Review Eternal Darkness "Eternal Darkness"

At this point, I would like to present one of the absolute highlights of the year, even though its release was several months ago. We are talking about the debut album by the doom death metal band Eternal Darkness from Eskilstuna, Sweden, which was released last July on the tasteful Singaporean label Pulverised Records. The band, whose ranks include former members of such illustrious bands as Svartsyn, Unpure, and The Black—or rather, used to include, as I'll explain in a moment—was founded way back in 1990, released several demos, and finally, in 1992, a 7“ single with two tracks, whose cover, incidentally, also decorates Dimmu Borgir's debut album "For All Tid", published three years later. In August 1992, the band recorded an album entitled "Twilight in the Wilderness", which was supposed to be released by Necropolis Records but never saw the light of day.

Review Eldfödd "Risen from the Flames"

Eldfödd, which means “fireborn” in Swedish, is a new band formed in 2025 by Sebastian Ramstedt, best known as the guitarist for Necrophobic, but also for his other great band called In Aphelion. He has gathered other deserved veterans of the Swedish scene around him, who have played or helped out in such illustrious bands as Firespawn, Witchery, Under the Church, General Surgery, Interment, In Aeternum, and countless others—a lot comes together in such a musical life. This first official sign of life from Eldfödd was released by the Norwegian label Edged Circle Productions, which also released In Aphelion's first EP. The four tracks, which clock in at just under 20 minutes and also include the two tracks from the “Beyond the Fire” demo released digitally in early March 2025, are available on CD, limited edition colored vinyl, and as a very limited edition box set (only 30 copies) with vinyl, tape, shirt, and other items. The latter of which is already sold out and is sure to be a much -in-demand collector's item.

Review Runemagick "Circle of the dying Sun (Dawn of ashen Realms)"

Runemagick, who have been around since 1990, are still an underground phenomenon and have never really made the leap into the ranks of bigger bands. However, they are all the more popular and respected among a devoted community of fans of doom-laden death metal sounds. Of course, the band's sound has undergone certain changes and differentiations over the decades. Their debut album “The Supreme Force of Eternity,” released on Century Media, was much more closely aligned with regular death metal sounds, which specifically means that the tempo presented there was considerably faster. However, many of the subsequent albums, although significantly slower in tempo, were often more death metal-oriented or maintained a balance between death metal and doom metal elements. However, the last four albums after the band's new beginning in 2017, including the 2018 album “Evoked from Abysmal Sleep,” lean even more heavily toward doom metal, particularly through the increased incorporation of atmospheric, tranquil elements. 

Review Degraved "Spectral Realm of Ruin"

For the first time, I came into contact with the guys from Degraved from Seattle, the very city that, even decades after the phenomenon broke out, is still primarily identified with the so-called “grunge” phenomenon, at least among middle-aged people here in Germany.

But let's move on to the great debut album by this band, which first attracted attention in 2020 with the “Exhumned Remnants” demo. This was followed in 2023 by the EP “Whispered Morbidity,” then in 2024 by a split 7“ with their colleagues from Cystic, also from Seattle, and finally, at the beginning of this year, the ”Premonition of Blasphemy" demo, whose three tracks are now also included on the seven-track debut album.

Interview Das letzte Lager

Hassliebe zu Flensburg

Das letzte Lager aus Hamburg spielen tollen, teils groovig-walzenden Death Metal und veröffentlichen nach Ihrem Debütalbum "WürgeEngel"  aus dem Jahr 2022 nun demnächst ihr Zweitwerk namens "Sturm aus Nord". Ein Guter Grund um dem Mastermind der Band, Stefan Frost einige Fragen zu stellen. Insbesondere darf man nach den Ausführungen des Musikers auf das lyrische Konzept der kommenden Veröffentlichung gespannt sein.

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Hallo aus dem Rheinland nach Hamburg! Kläre doch erst einmal die Leser über die Entstehungsgeschichte von Das Letzte Lager auf – das ehemalige als auch das neuere Line-up! Gab es vor dem sozusagen letzten Lager bereits musikalisch bekanntere Aktivitäten, und gab es so etwas wie eine Initialzündung für die Bandgründung?

