Sunday, July 30, 2017

Mordatorium interview done by Patrick posted on 7-29-17



INTERVIEW W/ MORDATORIUM BY PATRICK (OLD SCHOOL DM/DEATH METAL)



1. Hello  how  are things  in  Chicago  these  days? Please  introduce  yourself  to  the  readers?

Andrew Oosterbaan: Hi! Things are going well over here. We had a string of really humid hot days but tonight it's a very nice night. I'm Andrew Oosterbaan, I do vocals and guitars and most of the songwriting for Mordatorium.

Jon Corston: I’m Jon Corston.

Pearl Kacew: I am Pearl Kacew, the drummer in Mordatorium. Things are not too bad in Chicago other than taxes as usual.

2. What  age  were  you  when you  first  started  listening to  metal? Who  were  some  of the  first  bands  you  listened to?

AO: My first introduction to heavier music was with a couple of Test Drive computer games I had which had these industrial soundtracks. There were some songs from KMFDM and a couple from Fear Factory and so on, and I really loved the guitar sounds these bands had. A little later on I happened upon a couple tracks from Metallica's “...And Justice For All” that were on my sister's hard drive for some reason and dug those a bit. Some peers of mine showed me a bit of Rammstein and maybe some Megadeth also, but what really hooked me into metal music was when I stumbled sort of randomly on Carcass and some old Arch Enemy tracks from one of those old P2P download programs called Limewire. I think the Arch Enemy songs were mislabeled as being by “Metalocalypse” or something.

JC: I was roughly between 5-7 yrs old. I already had been exposed to the oldies and classic rock by that time. But it was typical stuff, Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera etc. Whatever I could hear on the radio basically.

PK: I was about 12 or 13, my first introduction was mainstream – Metallica. I really liked Master of Puppets. When I was a little older, around 16, I found underground radio shows that used to play metal late at night and I used to tape them. That's how I discovered bands like Amorphis and Borknagar. Someone in high school also gave me a bootleg Necrophobic CD – the CD had “Darkside” written on it with marker and nothing else so for a long time after that I tried to find this band called Darkside again with no luck, until one day my friend Nick Morgan told me I should look for an album title instead of a band name, and I found it again 14 years later. That was a surreal moment.

3. Mordatorium   was  formed  in  2008 when  did you  all get the  idea to  start  this  band? Who   would  you  say the  bands  biggest  influences  are?

AO: I had a friend named Mike in my gym class in high school, and I knew he played a bit of guitar as well. We were both a bit new to it. I think he was wearing a Kiss shirt or something one day and I told him to check out Heartwork from Carcass. He came to me the next day saying he thought it was awesome, and we decided we'd start jamming together after that. Mordatorium evolved from the songs we had been writing together. So then of course Carcass has been a consistent influence over the years, and in more recent years there have been more straight-forward old death metal acts such as Grave for example, and some crust/d-beat type stuff as well rubbing off on us.

4. What  is  the  current  line-up  of the  band?

AO: Right now there's myself on guitar and vocals. Then there's Pearl Kacew on the drums, who's been playing with me since 2014 which is when the current incarnation of the band came to be and when we started playing shows regularly. Rounding out our 3-piece is my good friend Jon Corston, who's band Beyond De-th we had played a bunch of shows with. He does guitar and vocals for that band, but he's doing bass with us.

5. Obsessed With  Death  is  the  bands  fourth  full-length  release  how  long  did  it  take the  band to  write the  music for this  release?

AO: It came together over a couple of years. Initially I was more interested in playing the older stuff live and just doing that, but we occasionally would talk about writing new music, so one or two songs were more or less there at the end of the 2014-15 winter. Writing became a bit more frequent from there, and we wrapped up all but one or two songs by the spring of last year. I think the final song was done that summer, and then in the fall we got ready to record it.

PK: Andrew wrote the first song late 2014. We were writing it on and off all of 2015, and it was nearly completed early 2016. There were a few minor adjustments that year, so in all it took about a year and a half to write. We tend to write music when inspiration hits rather than trying to force it.

6. Obsessed With  Death   is  self-released  I  believe  have you  all  looked for  a  label  to  work  with  or do  you  prefer  to  self-release  your  own  music?

AO: In general we like to go at it on our own, so we haven't ever pursued a label. Though now that we've been getting a little more press over in Europe and so on, I realize it would be nice to have some distribution overseas so that people won't have to pay a lot of money for shipping if they want to buy physical CD's or other merch from us. So perhaps we'll put some thought into a solution to that, which I suppose could involve a label, but it's more likely that someone will reach out to us about that rather than the other way around.

PK: We have not looked for a label so far since we haven't felt a need for it. We prefer to self-release since we are able to do record ourselves and we can fund the merch and other band expenses. I personally have a fear of bad contracts from hearing other people's horror stories. So if we decided to work with a label it would have very off-hands, preferably limited to some sort of distribution deal. We currently work with a digital distribution company but we want to look for physical distribution when Obsessed with Death gets released.

7. Besides  the  newest  cd   does the  band  have  any  of  the  previous  releases  still  available   for the readers? Besides  physical releases  does the  band  have  any  other  merchandise  available  for  the  readers?If  yes  what  is  available and  where  can the  readers  buy  it?

AO: We have the last couple of albums “Raw” and “The Dark Crusade” available digitally on our bandcamp page, and for “Raw” we have a bunch of CD's too. We sold out of Dark Crusade CD's, and since it's sort of a different sound and a different era for the band, not to mention a bit primitive, I haven't ordered another batch. We do still play a couple of those songs live though, so if there's interest in it I might restock those. Besides that we have a couple of shirt designs, and we're working on some more, as well as patches and some other things. All of these things are available for sale exclusively through our bandcamp page, which is mordatorium.bandcamp.com.

