Sad news, ladies and gents. Following the release of Witch Mountain's new album, Mobile of Angels, vocalist Uta Plotkin will be leaving the band. But not without some final performances leading up to the release date. Those lucky enough to catch those will certainly be in for a treat. As will the smart ones who pick up the band's latest doom opus.

Not to put too much emphasis on one particular member but Witch Mountain has risen to prominence on the vocal chords of Plotkin. South of Salem and Cauldron of the Wild saw the Portland band become a relative household name in doom circles following Plotkin joining in 2009. Mobile of Angels is no different in that it leans heavily on the power and depth of her voice. At least they're getting the most out of her as Plotkin's work here is diverse and powerful as has become to be expected.

Opener “Psycho Animundi” encapsulates much of the album's attributes. Under a steady plod Plotkin dictates the feel beyond the thickness of the doomy tone. The riffs themselves effectively reside in a sinister doom realm but there's also an alluring quality that draws the listener in with a hypnotic pulse regardless of vocals. There is a power within that hits like a brick when they drop into a riff from a pause. Dramatic effect on a musical level.

Mobile of Angels has a definite blues influence hanging over it. It shines through like a breaking dawn in both the music and vocals. The mix of heavy-footed doom and the slight twang and conflicting sorrow of blues is captivating. But it's not all downtrodden. Free-wheeling solos and uplifting guitars protect the overall tone from falling into despair.

The outright power does sort of trail off as the album progresses. “Your Corrupt Ways (Sour the Hymn)” is the bluesiest while the title track brings a psychedelic, eerie, lounge feel with choral vocals. Slithering guitars, rumbling riffs and plodding cadences weave through the fog toward the album's conclusion.

All the while Plotkin does what she does best, pulling the listener close with a sweet and sultry croon then blowing it all wide open as her voice reaches for the heavens. Each and every track bears at least one moment that is so stirring that you can’t help but close your eyes to the glory.

“The Shape Truth Takes” see Plotkin at her most operatic and sorrowful. Forlorn melodies pull the listener further down in a pool of tears. Gradually the entirety swells on determination, rising and rising with power and volume until bursting with pent up emotion. Those moments are massive in every way, and punctuate the band's prowess. The track also sends the album off in a way befitting Plotkin's moving forward. Onward and upward.

Regardless of band member situations, Mobile of Angels is a tremendous doom album. Not quite as powerful overall as many but Witch Mountain know how to work dynamics and make the most out of an undeniable vocal talent. The remaining members (Nate Carson, Rob Wrong, and Charles Thomas) have vowed to carry on with the band (as they should) but it will be a tough task indeed to replace a voice that has become synonymous with the band's identity. Best of luck to Witch Mountain, and Plotkin can be proud in knowing she left leaving nothing to be desired.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/witchmountain
Label info: www.svartrecords.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Comprised solely of one guitarist/vocalist and one drummer, Germany’s Mantar have released their debut album Death By Burning earlier this year and it sounds ten times more massive and intense than many groups with full line-ups. Through smashing together such distinct styles as metal, punk and rock’n’roll, the duo have found a sound that is equally memorable and intimidating, oppressive and engaging.
We recently caught up with drummer Erinc to talk about the band’s background, their crushing new album and their plans for the future.

Mantar is getting a lot of attention in the press lately. Have you been surprised at the reception that the band has received?

“Yes we are… indeed. It’s nice to get so much positive response from all over the world. Furthermore it´s kinda funny as our main goal was to do some recordings and make 50 to 100 tapes for close friends. Everything worked out a little different. We don´t expect anything. We don’t take shit as granted. Actually we take everything more as a gift. It´s great to see how many people dig that record. For a brand new band, that´s very, very cool.”

I understand you have been friends for a very long time, so what provided the impetus to start making music as Mantar now?

“The concrete idea came from Hanno about two years ago. He had the vision of a really heavy band…and if we could handle it…we should run it as a duo. Maybe there was this glory moment to start something new… because we were kind of frustrated about the ongoing musical and non-musical stuff we were into. So I said “yes, let´s meet and work things out”. The only agenda: …play as heavy as possible. It worked out great and we decided to continue this…and still do as you can see.”

