you can actually listen to all that.

Normally our songs had all lyrics in English, including sometimes a part in Portuguese or Latin. On this album I used different languages because sometimes I feel that a certain part or a song would sound better in that language. There are various reasons for that. Like in "La clef des grands misteres" it should be mostly in French because the inpiration came from there, with writer Elifas Lévi. In "Zukunft Kenntnis" it was a question of sound, and German language did suit perfectly in that part. But on "Malificent Genii" the part in Spanish came because the lyrics were inspired by a medieval Spanish tale. The Latin used in "Mei lacrimae in tenebrae" and "Transmutations (sphera lunae sepiternum...)" was a question of sound. And finally on "The shadow gate" the end is in Portuguese because it was written like that from the begining and I though it should be better to keep it like that.

Which do you think are the main differences between "Translucid..." and "Anguish...I harvest"?

If you listen carefully you will notice that this album is just as fast and brutal as our old songs, the main difference is that now we could have more time to produce the vocals so I could put on all my ideas, and also we gave more freedom to the keyboards to expand in our music. The overall result sounds much more dark and melodic but it still aggressive and extreme as before.

What can you tell me about the "13th Cave" Studio? Is that your own studio?

Yes we used mainly our studio the «13th Cave» owned by Pedro Miguel the guitar player and engineer of this album. Only for the drums we had to go record at «Overhead studio». We have improved a lot the studio equipment this last months, as for the recording of «Translucid» we had to rent some necessary material. At this moment the studio is much more independent and we plan to make the next album there too.

How do you see your evolution since you released your first promo tape in 1991?

Puff... we had passed through a lot since those days ! In terms of music and influencies the band is still tied to it's roots, but there was evolution in many ways. We had several line-up changes through the years and that also causes some changes in the way we sound. But if you get to listen all our albuns you easily trace the basic lines of our music style. I always intend to make diferent things in each album, yet we have big efford so that all should sound in place in our music.

Why did you choose Demolition Records to release "Translucid..."?

They offered us the best conditions, and respect our scheadule and plans for this album. We had different offers from other labels but with DEMOLITION Rec. we are free to decide upon the band and our music.

Are you touring to support the release of "Translucid..."?

Yes, we did a few shows in April, and we had to cancel some shows due to an accident we had with our van. From September to December we have more shows in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and Germany. Our new live show is very powerful and we have been getting great response.

I found great the inclusion of keyboards which sound like the ones they use in bands like Dream Theater doing melodies, solos and other stuff. Was this an intentional addition or is it the way the songs came out?

Thanks for your appreciation. Yes we planned to use a lot more keys on this album. We allow the keyboarder to let his inspiration flow on the songs and this is the way it came out ! We have been using keys in our music since our first recording but for this album they are not only giving atmosphear to the music, but often the keys have a independent role, expanding the songs to other horizons.

There are some guest vocalists in "Translucid..." like Carla Mourao or Leen Van Damme...Why did you choose to include them?

They sounded good for those parts. It's a question of finding the best way to fullfil an ideia for a song or a part. Beside female voices there are also other male voices that made comtribution on some songs, and for the same motive: acheive the best for each part of the song.

Do you have plans to release your material like the "Promo Tape 91", "The Shades Behind" EP or "The Other Sides" tape on CD?

Yes, as a matter of fact we do. The plan is to include all that plus both our albuns «Darkside» and «Eye'm'God» and videos in one package double-cd edition. It's all planned since Summer to be released under the name of «Mastery of holy imperial art», but so far the label have been delaying it. The package is really cool and it's to be sold at the price of a normal cd.

What do you think about other portuguese bands like Moonspell or Inthyflesh?

Moonspell is very important to our national scene. They are the biggest Metal band in Portugal, and got a lot of attention in the international scene, and that it's good for all other Metal bands here. Fortunatly we have a lots of cool bands just waiting for a chance to grow. Here the economic conditions dictate a lot of restrictions in some terms, but we got lots of promising musicians working hard to get some success for their projects.

Do you think that your music style is better received in Europe than in the USA? Why do you think is that?

The new album was distributed in the US in October, so it's still to soon to make a definite comment on that matter. Anyway, for the reactions we had so far from our older releases, usually in Europe we get the best reception.

Some final thoughts?

I want to thank you, first of all for this nice interview. All into Metal music should have a listen to our new album to check it out ! Don't loose the chance to hear our «brutalized Heavy Metal» ! Anything more about the band you can look in www.sacredsin.org . Keep extreme and stay Metal !