PK: Raw is also available digitally on Bandcamp and the usual digital distribution places like iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, etc.

8. Does     Mordatorium    play  live  very  often  if  yes  what  have  been  some   of  the  bands  biggest shows over the years?And  who  are  some  bands you  have  shared the  stage  with?

AO: When we first started really playing near the end of 2014 we kept pretty busy, playing locally every couple of months for the next year or so. After that we started spacing out local shows more, doing just a couple a year, and we went up and played in Milwaukee once also. As far as some of the bigger shows and some international acts that we've done shows with, we recently did one with Marduk and Incantation back in February which was pretty awesome, and in the past we also played with Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum, as well as Morbid Saint. I think one of my favorite shows we've done though was one that we headlined early in 2016. We had a great group of bands, and we pretty well packed our favorite local dive around here. The crowd seemed really into it and it was a lot of fun.

9. Are  their  in tours  or  shows  coming  up  in  support  of  Obsessed With  Death  if  yes  where  will  the  band  be  playing?

AO: Right now we don't have anything planned besides an album release show here in about a month. Beyond that I'm sure we're probably going to plan some weekend warrior trips around the region and we'll keep playing locally here and there as well. As far as a larger tour in the US or internationally, it's something that we're open to, but ultimately it comes down to logistics and our work schedules and so on. In any case, we don't plan to tour too extensively, if at all, but depending on a few things you might see us make a trek or two on the road for this one at some point.

10. Besides  working  in   Mordatorium do you  or  any  of the  members  currently  work  with  any  other  bands ?If  yes  please  tell the  readers  a  little  about  them?

AO: As for Pearl and I, Mordatorium is all we do as far as bands go. Jon has a few things going on though.

Jon Corston: I have been working on my own project Beyond Deth for the past 5 yrs, doing vocals, guitar and songwriting. 2 demos have been released and we have a full length album ready to push later this year. I do 2nd guitar with the band God Dementia also, who will have their next album released later this year.

11. When  not  working  on  new  music  or  band  business  what  do you  enjoy  doing  in your  free time?

AO: Lately I've been hooked on playing this combat flight simulator game called War Thunder on my computer. I studied history and I'm a bit of a WWII nerd, so it's been fun. That's been eating up most of my free time lately.

JC: I really love sleeping but yeah if I have any free time I'll squeeze in some video games.

PK: I don't think any of us has too many hobbies besides music and video games. Lots of video games. Oh and watching certain YouTube channels like Life of Boris, and TV shows like Game of Thrones. Once in a while I'll go on a book reading kick for a month or two and then back to the video games.

12. Mordatorium comes  out  of  the  Illinois  death metal  metal  scene  what  is your  opinion  of  the Illinois metal  scene  over  the  years?

AO: Chicago has a few big early death metal bands like Master, Cianide, Novembers Doom, and also Cardiac Arrest a bit later on, and we love all those bands. So I think our state has got a good bit of cred as far as the global metal world goes thanks to those guys. As for more recent years, I've been active playing here for about ten years now and I think there are a lot of cool bands and a pretty good variety of metal bands in the area. My old band Panzer mostly played out in the suburbs and out in DeKalb where we lived, and I was impressed by how good some of the shows were – so it's not all limited to the city here. Of course Chicago is a hub for it, and there are a lot of bands in or around the city proper, but the rest of the state is by no means slacking. We have a solid scene anyhow for death metal, black metal, doom, some technical thrash and some crossover, and occasionally some really good old-school heavy/speed metal kind of bands too, though those are sadly few and far between. There isn't really much any power metal or folk metal or melodic death metal around here that I can think of, so if you're into that kind of stuff, you're a little out of luck here. Maybe five or ten years ago there were a few really cool melodic death bands though. Then again, it's a big city so I certainly could be missing something!

JC: It's pretty rocky, with so many bands in the city and surrounding suburbs, competition can become fierce. There are a lot of people that won't even take a minute to listen to anything it seems. It's hard to stand out or even get in good with specific venues and promoters.

PK: I moved here in 2012, and I haven't seen it change. Some of my favorite bands ever come from here, and people seem very supportive and very into the music.

13. Who  are your  all-time favorite  bands  coming  out  of    Illinois ?And  are  their  any  new  bands  you  feel  the  readers  should  watch  out  for?

AO: Some of my favorite bands from around here besides some of the classics I mentioned before are Terranaut, Fin, Act of Destruction, Beyond De-th, Elbow Deep, Nucleus, Bear Mace, Unsanctioned, and Tenebrism. I'm sure I've left a couple out that I shouldn't have also. Elbow Deep has a new album out either now or really soon, I forget, and they put on a hell of a live show. Terranaut does some excellent “hanging out in the forest” kind of black metal that I've been listening to a bunch, and they’re working on a new EP following up their album “Native Sorrow”. A couple others of those have an album or a second album in the works too I know. Check 'em all out if you've got time.

JC: Disinter, Cardiac Arrest, Elbow Deep, Air Raid.

PK: Cianide and Cardiac Arrest, hands down all-time favorite bands of mine out of here. As far as new bands coming out of here, for those who like black metal definitely check out Terranaut.

14. Thank  you  for  taking  the  time  to  fill  this  interview  out  do  you  have  any  final  comments  for  the  readers?

AO: We really appreciate the interest people have been showing in our music. We love making it and playing it, and I promise there will be more to come. Cheers!

