Sete star sept - Sacrifice (2013) review & interview

Sete star sept is without a doubt one of the most radical and original noisegrind act. the japanese duo fuse screams and noisy bass attack with some furious "free grind"drumming. the result is as chaotic and intense as you can get. with half a minute blast of sonic violence. their latest LP Sacrifice is 24 of these sonic explosions. all killer, no filler. even if it's not the most noisy or chaotic Sete star sept records it's still incredibly wild and grind. I love it. one of my favourite Sete star sept release.

the Bandcamp page

Sete star sept website

Sete star sept drummer, Kiyasu, answered to my questions by mail, read the interview below :

-what about your new record called Sacrifice? it seems to me that
compared to some of your other records it's a bit less chaotic and
noise, a slight bit more straight grind, do you think so?

Kiyasu: Yes, i think so.
songs in Sacrifice album are straight grind. more easy to understand
how do we play our songs than other releases.
noise freaks might feels these songs are too clean sound.

-when you wrote songs for a record do you start with a global idea of
the record or is it more just a collection of songs? when you do a
record a bit different is it on purpose or does it just happen so?

most songs made by chance while we were in the studio session.
we always try to make weird songs.

-what about the artwork for sacrifice, does it has a specific meaning
in japanese culture?

it's not specific meaning in japanese culture. the artwork for
sacrifice drawn by Edi Mirror who lives in indonesia. he gave us
original artwork when we were touring in indonesia. he is great
illustrator and also play harsh noise sometimes. one of my best
friend!!

-you are releasing a lot of music, with Sete star sept and other
bands, are you a full time musician, or is it just the need to express
a non stop flow of creativity?

i'm not full time musician. i need to work sometimes for
living in japan.
I earns part-time job at the minimum of money.
I've been making and playing music the rest of the time.

-what about the other bands you are a part of? can you tell us a few
words about the music of these bands?

i play drums on avant-Rock band "Fushitsusha" and Free jazz
band "Kiyasu Orchestra".
OK, i explain you these bands using few words

Kiyasu Orchestra - Free Jazz, fast, improvise
Fushitsusha - Hard Rock, Original method

-currently Sete star sept is touring in Europe with Satan, what are
your feelings about this tour?

we've never been to western europe before. really excite it! and
it's first time to tour with other bands together in europe.

-you shared a split with Satan, how did you get to know them?

i got email from Mika/SATAN to release split 7inch together in 2010.
he is also running record label called Witch Bukkake Records.
we released the 7inch from his label. it was our first release for split 7inch.

-are there some other french bands that you like?
Adolf Shitter

-Which evolution would you like to see for underground music in the future?
i can't imagne about the future.
but i would like to be good relationship with my friends who are
getting into extreme music.
and i just keep enjoying and recording noise music.

-what in planned for Sete star sept in the coming months?

we might to release two special releases for SETE STAR SEPT 10
years anniversary.
it's new 7inch EP and 10 tapes box set.
and we are going to tour in 6 weeks US/Canadian tour on August/September then
Australian tour on November, Japan tour on December.

-one final "full of wisdom" sentence to close the interview?

Feel beyond noise! noisecore everywhere!

Serpentine path : interview with Ryan Lipynsky

while Serpentine path's new album Emanations (read my review HERE)  is released (today!), Ryan Lipinsky their singer (who used to be in Unearthly trance before they disbanded) answered by mail to my questions about his band and the new album :

-Emanations is your second album, but to start with can you go back to the formation of the band and to its first album, what about it?

Ryan Lipynsky: The band was formed when Tim Bagshaw moved to the US to live in New Jersey. When he first came here we all agreed that it would be interesting if we could get together and have a jam. Our previous band, Unearthly Trance, was still operational and we wanted to do a side project for fun. Tim is someone we have been friends with well over a decade. We first met him on the Unearthly Trance/Electric Wizard/ Sons of Otis US tour in 2002. Over the years we also did several European tours with Tim’s band Ramesses which he played guitar in. Basically, once we had that initial jam it was clear that we could turn this into a really solid and substantial band. So we first recorded a 7” EP for Parasitic Records and after that came the first album on Relapse. Since we [Me, Jay and Darren] had a working relationship with Relapse through the 3 Unearthly Trance records, we simply asked if they were interested in doing something with SP and they immediately said yes!

