Tag Archives: Caitlin Smith

Black Twilight Circle – Tliltic Tlapoyauak

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The concept of music groups coming together with shared musical interests is nothing new, with the prominence of Belgium’s Church of Ra or France’s Les Legions Noires to name a couple. Shrouded in secrecy, Black Twilight Circle remains a tight knit group, centered round musicians in Southern California tied together by hard work and a shared interest in extreme metal and their Mexican heritage. The group returns this year with their second compilation following on from revered Worship Black Twilight that launched their name onto the underground scene. Tliltic Tlapoyauak, roughly translated as Black Twilight from the Uto-Aztec language Nahuatl, consists of 16 tracks contributed from both new and well-established bands in the collective stretching almost 2 hours and across 3 LPs.

While the artists may be united by a common interest, the projects themselves could never be accused of being over similar. Ranging from the opening statement of Kuxan Suum’s ‘Tzolk’in’ with its haunting flutes and tribal percussion to Blood Play’s homage to German band Bethlehem, the projects range from pouring out their heritage to straight up crust ridden extreme metal. Muknal and The Haunting Presence stand out as the most promising tracks on the release, with their enticingly murky, claustrophobic sound; THP punctuating with raw, bestial growls where Muknal opt for low gutturals. While the compilations showcase some of the circles brightest talent, it also includes its share of misses with In Lakech Ala Kin’s straightforward all out black metal failing to create any impact, and Shataan’s intense drumming and domineering flute sound fitting uncomfortably with the goth influenced clean vocals.

With so much metal music rooted in or inspired by white culture, Black Twilight Circle’s indigenous inspired metal offers a refreshing change of experience from the usual barge of releases. The compilation isn’t without its faults and their sharing of artists across multiple bands and projects delivers a definite quantity over quality effect. However this is essential listening for anyone that likes their guitars tinny and their production murky.

7.0/10

Black Twilight Circle is too kvlt for Facebook. 

Tliltic Tlapoyauak can be purchased here

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Cold World – How the Gods Chill

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When a band has as prominent an underground reputation as Cold World it is hard to miss the hype that’s been surrounding the release of their latest album, How The Gods Chill (Deathwish). As a new listener to the band, their reputation certainly preceded and it was hard not to start the album with high hopes. Firmly rooted in their usual hardcore style, this record also mixes influences from the rap scene, collaborating with artists like Kool G and Meyhem Lauren.

Despite not usually a fan of rap, this rapidly pans out as the most exciting part of the album with ‘Hell’s Direction’ beginning being one of the few genuinely enjoyable moments. The main vocals in comparison lack any real depth and, despite switching between shouted and sung sections, fail to add any life or interest to the music. It’s obvious these musicians are proficient, however, like the vocals, the music’s lack of any real variation quickly leads to the album becoming repetitive and boring.

The riffs may have a slightly punk feel but the music wanders too often into the realms of catchy, which is at odds when the band is so busy also trying to be angry. Cold World may be trying to capture the struggle of real life struggles however whatever rawness they manage to capture is quickly counteracted by the polished production sound.

While the band may have a steady stream of followers and continue to build a strong reputation on the underground, there is very little about this album that really inspires. While the hardcore scene continues to produce a wealth of talented artists and exceptional albums, anyone would be forgiven for giving this one a miss.

3.0/10

Cold World on Facebook 

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Lecherous Gaze – Zeta Reticuli Blues

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When the band began life as Annihilation Time, a punk/hardcore band from California 13 years ago, there would have been few people that could have predicted its progression to Lecherous Gaze and Zeta Reticuli Blues (Tee Pee). While the band still retain their attitude, the music took a radically different path, with the band more aptly describing it as ‘psycho-delic shred-tastic ultra-hyphened rock-punk heavy jams’. The album has a serious throwback sound, taking heavy inspirations anywhere from the rock n roll of the 50s to psychedelic rock and punk from the 60s and 70s, all tied together perfectly with the rasped vocals of Zaryan Zaidi.

The album opens on ‘End Rising’ diving straight into huge riffing with a distinctly retro sound. The myriad of influences ensure that each song has its own distinct sound, with ‘Animal Brain’ screaming Chuck Berry meets the Ramones, while ‘Zeta Reticuli Blues’ steps back for a hazy psychedelic Hendrix style instrumental. The music may dance between genres, but it’s Zaidis vocals that really highlight the straight up punk attitude to the music with his distinctly graveled tones.

