The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With Deformation Of Man (Paul H)

Sheffield has a proud metal tradition and their M2TM Masses winners are always of high calibre. This year is no exception with Deformation of Man winning the competition. I caught up with guitarist Stef to find out more about them.

Paul: Let’s start with a brief history of the band

Stef: We formed in November 2010 when I was introduced to Luke via Luke’s sister and it all just feels like a haze from then to now.

Paul: Who is the current line up?

Stef: Carl vocals, Stef guitar, Luke drums and Ben bass

Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences?

Stef: We take a lot of influence from heavy groove based metal like Lamb Of God, DevilDriver and Chimaira

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

Stef: Opening for Mushroomhead and Evil Scarecrow those were some really awesome gigs and some of the biggest crowds we’ve ever played for.

Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey?

Stef: We were asked by Gareth if we would be interested in playing, keep in mind at that point we’ve not gigged in about 3 years due to various health reasons – at that time we just finished recording a new album so we had no idea how the new tracks would sound live so we took this opportunity to see how people would react – M2TM is great way to pull a crowd and it all just seemed to fall in place for us as each round went by.

Paul: Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it?

Stef: The last week before the final we all just took some time out from practice as to not try and build it up mentally – at the end of the day we wanted to play the final like it was just another gig – it was sold out night and general vibe in the venue was amazing people were there to see a show, as soon as the first note started playing all four of us knew why we were there and what we had to do – regardless of a 3 year gap, we ended up doing what we do best – pull the crowd in, make them feel welcome and give them a good time.

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

Stef: You don’t really know how much emotion goes into being in a band up until the last 10 seconds that the winner is announced. I paced around the venue while the judges decided – I kept looking at Luke and say: ‘What ever happens we made it this far that’s all that counts’ the run up to the show you bump into various people who knew members from other bands in the final who hands down swore that they would win, so you end up doubting yourself a bit. But once they announced our name as the winners a flood emotions came out it felt like all the tough times we went through the last 5 years wasn’t for nothing and now it’s just the start.

Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

Stef: Raw honest music based on everything that’s happening around us at this moment

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

Stef: Scorpions, Anthrax, Children of Bodom, Soulfly

Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?

Stef: Carl has been – and it’s first for the rest of us!

Paul: Describe the three best things about the festival?

Stef: Carl has mentioned the general atmosphere, great music and it’s a great place to build new friendships.

Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!?

Stef: We’re all a strange bunch so I’ll give you general guilty pleasure – we like Abba, Roxette, Eminem and I tend to blast out Queen every now and then.

We tend to think that bands have it easy getting to the final. Deformation Of Man are a story of triumph over adversity and it’ll be a storming set from them at Bloodstock this year. They play on Saturday 10th August and be sure to check them out.

The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With Setheist (Paul H)

As well as Norway, M2TM has ventured across Europe to a country that has given the world substantial numbers of quality metal bands, Poland. Setheist won this year’s event, and their drummer Tomas was happy to give us a lot of detail. As usual, we started with the history of the band.

Tomaz: Present line-up was formed in 2013 in Lublin, Poland, but the band's history dates to 2007 when they were locally known by the name of Seth. In Autumn 2014 our debut EP The Flash of Creation was released and was warmly welcomed by the Polish metal scene. This gave the band the opportunity to start gigging alongside such bands as KAT & Roman Kostrzewski, Saratan, Exlibris, Thermit, Wild Pig, Spirit and more. On 8th May 2017 our debut LP They was released and has been receiving quite enthusiastic reviews since then. Generally, our music could be described as female fronted metal offering a well-balanced combination of unpredictable, progressive riffs and catchy melodies accompanied by aggressive drums and stand-alone clean vocal lines.

The band's stage experience consists of shows in small and big clubs in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands as well as huge open-air festivals such as Rockovani Fest in Czech Republic, Przystanek Woodstock Festival and Rock'n'Rose Fest in Poland. In late 2018 the band recorded a 3 track EP Tre Colori inspired exclusively by the works of Maestro Dario Argento (an Italian 70's giallo horror films director). All 3 tracks are to be published in the form of music videos, the first of which Argento (Saber Tooth Tiger) was released in March 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prBrLes0oWs. Once this is done the EP will be available both online and on CD.

Paul: Tell us who the current line-up is?

Tomaz: Maksymina " Maxi" Kuzianik - Vocals, Tomasz "Longo" Ciecieląg - Guitar, Tomasz "Kieł" Lato - Guitar, Tomasz "Długi" Krawczyk - Drums, Błażej "Blaze" Grygiel - Bass. We use nicknames 'cause there are 3x Tomasz in the band!!

Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences

Tomaz: The bands sound is 100% analogue we don't use any digital amps. This fact connected with progressive riffs and aggressive drumming results in a lot of contrast when accompanied with clean vocal lines. This is what, we believe, makes Setheist's music unique and kind of difficult to categorise into any of metal genres. We try to avoid intentional influences when making music but some of the bands that all band members like are: Death, Devin Townsend, Slayer, At the Gates, Sceptic Flesh, Epica, Nightwish, In Flames, Ghost, Metallica, Dimmu Borgir and many more.

