Massachusetts is a coffin vol.2

Massachusetts is a coffin vol.2, released this march, is a really cool hardcore compilation, featuring bands from Massachusetts (Boston and around), it is done by Where its end zine. thanks to them for doing this cool zine and this killer comp. it's things like that (with the bands themselves of course!) that keep the underground alive and exiting!

Listen to it and download for free on its BC page.

On this comp different shades of hardcore are represented, fromt the more metallic, pissed off and dark (Abomination, Revenge) to the more melodic emo/screamo (Defeater, My fictions), to beatdown (Powerwolves),  to anthemic street hardcore (DYS), to NYHC style, to old school, etc..

But with every different band you have your dose of high quality hardcore, so grab it and you won't regret!!

Acephalix - Deathless Master (2012)

Last year, Acephalix (from the Bay Area) released Interminable night, a cool exercise in thrashing and old school death metal with a cool groove, a bit in an Entombed vein. Be ready for their forthcoming record Deathless Master, planned to be released by Southern lord records in April 10th. Judging by the track called "on wings" which you can listen to Here on Cvltnation it's gonna be a good following to Interminable Night!

And this is the Acephalix official page.

Split cranium-st

Split cranium (which is Aaron Turner who played in Isis and three guys from Finland)  released, this march 2012, a very special record. It start with three short and fast, good and well executed, straight to the face metallic hardcore songs. But then it goes into really different directions, and nearly every songs adds a different element to the sound of the band, a touch of melodic hard rock, a touch of industrial, noise, etc...making it a really original, challenging and exiting record.

but since it's quite hard to describe it, the best is that you make your own advice. try it on their BC page http://splitcranium.bandcamp.com/.

King Giant-Dismal hollow

 King giant released Dismal hollow in january 2012, adding another really high quality record to their discography (southern darkness, 2009, was already really class). Dismal hollow is powerfull and soulfull hard rock/old school heavy metal doom. Great songwriting, great riffs, great singing melodies, great atmospheres epic, dark and melancholic, all that with a southern flavour and groove. Dismal hollow sure will be one of the best classic heavy metal/doom record for 2012.

Listen to it on their BC page it is mandatory and no excuses will be accepted!

King giant website

 And thanks to David Kowalski for accepting to answers to a few questions about King giant by mail. Read it below :

King Giant is :

Rhythm Guitar - David Kowalski
Vocals - David Hammerly
Lead Guitar - Todd Ingram
Bass Guitar - Floyd Lee Walters III
Drums - Brooks

-how did you get to form King giant?

DK - Well, we've had a couple of line-up changes so the "how did you form" question isn't really relevant to King Giant as it is today. However, I can say that we all came out of musical retirement to play in this band. All of us played in previous bands, knew one another, or were friend's of friends' in the DC music scene. The idea was simply to get together, jam, write songs, play shows, and have fun.

-what I like in Dismal hollow is the fact that in not just good “doom”, “stoner”, “southern metal”, we can hear in your sound such elements I think, but there is no doom parts, stoner parts, etc..it’s really cohesive and the songwriting is really strong and for me Dismal hollow just sound like a heavy metal classic. What do you think of that?

DK - Thank you very much! We put a lot of time and effort into writing “songs” not just parts, so I’m happy to hear that it resonates with other people. When we write, we just play what feels right and what sounds good. We don’t try to steer riffs in any one direction. Believe me, it doesn’t work! Speaking for myself, I’m heavily influenced by bands that wrote songs that have hooks that have discernable parts like intros, choruses, etc… Riffs are paramount, but a song does not a riff make!

-have you started to write the songs for the next album? If so how are the new songs?

DK - We have. Unfortunately, we are unable to play shows to support “Dismal Hollow” right now due to an injury I sustained last year to my leg. I’ve chosen not to play shows because I can damage it again if I don’t rest and allow it to heal properly. I have to stay out of situations where I know I will over-do it. I told the other guys that they should go tour with a temp guitarist, but they didn’t want to. So, because of all that, we have started working on some new ideas. It’s safe to say that we will continue in the same direction as “Dismal Hollow”, but hopefully extend past it!

-Dismal hollow is so good that it will be hard to top, have you got an idea about how you’ll achieve that?

 DK - Hopefully by just doing what we’ve done in the past. In other words, writing songs for ourselves, first and foremost, and by being our own worst critic, we won’t take any short cuts in the songwriting process.

-in the video about the making of Dismal hollow you say that the songs are short dark Americana stories, can you tell us more about that?

DK - For me, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were (are) a really big influence. His songs that had narratives really stuck with me. Ironically, it took an Australian to turn me onto to checking out American folk, early blues, and bluegrass music. It’s amazing how dark some of the early bluegrass music is with song topics about sin, addiction, and the devil... it’s just like metal!

-I understand why did you make a video for Appomattox because the song is brilliant, and the video is cool, but what I don’t get is that the video seems to have nothing to do with the lyrics, what is the link between the civil war and zombies?

DK - Nothing. But it was a lot of fun! It really was a logistical issue. We simply didn’t have the money that would be needed to make a Civil War video without taking too many shortcuts, or without it ending up cheesy. Kevin Barker of Mono/Poly Creative, our video director, jokingly said, “screw it, let’s make a zombie video” and a few days later came back to me realizing that it just might work. That’s how it started. Originally, the TV / Newscast in the video was going to play a more prominent role, making references to how the zombie invasion was similar to the civil war because of families and loved ones having to turn on each other, and stating lines like, “not since the civil war has this amount of blood been split on american soil...” etc, you get the idea. But it ultimately got cut from the final edit.

