Resonance Cascade/Jarnbord/Hyperasku/WOOAAARGH/Downfall Records/2017 Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  Sweden's  Resonance  Cascade  and  Jarnbord  called  "Hyperakusi"   which  will  be  released  in  2017  as  a  joint  effort  between  WOOAAARGH  and  Downfall  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Resonance  Cascade  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  grindcore  and  d  beat.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  guitar  sound  before  speeding  and  up  going  into  a  grindcore  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  screams  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  touch  of  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  and  elements  of  harsh  noise  can  also  be  heard  at  times.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  their  side  of  the  split  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  d  beat  elements  along  with  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  spoken  word  samples can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  sound.

  Resonance  Cascade  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  brutal  grindcore,  Swedish  death  metal  and  d  beat  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Resonance  Cascade  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  grindcore  and  d  beat  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out    their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Dead  Peasants"  "Rid  Of  Reason"  "Death  Approaching"  and  "Failure".

  Next  up  is  Jarnbord  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  grindcore  and  punk.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  spoken  word  samples  before  going  into  a  heavier  grindcore  direction  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  hardcore  punk  style  shouting  and  yelling and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  most  of  their  tracks  are  very  short  in   length  while  also  adding  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  atmospheric  sounds  while  the  music  always  remains  brutal  while saxophones a re  used  for  a  few  seconds  on  the  last  track.

  Jarnbord  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  grindcore  and  mixes  it  with  hardcore  punk  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics are  written  in  Swedish  and  cover  issues  of  enduring  and  maintaining  your  sense  in  an  idiotic  world.

  In  my  opinion  Jarnbord  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  grindcore  and  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "65  Sen  Doden"  "Lets  Die"  and  "Nykter  Utsovd  Pumpad".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  crust,  hardcore,  d  beat  and  grindcore.  8  out  of  10.

Blastomycosis/Covered In Flies And Afterbirth/CDN Records/2017 CD Review

  Blastomycosis  are  a  band  from  Toronto, Ontario  Canada  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  guttural  form  of  death metal  with  some  touches  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Covered  In  Flies  And  Afterbirth"  which  will  be  released  in  2017  by  CDN  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  brutal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  after  awhile  guttural  growls  and  technical  guitar  leads  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  High  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  at  times  and  they  also  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  mid  tempo  sections  also  mix  in  elements  of  slam  and  most of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  only  use  on  some  of  the  tracks  and  elements  of  grindcore  can  also  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  heavy  musical  direction.

  Blastomycosis  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  technical,  brutal,  and  slam  styles  of  death  metal  and  mixes  in  some  grindcore  and  black  metal  elements  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  whores,  death,  gore  an  mutilation  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Blastomycosis  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  with  some touches  of  black  metal  and grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Covered  In  Flies  And  Afterbirth"  "Fucked  In  Two"  "Amazon  Crotch  Rot"  and  "Meat  Hooker".  8  out  of  10.   

Hereza/I Become Death/Godz Of War Productions/2017 CD Review

  Hereza  are  a  band  from  Croatia  that  plays  a  punk  influenced  form  of  death  metal  on  this  recording  and  this  is  a  review of  their  album  "I  Become  Death"  which  will  be  released  in  2017  by  Godz  Of  War  Productions.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  which  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  along  with  both  d  and  blast  beats  onto  the  recording  and  the  music  also  brings  in  90's  style  Swedish  influences  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  punk  influences  and  spoken  word  samples  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  the  album  progresses  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  finally utilized  they  remain  very  true  to  a  melodic  and  old  school  style of  death  metal  and  screams  are  also  used at  times  and  clean  guitars  are  added  onto  the  last  track.

  Hereza  creates  a  recording  that  has  the  old  school  death  metal  style  of  their  previous  release  while  also  mixing  in  more  punk  and  d  beat  elements this time  around,  the  production  sounds very  old  school  while  the  lyrics are  written  in  a  mixture  of  English  and  Croatian  and  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  from  Hereza  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  or  punk  influenced  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "I  Become  Death"  "In  The  Name  Of  God"  "Torn  From  the  Death's  bed"  and  "Tombcrawler". 8  out  of  10.   

The Drip/The Haunting Fear Of Inevitability/Relapse Records/2017 CD Review

  The  Drip  are  a  band  from  Seattle,  Washington  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  crust,  power  violence  and  grind  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "The  Haunting  Fear  Of  Inevitability"  which  will  be  released  in  2017  by  Relapse  Records.

