Gravestone/Sickening/Raw Skull Recordz/2018 CD Review

 Gravestone  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  d  beat  infleunced  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Sickening"  which  will  be  released  in  2018  by  Raw  Skull  Recordz.

  A  few seconds  of  horror  movie  style  keyboards  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier direction  which  also  introduces  melodic  guitar  leads  onto  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful sound  to  them  along  with  some  elements  of  d  beat  and  punk.

  Vocals  are  mostly  old  school  death  metal  growls  that  are  very  heavy  to understand  while  the  music is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  songs  also  bring  in   a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  always  remains  heavy.

  Gravestone  plays  a  style  of  Swedish  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  while  also  adding  in  touches  of  d  beat  and  punk,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  death  and  blasphemy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gravestone  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  with  a  touch  of  d  beat  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Timbthrasher"  "Behead  The  Bastard"    "Necromaniac"  and  "By  The  Knife".  8  out  of  10.  

My Silent Wake/There Was Death/Minotauro Records/2018 CD Review

  My  Silent  Wake  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  has  been featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  returns  back  to  an  atmospheric  mixture  of  goth,  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "There  Was  Death"  which  will  be  released  in  2018  by  Minotauro  Records.

  Keyboards  and  dark  yet  melodic doom  metal  riffing  starts  off  the  album  while  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  goth  elements  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the  vocals  being  mostly death  metal  growls  and  screams.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful sound  to  them  while  atmospheric  synths  can  also  be  heard  on  some  of  the  tracks  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in a   great  amount  of  melody  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in a   very  melodic  fashion.

   When  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  as  the  album  progresses  some  songs  also  bring  in  spoken  words  and  acoustic  guitars while  clean  male  and  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as the  music  mixing  a  90's  style  in  with  a  more  modern  atmosphere  and  on  the  last  track  ethnic  music  elements  are  added  onto  the  recording.

  On  this  recording  My  Silent  Wake  moves  away  from t he  experimental  style  of  their  last  release  and return  back  to  a  more  atmospheric  and  gothic  doom/death  metal  direction, t he  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  faith,  loss  of  faith,  fear  and  despair  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  My  Silent  Wake  and  if  you  are  a fan  of  goth  and  atmospheric  doom/death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Dying  Man's  Wish"  "Ghosts Of  Parlous  Life's"  and  "An  End  To  Suffering".  8  out  of 10.

Wardomized Interview

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

We started of as a Crossover Thrash band in March 2014 with our old drummer Josh and Luke, we released a Crossover EP then started leaning more towards the death metal route with a final single from the band called Strained, we started leaning more towards Grindcore with the new line up that got together December 2016.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

We were heavily influenced by Napalm Death old and new, Impetigo and early Nirvana on our new EP 'Forced To Eat From The Apple Tree' we recorded it live to get that dirty repulsive raw sound and we wanted to combine the intensity of grindcore with old school death metal and the sludgyness and sound of early grunge in there too especially with the track 'Blue, White and Black Flowers'

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

The lyrics are mostly about dealing with depression and other topics like that but we mix all that with horror film imagery

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

Our original drummer came up with the name it essentially means the war you struggle with inside your head every day

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

Best shows for us have to be that time we played with Gama Bomb at in Belfast, our shows around Belfast promoting our new release and over in Basque Country when we played Bilbao Deathfest 3 and a show in Vitoria

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

We are hitting France and Belguim for a tour in January actually so early start for us next year! also planning a European tour in April with our friends UK Grindcore band Boycott the Baptist

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Well we are looking for a label to release our album we have started working on to be released in the future but so far we have been doing everything DIY

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal and grindcore?

We got a great recpetion from 'Forced To Eat From The Apple Tree' I would say its the best we have done, our previous release 'Red Death Flows Through My Veins'  before that we liked but wasnt perfect it helped us relaunch the band with the new line up but we really found our sound on the new release and the tours are getting more regular and exposure so its been all good for us

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

I (Eddie) do vocals in Ireland Hyper Thrash band Acid Age we are currently writing a new album at the moment, I also play guitar in Irish Crust Punk/Crossover thrash band Deathbus we are writing for an album at the moment too and just finished a Spanish and a UK tour over the last year, Mike our bass player plays bass for Irish Black Metal band Neamhni who are writing at the moment and released an EP at the start of the year.

10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Probably after summer next year maybe if we get enough time to write inbetween shows, either that or late next year will want to heave it out before 2018, we have a split coming soon with Disconnect and Shrapnel Meat too, We are going to continue where 'Forced To Eat From The Apple Tree' left off intense angry as all hell grindcore mixed with old school angry grunge

11.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?

Grindcore, Thrash Metal, Crust Punk, Grunge, so much more we love everything we are really influenced by stuff like Napalm Death, Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Deftones, Nirvana, Impetigo, Terrorizer, Therapy?, Anal Cunt we could go on for days if music has the right attitude and feel to it we love it, will also note that The new Cavalera Conspiracy album is probably my favourite album this year.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

We like to party hard and play Road Rash and Sonic

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

Forced To Eat From The Apple Tree is out now on bandcamp, youtube and is coming to spotify and more soon! Grindcore scene worldwide we are coming for you!