-I’ve seen that you ask people to donate money to help you making this video, was it successful?

DK - Yes. We wouldn’t have been able to make this video without the generous help of our kickstarter patrons. We were blown away at how responsive and generous everyone was to our fundraiser. Also, I want to add that many people contributed their time and talent to making this video a reality. I can’t stress enough that we could not have done it without everyone who pitched in!

-which cool band from your area would you recommend?

DK - Salome, Auroboros (ex-salome, ex-baroness – check them out!), Earthride.... there’s more but that’s all I can think of right now.

-do you plan touring Europe (if you do so you have to go to Montpellier, France!)?

DK - We would love to, but no formal plans as of yet. We need to most likely get another album out there in order to do that. I personally would love to play Montpellier, anywhere  by the Mediterranean is fine by me!

-what can we expect from the band in the coming months?

 DK - We’re saving our money to hopefully shoot another video in the next few months. No definitive ideas yet, we’re leaning towards a couple of songs, but we haven’t chosen one yet. It’s not going to be as involved as the “Appomattox” video (we don’t have the money for that) but it should still be a fun video to watch.

-one last thing to add?

DK - Saw the line up for Hellfest, looks great! I wish I were going....Also, just wanted to point out to your readers that while our 2^nd album “Dismal Hollow” is available through many channels via distributors, our first album, “Southern Darkness” is not, it’s currently only available through our website. Vinyl lovers, both albums are gatefold, 180gram, colored vinyl! Both albums can be streamed in their entirety via kinggiant.bandcamp.com
Also, Thanks Dennis for your time and interest in King Giant! Cheers!!

Gripe / Diseksa-Indefinite detention

Gripe (from Athens, Georgia), which  has released Pig servant, one of the best grind record of 2011, just put on the internet their coming split tape with Diseksa (from Singapore) called Indefinite detention. Six songs for Gripe, five for Diseksa. the Gripe songs are really cool grind songs, tight and aggressive, with good blasting beats, good dynamics, and angry vocals as it should be. Maybe it don't top Pig servant but it's still really good grindcore. 
Diseksa, is also cool, in a more powerviolence/crust vein, but sounding maybe less powerfull than the Gripe songs.

But make your own opinion by listening to it on the BC page.

and read this recent interview of Gripe, also on Blasting days here. the guys told me that another split, this time with Chulo (from Columbia), is coming and that's really cool![addition : the (1min only!) split with Chulo has been released and is indeed cool, here is the BC page).

Cellgraft

Deception Schematics by Cellgraft was for me one of the best 2011 discovories in Grindcore. Pure absolute devastating grindcore, musical intensity in its purest form. I just love that. the sound is really harsh and heavy, the guitar is really low and awesome, the songs are short and fast, the vocals are cool, and above all the rythms are really good (and that's the key for making good grindcore!).

Their other 2011 release, a split with Drainland is also really good (check  the BC page for the split).

a very good and special grindcore band!

for infos about downloading or buying their records, shows, link to their bandcamp, etc..check their blog.

          

Their guitarist Ryan Zell kindly agreed to answer to some questions for Blasting days. Read it just below :

-can you present the band and its evolution from its formation up to now ?

 Cellgraft started around 2009 out of the remnants of a prior death metal influenced band called Piles Sufferers. Starting out, I didn't know how to play guitar and Chris was just picking up how to play the genre on drums. Matt had been in a few punk and metal bands before but nothing major or too serious. The original goal was to make the guitars sound gross as fuck and push Chris to write crazier shit, which we haven't really strayed from I think. After playing a bunch of local shows over the past few years and, for me at least, actually learning how to play my instrument, we actually started to streamline our sound. Hopefully we can rise above being compared to the bands we're influenced by and actually create our own style. However, the Assuck and Insect Warfare comparisons are very flattering, haha.

-when we listen to Cellgraft we have an impression that the usual grind bands are a bit mellow and soft compared to Cellgraft, do you play such an intense and crushing music with Cellgraft because you think grind tends to be too mellow? 

 A lot of what we try to do is take the heaviest, grossest, most confusingly fast and pissed off sounding bands that we have heard and are influenced by and either put a spin on those elements or make them way more ridiculous. Honestly though if it's got blast beats and screaming and pissed off riffs I'll most likely love it. At live shows we usually try to play out of both bass and guitar full-stacks. Maybe because I personally feel like I have to fill in a sound gap because we're only a three piece or because it's something bands don't normally do all the time. Either way it sounds fucking awesome.

-what drives you to play such an intense music? 

 Not too sure. We always wonder if all this pent up aggression would have manifested itself in a different way if we didn't play grind. Even if hundreds of other bands might do it faster or louder or more technical, we will always play fast music. And always try to push the envelope as far as we can. It can obly get faster from here.

-the sound of Cellgraft gives me the impression of being partly influence by harsh noise, Japanese noise, things like that (and maybe by the sound of Pig destroyer on the other hand), do you agree? What are the elements that makes Cellgraft music ?