ClawHammer PR
www.facebook.com/clawhammerpr

Saturday, July 29, 2017

New reviews done on 7-29-17

Paralysis--Life  Sentence  digital  release  {Self-Released}

New  Jersey's Paralysis deliever  their  debut  full length featuring  ten  tracks  of  aggressive thrash metal.The  vocals  are  a  mix of  old school gruff death metal growls mixed  with screams similar to  the  early  years  of thrash.The  guitarist  knows  how to  write  and create  some memorable  guitar  patterns and  riffs.The  guitarist  does play  a mix of  going from  a  an  all out  assult of  fast thrashing  riffs to  a more  controlled  slower mid paced  style.If  you  are  a  fan  of the  early eighties U.S thrash  scene  then  defintly  give  Paralysis  a  listen today.
                                                                  Label   Contact
                                                 https://paralysisthrash.bandcamp.com/           
                                                  https://twitter.com/ParalysisNJ
                                         https://www.facebook.com/paralysisnj/






Pathology--Pathology cd {Comatose  Music}
California's  Pathology  return  with  their  ninth  full length  release  to date.For  those unfamiliar  with Pathology's  style  it is heavy,slam brutal death metal and this is a  great  band  and release for  all those  who enjoy  this  style.The  vocals  are  low,deep death  metal  growls that really  fit this  bands musical  style.The  guitars  range from extremely fast guitar patterns to  a more heavier slower  mid paced  guitar  sound.If you  are  a  fan of  Pathology's  previous  releases  then  defintly  pick this one  up today  and if you  are  new to the band  but  enjoy  brutal,slam death metal  then  pick  up a  copy  today.
                                                         Label   Contact
                                     http://www.comatosemusic.com/store/
                                    https://comatosemusic.bandcamp.com/music


Whore Of  Bethlehem--Extinguish  The  Light   cd {Black Market  Metal}
Coming  out  of  the Texas death,black  metal  scene is  Whore Of  Bethlehem  who  deliever a  great  new  release.Combing  both  old and  new school metal  elements within their music.Extinguish  The  Light  has  more of  a  brutal death metal sound  and  feel  but  does  add some  black metal  elements  throughout  the  songs.The  guitarist  know how to  write and  play some extremely fast,chaotic  guitar  patterns.But  can slow to  a  more controlled  heavier  pace  before  going  back  to the hyperspeed style and sound.The  vocals  are low,brutal death growls mixed  with  some  blackend  screams used in  a few  songs.If you  are  looking for  a  band  that  can play brutal death metal with both  old-school and newer  elelments  mixed together  then  be  sure  to  pick up  a  copy  of  Extinguish  The  Light   today.
                                                                            
                                                                                    Label   Contacts
                                                                        http://www.blackmarketmetal.net/
                                                              https://blackmarketmetal.bandcamp.com/
                                                                                       Band  Contacts
                                                                     https://whoreofbethlehem.bandcamp.com/
                                                                     https://www.whoreofbethlehem.com/

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Void Ritual interview done by Patrick posted on 7-26-17

Interview  with  Daniel J. vocals  and  all   instruments  of  Void  Ritual   done  by  Patrick


1. Hails  Daniel  when  did you first  get the  idea  to  form  Void  Ritual? And  how  did you  choose  the  name   Void  Ritual  as the name of the  band?

Hails! When you’re just one person making music, it’s really just as simple as deciding on a style and going with it. In Void Ritual’s case, I had begun writing songs in a certain style and decided it needed a name. Void Ritual works because a lot of people, myself included think of playing music as a cathartic experience. These songs are a way for me to purge some of the malignant shit in my life. Whether that just be emotional or based on actual things that happen out in the world at large.


2. Heretical Wisdom is  the  bands  newest  full length  how  long  did it  take to  write  the  music for  this  release?

I started writing the album just after completing my part of the split with Barshasketh. I just kinda kept going that winter. I had an album completed in 2015 and a label set to put the album out. I ended up re-recording and re-writing the album in the meantime, however when it came time to release the album, the label needed to go on a hiatus. So I used that as an opportunity to re-re-record the album, and included some newer songs as well. 

To be honest, I’ll be glad when the album’s out because this has been such a long process that at this point I’m ready to move on to newer projects and/or newer Void Ritual material. I’m excited about the album being released and still love each of these songs, but I’ve dwelled on them for long enough now.



3. Where do  you  draw  inspiration  for the  lyrics  and  what  are  some  subjects you  wrote  about on  Heretical Wisdom ?

On previous releases I’ve written about suffering and horrific events from history. With Heretical Wisdom, I took a bit more care and wrote about subjects that are a bit more personal, blending those topics with fantasy for the sake of bringing those topics into a black metal context. “The Flood” is about existential crises, but it reads like it’s about a sentient earth drowning us because we deserve it. “Breathing Ice” is about the emotions of sorrow and isolation, but talks about it as if it were abandonment in cold winter mountains.  Dead in Blackest Night is a revenge fantasy against a fictional stand-in for all of the racists pieces of shit there are in the world. It’s all over the place, really.


4.Besides  the  new  release  are  any  of the  bands previous  releases still  available to  purchase? Besides physical releases  is their  any  other  merchandise  available if  yes  what  is  available  and  where can the  readers  buy  it?

Both the Holodomor and  the split are sold out, physically, but they’re both available on Bandcamp, digitally.  Spirits of the Black Past is an “odds n’ ends” compilation that was only released on Bandcamp.

Currently, there isn’t any merch, so no shirts or anything like that, though if someone wants to produce them, I’m open to the idea.


5. Daniel,  you  are  the sole  member  of the band  did you  plan to  work  alone  or  would you  like to  find  new musicians  to  join the  band?