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

Setheist: That would be our two releases a 2014 EP and 2017 debut LP a new release that’s on the way and our 60-minute show at 2017 Przystanek Woodstock Festival where there were about half a million people.

Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey.

Setheist: This is going to be pure madness! The band's headquarters is in Lublin (a city in Eastern Poland) and we need to travel by van to be able to carry the amp heads and all the other equipment necessary to achieve on stage our vision of the band's sound. This means there's a 25-30-hour journey ahead of us. None of us has ever driven on the left so it's gonna be fun when we reach Dover.

Paul: We know from our friends in bands that getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling. Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it

Tomaz: That's really a crazy story because we took part in 2018 M2TM and we got to the finals then but unluckily for us the organisers unexpectedly had to change the date of the finals to fit in the headliner's concert schedule. Unfortunately, we had already had a gig booked in Holland on that new date, so we had to withdraw from M2TM, but we gave our slot to one of the bands we met at semi-finals. The organisers seem to have liked what we did and as a result offered us a slot in the finals next year (2019) which we were lucky to win despite hard competition.

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

Tomaz: It was a big surprise because we had thought there were bands among the competitors who are better recognised in Poland. Even more surprise came our way when we heard the verdict was unanimous and that the headliner of the night (Pro Pain) liked our show most of all too. We were very happy to hear that.

NOTE: That is very impressive. Pro Pain played the main stage of the festival in 2015 so there can be little better endorsement.

Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

Tomaz: Well, we always do our best to make our shows energetic and as audience focused as we can. One may expect lots of movement on stage, even from the drummer. We also use some decorations connected with the main theme of our last release. But the most attractive lure is, we believe, our music which is an unusual mixture of the band members' musical tastes ranging from death/black metal to melodic heavy metal ballads.

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

Tomaz: We're planning to arrive on the Friday evening depending on how smoothly the journey will go (we're coming by van), so we'll probably miss most of the Friday bands. The ones we're most anxious to see on the following days are Dimmu Borgir (their drummer is our friend, so we expect a huge afterparty), Cradle of Filth, Anthrax, Parkway Drive and of course Scorpions.

Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!

Tomaz: If anyone wants to hear our answer to this one you need to find us at Bloodstock and ask the question yourself!!

Massive thanks to Tomaz ‘Długi’ for the time and the detailed responses. The band are making enormous efforts to get the to festival and you should clearly reward them with support on Sunday afternoon when the band hit the New Blood Stage. They fully deserve it. We wish them every luck on that journey.

Thanks for

The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With Golden Core (Paul H)

As Bloodstock widens its reach, the M2TM competition now extends not just to the UK but Norway and Poland as well. The winners of the Norwegian final is a young duo called Golden Core. I was able to get our questions across to Johannes Thor Sandal who provided me with the following responses,

Paul: Let’s start with a brief history of the band

Johannes: Golden Core was formed in the winter 2014 and we had our first gig the following summer. That’s five years ago. Since then we’ve done over one hundred shows, mostly in Norway and Iceland. We are so excited to do a show in the UK.

Paul: Who is the current line up?

Johannes: Golden Core has always been a duo consisting of Johannes Thor Sandal on drums and vocals and Simen on guitar.

Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences

Johannes: We are playing a mix between different genres, although doom and stoner metal are our main influences. But we are inspired by so many different things in music and elsewhere. Our lyrics are in Old Norse. It’s dark and heavy.

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

Johannes: We did a great show at the by:Larm festival in Oslo in March and we had a great time at Andenes in Northern-Norway, and at the Norðanpaunk festival in Iceland last summer was awesome.

Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey?

Johannes: We will be doing some festival shows in Norway and Iceland this summer. We are playing at the Eistnaflug metal festival in Iceland in July and Øyafestivalen in Norway the day before Bloodstock, and the week after we will be doing a show at Midgardsblot metal festival in Norway. It’s going to be a good summer for Golden Core.

Paul: We know from our friends in bands that getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling. Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it

Johannes: We’ve been doing quite a lot of concerts lately and just finished recording our new album. There have been lot of preparations the last months. When we finally come to Bloodstock you get to see Golden Core at its best.

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

Johannes: It was an adrenalin shock, so unreal. I mean there were so many good bands competing and in the end Simon Hall himself was there on the stage shouting out our name as the winner.

Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

Johannes: Loud and dark. Pure darkness from the forests of Norway.

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

Johannes: Dimmu Borgir and Soulfly.

Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band

Johannes: Don’t know if this qualify as a guilty pleasure, but we do listen to different genres, like ambient, punk, jazz and classical music.

My thanks to Johannes for his time. Make sure you catch Golden Core at Bloodstock in the New Blood Stage. It should be quite a show.

The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With Scars Of Remembrance (Paul H)

Winners of the North Wales M2TM were Scars of Remembrance. Guitarist Dan was able to field the questions on behalf of the band and started with the history of the band.