-I think, the major change with Emanations is the additions of the second guitarist, what about the arrival of Stefan Flam in the band and its effect on the music?

Stephen brought his experience and strong sonic abilities. Right away his guitar sound perfectly meshed with Tim’s approach. The two guitar assault made the band even more heavier and perfectly executed our idea of being oppressive to the point of excess. He has great ideas and brought he point of view to the jam room. He also contributed a song to the album in the form of “Systematic Extinction”.

-how would you describe your music? do you think we could say there's an old school death metal influence in addition of the obvious doom elements?

Yes. Doom Metal with a touch of Sludge and Death Metal. There are a few blackened influences with the vocals I think. But for the most part you are very much right. The old filthy spirit of organic death metal mixed with slow crushing metal of doom.

-what is the writing process for Serpentine path?

Usually Tim will write at home and put together a demo of a song idea with his drum machine a and guitars. Then he will send us songs and we usually pick which ones we like the best and then work on them in the jam room. From there we might tweak the structure, repetition amount, tempo, beats etc but for the most part Tim is the main writer of music in this band. We all work very well with him and trust his ability and talent. He always has new ideas and never has a shortage of new songs!

-what about the lyrics of the songs?

I write all the words to the songs and usually create the lyrics as a reaction or compliment to the already completed song. Ill take practice recordings or demos and absorb the vibe that the riffs are emitting. I want to make sure the words fit perfectly with the audio. That is why the lyrics are so doomed and grim! ha

-what about your live shows, what do you try to transmit to the listeners?

We are not much of live band. To date we have only played once live and only have plans to play one more shows. So to see Serpentine Path is a very rare occasion. But we aim to transmit loud volumes, bone rattling low frequencies, pounding war drums and scathing vocals.

-everyone in the band played in influential bands, but which bands influenced you, for the music or other things?

For me the bands that have influenced me the most are Black Sabbath, Kiss, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Darkthrone, Dissection, Neurosis, Eyehategod, Melvins, The Obsessed, His Hero Is Gone, Black Flag, Danzig, Death, Morbid Angel, Rudimentary Peni, Grief, Sleep, Winter, Roky Erickson, Metallica, Slayer to name a few….

-which new (or not so new) bands from New York would you recomend?

Hmm. None that come to mind. I’m a bit out of touch. Only bands I know about are my friends bands like Tombs, Syphilitic Lust, Forced, The Communion, Concrete Cross, Mountain God, Grey Skies Fallen and Nightbreak.

-Which evolution would you like to see for underground music in the future?

I think in recent years bands have become more DIY and I think its a great thing. Most underground bands can put our recordings on their own [via bandcamp] and it is increasingly becoming the norm. I think that its a great thing that if you have something you want to release and no label, then do it your self. I see that increasingly as the eventual model for the future of the underground.  On the down side I do think touring will become harder and harder as all the competition out there makes people choose between which shows they actually go to.Also making money on the road is always a gamble and if things like the prices of gas go up or air travel etc… This might make it hard for a small band to get on the road or tour overseas. But I could also be totally wrong about that haha

-What is planned for Serpentine path in the coming months? do you already have ideas or songs for the next album?

Tim said he has some songs written but right now we are just focusing on the release of “Emanations”. You never know what the future holds!

-something to add?

Thanks to all of the Serpentine Path supporters around the world! We salute you.

Caged grave - Gutless (EP 2014)

Caged grave is an excellent new australian powerviolence band and this Ep (a bit more than 5 min of music) called Gutless is their first release after their already excellent demo last year (see my review HERE).
10 furious less than one min song blasting, screaming and raging with all the neccessary ferocity and ending with a good Left for dead cover. PV / fastcore hardly sounds better than this!

their Bandcamp

Lord Mantis - Death mask (2014)

Death mask is the third full lenght from Chicago's "death sludge" dealers Lord Mantis. i'd been impressed by their previous album Pervertor and am pleased to say that Death mask is of the same caliber. sounds completely filthy and drenched in pain. it features some old school death metal elements but we could say that overall it's sludge (heavy and slow parts, noisy and dirty guitar sound), but a very black sludge, closer to death metal than to punk hardcore, with even some "industrial" elements (for exemple some effects on the vocals reinforcing their inhuman sound) adding to the cold and bleak atmosphere. add to that the very strong songwriting, with well crafted epic moments and some few but good nasty melodies, and you have another excellent piece of sludgy death audio nihilism from Lord Mantis. highly recommended!

listen to Death mask on Profound lore Bandcamp.

