Review Nocturno Culto's Gift of Gods "Recieve"

In 2013, Ted Skjellum, aka Nocturno Culto, one half of the Norwegian band Darkthrone alongside drummer Fenriz, released a fantastic 4-track EP under the name Gift of Gods, which in my opinion received too little attention. Since then, nothing else has been released under this name, and I hope this was not a result of a lack of recognition. However, this may also have had something to do with the fact that Darkthrone had long since left the pure black metal path at that point, and the protagonist was able to continue exploring his love for traditional metal sounds with his main band; it's precisely these traditional metal sounds that Mr. Skjellum indulges in on this four-track, 25-minute EP in an almost masterful way.

Interview Night in Gales (english)

“And then we stood in front of all these unhappy, ultra-angry people, who were now even angrier because their heroes hadn't come and instead they were being served a complete untrue melodic death metal band.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Night in Gales, which the band will celebrate with an anniversary concert in November. The band's first release, the “Sylphlike” EP, will also be performed live in its entirety, as it has been completely re-recorded and will be released soon. So there are several good reasons to speak with guitarist and founding member Jens Basten. He has a lot to say, and in addition to the latest news, he also digs deep into the archives to tell old (tour) stories.  These include the band's old hometown of Voerde, the numerous side projects and other bands of Night in Gales, musicians, bad business decisions, and militant vegan metalcore. But read for yourself...

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Let's start the interview with an event that took place a long time ago: September 20, 1998, Live Music Hall Cologne. Dismember, Gorgoroth, Children of Bodom, Agathodaimon, and Raise Hell are scheduled to play there as part of a Nuclear Blast festival. Suddenly, a promoter steps onto the stage and tells the audience that Gorgoroth has canceled (I can't remember the reason; there were no internet announcements back then) and that Night in Gales will be stepping in as a last-minute replacement. The whole hall seems to be angry (including me, haha), everyone was waiting for the ultra-evil Gorgoroth and then you came along with your contrasting melodic death metal. Do you remember? How did you experience it as a band? Did you play again later instead of Gorgoroth? I think I read something about that.

Yes, it was actually a show on the Nuclear Blast Festival tour. Gorgoroth had canceled at short notice and we were booked in at the last minute to fill the slot for Nuclear Blast. But the fact that we were then announced as the replacement for Gorgoroth at the evening box office and by the promoters was, of course, kind of shitty. It was a bizarre situation overall, because they were totally cult in the black metal scene at the time due to the hype surrounding their image, but we couldn't take it seriously at all. And then we stood in front of all these unhappy, ultra-angry people, who were now even angrier because their heroes weren't coming and instead they were being served a complete untrue melodic death metal band. Well, as always, we still had fun, as far as I can remember. We took everything in stride. Shortly after the release of “Nailwork,” we went on a three-week European tour with Gorgoroth, haha. That was a really great time back then. In addition to us, the people and crews from Old Mans Child, Krisiun, Soulreaper, and Myrkskog were also romping around in two buses. Many of the Norwegians had the sunburn of their lives after a day off and a corresponding beach party in St. Tropez and wore cooling towels on their heads during the soundcheck the next day.

Interview Night in Gales (deutsch)

"Und dann standen wir vor den ganzen unglücklichen ultrabösen Menschen, die jetzt noch böser waren weil ihre Helden nicht kamen und  sie stattdessen nun sogar eine komplette untrue Melodic Death Metal Band serviert bekamen."

Die Geburtsstunde von Night in Gales jährt sich dieses Jahr nun bereits zum 30. Mal, was die Band im November mit einem Jubiläumskonzert zelebrieren wird. Dort wird ebenso die erste Veröffentlichung der Band, die "Sylphlike" EP komplett live dargeboten, so wurde diese ja auch komplett neu aufgenommen und wird demnächst veröffentlicht. Es gibt also mehrere gute Gründe, Gitarrist und Gründungsmitglied Jens Basten auf den Zahn zu fühlen. Dieser hat einiges zu erzählen, und neben dem tagesaktuellen Geschehen kramt er auch ganz tief in der Kiste, um alte (Tour-) Geschichten zu erzählen.  Dabei geht es auch um die alte Heimatstadt der Band, Voerde, die zahlreichen Nebenprojekte und weitere Bands der Night in Gales - Musiker, falsche Businessentscheidungen und militant-veganen Metalcore. Doch lest selbst...

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Fangen wir doch mal das Interview mit einem lange zurückliegenden Ereignis an: 20.09.1998, Live Music Hall Köln. Dort spielen  bzw. sollen im Rahmen eines Nuclear Blast Festivals Dismember, Gorgoroth, Children of Bodom, Agathodaimon und Raise Hell spielen. Plötzlich tritt ein Promoter auf die Bühne, und berichtet dem Publikum, dass Gorgoroth ausfallen (der Grund ist mir entfallen; Internet-Ankündigungen gab es damals ja noch nicht) und dafür kurzzeitig Night in Gales als Ersatz einspringen. Die ganze Halle scheint wütend zu sein (inklusive mir, haha), alle warteten auf die ultrabösen Gorgoroth und dann kamt ihr mit eurem dazu im Kontrast  stehendem  Melo-Death. Erinnerst Du dich noch? Wie habt ihr als Band das erlebt? Habt ihr später auch noch mal mit anstelle von für Gorgoroth gespielt, ich meine entsprechendes gelesen zu haben?

Ja, das war tatsächlich eine Show der Nuclear Blast Festival - Tour. Gorgoroth waren kurzfristig ausgefallen und wir zum Füllen des Slots von Nuclear Blast kurzerhand draufgebucht worden. Dass wir dann aber als Ersatz für Gorgoroth auch an der Abendkasse und durch Ansagen der Promoter angekündigt wurden, war natürlich  irgendwie Kacke. Das war insgesamt schon eine skurrile Situation, denn die waren durch den Image-Hype damals total Kult in der BM-Szene, wir konnten das jedoch überhaupt nicht ernst nehmen. Und dann standen wir vor den ganzen unglücklichen ultrabösen Menschen, die jetzt noch böser waren weil ihre Helden nicht kamen und  sie stattdessen nun sogar eine komplette untrue Melodic Death Metal Band serviert bekamen. Naja, wir hatten wie immer trotzdem Spaß, meine ich mich zu erinnern. Wir haben alles mitgenommen. Zur Veröffentlichung von "Nailwork" waren wir dann wenig später mit Gorgoroth auch noch drei Wochen auf gemeinsamer Europatour, haha. Das war echt eine super Sause damals. In zwei Bussen tummelten sich außer uns noch die Leute und Crews von Old Mans Child, Krisiun, Soulreaper und Myrkskog. Viele der Norweger hatten den Sonnenbrand ihres Lebens nach einem Day Off und entsprechender Beach-Party bei St. Tropez und trugen beim Soundcheck am nächsten Tag kühlende Handtücher auf den Köpfen.

Review Massacra "Signs of the decline"

In 1992, Massacra, founded in 1986, which together with Loublast, Crusher, Agressor, and Mercyless formed the spearhead of French death metal, released their third album, “Sins of the Decline.” Just as the first two albums were released on the dynamic Shark Records label owned by the energetic metal pioneer Axel Thubeauville, Massacra were able to secure a deal with the major label Vertigo Records with this album (the Shark Records logo also appears on the back cover, so it was probably a kind of co-production), which also released million-sellers such as Black Sabbath and Metallica—especially at that time, this deal was something special. This makes the album a landmark in music history, as “Signs of the Decline” was the first death metal album released on a major label. Morbid Angel's “Covenant” was released on Warner's sub-label Giant Records for the North American market a year later in 1993.

Review Alastis "...and Death smiled"

After their debut album “The Just Law” was released in 1992 on the now defunct Norwegian cult label Head Not Found, the Swiss band Alastis released their second album in 1995 on the equally cult French label Adipocere, which also released the debut albums of now well-known and successful bands such as Moonspell and Bethlehem. The first thing that catches the eye is the beautiful, mystical, poison-green cover artwork, which leaves room for speculation and stimulates the imagination.

Review Abysmal "The pillorian Age"

Today, I would like to introduce a genuine, long-forgotten underground gem from the distant year of 1995, namely the only album by the Norwegian band Abysmal, entitled “The Pillorian Age”, which was released on the legendary Italian Avantgarde Music label back then. In fact, I can still remember how I first came into contact with this album. As was customary at the time, people copied albums onto blank audio cassettes, and that's how I came to enjoy this band, which was completely unknown to me at the time.

Review Divine Eve "As the Angels Weep"

In 1993, following a previous demo, the four-song debut EP of the US Americans from Texas by Divine Eve saw the light of day. For just under 17 minutes, you can hear the finest death metal with an undeniable Celtic Frost influence. There is a lot of mid-tempo, but also doom-laden parts and occasional excursions into grindcore, which creates a certain dynamic within the soundscape. The CD was released by Nuclear Blast America at a time when the label was still exclusively dedicated to the finest underground material of the day, such as Sinister, Benediction, Hypocrisy, and the like.

Essay: Artificial intelligence leads to decline

Thats why artifical intelligence sucks - because sooner or later we will lose what defines us as human beings

Since artificial intelligence - in the following shortened to AI - is now being used in almost all areas of our society (one example related to the topics discussed here is the shitstorm that broke out over the Dutch band Pestilence when they used cover artwork created by artificial intelligence), I am taking this as an opportunity to express my very critical and yet predominantly negative attitude towards it. Of course, humanity has always continued to evolve. Human labor has been replaced by machines, technical programs replace and/or support people at work or in performing everyday tasks, or even in hobbies or leisure activities. We edit photos with image editing programs and let our cars be guided by navigation devices, use apps for hiking and cycling. We monitor our health data with wearables. The list of these aids, which I also use often and find very useful for the most part, is long. The key difference between this and the use of artificial intelligence is that the aforementioned applications often assist humans, who still do most of the work, as in the case of image editing software. In other areas, machines take over most or (almost) all of the work previously done by humans, but not creative or artistic activities. I admit that the distinction between physical/technical work and intellectual/creative work may be a weak point in my argument, but so be it.

Review Azath "Through a Warren of Shadow"

At this point, I would like to introduce the 2020 debut album by Azath, a US-Canadian collaboration, which in my opinion did not receive enough attention. The album was released by Pulverised Records, which is already a certain seal of quality. The band, which has been around since 2018 and released a demo before the album came out, as well as a 7" with the Americans from Nucleus in 2023 as their last sign of life, plays fast, mangy death metal, somewhere between old school heroes like Incantation or Dead Congregation, or, for that matter, like playing an Autopsy LP at 45 rpm.