I’d always planned on Void Ritual being a solo thing. Between my family, my job, and everything else, being in an actual touring band would be a strain on my family, and it wouldn’t be fair to them. Would I be open to doing a live show as part of a fest or something? Maybe, but I also don’t think anyone else would find learning my songs worth it for them. What would they get out of the experience? Especially for a project with such a limited audience to begin with.

For recording material? I’m not saying it will never happen, but I’ve gotten very used to just doing everything on my own. I’m not sure how well I’d work with others at this point.


6. If  you  could  work  with  any  musicians past or  present  who  are some  you  would  like to work  with?

In a world where I’m financially stable enough to make something like that happen, working with Fenriz or Frost on drums would be incredible. The problem there is that Fenriz finds my style of black metal pretty boring at this point. He’d much rather play something in a traditional heavy metal or early death metal kind of style. He talks about this sort of thing in interviews or on album commentaries quite a bit.  

I have no idea what Frost likes or doesn’t, but I do know that is very underrated for his creativity. Everyone knows about how fast he is, but listen to the unique style in his fills on Nemesis Divina or Rebel Extravaganza. The guy’s incredibly gifted in that respect. As I’m thinking about it, Caryn Havlik of Mortals is interesting for a lot of the same reasons, and I’ve already met her and she was wonderful to talk to. There are others too, but you get the idea.


7. What  does  black  metal  mean  to you?

I fluctuate on this a bit. In some ways, it means the world to me. I’ve dedicated a massive amount of my time, effort, and money to it for 20 years now. At the same time, it’s just a subgenre of music. You always see musicians putting forward the idea that music can change the world, but that seems awfully self-important and self-serving. Then again, I’ve only got middling talent anyway, so maybe I’m just mocking that notion because I’m not talented enough to have that kind of impact on people. 

Now, if you’re asking about what defines black metal to me, I would say the actual music is what counts there. Everyone’s got their own boundaries for what they will or won’t accept, lyrically.


8. Daniel, you  take care of the  vocals.  When did you  first  start  screaming? Do you do  anything  special  to  keep your  throat  and voice  healthy?

Right out of the womb, really (kidding). But in bands, I started at around 15. I had no idea what I was doing so I just yelled, and it wasn’t any good. Over time I kind of figured out how to do it without ruining my throat. I don’t do anything special health-wise, but since it’s just for recording purposes, there are usually long periods of rest between each time I do it.


9. Who are  some  of your  favorite  vocalists?

I think Henri from God Dethroned is probably the vocalist I took the most influence from, especially how he sounded in the mid to late 90s. There was a lot of raw humanity that came through in his vocals, particularly in that era. Dead, for similar reasons, though he’s not a direct influence on what I did on Heretical Wisdom.


10. Besides the vocals, you also handle the guitars. When  did you  start  playing  the  guitar? Are you  self-taught, or did you take lessons when  first  starting  out?

A bit of both. I got a few lessons to start, just showing me basic chords so I could learn simple songs. After that, I had to figure everything else out on my own. I didn’t even know how to palm mute until I had already been playing for a couple of years. It was a really slow process. 


11. Who are some of your influences and favorite guitarists? Besides the guitars are there any other instruments you  play? Are there any instruments you would like to learn to play one day?


Songwriting-wise, this album is pretty heavily influence my Satyr’s work on Nemesis Divina, as well as Aismal and Haavard’s work on Ulver’s Nattens Madrigal. As far as other instruments, I do play bass as well, and I dabble a bit with keyboards, though I’m still a relative novice with them. I’d like to learn a bowed instrument at some point, either Violin or Cello, but I have no idea how or when that ever might happen.


12. Besides working in Void Ritual, do you currently have any other projects or bands you  play in? If yes, please tell the readers a little about them?

I have a fair number of things going on outside of Void Ritual. I’ve got Dead Wretch, which is more of a punk/rock influenced project. I’m finishing up a release for that in the near future. I also have a project called Vereiteln that will be recording soon with Adam from Rêx Mündi, which will be a raw, traditional black metal project. 


13. Thank you Daniel for taking the time to fill this  interview out do you have any final  comments for the readers?

Thank you for taking the time to check this out, and make sure to pick up the album through either Throats Productions for the CD, or through Tridroid Records for the cassette! Both are limited quantity releases, so don’t hold out for too long.

                                                                           Band   Contacts
                                                              https://voidritual.bandcamp.com/
                                                              https://www.facebook.com/voidritual
                                                                   
                                                                             Label  Contacts
                                                                             http://tridroid.com/
                                                            https://www.facebook.com/TridroidRecords/
                                                                  https://www.facebook.com/Throats.Productions/
                                                                 https://throatsproductions.bandcamp.com/

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Whore Of Bethlehem interview done on 7-25-17 posted by Patrick

Interview  with  Phil  guitarist of  Whore Of  Bethlehem  done  by Patrick


1.Hello Phil  how  are things  going  in Texas  these days?Please  introduce  yourself  to  the  readers?

Hey Patrick, things in Texas are great, in particular it's really nice to be back! Lots of good tours coming through this summer and stoked to see a lot of them. About myself I've lived in Austin for about 10 years now, and been jamming in a couple local acts over the past 6 or so.


2.Whore Of  Bethlehem  was formed  in 2009 what  gave you  the idea  to  start this  band?
 
So the band was actually started by Ryan Sylvie, the lead guitar player in Whore of Bethlehem, and Rene Martinez. They were playing in a brutal death metal band at the time and they fooled around with the idea of a more blackened sound for a new band that tried to deviate from the often recognized brutal death metal sound that Texas has made a name for itself with. It was never actually supposed to take off, but it got real traction and quickly turned into a real band with a solid driving force.


