Korgonthurus - Vuohen siunaus

After 7 bleak years this Finnish hordes second full album sees the moon light of the night.

Last album "Marras" was one of my first listens i had with Korgonthurus and it was really good in a really
unwelcoming way with its choking harrowing sound, repeating compositions that sucked your life out.... an album that not is not for everyone but that is just as it shall be i think...music that is against its listener is one part that is very suitable for Black metal.

Now under these many years the three members have increased into five and with that a new explosive sound has evolved through the cold veins of the band, this album release as a whole feels like that they really went out to lay waste with their new power! It feels like a pretty big production with all from the high caliber artwork from Daniel Corcuera(and the sweet booklet design, but i like their original logo better) to the grand mixing that both retains the raw misanthropic old sound with a new epic war machine assault sound.

Straight from the bat you get attacked with great flesh tearing compositions that contains both heavy head banging parts as icy sorrowful strings, Corvus extremely harsh vocals is great as always and leads this genocide horde with a firm hand. You will really be run over!

No fillers here just top notch Finnish black metal from start to end..sure it is a bit easier to get into this then Marras but that wont take any quality away from Vuohen siunaus!
This album is also i feel like a crystallization of the many strong parts from Finlands great satanic musical climate and having said that this is a no brainer to go out and get this beast!

Tracklist:

1.     Kaaos     04:58    
2.     Puhdistuksen tulet     05:55    
3.     I.K.P.N     06:45    
4.     Vuohen siunaus     05:10    
5.     Inho     04:33    
6.     Ihmisyyden raunioilla     06:48    
7.     L.U.X.     14:19    
                        Total:48:28   

Band link:

https://www.facebook.com/KorgonthurusOfficial/?fref=ts

label link:

http://www.woodcutrecords.com/main.html

INVOCATION Interview!

Ritualistic & Hypnotic Black/Death Metal from Chile!

1. Hailz & welcome into the Swedish realm of RAW WAR!

-Ave!, thanks to RAW WAR and all the readers for the interest in the band...

2. As INVOCATION came into the light this year i guess you started this entity last year or earlier? What was your ideas and thoughts behind INVOCATIONs existence? And  how did the members meet?

-INVOCATION is born in 2015 composed by 3 black entities, very old friends with clear ideas…
in our first rehearsal we downtune our guitars/bass and the first track “Devout Effusions” born immediately...

3. First you released the single "Emanations" with the extra track Hypnosis(is this the same song as on the demo?), was this self released and can you speak about why you choose this tracks and what the lyrics is about?
I guess the name speaks for its self...

-You're right it's the same recording and it was distributed "for free" around all the interested people
(obviously financed by us), we sent packages to Germany, Greece, Poland, France, Italy, Mexico, Canada,
Brasil, Perú, Bolivia and almost all Chilean cities, as our first advance tracks we wanted to show our
deep and morbid sound, "Emanations" it's a simple Black/Death track with an excellent atmosphere and
chorus with lyrics about the gates of the deep abyss and the despair in which we are, for other side
 "Hypnosis" is more complex in terms of composition with a lot of changes and slow/fast parts with
nice vocals and lyrics about a possession through a médium in a spiritual ceremony "Face to face,
across the knees, unoccupied, Bring the sign, through the night, mystifying, ... Indicate your presence..."


4. The 4-track demo "Seance Part. I" was then released by Godz ov War Productions, how did you come in contact and how is it to work with them? What can you say about this first complete demo? Who did the logo and cover art?
Really great ones!

-Godz ov War did the first contact a couple of months ago, the idea of work with a foreign SERIOUS label was a priority for us, so, we choose this Poland Label for release "Seance Part: I" immediately, we have a very good communication with GoW in all the aspects and we are very thankful for the edition, we had a few setbacks but everything it's OK. I can't say anything bad about this demo, it was sold out very fast, so, right now we're working on our next ritual...
The logo was made by the master "Daniel Corcuera" (Slaughtbbath) from a sketch sent by us, as always, he did a fantastic work... the cover art was made by Mike Lawrence, he is an unknown artist for Death Metal covers, but at that moment, we wanted a simple drawing (with pointillism techniques) and clearly, he did an
excellent work in very short time, AVE!!!!

