H.P. Lovecraft's fiction and poetry has, since his death, proven to be a deep cultural well for artists to draw inspiration from. The efforts have not been entirely successful. Just as the author's fans have yet to see a faithful, big-budget representation of his vision translated to the screen, many metal bands have struggled to invoke the understated cosmic dread hanging over his best work. Moss, thankfully, avoids the obvious and ham-fisted in their attempts to approximate that dread on their Spectral Visions EP.

By any measure, this is uncompromising fare, but expertly delivered. Working without a bass guitarist hasn't impeded this English unit from filling "Carmilla (Marcilla)" with a thunderous foundation. The guitars and drumming never completely coalesce around a sharply defined riff. Not all is chaos however. While the song never attempts obeying strict rules of song craft, it has a clear, if flexible, structure. The guitars and drums alike drop strains of color into the mix through creative fills, extended sustain, and an array of string bends. The clean vocals possess a slightly shrill, maniacal edge appropriate for the song's taut, understated lyrics.

The title track, "Spectral Visions", has a much more clearly defined riff than the first track and a stronger cinematic presentation. It is easy to admire their focus - many young bands overload compositions believing more is more, but the best bands, regardless of genre, are rigorous self-editors who pare tracks down to whatever strengthens a song and delivers it with maximum immediacy. Moss escapes the mishmash of dross and excellence weighing down many promising outfits by embracing this principle. The lyrics veer more into well-worn cliché than the opening song, but capably conjure the aforementioned cosmic dread the band aims for.

This is promising group that will likely grow and refine their approach in short order, though these songs solidify a template going forward from here. Highly recommended.



Moss @ Facebook

Words: J. Hillenburg

Doom metal legends SAINT VITUS have released the following statement:
"SAINT VITUS would like to regretfully inform all of our European fans that our lead vocalist Wino was detained by the Norwegian police and immigrations officers for possession of illegal substances since Sunday, November 9th. As of 4 p.m. yesterday evening (November 11th), we were informed by his Norwegian defense attorney that he would more than likely be released that same day and be able to continue the remaining dates of our European tour. This morning we received notification that Wino was being deported today back to the U.S. with no hope to remain in Scandinavia or anywhere in the EU.

"SAINT VITUS WILL CONTINUE THE REMAINING DATES OF THE TOUR!!!
"Our sincere apologies to all of our fans, the promoters, booking agents and especially our Norwegian fans and promoter for the cancelled show. We will still deliver the HEAVY sound to all of our friends in Europe and it is our hope that everyone will understand our position to go forward with the remaining dates without Wino. [guitarist] David Chandler and [drummer] Henry Vasquez, along with a few surprise guests, will take over vocal duties and this will be a rare opportunity to see VITUS with main songwriter David Chandler vocalizing his tormented tales of pain, heartache and DOOM.

"We hope to still see all of you on our remaining dates.
"FUCK THAT WEAK SHIT!!!!"

U.S. doom metal legends PENTAGRAM will release an extensive double-disc DVD collection, titled "All Your Sins", in February 2015 via Peaceville. The set features over six hours of numerous electrifying concerts spanning three decades — all straight from the band's collection.

PENTAGRAM, the highly influential American heavy metal/doom act fronted by mastermind Bobby Liebling, formed in the early 1970s, though their debut album — now known as "Relentless"— didn't see a release until 1985. Through four decades of adversity and triumph, PENTAGRAM has become a legendary international act and have firmly stamped their name in the heavy metal history books.

This first-ever official PENTAGRAM video collection, "All Your Sins" recovers, repairs and resurrects the earliest known footage of these doomed metal pioneers and more. It contains two DVDs packed with priceless archive footage, as well as recent shows, "All Your Sins - Video Vault". This definitive collection features numerous historical shows, including a charged performance in 1985 at the legendary CBGB club in New York City, with a mass of classic renditions from the band's catalogue finally gathered together for a live journey spanning over 30 years.

Although always a cult act with a strong and dedicated worldwide fanbase, PENTAGRAM has enjoyed a recent surge in interest due in part to the fly-on-the-wall 2011 documentary "Last Days Here" following the life, trials & tribulations of Bobby Liebling. The film gained international recognition; travelling the worldwide film festival circuit where it won several awards including "Best Music Documentary" at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.

In a recent interview with Esquire magazine, BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne said that he saw the "Last Days Here" documentary, calling it a "very, very sad story, because [Bobby is] a guy... He's the only child of his elderly mom and dad and he lives in a crack-smoking, heroin-using world. And why that guy is still alive is beyond me. I mean, I've been there, done it, and by the grace of God, I got out of it. But, you know, I hope the guy doesn't die."

Ozzy added: "I hope he has [cleaned up] because that video was like a good reason not to get stoned. And you know, for what it's worth: That could have been me. That could have been any number of people. That's why I say to myself every day, 'God, you're fucking lucky, Ozzy!'"


Source: Blabbermouth

For this edition of Doomology we have a band from the annals of Krautrock. A very heavy and mind destroying band who went by the name of Silberbart. Silver beard being the meaning of that name. They formed sometime in 1970/1971 in the town of Varel, which is located in Lower Saxony, Germany. The idea for the band came about after guitarist Hans Joachim “Hajo” Teschner’s previous group, The Tonics, had disbanded. He was interested in playing more interesting and improvisational music rather than the commercial, beat pop of The Tonics. The original lineup of Silberbart consisted of Hans singing and guitaring, Werner Klug as the bassist, and Gerd Baker on the drums. However Gerd was soon replaced by Peter Behrens who was considered the best drummer in the area. As it is with many of these groups starting out, their song repertoire featured covers from the a lot usual suspects (i.e Zeppelin, Hendrix, Grand Funk, Cream, Deep Purple, etc). The band managed to get weekly gigs at a Kurhaus (a German spa or health resort of some sort) which enjoyed somewhat of a cult status. They also gave concerts in other venues in the surrounding area but rarely ventured away from home. As money was tight and gigs provided minimal income to work with, they had no manager and were forced to organize everything themselves. The band did hook up with a manager at one point, but after their second gig with him he “mysteriously” disappeared; conveniently with all the cash receipts.

During their existence they opened up for many popular bands at the time such as Eloy and Frumpy. However after Silberbart’s usually ferocious and devastating performances the headlining bands would often sound like “well-behaved high school bands” in comparison. The group only managed to record a single LP during their career. 4 Times Sound Razing was recorded between April and May of 1971 on a cheap 4 track recording system originally intended for voice recordings. The four songs were performed as if they were playing live and the LP was only meant to be a demo; but for whatever reason it was released as an album. Although well received, the album was probably way too out there for the record label to consider letting the band record a second (this was the same label Teschner’s previous group had been with so there was quite a musical contrast). Unfortunately the band’s financial situation never really improved, even after the release of the album. And although popular in Varel, they were barely known outside their hometown. None of the members had any permanent jobs either so the only source of income was through gigs. Because of the difficulty of the situation they decided to call it quits at the end of 1972. All three band members moved onto various other careers and prospects; some musical, some non-musical. Bassist Werner Klug is employed as a trucker and still plays with various rock and blues bands. Peter Behrens went on to play with the German synth pop group, Trio. And guitarist/vocalist Hans Joachim Teschner completed his music studies and has taught at several different music schools in Germany. In addition he is involved in many different writing projects as well as operating a bass guitar with a jazz trio.

The album these guys made is an absolute mind-fuck and then some. Four songs of total madness as well as the heaviness to back it up. You’ll read lots of Blue Cheer and Guru Guru comparisons and that gives you a bit of an idea of what you’re about to hear. Even so, these guys are totally unique and sound like no one else out there. The first song is by far the most accessible and sober song of the bunch. It definitely has the heaviness in spades, but things aren’t too out of control yet. However get ready to take the plunge into complete psychosis for track number two, Brain Brain. It begins soft and dreamlike but the trip soon takes a turn for the worse and you will find yourself searching for a nearby straight razor to remove the beetles from under your skin. You’re brain brain will definitely go bye bye soon. But wait, you’re not finished yet, there’s still more horror up ahead. Track three isn’t quite as insane as the previous song, but it’s still extremely heavy and takes you ever closer to complete mental breakdown. The first half of the song consists of badass, catchy guitar and bass interwoven with some fun soloing and trippy effects.