3.What  is  the  current  line up  of  the  band?Who  would you say  are  some  of the  bands  biggest  influences
The current lineup is probably the most solid we've ever had and includes Ryan Sylvie, James Van Den Berg, myself, Sam Axelrad, and Alan Berryman. Influence wise we pull from a lot of the usual suspects. Dark Funeral, Suffocation, Arch Goat, Morbid Angel, Immolation, Blood Red Throne, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Nile... the list really could go on for awhile. All of us have different influences on our personal playing styles but when we come together to make the music for Whore of Bethlehem we focus on the elements of songwriting we grew up appreciating over the years mixed with our own styles.


4.Extinguish  The  Light  is  Whore Of  Bethlehem's newest  full length release how long did  it  take  the  band to  write  the  music for  the  new  release?
 

This album is pretty cathartic for us. After our first album, Upon Judas' Throne was self released in May 2014, the band had more than a few lineup changes. The songs were being written at that time which obviously made that difficult. We continued working with promoters to play shows and build a name for ourselves while tightening as a band on the new material and bringing the new members up to speed on our old songs in order to not lose any steam. Collectively Extinguish the Light has been in the works for about 3 years, and it feels really great to have the songs locked and recorded to share with everyone. Some of the songs on the album we've been sitting on for well over a year, waiting for the CD release before we started to play them.


5.Besides  the  newest  cd are  any  of the  past  releases  still  available and  besides the  physical releases  are  their  any  other  merchandise available if  yes  what  is  available and where  can the  readers  buy  it?

Yes! Upon Judas' Throne was a self released pressing, and we still carry it. Our official online website is the best place to get merch outside of seeing us play live. We have shirts, stickers, koozies, and CDs. We also use Bandcamp to digitally sell our albums. Extinguish the Light will be available on Bandcamp with the official release date on Black Market Metal Label, July 21st 2017.



6.Whore Of  Bethlehem   comes  out of  the Texan  black metal  scene   what  is your  opinion  of  black  metal  scene in Texas?


There is a thriving underground black metal scene here, and there are multiple fests that cater directly to black metal specifically. Red River Family Fest, and Destroying Texas Fest to name a couple. On top of that there are so many bands it's difficult to remember them all off the top of my head but Absu, Funeral Ash, Venereal Baptism, Sacrocurse, Black Vice, Uruk, and Tyrannosorceress to name just a few, and they all rip! 
I think we actually get more noticed in the death metal scene in Texas and not as much in the black metal scene. There is a lot of crossover between the two but a majority of our shows are typically with a death metal bill. Either way the scene here is doing great and there's always metal going on somewhere if you want to find it. Doom, black, thrash, death... it's going on somewhere.

7.Who  are  your  all-time  favorite  Texas  bands  and  are their  any  new  bands you  feel the readers  should  check  out  soon?

There are quite a few down here but I'm a fan of War Master, Devourment, Power Trip, and obviously bands like Absu and Pantera. As for up and coming as well established bands in Texas to check out I've definitely got a list. A couple of these bands are currently inactive however, hopefully they are back at it soon.

Id, Black Vice, Uruk, Venereal Baptism, Morgengrau, Tyrannosorceress, Unmothered, Haunter, Sacrocurse, Funeral Ash, Plutonian Shore, Demonseed, Asylum, Cesspool of Corruption, Cleric, Khringe, Athanatos, VBT, Cathexis, Infuriate, Widower, Serpentian, Images of Violence, and Flesh Hoarder. There are so many others as well, they are all worth checking out.


8.Besides  bands  are  their  any  honest and reliable  labels or distro's  from  texas  you  could  recommend?Beside  labels  are  their  any  good  fan or  web-zines  from  Texas you  feel the readers  should  check  out  soon?



A couple of labels and distros come to mind, but I think they're actually no longer active unfortunately. As for publications and web zines Texanomicon and Under the Sign of the Lone Star are definitely worth checking out. Texanomicon is in PDF format so it's easy to find and enjoy through FB. https://www.facebook.com/Texanomicon/

9.Whore Of  Bethlehem   just  finished  a  small mid-west  tour  where  were  some towns and  cities  the  band  played? Who  were  some  bands  you  shared  the  stage  with?

Yes! We just got back a few days ago and it went really well. Lots of new fans, and we played with some killer bands.  This tour we hit Oklahoma City OK, Chicago IL, Des Moines IA, Madison WI, Milwaukee WI, Kansas City MO, and Fort Worth TX and had a kick off show opening for Morbid Angel and Suffocation in Austin TX.
We played with Marasmus, Torn the Fuck Apart, Demonseed, Asylum, Cesspool of Corruption, Splattered Cadaver, Prezir, Khazaddum, Mutilated by Zombies, Horde Casket, Predator and Cranial Decay. They were all sick bands, the shows really ripped and everyone killed it. It was a real honor playing these guys.


10.Are  their  any  other  tours  or  shows  planned  for this  summer  or  fall? If  yes  where  will the  band  be  playing?

No other tours are planned for this year, but we do have a couple of shows coming up in the Austin and possibly San Antonio areas. Confirmed dates we play on October 22nd 2017 at the Texas Mist and with Cattle Decap on the North American Extinction, Pt II tour on Nov 15th 2017. We're working on some cool stuff for next year though, so keep your ears and eyes open!



11.Phil you  handle  the  guitars  for the  band  when  did you  become  interested  in  playing  the  guitars?And  are you  self taught or did you  take  lessons  when  first  starting  out?