 I used to be really into Hanatarashi and harsh noise in general. That and raw d-beat bands like Disclose. Over the top gain and feedback is always cool, haha. Matt and Chris are really into lo-fi black metal as well, so maybe the mixed influences of d-beat, noise, grind and black metal is what made us sound the way we do. We just really throw around ideas and new ways to run amps and see what happens.

-I know that you played with many really good grind bands, what was your best experiences?

Locally we've been getting on a lot of really great shows and tours coming through (Phobia, Brutal Truth, Wormrot, Despise You, blahblahblah). Playing shows with bands that have been some of our biggest influences is amazing. The fact that we even get considered to do so is the best experience we could ever ask for. We have a lot of really great shows and tours coming up in the next year though which will definitely be sick. One of which being our proposed European tour. If that works out we'll be set.

-from your first recordings to Deceptions schematic and the split with Drainland your music got better and more personal, how do you describe the evolution? Where are you heading to for the next record?

 Most of it is just plain learning how to play our instruments and becoming big equipment nerds. Me and the other dudes have been playing together for like four years so we can almost read each others minds at this point. Also, taking styles and sounds that are from different genres and shredding them up and putting our own spin on them always helps. We just finished a full length that's getting released through RSR. It sounds a lot different but I'll let everyone else be the judge on how.

-what do you have to say about the writing and recording of Deception schematics and the split wit Drainland? What did you try to achieve with these records?

 On Deception Schematic I really wanted it to sound bass heavy and very sinister. It sounds like it was recorded in a cave with old huge amps. I always say it sounds like Electric Wizard playing grindcore, haha. The songs on the split with Drainland sound way different. Very straight forward, blown out thrashy guitar sound and loud as fuck snare. A lot of the way our recordings turn out is because it's always in a garage, or den, or living room or bedroom of whoever we can find that does recordings. I always liked the idea of changing up the sound from recording to recording while still keeping it grind and making necessary improvements as we go along. Hopefully our next record can live up to that gradual evolution. And if not, hopefully everyone likes the songs for what they are.

-I think one thing really important for grind is the rythms and the dynamic in the songs, and it’s one aspect I really likes in your songs, it adds a lot to the impact and the “catchiness and grooviness” of the songs. Is it something you focus a lot on when you write songs?

 It's something that kind of happens on it's own I guess. I love catchy death metal groove parts and putting them in short intervals in between a grinding hell storm of noise always makes both sound way more effective to me. When we write though we usually aim for over the top and get that plus a few catchy moments here and there. If it was up to Matt and Chris i'm pretty sure all the songs would be straight blast beats through and through.

-what about the lyrics of the songs? What are the major themes?

 A lot of what Matt writes about aren't the normal topics of most grindcore bands. He usually writes about what ever topics are prevalent or interesting in his life, whether that be philosophy themes, alchemy, conspiracy, or corruption. He never picks whole centralized themes for albums or a group of songs.

-in your blog we can read “shatter ignorance with harsh noise”. Sounds cool! How does it works?

 That was kind of my own take on 'Death To False Grind' that got started by Insect Warfare. There are a lot of metalcore shit bands that think they play grindcore out there. Having these kids take one of my favorite things in the world  and morph it into some hipster garbage bullshit really pisses me off. This phrase is also directed to all ignorance no matter what it may be. People are fucked up and most of the time know it and I'd love to erase their ignorant hateful ways of life away with a mountain of amps and a wall of pissed off noise.

-what do you think of the situation in the US now,? what  about the “Occupy” movement?

 Everyone is controlled by their daily lives and vices. While I'd love for there to be a massive change in the way the US, or the whole World, operates, I think we missed that chance a long time ago. The Occupy movement is an interesting one with so many aspects, especially with it being a global movement. Right now i'm just sitting and waiting and taking it all in.

-how is the grind/punk/metal scene in Florida, which bands from your area would you recommend?

 It's actually coming back in a big way. A lot bands are coming through on tour now, bands are starting, side projects are starting from those bands. Some of the coolest ones right now are God Harvest, Flyingsnakes, Devout, Feral Babies, 440, Bastard Deceiver, Rotting Palms, Knife Hits, No Qualms, Ives, Vomikaust, Radiation and bunch more I can't remember at the moment. So many bands and so many good people. Florida rules right now.

-what can we expect from Cellgraft in 2012?

 A new record is on the way, as well as External Habitation being pressed on vinyl thanks to RSR. Also a repress of Deception Schematic on No Reprieve Records. We're in the middle of planning an east coast split tour with Bastard Deceiver who is also from Tampa this August. Next year we're trying to do both a West coast tour and European tour but will probably settle for just one of those.

-something to add? 

thank you to everyone who has helped us out, bought records, downloaded our music and spread the word about us in any way. Without you we would just be nerds playing out of two many amps, haha.

                                              

The washingtonians

Severed heads, released in oct 2010 is the first LP from the french hardcore grinders The washingtonians. If you like straight to your face hardcore grind, then you'll like this record, simple as that!!

Check it on their BC page.

Et en français tout pareil! si vous aimez le bon hardcore/grind c'est avec plaisir que vous écouterez ce bon ptiot disque bien hystérique.

Et avec plaisir aussi que vous lirez ces réponses à mes questions par ces poitevins de Washington (ou l'inverse?). merci à eux!

-Si vous voulez bien on commence par une présentation du groupe, comment il s'est formé et comment il a évolué jusqu'à maintenant?