5. There is pretty much metal activity in Chile but from which background do you come from? Have you been into death all your life or also other music? Is there some good band from your city?

-Sure, the Chilean Metal is in very good position and was a consequence for our true essence and compromise with the underground traditions, we take this very seriously, I'm a fanatic of the traditional metal, specifically the Black and Death Metal sound and all the underground arts, I have 2 fanzines (since 2009), a distro and a lot of more things, so clearly this is not a trend for us... I can recommend some good new bands of the Chilean underground acts like Malignant Asceticism, Scientiam Templum, Black Beast, Verbum, Devotion, Buried, Putrefactio, Violent Scum, Black Ceremonial Kult!, Insurrexion, etc.


6. And how is the general life standard where you live? Is it hard to both stay alive and be active in a band?

-At this moment i am in an obscure trance, i don't care what the people do or say, and considering the actual
socioeconomic status of my country and south America in general, obviously is hard to stay in a band...

7. Have you plans for Seance Part. II?

-Yes, besides the ”South American Version” of Seance Part: I demo, We’re planning a Split and a 7” EP for
early 2017 (probably with 2-3 songs), so we have a lot of work to do… hope this material bring us a lot of
 gigs to show this morbid sound in all the possible places…


8. Please speak about the "South American version" of "Seance Part: I"

-We have an agreement to release ”Seance Part: I” in pro cassette (200 copies) through Destruktor-Records from Perú as a ”South American Version”, this will include two exclusive tracks called ”ZoZo (Instrumental)” and
”Medium”, this will be out the first days of September 2016 a.b.


9. Will it be INVOCATIONs first live ritual when supporting the Black Metal band AMMIT on their "Tour of No Return"?
What can you tell about the other bands playing this night?

-For now, yes, that gig with the legendary AMMIT will be the first live ceremony, so INVOCATION will be the rookie band haha!, about the other bands i can't say much, but i like Invincible Force a lot their last album it's a blast!
Pure Southamerican Death/Black/Thrash Metal!!! and Henosis has a nice live show with chains and black veils, so expect pure hypnotic darkness!!!!

10. Thanks for your time answering these questions!

Thanks for your interest in the band, mors vincit omnia

Band link:
https://www.facebook.com/invocationtemple/?fref=ts

Infernal Diatribe - Videha Mukti

I dont have a big in depth knowledge about the death/black extreme metal scene in India little less Kolkata...the only band that comes to my mind is Tetragrammacide... so i did not really know what to expect from Infernal Diatribe... From the nice cover artwork one can assumed that it would be somewhat serious occult direction which can be true in some aspects.(i dont have access to lyrics so)

The actual musical sound and construction remind me of some of the old classic aggressive black metal bands like Marduk, Gorgoroth, 1349, Dark Funeral and such and so forth, quite heavy leaning towards speedy blast beats (real drummer?No I guess it is Naztaz is the name of the drum programmer) on drums and cold & melancholic guitar compositions . Classic raspy Bm vocals that works well except for the high pitched squeal cries which sounds just funny...i guess that is not the purpose here to laugh... but that one just surfaces sometimes so no big damage.
 Quite long songs also but they work fine from start to finish, both can be violent and a bit hypnotic.

They write in their description that they play Raw Black Metal...nothing really raw here, normal balanced production and i dont think they need real raw sound either so this is just fine.
If i did not know i would believe this band was from Europe which is not bad of course but it would be more exiting with some local mysticism embedded into their sound but besides that they have a competent sound.

The Cry is the best track with a good main guitar composition that brings out sorrow and darkness. Nothing new but quite solid stuff with classic European touch.

Overall this is a focused and nice debut Ep and it is evident that they work on their music so i think they will grow stronger from release to release...depending on how sincere they are with the content...