SACRED SIN - DISCOGRAPHY

The Shades Behind - CD

Darkside - CD

Eye M God - CD

Anguish...I harvest - CD

Translucid Dream Mirror - CD

ACTUAL LINEUP

José Costa - bass and vocals

Nuno Goncalves - guitar

Pedro Miguel - guitar

Danilo Wavick - drums

Tiago Loureiro - keyboards

REVIEW: UNDROP - UPROOTED

 

UNDROP - UPROOTED (Locomotive Music , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded in Undrop Govardhan Studios, Vrajamandala, Spain.

Mixed in kirios Studios, Madrid.

Produced by Tomas Rundquist

Cover Art / Design: Undrop, Locomotive.

Track List: 1-Lion, 2-Lets Take a Trip Down Memory Lane, 3-Moonlike Face, 4-Cyber Head, 5-The Mine Field, 6-1+1=3, 7-Elevation, 8-Without Roots, 9-Ragga, 10-Go Beyond Matter, 11-Calling Gopinath, 12-Live Today, 13-Crazy 4 U, 14-Positive !, 15-Mashed Potatoes Part II

A strange band. This the way I would define Undrop. While listening to their music some names came into my mind: Nirvana (listen the vocals in "Lion" specially when he screams Lioooon !!!) , The Police, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Adrian Belew, Beatles, some old style jazz guitarist (Charlie Christian?) and many many more. The result here is a really melodic album with an emphasis on hooks and in harmonies (some of them more weird than what one should have expected...heavy use of flat fifths in some choruses and prechoruses). Listen to "Moonlike Face" for to see what I am talking about, they start with a simple punk style and then they gate into a more interesting poppish/ grunge style or maybe check the opening of "Cyber Head" with the use of tremolo bar in the guitars and clean arpeggios through the verses. There is also a use of MIDI Guitar in there that sound almost like a keyboard in some parts like in "1+1=3". Interesting. Favorite tracks: "Moonlike Face", "Elevation" and "Without Roots". Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com 

REVIEW: TROLL - UNIVERSAL

 

TROLL - UNIVERSAL (Voices of Wonder / Head Not Found , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Frogner Jern&Metall - February 2000.

Fiddled and Fixed by Sensei Ursus Major - Mastered by Neon Heart Inc.

Cover Art / Design: Enclave Design.

Track List: 1- Intro: My Sulphur Lover, 2- Rex Lamictal, 3- Sannhetens Plagiat, 4- President Besters Alimony, 5- Intermission 666, 6-Entering the Fluid Oxygen, 7- Color of Evil, 8- Fields of a new Sun, 9- Outro: Please the Pain

This is kind of a norwegian supergroup formed by Nagash (Covenent, ex Dimmu Borgir) who is called here Notorious Nagash and Hellhammer (Mayhem and a thousand more projects) with the help of Sinister Minister Twice, Sensei Ursus Major and Amon-D. The music contained here is almost indescriptible...a kind of death/black metal with a lot of industrial touches (in the background there are always present some weird noises and the vocals are completely deformed by effects). Songs like "Sannhetens Plagiat" are really chaotic and congruent at the same time (in fact this one has an interesting "calm" part before entering on the main riff) and the lyrics in third track are in Norwegian. I find this interesting because of the difference between this project and the others that this guys have, this is kind of weirder ( the more similar track to mayhem for example is "President Besters Alimony" but with vocals that are completely different). Fabvorite tracks: "Sannhetens Plagiat", "Entering the Fluid Oxygen" (reminded me of The Kovenant more electronic sound) and "Fields of a new sun". Contact: www.vow.dk 

REVIEW: ULVER - PERDITION CITY

 

ULVER - PERDITION CITY (Jester Recs. , 2000):

Technical Data:

Conceived, performed and recorded by Trickster G. And Tore Ylwizaker.

Mixed by Tore at Beep Jam Studio

Cover Art Concept: Esben Johansen

Track List: 1- Lost in Moments, 2- Porn Piece or the scars of cold kisses, 3- Hallways of Always, 4- Tomorrow never knows, 5- The future sound of music, 6- We are the dead, 7- Dead City Centres, 8- Catalept, 9- Nowhere/Catastrophe 

WARNING: This is not a metal album. And certain close minded fans of Ulver´s release "Nattens Madrigal" will be more horrified with this "Perdition City" than with its predecessor that was also swimming in the seas of electronics. For me this release is as excellent as all Ulver material and one thing that I like from this guys is that they do what they want without thinking about what people would say about them. The material in "Perdition City" (which was financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Affairs) is, like the subtitle says the music for "an interior movie" and that is how one must listen to this. There are no signs of black metal here, just excellent compositions with the use of keyboards, saxophones, guest musicians and female vocals. Anything here is done to give life to that movie: from the jazzy sounds of "Lost in Moments" to the techno like "Tomorrow never knows", to the clean vocals in some places , to the almost ambient beginning in "We are the dead". Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.jester-records.com 

REVIEW: TRANSILVANIA 666 - IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE

 

TRANSILVANIA 666 - IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE (Locomotive Music , 1999):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Box Studios, Madrid, Spain - July/September 1999.