But second half is all brutal, lysergic jamming. It entertains, horrifies, and confuses. And it eventually carries you into the final phase of the journey entitled Head Tear Of The Drunken Sun; 12 more minutes of total insanity. Who the hell knows where they came up with the title, but it’s another solid track and is possibly my favourite from the album. Like the third song it begins with some heavy and catchy guitar and bass and for the second half goes for total experimentation and mind fuckery. And then the trip is over. Your sanity is now cured and your mind can see. The title, 4 Times Sound Razing, basically says it all; your brain will be razed four times during course of listening to this. There aren’t many albums out there this mind bending. Not to mention how heavy it is as well. A definite treat for fans of experimental, adventurous, Krautrock mixed with Sabbath/Cheer/Pentagram heaviness.

9/10

Another band that could have and should have been. They were definitely ‘out there’ (like really fucking far out there). And it’s such a shame they only have four actual recorded songs to their name. But the quality over quantity expression definitely applies here. And I can just imagine what kind of brain damage you would have been able to cause by dropping some acid and seeing them live. Unfortunately this is impossible until time travel is invented, so for now I recommend you go out and listen to their sole album and enter a psychedelic coma.

Recommended tracks:

-All of them (this album needs to be experienced as a whole)



Words: Brian

Pleasant surprise time! I love random finds that just jam rather than completely suck. I’m always on the prowl for something new to groove to and more often than not I find total trash that I wouldn’t force my worst enemy to endure. What makes it all worth it is finding something new that just grooves like a mother! Such was the case when I hit play on the video for Nymphus by Obese.

I knew nothing about the band and there was no description and with a name like Obese I don’t know why but I wasn’t expecting a cool southern stoner rock groove which made them a pleasant surprise. Obese may hail from The Netherlands but their sound is straight out of the deep American south. In fact they’re better than a lot of bands actually from there. Give a new band a chance, this one doesn’t disappoint.



 If the slow jam that Nymphus is doesn’t have you sold then check out the only other song I found from them which is more of a rocker called The Lion. It’s pretty awesome so give it a spin.




That’s about all there is on this band so far but I, for one, am looking forward to hearing more from this band. Stay up to date with all the band’s latest news & notes on Facebook.

Words: Feind Gottes (editor, Thy Demons Be Scribblin)

Facebook: HERE

From the Bailiwick Islands in the English Channel (the Bailiwick of Guernsey to be precise) comes a breath of fresh air into the stoner doom genre by way of Byzanthian Neckbeard.

One look at their album cover for From The Clutches of Oblivion and I knew I had to press play faster than you can say doom.

The art was done by just what it looks it was done by: a tattoo artist, one named Nico “Hazard Inks” Romero. I’m already sold so all I could do was take a deep breath and see if the music matched my enthusiasm as so often it does not.

I’ve been trying to get to this review for over a week so in the that time I have now listened to this album several times so I guess you could say I wasn’t disappointed. Take a listen as I try to guide you through the dark and gloomy path it makes.


The opening track, Doppleganger, begins with a groove filled sludgey doom riff that sounds familiar if you listen to this type of music but it hits a sweet spot right from the get go. Then the vocals kick in or perhaps I should say gravel throated growls that remind me of John Tardy of Obituary which I mean with all respect as an Obituary fan of many years. A line like, “Slick with horror sweat” has this horror writer very much on the hook as Doppleganger is just filled with a sludgey groove that has me bobbin my head along and looking forward to the rest of the album.

Indoctrinate The Priestess starts out with a bass line which not enough bands do because I truly love it. Where Doppleganger is more of a groovy sludge track, Indoctrinate The Priestess is a full on doom tune but maintaining a slight stoner groove to it. Again as a writer of horrorific things the chorus filled with the repeated, “Gore, Gore, Gore, Gore” just has me fully hanging on Bysanthian Neckbeard’s meat hook waiting for Leatherface or some other baddie to come in with a chainsaw to finish me off. If the album ended here I’d die happy at least but there’s still more.



Then the heavy factor which is already high to this point gets dialled up another notch or two as Plant of Doom begins with a fat bass line accompanied by heavy handed skin thumping before settling into one damn fine stoner groove. Leatherface didn’t come in to take a chainsaw to me, he came in with a bong to ease the pain. “This doom, it comes for us all” sums it up absolutely perfectly then the tempo kicks up a few notches but still grooves like a mother. I don’t know what the guys in Byzanthian Neckbeard are smoking but I have the distinct feeling I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

The Ganch is the shortest song on the album but feels much longer as the doom groove is just heavy as hell. Ganch means to kill by impaling on stakes or hooks and I guess they mean hooks here because I am beyond hooked on this band by this point. The Ganch fades out to Hive Mind Overlord which tones down the doom slightly with more of a stoner type groove that just hooks you in even further. The chorus pretty much says it all, “Our form/Demonic to your eyes/We are/Gods to mankind/Hive mind, Overlord!” Yes, with only one song to go I am definitely a slave to the groove.

The album closer, The Cyberdwarf, is a full on doom ride of epic proportions feeling much longer than it’s seven minute run time or in other words, you don’t want it to ever end. The hallmark of a great doom tune is just riding the riff and The Cyberdwarf does it perfectly as if Sleep have come back to write one last tune. The entirety of the lyrics are four simple lines, “Riddles with amnesia/In this devastated wasteland/I seek the terrible truth/I seek The Cyberdwarf.” The doom groove is just amazing and you don’t want it to ever end but it has to at some point and sadly it does. Don’t cry all you have to do is hit play once again as I have many times now.



I was beyond impressed with Byzanthian Neckbeard and all I hope is they stay together and make more beautiful doom because From The Clutches Of Oblivion is fantastic and seems far too short with only 6 awesome tracks. The songs do not sound exactly alike which is a pitfall many doom bands or any band really tend to fall into. I look forward to many more years of awesome metal coming from these guys and hopefully I’ve gotten a few more fans hooked too. Take a listen if you haven’t already, if you’re into doom and sludge these guys are young but batting a thousand so far.

Words: Feind Gottes (editor, Thy Demons Be Scribblin)

Links for Byzanthian Neckbeard:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Twitter

 Label: unsigned
Engineered & Mixed by James Le Huray
Recorded at Tardis

With the dust settling on the country consequent to the band's recent full US tour with support from Lo Pan, San Francisco's most devastating duo, BLACK COBRA, will shred the West Coast this December with support from Midwest cult, Wolvhammer.

As Wolvhammer treks westward on the second phase of Desanctifying North America 2014, they'll liaise with the mighty BLACK COBRA in Portland, Oregon on December 3rd. From there, the two bands will lay down an extremely diversified but wholly deadly salvo of metallic destruction in Seattle, Eugene, Sacramento, Los Osos, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura before the final gig of the tour for BLACK COBRA in San Francisco on December 13th, while Wolvhammer tours back east.

BLACK COBRA West Coast Tour w/ Wolvhammer:
12/03/2014 Rotture - Portland, OR
12/04/2014 Highline - Seattle, WA
12/05/2014 Wow Hall - Eugene, OR
12/06/2014 Press Club - Sacramento, CA
12/07/2014 Sweet Springs - Los Osos, CA
12/08/2014 Catalyst - Santa Cruz, CA
12/10/2014 Brick By Brick - San Diego, CA
12/11/2014 Complex - Los Angeles, CA
12/12/2014 The Garage - Ventura, CA
12/13/2014 Thee Parkside - San Francisco, CA


While little else from BLACK COBRA is available for public consumption at press time, the band has been slaving away on new material which is being penned for their next full-length album which will be completed in the first several months of 2015 for release later in the year.

Since 2001, the BLACK COBRA duo -- guitarist vocalist Jason Landrian (ex-Cavity) and drummer Rafa Martinez (ex-16, ex-Acid King) -- has unloaded a deadly, damaging and wholly unique style of punk/hardcore-propelled sludge doom metal. An introductory self-titled demo EP would get them immediately picked up by At A Loss Recordings who officially re-released the EP as well as their 2006 debut LP, Bestial, and 2007-released follow-up, Feather And Stone, the albums bridged by a split with Eternal Elysium on Diwphalanx Records. Their destructive hymns and notoriously explosive live energy caught the attention of Southern Lord Recordings who signed the band for their acclaimed 2009 LP, Chronomega, as well as their most widely and positively received album to date, with 2011's massive Invernal. An unstoppable touring machine, BLACK COBRA continually destroys the planet on the road, having played over seven-hundred shows on multiple continents since 2006, including Asia, Australia and both Europe and North America many times each. Massive festivals including Hellfest, The Power Of The Riff, Roadburn, Dour, Scion and others have set the band up with prime slots where the meager duo strikes the crowd with more venom than a band thrice its size every time. Their albums portray visceral otherworldly and sci-fi lyrics and storylines, the result of the band's major fascination with horror and sci-fi literature and cinema.