Hallo Gerald, vielen Dank für die Interviewanfrage. InXen (Drums) und ich, Frost (Stimme, Gitarre, Bass), haben uns 2019 kennengelernt. Ich hatte zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits einige Jahre nach einem geeigneten Drummer gesucht, bis dato kam keiner für mich so richtig in Frage. Da man als Band viel Zeit miteinander verbringt, ist der menschliche Faktor für mich fast noch ausschlaggebender als die musikalische Finesse. InXen hatte mehrere Jahre pausiert und wollte wieder etwas starten. Wir einigten uns auf Death Metal mit Oldschool-Einschlag, aber mit modernerem Sound. Wir haben uns ziemlich regelmäßig zum Proben getroffen und dann die Songs gemeinsam ausgearbeitet – kein MP3-Hin-und-Her-Geschicke, sondern Treffen, Jammen, Ideen ausarbeiten. Wir hatten in unserer Jugend, in den 90ern, viel Death Metal gehört, also einigten wir uns auf eher midtempolastigen Death Metal mit einigen netten Melodien. Die Initialzündung war für mich, regelmäßig – so wie in meiner Jugend – Death Metal im Proberaum mit einem Freund zu zocken sowie Live-Gigs und professionelle CD-Produktionen zu planen. Das erste Album ist recht schnell entstanden. Wir haben die Ideen alle mit einem alten Zoom-Aufnahmegerät aufgenommen, also quasi unsere Demo, aus der dann später das Album "WürgeEngel" in einer professionellen Aufnahme mit Mix und Master entstanden ist. Wir waren sehr produktiv. Einen geeigneten Bassisten haben wir zu der damaligen Zeit nicht gefunden,  im Studio habe ich den Bass eingespielt. Für unsere Videodrehs hatten wir einen Bassisten dabei, der dann aber leider erkrankte, sodass wir wieder ohne waren. Nach einigen doch sehr ernüchternden Auditions, die sich als reine Zeitverschwendung herausstellten, wollten wir dann auch live als Duo unterwegs sein. Der für das Album eingespielte Bass diente live als Backing-Track – also fetter Sound als Zwei-Mann-Band. Dann kam Corona, und live-technisch lief nichts. Unseren ersten gemeinsamen Gig hatten wir dann im Sommer 2022 auf einem Festival. Es folgten Gigs mit Kanonenfieber, Eisregen, Profanatica etc. 2023 waren wir dann mit zwei befreundeten Bands für zwei Gigs in Sofia und Plovdiv (Bulgarien) unterwegs. 2024 haben wir mit Labelkollegen eine kleine Tour auf die Beine gestellt. InXen stieg bei Das Letzte Lager im Oktober 2024 aus. Wir hatten in dem Jahr viele Gigs gespielt, und er wollte nach dem letzten gemeinsamen Gig komplett die Musik an den Nagel hängen. Er fährt nun lieber in seiner Freizeit voller Stille in Norwegen mit dem Rennrad. Seit diesem Jahr ist Dean als Bassist mit dabei. Den ersten gemeinsamen Gig hatten wir bereits in Köln. 

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.

Review Runemagick "Last skull of humanity"

As the Swedish doom / death metal act Runemagick led by the energetic Nicklas Rudolfsson is currently releasing its 14th studio album, entitled “Cycle of the Dying Sun (Dawn of Ashen Realms)”, the band actually came back to my mind after I had already interviewed Nicklas in 2018. How time flies....read the interview on the occasion of the release of "Evoked from abysmal Sleep" here.

At this point, however, I would like to mention the brilliant gem of an EP called “Last Skull of Humanity” from 2023, which unfortunately has only now received my full and well-deserved attention. 

Interview Graceless

"In all the years that I have been playing in bands I have learned one thing, there is nothing more important than having the right group of people around you."

With diligence, perseverance and their fourth album “Icons of Ruin”, Dutch band Graceless have earned themselves a firm place in the Dutch and international scene as well as a place in the hearts of many fans. I spoke to founder, singer and guitarist Remco Kreft about the new album, the band's history, upcoming live activities with Asphyx and Sinister, the importance of a good social structure in the band and about the hopefully soon to be released new album by Soulburn, which also features Graceless' drummer Marc Verhaar alongside Remco.

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Hello, how is the new album "Icons of Ruin" going, what do you think of it now that it's finally out?