While you could endlessly pick out and analyze the genres and painstakingly list each of the influences you’d be missing what this album is really about. The music is the culmination of decades of drug-fueled, mind-altering and downright sleazy musical endeavors. It is the lovechild of everyone from Motorhead to Black Flag to MC5. This is drinking and whisky music. This is trashed motels and vomit stained carpets. This is a record for those looking for a solid injection of partying straight back into punk.

8.0/10.0

 

Lecherous Gaze on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Taatsi -Amidst the Trees

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Following up from their demo Season of Sacrifice earlier in the year, Amidst the Trees (Forever Plagued) is the debut album from Finnish two-piece Taatsi. Taking their name from a sacrificial stone located in northern Finland, everything about the band image conveys a connection to nature and ancient spirituality, retreating from humanity and returning to the earth. It is apt then that they describe themselves as ‘Nature Mystical Black Metal,’ with each track fitting firmly within atmospheric black metal.

 

At just 30 minutes long, the album cycles through keyboard melodies backed by mid-paced guitar harmonies and topped off with distant screeches from vocalist A. When done well, atmospheric black metal can transport the listener to cold and distant lands, carving out vast mental landscapes of forests and mountainous peaks. Taatsi however have failed to inspire, lending more to directionless meandering lacking any real sense of progression.

 

While the keyboards go some way to creating mystery, from opening track ‘Malign Ghost of the Wood’ to closing track ‘Hunts in the Night’s Mind,’ they dominate the sound, forming a constant barrage of noise.It doesn’t take long for the sound to become tiring and repetitive, lacking in any real inspiration or new ideas throughout with only slight changes of style in tracks like ‘Gateways of the North’.

 

Amidst the Trees has nothing new or inspiring about it. The constant inoffensive and repetitive nature of the album leaves it languishing and ultimately, although the album plays at earthly spirits and ancient wisdom, it fails to really inspire or capture any depth of the imagination.

 

4.0/10.0

Tatsi is too kvlt for Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH

 

 


Columns – Please Explode

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Bursting onto the scene with their sophomore album Please Explode (Relapse) Carolina four-piece Columns have produced an album that manages to do exactly what it says on the tin. Right from the first note the album hurtles the listener through 16 tracks and 34 minutes of ceaseless brutality in an explosion of frantic beats and riffs.

With the prevalence of computer editing, the band seems keen to project to their DIY ethic stating that there are ‘no triggers or sound replacement on the drums, no pitch shifting on the vocals.’ Although this should create a more organic sound splattered with inviting inaccuracies, there is a tendency for the tracks to meld into indistinctive noise.

There are a few moments that stand out from the mass on the album, particularly ‘Punching Nancy Grace’ and its frenzied middle section, and in the dissonant guitar work in ‘No One’s Fucking Waiting’. It’s the chaos of ‘Drifter Aftermath’, however, that really captures the spirit of the album though, encapsulating the dark undertones that run throughout the lyrics.

While the chaos may be hard to follow at first with the majority of tracks coming in at just 2 minutes long, each listen reveals new sonic territories. Throwing in a hefty mix of grindcore, d-beat, thrash and death, Please Explode careers its way between the different genres, ripping through an all out frenzy of instrumentation one second before suddenly pulling back into some solid chugging the next. Although it may not be the most cohesive album, it is everything it promises to be right from the start: short, sharp and unyieldingly brutal.

 

7.0/10.0

 

Columns on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Changing Paths – LG Petrov of Entombed A.D.

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From humble beginning as Nihilist to the mega band of today, Entombed have forged a place in the metal elite to an extent that most bands can barely dream of. Little did we know when conducting this interview, that Entombed founding member, vocalist Lars (LG) Petrov was about to announce stepping out of the band and reforming in a new guise, Entombed A.D. Their latest album Back to the Front will be released under Entombed A.D, leaving original members Alex Hellid and Ulf Cederlund the old name and old material. Chatting with Ghost Cult magazine, Petrov talks about 23 years of death metal and everything Entombed had come to be known for over the years: hate, killing, Satan, and more hate.