Out on Transcending Obscurity Distribution

Crematory Stench Interview!

1. Greetings into the Swedish coldness!
How is the undead life in satanic California?

A: Hails! Pretty well out here, recently getting on more serious bills!

I love Bill

2. First standard question is of course: where,when and how Crematory Stench came to existance?
Was there some weird fate that beamed members towards each others?

A: Crematory Stench started 1 years ago, took off very fast actually. It was founded by the guitarist J. Aguilar and me (E.Cruz). We got E.Barajas (guitarist) and M. Valencia(drums) about a 3 months later. Put 4 songs together.

3. Have you been able to cool down after the gig two days ago in the Death Metal invasion?
How was it all? You played last month also right?

A: Yea a really great gig! Went very well lots of people there that night.
yea we played with Hellhunter. Next month with Undergang from Denmark.
We'll be taking some time off until october and come full force for Deathhammers first ever California appearance!

4.The Fermented Remains song is filthy and heavy in that good old school way, how did you get in on this path in life?
Was there a good Death scene in Orange County that fueled your young fire back in the day? Do you remember some local band that you liked that just vanished?

A: We've always been super into old school death metal, demo tapes and lots of the newer bands like Deathcult, Venefixion, Venenum and Excoriate. So it just made sense to do Death Metal. Nothing here actually. It's quite dead as far as bands go that we are interested in.

5. How has the creative work been for this 7"? Any ups & downs?

A: Everything went smooth, Im usually in charge of the graphics and image. Song writing is left to J. Aguilar & E. Barajas. We all knew what we wanted. Days before recording the songs we spent time looking over older albums and newer albums, demo tapes etc. Chose on what we wanted and got Olof from Enforcer to mix it, Been a fan of his mixing. Wanted it to have a very old school sound, No triggers, no over the top production.

6. Did the promo get out on tape or just cd?

A: Just a CD, We handmade 10 for a show we had. Sold out the same night. The following day FDA got a hold of us and we never made more.

7. How is the rest of 2016 planned?

A: Well we have our show with Undergang and taking a break until October for Deathhammer. Using that to finish up the album. Which writing should be done by the end of 2016 and hopefully record late 2016/early 2017.

8. After this 7" what lies ahead regarding releases? full album? Split?

A: Full album

9. If you have not heard i recommend Incarceration, Pestilent Death, Carnal Tomb & God Disease

A: I'll make sure to give them a listen thanks!

10. Thanks for you time. last word is yours!

A: Cheers to all you maniacs! See you in hell

Band link:
https://www.facebook.com/crematorystench/

Some nice merch

Svorg - In Spirit and Mist

Here we have a new band or duo i should say called Svorg and it is based in London, Repktkor (vocals & bass) comes from bands like  Nahemia, Reffus, Enjure/Injure,Exquisite Ending etc and Vali (Guitarr & drum programming) comes from somewhere...dont have any info on that. Either way last time i heard something Repktkor was involved with was the nice debut from Reffus which i liked and felt they could have some kind of future but Svorg comes on top here!

From the start you hear it is what you can guess it should be and sound like, raw second wave bm with a bleak melancholic hateful atmosphere. nothing new or original but it has plenty of bleeding convincing soul here and good cold effective riffings like in track 3, it is really feels "real" that song as the emotions gets to you as in more then one plane. track 4 & 7 is the other best tracks here but as a whole it is well balanced.
 Vocals is great with harsh raspy menacing style but also has something extra in it...how should i put it... a evident pain that comes through. Maybe Repktkors best work so far.

The digital drums works fine, nothing i get bothered by and the whole production is raw and strong. nice rough texture.

A bit primitive debut but it never forgets to put in work to do good horrific songs, dont know why but i feel that if Svorg did some concept focused album with some ambient parts and such they could work wonders...just a feeling.

I hope they will be picked up by some label and if/when they gets that i hope they do some more organic cover art as a cg cover (looks like that anyway)  never looks fine for raw black metal hehe.


