Luciferian Rites - When the Light Dies

Here is the sophomore album from the this relative new Mexican cult, as they proclaims themselves to be heavy influenced by the harsh and cold Finnish BM-climate one likes me (Finn-lover) will stop and take notice!

As i have not heard their first album or the demo before that i can not tell how they have evolved but sure is there some Finnish satanic winds blowing through here!
I think though that which is good anyway that they show both their own roots as much their inspiration...

From the start its full on satanic action with some moodier variations like song 8 (one of the best also), traditional in content and in execution just as the band intended i guess.
The music is draped in grand melancholic and traditionally melodic darkness that can be found on in Finland (often though i think that the Finns have often a harsher approach to their production sound and has a broader cultivate taste in Nordic freezing harmonies and vileness) but i also senses bits of the Hellenic scene and some others.

LF songs is nicely put together and feels not sloppy or half assed as their personal interest in this genre feels wholehearted albeit young, the whole album flows from song to song as almost it was one long song which is not directly a bad thing but to throw in some slower or different type of song in the mix would give make it stronger overall.
Production is balanced and all members work is hearable, as guitars flow trough their emotions with some good drumming and a nice bass so does the howling witch vocals as it shrieks high up in the night sky.

Fans of bands like Behexen, Wulfheim & Skuggan and similar should check it out besides from the regular hungry demonic listener.

Best tracks is 1,8,10

Track list:

1.     Eternal Misanthropy of the Black Cosmos   
2.     Incinerated Cross         
3.     Infernal Manifestation        
4.     When the Light Dies         
5.     Rotten Creed         
6.     Conviction of Nocturnal Raven         
7.     Garden of Spirits        
8.     A Dreadful Chant for Self-Destruction         
9.     All Your Lies (Diabolical Memories)         
10.     Ghost in the Shadows

Released by Moribund Records

Taran - Selftitled

It has taken quite some time for this Polish thunder-horde to spit up their first full length (they formed in 2002) but here it is and its a proud blood drooling beast!

As most of you know the Polish Bm-sound is very grand and blast beated to a punch...pun intended.
 Taran follows by all means this path but along the way it has refined and "polished" that aural culture quite nicely  as this 9 tracked (track 10 is an good Immortal cover) record avoids many trap doors that many past bands has fallen in like becoming just a barrage of overpowering drums and forget to really write a song or worse record the drum sound like it sounds like some mad man hitting on tin cans!

Taran has of course a familiar militant demonic vibe (fans of Behemoth & 1349 etc take notice) but they have made it all much more rocking and tight, they put in enough variations & dynamics into each song that time flies faster then a fart and that is not a bad thing by all means!

Both conviction and satanic attitude flows good together with what they created and with this album they will open some new eyes and ears i am sure, i hope they will keep at it now and crawl deeper down the well and find more personal dark visions to make Taran even higher and get more versatile and multi layered (content wise) for next release.

 Get it i say!
Best songs: 2,6,7

Ah! a nice unintended or intended David Lynch reference with the "Fire walk with me" lyrics in the second track. Love that movie so i guess they already got me from the start. hehe

Track lis:

1.     Intro         
2.     Reign of Hellfire         
3.     Dominus Muscarum         
4.     March of Shadows         
5.     Divine Plague        
6.     Popioły 2014 A.Y.P.S.         
7.     The Black Mark         
8.     ...of Sin         
9.     Outro         
10.     Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss (Immortal cover) 

Released by Odium Records

A.V.D.L - Scourge

This is the second full length from this Japanese one-man band A.V.D.L, this is the first time i also have a real listen to his work besides the random song samples i heard earlier.

He labels his music as Experimental Black/Death Metal and i can agree to that...more DSBM then death on this album though, one can hear strokes from mid-era Shining with somber cyclic guitars and piano and similar but many songs  explores more musical inspirations like the mentioned death metal with full frontal attacks thats functions good and feels like fresh punch after dwelling in some of the more moody segments, even some heavy metal riffings and melodies is used to great and surprising effect like in the songs "Desolation", the vocals is mostly in the cold high pitch shrieking DSMB style with occasionall growls.

Production is both harsh and clear ans somewhat digital but it works just fine and keeps the whole package and its musical off-shoots in synch.

All in all this release has a nicely done and intriguing mix of both a traditional DSBM and murdering sonic death attacks and bends sometimes the genre into new surprising things.
Unrestful spirits suffering through our urban landscapes.