For all BLACK COBRA coverage, in North/South America contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and in Europe contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.


Official Website
Facebook
Twitter
Southern Lord Official Website
Southern Lord Bandcamp

Source: Earsplit PR

There is passion in Iron Void's music that sets them apart from many bands of their ilk. This UK trio is rising quickly on the honesty and strength of their work and the interview below has some of the flavor of their music. This is an intelligent unit looking to the future and imbued with a rare quality in these cookie cutter times - genuine creative vision.


Doommantia:
This seems to be a prolific band - you're looking as far ahead as your third album already. Is the band on a creative high right now and can you describe the band's songwriting process?

Jonathan ‘Sealey’ Seale:
We definitely have a long-term plan. We’ve planned as far ahead as the fourth album, actually and I have a good idea of what our future releases will sound and look like. The third album will be a concept album based on the Arthurian legends, entitled ‘Excalibur’ and the fourth album will simply be entitled ‘IV’. We feel like the band is definitely moving in the right direction now after years of relative obscurity. We have been writing new material for the follow up to ‘Iron Void’ and it’s sounding great! Steve or I usually come to rehearsal with either a few riffs or sometimes a full song without lyrics. We then jam this with Damien, sort the arrangement of the song then we’ll start singing a basic melody to get an idea of what the vocals will sound like. I don’t sing anything in particular, just random words that come into my head. Then we start writing lyrics. Either we have a pre-conceived idea of what the lyrics will be about or we’ll just write something that sounds good and then build on that until we figure it out eventually.

Damien Park:
When we played Doom For The Doomed festival in Birmingham earlier this year, Sealey decided why not do another album. We have some new songs for the next album as well as some old ones that have been re- worked and ready to record. Makes more sense to do an album rather than an EP. When it comes to songwriting, Sealey and Steve come into the studio with riffs and ideas, then I listen to them and try to fit a certain drumbeat or drum fill to add extra dynamics. 

Doommantia:
What can you tell us, at this point, about the follow-up?

Sealey:
We’re recording the follow up to the ‘Iron Void’ album in March 2015 at Skyhammer Studios (owned by Jon Davis from Conan) with Chris Fielding (Conan, Electric Wizard, Serpent Venom, Witchsorrow) engineering and co-producing, alongside ourselves. This will be entitled ‘Doomsday’and Goatess Doomwych will once again be creating the album artwork and inlay design. We hope to release this by August / September 2015 at the latest. The album will contain 11 tracks that are a mixture of old and new compositions.

Steve Wilson:
The new album was originally going to be an EP. We were talking about the songs at Doom for The Doomed fest in Birmingham back in May. That was when Sealey suggested we do two or three more songs and make it a full album. Iron Void was recorded in 2013 and was put together with no idea which label would release it (if any). We've had it a year longer than the fans and we've had enough time to put a new set of songs together. I'm looking forward to recording with Chris and seeing what guitar tones we can get out of his valve amps. As far as mastering goes, we’ll probably use James Plotkin again.

Damien:
I’m looking forward to recording at Skyhammer Studios. I’d like to see what kind of sounds we can get from the guitars and drums with their methods of recording.  

Doommantia:
How have the live shows been going and what sort of future touring does the band have lined up?

Sealey:
We’ve just completed a UK tour with Goatess, which was a fantastic experience and a very successful tour. We had a few technical hiccups with the guitar pedals at the Wakefield show but the rest of the tour went really well. We had some great turnouts at the shows, sold a lot of merch and it was an honour to tour with Goatess and the legendary Chritus! We are headlining the 2nd day at ‘Doom Over Edinburgh’ in March 2015 and we’re looking at a couple of festival appearances that have yet to be confirmed in mainland Europe next year too. We’re also currently in the process of organizing another UK tour and a European tour for the end of 2015 which will take in dates in Germany, Holland and France if everything goes to plan. We have a pretty busy schedule planned!

Steve:
Losing power on stage put me off having only one power source for my whole pedal board. I think I'll just upgrade to a more powerful system rather than use less pedals. I was able to carry on with just wah pedal and still keep most of my sound (luckily overdrive was coming from the amp so no pedal needed). The tour was great overall and as Sealey said, it was a privilege to share a stage with Chritus and Goatess. A highlight for me was the cover of ‘Electric Funeral’ by Black Sabbath we did with Chritus at Scruffy Murphy's in Birmingham. That was one of our best sets I think, alongside Malta back in 2012.

Damien:
Out of the five dates we did for the UK tour with Goatess, Birmingham, Camden and Edinburgh were the best gigs of the tour. And it was a great privilege to have Chritus on stage with performing vocals on ‘Electric Funeral’. The only complication I had was when my beater from my kick pedal came off in the middle of the song. I just carried on and improvised, sometimes these things happen and you just have to think on the spot!  

Doommantia:
A lot of bands have to make small or significant changes to their material when they play it live. Are these songs built for the stage?

Sealey:
Yes, absolutely! We don’t alter the songs in any way to play them live. Damien might add some different drum fills and Steve might improvise on his solos slightly but that’s it. I’m very conscious of being able to play our songs in the live environment because that’s what we enjoy the most.

Steve:
The album is a recorded version of the live songs, not the other way around. There may be more changes on future recordings, but these are mainly due to having one guitarist. Things like harmonies, adding rhythm guitar to solos, some acoustic overdubs. Otherwise, things are more or less the same live.

Damien:
When it comes to recording the songs, I keep it precise and simple with a few fills. But when I play live, I intend to go all out on the drums. When I am on stage and see the crowd, nerves are there but then my adrenaline kicks in and I just go into overdrive! I keep the main drumbeats down, so Sealey and Steve don’t get too lost. But when it comes to playing live, I want to give the crowd an experience that they will remember.





 Doommantia:
While rock music is, in general, on the wane in America, European audiences turn out in such greater numbers that a lot of American bands I talk to can't wait to tour the UK and European continent. As a fan and musician, any theories why rock and metal's popularity persists overseas while Americans listen to pop and rap?

Sealey:
I don’t know really. I know our friends in Pilgrim toured the States recently and they lost money due to poor turnouts. To be honest, in the UK, the turnouts at shows up until recently were terrible. In mainland Europe, the shows are very well attended, even on a Sunday night. Perhaps we have better Beer, maybe that has something to do with it?! Ha, ha!

Steve:
I was surprised by the audience numbers on this tour. We had a good crowd every night, with the smallest turnout being Kraak in Manchester. We also did quite well on last year's tour with Hooded Priest and Arkham Witch but smaller, local gigs can vary. On a bad night, there could be just the other bands, sound engineer and bar staff! Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often because we always try and bring a good band, or two, with us to give people an incentive to turn out. We've never been to America but at a guess, I'd say distance could put people off traveling to gigs.

Doommantia:
It takes more commitment than ever before for artists in any field to pursue their dreams and make it pay. What does passion mean to you? How hard is it balancing the real world and pursuing your dreams?

Sealey:
Without passion, this band wouldn’t be where it is today. We’ve experienced severe financial difficulties in the past, setbacks, line-up changes, van breaking down, you know, the usual stuff bands experience but a lot of bands give up when these things happen. Not us, we have a single-minded determination to succeed and that is now starting to pay off, which is fantastic! It is very difficult balancing the band, a relationship and running a business too, I don’t know how I manage it sometimes! I book all our shows, promote the band online, and deal with a lot of the business side of things, so it can be very demanding on my time. I guess I’ve just accepted that this is the way it has to be if we want to make something of the band.

Steve:
I used to work temporary, often minimum wage jobs, spending the rest of my time on music. It worked OK for a while but I wasn't very happy in daily life. In the end, I did a part time degree with the Open University and now I'm working freelance. It's going well so far. If I can keep it going, I will have time and maybe even some money to carry on doing music. You have to do something that will allow space for the band otherwise there will be too much getting in the way of tours and recording. The new album will be recorded over two long weekends to make things a bit easier. We'll go back home and then come back and work on it again.

