Inspired by the failures of mankind PROCESS OF GUILT have created the most accomplished and raging album of their career. Proud of the new effort and determined to make 2012 their biggest year yet, guitarist and vocalist Hugo Santos tells all to Scratch the Surface.

It’s been three years since your last album “Erosion”, how does it feel to have “Fæmin” finally out? 

We're really glad to finally have a new album out, but it's important to state that we didn't spent the last three years making it. We only started writing what would become «Fæmin» in the beginning of 2011 and it was a hard working process, since we basically started from scratch, but that gave us the opportunity to compose a strong and concise album from start to finish. Given the experience provided by our last releases, «Fæmin» is, the album that took us less time since we entered the studio until the moment it was released. It was also our most concise experience regarding production. We only took about one or two months for all the recording, mixing and mastering, somewhere between last September and October. Nevertheless, it's always a good and positive feeling to have the record out. 

Read More »

Bong, contrary to what we might be led to believe, do not play stoner rock heavily influenced by that magical plant that goes by the name of cannabis. Instead, this four-piece from the UK plays an intriguing style of music that can be described as part spiritual, part ritualistic and part drone. Their newest effort “Mana-Yood-Sushai” is a record that begs for a sit-down, lights off listening as the overall effect that its two tracks spanning 47 minutes transmit is that of a one transcendental ritual, a trancelike journey seeking spiritual enlightenment in some Tibetan monastery.

Read More »

Hailing from Barcelona in Spain, Moonloop has spent the last several years of their career slowly developing and perfecting their sound and musical identity, and such efforts now culminate in the beautifully crafted debut record “Deeply From The Earth” soon to be released by Listenable Records.

We caught with lead vocalist and guitarist Eric Baule to discuss the bands beginnings, their current situation, and their plans for the future.

Moonloop has been around for more than ten years, but only now had the chance to present us their debut full-length album via Listenable Records.

Please tell us why did you take this long to come up with your first full-length work?

“Moonloop took a few years to consolidate, and our writing process changed a lot since the beginning, so until we didn’t felt that we had a couple of good songs to record an album, we were recording our first demos and improving our sound. Getting our personal sound and write good songs has been our goal, and since Vic joined on bass guitar on 2008, the band felt comfortable enough to begin the recording of a serious album.”

Read More »

Released in December last year by the British label Seven Kingdoms, Forefather’s sixth full-length work “Last of the Line” now sees an exclusive release for the US through the hyperactive Metalhit. It would be a shame if this one escaped notice and fell through the cracks ‘cause this is a finely crafted effort that deserves a handful of spins.

The press release describes Forefather’s sound as pagan/folk metal and as it turns out “Last of the Line” is clearly rooted in epic pagan metal and incorporates some folk touches that add a feeling of grandness to these songs.

Read More »

Seemingly out of nowhere, this unknown Spanish act comes along and delivers a treasure of an album with “Deeply from the Earth”.

The press sheet describes Moonloop’s sound as a blend of Opeth at their early days with Gojira and there’s certainly a great deal of influences on offer that reminds us of these two names as this album delves into a musical space that falls somewhere between the progressive-flavoured sounds of Opeth and the massive energy of Gojira.

Read More »

Authors of one of the best metal albums released in 2008 the great “This City Speaks in Tongues”, Norwegians She Said Destroy are back with a new EP featuring just one theme that lasts for nearly 28 minutes.

Now divided between three different countries, which may explain the delay in the writing of a new full-length album, She Said Destroy will surely surprise some of their older fans with this new creation. Gone are those unbridled explosions of rage that the band were happy to unleash before, and in its place there’s a newfound fondness for a evolving post-metal atmosphere that hints at Ghost Brigade and Cult of Luna.

Read More »

Described as Swedish death metal, “Crypts of the Unrotten" the second effort from Germany’s Dawn of Disease emanates a brutal yet melodic feeling that reminds me more of U.S. acts like Brutality and Monstrosity than At the Gates or Unleashed. Like those great bands, this five-piece play a guttural, brutally intense death metal yet with plenty of guitar harmonies and groove. It’s fast, in your face and occasionally melodic, yet it’s not overly technical like the aforementioned acts.

Read More »

Old Head are essentially the Total Fucking Destruction crew with one MegaDan Tumulo on vocals, yet instead of unleashing frantic bursts of grind madness these old heads do things rather differently, focusing on a engaging blend of thrash/speed metal with some classic rock from the 70’s that slays as much as it rocks.

Their debut release, “Maximum Rock” borrows heavily from the earlier endeavours of Hirax and Cryptic Slaughter and adds pinches of hard-rock ala Quiet Riot and UFO into the mix.

Read More »

Heavy Metal purveyors Pharaoh are on the verge of releasing their fourth full-length “Bury the Light” and we traded e-mails with Matt Johnsen to ask him about the process of putting the new record together, as well as his thoughts on the band being together for nearly 15 years now. Read the conversation below.

Congrats on “Bury the Light”, it’s a great and engaging heavy metal record.

Now that it is complete and set for release, how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?

“Yes, although I think it took us as long to grow into the album as it will for a lot of fans. It was a lot of hard work and took a long time to make, so it was difficult at times to picture the final product, but now that we have it, it sounds right to us.”

Pharaoh has been together and prevalent now since 1997, and “Bury the Light” is the band’s fourth full-length record in a career that spans thru nearly fifteen years. Is there anything in specific that you think has helped contribute to Pharaoh’s longevity as a group?

“Yeah, we never see one another, ha ha! Pharaoh is more or less a glorified studio project (although we are finally rehearsing for some live work) so we don't have to negotiate the day-to-day issues a working live band does. But beyond that, we've just developed a way of working together that works for us, creatively and practically. And when we do get together, it's as friends, and not band mates with hidden personal agendas.”

Read More »

In recent years, Norway has proven that is more than just the most reliable source for pure and hard black metal bands, offering some truly exciting and innovative musical projects like Shining and Kvelertak just to name a few.

Add El Caco to the list, a Lillestrøm-based act that harness a strong collection of enthralling and disparate influences to craft a captivating and dark sound that will certainly appeal to fans of Tool, Kyuss, Therapy? and even Filter.

The trio comprised by Øyvind Osa (Vocals / Bass), Anders Gjesti (Guitars) and Fredrik Wallumrød (Drums) aren’t exactly newcomers, "Hatred, Love & Diagrams" is already their sixth album, and although their previous works slipped under my radar I do remember reading their name associated with stoner-rock.

Read More »

Pharaoh have been churning out some classic and powerful heavy metal since 1997, but to most people they’re still remembered for vocalist’s Tim Aymar involvement in “The Fragile Art of Existence”, the debut album of Chuck Schuldiner’s project Control Denied. Well, that classic record dates from 1999 and since then the Philadelphia-based quartet has recorded four strong and well-crafted albums that should definitely make the metal world take notice, including the newest “Bury the Light”.

This is classic ’80s metal with unbelievably ear-catching melodies, bringing to mind the best moments of Fates Warning, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

Read More »

I often complain that I don’t receive a wide enough variety of music to review as sometimes, it seems that everything just sounds the same. Then, this record turns up, and I sincerely don’t know what to call it. There is almost no way to place Antipope in a single genre as this Finnish combo merges a wide variety of styles into a record that sounds ambitiously schizophrenic and irreverent, but has its flaws.

“House of Harlot” ranges from melody-laden, gothic undertones to aggressive mosh grooves and occasionally sways into a corrosive blend of industrial and black metal, and although the constant musical shifts sound mesmerizing and fitting in places, sometimes those transitions get a bit awkward and tend to break down the record’s flow. Antipope sound most effective when they’re churning intense and catchy grooves and layering some compelling guitar harmonies overtop as in “Morning Star” and “Rapeman” for instance. Another weak aspect of “House of Harlot” is singer’s Myllykangas terrible tendency to yell in an exaggerated impersonation Dr. Frank-N-Furter from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, which certainly detracts the potential of some songs.

While musical irreverence is always a welcoming feature in the current metal scene, Antipope only partially pulls it off as their versatility sounds a bit disjointed at times. If they could let their disparate musical influences just flow naturally and not force them into their sound, they may be able to produce something truly groundbreaking next time around. (5/10)

Luca Niero

Band info: www.antipope.info

Label info: www.violentjourneyrecords.com

Read More »

Made up of former and current members of Eternal Tears of Sorrow, Dark Flood and Catamenia, Finland’s Mors Subita show a lot of promise with their debut full-length release “Human Waste Compression”.

Meticulously crafted and intensely delivered, this record finds the Finns fleshing out a fiercer and rougher sound than what they did in the aforementioned acts by blending the no-holds-barred and scathing thrash chugs of Darkane and Dew-Scented with the more melodic and infectious side of Soilwork and Carnal Forge. The band's style is a combination of death metal and thrash but the technicality of the guitar work is definitely what makes this album shine. The intense, rabid riffs and blistering leads of Mika Lammassaari and Tero Piltonen deliver a furious aural onslaught that’s only slightly diminished in the record’s softer moments, as in the more progressive and emotionally-driven “Entrance of Sickness”.

“One Million Flies” is one the fastest on the record and contains some relentless blasts merged with scathing chugs, impressive guitar solo shredding and rabid vocals that sound like someone who’s having a really lousy, shitty day. “Glance of Fear” offers more of the same, but reveals a bit more melody in the guitar work.

Mors Subita has really concocted something of high calibre in their first effort and if they continue improving in the future, they will eventually ascend into the big league with no sweet. (8/10)

Luca Niero

Band info: www.morssubita.com

Label info: www.violentjourneyrecords.com

Read full issue here.

Read More »

“The Apologist” is the follow-up to last year’s “Ressentiment” and it sees East Of The Wall steering towards a slightly more streamlined and melodic approach, putting a greater focus on more memorable song structures.

The group still posses the meticulous craftsman and inventive intricacies that were present in previous works, but the insertion of more melody in detriment of a dissonant harshness, as well as the choice to render the songs with more memorable passages, makes “The Apologist” a little bit different. Whereas in previous works, the smooth and intricate passages would abruptly unfurl into all-out rage, it seems that this time East Of The Wall are a bit more patient when letting their rage unfold. As a result, “The Apologist” flows with an increased and marvellous fluidity from start to finish, with songs such as “Linear Failure”, the title track and “Whiskey Sipper” reflecting the band’s remarkable ability to smoothly transition between moodier, gentle progressive rock passages to raging metal/hardcore segments.

One thing hasn’t changed though, East Of The Wall’s music is still rather difficult to categorize, but regardless of what it sounds like and where it falls in the realm of heavy music, “The Apologist” is a great, well crafted record and is worthy of the attention of anyone into great, challenging and inventive music. (7.6/10)

Luca Niero

Read full issue here.

Read More »

Once at the vanguard of the extreme metal, Earache Records now tries to sell us The Browning, a Dallas-based collective that is described as adventurous for pushing boundaries and pressing buttons in a way that most metal acts would not dare attempt.

Well, that’s plain and simple bogus, ‘cause in fact these guys try to pepper their generic deathcore sound with some electronic touches in a attempt to sound different, but unfortunately they end up on the wrong side of the equation coming across like a mediocre blend of someone like Chelsea Grin with awful acts like ATC and Vengaboys.

So, I definitely wouldn’t tag “Burn This World” as an adventurous and innovative record since the only thing that distinguishes The Browning from the hundreds of boring and predictable deathcore acts is their affinity for cheesy electronic sounds and beats, which also work against them really, completely ruining their respectability with some truly cringe-inducing moments. Damn, “Standing on the Edge” sounds like a cheap techno tune you'd hear at an amusement park.

If Earache wants to put out something truly innovative and groundbreaking, they only need to dig through their old archives and reissue the complete discography of Godflesh, Fudge Tunnel and Pitchshifter, not this plain awful mélange of deathcore and techno. (2.5/10)

Luca Niero

Read full issue here.

Read More »

Although I’m not a fan of Rap or Hip-Hop I’m aware that there’s this thing called MC battles, where MCs rap against each other to find out who’s the best at improvising some rhymes. So what’s that got to do with Iwrestledabearonce I hear you say.

Well, “Ruining it for Everybody”, the band’s newest record really sounds like a ongoing battle between someone like All Shall Perish and Evanescence. Take the funnily-titled “Deodorant Can’t Fix Ugly” for example, it starts with some really punishing breakdowns and fierce riffs, complemented with some bestial growls and then all of the sudden...

Luca Niero

Read full review here.