Eric : Salut, alors on s’est formé en 2008 et depuis le début on est quatre : Garth (chant), Antoine (batterie), Tof (basse) et moi-même (guitare). Former ce groupe a été plutôt simple. On se connaissait déjà et on avait joué ensemble avec Antoine et Garth dans deux autres groupes sur Poitiers, No Compromise (hardcore, entre autre) et Acción Mutante (grind).

Tof : avec Antoine, on voulait faire un groupe un peu « speed », il m’a dit qu’il connaissait des personnes intéressées, et voilà washingtonians est né !!!

-Quels ont été vos parcours musicaux en dehors de The washingtonians?



Eric : Comme je le disais au-dessus, on a pas mal joué ensemble avec Garth et Antoine. Pour ma part, avant ça je jouais dans un groupe de brutal death quand j’habitais sur Paris, Rigor Mortys.

Garth : Pour ma part mon parcours musical a consisté à former et splitter des groupes avec des potes avec lesquels je reformerais certainement un truc dans deux ans, quel que soit le style.

-Par rapport à votre démo, Severed heads les tempi (? enfin ça va plus vite quoi...) se sont un peu plus accélérés pour faire un truc un peu plus grind/fastcore il me semble. C'est voulu? ça vient du fait des concerts qui ont accélérés votre façon de jouer? Ou alors j'hallucine?

Eric : Non t’hallucine pas, c’est vrai que Severed Heads est plus brutal et plus speed d’une manière général que la démo. C’était voulu mais en même temps rien n’était vraiment calculé, ça s’est fait naturellement, au moment de la composition comme quand on a enregistré.

-Pourquoi chanter en anglais (c'est pas une critique mon blog est surtout en anglais lui aussi...)? de quoi parlent les paroles?  pourquoi elles ne sont pas sur votre bandcamp?

Garth : Quand j'écris un texte j'ai plus l'impression de composer un riff que d'écrire une thèse et pour ça la langue anglaise est parfaite, avec ses formes contractées et ses pronoms qui peuvent sauter quand une syllabe te fait rater le temps. Le français a une syntaxe qui n’est pas forcément plus compliquée mais qui met plus de temps à faire sens et si t'as entendu notre musique, t'as aussi pu remarquer que du temps j'en ai pas beaucoup. Concernant le contenu des paroles disons qu'elle sont plutôt grotesques et parodiques. En général je m'inspire de films ou de bouquins. Par exemple le morceau « Hard boiled » parle de l'industrialisation de l'Amérique en empruntant des formules des livres de Dashiell Hammett. « Have sword, will travel » quant à lui fait référence aux studios de la Shaw Brothers qui sont aujourd'hui laissés à l'abandon (le titre de la chanson est d'ailleurs le titre d'un film de Chang Cheh). « Have sword, will travel » ça vient d'un proverbe chinois qui dit que si tu as une épée, tu ne cesseras de voyager. Pour moi c'était ironique de faire référence à ce proverbe pour parler d'un cinéma en train crever. Sinon, je dois t'avouer que je viens d'aller sur bandcamp pour la première fois de ma vie après avoir lu ta question.

-Le nom The washingtonians ça vient d'un film à ce que j'ai compris, vous pouvez nous en dire plus? Et au fait le titre Severed heads c'est en honneur de la révolution américaine à venir? Ou juste pour faire brutal?

Garth : The Washingtonians fait effectivement référence au moyen métrage de Peter Medak dans la deuxième saison des Masters of horror, dans lequel on peut voir les pères de la constitution américaine se nourrir de la chair de leurs concitoyens.

Eric : Le titre Severed Heads vient de ce qu’Antoine trouvait le mot Severed (tranché) collait bien et sonnait bien aussi ! Je trouvais pour ma part que Severed Heads (têtes tranchées) faisait un lien avec la pochette de la démo et aussi avec notre nationalité et les trancheurs de têtes pendant la révolution. Le titre sonnait aussi assez brutal et collait bien avec l’ambiance général de l’album. Mais ton analyse sur la révolution américaine est sympa !

-Bon, Severed heads est sorti en octobre 2010, il serait temps d'en sortir un autre non? c'est prévu? si oui ça sonnera comment, pareil, ou alors "encore plus heavy" comme disent tous les groupes de metal?

Eric : On a pour l’instant une petite douzaine de nouveaux morceaux et on a prévu un enregistrement au printemps. Après on ne sait pas trop sous quelle forme ça sortira...

Garth : Sinon, je pense qu'on fera tout pour que ça sonne plus heavy mais qu'au final ça sonnera pareil.

-Est ce que vous avez beaucoup tourné après avoir fait Severed heads? je suppose que ça a du vous faciliter les choses pour avoir des dates, non? Jusqu'où vous avez été?

Eric : On n’a pas tourné assez. Mais c’est difficile d’allier ça avec le boulot et la vie de famille. Niveau concert, on a pu faire une petite tournée Sud de la France/Nord de l’Espagne en octobre 2010 et une autre dans le Sud de la France encore avec Ultracoït début novembre 2011. Après ça a été surtout des concerts ponctuels à droite et à gauche.

Tof : et la bretagne aussi avec les Baltring terror !!!!