Damien:
At this moment in time, I am balancing two bands (my other one being Dead Party Scene). I just left a third band I also played in, due to not having much time for them and holding them back. I also work part time, to keep money flowing, as well as juggling a relationship. It is very hard at times, but with the love and support from family, friends, and the fans, my love and passion for music keeps me going and encourages me to do what I do best.

Doommatia:
There are obvious influences playing out over the album. What are some of the other bands that exert a big hold over this band's imagination?

Sealey:
I would say our three main influences are Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, and Pentagram. We are also influenced by classic Heavy Metal bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy and the N.W.O.B.H.M. We also draw influence from bands like Trouble, Cathedral, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, Pagan Altar, Iron Man, Revelation, Count Raven, Witchcraft, Warning, Venom, and Witchfinder General, among many others.

Steve:
I'd agree with most of those. I've been a Maiden fan since the age of 13. Definitely classic Rock and Metal (and Doom of course) but fused with more modern bands from the sort of Electric Wizard era. Iron Monkey stand out as the one band that taught me music could be a lot heavier.

Damien:
Since I was a small child, I have been surrounded with heavy music like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Ozzy Osbourne. Then as I got older, I started getting into more extreme music such as Black Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore, Hardcore, etc. Right up to this day, I still listen to heavy music but from time to time, I go through stages. One day I will listen to Iron Monkey, Eyehategod, Electric Wizard, next day I might listen to Aphex Twin, Johnny Cash or movie soundtracks like Twin Peaks. Right now, I am listening to Mastodon and Big Business.    

Doommantia:
Can you name a musical influence on the band that might surprise people?
Sealey:
I don’t know, maybe Metallica (pre-Black album)? Personally, I’m heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix. I listen to a lot of Dub Reggae and Folk too!

Steve:
I listen to Classical music at home but I try to go for the heavier stuff. I've been listening to The Planets suite a lot lately. I also enjoy soundtracks, especially cult Horror film music. Goatess helped get us into The Osmonds on the tour, too!



Doommantia:
Bands like Iron Void get it. This sort of music needs a real swing in the drums, otherwise it turns into plodding nonsense. There's a lot of melody behind the band's huge power. How do you see the band's sound and approach growing from here?

Sealey:
We have always tried to compose songs that are heavy, but catchy, at the same time. ‘Doomsday’ is pretty heavy but will continue in the same vein as the debut album but ‘Excalibur’ will incorporate more acoustic guitars and possibly some female vocals, spoken word pieces and even a Recorder! We don’t want to veer too far away from our original sound but it will be different.

Steve:
We would have been a slower band if we had been able to find a drummer who was willing to slow down. We've found a good balance with Damien. The swinging drums play a big part in it, I'd agree with that. We were looking for that Bill Ward kind of feel to the drums and we got lucky.

Damien:
Being a versatile drummer does become an advantage, especially when I already listen to that kind of music. I know a few drummers who were in the band before me and they are great drummers, but for Sealey and Steve, they played either too fast or too technical. I am technical in my playing but I also like to put feel and groove into any kind of music I play. Before I joined Iron Void, I was discovering more Doom bands and listening to how different each band was. So when I joined, I was prepared for what kind of drummer they wanted.        

Doommantia:
I read that, at least some of the lyrics were written very quickly. So when I listened to the album, I didn't expect much. I figured I'd get standard heavy metal lyrics 101, you know? Needless to say, I was quite surprised. Many of the lyrics are detailed and specific, not a trait one associates with a lot of classic metal, and some had strong narratives. Is there room to keep growing in that area for this band?

Sealey:
Definitely. Steve and I are very well read and we both share a passion for old Horror films, which is a theme we will continue to work with in future. Some of Steve’s lyrics were written mere days before we entered the studio and some took over 3 years to complete. We do work hard on our lyrics, which I think a lot of bands don’t do anymore.

Steve:
The third verse for 'Tyrant's Crown' was a last minute thing. I'd been repeating the first verse playing it live for about 2 years. I decided to write a new verse instead of repeating it but I only got it right a few days before we recorded. I usually spend more time on them. There's definitely room for more lyrical growth. ‘The Mad Monk’ is kind of a fantasy themed song but I chose it because there was a real-life Rasputin behind the story. We're drawn to English folk tales and legends (such as Robin Hood for Sealey's song, ‘Outlaw’). I'd rather cover that than, say, Norse mythology, which isn't as closely related to us.

Doommantia:
What was the last album, new or old, you heard that made a deep impact on you?

Sealey:
I would most definitely have to say the latest Serpent Venom album, ‘Of Things Seen & Unseen’. It’s a killer Doom album, filled with some heavy as fuck riffs and very catchy, accomplished song writing. The fact that they are friends of ours doesn’t even come into it, it’s just a classic album. I would probably say it’s my favorite album of 2014.

Steve:
I agree with the Serpent Venom album. I didn't realize it was recorded at Skyhammer until I read the booklet. I haven't listened to that many new albums this year but I'd choose the new Witch Mountain album, ‘Mobile of Angels’.  I don't like the title much if I'm being honest, but it's a good album made a bit sad by the fact their singer was planning to leave. That's the type of thing I listen to now. Big riffs and powerful vocals. I'm not bothered about fast, fancy playing any more. It can be two chords and still work.

Damien:
After our tour, I’ve been listening to a lot of Judas Priest and the first four Metallica albums. Right now, I am listening to Mastodon “Leviathan” on vinyl to be followed by ‘Head For The Shallow + Battlefields Forever” albums by Big Business.


Doommantia:
A small, but significant, part of the album's appeal comes from the song sequencing. It flows very nicely. Is that something that the band gave a lot of thought to?

Sealey:
Thank you! Yes, we did think a lot about the sequence of the songs. We have 3 real mid-tempo heavy hitters up first (‘Tyrant’s Crown’, ‘I Am War’ and ‘The Mad Monk’), then the album slows down somewhat, before picking up the pace again with ‘Own Worst Enemy’ and then we slow down again until the final, instrumental track (‘Xylanthia’), which has an almost acoustic feel to bring you back down to earth after the heaviness of the album.

Steve:
Sealey takes charge and puts together most of our set lists. He talked the track listing over with us and I remember we all agreed to have Xylanthia at the end. I usually go with his suggestions as they seem to work and a lot of thought goes into them.


Doommantia:
Did the band record the songs live and add some overdubs? It has a very live feel.

Sealey:
We recorded the drums with me and Steve playing along at the same time. We then re-recorded the bass and rhythm guitars followed by guitar leads and finally the vocals. Some of the vocals were double tracked, but yes, it does have a live feel and this was intentional.

Steve:
We double tracked my vocals because they seemed to sound a bit thin in the studio with just one track. We probably didn't need to do it but the finished product sounds good so we must have been on the right track. The album has four rhythm guitar tracks too, with different combinations of pedals and amps. Matt Richardson gave me the option of recording two or four and I decided to do the extra work.

Doommantia:
What was the last show you attended as an audience member?

Sealey:
Just before our UK tour with Goatess, I went to see Trouble in Manchester supported by our good friends, Serpent Venom. It was an awesome gig, SV absolutely destroyed the place with their heavy as fuck Doom attack and Trouble were fantastic! It was the first time I’ve seen them with Kyle Thomas singing and probably one of the best times I’ve seen them. He’s got a great voice and the note perfect guitars of Franklin and Wartell make them one of the best duel guitar bands in Metal.

Steve:
Damnation Festival in Leeds. Orange Goblin and Saint Vitus were the highlights for me and the reason I bought a ticket. Vitus were on form and they showed us how it's done as usual.

Damien:
Same as Steve, Damnation Festival in Leeds. Anaal Nathrakh, Saint Vitus, and Cannibal Corpse were the main highlights for me. But the latest gig I attended was Mastodon with support from Big Business in Manchester. It was one hell of a gig! 

Interview By J. Hillenburg

Bandcamp
Facebook

If you like good classic hard stoner rock then prepare to be happy because fresh out of the Ohio valley comes Doctor Smoke.

This doctor may not be able to write you a prescription for the medicine you need about now but if you already have it then it’s time to sit back, inhale and let the healing begin.

It doesn’t matter what time it is because with Doctor Smoke it is now The Witching Hour, now exhale and we can begin…



The Willow gets us started with a classic hard rock groove that sets the tone for all that is about to come your way. As the vocals of Matt Tluchowski kick in I can’t help but immediately think of a favorite of mine, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats.