Track list:

1.	Dark Ritual	05:05
2.	Tears of Nature	03:45
3.	Eater of Souls	07:17
4.	Ceremony of Satanas	04:09
5.	In Spirit and Mist	04:54
6.	Silence	05:11
7.	Void of Despair	03:10
Total:		33:31

Oath - Mustan liekin veljeskunta

I have been looking forward to this new Oath album some time now and after last years split with Azaghal which had two of the bands best songs so far (and the longest) i had pretty high expectations for this new one, was i disappointed?

Not a chance in hell i was!
This second full album (but slightly shorter then the last) keeps up the high standards that Oath has always had, well structured atmospheric and sometimes almost meditative cold black metal is their style, nothing has changed here but as long as they can forge enough strong compositions i dont want their sound to change either so....

Last album was a bit longer but the songs was a bit shorter which worked good and these new longer tracks works just as good but i would not mind one more song to round the album off as the last song here is the least memorable compared to the first four great songs!
But that is just a minor thing as repeated spins on this "Mustan liekin veljeskunta" is no problem, hard to get tired of the songs that is for sure.
( i think track 3 & 4 is the best but it is hard to choose, one song has a very tasteful violin integrated into it that is one of the highlights of the album)
 Harsh vocals, icy strings with a flair for melancholic melodies, good backbone drums and bass is what you will find here inside of this Finnish ritual cave!

 A extra plus to the photos and design of this release! Really love it!

Production is good as before nothing to really say here, just solid and accurate for this music.

Track list:

1.     Aamutähden poika     07:27    
2.     Lankeemuksen tuhannet kasvot     07:47    
3.     Khaos     06:35    
4.     Amen Apollymi     05:07    
5.     Pedon profetia     09:36    
             Total: 36:32   

Band link:
https://www.facebook.com/Oath-560816623947688/?fref=ts

Label link:
https://www.facebook.com/Immortalfrostproductions/?fref=ts

IDOLATRY - Visions from the Throne of Eyes

After a debut Ep and a split Canadas very own Idolatry delivers now a well forged and lethal sword for all to experience!

It has been some very clear and large steps towards the throne this band has made under a short time, the Ep and split had a strong feelings of fighting forward, searching for their own black nectar to drink from....

...And here within these trembling walls or should i say within this hell twisting-void Idolatry has now found their true ground! First spin i was amazed of its share rage and relentless satanic attack and the second spin and onwards it just grew and grew. Two things that is really working here is one the overall engulfing effect from the way the members deliver their parts, two the songs structure is of course in many ways traditional but they is constructed with great dynamic mix (besides 2nd bm wave cold riffs some nice thrash riffs push this further up) of parts that rips off your shorts (and your genitalia if you are unlucky) and off heavy atmospheric bits that brings your thoughts to the end of times.

The production is organic and well mixed and has a kind of smokey vibe to it...well of course there is smoke when there is fire!

Another thing that i really think makes this record one of this years favorite albums is the multi layered architecture in vocal department, a nice variation of dribbling gremlin vocals to harsh raspy ones to strong clean but cold screams etc...feels sometimes like the whole band is chanting for the veil to break and let the Lightbringer into our dimension.

 Grand intense black metal that never lets up!

Best tracks is 3,7,9 (last song is extra mighty and a nice touch with the sound of fire and screams in the end)

Both a cd and a vinyl edition is out now from Humanity´s Plague. (see link below)
And it also for me personally a proud time as i did the artworks and layouts!

Track list:

1.     Visions from the Throne of Eyes (Pt. I)     02:08    
2.     Thunder from the Depths     05:52    
3.     Satanas häxan     05:16    
4.     Anachronistic Might of Spellcasting     04:20    
5.     Cathartic Expulsion of Shrieking Sorrow     04:52    
6.     Visions from the Throne of Eyes (Pt. II)     05:09    
7.     Tiamatic Winds     03:52    
8.     Illuminated Ominous Darkness     04:40    
9.     Imperator Nero Murmurationis Hortum     07:30    
                    Total: 43:39    

Vinyl version

Label link:
https://www.facebook.com/HumanitysPlagueProdBlackMetal/?fref=nf

Band link:

https://www.facebook.com/idolatryblackmetal/?fref=ts

ARCADA Interview!

Luciferian magic straight from Lima Peru!

1. Greetings to Swedens own RAW WAR!

- R. Here. Salutes to RAW WAR!

2. As i know nothing really here i start with the standard questions.
Arcada started around 2012 from what i read and you three in the band has been active in bands before (and under) like Evil Spectrum, Two Face Sinner and Morbid Slaughter so i guess you met in connection with these band activities, with your own words  how did you guys talk around starting this new band? What was important to create that you could not do in the other bands? 
What does the band name mean? (love the logo by the way)

-Arcada was founded by R. and V. on late 2012.
We wanted to create a PURE Black Metal band.
The atmosphere, coldness and grimness are very important facts to us, and that needed to be reflected on our music. I was recluted by Evil Spectrum on 2014, by the time they were recording their 7" EP.
 J.K.  joined Morbid Slaughter as a replacement of their last drummer as an official member
on 2015, he remained until the band splited up. V. just supported TFS on some live shows as
 a non-official member, he never recorded anything with them. Arcada is like a sigh, a choke,
a last breath of death.

3. First demo "Aeon ov Lucifer" came out in 2013, tape and/or cd? How did you come in contact with Depressive Illusions Records?  

- V. made the contact with the label. He sent the tracks and we had a good response.
 It was released up to 100 tapes and 33 CD's on a DVD Box-Set (with a different cover-art)

4. What can you say about the songs here? Did the first songs came out like you intended?

- This tracks were a rehearsal we had with J.K (by the time as a session member).
The tracks were sort of a "prototype" for us. If you listen carefully, Prophet and Lux ov Eternity have a different structure on the next demo-tape Serpent's Void, as
we had a more concrete idea about how to perform them.

5. In 2014 "Serpent's Void" came out, was it a self released tape? How many copies and what response did you get? Clean and good style cover art.Feels like the 4 songs is placed in a dramaturgic order, was it a planned concept?

- We expected to release the second demo limited to 100 copies.
We had 40 tapes that were distributed by us and the rest were (and still)
distributed by Destruktor Records on a pro-tape version with a mini-flyer included (some of them with my blood). We distribute our material to certain people or labels, so, at the beggining Arcada was known by a small amount of people.
We had our debut opening for Inquisition where the local's seem'd to be surprised by a new BM band. Anyways, that’s the way we think a Black Metal band should act,
like a silent attack from the shadows. And yes, the order was on purpose.

6. Last year the newest release got out or really it is a cd compilation but only 3 songs? And is the Ego Sum Lucifer new or just not released earlier? What was the reason to release this mini compilation? 
Did it reach more people?

-The PROMO-MMXV wasn't a compilation, It was just a promotional CD-r to distribute
the band on a more accessible way (mail service sucks in Peru, also is expensive) to
send to other labels outside the country. So it shouldn’t be considered as an "official" release.
Ego Sum Lucifer is a new track that will be on the next 7" EP.


7. I guess new evil spells is in creation for Arcada now, what can you tell about the future music? Will there be a full album or Ep or split? 


-As I was saying on the last question, we have already recorded the songs for our next release.
The 7" EP will be available under Destruktor Records, hopefully, this year; it will contain two tracks.
The cover art was in charge of the occultist Jose Gabriel Alegria Sabogal (aka HATRUL).
We aim to release a full lenght on the future.

8. Are you in talks with some label for next release?
....And i would love to get a Arcada t-shirt or patch.

- By the time, we have signed a contract with the local label Destruktor Record's.
We haven't released any merch yet, but hopefully we will.

9. Besides Arcada is there some news you like to spread from the other bands you are active in?

- Evil Spectrum's next split with Glorification from Paraguay "Mystical Dimension of the Almighty Serpent" !

10. Thanks for your time. last scream is yours!

- 666