 

It’s been 23 years since the release of left hand path, where do you find the inspiration from to keep writing after all this time?

Life. That’s what we were born to do. Every song is a step forwards so for me that’s what keeps us going. After 23 years still seems fresh. A newborn kid every day, every morning.

 

How do you keep your sound new with each album?

We don’t think that much about it, you do riffs and you put them together, your excited and you get goose bumps. That’s when you know it’s right; it sounds good. We just make it and record it. You can always do a song and then be picky and rearrange, you can do that for years without completing it so we just say ‘sounds fine, lets make it.’

 

 

Entombed is one of those bands that every death metal fan has heard of. How do you feel about your success over the years?

Yeah, it’s great. When we play shows there’s a lot of people turning up and they see that we have a good time on stage. We don’t see it as a routine. Every show and every album we do is because we love it. If it becomes routine it gets boring, but it hasn’t happened yet so that’s a good sign. We just do what we do, particularly now that it’s been 6 years between albums. I don’t know what we’ve been doing, we should have done one more album in between but we kept changing paths.

 

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Despite being Swedish, you sing in English. Have you ever thought about doing an album in your native tongue?

No. I think that would sound ridiculous. Swedish doesn’t go well with death metal vocals. I’m going red just thinking about it actually.

 

You’ve just finished your 10th studio album, Back to the Front, how do you feel it turned out?

I think it turned out fucking great actually. When we started doing the songs that was about 5 or 6 months before we entered the studio. We were not distracted; we were just working fast and efficient. I like the songs and the sound of the album. The producer, Roberto Laghi, he didn’t want to change our sound drastically; he knew what we were after. He took the time to mix it his way but combine with the old school sound. I think it’s the perfect album for where we are right now.

 

Back to the front has obvious military connotations. Could you tell the readers what kind of lyrical ideas are running through this album?

Basically it’s the usual song ideas; killing with a little bit of Satan. There’s a great feeling of hate, positive hate, and there’s the total war theme. It’s up to the reader really, we can mean something with a lyric but it can mean something different to someone else. It’s a very open-ended interpretation. It’s hard to say what the lyrics mean for the songs because there are so many other opinions, so we leave it up to the listener.

 

There’s been a 6-year gap since your last album. Why such a long gap?

Yeah as I said this album is long overdue. We should have done at least one in between, but we’re actually getting older and time goes faster. Some members of the band have had kids so that’s why we’ve waited so many years, but we’ve been touring. Eventually we sat down and made a plan and just said ‘lets do this.’

 

The artwork for the album is very interesting. Tell us a little about it.

We found this great guy from Poland, Bielak, he’s done some previous artwork for Watain and Ghost so we asked him to do the album and he was really excited. We just gave him free rein basically. He came up with a drawing and we were like ‘OK, we’ll take it’. It looks good and that’s the cool thing about art, we don’t think about it that much, if it gets the result and we like it, we take it.

 

Entombed A.D. on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Taatsi – Amidst The Trees

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Following up from their demo Season of Sacrifice earlier in the year, Amidst the Trees  (Forever Plagued Records) is the debut album from Finnish two-piece Taatsi. Taking their name from a sacrificial stone located in northern Finland, everything about this bands image conveys a connection to nature and ancient spirituality, retreating from humanity and returning to the earth. Its apt then that they describe themselves as ‘Nature Mystical Black Metal,’ with each track fitting firmly within atmospheric black metal.

 

At just 30 minutes long, album cycles through keyboard melodies backed by mid-paced guitar harmonies and topped off with distant screeches from vocalist A. When done well, atmospheric black metal can transport the listener to cold and distant lands, carving out vast mental landscapes of forests and mountainous peaks. Taatsi however have failed to inspire, lending more to directionless meandering lacking any real sense of progression.

 

While the keyboards go some way to creating mystery, from opening track ‘Malign Ghost of the Wood’ to closing track ‘Hunts in the Night’s Mind,’ they dominate the sound, forming a constant barrage of noise.It doesn’t take long for the sound to become tiring and repetitive, lacking in any real inspiration or new ideas throughout with only slight changes of style in tracks like ‘Gateways of the North’.