I handle mostly the rhythm guitar of the band, and I've been playing since early high school so probably about 20 years ago. God damn, 20 years ago! I got interested in playing because my dad had an old guitar laying around I would just mess around with it from time to time. Once I got my first real guitar, I quickly went from bands like Deftones and Korn into At the Gates, In Flames, Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, Vader, etc in order to find stuff that was more intricate and fun to play. That's where my love for metal developed, as an appreciation for the precision of metal songwriting and blistering guitar playing. 

When I was younger I did take lessons at a local music store, where I learned mostly about music theory. Everything else has been self taught and honed over the years. There are some techniques I probably missed out on learning properly, but I'm happy with what I can contribute from a song writing and rhythmic perspective.





12.Who  are  some  of your  influences  and  favorite  guitarists? Besides  the  guitars  do you  currently  play  any  other  instruments?


My personal influences in terms of guitar playing are Terrance Hobbs, Peter Tägtgren, Dan Swanö, Olavi Mikkonen, Erik Rutan, and Adam Darski (Nergal). They all have a different style, and all of them contribute to mine. I don't play any other instruments, unfortunately.


13.Besides  playing  in  Whore Of  Bethlehem   do  you  or  any  of the  members  currently  play  in  any  other  bands  or  solo  projects?

There are quite a few other projects within the band actually. Starting with myself, I have three solo projects I've worked on. Passage; a black metal project, Cocytus; A death metal project, and Brunanburh; a melodic instrumental metal project. They are all up on Bandcamp. As far as other live acts I play in I've recently joined Black Vice as a second guitar player.
   Alan, our bass player, plays in Infuriate and Cathexis. Ryan jams with a project that currently has no name, and while the other guys aren't in another project at the moment, they have been a part of other bands in the past.



14.Thank  you  Phil   for  taking  the  time  to  fill this  interview  out  do  you  have  any  final  words  for  the  readers?



Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this, and thanks to all the fans that make what we write and perform fun and worth playing live! We couldn't do it without your support. Cheers!

                                                        Band  Contacts
                                                   https://www.whoreofbethlehem.com/
                                                   https://www.facebook.com/wobethlehem

                                                   https://whoreofbethlehem.bandcamp.com/

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Hell Preacher Johnny of Merciless Onslaught radio show done by Patrick posted on 7-19-17

Hello
Hope  everyone  is  having  a  good  week  so  far? Here is  a  new  interview I  have  done  with  Hellpreacher  Johnny  who  hosts  the  diy  Merciless  Onslaught  show.If you  have  never  heard  his  show  please  check  out the  interview  and  tune in  or  download  the  shows.If you  are  a  band,label  or PR.Companie  be  sure to  get  in touch  as  I  am  sure  Johnny  will check your  band{s}  out  if  they  fit  his  musical  taste I  am  sure he  will feature  you.
Metal  Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
https://plus.google.com/110515263288050247357?hl=en
https://twitter.com/PDeathrasher



Interview  with  Hellpreacher  Johnny  DJ of  Merciless Onslaught  done  by   Patrick


1.Hello  Johnny  how  are  things  in  Texas  these  days? Please  introduce  yourself  to  the  readers?

Hey man, still hot as fuck in Texas hahah! the never ending summer. For everyone that doesn't know my name is Johnny from San Antonio, Texas but most know me as Hellpreacher, the host of Merciless Onslaught. I also created and run the Merciless Models pages if anyone didn't know. So if bands might be looking for models to help promote their merch and whatnot I could probably help out there.


2.When  did you  become  interested  in doing  a   internet  radio  show?And  how  did you  choose  the  name  Merciless  Onslaught  as  the  name  of the  show?

Well I always wanted to do radio but I never listened to any internet radio or really paid any attention to it but Jeff from the band Iniquitous told me about Brutal Existence Radio and said I would do great on there. So summer of 2010 he got me to listen to Audio Aggression w/MetalMark, while listening it felt right and would be something I could do.

As for the name Merciless Onslaught it comes from two different places. Obviously Metal Church's song "Merciless Onslaught" plays into it but along with it would be a small tribute to the Tone Control, he was the host of the Thursday Night Metal Show on KSYM here in San Antonio. His show helped with some great bands I hadn't heard yet, so the Audio Onslaught had corrupted me haha!
The name really plays well into what I throw on the show as well. Playing whatever the fuck I want without any mercy to the listeners. They always have to suffer with my background music mostly.
 
 
 
3. Merciless Onslaught   was  first  played on  Brutal Existence  Radio{R.I.P}  was  it  long  before you  decided  to  bring the show  back  to the  airwaves?

It wasn't long, actually the show kept going without any interruption. I had just did the 6th Anniversary special 2 days before BER went down, so I searched online to see how I can continue doing my show live without BER. Some of the DJ's decided to take a small break but I just kept on doing the Onslaughts. 
Truly bummed me out that BER had to go but the show must go on. 
Some of the fellow DJ's at BER still going with their shows as well after the break they had. BER may be gone but we are still together diy style, really cool family to have I'd say.

4.What  styles  of  metal  and music  do you  play  on  the  show?And  if  any bands  or  labels  are  reading this  where  can  they  send  music  to  be  featured on  one  of your  upcoming  shows?
 
Mostly Black, Death & Thrash Metal but I play a lot of different shit. It comes down to if I like it I play it, no reason for me to play something I don't like to hear.
 
If Bands and Labels want to send in music they can email me at hellpreacher6@yahoo.com or contact me at my Merciless Onslaught facebook page. 
Just remember if I don't like it I won't play it. 
So maybe take a listen to an episode or two first or look at some of the past playlists. 
 