  A  very  heavy sound  along  with  some  aggressive  hardcore  style  vocals  start  off  the  album  and  all  of the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  when t he  music  speeds up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  screams  are  also  add  into  some  parts  of t he  songs  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  groove.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and fast  parts  and  a  great  amount  of  crust  and  d  beat  elements  can  be  heard along  with  the  rawness  and  brutality  of  grindcore  and  power  violence  and  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  briefly  they are don  in  more  of  a  dark  and  melodic  style  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  heavy musical  style.

  The  Drip  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  grindcore,  crust,  power  violence  and  d  beat  mixture  of  their  previous  release,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  the  Drip  and  if  you  are  a  fan o f  grindcore,  d  beat,  power  violence  and  crust,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Anathema"  "Covered  In  Red"  "Wretches'  and  "Bone  Chapel'.  8  out  of  10.     

Endorphins Lost/Choose Your Way/Six Weeks Records/2016 LP Review

  Endorphins  Lost  are  a  band  from  Seattle,  Washington  that  plays  a  mixture  of  power  violence, g rind,  crust  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Choose Your Way"  which  was  released  by  Six  Weeks  Records.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  power  violence  direction  which  also  uses  blast  beats  and  aggressive  hardcore  vocals  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  along  with  a  great  amount  of  d  beat  elements  and  grindcore  screams  are  used  at  times.

  Melodic  riffing  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  songs  and  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  add  in  a  more  old  school  metal/punk  style  and  some  of  the  fast  riffing  also  brings  in  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  as  the  album  progresses  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  heavy  musical  direction.

  Endorphins  Lost  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  grind,  power  violence,  crust  and  hardcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the lyrics  cover  misanthropy and  the  inherit  dysfunction  of  mankind.

  In  my  opinion  Endorphins  Lost  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of grind,  power  violence,  crust  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Shut  In"  "Choose  Your  Way"  "Rambo  Syndrome"  and  "Torture  Report".  8  out  of  10. 

Pissed On Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We're a grindcore band from Louisville, Kentucky. We started as a powerviolence band in 2015 and eventually grew our sound after bringing in more and more different influences like Swans, Carcass, and Darkthrone.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?

Fast. Nasty. Chaotic. Loud. You know, that good devil music.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Our original demo was a bunch of songs like "I hate you', and our split with Street Rat was a bunch of songs more like "I hate me". Our new record, The Hanged Man, is a lot more mature. This record follows a character completely enveloped in nihilism who has become too pained and angry with the world to continue living. This is his final manifesto.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Pissed On'?

Would you believe me if I said it's from an A$AP Ferg song?

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band are you planning on expanding your line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

From our insemination this band has been Tyler Byers, our primary songwriter and my bestfriend, and I. No matter what, that lineup is the core of Pissed On. We're trying out some people to fill other positions, so who knows.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has done so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Off the top of my head some our most memorable shows would have to be when we played with GLOSS in our home town. They put on a killer show and are some of the nicest people we've met. Our third show ever as a band was opening the Knocked Loose/Damaged Goods split release show. I think that's when we realized this band could be something more than we ever envisioned. We also just played Snow and Flurry Fest in Fargo and the reaction there was pretty awesome. We're really loud and chaotic and we incorporate harsh noise so you never really know how people are going to react to that.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We're booking a lot of tours in support of The Hanged Man. Basically, we're hitting everywhere.

8.The ep is coming out on 'Advocate Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Advocate is a very young label run by some amazing people and good friends of ours. They're old fashioned in the sense that they really care about the music and keeping their artists happy. They know that as musicians, this is our art and they really do want to help us put it out to the world the way that we envisioned it. I don't think I could feel more comfortable with anyone else.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of grindcore?

It's been kind of crazy honestly. We've had people reach out from places like Germany, England, Canada, and South America. I never really expected our music to even leave our hometown.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your band and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Originally we were really influenced by some of the legendary powerviolence bands like Infest and Spazz, but also more modern bands like Ceremony and Trash Talk. Now we take in a lot of music to allow us to kind of build our own version of extreme metal. Personally, I've been listening to Chelsea Wolf, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Young Thug.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I really like art whether its just drawing or painting. My girlfriends actually an art student and has been trying to teach me. I'm also very into movies, horror specifically. I'd really like to write and direct my own horror short sometime.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Just want to say thanks for the interview and thanks to everyone who's supported us so far. I'm really excited to put out this record and see and people's reactions. Up until this point I feel as though we haven't shown what we're fully capable of and this record is just the beginning.