Where Uncle Acid goes in a psychedelic direction Doctor Smoke stays to the stoner rock side and grooves hard. If you like classic 70s style hard/stoner rock then you will be very happy with Doctor Smoke. “As The Willow weeps the hand of death creeps”, a line that is both classic and catchy all at once.


 Blood & Whiskey is a bit lighter than the doom groove of The Willow more like something that may have actually gotten radio play in about 1977 or something when radio had a little more freedom to play what they wanted. As a horror writer I can’t help love the line in this song, “With Lucifer my friend, I’ve come to kill again.” Beautiful words people, just beautiful! This rocker gives way to a doomy-er groove of Evil Man which is also the longest song on the album at about 7 minutes. The chorus is catchy and should have you singing along immediately as your head nods up and down with that damn fine groove.

The Toll picks up the pace nicely coming off the slower Evil Man sounding like a Budgie tune or a stoner rock version of a Diamond Head track. The Toll flat out just rocks! This brings us to the album’s mid-point and the first early release by the band in Faces in the Fog. The song is an up tempo rocker that is perfect as a sample of what Doctor Smoke have to offer as a total package. It starts out with a doom riff before breaking out into a rocker that picks up the tempo mid-way through again reminding me of a stoner version of a Diamond Head track which is by no means a bad thing. For the youngsters out there Diamond Head was an early act in the NWBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) and covered numerous times by Metallica.

From Hell is one “wicked and impure” tune and hey, it’s right there in the chorus. An obvious nod to Jack the Ripper but I really have to commend Doctor Smoke on their song writing prowess which, quite honestly, is well above average. With a name like Doctor Smoke it would be easy to write 8-10 songs laced with subtle and not so subtle weed references but that isn’t what Doctor Smoke does. The songs are all extremely well written taking a nod more often from my world of horror than from juvenile stoner references that have all been done a million times over. A big kudos to Doctor Smoke for that!

The Seeker begins with a very Sabbath-esque riff but then Black Sabbath did it all and are an obvious influence on everything hard rock and metal. Doctor Smoke let a little Sabbath love flow as The Seeker would be right at home on an early Sabbath album. The Final Hour blazes in to give us one last kick ass jam before the album comes to an end but you’ll be delighted to have your ass kicked in such a fashion. Permanent Night brings a heavy groove to close out the album like something that would be right at home on a, the aforementioned, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats album (specifically thinking of Mind Control). Doctor Smoke decide to go out in a blaze of glory ending the album on an extreme up note. Of course, this only makes you wanna hit play again… and you should!
Also Doctor Smoke seem to do it well live unlike too many others. Until they come to your neck of the woods here’s a live performance of The Willow



The Witching Hour was released Nov 4th via Totem Cat Records. You can purchase by clicking the “buy” link from bandcamp above. I honestly liked every song on the album with no definitive favorite so I’ve spun the entire album a few times rather than one track over and over which isn’t really a complaint and one I hope you’ll share with me. Feel my pain!

Words: Feind Gottes (editor,Thy Demons Be Scribblin )

Links:
Facebook: HERE
Twitter: HERE

When you mention Japanese doom bands most people instantly think of Corrupted, Coffins and Church of Misery. However, Funeral Moth is among them as one of the absolute best.
Funeral Moth mastermind and Weird Truth Productions founder Makoto Fujishima was kind enough to do an interview with Doommantia. Regardless of your familiarity with the band and label

MV -Thank you for doing this interview with us. Would you mind tell us little about yourself?

Makoto - You are welcome! Thanks for giving us the chance to introduce ourselves to Doommantia! My name is Makoto and I'm playing guitar and doing vocals in Funeral Moth. Besides that, I'm also running a label called Weird Truth since 1999 which has released many extreme doom stuffs.

MV - How did you get your start playing doom metal? When did you officially start/join your first band, and who are your biggest influences?

Makoto - Around 2000, I played in a doom band called Mourning Shadow. But MS released only 1 song on In Search of Weird Truth compilation tape released by my own label. Perhaps, it was the first time for me to play in a doom band. As for my first band, it's Nyarlathotep I started in 1993. To begin with, I started it with 3 other guys and played something like old school doomed death metal with some bizarre elements. I started to listen to metal music when I was 14 or so. First metal album I bought was Operation:Mindcrime of Queensryche. Then, I started to devote myself into metal music and 3 or 4 years later I found the underground death metal scene. All the bands I listened to through my metal journey influenced me in every way. I can't choose only one who influenced me. Well..., I think Mournful Congregation, Worship, diSEMBOWELMENT are the biggest influences for me to play in a doom band.

MV - The last Funeral Moth recording (a self titled EP) came out in 2008, why did it take so long to release 'Dense Fog'?

Makoto - Yes, it took very very long time. We had already had all the songs on "dense fog" album in the beginning of 2010. At that time, we were 3 piece band and those songs were meant to be for single guitar. Then we toured with Mournful Congregation in July/2010. For that tour, Matsubara-san from ex-Mortalized/Gridlink joined us as a guest guitar player. It turned out really great and we recognized that we would need the 2nd guitar player as a permanent member. Unfortunately he lives very far from our home town, so it was impossible to ask him to join us as a permanent member. So we postponed the recording and started to seek another guitar player. In 2011, Mayo joined us and we started to re-arrange the songs for 2 guitars. It took about a year or so then we started recording in spring 2013. But Mayo left the band while we are recording the album. Fortunately, we could find Tomohiro and continued the recording. But it took much longer than we expected.

MV - This work is more varied than you other material. Dense Fog reminded me a little of Worship. It's heavier and the playing is more advanced than the EP. What made you decide to go this route and when can we expect your next release?

Makoto - Yes! Our 2008 EP included only 2 songs and they were much simpler and heavier doom stuff compared to "dense fog" album. When we were making "dense fog" album, we tried to make more atmospheric music and it was natural improvement for us. As for 2008 EP, it was recorded a few months after Azegami-san joined. So there weren't so much input from him at that time. This time, he arranged his drumming by himself, and Tomohiro is a really well-experienced guitar player, who helped us to go into next step. Yes, we must admit that Worship is one of the biggest influences but I think our music has our own uniqueness. Their music is extremely depressive, but our music isn't so extreme and yet it's much more emotional. Now, we have already had 2 new songs and we are going to start the recording sometime in 2015. I think those 2 songs are also different from the songs on "dense fog" album. They are much more progressive and emotional I think.

MV - What was the primary source of inspiration for Funeral Moth in the first place? What does it represent to you?

Makoto - First 2 songs of Funeral Moth were written by Sento-san, our bass player. He's deeply into Worship and tried to make the band like them when we started FM. So I think we are influenced by Worship a lot in our early days. But he's also into some hardcore stuff, so I think there are some hardcore feelings in those 2 songs.

MV - What other bands are you and the members of the band involved with?

Makoto - I'm only plying in Funeral Moth now. Sento-san is playing in the band called Midian whose music is something like dark and gloomy punk. Azegami-san is playing in 2 grind bands, Brob and Realized. Tomohiro is also playing bass for Realized, and he's also playing in some other bands, Realm(drumless/vocalless doom) and Discrete Corporality(Catasexual Urge Motivation worshipping gore death/grind).

MV - Most of what comes from your country seems to be either grind or power metal, is there a doom scene in Japan?

Makoto - I think it's not correct. There are great death metal bands like Anatomia, Coffins, Deadly Spawn, Intestine Baalism and so on. As for thrash and black metal, there are also great bands like Sabbat, Abigail, Fastkill and so on. Anyway, It is certainly so that doom isn't so strong here, especially extreme doom like we are playing. There are some good "doom rock" bands and it seems there are something like scene for them here. But as far as extreme doom is concerned, there are only a few bands. Perhaps you know, Corrupted is the most popular and famous band who are playing this kind of doom. I think they are the one and only band who are recognized a lot outside of Japan in this genre. And there are also one good extreme doom band called Begräbnis, who are playing extremely dark and ritualistic doom with some industrial feelings. But it's still small world unfortunately...



MV - What are you interests outside of music?

Makoto - I enjoy climbing mountains. As for the cover photo of "dense fog" album, it was taken by me when I climbed the mountain in Oita prefacture, which is in the west part of Japan. It leaves a great impression feeling the vibe of nature while I'm walking alone in the mountains!

MV - If you could see any concert in the world what would your ideal line up be?