5.For  the  readers  who  have never  heard your  show   what  day  and  time  does your  show  come  on? And  where  can the readers  tune in  to  listen  to    Merciless Onslaught ?

The show is LIVE every Tuesday night from 10pm-1am EDT
Here's the link to listen to the show live http://mercilessonslaught.listen2myshow.com/

We also still use the old Brutal Existence Radio chatroom
 
I believe the site will play a hour of the last recorded episode whenever it isn't live. 
Merciless Onslaught special episodes will also end up at the mixcloud page.
 
 
6.Johnny  you  live  in  Texas   what  are your  thoughts  of the  metal scene  in  Texas?

Texas metal scene is a great one. Sometimes a show might not get a good turnout but it still ends up being a fucking great show. Right now I still say that Houston is the one delivering the goods, in bands and shows.
I will say that San Antonio shows get more insane at times.

7.Who  are your  all-time  favorite  Texas  bands   and  are their  any  new  bands  you  feel  the readers  should  watch  out  for?
 
I think the list would be too long but here are some great ones! Hellpreacher, Infernal Death, Blood Spill, Absu, Morbid Scream, Imprecation, S.A. Slayer, Fearless Iranians From Hell, Scum Allegiance, Apocalyptic Horror, Death Tripper, Militia, D.R.I., Hod, Plutonian Shore, Averse Sefira, and can't ever forget Necrovore!
 
There are always new bands to check out, Here's a few that some might have overlooked:
Wülfskol - from Houston
Venereal Baptism - from Laredo 
Black Jackal - now San Antonio
Expander - from Austin
Church of Disgust - from San Marcos
Remnants - from Houston
Voidspawn - from San Antonio
Pious Levus - from San Antonio
Funeral Ash - from Kingsville
 
 
8.Besides bands   are  their  any  honest  and reliable  labels  or  distro's  you  could  recommend  to  the readers?

Lot of good ones out there but usually stick with the same ones like Headsplit Records, Dark Descent Records, Memento Mori, Xtreem Music, Iron Bonehead Productions, Hells Headbangers, Pulverised Records, Forever Plagued Records, Nuclear War Now!, and World Terror Committee.

Also check out Nigredo Records, Diabolic Force Distribution, and Unholy Black Abyss Productions.

9.When  not  preparing  for your  next  show  or  taking  care  of  emails   what  do you  like to do  in your  free time?

Don't remind me about those damn emails hahah!! 
Well with the free time I like watching lots of wrestling, mainly BJW, Dragon Gate and DDT Pro. So many promotions out there I just like to watch them all. 
My misanthropic side is taking over and lately haven't really cared about going to much shows. I'd rather stay in and watch some wrestling or see some movies, jam some music and play Battlefield. 

10. Merciless Onslaught   is  a  diy  radio show  would  you  like to  find  a new station to  work  with  or  do  you  prefer to  stay  diy?

I had some offers when BER shut down, none of them really felt good like BER did though. Would be nice to find a good station to be apart of but they would have to be loose with their rules and let me do my show my way like BER let me do. I enjoy the diy way right now cause I don't have to worry about running over time or follow any rules.
 
If someone at a station sees this and would like the Onslaught to join feel free to message me or maybe just to run a replay of the podcast shoot me a message. Don't be like everyone and be afraid to ask me shit. 
 
 
 
 
11.Besides   metal  music  do  you  currently  listen to  any  other  forms  of  music? If  yes  who  are  some  of your  favorite  bands  and  artists?

I do listen to other shit than just metal. Really enjoy some good synth works, newer darkwave releases are great but recently there was a synthwave going and most became too soft and repetitive. Will throw on some stuff like 90's eurodance, 80's/90's freestyle, old and new electronic bands to techno industrial shit. Would Dark Ambient be thrown into this? cause that as well. 
Favorites? not sure but I do listen to these a lot: 
Kraftwerk, SSQ, Debbie Deb, 2 Unlimited, Equitant, Crystal Castles, Perturbator, Nightcrawler, Kick Puncher, Reaper, even throw in some Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Also anything from John Carpenter.
Oh yeah can't forget the Tejano hahah!! If you listen to my show all that stuff I use for background music when I talk.


12.Do  you  get  to  go to  a lot  of  concerts  in your town? What  have  been  some  of your  most  memorable  shows  over the  years?
 
There is always a show to go to almost every day/week or so here in Texas. As I said before I have slowed down on going to every show. I kind of burnt myself out but will go to the ones I really want to go to. 
 
Hmm.. memorable shows? Quite of few like the Rites of Darkness, Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child, Goregrowlers Ball, Destroying Texas Fests etc. etc. Fests always have crazy stories. I could probably write a book of everything just at those fests. 
There was this one show that Lethal Aggression played in SA, was great cause of the fights and cops showing up out of nowhere instantly hahah! the bands didn't stop playing. Just felt right like it was part of the show.
One good one that the internet went nuts over without even knowing what exactly happened was Morbosidad at Fuckin' Metal Hell IV and the band Conflict who were playing upstairs at the same venue. You can just google search that if you want.
Oh yeah the year before that had a fun setting, Michael Sweet of Stryper was playing upstairs in the main room while Fuckin' Metal Hell III was downstairs in the basement. Kind of a heaven and hell thing hahah!! Was funny seeing Michael Sweet at times going down to the basement while Gravehill, Ghoulgotha, Blaspherian, Sacrocurse, and Terrorist played. Forgoat who but one of the bands gave him a shoutout and I think people started chanting Stryper haha could be wrong. 
 
 
 
13.Thank  you  Johnny  for  taking the  time  to  fill this   interview  out do  you  have  any  final  words  for the readers?