Dan: We started in about 2012. A few of us had been in other bands and we had taken a break from it all. We got the itch to start something up, and after a few failed attempts we started Scars... It was nothing serious, just an excuse to get out of the house and write some songs, do some gigs and have a laugh. Took us a few years to get any traction ...and a few different line-ups, but it's brought us where we are today! ...on the eve of playing something as great as Bloodstock!

Paul: Introduce us to the current line-up

Dan: We've got Mike on vocals, Ben on drums, Karl bringing the low end and Mark and myself (Dan) on guitars.

Paul: What do the band sound like and who are the main influences?

Dan: We just play what comes out, really. I'd say we wanted to capture that 'metalcore' vibe with the down picked riffs, heavy and melodic, clean and dirty vocal as its covers all bases. There are hints of bands like Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God in there, but there’s a lot of different styles that get thrown into the mix. Karl is massively into Tool, I'm a big GN'R fan, we each bring a bit of something different.

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

Dan: We've played a few great gigs in the last 12 months. Supporting bands that I grew up listening to like (Hed)pe or bands that are hitting their stride right now like Sumo Cyco is always a great thing for any band.

Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey?

Dan: We got asked to do the first round of M2TM North Wales. It’s not something we'd usually do. We've never been a band who bring the big crowds or know the right people, so we've always shied away from them. But this time, it was "let’s just do it for the gig then". We were shocked to get through round one. The semi-final was the same, we didn’t think we had a chance. There were some top bands on that line-up, but again we went through. It was here we started thinking "Can we do this??" I'd say the best thing has been the feedback from people. When people come over and tell you how good they think you are, it’s a great feeling.

Paul: Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it

Dan: Haha! We never thought we'd actually win, so we just went along to play and put on a good show!

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

Dan: A lot of jumping around like fools! Completely shocked and overwhelmed when our name was called!! We'd had a couple of beers too, so we were slightly tipsy!

Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

Dan: Nerves. We'll be terrified! Haha!. We'll get up there and blitz through our set and keep the energy going for half an hour. Expect Karl to bounce around the stage like an animal and Mike to be as near to the crowd as he can get! Hopefully everyone will enjoy it. I know we will!

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

Dan: Definitely Parkway Drive, we're big fans of theirs. Anthrax, Thy Art Is Murder, Cancer Bats, Soulfly......

Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?

Dan: Mike has, but for the rest of us, nope! This is our first time as guests too, so it's going to be a weekend of firsts for us!

Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!

Dan: Karl loves George Michael's song 'Outside', Ben enjoys a dark chocolate hob nob... the sicko!! [maybe the answer to the Incursion drum crisis? – Paul], Mark f**king loves Charlie Simpson of Busted fame!! and I’m a bit of a Lego nerd!

Thanks to Dan for his time. So, another band well worth checking out at Bloodstock. Scars play on the New Blood Stage on Saturday 10th August. They should be well worth a watch so get there and support our brothers from the North.

Reviews: Empyreal, Auras, Spellbine, The Mariana Hollow (Val & Liam)

Empyreal: My Own Living Hell (647849 Records DK) [Val D'Arcy]

First impressions on this debut full length album from German five-piece Empyreal, it's a melodeath album, a good melodeath album. Its packed with content, musically speaking and really warrants a few attentive listens. At the same time, the more I listen the less I feel like I understand this record. There is a lot going on here. At times I do feel like I'm at one of those buffet restaurants that boast doing 6 entirely different and incompatible styles of cuisine. Sure, if you're feeling indecisive you can load up on everything and that's great, but getting Chinese and Indian in your mouth at the same time by mistake can leave a strange aftertaste. There were moments here, where the constant shifts in direction left me a little confused. The opening track, Meant To Cease opens with some superb tremolo picking, ascending minor thirds coupled with a ferocious blast beat (highly reminiscent of the sound that's currently being popularised through the Belgian-German Post Black movement, think Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Soul Grip and the like) then moves into more traditional melodeath riffing.

There are influences under the surface from Dissection and Amon Amarth to name a couple. Production is big and clean, vocals sound great, there's a lot to like in here. The second track opens with a somewhat strangely industrial intro, before settling again into more familiar blackened melodeath territory, introduces some thrashy riffs and even though the song loops back to complete what on paper is a fairly standard song structure, it does so in such a grand and round about way you'd be forgiven for having lost your bearings along the way. Of course, that's not to say you wouldn't have enjoyed the ride, like I said before there's little not to like here. These themes are not inconsistent throughout. There are some really great passages in this album, the songwriting is creative and ambitious and it's all intriguing enough to entice you to listen again, and perhaps, again. So why aren't I awarding a higher score? Well, I felt not just as a whole, but even at an individual song level this lacked some cohesion and refinement of style. It's all rather good, but not necessarily all together and all at once. That said, it's a solid (highly enjoyable) debut and certainly worthy of a listen. 7/10

Auras: Binary Garden (Entertainment One) [Liam True]