Have you two been in other groups before?

“Yeah…there were lots of bands. Some were good and some just crap. But we never played together in one group before, even though we know each other for so long now.”

I must confess I was a bit stunned when I discovered that you only record drums, guitars and vocals and don’t use any other instruments. Seriously, it’s absolutely insane that only two people can make as much noise and sound as massive as you do. Could you tell me a little about how your new record Death By Burning was created and what equipment you use to create such a gigantic sound?

“Well, the magic is to use the equipment of a five-piece-band. Using 3 amps with 3-4 big cabinets at once makes your biceps really impressive ;). Believe me. To coordinate all the heaviness. Hanno is using kinda the biggest FX-Board out there. Looks like a spaceship to me…but this self-build wonder board would kill dinosaurs!! Additional to all this technical stuff…there’s a pretty hard hitting drummer on the other side. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s me…hehe. All in all, we used the same equipment for the recoding we use live and for rehearsals as well. We did not want to fake anything. If you know your gear it´s possible to raise some serious hell.”

The press release sent out by Svart Records says that we shouldn’t call Death By Burning sludge. Why is sludge a dirty word to you? What do you think is the most accurate description of your music?

“I think that the genre "sludge" isn´t something you can rely on anymore as a trademark for something particularly good. It´s pretty worn out these days and a lot of bands use it as a brand because they don’t have any own character or don’t know about their own roots. Maybe due to the fact they never had any. Don’t get me wrong I love shitloads of stuff that is branded as "sludge". Great bands out there, but well... some kind of inflation is going on nowadays. And what the hell does sludge mean?? That people play slow, heavy music? We aren’t even that slow…”

Are there any particular influences that you would say Death By Burning is indebted to? For instance, I recognize some Melvins traits in songs like "Spit" and "The Huntsmen".

“Aaaah yes… great man !! The Melvins always have been a big inspiration. I love Dale´s drumming. And obviously we can’t deny that we like to rock...Motörhead and AC/DC also did their parental deeds. Even though we have a much darker atmosphere I guess.”

"The Stoning" sounds pretty punk’n’roll in the instrumentals. Which one of you is the punk or rock’n’roll enthusiast?

“We both got punk background. That’s where it all started. Energetic aggressive music still has the biggest impact on us. In Mantar it might be me who brings in all that rock’n’roll beats and stuff. I’m a rock drummer and can’t deny that… sometimes Hanno has to slowdown me when I get too rock’n’rollish . On the other hand that might be the interesting thing about the band. We just don’t deny the groove as many other bands do. We still think that even dark, aggressive music´s gotta roll somehow.”

What’s it like playing these songs in a live setting? Is it difficult to recreate the extremely dark atmosphere of the album on stage?

“As we were aware of the fact that we will play shows, we didn’t use stuff for the recording that we won’t be able to reproduce live. Actually we even do use the same technical equipment live as in the studio. Same amps, same cabinets and same drums. ..so from that side it’s pretty identical to the album. The songs sound harder and more energetic on stage…but still dark and evil. I think most important is to play as intense as possible. People will feel if you really are in the moment of playing the song. We get ourselves in some kind of destructive rush, a positive, very energetic feeling though.”

Death By Burning was the church’s privileged method of execution for crimes heresy and witchcraft in the middle age. Is there any particular theme to the record, lyrically?

“No. Not really. The power of nature has been a big lyrical influence. It´s about the urge of man for the final battle. The return to nature. And for sure the general sickness of mankind. I dont´t judge though, I just tell. We don´t have any certain message. I don´t care what people think. I dont want them to act according to my lyrics. Our only message is the power of the music. That´s too important to also focus on any message.”

What can we expect from Mantar in the future? I understand you’ve some shows booked for the next few months.

