REVIEW BOVARY "MES RACINES DANS LE DESERT"

Maybe France is not the first country which comes to mind while speaking about Black Metal, nevertheless well known and / or outstanding bands such as Mütiilation, Antaeus, Osculum Infame or Gorgon, Vlad Tepes (and other "Les Légions Noires"-bands) are or were based there. By the way, there is an very interesting documentation called "Bleu Blanc Satan" about French black metal  including deeper insights in the minds of some of the protagonists.

Bovary from France are often labelled as Depressive Black Metal or "DSBM" ("Depressive suicidal black metal"). Let me go back a bit further, to be honest I never was very attracted by the subgenre called Depressive Black metal or bands labelling themselves using the acronym "DSBM". Yes, I like some records by Shining and sometimes I listen to Wigrid (which surprisingly came back from the dead and released a third full length last year), but in general I was relatively bored by the always same mixture of slowly or mid-tempo orientated  black metal combined with pictures and covers of knives cutting into own flesh or people who hung themselves etc. Often "DSBM" was used to cover up the lack of musical abilities and ideas of the bands concerned. 

INTERVIEW PURGATORY

Purgatory from Saxony, Germany deliver high class death metal since the distant year 1993. Their latest output "Omega Void Tribvnal" is a mighty record who combines brutal death metal with atmosphere, call it a masterpiece. Reason enough to talk with guitarist René.

Hey, first of all, how are you doing in general and in particaluar during Covid-19 times ? I have seen that the next live appearances and festival gigs you wanted to do were cancelled or postponed due to Corona, unfortunately meanwhile normal condition concerning live appearances. When do you hope to play live again ? How did it happen to realize (the now postponed) gig in Turkey ? 

Hey, thanks for asking! Overall, I'm fine. Of course, the whole current Covid-19 situation is extremely annoying, but this just can't be changed. Still, I miss all the shows and festivals a lot. I have no idea when it will return to normal for this. The planned show in Istanbul was organized by Mezar Organization & Bookings and will hopefully take place in 2021.

Purgatory now exist since 27 years. First of all it is noticeable, that Purgatory had not very much line-up changes aside the bass position. What do you think are the reasons for this ? A clear distribution of roles or / and a good comradeship within the band ? Did you remeber some low points, where maybe motivation was gone for continuing with the band ?

Yes, this band has been around for a damn long time and there have been ups and downs that have made it difficult to motivate yourself over and over again. I can't really tell you why we have kept up with the times with relatively few line-up changes, but good comradeship and especially the fire for the music certainly plays a big role! Somehow we obviously managed to do it again and again, because we're still there! And as long as the fire and the will to create extreme music burns within us, we will go on doing what we love. 

REVIEW CELESTIAL SANCTUARY "MASS EXTINCTION"

So, here we go with another release from Brutal Cave Productions, this time a 2-track demo by Celestial Sanctuary (named after a Bolt Thrower-song from "The IVth Crusade) from Cambridge, England.

REVIEW ATAUDES "MERECEMOS LA EXTINCTION"

First of all, let me say that I'm very glad that I was asked by Brutal Cave Productions, a real cool  underground label / distro from Portugal, for doing a review for this album. I've never heard before from Ataudes, a death metal band from Buenos Aires, Argentina before, but if this never had happened I would have missed this hell of a record.

INTERVIEW ENTHRONED

Enthroned are one of the big continuities in the world wide black metal scene. Since 1993 this belgian horde delivers great pieces of more or less agressive and traditional black metal. Their newest output "Cold black suns", also the debut for their new label Season of Mist, shows dome deviations from this path, which means that Enthroned added some new elements to their sound and yet, or perhaps exactly for this reason, it's still 100% black metal. Reason enough to talk with Nornagest, longest running band member, part of Enthroned almost since the beginning.

Hey, first of all, how are you ? Did you remained spared from COVID-19 ? How ist the situation in Belgium concerning this virus and how does it affect the band’s situation in general and concerning cancelled and/ or postponed gigs ?

The Plague did not only sneaked into the health of thousands but also and mostly within the music scene and public events, so everyone within the scene is basically affected in one way or another. We did loose a huge amount of opportunities, shows and even rehearsing as a whole is basically impossible as Menthor lives on the other side of the North Sea, as you know, some trips are simply not allowed. We are mostly doing what is possible regarding the situation… On my side, I took this as an opportunity to write the whole of the lyrics of the next Enthroned release and we are working each one on our sides on the musical support. Now, on a personal note, everyone in the band is healthy and none of us has been affected by the virus in that manner. In Belgium, some areas are considered “code red” like the town and province of Antwerp, but the rest of the country is safe in a manner of speaking. We hope the situation will slowly come back to normal as soon as possible, I cannot wait to go back on the road to be honest. 

REVIEW DEATHMACE "COFFIN' MAGGOTS"

Almost exactly two years ago I reviewed Deathmace's debut album named "Bleeding Frenzy" (look here for the review) which convinced me very much with its powerful mixture between death and thrash metal.

REVIEW HYEMS "ANATOMIE DES SCHEITERNS"

German black metal outfit Hyems released their new album called "Anatomie des Scheiterns" (which means "anatomy of failure") on May 1st via MDD Records. I really was looking forward to the new record, because the predecessor "Devianz-dem Menschen ein Wolf" (which means "deviance-man is a wolf to man" aka homo homini lupus-you see, these German guys prefer using their native language for their lyrics, but more on that later), released in 2015, is a really great record which received too little attention. The band exists since 2000 and released after some demos three full-lengths and two EPs in all, including the new record.