Brain corruption - Artifacts of humanity (EP 2013)

Brain corruption is a duo from Bremen (Germany) and their EP  Artifacts of humanity is pure grind played the way it should during its twelve minutes. A powerful sound but not too clean. Relentless blast beats and grindpunk beats. A dual (crust and death metal) vocal delivery. Some grind / crust / trash riffing. And the job is done. And well done. Good stuff!

Their Bandcamp

Parasight - Munden Fuld Af Løgn, Lommen Fuld Af Profit (2014)

Discovered this danish band completely by chance but I'm very pleased I did because it's really one of the best crust / d-beat band i've heard in a while. their first 12'' album (after a good EP two years ago) called Munden Fuld Af Løgn, Lommen Fuld Af Profit and released this year is an excellent exercise in that style. Parasight really masters the formula, keeping an excellent balance between neo-cust melodic elements and the relentless attack. their excellent songwriting make them able to sound fresh while sticking to the basic elements of neo-crust / d-beat. they just do it in the best way.

their bandcamp

Serpentine path - Emanations (2014)

I really liked Serpentine path's (a band with Ryan Lipinsky and Tim Bagshaw)  first album released in 2012 (read my review HERE) but I think I like the new one, Emanations, even more. they kept the crushingly heavy death-doom elements and the sinister mood but added more creepy weirdness with more guitar leads and melodies. probably this has something to do with the addition of a second guitarist (Stephen Flam who played in Winter, so now it looks like an all-star band even more, but it's far from their main argument, just listen to it and you'll realise it quickly). so Emanations is a good move forward from an already very good band. recommended!

The BC page

Carousel - Jeweler's daughter (2013)

Classy cover art for a classy album. Carousel is a young band from Philadelphia, and their excellent debut album Jeweler's daughter was released last summer by the also excellent Tee pee records. I wonder why it seems that few people noticed it because it really would have deserved more attention. it has everything you love in classic heavy metal. think Judas priest, Iron maiden and Black sabbath, fused with a touch of Thin lizzy and some heavy rock boogie. faultless balance of rocking vibe and hooks. a smooth and sharp guitar sound, cool leads, excellent vocals and most importantly excellent songs. nearly each one is a heavy metal hit. they doesn't reinveint the wheel at all but their classical heavy metal sounds fresher and better than most retro bands.

you can stream it from this The obelisk (recommended blog by the way) post.

Rapturous grief - Ficcion corporativa (2014)

Rapturous grief is a guitar / drums duo from Atlanta and they play a dark  and aggressive hardcore that we could call "blackened poweriolence", hardcore staight forward agression with some nasty metallic riffing and blast beats. The new release is a 7'' called Ficcion corporativa (yes it's sung in spanish). 10 songs in less than then minutes. really straight to the point and "catchy" in it's hardcore way. if you're into powerviolence, fastcore, grindpunk and the like I highly recommend you listen to it. And to learn more about the band you can read at this location the interview we did two years ago on the occasion of the release of their self titled 7''.

Their Bandcamp

The Body - I shall die here (2014)

On this album, I shall die in here, The terrific drone doom duo called The Body is teaming with the guy releasing dark ambient music as The Haxan cloak. and it's a good move because I shall die in here is excellent. the additions from The Haxan cloak are subtle, it's close to previous The Body works (for ex read HERE my review of Christ reedeemers), but it still bring some few but "nice" changes to the music of the duo with some industrial / dubstep beats and sounds adding to the coldness and bleakness of the songs. it offers an interesting variation of their sound while keeping it as heavy, noisy and nihilistic as usual.

The Bandcamp page