Some Progressive Metal from our brothers across the pond in Canada. With the record more being along the lines of Djent than Metalcore, the album stands out a lot more as it's an underappreciated genre. That being said, the album itself is a pulsing attack on your senses from the start. With the absolute colossal duel combination vocals of Eric Almeida & Josh Ligaya the band are able to propel themselves above any other band in the scene at the moment. Granted the big dogs of Djent right now are Meshuggah and Monuments, but Auras are a force to be reckoned with. With the destructive string work of Ligaya & Aaron Hallman backed with the squid like appendages of sticksman Nathan Bulla, Binary Garden is a crushing sophomore record with more force than a sonic boom. 7/10

Spellbine: The Death Of Crann Bethadh (Self Released) [Val D'Arcy]

The title of this debut album from one-man, Ohio based Spellbine, refers to the celtic name for the Tree Of Life, and the death thereof. The eye catching album cover depicts a fallen tree amidst a cold, reddened sunset, presumably said tree of life and its subsequent death. The intro immediately says 'this is going to be one of those folkey, nature based, atmospheric bm endeavours' and although does well to invoke some of the aforementioned themes of cold is otherwise a relatively generic synth intro. The album kicks off with a familiar lo-fi black metal sound, blast beats, minor chords and some distorted picking, we've definitely been here before. The next song, Moaning Of The Ent (more tree based material) introduces elements such as clean, folk vocals and over enthusiastic bass lines which, when coupled with the (presumably intentional) rough production have the effect of someone quietly farting the melody of the song in the background; it's not very grim.

I'm not sure if this is the artists way of showcasing his ability to play all instruments but I do feel that overtly audible bass lines should be used very sparingly in this type of raw black metal. It's once again applied in the next song It's War although this time in tandem with a melodic lead guitar, more sparingly and far more effectively, this song was one of the highlights for me. The album does well to build some atmosphere and for the most part, maintain it. In what is a truly saturated sub genre of black metal im not sure this record makes enough effort to stand out from the masses. There are moments where the songs break their repetitive cycles of 2/4 drum beats and 3 chord patterns, teasing you into thinking they're about to develop into something interesting, however falling short of really committing to that departure. 5/10

The Mariana Hollow: The Abandoned Parade (TMH) [Liam True]

Hailing from Greater London, The Mariana Hollow bring some catchy riffs, drum beats you can't help but tap along to and some soaring vocals, courtesy of Rebecca Spinks. Although they're on the mellow side of metal they still bring a punch. The riff work of both Richie Walden & Gabriel Moreria is mesmerizing. Plucking away at the strings to make the most dream catching or fist pumping sounds imaginable. I wouldn't really like this genre (Being Alternative Metal) it's not really my thing. By the angelic voice of Spinks is what draws me in. Being either a soothing lullaby, the shrieking highs or the attitude driven styles, Spinks, for me, is the savior of the record. Yes the instrumentals are brilliant, but personally I enjoy my music a bit faster. If you enjoy Alt-Metal then don't hesitate on listening to this band. They'll hit the spot. 7/10

The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With Lost In Lavender Town (Paul H)

Our journey towards BOA this year continues with Rowan Bradbury-Eason, guitarist from Stoke-on-Trent winners Lost in Lavender Town, an instrumental outfit and probably the first instrumental band to get through, who took time to work through our questions.

Paul: I started by asking Rowan to provide a brief history of the band.

Rowan: LILT (Lost in Lavender Town) was formed back in 2015 when a couple of nerds decided to take their badly named music projects out onto the stage. Combining ballistic boss battle beats and punchy progressive power-ups, the now six-man party from Stoke sets out to inspire novel and nostalgia in their journey onwards”.

Paul: Who is the current line up?

Rowan: Bowe – Guitar, Rowan – Guitar, Muni – Guitar, Rob – Bass, Jard – Drums and Jono – Synth/Piano

Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences

Rowan: We all love our instrument orientated music – Lots of prog. What makes us unique however is that aside from that, individually we are very much into totally different styles. I personally listen to a lot of classic rock and metal. With us having such a broad spectrum of influences, we can create a really unique blend of styles/genres, and I wouldn’t liken our sound to anybody else’s.

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

Rowan: To be honest, the band has grown and changed so much over the past three or four years it is hard to define – Each “phase” having it’s own low and highlights, but having nailed our line-up and sound recently, for the first time I only feel positive energy in the band and it is really inspiring – Winning M2TM was the cherry on top!

Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey

Rowan: After a good three, pushing on four years together as band at this point, originally having a vocalist, and even performing sans-drummer for a period, we felt we’d really nailed our line-up and sound and were ready to get the ball rolling – M2TM being the ideal platform for that! Who wouldn't want the chance to share music with more people?!

Paul: We know from our friends in bands that getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling. Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it

Rowan: The initial heat was our drummer’s first gig with us, so pulling that off in addition to getting through to the final was just mind-blowing. A lot of hard work and dedication coming to fruition. Additionally, seeing a venue such as the Underground pull off such an incredible final heat was very humbling. Having all played there in previous iterations over the past 10+ years it was a great.

