REVIEW IAN CUSHING-DIE TRÄNE DER ZAUERSCHEN

Von Ian Cushing stellte ich ja bereits vor geraumer Zeit "In Ewigkeit" vor, ein Werk, das mir sehr gefiel. (Besprechung hier). Auch nach dieser Veröffentlichung war der niedersächsische Autor nicht passiv, sondern schrieb mit "Die Träne der Zauberschen" nun seinen ersten Roman. Das sehr passende Artwork des Buchcovers stammt wie bereits bei der vorherigen Veröffentlichung von Karmazid.

"Die Träne der Zauberschen" lässt sich nicht einfach in ein bestimmtes Genre einordnen, vielmehr ist es eine Mischung aus Horror und Historienroman. Die Handlung des Romans verläuft auf zwei verschiedenen (Zeit-)Ebenen. Zum einen ein der Gegenwart des sehr ländlich gelegenen Dorfes Pfuhlenbeck, in dem drei mittlerweile in den besten Jahren angekommene Freunde (also Mitdreißiger) mit Ihren Familien ihr mehr oder weniger angenehmes Leben führen. Die andere Ebene deckt sieben Jahre in der Neuzeit, genauer die Jahre 1604 -1611 ab. Dort lebt die Bäckerin Barbara im Dorf Pfüeln ein anfänglich glückliches Leben mit Mann und Tochter, bis sie aufgrund Eifersucht und Neid einer Bekannten der Hexerei beschuldigt wird.  

INTERVIEW SCARABREED

Scarabreed is a relatively new band from Switzerland that plays really good death / black metal. That shouldn't be surprising, since there are old scene veterans here, who already played with earlier, well-known bands. These days the band released their debut album called "Throne of the dark ages", a good reason for an interview.

Hello, I hope you are well, especially in times of the Corona pandemic. Please introduce the band, when did you form, how did it happen, did you know each other before? What did you release before the debut album? In which bands were you active before ?

Scarabreed: Thank you for your interest in Scarabreed and this interview.

Phillip: I have played with Denial and Amputate so far.

Markus: We have all been active in bands before, with Riccardo and Phillip I played in Amputate.

Riccardo: Also Amputate and Denial.

Thomas: I had played with a few bands and also helped out live a lot. I played with Azrael, Sabaism together with Marco from Damnatory and Chris from Sickening Gore, later with Innocent F.F. and 2Black and now you can see where this has brought me.   

INTERVIEW ACCUSER

Accuser from Siegen, Germany (more about the origin later at the end of the interview) recently released another very strong album, once again on Metal Blade, which will make any old or new follower of the band happy again. A good reason to talk to guitarist and singer Frank Thoms. 

Hello Frank, how are you? Have you been spared from Corona ? How has the pandemic affected the band's situation regarding the release of the new album? Are you also afraid that such a release will be lost because you can't promote it live, or do you think that people will concentrate more on good music to listen to at home, because there's not much you can do at the moment anyway?

Hi Gerald, thanks for asking, we are doing well. We and our relatives have been spared so far. The pandemic had no impact in terms of the release, as we were in the studio until the end of February 2020 and it was clear from the start that the album would come out in November. It was a few days after we were in the studio that Corona started. It was a tight thing. No band can promote anything live at the moment. That's why I think that listening habits are changing again and that people are more likely to listen to a complete album at home again instead of individual mp3 files. With a few responses to our new album, I could notice that the listeners were intensively engaged with the material. 

INTERVIEW SLAUGHTERDAY

Slaughterday, the creative duo from Leer in Lower Saxony, Germany, have been delivering high quality old school death metal since 2013. These days their third album called "Ancient Death Triumph" is released, a welcome occasion for a talk with vocalist and drummer Bernd.

Hey, first of all I hope you’re doing well during these unordinary times. Did you have to cancel some of the gigs and / or are some of them postponed to a later date ? Could you play some gigs since the outbreak of corona (or should I better say „outbreak of evil“ ).

Hey Gerald, we are doing well, although the corona situation is really fatiguing these times. Unfortunately, we had to cancel some shows at the end of the year and some festivals got postponed. It feels weird to release an album, knowing that you will not be able to promote it by playing live shows. The postponement of some festivals also put us on hold for the year after next. Until then we will not be the centre of attention anymore so maybe we have to wait for another album release again. Luckily we are not affected jobwise.  

INTERVIEW SOULBURN

Soulburn from the Netherlands released their fourth album called "Noa's D'ark" these days, which should definitely be heard by fans who like Asphyx, Celtic Frost, Pentacle and listeners who like Death / Doom and prefer high quality dark music in general. Apart from that, Soulburn have of course long been a brand in their own right and need no comparison with other bands. Furthermore, l would like to point out that the lyrical concept of the new album perfectly reflects the state of our times, which are characterised by climate catastrophes, pandemics and environmental destruction. But more about this in the interview. Guitarist Eric Daniels answered my questions. 

Hey, how are you doing? How are the reactions concerning the new album?

Hey there, we are doing very well, thank you. The reactions on our new album "Noa’s D’ark" are very overwhelming. People like the new album as much as we do, we see a lot of reponse and it makes us proud and happy to see our fans like our new album very much.  

INTERVIEW DETEST

Detest from Denmark are one of the longest running still active death metal acts in this country. Back in 1994 Detest released their debut album "Dorval" a hidden underground jewel that contains a brilliant mix of death and doom metal. The band disbanded in 1996 and reunited in 2013 and released a new EP called "A moment of love" in 2019. I spoke with guitarist John, the only remaining founding member.

Hello, how are you? When will you be able to play live again, what is the situation regarding Covid-19 in Denmark in general and in your area in particular?  

I am fine and everything is as it should be, we have played two concerts (but it is for an audience that has to sit down). It's a very strange thing, people have to wear masks on their faces when they walk around.

Please introduce the current band members. I think you (John) are the last remaining founding member, aren't you? If you look at the metal archives, there were a lot of line-up changes, what were the
reasons for that ?

Yes, I am the only one left, Simon S. (bass / vocals) Danni H. (drums) and Andreas W. (guitar). All kinds of strange reasons, but as long as Detest is alive, it's fine with me. But it's obviously a bit shitty that a newcomer has to learn it over and over again.  

REVIEW SLAUGHTERDAY "ANCIENT DEATH TRIUMPH"

Slaughterday from Lower Saxony, Germany, will soon release their third album called "Ancient Death Triumph" on FDA Records. And, as you might expect, it's again a very good album, which perfectly sums up the band's previous trademarks and strengths, i.e. dirty, rancid death metal, but which never goes off into the dull.