Read More »

Since the release of the 2009’s album “Isolation Songs”, Finland’s Ghost Brigade has solidified as one of the most engaging and inventive acts within the metal scene. Their break-through record was elected album of the month in both Metal Hammer and Inferno magazines and now three years the Finnish group returns with another mesmerizing release that proves that “Isolation Songs” was no fluke.

Scratch the Surface questioned bassist Janne Julin to find out more about the newest album “Fear No Longer Define Us”, which was released this past September.

Photo: Jussi Ratilainen / www.juspic.com

Do you think you were subconsciously pressured to write songs that would equal or surpass your most successful album when you first started approaching the writing for this new record?

I think everybody wants to and is pressured subconsciously or not to make better record than the previous one, otherwise no reason to continue. Where this pressure comes from or what are the reasons for it is another thing then, in our case it is because we wanted to come up with songs that we are satisfied with, songs that we enjoy and pass through self-criticism, time will tell how we succeeded. There was no pressure to gain maximum attention from the media, to reach mass sales, to please our record label, to make any sort of break through etc., that was not on our mind. 

We simply wanted to push ourselves forward to please ourselves and to fulfil our demands, and if more and more people enjoy it as well, we don’t mind it.

The process of making records can take a considerable amount of time and can be a daunting challenge for musicians. In your case, did you immediately figured what you wanted to do and soon struck the right songwriting mode?

We started to write the songs pretty much immediately after “Isolation Songs” was released. We didn’t have any strict guidelines, a detailed master-plan or concept for the record, although we do know what we want from our songs, we kept writing songs until we had enough material that works together on a record. Sometimes it takes more time to complete a song, others are easier to complete, but the whole writing process for a record takes around a year/a year and a half.

This record didn’t differ that much from the two first ones, you just have to be patient and take your time and the songs will come up, no need to hurry, better to make sure you’re not forcing it and end up with some useless half-assed crap.

So what inspired you when it came to writing “Until Fear No Longer Defines Us”?

Broadly speaking, things you do and experience in daily life on this planet earth, feelings and situations you go through, what goes around in your head, our surroundings, then of course music we listen to, movies, books and so on. 

There’s not any specific influence that you could point out, more like a picture painted from all of those influences but trying to keep it coherent and not wandering off to too many directions and of course adding your own touch to it all.

Musically those influences mainly come from metal, rock, pop, electronic direction, with some underlying connection between them all being some sort of dark or atmospheric general feature.

How do you feel about the record now that it’s coming out? Now that it’s finished, can you give us your thoughts on it?

I feel good about it, it’s strong and tight, the whole works well together with good continuation from song to song bringing all the atmospheres and emotions to fullest and all in all it’s very good picture of this band, what it’s made of and what it’s about. But it takes time to make up your mind about your own record, we finished this record in the end of April so it’s way too early to say what is my complete opinion about this album, I’ll have better idea of that in a year or two, that’s how it seems to go. 

And we haven’t played these songs live yet and that’s also one thing that might affect your opinion of the record. But as of now I have to say I’m satisfied with our latest grand opus.

Luca Niero

Read full interview here.

Read More »

Featuring members from Graves At Sea, Trees, Final Conflict, and Get Hustle, Atriarch’s “Forever the End” dwells in the same slow-dragging and monolithic doom of Graves At Sea. The textures are pretty identical, slow-dragging rhythms with riffs crawling at a snail’s pace, ominous bass lines and drum beats, daunting harmonies and wailing, tortured vocals. The four-piece manages to blend all these elements to recreate an eerie and desolate ambient that genuinely sounds like it’s their last day on earth, and an album that most likely will appeal to those suicidal fans of groups like Sunn 0))) and Burning Witch.

Luca Niero

Read full review here.

Read More »

“Until Fear No Longer Defines Us” is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2009's stellar “Isolation Songs”, and despite starting off with a breathtakingly beautiful and entirely acoustic song “In the Woods”, the rest of the album falls in line with the band's previous output.

The Finns sound has always been about contrasts, especially the one between light and darkness, and each song on this record sees soothing and beautiful melodies contrasting against bursts of rampant energy, constantly creating an emotional tension that never erupts. In one minute, they sound really mournful and introspective, and in the next one they offer some raging and intense moments, all this with a swaggering level of confidence. First single “Clawmaster”, really emphasizes the remarkable dichotomy that characterizes most of the album.

Luca Niero

Read full review here.

Read More »