-Bon j'avoue, j'ai merdé, je vous ai raté en concert en novembre au Mojomatic (mais pour ma défense je vous connaissais pas encore. encore une erreur je sais...), quand est ce que j'ai droit à une séance de rattrapage sur Montpellier?

Eric : Le plus tôt possible. En fait je crois que t’as rien loupé au Mojomatic… Ca n’a pas été la meilleure de nos dates, loin de là !

Garth : Disons que c'était comme une répète devant des V.I.P (par V.I.P, j'entends les gars d'Ultra Coït et la meuf du merch de Retox)

-Avec quel genre de groupes vous aimez bien jouer en général? Vous avez l'impression de faire partie d'une "scène" ou pas? ou vous en avez rien à foutre?

Eric : Quand on fait un concert c’est toujours sympa de découvrir un groupe qui défonce mais du moment qu’on s’amuse bien avec les membres des autres groupes, que les gens qui organisent sont cool et qu’il y a à boire et à manger tout va bien !

Garth : La seule scène à laquelle on appartient vraiment c'est la plus grande scène de France. Celle qui galère pour trouver des lieux pour jouer, pour pas perdre de pognon et qui est prête à jouer devant trois gonzes du moment qu'on lui paie à boire. De toute façon, quand les préfectures interdisent les concerts dans les bars je ne pense pas qu'elles s'adressent plus à la scène black metal que new york HxC, alors parler de scène aujourd'hui c'est un peu déplacé.

-Quels autres bons groupes de Poitiers il faut suivre selon vous?

Tof : Y’en a pleins !!!! phantom carriage, hacride, tanen, bottle doom, microfilm, crash taste, nothingness, poquito senor, looozza …

-Qu'est ce que vous faites quand vous brutalisez pas des instruments de musiques?

Garth : Bah moi on sait déjà que je vais pas sur bandcamp.

Tof : je bosse et j’ai m’occupe de 2 petits labels, migouri rds et distorgus. Antoine s’occupe aussi de beards and bones autre label et participe à une émission de radio.

-Quels sont vos projets pour The washingtonians?

Eric : Tourner au maximum de nos possibilités et enregistrer un nouveau truc pour le printemps/été prochain. Niveau concerts, on est déjà sur l’affiche du Bloodshed à Eindhoven en octobre. On va essayer d’organiser une petite tournée pour y aller et revenir. On fait aussi parti du Loches en grind en octobre aussi. Et normalement on participe à un festival itinérant d’une dizaine de jours à Cuba pendant l’hiver 2013.

-Est ce que vous avez quelque chose à ajouter?

Garth : Merci pour ton interview et rdv à une prochaine au Mojomatic,

Eric : juste le lien pour télécharger gratos Severed heads pour ceux qui ne nous connaissent pas encore : http://www.mediafire.com/?y931ema22ytv340

-À votre tour de me poser une question si ça vous chante. Une idée?

Eric : j’ai cru comprendre que the blasting days est ton ‘nouveau’ blog. Du coup, tu fais d’autres trucs niveau zik ? Sur le net ou ailleurs ?

-"Blasting" Dennis : ben c'est mon premier blog, et comme j'ai commencé fin janvier on peut dire qu'il est nouveau. 

Avant, (il y a quelques années) j'ai chanté dans un groupe de death metal appellé Social Order Sick (sur Dole/Besançon). Sinon j'ai animé brièvement deux émissions radio musicales, Street knowledge sur Radio BIP, une radio indépendante de Besançon (qui date des années 70') et plus récemment sur Radio campus Montpellier une émission qui s'appelait White Line Fever (ou on avait passé un de vos morceaux d'ailleurs!). Et en plus de Blasting days peut être je vais contribuer un peu à http://www.eklektik-rock.com/

Et j'aimerai bien refaire de la musique dans une groupe, plutôt un truc qui blast à priori, mais rien de bien précis pour l’instant.

voilà, merci d'avoir répondu à mes questions! bien du succès et du plaisir surtout pour la suite, et j'espère qu'on pourra se croiser bientôt sur Montpellier!

Dopefight

Buds, released by Dopefight in 2010, in two words : Heaviness and Groove. That's what Dopefight (from Brighton UK) is all about.

The songs on this first LP are quite original for a stoner/sludge band, some parts are bit more uptempo than usual, the riffs are catchy, the few more or less punkish vocals here and there don't do bad.

well, just make your own opinion by listening to it from their BC page.

(note : I reviewed their other, now defunct band The St Franc Cartel Here, different stuff but also really cool in my opinion).

 And here is a written interview with Dopefight :

-can you present Dopefight and its music?

Dopefight are a Sludge band from Brighton, UK who formed in early 2009.

-you released Buds in 2010, can you tell us a few words about this record?

BUDS is our third release and our debut album. It's available on CD, Vinyl and Download.

-when will you release a new record, and how will it sound like, is there an evolution in your music since Buds?

Our fourth release comes out on monday 23/04/12, it's a split 7" with the awesome GURT!

There will be two new songs each and it's still fucking heavy! 

-have you toured a lot after Buds, how was it? Which was your best gig?

There have been too many great gigs to pick a favourite but the dates we did with Hang The Bastard and Dead Existence were extremely fun!

-with which band would you like to tour with?

Bongzilla!

-what is the link between goat and leaf?

A natural one.

-It seems to me that the drumming in Dopefight is a bit different to the drumming of other stoner/sludge bands do you agree? How would you describe it?