Makoto - Mournful Congregation, Worship, Ataraxie, Profetus, Dea Marica, Begräbnis and Estrangement all Weird Truth doom bands who are active now! Plus my doom, doom/death idols like Inverloch, Skepticism, Unholy, Evoken, and Candlemass!!!!!

MV - Thank you for letting me interview you. Do you have any parting words?

Makoto - Thanks for the interview! Keep on doomin'!

Interview By MV

Official Website

Italian eclectic musician Adam Van Maledict, or Adamennon, has been getting his fan base used to wide-angled intriguing, or better bloodcurdling, escapes into underground dark and heavy music.

Adam has been experimenting in various genres and especially ranging from punk to a hybrid, “de-progressive” genre incorporating dark/black, ritual ambient, industrial, noise, doom, drone etc. elements.

The latter hybrid  genre is well represented in its varying shades by Adamennon’s solo albums (two of them featured on Doommantia here and here) as well as by the author’s collaborations with acts like Null, Traumasutra, L.C.B., Beta (a.k.a. Mike in chaotic sludge-grind band Viscera///), Nessuno (a.k.a. Michele Carnielli in Kröwnn), or else, very recently, with the ultra-gloomy project Liturgia Maleficarum.




In addition Adam and his recording studio (SFR Studio) have been and are a key reference for issues related to sound engineering and production for several bands born in the deep underground and soon object of much deserved international attention. I may just mention the doom-death metal banshees SaturninE as well as the funereal necromancers Fuoco Fatuo and Black Temple Below.
With the albums Nero and subsequent MMXII Adamennon has been further widening and enriching the paths of experimentation started with his solo dark-drone ambient production. Adam has been progressively abandoning the once substantial industrial elements in favour of the incorporation of horror prog-like features typical of the Italian prog rock tradition. Adamennon’s most obvious references for this newer course are groups like Jacula/Antonius Rex and Goblin, i.e. bands/projects where keyboards, and particularly organ, are dominant. More than ever Adamennon’s music turned into “narrative” and evoking, obscure and esoteric as much as the music of those soundtracks for vintage horror movies that doom lovers dig so much.

Hence it comes as no surprise if this passion brought Adamennon to collaborate with musicians who are mostly into electronic music, i.e. a reference music genre especially for soundtracks to horror and sci-fi movies. One of the fruits of such collaborations is the recent split between Adamennon and Alessandro Parisi. Alessandro Parisi is a young, talented and internationally known Italian composer/producer devoted to minimalistic electronic music and broadly inspired by the cyber-punk culture and, in general, by anything esoteric and gloomy. Alessandro’s main sources of stylistic inspiration are electro-techno-house acts like Legowelt and Daft Punk and composers such as Jean-Michel Jarre, John Carpenter and invariably Goblin and that creepy, scary intro of album Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield (try and listen to Alessandro Parisi’s recent EP La Porta Ermetica – on Bandcamp …).

The partnership between Adamennon and Alessandro Parisi culminated into the release of the split 12”LP “Il Plenilunio del Fuoco” during May 2014 as ultra-limited edition via the British label Flight Recorder. The split LP is accessible in full streaming via Bandcamp. Apparently the album is sold out, however the label should be contacted about possible reissues.

The LP consists of music for the ideal creepy soundtrack to an ideal, definitely dark movie that doesn’t exist yet! The cover art is adorned by a typical medieval-looking heraldic symbol with shield and swords, rather simple style-wise but stained by blood. The very titles of the album and the tracks (in Italian and Latin) are like a jump straight into occult, necromantic ambience: e.g., “the Nihil is calling you”, “the ritual”, “baptism of blood”, “purification” … Each side of the split LP includes two rather short (never over 5 minutes-long each) but incisive tracks consisting of a solo song and a collaborative song. This is actually something different from most splits around where bands/artists contribute their separate tracks independently. This split LP is a way for approaching the essential features of each musician, Adamennon and Alessandro Parisi, and, at the same time, for observing how the two musicians blend their styles, experiences and creativity while composing together.

You may appreciate the alchemy of this mutual influence right from the first combined track, "Il Nulla Chiama A Sè”, whose title (“The Nihil is calling you”) is an ideal bridge with the “subject” of Adamennon’s album MMXII, dedicated to the Nihil and to the end of Everything. Immediately Adamennon’s keyboards lead the dances. The solemn and tremendously sinister sound of the organ is involved in braided constructions with a deep bass line imparting a tridimensional thickness to the sound. Over these sonic spires some malignant entities are fluctuating: their bleak, trembling voice stems from Alessandro Parisi’s electronic tricks and Adamennon’s piano touches … If the hypnotic rhythms numbed your mind, just a single creepy whisper is able to drag you into the story told by this soundtrack music, a story that doesn’t exist yet but that you are bound to build up while listening and being inspired by music.

The second combined track, "Aperiens Ad Lunam (Baptismum Sanguis)" brings horror in its very title (“blood baptism”) but it is surprisingly introduced by a rather intimate melody driven by a violin-like sound from the synth. If the first collaborative track is recalling the horror/sci-fi movie soundtracks from the 60-70’s, this second combined track is lead by a plodding, almost martial rhythm marked by the trembling cymbals, by the galloping vibrations of the bass and, above all, by the ancient, folkish, almost medieval/renaissance-like flavour. Here as well Alessandro Parisi and Adamennon seem to have good time in combining diverging melodic lines and electronic effects around the backbone of the vibrating cymbals. After a progressive growth of sounds into the core of the ballad, the leitmotif will gradually get simpler until the violin-like sound will be almost dissolved into silence, into Nihil, like a troubled soul which is recalled by a séance and then it is sent back to the otherworld dimension it belongs to.

In his “Rituale (Electi Initiationem)", Adamennon unleashes his beloved keyboards. This bleak and dreary lithany is lead by the piano possessing an almost painfully acute, crystalline sound. The resulting glacial, metallic, lower-key, piano-driven melody is dissonant and is growing over a gloomy and gurgling base of organ and unsettling electronic effects similar to rattles (often heard in horror movies). The composition of the “Rituale” is a sort of never-ending spiral emerging from silence for us and then gradually plunging back into silence. Alessandro Parisi is closing the split with his ballad "Caeli Rore (Purificatio)". Alessandro likes to lead the story by means of a heavy, dark and majestic drone carpet populated by his innumerable, insidious ghostly, Goblin-style electronic effects. These effects consist of obsessive sounds glued together by the dull and rapid tolls of the percussions in the background, as well as of sudden noise flashes similar to voices deformed by theremin. Alessandro’s own track is overly grievous, dominated by oppressive, tenebrous darkness, the same darkness which is eventually going to swallow all the sounds belonging to this occult ritual.

The ritual is officially over, but you cannot be relaxed because, sincerely, 20 minutes are far too short for exhausting the scary, morbid story that you have been building up, and plunging into, while transported by music …

Words: Marilena Moroni

Links
Full streaming: HERE.
Video: HERE.
Adamennon @ Bandcamp
Adamennon @ Facebook
Alessandro Parisi @ Bandcamp
Alessandro Parisi @ Facebook
Flight Recorder @ Facebook

Tracklist
Side 1
1. Alessandro Parisi & Adamennon - "Il Nulla Chiama A Se (Orior Omnia)" 04:04
2. Adamennon - "Il Rituale (Electi Initiationem)" 04:31
Side 2
1. Alessandro Parisi & Adamennon - "Aperiens Ad Lunam (Baptismum Sanguis)" 04:57
2. Alessandro Parisi - "Caeli Rore (Purificatio)" 04:50

After a year, the wait is finally over for all Dirty Grave fans. Brazilian Occult/ Traditional doomsters Dirty Grave are back with the new EP titled Single Vol.II. You can find two new songs titled "Evil Heart" and "Madman's Revenge". You can listen to it HERE.

If you want to listen to their first EP, click HERE.

Dirty Grave first appeared in mid-2013 in Orlândia SP, Brazil, with Mark Rainbow and Victor Bergy. They started the compositions for the first EP, even without a drummer, they recorded(record home) the EP Dirty Grave.  The band performs his first rehearsals with Arthur Assis occupying the position of drummer and follows for the release of their first album.

Links:
Official Facebook page: HERE.
Bandcamp: HERE.

Source: Jan Zajc

“Born outside the laws of God and man, (The Cult of) QUEMOS invoke the primordial darkness that has always existed and will always exist.”