“Right...playing shows and touring is the main agenda at the moment. Having a good time…reaching lots of people. We are very happy to play so many different countries already in the very first year of playing live with Mantar. It´s great to meet so many new people and get the chance to play big shows like Roadburn and stuff like that. But after all that I hope that we will be back in the studio as soon as possible. The aim is early 2015…”

More info at: www.facebook.com/MantarBand
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Progressive rock had its inexplicable day in the sun a decade ago, when The Mars Volta, Motorpsycho and Porcupine Tree were selling out huge venues and creeping up the Billboard charts. I say inexplicable because even when prog rock is popular it is never widely loved, always the butt of a joke even when praised. This was the same in the genre’s 60s-70s heyday, when Yes was filling stadiums while being ridiculed in Rolling Stone and Cream. Some hated its inherent cosmic navel gazing, others what was seen as an emphasis on musicianship over songcraft. This was bullshit, of course; I mean, have you heard “Siberian Khatru” or “A Passage to Bangkok” or “Exiles”? Compared to the coked-up and blown-out noise of hair metal, early prog was arena rock writ large, huge melodies paired to jazzy scales and 15 minute synth solos. Sure it wasn’t for everyone, but what is?

Messenger dregs up some of this past for Illusory Blues, pitching its tent somewhere between the mid-oughts revivalists and the classics. Anchored by acoustic guitar and Khaled Lowe’s flighty voice, these Brits freely indulge in flute solos and string quartets, fingerpicked classical leads and mutating time signatures. I hear Porcupine Tree and King Crimson, with a little Jethro Tull thrown in for good measure on tracks like “Piscean Tide.” Nerdy though it maybe, Illusory is a hell of a lot of fun.

Take “Midnight,” the longest and most self-consciously ‘epic’ track of the bunch. After beginning with some classical flair it erupts into a motorik groove at about 3 minutes, eventually settling into a chugging strut accompanied by falsetto “ooh ooh ooooooohs.” Jamie Gomez Arellano’s drums are crisp and sit way up in the mix, snapping out jazzy beats over zither strums and hitting hard for a violin solo straight out of Larks’ Tongues in Aspic. These songs travel places, jumping between movements and ideas that nevertheless feel tethered together, less by mode or scale than energy and feeling. 8 minutes shouldn’t jump by as fast as “Midnight” does, but Messenger finds a way.

Elsewhere the band sticks to smaller ideas, developing melodies and rhythms instead of jumping among them. “Somniloquist” plugs psychedelic pop, mellotron and all, into a classic rock mold, with honest-to-god riffs bridging it all. Years ago a band as well crafted and huge-sounding as Messenger would have been massive, Lowe projecting his ace vocal chords through stadium after stadium. But that is no longer the world we live in. The days of bands descending to the stage in spaceships and ripping out bitching pan flute solos are long past, with the occasional flare-up whenever Jon Anderson decides he doesn’t mind most of Yes, or the annually uncelebrated but nonetheless attended Rush tour. Even the aforementioned revivalists threw in punk and metal and salsa to their mix, stressing chaos as opposed to new age calm. By digging back to a poppier (and more populist) time, Messenger has crafted an interesting little gem. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the world for it.

Rob Rubsam

Band info: www.messengerbanduk.com
Label info: www.svartrecords.com

Rob Rubsam is a freelance writer and itinerant resident of Upstate New York. His writing about music has been published at CVLT Nation, Tom Tom Magazine, The Rumpus, Burning Ambulance, and others. When not contemplating giant squids or erecting a standing stone in his backyard, he tweets at @millenialistfun. Do not contact him with your black mass-related inquiries, please.

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Formed by Khaled Lowe, once a member of hardcore mob Raise the Dead, Barnaby Maddick previously in psychedelic doom act Purson and later joined by renowned producer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Cathedral, Electric Wizard), London-based folk/prog-psych outfit Messenger have just released one the most dazzling and beautifully constructed albums you’ll hear this year. Displaying a blistering blend of folk melodies, prog tones and psychedelic nuances, “Illusory Blues” will surely be declared a classic album in the coming months.
We recently spoke with Khaled Lowe and Jaime Gomez Arellano about their debut album, their musical influences and the upcoming European tour with Katatonia.

Messenger formed in the spring of 2012 so you’re an incredibly new band. How did it come about, did you already know each other from other projects?