Engineered by Sergio Marcos

Cover Art / Design: Carlos Diez.

Track List:

CD 1: 1-Run To the Hills (Avalanch), 2-Flight of Icarus (Tierra Santa), 3-Charlotte the Harlot (Lujuria), 4-The Evil that Men Do (Azrael), 5-Wasted Years (Skunk D.F.), 6-Wrathchild (Grass), 7-Fear of the Dark (Demonios), 8-Revelations (Twilight)

CD 2: 1-Strange World (Mago de Oz), 2-The Trooper (Easy Rider), 3- Phantom of the Opera (Ankhara), 4-Powerslave (Pyramid), 5-Running Free (Tea), 6-Holy Smoke (Aerobitch), 7-Moonchild (Sentinel), 8-Children of the Damned (Dracon)

This is an Iron Maiden made by Spanish bands and the really interesting thing here is that each band interprets the Iron Maiden classics in really personal versions. For example Tierra Santa starts their cover of "Flight of Icarus" in a very slow way, very different from the opriginal, or Aerobitch makes a punk rock version of "Holy Smoke". I think this is much better than doing the classics in the exact same way than Iron Maiden did. It is good to see that the song choice has taken tracks from Paul Di Anno´s years in Iron Maiden. Obviously there are results that are better than others, for example Azrael make a good version of "The Evil That Men Do" (a little bit more thrashy), on the other side there is Skunk D.F. with a really modern version of "Wasted Years" (the vocals miss some of the feeling here). A very tasty tribute with excellent versions like "Strange World" done by Mago de Oz or "The Trooper" done by Easy Rider (perhaps the vocals here are a little bit thin for my taste). Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com 

REVIEW: SUPERKOLLIDER - SUPERKOLLIDER

 

SUPERKOLLIDER - SUPERKOLLIDER (Wonderdrug Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at New Alliance Studios.

Engineered by Ken Cmar & Ethan Dussault

Produced by Ken Cmar, Ethan Dussault & Superkollider

Cover Art / Design: Duncan Wilder Johnson,  Shaun Mc Carthy and Mimi Boudreau.

Track List: 1-Resolution, 2-Transmission, 3-Mean, 4-Element, 5-Boldface, 6-Painstaking, 7-Human, 8-Blood, 9-Coffee, 10-Lust, 11-Hindsight, 12-Springtime, 13-Sleep

Looking to the over of the CD I expected a more pop sounding band or something more ethereal, but here is Superkollider making me eat my thoughts. Why? Because they make a really modern sounding metal (don´t worry !! This is completely different from bands like Limp Bizkit, no hip hop here). The band that came into my mind more often when listening to this was The Almighty in their heaviest format ("Crank" era), I think specially in the vocals parts and the hooks. The riffs are a cross between metal, hardcore and alternative music with a really fat sound in the guitars. Songs like "Transmission" and "Mean" have enough power to shatter your ears with their crushing riffs and fans of metal and hardcore would most likely be satisfied with this band. Songs like "Element" take a more metal approach in the vein of say Soulfly or Roots-era Sepultura. The thirteen songs here are totally certifuing that you will bang your head along them. Favorite tracks: "Transmission", "Painstaking" (really Almighty) and "Human". Contact: www.wonderdrugrecords.com and www.superkollider.com

REVIEW: STRATUZ - SPIRIT SEDUCTION

 

STRATUZ - SPIRIT SEDUCTION (The LSP Company , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Mixed by David Hernandez at Jam Studios, Caracas / Venezuela.

Mastered by manuel Amengual.

Cover Art / Design: Franklin Berroteran.

Track List: 1- Oh, Ala, Ojalá, 2- Swift Death, 3- Mula, 4- Sleeping Sins, 5- Into the Darkness, 6- Welcome to the Circle, 7- The Last Angel, 8- Return of the Souls, 9- Spirit Seduction

What a contrast !! This CD starts with an introduction with acoustic guitar and harp that sounds a little bit eastern sounding, a little bit latin, before getting into an extreme death metal track. This is death metal directly from Venezuela and they are really powerful, using double bass drumming through all the CD, original riffs and some percussion that enhances the feeling of the CD (like perhaps Sepultura, but more agressive, more guttural, more death metal). Another thing that I like from Stratuz and that I think they should make a trademark of it are the guitar solos that are melodic an technical giving another dimension to the tracks, also there are riffs like the odd-time in "Sleeping Sins" (2:29) that can be very important for Stratuz as an element of identity. To have more elements to consider, check the climatic "Into the Darkness" with excelent riffs and drumming and above all excelent sound (a characteristic of the whole release). Favorite tracks: "Swift Death", "Welcome to the Circle" and "Return of the Souls". Contact: www.lsp-company.com

REVIEW: STEN SANDELL TRIO - STANDING WAVE

 

STEN SANDELL TRIO - STANDING WAVE (Sofa Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Tracks 1 and 5 Recorded live at Blå, Oslo (November 1999) by Bjørn Magne Idland.