The drumming never stays the same, it's more erratic and strays all over the place rather than keeping the same beat for ages.

-I know that some of you play or have played in other bands, can you tell us a few words about these bands?

Dopefight related bands are: The St. Franc Cartel (A Rap-Punk band), Legal Highs (80's NYHC style punk) and TESC (2-Piece noise shit).

-is Brighton a good place for rock/metal? which other bands from the Brighton area would you recommend?

Gnar Wolves, Enos, Sea Bastard, Little Ease, DKH, The Querelles. There are alot of great bands in Brighton but not that many Sludge/Stoner/Doom bands sadly.

-what have you planned for Dopefight in 2012?

More records, shows, merch, smoking etc... check checking our facebook/myspace/bandcamp etc for info!

-final words?

Peace, Death and Bonghits!

Timber timbre

Creep on creeping on (2011), the fourth record by Timber timbre from Canada. Ce disque est hanté. This record is like a ghost wandering beween canadian woods and une Nouvelle-Orléans révée. It sounds like a dark indie-folk meeting fifties rock at the crossroad. The first song, setting the tone of the whole record is called bad ritual and sound like a funeral procession, with the saxophone doing creepy sounds, the piano playing its cold melody and the singing being warm dark, and melancholic. And the few creepy instrumental noisy/dark interludes between the songs adds to this eerie feeling.

Here is the band official website. and here's the page with videos for some of their songs.

Dephosphorus

Axiom, the first release by the greek band Dephosphorus was among the best discoveries from the underground in 2011.The music they play is an interesting combination of elements coming from different syles, mostly extreme music but not only, and the result is a unique balance beetween blackened grind/punk agression and eerie melodies and atmospherses. But Dephosphorus music escapes any labelling so if you want to figure out how it sounds just listen to it! highly recommended listening!

for exemple on their website or bandcamp page (you'll also find there two songs from their coming LP!).

I asked Panos Agoros, singer of Dephosphorus, some questions to learn more about the band, about Axiom, their future releases, etc., as you'll see, not only the music is unique, but also the lyrics, artworks, etc, the whole concept of the band is unique for an extreme band like Dephosphorus. Panos kindly and thoughtfully explained to me (and you!) what the band is all about (among other interesting things). read it below!

-can you present the band for those not knowing you yet?

Panos: We are Dephosphorus, hailing from Athens-Greece. We’ve been formed in summer 2008 by me (vocals/lyrics) and Thanos (guitars/bass/songwriting) after the dissolution of our previous band, Straighthate. After spending a year demoing material and forging our style, we’ve been joined by longtime comrade and Injekting Khaos member Nikos on drums. We’ve released our debut mini-album “Axiom” as a gorgeous gatefold vinyl last summer via german vinyl-only grind label 7 Degrees Records. “Axiom” is also available as a free download from our website.

-I think you manage to keep a balance between dark strange melodies/atmospheres and rawness and agressivity, is it something you try to achieve intentionally?

Panos: Of corpse! This is what Dephosphorus is all about. Delivering blackened, aggressive, spiritual and eerie music. Our ambition is to transport you to a realm beyond our earthly realities, yet not completely disconnected from them.

-if I describe your music as an original mix of different extreme music styles with mainly elements of grind/crustpunk and black metal would you agree?

Panos: Sure. Yet there’s more to it. Thanos’ songwriting is also influenced by noise rock, post-hardcore, thrash/death metal, folk music, noise/experimental, just to name a few music genres.

-how are Dephosphorus song’s written?

Panos: Until now the way we proceeded was the following. Thanos had submitted a pool of demos to the rest of us, and each time we wanted to write a new song, Nikos chose whatever track he fancied more. Then they would start working on it at the rehearsal room, and while this was happening I would be browsing my notepads trying to figure which lyrics would fit. When the music of the song would be more or less ready, I would join trying out different vocal lines, and usually at the end of a couple of hours of rehearsal we would have a first version ready that we would commit onto tape using our own equipment.

-it seems to me that the lyrics focus on about metaphysical subjects, can you tell us more about that ? I guess the artwork of Axiom is link to the lyrics isn’t it? And what does the name of the band means?

Panos: The name of the band designates a cosmic entity which is the central point of our concept. The initial idea about the name came from the working title of a Leviathan song, “Phosphoros”. We liked it very much because of how  it sounded, and because of its meaning (“bringer of a light”). It is also the name of a chemical compound, and since our concept has scientific afinities, it made sense to chose it. When we realized it was already taken we did a bit of research and came across “Diphosphorus” which is an allotrope of “Phosphoros”, aka a diatomic version in which it also exists. Voilà!

Our lyrics and concept are allegoric and metaphorical. They deal with the search for the meaning of life and of creation. Dephosphorus is scanning the cosmos for allies in order to pierce its mysteries. When some civilizations enter in contact with Dephosphorus, chaos and turmoil are ensuing. As a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip put it perfectly: “-If people sat outside and looked at the stars each, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently. –How so? –Well, when you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day.”

The artwork has been crafted by our friends Viral Graphics (www.facebook.com/viral.graphics) who are 100% into our concept and have similar perception and worldviews than we do. Our music, lyrics/concept and artwork are intertwined and are not to be considered separately.

-your previous grind band Straighthate was more like “classical” grind with lyrics about social concerns. How do you explain your move from Straighthate to Dephosphorus?