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this update.
Hopefully people would like to tune in live for the Onslut, if not they can download it the next day. Just expect a 3 hour desecration with underground metal, featuring new releases, obscure bands, Demos/EPs & Texas bands.
If anyone needs info on anything I play, feel free to message me and I will gladly tell you. 
 
Not sure for final words except Fuck Off And Die!
Soundcloud:https://soundcloud.com/hellpreacher-johnny



 
 
 

 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 


  

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Metal reviews done on 7-16-17 posted by Patrick

Hello
Thanks  for  checking  out  the  new  blog  of  reviews  hopefully you  will find  something  to your  musical  taste.Be  sure to  support the  bands and  labels  that  keep  putting  out  great  music for  us  to  listen to.
Keep  watching the  blog  more  reviews and  interviews  coming  soon!!
Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
https://twitter.com/PDeathrasher





Barbaric  Horde--Tainted Impurity  cassette  {War  Arts  Prod.}
Barbaric  Horde are a band  coming out  of  the  Portugal black metal scene.Tainted Impurity  is  the  bands second  demo  featuring five songs of  violent and  brutal  black metal.The band  does  have  some  death  metal  influences  mixed  in with music.The  guitars range from  heavy mid paced style to  a  more crazed,extremly fast  guitar  patterns.The guitarist  even  adds some  well written  and  played passages and  solo's mixed in  a  few of the  songs.The  drums  range from a heavy  mid paced  drum  style  to  a  allout assult  of  blast beats.The  vocals  are demonic  death metal  growls and  some  black metal  screech vocals.If you  have heard  Barbaric  Horde's debut  demo you  know  what to  expect but  if you  are a  new  listener  then  expect  nothing  less  then vicious,violent  black  metal.
                                                               
                                                           Label  Contact
                                                      http://war-arts-productions.com/
                                                      https://war-arts-productions.bandcamp.com/





Dead  Asylum-Death  Always  Wins  cd  {Self-Released}
Canada's  Dead  Asylum  have  released their  sophomore  release Death  Always  Wins.Which  is  a  nice  mix  of  melodic  death metal  and  some  fast,raging  thrash  parts mixed into  the  music.The  guitars  are played with some very  well written  and  performed patterns  going from slower,mid pace range but  then the  guitarist  goes for a  faster tthrashing  guitar style.The  guitarist  also shows off his  writing  skills  by  adding some well played  and written guitar solo's and patterns.The drumming  is  done  in  top notch  style with both  some  thrashing drum  style but can  also  play a more melodic and controlled  drum pace.If you  are  a  fan  of well composed  and played  melodic death  with a lot  of thrash  elements  then  be sure to  pick up  a  copy  of  Death  Always  Wins  today.
                                                                                                    
                                                                               Band  Contact
                                                           http://www.thedeadasylum.com/
                                                          https://deadasylum.bandcamp.com/










Displeased  Disfigurement---Origin Of  Abhorrence   cd {CDN  Rec.}
Displeased  Disfigurement are  one  of  the  first bands I  have  heard  from  South  Africa  and  are  a really  good  brutal death metal band.Origin Of  Abhorrence   is  the  bands second full length  featuring nine tracks  of well  written  and  performed  brutal  death metal.The  drums  are  played  with hyperspeed blast  beats but  do  slow to  a  more controlled mid paced  style  in  a few  songs.The  vocals  are heavy,brutal death metal  growls.If you  are  a  fan  of  brutal death  metal  then  be sure  to  pick  up  a  copy  of  Origin Of  Abhorrence   you  will  not  be  disappointed.
                                                                   Label  Contact
                                                     http://www.cdnrecords.com/
                                                  https://twitter.com/cdnrecords




Extermination Angel--Demo  2017  cassette {Self-Released}
Maryland's Extermination Angel  return  with  a  brand  new  demo  featuring  six  tracks  of  thrash  fuelled  death  metal  anthems.The  music  stays  pretty  much  in  the  thrash  metal realm  with  some old-school death  metal  influences  mixed into  the  music.The  guitars range from crazed,fast  riffs  to  a  more  controlled  slower  guitar  pattern  used in  some of the  tracks.The  guitarist  can  play  both  extremely fast and  a  slower,mid paced  range  equally  good  and even throws  in  some  well  written and performed  solo's.The  drums  are  done  in  the  same  vein  with extreme and blasting  patterns  but  do  slow to  a  more  controlled  mid paced  drum  style.The  vocals  are  raw thrashy  screams  mixed with  some gruff old school  growls.If you  are a  fan  of  well  written  and  performed  thrash  mixed with  old-school  death metal  influences  then  be sure to  check  out  Extermination Angel  today.
                                                                                                      
                                                                              Band  Contacts
                                                             https://exterminationangel666.bandcamp.com/
                                                       https://www.facebook.com/ExterminationAngel/
                                                               exterminationangel@gmail.com



Vehementer--Replenishment  Circle{The Black Spectrumfest} 7Inch,cassette {Bloodharvest Rec.}
Serbia's  Vehementer is a  one  man band founded by Ferreus The Adversor.The  musical  style  is violent early thrash metal  mixed with  old school black metal.The guitar work  is done with a lot  of aggressive thrashing patterns and even some  well written  solo's  mixed into the music,The  vocals are grim,raw screams mixed with some spoken type  vocals  used throughout the  songs.If you  are a fan  of  old-school black thrashing  metal  then  be  sure to  check  out Vehementer's  releases today.
                                                                                         Label   Contact
                                                                               http://www.bloodharvest.se/
                                                              https://bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com/