This is the best feeling ever! The album was already finished in December last year and we really had to be so patient. It's really a great feeling that we can now share it with everyone. The reviews are also amazing and we are of course super happy with that! We worked so hard on this.

Review Discography Equinox (Florida, USA)

This time I would like to introduce you to a band that unfortunately never received the attention it deserved and which has long since been shrouded in a gray veil of oblivion. In order to revive the band a little, so to speak, I'd like to do my bit: I'm talking about the US-American Equinox (not to be confused with numerous other metal bands worldwide as well as in the USA with the same name) from sunny Florida, who play great and not quite so US-typical death/black metal, although I would assign the band mainly to the first mentioned subgenre. But more on that later. Over the course of the band's history from 1992-2009, they released two demos, a 7" single, two albums and an EP, featuring musicians who were or are known from such illustrious names as Acheron, Incubus, the Incubus successor band Opprobrium, Possessed, Massacre, Diabolic, Angelcorpse, Amon and Druid Lord. 

At this point, I will limit myself to the two albums and the EP. So let's start with the 1996 debut album "Return to Mystery", which was released on CD by the long-defunct Greek cult label Unisound and re-released on CD and vinyl in 2024 by Dutch Vic Records with a completely new cover artwork that many people consider to be better than the original one. The almost 48-minute album, which consists of nine tracks, begins with ominously dark synthesizer sounds before brute riffs and throaty, screeching vocals kick in. It is maybe these vocals that are responsible as well for the categorization as black metal, and both this and other tracks feature very atmospheric mid-tempo parts accompanied by dark synthesizer sounds in  best Rotting Christ style. In general, the band always varies very well with different tempos, so that the album is highly dynamic. 

REVIEW CHAOS INCEPTION "VENGEANCE EVANGEL"

Chaos Inception is a death metal quartet from Alabama, USA, formed in 2008 and has released three albums to date - with a slightly different line-up in some cases. To my shame, I have to admit that I have not yet consciously taken notice of the band, which also has (former) members of such illustrious bands as Monstrosity and Diabolic in its ranks. Fortunately, this has now changed with “Vengeance Evangel”, which was released in mid-February via the Czech label Lavadome Productions almost 13 years after its predecessor. As much as the label praises the band, these words are justified, at least if you are a fan of brutal, but at the same time technically demanding and sometimes tricky arrangements. The band naturally draws from the pool of American death metal and, in addition to the aforementioned Monstrosity and Diabolic, the usual suspects such as Immolation, Hate Eternal, or, in certain, particularly rhythmic parts, Deicide can also be cited. In contrast to many of their American colleagues, however, Chaos Inception seem more chaotic, impetuous and wild, despite their sophistication and technical demands.

REVIEW MACERATION "SERPENT DEVOURMENT"

The Danes from Maceration released a very strong comeback album at the end of 2022 with “It never ends...”, after the band had been on ice for years following their 1992 debut album and a 95 promo release. Now, a little more than two years later, the next album by the men around Jakob Schultz, who was also active in the legendary thrash metal outfit Invocator, is already available. “It never ends...” convinced both fans and the press with its great, convincing and catchy old-school tracks (read an interview with Jakob Schultz from last year here ). Appearing once again on the great Danish label Emanzipation Productions, the extraordinary cover artwork once again shows the octopus-like underworld creature typical of Maceration. Like the artwork of the previous album, this cover was also drawn by Ola Larsson, who has once again created a wonderfully atmospheric artwork with a great light pale blue color scheme. 

INTERVIEW MERCYLESS

 

"For me, people are almost more important than the music .... Before you make music and give concerts, you need people who understand each other and get along."

Mercyless from Mulhouse, close to the German border, are probably one of the big three of French death metal, which also includes Massacra, who we have long since opposed, and Loudblast, who are still active. These bands made the underground happy with their first demos back in the mid or late 80s, soon followed by their respective debut albums, in the case of Mercyless the still great “Abject Offerings” with its iconic cover artwork by the famous Salvador Dali. After two not-so-great albums in the mid/late 90s and a ten-year hiatus, Mercyless have been back in full force since 2011 to present their ominous death metal. Last year, the band debuted on the legendary Osmose label with their outstanding work “Those who reign below”, which I can only warmly recommend to anyone who likes dark and sophisticated death metal. A good reason to talk to founding member, guitarist and vocalist Max Otero about the latest album, the band's history, French death metal, the value of friendship and the band's home town. But enough preamble, now read for yourself.