Panos: Straighthate was indeed less radical musically and conceptually, but I wouldn’t say it was classic grind either. It had some of the diverse influences that we also have in Dephosphorus albeit in more embryonic form: noise rock, post-hardcore, black/death…

When we decided to move on after Straighthate, we wanted to start a band more challenging and exciting, both musically and artistically. We figured out straight from the beginning that it would be a band based on a concept. Personally, at this point I needed an outlet where I could unleash my imagination and combine two parts of myself. The adult who’s thinking about the possibilities of life and about human existence, and the science fiction boy who grew up in the 80’s with Isaac Asimov and Battlestar Galactica…

-can you tell us more about the future split with Wake?

Panos: Our label, 7 Degrees Records, put us in touch with labelmates Wake from Canada (http://wakegrind.com/). They are an excellent grinding hardcore band, with devastating music and inspiring, caustic lyrics. They had 3 tracks to offer for a split-EP, so did we. It was a nobrainer that it would be a killer move to join forces for a split release, so with the support and encouragement of 7DR we made it happen. As we speak the wax is getting pressed at the factory. It will come with a poster insert sporting – once again – awe inspring artwork by Viral Graphics. Viral had to accomplish the challenging task of combining our stellar concept with Wake’s sociopolitical lyrics into a single coherent vision, and that’s what they did in a tour de force of epic, monumental artwork. Our tracks will also be available in a digital form. Brace yourselves!

-I also read on Grind and punishment that an LP called Night sky transform is coming, can you tell us more about it? Is it gonna be a move towards more grinding dark psychedelia?

Panos: You put it into words perfectly, indeed this is exactly what you’ll get! All three of us feel that all those years spent in the music scene came down to this. We consider “Night Sky Transform” to be our masterpiece. We hope that the underground audience will embrace it as they did with “Axiom”, as its valiant successor. Even if they don’t, it is a work extremely important to  us. A collective pilgrimage and a wonderful journey…

I don’t want to spill the beans too much. It is a different approach to our sound, yet there is still a sense of continuity. If you take a listen to the two tracks off “Night Sky Transform”, “Uncharted” and “Cold Omen”, streaming at our bandcamp page (http://dephosphorus.bandcamp.com) you’ll get a good idea where the album will be starting from. The rest of the trip will be for you to discover in a few months from now. It is going to be released as a special vinyl edition by 7 Degrees Records, and will also be available as a digital download. We’re also considering the cassette format - we’ve yet to receive a relevant offer for a CD release…

-other projects for the band? Touring planned?

Panos: There is also another split-7”EP that will follow shortly. It will be part of irish label’s Hell Comes Home (http://www.hellcomeshome.com/)subscription series. We will share it with Great Falls (http://www.myspace.com/greatfallsnoise), a great american band featuring ex-members of gods Playing Enemy…

Touring is unfortunately out of the question right now since Thanos is studying in Göteborg-Sweden, and our drummer Nikos is recovering from an arm injury. Dephosphorus gigs will definitely happen at some point. We just don’t know when - yet.

-what do you think of the situation in Greece? Has it an influence on your music? If so in which way?

Panos: We think that the situation in Greece is just a preamble to the storm that is coming, the global crisis of western capitalism. The Greek society is responsible for what is happening, and so are our foreign “friends” who encouraged and took advantage of corruption for the last 30 years. Fuck you Europe!

Most of our music and lyrics have been written before the crisis came down really hard on our country and people. There’s not any direct link, except the general sense of regret that our short lives on earth are consumed by trivial, mundane, materialistic worries and struggles, separating us from our true nature and from the greater, encompassing cosmic realities.

-how is the extreme metal/punk/grind scene in Greece at the moment?

Panos: It’s better than what it was 10 years ago. There’s a handful of exceptional acts (Dead Congregation, Ravencult, Injekting Khaos, Ruined Families, to name a few), some good ones and a whole lot of mediocrity. Just like everywhere else.

-can you tell us a few words about Blastbeat mailmurder/productions?

Panos: I’ve started Blastbeat Mailmurder/ Productions 10+ years ago, in order to distribute in Greece metal and hardcore music that wasn’t available in the stores at that time. I did a fair amount of field work introducing the local audience to bands like Antaeus, Kickback, Arkhon Infaustus, cult labels like Spikekult, Blackfish Records and Noevdia…

I’ve also released a handful of quality releases including both CD’s of Straighthate, 7”EP’s by swiss grind heroes Mumakil and local death metal legends Nuclear Winter (the band from the ashes of whom rose Dead Congregation)… I’ve just got out my latest release in over 4 years, the “Rotting Season” 7”EP by N.Y.C. death metal band Mutant Supremacy – I know you digged this one!

What I’m working right now is the Monomaniac series. That will be a stream of compilation 7”EP’s where each band will contribute with 1 minute of music! A lot of

excellent bands have been recruited to the cause until now (Diocletian, Necromantia, Robocop, The Howling Wind, etc)… I will also release at some point the self-titled mini-LP of our drummer’s excellent black/death band, Injekting Khaos (http://www.myspace.com/injektingkhaos, http://injektingkhaos.bandcamp.com/).

For more info, online music and a mailorder choke full of quality death/grind/black/hardcore items please check out my website: www.blastbeatmailmurder.com.

-something to add?