 

While certainly not a bad album, Amidst the Trees has nothing new of inspiring about it. The constant inoffensive and repetitive nature of the album leave it languishing among the masses and ultimately, although the album plays at earthly spirits and ancient wisdom it fails to really inspire or capture any depth of the imagination.

 

 4/10

Taatsi on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Old Souls- Byron Braidwood from Monumentomb

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The UK has had its share of legacy bands from the world of death metal. Many bands have come along to thrill us with gore, speed, rawness, and technicality over time. However, it has been quite a while since an new band was formed with some of the ideals of the innovators, but had something current to say in a modern sense. One such band is Monumentomb. Recently signed to Metal Music Austria (unannounced at the time of this interview), the band is about to release its brutal and impressive new EP, Ritual Exhumation. Ghost Cult scribe Caitlin Smith caught up with frontman/ lead guitarist Byron Braidwood (ex-Spearhead) via email for a Q & A interview to discuss the origin of the band, the new EP, assorted influences from across the death metal spectrum and the outlook for the future of the local death metal metal scene in the UK.

Can you give us a run down of how Monumentomb came together? Where and how did it all begin?

I was drinking at a metal pub in my local town. The Beherit shirt I was wearing at the time prompted conversation very quickly when Alex noticed it, and we’ve been very good mates ever since. Then after some time, we got talking and decided to form a band, utilising our strong agreement in musical tastes. At the same pub at a separate time, I met Gaius while drinking at a mutual friend’s birthday. I then met Lee at a gig Alex was playing with his band: Infected Dead. Alex heard on the grapevine that Lee was a decent and freed-up drummer and introduced us that night. We all started getting along very quickly and easy with no hassle fortunately.

You have played in some major bands before, namely Spearhead and Archaicus (now Lychgate). Why the decision to start a band from the beginning this time?

Archaicus was the first ever band I joined. I was still in my teens and still at school, we played a few gigs in London but we decided to concentrate on starting Spearhead properly. This was due to the Black Metal scene at the time losing its pull for me. Personally, death metal has always been my main ambition. I left Spearhead due to personal and directional reasons, after we got back from touring the USA. I took some time out and took a step back from music altogether for a little while. Since then, I decided that I want to play a style I’ve always wanted to play and enjoy the sound of, as opposed to just writing/playing for the sheer sake of and becoming completely devoid of passion.


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You released your first EP Ritual Exhumation this year. Tell us about some of the lyrical inspiration behind the album.

They’re simply inspired by morbid horror stories/movies and matching the visual themes for us. The themes and lyrics are essentially all based around necromancy and death rituals/rites with an apocalyptic goal, with narratives and side-stories in between. A lot of inspiration comes from the Necronomicon by Lovecraft and related grimoires in terms of direct literary inspiration. I’m an avid fan of 80′s horror and splatter films and comics, it’s usually easy enough to write lyrics to these themes but it’s tough to attempt a new angle when a lot of the subject matter has been broached upon before. So just sticking to familiar territory lyrically just fits and suits the sound we’re trying to achieve.

The album is dripping in old-school death metal sound. Was this something you were aiming for when you started writing material

 

Not entirely, the production values resulted that way by chance to some extent, the equipment and time constraints we had impacted the overall feeling. The sound itself, would have more than likely ended-up being cleaner if we had more time, but we never wanted to have a squeaky clean production as it wouldn’t compliment the style/character at all.

 

 

You mention being inspired heavily by older bands. How do you feel about the current death metal scene?

The current scene is surfacing with some like-minded bands thankfully, such as Decrepid, Hellsworn, Gravecrusher, Sentience, Crypticus etc.. Which is very good to see: Bands that believe that the pioneers of the genre are owed recognition and homage for inspiring the new bands we have today, so to speak. We all have a lot to thank them for. I think the current scene is still going relatively strong, obviously there have been some killer death metal gig line ups in the UK this year so far to demonstrate this.


How did the EP come together? Was it a joint writing effort or did someone take the lead?

Myself and Alex started with jamming riffs, licks and ideas together. As time passed, it then transpired to the riffs and sections for the EP being all written by myself. In essence, someone took the lead, haha.

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The EP is mixed by Graham Waller, where did you come across him and why did you decide to use him for the EP?