Vanha Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
-Janne: Vanha is a Doom Metal Duo, consisting of myself, Jan "Janne" Johansson (Vocals/Guitars/Keyboards), and Jesse Oinas (Drums).

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
-Janne: The sound overall is downhearted, dark, heavy & melodic.
-Jesse: And slow, slow as hell.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
-Janne: It´s a lot of darkness, depression & overall hopelessness.
It´s the craving of an end of life, how meaningless it is and how nothing really matters.
At the same time as one wishes there could be more to life.
But sadly there isn´t.
We´re here, we die, darkness.

4.I know that the bands name means 'Old' in Finnish, how does this name ft in with the musical style that you play?
-Janne: Eventually, most of us, get old, and thereafter die.
So that word becomes powerful in a sense & important within the music.
I could elaborate on that, but it would also require a few pages of text so..

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?
-Janne: As of this point, we will remain a duo,
due to the lack of time to pursue a full lineup, rehearsals, gigs etc.
But who knows, perhaps one day we´ll get a "full lineup" and do just that.
Play live that is..

6.The album is coming out on 'Black Lion Productions', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
-Janne: Of course. Just getting a deal as a duo is hard enough. So we´re grateful for that.
The communication between us and the label is good as well.
So we´ve been treated very well.
-Jesse: Very well, to say the least.
They´ve been patient and accommodating.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom and death metal?
-Janne: Well that´s hard to say. The album isn´t out yet, and the single came out just a few days ago, but I can tell you that there has been nothing negative about it.
Let´s just say good stats and thumbs up, for now.

8.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
-Janne: I´ve been working on my other project Frostvang, for a possible new release in 2017 and this new band I´ve got going on with other folks, still keeping that a secret until it´s time to unveil it.
And, on top of that, Jesse and I have some plans for a possible Black Metal project.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
-Janne: It´s hard to answer that, since we kind of take things as they come.
But the music won´t change in some way, meaning it will be kept dark, heavy & melodic.
-Jesse: And slow.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
-Janne: Metal & Classical music has been my inspiration. Sentenced, Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, Beseech, to name a few quick ones.
Also more extreme bands like Deicide or my personal classical favorite Vivaldi.
-Jesse: I don´t listen that much to Doom Metal, to be honest.
Black Sabbath is as close as it gets. I don´t know if that´s a good thing or not, but it seems
it worked out well in the end, and it´s great to try something new.
Black Metal is what I listen to generally. Dark Throne and Horna in particular.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
-Janne: Family, Painting, Horrormovies, Nature, History.
-Jesse: Family, Fishing, Nature.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
-Janne: Just thanks to anyone who listens to the music.
-Jesse: Yeah, thanks to all of you who listens.

Vanha/Within The Mist Of Sorrow/Black Lion Productions/2016 CD Review

  Vanha  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Within  the  Mist  Of  Sorrow"  which  will  be  released  on  December  28th  by  Black  Lion  Productions.

  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  and  melodic  sound  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  and  clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  spoken  word  parts  are  also  utilized  at  times and  the  solos  and  elads  are  also  done  in  a  melodic  fashion.

  Most  of  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  90's  style  of  doom/death  metal  and  the  keyboards  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  gothic  horror  at  times and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  singing  vocals  along  with  violins  are  added  on  some  of  the  tracks  and  a  couple  of  songs  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  and  they  close  the  recording  with  an  instrumental.

  Vanha  plays  an  atmospheric  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  era  of  the  genre,   the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

 In  my  opinion  Vanha  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  mixture  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Into  The  Cold  Light"  and  "Desolation".  8  out  of  10.

                                        

 

Henry Kane/Den Forstorda Manniskans/Transcending Obscurity Records/2017 CD Review

  Henry  Kane  are  a  band  from  Sweden t hat  plays  a  mixture  of  old  school  Swedish  style  death  metal  and  crustcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Den  Forstorda  Manniskans"  which  will  be  released  in  2017  by  Transcending  Obscurity  Records.

 Growing  vocals  and  heavy  yet  melodic  riffing  starts  off  the  album  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  style  of  Swedish  death  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the   recording.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  most of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  and  also  mixes  in  elements  of  crust  and  d  beat  while also having  some  of  the  raw  aggression  of  grindcore  and  high  pitched  screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  one  track  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  classical  guitars  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  Henry  Kane  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  crust  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own, the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Swedish  and  cover  post  apocalyptic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Henry  Kane  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  metal  and  crust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Svarta  Tankar"  "Dragen  I  Skiten"  "Bon  For  Bon"  and  "Vinst  Eller  Folust".  8  out  of  10.