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

Rowan: Being instrumental and not quite as heavy as some of our contenders I think we’d all resided ourselves to the fact that we wouldn’t make it, so when our name got called, we couldn’t quite believe it. So yes, initially bewilderment, but now a month or so on its generally huge excitement, with a dash of crippling anxiety.

Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

Rowan: I am told that we are one of, if not the only instrumental band ever to make it through M2TM, so quite possibly a bit of something different, a palette cleanser perhaps… A nostalgia trip, a musical journey. We don’t just plough through a setlist, we tell a story.

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

Rowan: TesseracT!

Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?

Rowan: We are all veteran gig and festival goers, but only our bassist has been to Bloodstock in the past –So first Bloodstock visit for 5/6 of us, but more than prepared!

Paul:  If yes, describe the three best things about the festival.
Rowan: I’d ask him, but his memory is probably a little “hazy” …

My thanks to Rowan for his time. Lost in Lavender Town play the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage on Sunday 11th August. Find out more about them at https://www.facebook.com/lostinlavendertown

Reviews: Derelict Dream, Insanity Cult, Fahran, The Doom Police (Sean, Rich, Steve & Val)

Derelict Dream: Human (Spinonthat Records) [Sean Morgan]

Ambition is a neat thing to have, especially when one plies their musical trade in all things metallic. Some strive for tonal and technical perfection, whilst other plummet deeper into the depths of musical depravity. Some just want to sing dragons’n’shit, not that there’s anything wrong with that. What matters is drive, dedication and as we stated earlier, ambition. Brighton based act, Derelict Dream, certainly posses ambition on their latest release, Human. Spanning multiple genres and an even greater number of ideas, is Human a fully realised vision of musical cohesion? Does it deliver on it’s ambition? Yeah, it does! Birth begins the proggy shenanigans, clean guitars drenched in lush reverb with synths lurking in the deep.

Drums hasten the ascent, the strings heightening the sense of anticipation in this cinematic opener. Layered clean vocals fill out the space, presumably rambling about science or something to that effect. Chunky 7/8 strings chugs finally get us going, melodic leads soaring above the low gauged rumbling. It’s quite a nice collection of sounds, the lush synth pads neatly complimenting the djenty metallic bits. It’s like watching a David Attenborough ocean documentary, albeit with a lot more chugging in the background. Blood Dance properly kicks things off, palm muting away with reckless abandon. Roaring vocals fill in the space, against the backdrop of quasi atonal thickness. Derelict Dream continue to abuse the bottom string, hammering out more 0’s than really necessary, until the chorus completely changes the entire dynamic.

It becomes cinematic once more, orchestral even as the clean vocals drive Blood Dance ever upward. PHAT riffs become more frequent, even as both the masculine and emotive elements coalesce into a solid first track. Drain is a somewhat similar beast, utilising similar elements, though there’s an undeniable change in mood. Whatever traces of hopeful whimsy are displaced with, with Drain favouring a gloomier and almost nebulous atmosphere. There’s bit of shredding in there too, though the constant palm muting begins to grate after a while. Nevertheless, it’s a strong enough base that fleshes out the more fanciful parts. Hearts is a good, scratch that, great song, with Derelict Dream in full prog mode. Keys are introduced to the mix, with each element simultaneously complimenting each other. And that chorus! Those riffs! It all comes together, flowing from one section to the next with graceful precision. At last, I feel like I’ve witnessed the true nature of Derelict Dream and I like it.

I like it a lot! Burn The Hills changes time signature, the melo death riffs sitting neatly into the already vast expanse that is Derelict Dream’s sonic spectrum. It’s a mammoth of a track, a sizeable 10 minutes of wanton technicality and imagination. BLASTBEATS! YES! There’s even some cheeky blackened parts, which is also nice. It closes on Ascension , which is pure musical bliss to this reviewers ears. Imma say start with a negative. I really, REALLY don’t care for that much chugging. It only serves to fill space where a PHAT, hooky riff could occupy it and Derelict Dream are MORE than capable of this. Shit, Derelict Dream are extremely capable! When not falling back on those pesky palms (you really don’t need that many, guys), Derelict Dream’s creative drive is fully unleashed and an absolute joy to listen to. 8/10

Insanity Cult: All Shall Return To Chaos (Ogmios Underground) [Rich Oliver]

Greece has always been a hotspot for quality black metal and it is still the case as proven with the third release by Insanity Cult. Insanity Cult are not a band I have previously come across but with All Shall Return To Chaos they prove themselves to be a worthy asset to the Hellenic black metal scene. Insanity Cult play a style of black metal that not only has the unbridled fury associated with the genre but there is plenty of melody throughout and a general melancholic feel. This album rips and tears when it needs to but also isn’t afraid to slow the pace and add a moment of atmosphere when needed. 