Khaled: I had written a few songs which appeared in different guises from the versions on the album. A couple were the result of meetings with Barnaby and some were ideas from experimental jams with a whole bunch of other people. Barnaby and I decided to give ourselves a month in a studio to record some of the material we'd collaborated on, and Gomez was my first choice as a producer because of the range and quality of his work that I'd heard. Originally, there was no intent even to form a band; we had no idea how many songs we would write (many of them were created spontaneously) or what the end result would sound like. I knew Barnaby from the punk/hardcore scene, and I'd jammed in various 'bands' with Dan and James, or just round at each others’ places. Dan and Gomez also played together in the past.

You’ve recently released your debut album entitled “Illusory Blues” and that’s quite adventurous for a young act that has been together for less than two years. Do you feel that you gave the band enough time to grow before recording your first record?

Khaled: In a sense, yes. I feel that "Illusory Blues" is a very honest depiction of where we were at the time, both emotionally and musically speaking. We hadn't foreseen that this would become a full album or even a full band. In another sense, it's been rather challenging to translate the emotions conveyed by certain instruments like the flute or the violin or the mellotron into a conventional live band setup with just guitars and keys. So in hindsight, had we known we were going to tour, we'd have probably written more specifically for that. But it's both challenging and fun to rework it into a live context. And with time and space permitting, there's no reason we can't expand in the future.

Gomez: A lot of it was spontaneous and improvised. Part of my work as producer is to structure songs and come up with arrangements and new parts. Having two talented guys with good ideas helped a lot. We were in the studio for a month re arranging old songs, writing new ones and recording. It was a lot of work, pretty intense but it all worked out and that's how we decided to make a band out of it.

“Illusory Blues” offers some incredibly strong and mature compositions that exude personality and confidence in what you’re doing. How did you achieve that and what is about this band that makes you work so well together?

Khaled: Thank you kindly for that beautiful compliment! I think what makes it work is respect, honesty and hard work. We've all been involved in the music scene and industry for many years, we've all played in many bands and we all obsess over a range of bands old and new. It's in our blood and we're very passionate about it; we make music for the love of creating art and expressing ourselves. If something is organic and serendipitous and not rushed, then those traits will shine through. I personally love the imperfections and the nature of Gomez' production; keeping everything 'real' and sincere; and because we all know each other as close friends, the chemistry was already there. I think being able to listen to each other as well, devoid of ego, is very important.

Gomez: Khaled and Barnaby come up with very good ideas. I think I'm good at organising those and embellishing them with arrangements. Our personalities are quite different too and I think that's part of what makes it work.

Messenger has been described as a progressive, psychedelic rock band and we can certainly hear the influence of artists like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin on ”Illusory Blues”. How do you feel about such labels? Do you think they represent the most accurate description of your music?

Gomez: I feel totally cool with people using labels such as Floyd and Zep as these are bands that have been part of the lives of everyone in Messenger. People can think whatever they want, I've seen all sorts of references so far which I think is a good thing. We seem to be getting the "prog" tag quite a bit around, which is interesting as we never really saw ourselves as such, but it's always hard to describe your own music. There are many different influences in this album, musical and non-musical. We all listen to many types of music from contemporary classical, to early 90's black metal and everything in between. We just write what feels right at the time.

Are there any particular influences that you would say “Illusory Blues” is indebted to?

Khaled: For me personally, it's less indebted to musical influences, I quite like to focus on ambience and sound and light and shade rather than genre, whether listening or performing.

Gomez: The fact that there was no "boundaries" during the writing/recording process had a lot to do with it. We had no set ideas or were trying to achieve a specific sound, we just went with what felt right at the time and never shied off about trying something that we thought it could work, regardless if it was a bit of a crazy idea or not.

The album was produced by Gomez, who has worked with a number of great bands such as Cathedral and Electric Wizard in the past. So Khaled how long have you known him?

Khaled: I'd met him several times through mutual friends maybe 6 or 7 years ago before I was familiar with his production work. Later on I realised a lot of my close friends held him in high regards, and he had a stellar track record working with bands like Hexvessel, Mothlite, Ulver, Ghost, Cathedral, etc. we put two and two together… Before I'd known him properly; he played in Mothlite and him and Dan were also in a metal band together that an ex drummer from an old band of mine had joined after he left... So there were trails of Gomez everywhere, both socially and sonically! We've been friends quite a while now!