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Hello Max, greetings from the Rhineland to Mulhouse! How are you and the band? How do you rate your latest album “Those who reign below” and the reactions from fans and the press now that a few months have passed?

Hi, I'm fine thanks...we were honestly surprised by all the good feedback from fans and the media in general...which is no longer obvious these days with the multitude of releases and bands that occupy the world stage.

REZENSION HÖRBUCH "HIGHWAY TO HELL" VON DR. MANUEL TRUMMER

Prof. Dr. Manuel Trummer unterrichtet Vergleichende Kulturwissenschaften an der Universität Regensburg und ist zudem Gitarrist der Heavy Metal / Doom Metal Band Atlantean Kodex, die ja dem geneigtem Leser bekannt sein dürfte. Trummer befasste sich bereits in seiner  Dissertation mit Transformationen und Erscheinungsformen der Traditionsfigur des Teufel in der Rockmusik und ist somit quasi inhaltlich schon seit langer Zeit bestens mit dem Thema seines Buches "Highway to hell - Das Satanische im Heavy Metal" vertraut. Dieses Buch ist der dritte Teil der "Metalbook"- Reihe des Kohlhammer-Verlags, in welcher Sachbücher zu  Themen aus dem Metal-Kosmos erscheinen (Besprechung des ersten Teils der Serie,  Dr. Hartmut Rosas Werk zum Begriff der Resonanz siehe hier).  An dieser Stelle wird allerdings die Hörbuch-Variante besprochen, welche bei CC-live erschienen ist, und es mit vier CDs auf eine Gesamtspielzeit von über fünf Stunden bringt. Besonders schön ist dabei die Gestaltung der CDs in Vinyl-Optik mit einem jeweilig andersfarbigen Label. Claus Vester ist als Sprecher zahlreicher Hörbücher bekannt; u.a. auch als deutsche Stimme von Rychard Rycroft (Master Wolkan) in "Game of Thrones". Als weitere Sprecher fungieren Alexander Wohnhaas (Sänger der Band Megaherz) und der Schauspieler und Sprecher René Oltmanns. Die immer wiederkehrenden Songtexte bzw. Songzitate werden wortgewaltig und ausdrucksstark von Ron Williams wiedergegeben, der als schillernde Figur aus Film, Funk und Fernsehen bekannt ist. 

REVIEW GURKKHAS "A LIFE OF SUFFERING"

Gurkkhas are a French death metal band, named after units of Nepalese soldiers in the service of the British Army and the Indian armed forces, who released two albums around the turn of the millennium (more about the current and earlier band history in the interview with the band, read here). The debut album “Engraved in Blood, Flesh and Souls” was released in 2000 by Massacre Records, and just one year later “A life of suffering” was published by the legendary German label Morbid Records, which has long since ceased to exist. Now, out of nowhere, a compilation of the two albums is being released on the French label Great Dane Records, or rather, the complete “A life of suffering” album plus four further selected tracks from the debut album.

INTERVIEW GURKKHAS

"For me, French death metal is made up of three bands: Massacra, Loudblast and Crusher."

Speaking of bands that have been inactive for decades, a few weeks ago I suddenly had the announcement of the reunion of a band in my mailbox that I, like so many others, had long since irrevocably consigned to the eternal hunting grounds of death metal. We're talking about the French Gurkkhas (with one more “k”, named after the Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers in the service of the British Army and the Indian armed forces, in which they form their own units). They have now released a compilation via Great Dane Records (read the review here), which includes the complete second album as well as parts of the debut, and which I can only warmly recommend to all fans of US-American death metal in particular. I spoke to vocalist Jeff about the two albums released back then at the turn of the millennium as well as about the current and future situation of the band and death metal in France.

INTERVIEW NOVEMBER GRIEF

"Our sound was finally developed in a way that pleased us, and we all have very fond memories of it. I can’t believe that at the end of this year it will be 30 years since it’s release…"

November Grief from Montreal, Canada, were founded back in 1993 and have been dormant for more than 20 years. Now that the band has been active again since 2020 with a few new members, it made sense to talk to bassist and singer Stéphanie Masson, who was in Wallonia, Belgium, at the time of the interview.

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Hello Stéphanie, how are you?  I saw you had a gig recently. Did it go to your satisfaction?

Hello Gerald, I am doing very well thank you. Just arrived from Belgium a few days ago and still a bit jet lagged. Yes, we did  show here in Montreal last December 14 and it went very well. It was also our first show at home with our new lead guitarist Rachel, and boy did she deliver the goods that night ! Kudos also go to Simonne and Zack. We had a good flow onstage that evening and the maniacs in the crowd had a good time. 

REVIEW "INTO EVERLASTING FIRE -THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF IMMOLATION"

With “Into everlasting fire”, Kevin Stewart-Panko presents the official 450 pages long band biography of Immolation, one of the longest-serving and for many probably one of the best death metal bands on the planet. First of all, it should be mentioned that this work is one of the best, if not the best and most interesting band biography I have read, and I have read quite a few, such as those of Obituary, Paradise Lost, Necromantia, Rotting Christ, Hellhammer / Celtic Frost, Behemoth, Kreator or Tankard to name but a few.

First of all, let me mention my personal connection to the band; the first album I bought was the “Here in After” album (which I remember scoring just 6 out of 10 in the German Rock Hard magazine, but more on that topic later), which I bought during my civilian service in the former German capital Bonn as an adolescenct. A year later, in 1999, I went to Wacken for the first (and last) time and as the author describes, Immolation were supposed to play in Wacken in 1999, but due to visa issues this didn't happen until 2016, 17 years later; the band was also in muddy Wacken in 2023. So unfortunately I've never seen the band live, more on the band's live presence later. 

REVIEW SOULSTORM "DARKNESS VISIBLE"

This time I'm presenting an album that I discovered by chance while on vacation in Tenerife at the local record store called Rock Shop in Santa Cruz, a remarkable little store by the way. It's about the Canadian Soulstorm, more precisely from Toronto, who celebrate an absolutely outstanding mixture of industrial and death metal on their debut album from 1992 called “Darkness visible”, so a band member wore Grave shirts in band photos. Of course, Pitch Shifter and Godflesh and the early Fear Factory were the main inspiration here, but the band around mastermind, guitarist, bassist and singer Nick Sagias really didn't have to hide behind their quality and compositional skills in any way. However, because of the vocals, the pendulum often swings more in the direction of death metal, although there are also one or two clean vocal parts that bring back memories of Fear Factory.

INTERVIEW TOMBTHROAT

"This omnipresent arrogance is the reason for all the shit that happens in this world."

Here is an old interview with the death metal band Tombthroat from Ludwigshafen am Rhein in Rhineland-Palatinate. The band was founded in 1996, it took them four albums, two EPs and the obligatory demo at the beginning and disbanded after almost two decades in 2015. Back then I organized a concert with the band in my hometown of Brühl (Rhineland), shortly after which this interview took place in the summer of 2007. Band founder Björn, who I'm sure some people know from his band Maladie (look for an interview in German here) and who recorded a really great, recommendable death / grind album with (ex-) members of Misery Index and Dying Fetus under the name God Enslavement in 2016, talked about the then newly released album "Blood red history", live gigs, the tour with Vital Remains and also about somewhat different topics such as his beard. In 2012, the band released what I consider to be thier best work, the truly exceptional album "Eden apoacalypse". Now reading the interview,  it's also interesting how time flies, 17 years later, many of the bands mentioned, such as Necrophagist, Veneral Disease and Lifthrasil have since passed away.  But read for yourself what Björn had to say back then...

INTERVIEW MORTEM

"Perhaps it's in our blood!"

Here you can read an interview with the Peruvian underground institution Mortem, who have been haunting the underground since the distant year 1986. Read here what founding member, drummer and vocalist Alvaro Amduscias has to say about the band's beginnings, influences, goals, upcoming gigs and a new Mortem album.

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Hello Alvaro, best regards from the Rhineland in Germany, how are you doing at the moment?

Hi Gerald. Thank you very much for this interview! All good, here in the burning desert of Phoenix, Arizona.