The only thing i would like to have is some lyrics or something that takes one closer to the creators interior and thus make it more personal and close.

 who is Amelia?

Track list:

1.     26:40 Tokyo         
2.     How is your life today        
3.     Solitary death         
4.     Ridiculously Deep         
5.     Desolation         
6.     Legions of violence         
7.     Gasmask Amelia         
8.     Black embrace         
9.     Scourge

Self released.
Oh by the way i did this new band logo also! Feels nice to have done it to this good release!

Diabolical Principles - The Final Step Before the Dawn

Here we have the third full album from the Greece based demons!

Even though this band has released one demo, one Ep, one compilation and one split (besides the albums) this is my first time i come across them for a good listen so i cant really compare their former works.

I have seen that some past albums have gotten mixed reviews and so but that is all i know but in relation to that i think that this album can be one of their better ones....

 DP revels  much in mid-tempo architecture but with some stand out parts that whip up the heat a bit, i would metaphorical speaking say that these dark and pretty long songs feels more like an veteran warrior with leather skin pushing its enemies slowly backwards rather then attacking with a full blown fire like some young one would do, either way is wrong, it is more a matter of taste or moment one listens to them to really taste their full flavor....which is a mix of 90´s epic Hellenic blood and some bitter 00´s BM.

First track is one of the better ones with a quite threatening guitar riff thats looping forward while the heads are rolling. The quite long playtimes are pretty well filled with enough variations without changing their evil lumberjack style. hehe

Vocals is harsh and dont really have much variation in it but it fits the mould well, some minor subtle use of keyboards is to be found but nothing that is out of bounds for this grand & suppressing aura.
 The cold "Celestial Sleep" is one more of the better ones and "The Eye of Forever" and the last part of the last song is a favorite with its strong and epic guitar melody that fades away into the darkness of the past and
rounding off this album greatly.

Track list:

1.     Eternal Shades    
2.     The Sixtythree    
3.     The Darkest of Ages    
4.     As the Shades Awake    
5.     Celestial Sleep    
6.     The Last of the Titans    
7.     The Eye of Forever    
8.     Ynotophobia

Released through:  Lower Silesian Stronghold

Gloriam Draconis / Bloodscroll

Here we have the first spells from these two new soldiers!
From the first time i saw the band names/logos i felt drawn towards them and rightly so it turned out.

When i got this cd home i realized that they have mixed the songs a bit unusual namely they had taken turns on the track list instead of splitting them in two... i thought it could screw up the experience but that was not the case to my luck instead they serve to each others strengths and elevate it higher. Sure the both productions is a bit different with the GD a bit cleaner and grand as the Bloodscroll revels in a nice pot of raw witch soup but they fits nicely together anyway somehow.

The direct difference between them two besides that they create some strong solid underground black metal is that Gloriam Draconis has the stance and coat of a extroverted soldier of  the great serpent Tiamat and Bloodscroll has almost the opposite role with a more introverted cave ritual aura to it.
Both has strong melodies and dramatics in their music and has evidently infused some firm black flames into their works! You wont find some crying black gazing slackers here hammering away in some two riffing cycles but two creators whom fills their songs with all they got.

Not that it is in need of it but to make some referential likenesses i would say fans of Stutthof/Acherontas would like the Gloriam Draconis parts and Drowning the Light, Atra would like Bloodscroll... and people who like true black metal will like it all. hehe

I know some new nasty stuff is on the way from the GD bunker and i think also some is brewing at the Bloodscroll nest.
And be sure to check out my next sister zine Cloven Hoof which has an indepth interview with Gloriam Draconis, will be out this summer.

Track list:

1.     Gloriam Draconis - Baleum in Caelo (Dawn)    
2.     Blood Scroll - Upon Moonlit Shores of Honour        
3.     Gloriam Draconis - Ave Azerate        
4.     Blood Scroll - Within Walls of Old Fate Lies Below        
5.     Gloriam Draconis - Haunting to No End        
6.     Blood Scroll - Steel Raised in Hand as Before        
7.     Gloriam Draconis - Allmanor        
8.     Blood Scroll - Night of Mourn

Goatblood Interview!

1.Hails & greetings to the crypt of RAW WAR!
First i like to say congrats to the new first full length album "Adoration of Blasphemy and War"!
Must feel good that it is soon out! (15 may?) How has the work been on this one compared the your older stuff?

