If you have even the slightest interest in Viking Folk Metal, then you are sure to have heard of Ensiferum. Formed in 1995, the Finnish five-piece took six years to release their eponymously titled début album, but quickly built up a reputation as one of the major players on the scene. A lofty position they still find themselves in today.Continue reading
If there’s one thing the Eighties Thrash scene taught us, it’s that if mankind were to ever be wiped out by a nuclear holocaust, then at least there would be a kick-ass soundtrack to help melt us into sticky, green radioactive goo. You simply couldn’t get out of bed during that decade for tripping over another relentlessly aggressive four-minute paranoia-filled song about nuclear explosions, toxic fallout, global chaos, and the total and utter destruction of the planet. God, the ’80s were fantastic!Continue reading
Despite their infancy as a band, the story of Thyrant is one that stretches for a couple of decades in the local metal scene of Malaga, Spain. Having been friends for a long time but in various different bands, the group finally came together and began jamming and forming ideas in 2015, all with a love and passion for metal in many of its styles; a diversity that is clearly showcased on début What We Left Behind…(Indie), which despite requiring refining, definitely shows some potential and real passion throughout.Continue reading
Having rather disappointingly not emerged from the mist-shrouded bowels of a spooky castle hidden within the haunted forests of nineteenth century Transylvania, but hailing instead from modern day Gothenburg, Sweden, Vampire do their best to transport you to such creepy, bat-infested locations with their form of horror inspired Black/Thrash Metal.Continue reading
Formed in Asheville, North Carolina in 2013, All Hell aren’t exactly the type of band you would expect to discover in such an unassuming and picturesque mountain town. Located in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the main pastimes in Asheville appear to be walking, shopping, eating, drinking beer, and taking in the scenery. Certainly not listening to Black Metal/Deathrock/Punk/horror-influenced Thrash Metal.Continue reading
Sitting somewhere between an EP and a full-length album, :taudr: (Trollmusic) is the newest release by Swedish Viking enthusiasts King of Asgard. Featuring five tracks focusing mainly on death and the afterlife, this latest record follows on from their 2014 release, Karg (Metal Blade) and continues, rather unsurprisingly, in the same Nordic/Black/Folk Metal vein as before.Continue reading
Self-proclaimed purveyors of “Winter Metal”, Finland’s Wolfheart were formed in 2012 by multi-instrumentalist and producer Tuomas Saukkonen. Taking the decision to disband his many other ongoing musical interests, acts like Before The Dawn, Black Sun Aeon, Dawn of Solace, and RoutaSielu were all laid to rest so that Wolfheart could live.Continue reading
Part II Saturday
Starting even earlier today, we managed to be just in time to catch Der Weg Einer Freiheit. The German atmospheric black metal trio might be one of the biggest surprises of the entire festival. From their small, fragile dreamscapes to the frenzied, loud black metal riffing, their show journeyed the entire spectrum and made it beautiful. The compositions were so convincing that the lacking bass player was hardly noticeable. A very, very good show to start off the day.Continue reading
Ahead of the release of their second album, Devilment 2: The Mephisto Waltzes (Nuclear Blast Records), Ghost Cult caught up with lead vocalist and creative driving force Dani Filth to talk all things Devilment, touring, soundtracks, horror, Faust and oh, the small matter of the next Cradle of Filth album…Continue reading
Here at Ghost Cult Magazine, we all vote on our favorite albums each year. Just a couple short years ago, Behemoth had won with one of their best to date, The Satanist (Nuclear Blast). On April, 24th, 2016, I and the rest of the Boston crowd at the Royale were able to see Behemoth play this masterpiece from front to back at the “Blasfemia Amerika Tour”. Simply mentioning “it was an experience” just simply will not do.
Before getting to Behemoth’s set, we did have an opening band to get us started. The one woman black metal project, Myrkur, hit the stage ready to kickoff what promised to be a great night. Amalie Bruun is the only contributing artist to the project, but she did obviously have some help with a few other musicians (guitarist, bassist, and drummer). One of the strangest moments of the set is when I realized the bassist was no+ne other than Liam Wilson of The Dillinger Escape Plan! The set list was comprised of mostly tracks from the one full length album, M (Relapse), that Myrkur have to offer. Song by song, Amalie moved from guitar to keyboards and from one microphone to the other as her vocals would change mid song from clean to harsh. Finally, Myrkur ended the set with Amalie alone on stage at the keyboard performing a Bathory cover of ‘Song to Hall Up High’ to the fan’s praise.
Finally, after a short break, Behemoth hit the stage with the sounds of ‘Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel’. With each passing song on The Satanist, there were strange videos being played on either side of drummer, Inferno, to really set the mood. At one point in the show, frontman Nergal made his way over a makeshift bridge of sorts from the stage, over the photographers’ pit, and literally into the first row or so of fans. In his hand was a silver goblet, filled with offerings to the fans, his own Holy Communion waffers! The final few in the goblet were lifted above our heads as Nergal crushed them into pieces and threw them into the air in defiance. After the ever epic, ‘O Father! O Satan! O Sun!’, the band made their way to the back briefly but then returned for a second shorter set that kicked off with old classics ‘Pure Evil and Hate’ and ‘Antichristian Phenomenon’. Other hits such as ‘Conquer All’ and ‘Slaves Shall Serve’ were also played to the fans’ delight. But, like all good things, the show came to an end with closer ‘Chant for Eschaton 2000’, complete with projectile blood shots on to the front row from Nergal, Orion, and Seth. With this live show, Behemoth has once again proven why they are atop the metaphorical pedestal of extreme music and have no plans of letting any other bands share that space.
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WORDS BY TIM LEDIN
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