What was the recording process like for “Illusory Blues” at Orgone Studios?

Khaled: It was very intense! We were there pretty much every day for over a month. Some days we wrapped at 5 in the afternoon; other days we only got into the flow at one o'clock in the morning. One very important discipline I learned from Gomez in particular was not to try to force creativity to occur; some days the 'vibe' wasn't there; other times we were in full flow for 5 days without stopping. There was also a lot of spontaneity; vocal melodies and string arrangements, etc... composed on the spot. That was very liberating; but yes, it was also very full on. Blood, sweat and tears, quite literally...

Gomez: As Khaled says, it was very intense. Both Khaled and Barnaby had little "proper" studio experience, so I would get frustrated at times. But looking back it was a really nice experience and we are very happy with the end result. We spent just over a month recording, then I spend about another month and bit arranging, mixing and mastering. It was the first record I mixed on my Solid State Logic desk and it was all done in analog and mastered to analog tape. I work this way for all records I mix and master.

“Illusory Blues” has a lot going on in terms of arrangements and nuances. What's it like playing these songs in a live setting?

Gomez: When we were recording the album we didn't even know that a band was gonna come out of it. We really didn't think of the limitations that this could bring into a live setup as there was no band as such yet, it was just a project. So the album wasn't written with that in mind. The song "Midnight" has 3 different guitar tunings in just one song! We've found clever ways to recreate the album with the new 5 piece line-up. When we get the opportunity, we'd like to bring in someone to play the string parts.

You’re opening for Katatonia on their upcoming unplugged tour throughout Europe next month. What can we expect from that tour? Will you play an acoustic set as well?

Gomez: We'll be playing set of about 40 minutes. We're not an acoustic band as such (even though we love acoustic instruments) and therefore I don't think we'd be playing an acoustic set as we don't have the crew (yet) and we have a lot of equipment already. There are some noise restrictions in some of the venues we're playing, so we'll just play quieter. We are very excited to go on tour which such a prestigious band and we're very excited to perform our music outside the UK.

Is there a specific theme tying the lyrics of “Illusory Blues” together?

Khaled: The prevalent theme throughout is that of value creation; shifting perspective in the way we relate to people, situations and 'problems'. It's about realising and seeing with fresh eyes the wealth of goodness that exists around us; in friends and family and nature and music. "The Return" is about coming out of a particularly turbulent emotional headspace after the death of a friend, to take in and accept certain truths; to retain the notion like a mantra that Love, as cruel and poisonous and stifling as it can appear on occasion, is in fact a definitive code for living; for making the most out of any situation. Love Is All You Need. The Beatles were right! Most of the songs are full of imagery of the natural world; the seas, the sky, the earth, the soil, the trees; the miracles of life and existence and consciousness… It's all in there!

More info at: www.messengerbanduk.com
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Snapped by Svart Records greatly due to the strong reactions garnered by their 7” released last year, Mantar are a duo from Germany that plays a punishing, monolithically heavy doom that could easily soundtrack the coming of the apocalypse.

Bolstered by an uncompromising and raw production, Mantar’s debut album Death By Burning stocks a massive amount of crushing, raw and wicked riffs within its 45 minutes. It’s quite amazing how full and intense this stuff sounds with only two members in the group, these guys harness more power and vitriol than many full-fledged groups.

They cite Motorhead, Melvins and Apshyx as musical influences and you can certainly hear elements of Motorhead’s full-frontal and straightforward attack throughout the album, especially on album opener “Spit” and “The Stoning”, where Mantar disintegrate our eardrums with a punk’n’roll bombast akin to the work of Lemmy & co.

The murky, gloomy influence of Asphyx is also evident on some occasions, most notably on tracks like “Into the Golden Abyss” and closing song “March of the Crows”, where some crushing, crawling riffs collide with a slow-motion drum battering and tortured vocals to create an overall tone of discomfort and anguish.

Svart Records is best known for the psychedelic doom and black metal of generally good quality, but snapping up a band like Mantar was a wise move as this is surely one of ugliest, most uncompromising albums to ever emerge from their catalogue. It’s nothing new, I reckon, but it is quite difficult to raise a finger or argue against such a threatening, crushing release.