We originally met through some mutual friends at a local Wretched Soul gig and got talking about his studio and options at first. Then after some lengthy chats at Bloodstock 2013, I was very confident that he would be the right man for the job and the sound we were looking for. His professionalism and technical ability totally surpassed our expectations, also considering the budget we had he did a stellar job on the EP.


Kent has not always been known for its prominence on the metal radar when it comes to metal bands. What is the local scene in your area like?

The local scene is active, and very diverse in terms of the styles of metal. Bands like Infected Dead, Vulgate, Victim Identified, Wretched Soul, Then the Wave Came, Greg(o)rian and Dark Theory: All these bands are valuably contributing to the live scene in Kent. They are all relatively different styles to each other which indicates that there is a demand and interest for extreme metal in Kent. But the attendance of local extreme metal gigs can be very unpredictable in terms of turn-outs.

 

 

What can we expect from Monumentomb in the future?

We are still writing material for a full-length to be released next year hopefully. This is in conjunction with playing Beermageddon festival in August, and playing 2 London dates later this year with Krow and Gravecrusher. Label dealings are ongoing too, there will be official news in regards to this announced soon, though. Looking into touring and increasing our live presence is ever a forefront intention for the band as well.

 

 

Read our 8/10 review of Ritual Exhumation.

Monumentomb on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Entombed A.D. – Back to the Front

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Anybody who knows anything about death metal has heard of Entombed. Very few bands have broken out of the masses but this name has been propelled to legendary status. Despite maintaining an original lineup for almost 20 years, it’s been all change for Entombed recently. With a complete lineup revamp just two albums ago, and a split announced just before the release of their latest album leaving the original name to founding members Alex Hellid and Ulf Cederlund, the band is hardly recognizable from their original form. Rising from the ashes of Entombed, founding vocalist Lars (LG) Petrov adopts the title of Entombed A.D., but the question remains; can he possibly put out the same quality that he has become known for over the years? The answer is a resounding yes.

 

Back to the Front may have been a long time coming with Petrov’s last release, Serpent Saints, six years previous, but they have finally returned and the wait has been more than worth it. Back to the Front is a polished entanglement of melody and brutality. The sound has mellowed from their previous albums; the vocals are less harsh, almost sung, but 26 years on Petrov still has the voice to carry this off. There’s also a marked difference in the guitarist style. Rather than Serpent Saints where guitarist and co-producer Nico Elgstrand seems intent of fitting in with the older musical style, in this album he seems to be making his own mark on the sound, adding a heavier dose of melody into the mix.

 

The music has come a long way from Entombed’s original release, Left Hand Path. They’re not the young angry guys they once were, ripping their way through albums with devastating speed and aggression, but this doesn’t mean they can’t still pull out an outstanding album. I can’t say that initially I wasn’t disappointed by their lack of return to the old sound, but this album has forged its own distinct place. Although it is distinctly catchier in nature and unlikely to be listed among the greats, it’s still enjoyable proving that once again they are still putting a bit of death back into metal.

 

 

8/10

Entombed A.D. On Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


My Fictions – Stranger Songs

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Cramming a massive ten songs into under thirty minutes, My Fictions’s latest offering Stranger Songs (Top Shelf) is a short, sharp containment of chaos. Furious drumming and guitar work punctuate each track in the album as this four-piece race through the album with blistering speed. The album is unrelenting from beginning to end, stopping for only the briefest moments to transition between tracks before hurtling full throttle into the next song. Rooted in hardcore, the US band throw in progressive elements that push the edges of the genre out into new territories. This movement away from basic song structures allows this album to inject new life into a sometime stale genre. The songs twist in unexpected directions, carefully crafted to capture the listener.

 

Much of the album may have be filled with ceaselessly aggressive songs, however I didn’t find it conveyed any depth of emotion, often feeling like it was imitating rather than truly capturing. It was only the end of ‘Airport Song’ and sections of ‘Parking Lot’ that displayed any semblance of expression. Really this band has a lot to offer the scene, but this album is too polished, too pristine. The album is wrapped in a clean-cut production that simply destroys the rawness of the material and sugarcoats any bleakness the album tries to emulate. The work and the talent that has gone into this album is coursing through each track, but they have altogether tried too hard on this record scrubbing out the ultimately addictive rough edges on the sound.

 

5.0 / 10

My Fictions on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH