After their release "Drakonian Paradigm", out on The Ajna Offensive, we asked a few questions to one of the minds behind this enigmatic band. Here is the trasncript about what he had to say about the new album.
Thanks for the interview, and let’s get started with the question:
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The Black was originally one of many side projects from Jon Nödtveidt (R.I.P) from Dissection fame, I remember getting their first release from Necropolis Records 15 years ago, and I was extremely psyched about it. At that time that’s what black metal was supposed to sound like. The band has reformed with two members of Tyrant and Vinterland at the helm along with original drummer “The Black”. And it seems that time stood still for this band, since their sound is very old school. I’m like both Tyrant’s and Vinterland’s music and was very disappointed to hear this release, since it lacks any novelty in it. | ||
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My Own Grave hails from Sweden and “Necrology” marks the band’s second full length release. The band plays a melodic mix of Trash and Death Metal and they are pretty average at it. “Necrology”,in the same tradition that bands of this style have, features 11 songs and only 33 minutes of music. The band is pretty good at combining both genres, but it’s fairly generic when it comes to writing songs. | ||
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After Christian Ãlvestam left the band, I was very excited since I always like the band’s music but his vocal range was a bit annoying obscuring the band’s great musical abilities. The band now has two new vocalists that are each in charge of only one style of vocals. Roberth Karlsson from Pan.Thy.Monium fame now handles the harsh vocals, and newcomer Lars Palmqvist is in charge of clean vocals. “Dark Matter Dimensions” in my opinion is a far better album than “Holographic Universe”. It features 50 minutes of brilliant Gothenburg style Melodic Death Metal, you will find yourself playing this album over and over. The band has only been getting better since their first full length “Symmetric in Design”. | ||
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When it comes to bands playing Death/Trash Metal in these days, my band of choice has always been Vader. They have managed to release very solid albums since 1993, and while not extremely ‘different’ from each other, they are still pretty brutal and melodic at the same time. The only problem I’ve had with Vader over the years is that when I see them live, they are always sub-par compared to their albums. The production on the albums makes their music sound better, or they are just stuck with a shitty sound engineer when playing live, since I’ve seen them several times over the years and I’m always dissatisfied with their live sets. | ||
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“All Shall Fall” is one of the most expected Black Metal releases from this legendary band. Seven years have passed since their last album “Sons Of Northern Darkness” and this release continues EXACTLY were they left off. For some people this might be just perfect, and to some extent it is, but you would imagine that a band would learn something new after that amount of time. All band members have been playing in different bands and should have provided a creativity boost to this album. | ||
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Is this Sludge/Stoner Metal month? I have reviewed more albums of these genres this month than in the last year or so. The Atlas Moth is a band from Chicago, Illinois and like I mentioned they play a blend of Sludge with Stoner Metal influences. “A Glorified Piece Of Blue Sky” features 50 minutes of music divided in 8 tracks that guarantee a very interesting delusional ride into the band’s mind. I must say that I really enjoy an album that flows nicely from aggressiveness into more trippy songs. | ||
The members of SONATA ARCTICA have checked in from their current North American tour with Dragonforce in support of their latest release, The Days Of Grays, which recently debuted on the Billboard Top New Artist “Heatseeker’s” chart at #19 the week following its release date. This industry chart lists the best-selling albums by new artists who have never appeared on the Top 100 of the Billboard 200.
California black metal trio VALDUR have four tracks featured in the recently released PSP game Undead Knights. In Undead Knights, the player is the anti-hero, battling the wrath of fearless enemies in an effort to build the most irreverent army ever known.
Zeal & Ardor - Baroness - Deafheaven
March 8th, 2019 - Houston, Texas
Ensiferum - Septicflesh - Arsis
January 28th, 2019 - Atlanta, Georgia
November 2nd & 3rd, 2018 - Brooklyn, NY
Eye of Solitude - Marche Funebre - Catapult the Dead
March 13th, 2018 - Oakland, California
Enslaved - Wolves in the Throne Room - Myrkur - Khemis
March 9th, 2018 - San Francisco, California
November 6th, 2017 - Atlanta, Georgia
October 29th, 2017 - Rotterdam, Netherlands
October 28th, 2017 - Rotterdam, Netherlands
Brujeria + Powerflo + Pinnata Protest
October 23rd, 2017 - San Francisco, CA
Orphaned Land + Pain + Voodoo KungFu
September 20th, 2017 - Oakland, California
August 16-19th, 2017 - Dinkelsbühl, Germany
August 10th, 2017 - Jaroměř, Czech Republic
August 11th, 2017 - Jaroměř, Czech Republic
August 12th, 2017 - Jaroměř, Czech Republic
July 28-29th, 2017 - Germany
Feb 2-6, 2017 - USA
Feb 2-6, 2017 - USA
Feb 2-6, 2017 - USA
Feb 2-6, 2017 - USA
Children of Bodom + Abbath + Exmortus + Oni
12/05/2016 - The Regency, CA
Sonata Arctica + Leaves' Eyes + Omnium Gatherum
12/02/2016 - Slim's - San Francisco, CA
Epica + Arkona + Fleshgod Apocalypse + The Agonist
11/18/2016 - Social Hall - San Francisco, CA
Fallujah + Between The Buried And Me + Devin Townsend Project
10/05/2016 - Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA
