Every Sun Is Fragile full length released on Pulverized Records in late July 2013. Autumnblaze is Markus Baltes - vocals, guitars, bass. Arisjel - drums. Andreas Schuler - guitars. The bands hails from Germany. Genre described as Melancholyrockmetal. The album starts with "opening" and is a minute thirty seconds intro with clean guitars, building a musical map of what is to come. "New Ghost In Town", is the first full song, the first thing I am reminded of is early Anathema. Clean vocals are dominant through most of the track and I hear some higher pitched ones towards the end. "Invisible Fields", solid bass lines and drums set creatives passages with the lyrics being easily digestible and comprehensible to my ears. "I'm Spiegel", interesting title, much heavier guitar tone and vocal style are found in this track. Assuming this is all sung in German which sounds great anyhow, even though I don't understand a word, I can appreciate the musical content just as well. Its heavy rock start captures my attention and drives with an awesome chorus line that is catchy to my ears."Mein Engel, der aus Augen filest", this track reminds me a lot of The Devin Townsend project or even, dare I say Type O Negative. "Every Sun is Fragile", title track, much more melodic than the rest of the songs. The clean guitar tone captured on the recording is crystal clear and fits with the vocals perfectly. "How I learned to Burn My Teardrops", that's a huge title with deep meaning. The track is full of emotion and hard not to become moved by the content. The mood is somber and melancholy almost reminiscent of End Of Green. "Verglimmt", is the closing song, this one is in German too. Completing and epic journey of sound. Overall surprised by this release and found many tracks pleasing to my ears. ~Artemortifica facebook.com/autumnblaze.band
Cathodic Black EP released July 2013 through Pulverized Records. members include: Tobias Netzell- Guitar,keyboards,backing vocals. Björn Pettersson - Guitar,keyboards,backing vocals. Daniel Jansson - Vocals,bass. Jonas Martinsson - Drums. Band roots from Falun, Sweden. Genre described as Post rock/metal. This EP is comprised of three songs starting with "Rusting Sun", keyboards lead us into a heavy and mood setting opening. My first thoughts are, great production, guitars are clear and have excellent tone. Dark passages and somber feeling is what I am experiencing on this song. Nine minutes of total doom rock destruction, an epic way to start us of. "Altar", chorus effect and drone riff arrangements painting a vast landscape of dismal sounds, a heavy Neurosis influence is apparent. Vocals are low and raspy. Lyrical content is easy to understand as the vocalist finds a balance level between heavy yet discernible approach to his style. "Tooth and Bone" is the last song, upfront and punchy lines of sludge rock and heavy overtones. I am reminded of a band I recently witnessed live called The Flight of Slipnir which has similar attributes. As the title implies it is exactly what you will get. In total the EP is twenty five minutes of heavy, Rock, Doom filled mystic. I can recommend it to fans of Novembers Doom, Neurosis, Catatonia, The Lumberjack Feedback, The Flight Of Sleipnir and many other in the sludge, drone, rock and doom genre. ~Artemortifica facebook.com/majalismusic
Sonus Mortis -A self release demo July 2013 available only through Bandcamp and Soundcloud. A solo project by Kevin Byrne hailing from Dublin, Ireland and described as Atmospheric Black-Death-Doom. The first track on the Sonus Mortis Souncloud site is "Harbinger of Doom", solid production value is evident from the first measures. Quality of guitar sound is great, warm yet intense and brutal. Drums are balanced perfectly and every hit is pronounced. Lots of atmosphere with open chords and synth is also apparent. "A Pale Reflection", clean strumming sets the mood, somber and eerie, reminds me of early Novembers Doom or early Neurosis. At times you forget that it is only one composer, so many layers of instrumentation you might thinks its a five piece band. The track is a long journey and takes into different soundscapes of dark ambient roads. At eleven minutes long it never gets boring, rather leads you into one passage to another with intrigue. "In The River Mist", harmonized guitar and clean strumming commence this composition, heavy and in glorious doom rapture like early Paradise Lost. keyboards create catchy and enthralling phrases to accompany the open chords and intense vocals that sometimes are BM in style and switch to DM effortlessly fitting perfectly with the mood being expressed. Always impressive to hear what one person can achieve creating all the arrangements to make the songs come together. I recommend this for fans of DM, BM, doom and atmospheric genres. Quality of production is great. Looking forward to the full length album. In the meantime the three tracks are available to listen on Soundcloud and Bandcamp, check them out in the links below. ~Artemortifica sonusmortis.bandcamp soundcloud-sonus-mortis facebook.com/sonusmortisband
The Saints of Blasphemy - I: Baptized in Blasphemy full length released April 2013 under Extreminal Productions. Studio members are: Bloodcurse-Vocals, Sixrazor- Guitars, Ricktor Ravensbrück- Guitars, Ixitichitl- Bass, Dorjan- Drums. Live performers include: Bloodcurse- Vocals, Hellskald- Guitars, Mörg- Guitars, Deragore- Drums. The band hails from Wilkes-Barre, PA. The first song is an intro, Diabolicae Baptismum- Spoken word with a horror movie style of sound in the background almost reminded me of the old style 70's horror film music which I enjoy very much and grabs my attention. Next up is "Baptized in Blasphemy", title track, solid performance high BM vocal style kicks in immediately, good production quality - guitars sound aggressive and have heavy brutal tone. "Spawn of Creation", this one has thrash metal elements on the arrangement of the riffs, I hear dual vocal, mid-low to high executed with precision. "Christian Despotism", very creative guitar work, some intense harmonized composition, more on the death metal side of the spectrum with some influences to be noted as early Malevolent Creation, Morbid Angel or Overkill. "Abomination Proclaimed Through Heresy", this track has guest vocals from Demonic Christ vocalist: Dana Duffey. A very nice surprise to hear her vocals on this album as I am a fan and very familiar with the music of Demonic Christ. The song has many open chords and it is raw metal sound reminiscent of old school Motorhead at moments. "Satanae Regni", ends my journey through this record, it's a minute and a half outro and has an epic feel to it, battle like drums and most definitely fitting. This album is part one of a trilogy and leaves the door open for part two which I will most likely keep my ears open for when it comes out. The band has several other releases since 2004 which include two full lengths and other demos. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this record and recommend this for fans of BM and DM alike as you will find something memorable in each track. ~Artemortifica facebook.com/Neldoreth666
Happy to introduce all my readers to the feature model for September 2013 Melle Noire
Photo by Viola Odorata (marion-adam.magix.net 1- What inspired you to do modeling? Was there a point early in your life that sparked your interest? I loved to be photographed ever since I was a child, but for a long time I thought would not get a chance to start modeling, then in the late summer of 2001 somebody approached me in a club and asked me if I would try to start an alternative model career, I didn't even know that alternative amateur modeling even existed.
Photo by Tobias K. 2- You have dark elements to your style, was there an event or moment that made you decide on your style? In my private life I am in the German gothic scene since 1998. I met somebody at school, who was always dressed in black, I was fascinated and a few weeks later I wore black clothes only, too and started listening to dark music.
Photo by Catherine Lee Mason catleema.de 3- Name some of your favorite music or bands? Darkwave, Future Pop, Electro, EBM, Industrial / Noise, Angstpop ( Haus Arafna ), Gothic, Neue Deutsche Haerte, Neue Deutsche Todeskunst, Goth Rock, Metal, Middle Age Crossover, Folk, Post Punk, The Crüxhadows, Diorama, Wolfsheim, Blutengel, VNV Nation, In Strict Confidence, Covenant, Apoptygma Berzerk, Project Pitchfork, Absurd Minds, And One, Suicide Commando, Feindflug, Grendel, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Spetsnaz, Leatherstrip, Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy, Combichrist, Dulce Liquido, SPK, DIVE, PAL, Haus Arafna, Predominant, Deine Lakaien, Lacrimosa, Das Ich, Janus, ASP, Rammstein, Megaherz, OOMPH!, Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper, Type-0 Negative, The Sisters of Mercy, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Metallica, Blind Guardian, In Extremo, Subway to Sally, Faun, Schandmaul, Tanzwut, Corvus Corax, Mila Mar, Die verbannten Kinder Evas, Qntal, Fiddler's Green, Joy Divison.
Photo by DarkmoonRising 4- Name some of your accomplishments or highlights of your career so far? At first I have worked with so many wonderful photographers in Germany and in Switzerland, Martin Black, Herr Buchta, Elisabeth Hackmann, Incarda DesEYEn, Stephan Sackmann, Viola Odorata, Andreas Lehrke, TOM BIXX, Fairytales-Art, Heile Mania, Nicolas Henri, Salix alba Tristis, Birgit Heidrich, Ulrich Grolla, Calvin Hollywood, Unholy Beauty, Catherine Lee Mason, S.T.FotoArt, Art of Shadows, Von Sêl Photo, Don Ricchilino. thank you. Publication highlights : - Cover, FOTOHITS magazine - Cover, Dark Vibe Magazine - Book cover, Goodbye Teddy! There were many more publications on flyers, in magazines, in books - you can find all my references on my official website : www.melles-midnight.de
Photo by Tobias K 5- Do you enjoy regular photo-shoots? or ones where you get to play a character? Both and I enjoy to play several roles, I love to show 1000 different faces. Of course to play a character is always very interesting, so this year I was Mellum ( Gollum style ), I was an elf and in July my make up reminded on Alma Wade ( F.E.A.R. ) I was playing a horror kid, that was amazing! Generally I have a very black sense of humor and I also like "ugly" photo themes, I love striking pictures, I love weird pictures, if I model regular, I wear dark fashion because in my private life I am a gothic girl.
by Viola Odorata http://marion-adam.magix.net 6- What other interest do you have besides modeling? My hobbies are : Watching TV, going to the movies, surfing the internet, meeting friends, celebrating the nights in clubs, listening to music, doing crossword puzzles, editing pictures, writing poems, drawing, and reading. 7- Are there any significant projects or events you are looking forward to in the coming months? I never plan projects for a few months in advance, I am planning more on the spur of the moment. What will I do for example in Christmas time ? I don't know... We will see... :) 8- If someone is interested in hiring you (modeling agency, bands, producers, etc..) where is the best place to get a hold of you? www.melles-midnight.de www.facebook.com/mellenoire
The Corrupt Dictator Mobutu Sese Seko released through Hammerkrieg Productions April 5 2013. Rashid Abdel Ghafur plays all instruments on recordings, and uses a rotating lineup of session musicians to play live shows. Genre described as Experimental Black Metal with Dark Ambient, Avant Garde and Harsh Noise elements. Hails from Missoula, Montana. Having a long history of releases for over one decade now, this musician has a tremendous library of content most of which were limited releases and are sold out. This particular album provided to me by AEA zine is one continues song that is one of the longest I had ever heard in my life. The length of the track is 49:32, this is a huge journey of investigation of sounds of all sorts. Going on the info of the inlay this is the story of Mobutu Sese Seko, a political person who held many roles, a head of the military of Congo was just one of the experience within his life. The story is told from his childhood through his death from a musical aspect that is encompassed within. Production is raw in quality. Guitars has very little distortion. Vocals are done in BM style but go clean from time to time as well as high agony screams like in pain or torture. Wondering how this music would be performed live as one continues performance must be a great undertaking and would be interesting to see how that would go off with a live audience. The experience is a good one, never before had I listen to a concept album such as this. If you are open minded and can listen to an entire 49 minutes worth of music, then this album is worth investigating. ~Artemortifica Physical publication AEA zine #23
A one man BM project. S. Stormhammer: All screams ov agony, instruments, and genocide. Genre described as Raw Black Metal, Ambient and True Tamrielic Black Metal. Roots from Henderson, NV This album is part of several provided to me by AEA zine for inclusion in issue #23. There are a total of 23 songs with a combined total of 45 minutes. As raw as it gets as far as production quality. Sometimes there are real drums and sometimes drum machine. To quote directly from the insert "Crafted in unbridled disgust and revulsion for all things, living or dead, between the months of Morning Star and Second Seed, 2012". A couple of tracks feature interesting intro with a dark atmosphere. Guitars are recorded in their purest form without any type of processing except for slight distortion and sound like they were captured straight to recording. The riffs are interesting but do fall of timing with the drums on occasions. Vocals are in true BM style just like he describes "screams of agony" is what you will hear. Further into the disc bass lines become apparent but do not match up at times with either the guitar or drums. As an art form I keep an open mind to it as much as possible, but I do feel people will probably not get it or like it. Capturing despair, aggression and hate sometimes requires it to be expelled right onto a track without much thought other than heading into as its been felt. Most of the songs finish with a slide on the guitar giving me the impression its completely live production with only few adjustments if any. Some tracks are purely instrumental. The layout for the album is good B/W in true BM form. I like the logo, its sharp and stands out. If you like totally underground obscure raw to the bone sounds this will surely be part of your collection. ~Artemortifica Physical publication upcoming AEA zine #23 facebook.com/Valkynazblackmetal metal-archives.com-Valkynaz
.jpg)
.jpg)