Band info: www.facebook.com/MantarBand
Label info: www.svartrecords.com

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Psychedelic black metallers Oranssi Pazuzu grabbed most listeners’ ears last year with their excellent third album Valonielu, which was listed as one of the best metal albums of 2013 by various publications, including the notorious Pitchfork and Stereogum.
We spoke with bassist Ontto about how the band reacted to such enthusiastic feedback, how their musical approach has matured and why they sing in Finnish, their mother tongue. Read on…

Let me start by congratulate you on the new record, it's an excellent work and is getting listed as one of the best metal albums of 2013 by various publications. How do you feel about the record now that it's been out for over a month?

"Thanks! I’m happy about the record and the positive attention it has got. It has many of the elements that we’ve been messing with on our previous albums too, but at the same time the overall vibe is more widescreen and proggy. At least that’s how I feel about it. We’ve always been into 70’s progressive rock, and this time we were able to bring that aspect of the music a bit more into the forefront. After all, our music is essentially a fusion of different elements, we’re not trying to be a strictly orthodox black metal band or anything like that. It’s more inspiring for us when different angles get mixed together and twisted into new forms. That brings a certain amount of uncertainty into the music, which is a good thing in my opinion."

All the press I've read about you guys is highly positive. Have you read anything negative?

"Sure. There are always people who are not at all into what we’re doing. I’m very happy about that too. It is a source for diversity."

Valonielu seems like a more progressive and experimental album than previous efforts. Do you agree? Do you see this change towards a more progressive and experimental direction as something intentional, perhaps a desire to push against boundaries or it was just a natural evolution of your songwriting?

"Our aim has always been to push our personal boundaries as musicians. That was one of the main points when we started the band, and I hope that will never change. Of course, that is a very slow process and the new angles take their time to develop.
Hopefully our albums will have a natural evolutionary arc, so that it would feel meaningful how they follow each other, but at the same time they would reach out for the unknown, just like genes produce endlessly different life-forms."

Do you put pressure on yourself to "get better" with each release you make, to top yourself and perhaps to do something new or different from what you have done in the past?

"Even if each album is a new phase in the music, that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily better than the previous ones. It has many of the familiar elements, but they have been re-organized and hopefully there are new atmospheres that you couldn’t recognize before. To me the most important thing is that the new material feels inspiring somehow. Of course we want to get better, but without inspiration it is just about better mechanical execution without soul. And usually inspiration needs a bit of reformation to keep it fresh."

How did the recording process differ with Valonielu? The album was recorded by Jaime Gomez Arellano who have worked with Cathedral and Ghost in the past right?

"Right. We loved working with Gomez. He understood really well what the band is about and was able to make the aesthetics work in a studio environment. We played live takes of the songs like on the previous albums but maybe the biggest difference is that this time we also added more tracks later on to the mix, to make the album more spacious and full-bodied. Gomez is very much into analog sounds, just like us, and he had tons of cool stuff at the studio, from Hammond organ to cosmic effect pedals, that we were able to play with. It was a lot of fun."

Something that stuck out for me with Valonielu was the greater use of various sounds and weird textures. Do you think the recording process and the fact you used a better studio contributed to that?

"It was mainly about the recording process, the overdubbing of more stuff. We had the organic feeling of the live takes and then we just threw more sounds in there, to make the album feel more widescreen-like. I think it brings the psychedelic aspects of the music out nicely."

Can you talk about the significance of the title, Valonielu? Is there a concept or theme behind the album?

"The title just came to me when I was looking at the cover art that Costin Chioreanu made for us. It means light draining away, down the sink. I don’t have a rational explanation for it, it’s more about the feeling. The songs on the album are individuals, but there is a connecting theme about our perception of reality. The point in the lyrics, for me at least, is that we should accept the fact that our understanding of reality has large holes in it. Accept the holes, rather than try to fill them up with illusions. I think we should respect the mystical side of reality more. Not preserve it or worship it, but remember it is a fundamental quality of our existence."

Did you make a conscious decision to sing and write in Finnish right from the start or did you just find it a natural fit?

"It was just something that came very naturally for us. We wanted to write songs, and the songs had to have lyrics. I wrote the lyrics in Finnish because it’s my mother tongue. I’m very happy that there are people who are open-minded enough to appreciate the music even though they don’t understand the lyrics. I think it opens new possibilities for using your own imagination to make the music even more psychedelic."

Which directions would you like to go in for the next album or have you even thought that far ahead?

"I don’t know but I’m very excited to find out! I have some expectations, but I’d rather not speak about them because that might subconsciously close some unexpected and inspiring doors. I think there always needs to be a certain amount of mystery to what you’re doing."

More info at: www.oranssipazuzu.com
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Like many of metal's underground forebears, it's thanks to the internet that cult Finnish death metal band Convulse's reputation has increased dramatically since its original demise in 1994. With fans rediscovering the band's bestial debut, 1992's World Without God – along with a well-deserved reissue of the album by label Relapse in 2010 – Convulse finds itself in the position of being more respected than ever.

It's no surprise then to find the band back in action. Original members Rami Jämsä (guitars and vocals) and Juha Telenius (bass) were joined by a couple of new recruits for live dates in 2012, and the band released the two-song Inner Evil EP in January this year. Now, close to two decades since it last released an album, Convulse is set to return with a new full-length, Evil Prevails. The album is heavy on the macabre musical atmospherics and lyrical savagery, and brings plenty of old-school Scandinavian pummel. Nothing surprising in that, of course; no one expected Convulse to return with an album replete with über-technical wonderments.

Vintage brutality and the stench of 90s butchery is expected, and that's exactly what's delivered. Gut-punch lurches of grinding riffs, thrash-worthy soloing, and cavernous vocals play out over blast-beaten terrain on tracks like "We Kill Our Kind" and "Reborn in Chaos". Gentler acoustics feature on "Unholy War" and "God is Delusion", and "Oceans of Dust" and "Days Are Dark" make space for doomier, groove-heavy rampages too.

Evil Prevails might well signal Convulse's full resurrection, but there's little evidence of any maturing or progression, as such. Still, that's no bad thing. Jämsä's growls are as throat-scouring as they ever were, the guitars are downtuned to fittingly gruesome degrees, and the album's production is certainly the band's best yet – all dank and dark analog annihilation, with a black metal rawness in its tremolo-ripping parts.

The songs themselves feature gritty harmonizing and plenty of skewed melodies plucked straight from the 90's, and while that means Evil Prevails isn't innovative whatsoever, you can safely mark it down as an album that doesn't tarnish Convulse's reputation in the least. It's a firm reminder that no school is keener on dispensing lessons in auditory violence like the old one.

Craig Hayes 

Band info: www.facebook.com/Convulse
Label info: www.svartrecords.com

Craig Hayes is music writer based in Aotearoa New Zealand. He is a contributing editor, reviewer, and writes a monthly metal column at North American site PopMatters. He contributes loud words elsewhere around the web, on sites such as Metal Bandcamp and Backlit, and at home in NZ, he is a freelance writer and radio producer. Craig favours sounds from the metal, experimental and noise scenes, and has a crippling love of Krautrock, vintage progressive rock, and proto-metal too. You can find Craig losing followers daily on twitter @sixnoises

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Two years following the release of 'Kosmonument', a release that bridges the gap between psychedelia and black metal, Finnish act Oranssi Pazuzu are at it again with 'Valonielu'. Since breaking into the scene with their first release, 'Muukalainen Puhuu', these Finns have never shied away from the avant-garde and bizarre. They embrace it. Their third LP is sure to turn some heads with hypnotically catchy songwriting and off-kilter structure, something they have become accustomed to.

A droning keyboard lead ushers in a powerfully catchy riff on “Vino Verso”. This isn’t the standard black metal. There are no crushing blast beats. Instead, Oranssi Pazuzu belts out New Wave focused hooks with synth pop jangles. Jun-His’ vocals, raw and raspy, are beckoning warcries, howling out lyrics in his native tongue. The svelte riff slithers onward with the jazz-like drumbeat as layered keyboard leads texture the track. Creating a trance-like state, Oranssi Pazuzu sails to the end of the track with house music-like keyboard leads, finally ending with a little smidge of drone.

“Tyhjä Temppeli” showcases the band’s New Wave leanings. Oranssi Pazuzu reached into their bag of tricks and what came out was a complete jam of a track. Mesmerizing and catchy, “Tyhja Temppeli” wafts along, carrying with it a krautrock-meets-postrock vibe. Sickeningly sweet keyboards glaze over the track; the drums march onward with beautiful guitar overlays to fill everything out. Oranssi Pazuzu breaks everything open like ripping the skies apart, ushering in mighty strikes of noise with serious bite to them, before calmly settling back into their groove.

“Reikä Maisemassa” is four minutes of psychedelic groove. They create an awkward, disjointed picture; unsettling beats meet a spacey atmosphere, and before long, droning noise begins to creep in. Off in another world altogether, Oranssi Pazuzu not only smash barriers on their music, but reform them entirely, creating something haunting and mystical.

The last track, “Ympyrä On Viiva Tomussa”, combines everything together in a nice but lengthy package. Clocking in at fifteen minutes, the Finnish quintet blends Darkthrone riff techniques with the same kind of New Wave flavor. The track branches off in multiple directions, culminating in a gigantic climax of tremolos and awkward drum patterns. The keyboards and guitars clash against each other for superiority as Jun-His’ vocals let out shrill, forceful screams.

Oranssi Pazuzu cater to the weird. They create songs that cannot simply be black metal. With 'Valonielu', their penchant for psychedelia and New Wave shows. An amalgamation of all these musical stylings, it’s an album that bridges gaps between art rock and black metal. A fully creative and artistic effort that shouldn’t be passed up.

Bill Haff

Band info: www.oranssipazuzu.com
Label info: www.svartrecords.com 

Bill Haff is a Philadelphia-based music critic who also contributes for Cvlt Nation, Metal Injection and Ghost Cult. You can follow him on Twitter at @bill_haff

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Though an album which is no rush to immerse and transfix the imagination, the self titled debut from Finnish occult rock band Jess And The Ancient Ones is a real highlight of the year. The release is quite stunning, a collection of songs which wrap their skilled charm around the senses for an experience of melodic splendour and captivating majesty. Quite a few debuts have stood out already this year but very few as elegant and inciteful as that from Jess and the Ancient Ones.

The band was formed in 2010 by guitarists Thomas Corpse and Thomas Fiend, their intent to explore magical realms beyond the mundane. The band grew with third guitarist Von Stroh, bassist Fast Jake, drummer Yussuf, and Abraham on keyboards being added alongside the stunning vocals of Jess. Their sound is an evolved fusion of psychedelic rock and metal with wide influences from the likes of Mercyful Fate, Roky Erickson, Iron Maiden and Abba adding inspiration and texture to their imagination. Signing with Svart Records in 2011, the band released debut single ‘Breath of the Zodiac’ to great acclaim inspiring eager anticipation for and rewarded by their album.

‘Prayer for Death and Fire’ opens the release and right away has the senses fully awake and enamoured. The song is a wonderfully crafted piece of melodic enticement which smoulders within the primal energies of riffs and rhythms. Once the glorious voice of Jess weaves its mesmeric charms and the rumbling and scowling bestial lines of Fast Jake prowls ravenously, the song moves to a higher plain.

It is a powerful and elegant start which is immediately exceeded by ‘Twilight Witchcraft’, a psychedelic folk flavoured piece of musical shadow. The track has a warmth which is siren like but within its safety a venomous dark energy pervades every second of the rapture, a seductive mistress with black intent.

The album though merely seven songs in length is a full feast of musical alchemy, the likes of ‘Ghost Riders’ and ‘13th Breath of the Zodiac’ offering an unpredictable expanse of emotive energies and persuasive pleasure which envelopes fully.

The album closes with the excellent pair ‘Devil (in G minor)’ and ‘Come Crimson Death’. The first is an irresistible tease of jazz swagger and wanton beauty whilst the last a twelve minute gem of evocative harmonics and inciteful imagery, a startling end to a truly impressive album.

Pete RingMaster

Band info: www.jessandtheancientones.com

Label info: www.svartrecords.com

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