- Thanks for your contact & support!
The Album is officially unleashed on 1 May 2015 - of course, we are   really glad that the first full-length is finally released. For several reasons it was prone to diverse delays – we  already did the recordings back in October 2013 – still in our former rehearsal room. Well, it is here and its good and the artwork is just genius. The works for it has been no different than on older recordings: Just terror.

2. When doing this full-length, did you have another frame of mind considering the content/lyrics throughout it whole rather then churning out separate slabs of evil meat?

- First we do the music and then later the lyrics. No, there was no special feeling before or after the recordings. This have to run a little bit sober – or it`s out of hand.
Anyway, there was no Goat on the set. It`s been a while ago....

3. Can you go a little in depth on these songs: Animal Anal Acrobatic ,Necromorph Application Point & Op Vulva.

- Ha... I knew this would come up! The lyrical content is almost an intellectual trademark of Goatblood and always weird and special. Animal Anal Acrobatic is about a debaucherous orgy and it`s a homage to the Horned! Maybe some cattle party to hard and there is smoke and goo out of every hole but that’s ok. Necromorph application Point is a splatter story about an ancient alien race that attack and occupy Earth. OPV stands for Operation Vulva... guess it speaks for itself.

4. As the band started in 2011 how was it then, was it the same line up and how long did it take to get your manic doomsday murder music sound going? By the way what type of gear do you use?

- Satanic Death Vulva and Reverend Slayer met in late December 2011 for a hang out with beer and morbid sounds. Both former main BM-bands (Genocide and Morannon) were put on ice. We decided to create something new and different in comparison to our old bands. So Reverend Slayer bought a Drum and the first rehearsal happened back in March 2012. After two or three times of noise the first Song was written: “Ibex capra climax”. Yeah, so that was then...

Currently we play with guitars and drum from Fame. Drumsticks are from Pro-
Mark and cymbals from Paiste. The guitar-amp is a tube amp head by Engl with

4x12” cabinets. Also we use Boss footswitch pedals and some more secrets.

5. How do you rate your first two demos from 2013? Not that there gone much time since then though...

- That’s right, but we do music since the mid of the nineties. At first –everyone of us in different bands, some at times already collaborating together, but just with Goatblood, its like just we wanted to do. Songwriting isn’t such a big deal and rather we are productive. Just recently we wrote the 60th Song – and we still like every single one of them, ja.

6. How was the response on your first split "Rex Judaeorum / Wolves of Apocalypse" with NUCLEAR PERVERSIONS? It looks great! I got to get it soon! How did you find each other to hook up for this constellation?

- The cooperation with Iron Bonehead was the result of placing orders and personal exchange. Satanic Death Vulva knew Patrick for a while already. One day, he asked us, if we`d be up for doing a 7” Single with Nuclear Perversions. This didn`t have to be asked twice and so we agreed immediately. The sale runs quite well and (until now) there are just good feedbacks.
You have to get it now.

7. I saw another split is on the way this summer with Satanize! 
What can you say about this hot stuff?

- At least it`s everyone`s intention to make it happen but if and when it really does, I can`t say. Anyway, the nine Songs are written and mixed. We wrote & recorded them in one session without any rehearsals beforehand. There are some weird surprises by this piece of hatred – but it`s worth.
Watch out.

8. What would you say is your main reasons for playing this type of music and when did you start? Do you remember the first little song you made ever?

- We started playing music in 1994/95 in different local Black Metal Bands. We know each other for a long time and in between we always helped each other out musically. After the split-up in 2011 with the above-mentioned Bands it still was important to us to make music and to do a little different type of Metal.
Goat Metal!

9. How was last years gigs for you? Looks like you was out and played quite some! 
How about this year?

- No next gig is scheduled yet, sorry.

But the shows and the whole Tour with Mystifier, Horrid and Satanize were indeed the highlight of the last year. And stress aside – it`s been even adventurous. Not all days you travel in an old Bus across Germany and Poland. I remember one day as we had to spend the night outside, because the hostel was overbooked. Or one time we were stopped by the police... nice. On tour we met a lot of crazy and decent people from different countries. It`s been worth it for the experience.
Greetings to everybody who was a part of it!

10.Thanks for your time & "beast" of luck!!

- Thank you again for the questions and we return! Animalistic heils to the North!

Cloven Hoof zine -Second/third promos-