Tracks 2, 3 and 4 Recorded live at Munch-museet (October 2000) by Thomas Hukkelberg.

Produced by Sandell Nilsen-Love and Berthling. Co produced by Ivar Grydeland, Ingar Zach and Thomas Hukkelberg.

Cover Painting: "Flag IV" by Terry Nilssen-Love 

Track list: 1-Mural, 2-Standing Wave, 3-Axel, 4-Edvard, 5-Elongate

The Sten Sandell trio is formed by three great musicians: Sten Sandell on piano, Johan Berthling on double bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. From chaotic experimentation to jazz style phrases, this trio follow their path to explore new dimensions. I think this guys are taking as a basis a free jazz style format and starting from there are doing research and exploration on new possibilities. Improvisation and an open mind are essential here. What amazed me most here is the great coherence that all the material has, specially on "Mural" that is a full speed track with great piano lines and an amazing base conformed by Berthling double bass and Nilssen-Love´s drums. "Standing Wave" starts with Nilssen-Love´s drum experimentation before getting in a weird sounding passage with Sandell playing only vey high and very low notes and Berthling extracting sounds from his double bass. After this the trio gets into a textural piece with Sandell playing cascades of notes (Gyorgy Lygeti came to my mind). I specially liked here the longer pieces because surprise strucks you from every corner of this tracks. Once more: open your mind and listen carefully to this awesome musicians. Favorite tracks: "Standing Waves" and "Edvard". Contact: www.norcd.no/sofa or sofa@norcd.no

REVIEW: SPIRITUAL ECLIPSE - AMARANTH

 

SPIRITUAL ECLIPSE - AMARANTH (Hailstorm Prods. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded in Five Records Studio - San José (May 2000)

Produced by Spiritual Eclipse.

Track list: 1-Sangue di lupo, 2-Manifesto, 3-Lamentations of the Lingering Soul, 4-Circle of VII

Interesting band of death/black metal from California. "Sangue di Lupo" is called the first track of this CD and it shows all the main features of the band: interesting riffs, melodies, speed in some places, brutality in others, various types of vocals (one growling type and another of the screaming kind). On the second track, "Manifesto", an acoustic intro opens the gates for a doom rhythm and intro, before getting in a full speed death metal track with an interesting riff at 1:29 (I want to hear more riffs like this one in the music of this guys). What I find more interesting in this band is their use of melodies in places where one would not expect it and the use of very slow passages like the above mentioned mixed with hyper speed blasts. Also, another feature to remark is their use of acoustic guitars and whispering vocals. I think they have a good mixture between brutality and elaboration, a godd equilibrium... My favorite tracks: "Lamentations of the Lingering Soil" (strange vocals in there, full of anguish), "Circle of VII". Contact: http://members.nbci.com/SE7777 or spiritual_eclipse@hotmail.com

REVIEW: SOILS OF FATE - SANDSTORM

 

SOILS OF FATE - SANDSTORM (Retribute Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Mastered at Subsonic Studios.

Produced by Soils of Fate

Cover Art: Jocke

Track List: 1-Life Hijacker, 2-Sandstorm, 3-.44, 4-Stripped Humanity, 5-Half My Blood, 6-Blunted on Reality, 7-Assassins

Form the first pinch harmonics of the beginning riff of "Life Hijacker" until the end os the recording you will find death metal here !!! With extremely guttural vocals that are  almost a growl and make some rhythmic patterns in some places with short words, manic solos that could be longer for my taste and great riffs like on "Life Hijacker" (2:17) or "Sandstorm" (1:51) that I think is the point that the band has to explore deeper in the future, killer double bass drumming ( the bass drums sound quite electronic, maybe they are triggered or something like that I think) with our friend Jocke at the top of his posibilities. There are some odd tempos too, like in "Sandstorm" (0:50) and blast beats (just mention this for the fans of speed). The overall sound is good and I would have mixed the guitars a little bit higher with a little bit more of edge and presence....the best here is the bass sound that is really killer through all this release. I would point out songs like "Half My Blood" or the beginning of " Blunted on reality" that are paths for the band to follow in the future. Favorite Tracks: "Stripped Humanity", "Life Hijacker" and "Half My Blood". Contact: Retribute@aol.com or http://come.to/soilsoffate