The guitar work from Έκπτωτος is great throughout with the aforementioned melancholic and morose melodies very prevalent as well as plenty of tremolo riffing. The drumming is frantic but manages to keep things interesting in the slower sections as well. The bass is there as the backbone and holds everything together. The vocals are a bit in the love or hate camp being very intense and pained. Frontman Sacrilegious doesn’t hold back in his performance and thought it aided rather than abetted the music. All Shall Return To Chaos is a great piece of black metal which remains interesting throughout with a mix of ferocity, melody and atmosphere. 8/10

Fahran: Vapours (Self Released) [Steve Haines]

I’m sorry if the following metaphor makes anyone uncomfortable, but it’s the best way I can make sense of this album. Imagine, if you will, that 80s glam metallers Ratt had a baby with prog rockers Dream Theater. Weird, right? And if that baby showed signs of taking after both parents? It leads to an incongruous mix of higher range almost screech style vocals over a rich tapestry of pounding riffs and well defined drum lines. Musically, the album is very good but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the voice was just wrong. Some songs are better than others. State Of Mind is probably the best of the faster songs but the place where the balance is best is in the ballads so Already Gone and I’m Still Me are the standout tracks for the simple reason that Fahran all sound like one band. I can’t help feeling that with a singer with deeper and more resonating range, the whole album would be lifted further and similarly if the songs were somewhat lighter in structure and dynamics, the incongruousness would dissipate. Overall, because the album is so solid musically and the singing is not necessarily bad – just to my ear a poor fit, I’m left feeling what might have been about a band that seemingly don’t quite know what to be. 6/10

The Doom Police: Sands Of Time (Dani Vampi Records) [Val D'Arcy]

Sands Of Time is the latest output from Dani Vampi (prolific artist from Australia, as his Bandcamp page introduces him) under The Doom Police moniker. The brief introduction goes on to list the diverse range of musical styles you can expect to find amongst the artist's 12 strong discography. I must admit the first thing that came to mind was that album Steven Seagal released some years ago on which he claimed to cover most genres of music. That association probably had a positive effect in lowering my overall expectation for this record. Now the first thing to make quite clear here, is that contrary to how this album is advertised on aforementioned Bandcamp page, is not Atmospheric Black Metal. It may indeed be many things, but that it is not. In fact the only aspect of this album that might slip through what is even on the best of days, a somewhat subjective net, is the incoherent screaming (there are no lyrics as far as I can tell). The tracks are imaginatively titled i-vii; it's difficult after all to give name to a song that consists entirely of digitally tampered wailing, albeit Ghost Bath manage.

Musically, in metal terms, it's about as generic as you can get. If my childhood Casio keyboard had a Metal sample button, I'd probably expect it to play this. Or perhaps a video game soundtrack, it's sufficiently mundane and repetitive to loop nicely as background noise. As the record progresses I find myself pulling confused faces, as if confronted by a bad smelling, poorly constructed argument. But I do wonder if I'm being overly critical of this simply because I'm so outraged at the inappropriate self-categorisation of this album. Perhaps if Dani Vampi had left (Atmospheric Black Metal) off the title I may have approached this with a more open mind. That's as good as maybe, the point here is the artist did so, and in explicitly sign-posting the listener the fact that he's set out to create something specific, it in turn deserves to be judged on that merit. 3/10

The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With The Hope Burden (Interview By Paul H)

The Hope Burden won their M2TM final in quite bizarre circumstances with their atmospheric post metal sound. Kind enough to answer my questions, drummer Phil Platt took time out to tell us about the band.

Paul: Let’s start with a brief history of the band

Phil: We started back in 2015 as an instrumental band before adding Josh on vocals in 2016. We released our debut EP Decline. Despair. Decay’ in 2018 and have been progressively been branching out and playing shows outside of our Oxfordshire.

Paul: Introduce us to the current line up?

Phil: Josh Day – vocals, Jason Smalley – Guitars, Neil Brewer – Guitars, Ryan Thornton – Bass and Phil Platt – Drums

Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences

Phil: Broadly speaking we could be described as an atmospheric post-metal band. We draw influences from bands like Alcest, ISIS, Devil Sold His Soul, Rosetta and Deafheaven.

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

Phil: We’ve really enjoyed playing a recent run of out-of-town shows and meeting bands from the wider scene in the UK. Our EP has received some good reviews which has been nice and even won us some free studio time.

Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey

Phil: It seems like it’s been a long journey to get to Bloodstock. We first entered M2TM in 2017 and crashed out in the first heat (and deservedly so), so to win has been both surprising and a really great experience. Our journey was made all the more memorable after the Oxford final was cut short due to a power cut on the High Street which meant that we didn’t get to play, and so we actually won by tagging on to the Northampton final instead. It was all a little surreal, but massive thanks to all involved for rearranging.

Paul: We know from our friends in bands that getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling. Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it

Phil: We went into the initial final just hoping to play well and I don’t think any of us really thought that we would win. After the power cut in Oxford forced us to play on the Northampton show I think we just relished the opportunity to play somewhere new, and as part of Hopfest on an outdoor stage too. It was very hot - still not sure that we handled that bit particularly well.