This is what introduces, and concisely defines, the music by Quemos, an occult doom act from Lima, Peru. Quemos started its activity rather recently (early 2012) as a duo gradually turning into a quartet. But  the dark, minimalistic and sacrilegious music conveyed by these acolytes seems to belong to archaic times.  The name of the band, Quemos, is deriving from Chemosh or Chamos, the “destroyer”, the abominous, blood-thirsty god adored by the Moabites and introduced by King Salomon to Jerusalem (as told in the Old Testament). Like the akin ancient deities Moloch and Baal, Chemosh was worshipped even by celebrating human sacrifices.

The members of this occult Quemos clan bear ritualistic names without revealing their real identity. If you are curious you are invited to go and check out the band’s pages in order to find out who is behind this project. But for the music purpose it is cool enough to know that the owner of the threatening, nasty voice leading the bloody sacrifice is High Priest of Moab, while the other cult ministers creating the grim, ultra-slowly plodding and obsessively drony carpet are Harvester of the Dying Sun (in charge of “seeds of knowledge & soundscapes of madness”), He-Who-Walks-Among-The-Shadows (imposing “discipline, aural obscurity & beyond”) and Kenotic Deconsecrator (emitting “unholy blasts of darkness”).

The very first archaic rituals by Quemos are gathered in their debut self-titled full-length album, three poisonously obscure litanies which will benumb you for over 48 minutes. The titles of the tracks are rather clearly marking the progress of a nocturnal rite in honour of the blood-hungry deity: the opening piece called “The Portal Must Be Opened With The Blood Of Their Throats” is an over 26 minutes-long suite followed by Light Is No Longer With Us, a similarly dilated evil, ceremonial prayer. The closure of the ritual is lead by the short (almost 3 minutes-long) atmospheric track Dawn Of Moab.

There is no actual leading melody, or maybe there is a faint one,  to be followed in Quemos’ ritualistic doom, and, well, “doom” is not exhaustingly defining the music. Quemos’ music seems overly minimalistic but it is blending elements from a wealth of genres, like ultra-slow, funeral and occult doom, dark ambient/psychedelia and drone mixed with black metal, the latter particularly for the ferocious vocal style. Quemos, let’s say, take their time in developing their dilated, deadly mystic litanies. For example the first track starts with a very long intro where some sinister drony vibration, drum “blasts”, the hissing of cymbals and the malevolent gurgling voice are literally absorbing the light and dragging you with an unbearable slowness into the core of the rite where other “noises”, e.g. from guitars (maybe) are added. The guitar sounds are low and reverbered, they do not build any normal “metal” riff, they emit a series of deep, low howling melody echoing out like coming from the bottom of a cave and mostly alternating with the grim chanting. Is this the voice of the god interacting with the propitiatory prayer of his minister? If so, it is impressive! In any case, the choice of not overlapping sounds and vocals in cacophony and, instead, of letting the sounds die away in silence for a few seconds is tremendously effective for imposing a suffocating ambience. Guitars, drums, drony noise and vocals will end up overlapping in several occasions towards the end of the long suite with quite dramatic effects. We are deep into the bloody ritual.

The second majestic track is no less gloomy as far as atmosphere is concerned. The very first start takes place with the sudden sound of cymbal, so much typical for ancient rites. The vibration of the cymbal will die out in silence from where sinister background noises, the sound of organ, the nasty growling voice, accompanied by the howls of a wolf, will progressively grow, inflate and deflate like agitated ghosts. Scary! The complete decoupling between the irregular pattern of the drumming, the obsessive vibrations of the feedback and the slow chanting creates an interesting effect related to both the way sounds were treated during mastering/production and the fact that it is impossible to predict how the “melody” will develop. You’ll stay hooked to this odd, malignant litany for 19 long minutes, till the almost abrupt end of the ritual will leave you, or what is left of you, free, probably …

The way music was treated in the studio is stunning: the first impression may seem of lo-fi music, and this may contribute to the “archaic” feeling. But sounds (vocals, drums, guitars etc.) are perfectly clear, no matter if they are in the background or loud. The final result is a remarkable tri-dimensional soundscape, which makes Quemos’ music even more suffocating.

Vocals, music style and features in Quemos reminded me of several bands and acts, definitely Grave Temple, SunnO))), but also Om, Sleep as well as ultra-slow bands like Funeral Moth (especially in their overly sick 2006 demo The Moth Flying to the Funeral Sky – by the way, read the interview to Funeral Moth here) and Moss. The stream of abyssal evil emanating from Quemos’ music also reminds me of the mammoth-heavy ferocity in doom-death metal bands like Grave Upheaval and Anatomia in their slowest moments.

The music crafted by Quemos was abysmal enough, and surely cool enough, for attracting Golden Procession Records, the “Doom Division” of the Japanese label Deathrash Armageddon. Quemos’ debut album was released during 2013 and is available as CD format via Golden Procession Records/Deathrash Armageddon (or else by contacting the band via Facebook). The album is available for full streaming on Bandcamp. Quemos are writing new blood-curdling rituals, you are warned …

Words: Marilena Moroni

Full streaming: HERE.
Video: Quemos – Dawn of Moab: HERE.
Quemos @ Bandcamp
Quemos @ Facebook
Label Golden Procession Records / Deathrash Armageddon

Tracklist:
1. The Portal Must Be Opened With The Blood Of Their Throats 26:32
2. Light Is No Longer With Us 19:14
3. Dawn Of Moab 02:56

This edition of Doomology features a band from Lewiston, Idaho who went by  the name Stone Garden. Featuring many different members and lineup changes, the group existed from 1967 to early 1972 and took inspiration from artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Stones, Cream, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band was initially formed by three siblings in the early sixties. The Three Dimensions, as they were called at the time, consisted of Paul and Gary Speer on guitars, with brother Neal playing the skins. They landed their first gig while barely even teenagers performing at a city pool for a “Swim and Dance Party,” which earned them some minor exposure and $65 in cash. While in junior high the brothers added on Dan Merrell who contributed his bass playing abilities to the band. A name change was in order as well and they became The Knights Of Sound. Around this time (1965) the Knights were given a chance to record their first song.


“The World Is Coming To An End”, was recorded in a basement facility owned by a Doug Smith, in Clarkston, Washington. By this point the band was frequently playing live venues and this helped attract the attention of a potential manager, Don Tunnell. Seeing this as a chance at super-stardom (and for the fact that he only lived a block away and was old enough to buy beer), the band hooked up with Tunnell, who also gave them their newest moniker, Stone Garden; borrowed from a psychedelic poster Don had seen amidst the then blossoming flower power revolution. For the next few years the band was able to build up a solid reputation playing all over the Pacific Northwest with sets containing both originals and typical cover songs by groups such as The Doors, Hendrix, The Beatles, etc. In 1969 they were once again invited by sound engineer Doug Smith to record material in his new and improved basement recording studio.

With the help of multi-instrumentalist John Purviance playing the sax and harmonica, the group pressed 300 copies of a single containing the songs Oceans Inside Me and Stop My Thinking. Following this a disc jockey and big supporter of the band going by the name Chris Adams, set them up at a professional 8-track recording facility to record some more songs, including a second version of Oceans Inside Me. These recordings were never released at the time, but eventually made their way onto a compilation CD of the band’s work released in 1998 by the label Rockadelic. In the fall of 1969 Gary decided to part with the band and pursue a college education and was replaced by Russ Pratt, a singer/songwriter and organ player from a fellow band in a nearby town. More personnel shifts occurred after Russ, Dan, and Paul graduated high school in 1970. Russ and Dan left the group and were replaced with Charles Weisgerber for bass duties and Rand Harrison for his vocal and keyboard talents. Unfortunately Rand did not fit quite right with the band. Luckily though, Gary Speer was able to return and took over for Harrison. Eventually they set their sights on bigger and better things by relocating to Seattle where fellow Lewistonian, David Lee, joined the group playing the electric piano and handling additional vocals.

This lineup was short lived though and Charles Weisgerber returned to Lewiston and was replaced with John Helton. This final incarnation of Stone Garden (now calling themselves The Speer Brothers Band, but according to Paul Speer it was really the continuing legacy of Stone Garden) lasted until early 1972 when the group finally decided to throw in the towel. Following the disbanding all the members continued to play music either part of full time. Bandleader, Paul Speer went on to enjoy a successful career in producing and has over 250 albums to his name, in addition to a Grammy nomination for a video collaboration with Queensryche drummer Scott Rockenfield. Sadly Dan Merrell was killed by a hit and run driver in 1972 and Gary Speer passed away in 1994. The band went through many members throughout its history and was unfortunately never able to release any proper albums or recordings minus the one single, but luckily many of their fantastic recordings survived and were able to find their way to a much larger audience thanks to the Rockadelic compilation and the reissues that followed.