Panos: I would like to invite your readers to check out our website www.dephosphorus.com for more info. Subscribe to our mailing list and/or find us in facebook in order to be updated about the latest developments.

Thanks for supporting Dephosphorus and good luck with Blasting Days!

Glorior belli

The great southern darkness is the latest (sept 2011) release by french black metallers Glorior belli. It is indeed great, dark and with a southern flavour, because they mix with great taste and talent black metal blastbeats, vocals and atmospheres, with southern grooves and riffage.

At time it sounds like a kind of blackened version of Pantera, and I guess it is not by chance that the name of their record reminds of The great southern trendkill, the darkest record by Pantera. They even have the creepy blues based ballads.The result, both original and powerfull, full of both warmth and anger, makes one the best  metal record of 2011.

If you like southern sounding rock/metal and black metal you absolutely have to listen to Glorior belli (check also their previous record, Meet us at the southern cross).

on THIS page from their official website you'll be able to listen to songs, watch videos, etc...

Ghee

 Ghee from London released this demo, their first release, earlier this month.Three good songs. It sounds likes really pissed off hardcore with fast parts and more sludgier parts. If you like bands like Black flag, Converge or Grief or just like your hardcore to be aggressive and dirty then you'll dig these three songs. Keep an eye on them because this demo is really promising. Support them, and if you're organising shows, book them!

Here's their bandcamp page where you can listen/download their cool demo.

I asked them a few questions to learn more about them. Read it below :

-can you present the band? where are you from, when did you form, why did you choose that name, do you play or have played in other bands, etc.

Sam : Well, I play Guitar, James is on bass, Pete shouts his guts out and Jakey G hits things. We've all been friends for years and me, Pete and Jake live together, went to school together and have played in various bands together (XX Cortex, Screen Violence, The Bad Hats, Dead Broads, Daze Like These) from the age of about 14. We formed late 2011 after James left Hail of Abuse and the rest of us were up for doing something a bit different (i.e heavier) and the rest is a very brief history.

 

We pained over finding some sort of interesting, relevant name for a while (we have been Poor Me, Gape, Mrs Winslows Soothing Syrup, you get the idea...). We've all got a strange fixation on sound-bites, quotes, puns, absurd references to things, which probably looks a bit odd in polite company, so that was always going to be part of the band. We ended up as Ghee, which is a sort of stupid in-joke but I think  it's a also a pretty good descriptive name. We're essentially four fully grown man-children, throwing ourselves about to ridiculous music, and we love it.

 

-how would you describe your music, I woudl say it's a kind of powerviolence/grind with some sludgy parts, agree?

 

We'd say that's probably a fair description, but I think 'powerviolence' gets thrown around a lot and we're not entirely sure if it fits us. I find it pretty hard to pin it down is you're playing in the band, we just kind of see it as hardcore I guess, but what does that even really mean? I guess genre tags have their use, and yours is pretty fitting., so lets go with that.

 

-what about the lyrics and the artwork of the demo?

I'll leave Pete to answer this one - I've never found writing lyrics particularly easy, in fact generally speaking I find it quite a daunting task, partly due to the fact that I wonder what the other guys will think of it and also having people read and potentially judge my writing skills (or lack of it!). James gave me a bit of a pointer and basically told me to write about things that pissed me off, it all became easier after that. So far I guess my lyrics have been based on social observation, and more predominately my own personal inadequacies, as there's so no shortage of those! 

Jake does all of our artwork (check his stuff out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/SHart-attack, it's very good!) and we just leave it up to his twisted imagination.

-do you feel like being part of any scene? with what kind of bands do you usually play?

I guess you kind of have to be if you want to play regularly in London. There are a hell of a lot of great bands around these parts so we do try to make an effort to be involved. We also run When You Hit The Ground Promotions (http://www.facebook.com/pages/When-You-Hit-The-Ground-Promotions) putting on hardcore shows in London which gives us some good opportunities to play with some great band, but we're also got to be carful no to put ourselves on at any opportunity. We've only played one show so far, with Piranha (excellent, check them out!) Year of the Flood and Black Veins, but we're playing with the likes of Grappler, The Long Haul, Full of Hell, Grieved, etc in the next few months, which is great!

 

 -your demo is promising, how long do we have to wait before listening to an LP?

Ha, cheers man, it's nice to get good feedback so early on. I'd say it will be a while before we get enough songs for a proper release, we all work full-time and progress is steady but slow. I guess we'd probably need a bit of external motivation to sit down and write a whole LP, as we're all fairly 'laid back', shall we say? We recorded, mixed and mastered the demo ourselves and we'd probably like to keep it that way :)

 

-you released your demo also in order to help the band book some show, can you tell us more about where you will play or would like to play?

Well, it's neigh-on impossible to get decent shows without some sort of release, and obviously putting on hardcore shows ourselves help to meet lots of cool bands and people so we're just trying to keep it real. People respond better and are more likely to give us a thought if we hand them a demo in person after a little chat, so we tend to take them round with us everywhere. We just want to play with bands that we enjoy watching. There's a lot of great venues for heavy music in London (The Birds Nest, The Constitution, The Black Heart, The Underworld, Powerlunches) so we are just trying to stick to what we know and love and avoid all of the mid-week, pay-to-play bullshit that London is infested with at the moment.

 

-something to add?

Come to our shows and make your own minds up!