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

Phil: I think we always felt like we might be too ‘different’ for Bloodstock, so it was a bit of a shock to be announced as winners. Now we’re just really looking forward to playing the New Blood stage and hanging out for the whole festival.

Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

Phil: We’d like to think that live is where we sound best. We try to mix a dark melodic atmosphere with heavy sections so hopefully we have something that will appeal to lots of the Bloodstock crowd. More than anything its an incredible opportunity that we hope to take full advantage of.

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

Phil: So many great bands are playing but we’re looking forward to seeing our fellow M2TM winners Grief Ritual along with Cradle of Filth, Thy Art Is Murder, Aborted and Taake.

Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?

Phil: No, this will be the first Bloodstock for all of us, but very excited to be there

A big thanks to Phil for his time. We hope you enjoy what will be a brilliant weekend. Another style to catch at the New Blood Stage, The Hope Burden play on Friday 9th August. Find out more at:  https://www.facebook.com/thehopeburden/

Reviews: Necronautical, Concilium, Valaraukar, Inhuman Deprivation (Paul S & Scott)

Necronautical: Apotheosis (Candlelight Records) [Paul Scoble]

Necronautical are a 4 piece, nautically themed Symphonic Black Metal band from the North West of England. The band have been in existence since 2010, and Apotheosis is the bands 3rd album coming 3 years since their last album The Endurance At Night and 5 years since their debut album Black Sea Misanthropy. So, this is ‘Symphonic’ Black Metal, a term I haven’t heard in a while. To me, Symphonic means overblown production, lots of keyboards and a yearning to sound like Emperor. If I’m being honest the term ‘Symphonic’ has always annoyed me, whether it’s being used to describe Symphonic black metal, or simply Symphonic metal. The term in classical music refers to the Length of the piece (an extended piece of music, usually split into 4 distinct Movements), not the musical style. However, my pedantic dislike of the term should not impact on this review, it’s not Necronautical's fault that Heavy Metal has got its terms wrong.

The sound on offer here is reminiscent of post 2000 Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth or Carach Angren. So blast Beats, lots of keyboards that sound like keyboards (rather than sounding like a piano etc.), and very slick production. The sound is sort of Black Metal Lite, nothing too nasty to put off the more middle of the road listeners. So although we get blast beats, they are always tempered by the keyboards, so it never gets too ‘Necro’ (ironic considering the name of the band). The band also flirt with Melodic Death Metal at times, The track Lure Of The Abyss has a very heavy, Death Metal intro, before settling down to some really rather good uptempo Melodic Death Metal. There's also a bit of an Occult feel on some of the tracks with some very effective chanting on Nihil Sub Sole Novum. The chanting also helps to lift the otherwise rather plodding Totentanz. There is some very effective blasting on the title track Apotheosis, which has lots of energy in a sort of Melodic Black metal way. The track also has a riff that is very similar to the very well known riff in Ye Entrancemperium, so quite a big nod to Emperor as well.

As you might have guessed, I’m not a fan of ‘Symphonic Black Metal’, it’s never spoken to me the way more extreme Black metal speaks to me (except from Emperor of course). But I can’t let that effect this review. If you like post 2000 Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth or the other Symphonic Black Metal bands, then this is something that should interest you. This is a very good ‘Symphonic’ Black metal album. Beautifully produced, great riffs, very atmospheric and incredibly tuneful and melodic; I might not be that into this style of Black metal, but I know enough to recognise that this is a very good Symphonic Black Metal album. 7/10

Concilium: No Sanctuary (592043 Records DK) [Paul Scoble]

Concilium are a five piece based in Boston. The band has been going since 2014, and this is their first Ep. The band class themselves as ‘Epic Doom’ which fits quite well. The EP has 4 tracks, one short, acoustic instrumental (Ritual Attrition), and 3 tracks that are close to 10 minutes (clearly the Epic part of the description). The longer tracks are fairly traditional doom. So, think Candlemass, Trouble and St Vitus and you are in the right territory; musically this reminds me of Iron Void who released a great traditional doom album last year called Excalibur. This is slow and very heavy, don’t expect any stoner swagger, or sludgy malice, this is serious, dramatic doooooom. This slight dramatic feel is also down to the vocals from singer Paris Thibault, who boasts a really rather impressive operatic voice.

I’ve heard this sort of operatic style of singing used on ‘Symphonic’ metal albums, and it has always left me cold. It feels over the top, and affected; but on this album it seem to work. Paris’s delivery is measured, and appropriate, when belting it out is needed, that's what she does; where a more nuanced, delicate style is needed, that's what she does. The performance is beautifully balanced, and fits well with this style of doom. The tracks themselves are well balanced, well written and played, and the production is very good. There isn’t much that is groundbreaking or revolutionary, other than the vocals, but on a traditional doom album that isn’t the point. The point is great songs, great riffs and massive slow and heavy, and this Ep has that in spades. Great EP, now let’s have an album. 8/10

Valaraukar: Demonian Abyssal Visions (Iron Bonehead Records) [Paul Scoble]

Valaraukar are a Scottish duo based in Edinbourgh. The 2 piece (Sovereign on Drums and Vagath on vocals and guitar) have been making music since 2018, this is their first album. Valaraukar play a fairly old school form of Black Metal that has one foot in second wave Black Metal and one foot in first wave Black Metal. So, savage blasting that is simple but effective, with a bit of a nod towards the early days of Thrash. The vocals are also reminiscent of early thrash, in that they aren’t harsh as you’d expect from Black Metal, but are clean vocals done in a very aggressive way; just like early Sodom, Slayer or Kreator. This mix of early eighties with early nineties works very well, this might be simple, but it’s savage and packed with energy and reminds me of how exciting Black Metal was when it first appeared. The Unassailable Throne has a beautifully fast and blasting first half, before a slower, more driving section in the middle, before a slightly Celtic Frosty section brings the track to an end.

Servants Of The Nameless is another blast heavy track, it is just rippingly fast, so much fun. It’s not all about fast and furious; Red Eyes Behold The Heart Of Ruin has a more mid-paced, with an expansive beginning. It’s simple but, really heavy. Final track Conquering The Void is another driving mid-paced track that is driving and relentless, with some very nice choppy rhythm guitar. Demonian Abyssal Visions is a cracking album. Fast, ferocious, chaotic in a beautifully frenzied way, whilst also being heavy, driving and relentless. I must admit too feeling a little nostalgic for the early days of Black Metal and Thrash, after listening to this. This is a really great album, I enjoyed listening to it a lot, for a first album this is fantastic, highly recommended! 8/10

Inhuman Deprivation: Cannibalistic Extinction (Pathologically Explicit Recordings) [Scott Price]

Yeah I’m not going to lie, I don’t really like this album. I entirely respect the skill and the time it takes to make an album such as this. But there is a point where you go from a human sounding performance, to a technically perfect robotic sounding album. It just has no real substance to it at all in my opinion. I really love technical death metal/deathcore and brutal death metal. But it just gets to a point where its just fast and down tuned for the sake for being heavy and fast. While sacrificing real song writing and heavy catchy riffs.

It gets to a point where it just sounds like heavy noise with some gargling put behind it which is almost inaudible in some parts. The only shining parts of this album are the small riffs they chuck in between the noise to break it up a little bit. Nothing you can remember and say “ah yeah that sounds like this band or that band”. That and I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty damn boring. I respect the skill. But just ain’t that great in my opinion. 4/10

The Spotlight: BOA New Blood Interview With MARW (Interview By Paul H)

MARW are a blackened death metal who took the Merseyside M2TM title for 2019. Guitarist Andy Owen gave up his time to give us the lowdown on this brutal machine of a band.

Paul: Let’s start with a brief history of the band; how did you form, how long have you been around etc

Andy: MARW started out in 2015 as nothing more than bad intentions and disillusioned thoughts left floating on the internet. Fast forward a few years, those scraps were found in late 2017 by likeminded individuals and following contact, a full line up formed in early 2018. In 2019, Marw released a free self-titled demo digitally via marw.bandcamp.com.

Paul: Who is the current line up?

Andy: Current line-up is C. Phillip (vocals), A. Owen (guitar), M. Baker (guitar), R. Hale (bass), K. James (drums).

Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences

Andy: For ourselves, the best description is 'blackened atmospheric metal' as it takes in from multiple sources. Influences are varied and will remain undisclosed.

Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?

Andy: There have only been four dates so far, but the obvious highlight is the unexpectedly good reception we have received so far.

Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey

Andy: We were looking for our first gig and Andy Hughes (Deathwave Entertainment) was able to offer us a slot on the fourth heat of M2TM. Possibly not the most conventional way to debut, but despite it being the first time anyone had heard us, we were voted into the final round. Since that date, we have shared the decline with Blind Monarch, In Temple Abyss, Sathamel and Exhumation.

Paul: We know from our friends in bands that getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling. Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it

Andy: It is all about playing riffs and abusing ears as much as possible. When every opportunity to do so is a win, what else is needed?

Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?

Andy: Simply put, shock. It was very unexpected, but we were and are very grateful.

Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?

Andy: Smashed riffs, harsh screams and blackened atmospheric metal.

Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?

Andy: Some of us are looking forward to Rotting Christ, Death Angel, Grand Magus, Raging Speedhorn, Xentrix amongst others. There will be a lot of time spent in the SOPHIE and New Blood stages though for sure.

Paul: Have you been to Bloodstock before?

Andy: Yes. There are no BOA virgins in MARW.

Paul: Describe the three best things about the festival.

Andy: Metal, metal and metal.

Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!

Andy: Need a lot more incentive before that happens.

A disappointing finish there but maybe a couple of beers at the festival will see us find out a bit more! MARW play on Friday 9th August on the New Blood Stage. It promises to be a dark and heavy 30 minutes. Check out more about the band at https://www.facebook.com/MARWUK/