Other than the single containing the tracks Oceans Inside Me and Stop My Thinking, the band never officially released any material during their active years. Fortunately Rockadelic was kind enough to remaster and put together a good collection of ten of the band’s cuts which Paul Speer felt were good representations of their overall sound. These guys have a fairly heavy reputation among fans of the genre and the opening cut of the album definitely shows why. It’s full on proto doom and totally fuzzed out. Just the way heavy psych ought to be. Following this we have It’s A Beautiful Day. You may be expecting a mellow, flower power type folk song, but despite the title it continues the heavy fuzz tradition started with Oceans Inside Me. There are softer cuts yet to come, but they’re still quite listenable. The band’s very first recorded song comes next and while nowhere near as heavy as the previous songs, it’s still a nice little ditty. It’s especially impressive for the fact that the oldest person in the band was around 15 or 16 at the time of recording. The following track brings us back to the heaviness and is bestial fuzz onslaught. Six minutes of delicious psychedelic jamming. For my ears this is the stand-out track on the album. The blandly titled Da Da Da Da Da is a bit of a weaker song, but it’s nothing insulting.



Halfway through the compilation and we have heard two softer songs and three heavy ones. Not a bad ratio, and it basically continues on like this for the remainder. Stop My Thinking is a fairly uninteresting blues song, and may be a turn off for the heavy heads. But once again it’s not a total waste of sound and even at their worst this band can still entertain. Track number seven returns the heavy fuzz to our ears and gets us ready for the big grand finale. Well not actually the finale, but Woodstick would definitely be an appropriate closer. It’s long, drenched in blistering hot psychedelic vibrations, and overloaded with the groovy fuzz this band excels at. Definitely a highlight and probably the heaviest track here. Now unfortunately the last two songs kind of...don’t do much. First there’s the (in my opinion) pointless and inferior 45 version of Oceans Inside Me which is bogged down by unattractive saxophone noise. Stick with the other version of the song, it’s much better. And then there’s the infamous SF (San Francisco) Policeman Blues track. After several listens the song might grow on you like it did me - it’s pretty fun, lighthearted and harmless - but I can definitely see others absolutely hating it. It’s totally out of place and if you didn’t know better you’d have know idea it’s the same band performing it. Like I said, I can dig it somewhat, but still be on guard for it. Now I just found out while doing research for this band that a reissue of the album was released in 2008 containing five additional bonus cuts. I searched YouTube (not very thoroughly mind you ha ha) and was unable to find them to listen to so I had to rely on short previews of the songs found on AllMusic.com. But from what I’ve heard I can say that they keep the same level of consistency found on the original ten songs; some heavy fuzz monsters and some mellow, bluesey type songs. Overall this one is a great listen and if there’s one thing to take from this review it’s the word fuzz which there is plenty to go around on this record.

8/10

These guys won’t destroy your speakers every time, but when they do, they really fucking do. You’re not going to find many other flower power bands this heavy and fuzzed out. Also consider the fact that the majority of the their recordings were done while the band was in high school. So enough reading this, go out there and make purchase of their sole compilation and DIG ON THE FUZZ!

Recommended tracks:
-Oceans Inside Me (not the 45 version)
-It’s A Beautiful Day
-The World Is Coming To An End
-Bastard
-Woodstick

Words: Brian

Dutch instrumental heavyweights TANK86 have released a music video for the track “Vault” from their new Album “OBEY”, scheduled for release on Lighttown Fidelity / Rising Magma records in January 2015. The band just completed a successful kickstarter campaign to raise funds fo the follow up of 2011’s critically acclaimed “Rise”.

The video depicts an atmospheric battle between two grim figures shot in full stop-motion.



TANK86 has been creating its own particular brand of heavy instrumentalism since 2005. Two guitars, bass and drums are all the tools this band needs to get their heavy point across. A high dosage of riffs, harmonized layers and unconventional song structures effectively dismiss any need for vocals. No time for singing when you are pounded into oblivion...

Tank86 @ Bandcamp

These last two weeks saw a busy activity by the committee of heavy music lovers behind the organization of the fine Heavy Days in Doom Town festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. The festival is well known for covering a wide range of genres such as doom, sludge, stonerrock, psych, heavyrock and more.  The next edition of the festival, the 4th one, was announced and a good part of the super fat bill was already uncovered. The fans of this excellent festival have become used to the no-less than monumental bills of this cool festival which is again bound to last for 4 days for its next 2015 edition, between April 30th and May 3rd 2015.


To quote the organizing committee … “Expect something out of the ordinary!”

But the whole thing started with an unpleasant announcement too. As many of you know, this big festival has been and is organized and run according to DIY ethics by the Danish underground music association, “Undergrundsmusikkens Fremme”, the same entity behind the great Killtown Deathfest. The Killtown Deathfest celebrated its’ “funeral edition” last September 2014 with a spectacular event. Well, unfortunately the association decided to put an end to the experience of the Heavy Days in Doom Town festival as well. So the 2015 edition will be the last one too, the “Doomsday Celebration”. Hopefully this will be only a temporary interruption for both festivals.

Anyway let’s appreciate the half full glass, and let’s see what is to be expected for the four days of the 2015 Heavy Days in Doom Town edition, by listing the very first bands so-far announced, only a few but enough for drooling all over like a slug!

Abysmal Grief (Italy)
Official Website

Acid Witch (USA)
Hellsheadbangers Bandcamp

Bell Witch (USA)
Facebook

Conan (UK)
Facebook

Dopethrone (Canada)
Bandcamp

Epitaph (Italy)
Facebook

Hooded Menace (Finland)
Facebook

Guevnna (Japan)
Facebook

Mirror of Deception (Germany)
Official Website

Night Viper (Sweden)
Soundcloud

SaturninE (Italy)
Facebook

Serpent Throne (USA) – first show in Europe ever!
Facebook

Weak (Denmark)
Bandcamp

Worm Ouroboros (USA)
Bandcamp

Not bad, eh?
Keep the webpages of the festival checked out for constant updates and any other practical information, including the purchase of the tickets (pre-sale starting on January 1st 2015, at 12 am).

Words: Marilena Moroni

Heavy Days in Doom Town Festival 2015 Links

Heavy Days In Doomtown Official Website
Heavy Days In Doomtown Facebook
Facebook Events Page

The Maltese doomsters are surely no people who like to rest on their laurels. Less than two months have passed since the last successful edition of the Malta Doom Metal Fest, but the organizing committee, involving both musicians and fans (like Albert Bell of Nomad Son/Forsaken/Sacro Sanctus and Glenn Gauci – here), started quite rapidly working on the next edition, which will be the seventh!




So in the last few days the organization was already able to announce a substantial part of what the juicy bill will be for the Malta Doom Metal Fest 2015.
The festival will take place during October 23rd and 24th 2015 at the by now classic, picturesque location of the Buskett, right in the middle of the woodland occupying the heart of the charming Malta Island.
Here is the comment that officially announced the festival:

“ MDM returns for a mammoth and much awaited seventh edition on the 23rd and 24th of October 2015 with a hard-hitting line-up that should appeal to doomheads and true metallers alike; covering all the shades and hues of doom metal and related genres including epic metal, NWOBHM and early thrash!”

And here is the preliminary list of the bands that so-far confirmed their attendance to the festival (in alphabetical order):

Circle of Witches (Italy) Stoner metal
Facebook

Doomed (Germany) Doom Death
Facebook

King Heavy (Chile) Heavy Epic Doom
Facebook

Marche Funebre (Belgium) Doom Death
Facebook

Mother of Six (Wales) Stoner/alt Rock
Facebook

Stonegriff (Sweden) Doom Metal
Facebook

Void Moon (Sweden) Epic Doom Metal
Facebook

Many more bands will be announced in the next future.
Hence the official website of the festival as well as its Facebook pages should be kept checked out by those who would very much like to experience this highly involving festival again (like me, for example …) or else for the first time! And it won’t likely be the last one …


Words: Marilena Moroni

Malta Doom Metal Fest 2015 Links
Official Website
Facebook
Facebook Event Page