Tag Archives: Obscura

Aklaloid Streaming The Malkuth Grimoire

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Alkaloid. Photo Credit: Christian Martin Weiss

Alkaloid. Photo Credit: Christian Martin Weiss

German extreme progressive metal supergroup Alkaloid is stream their debut album The Malkuth Grimoire below.

Consisting of a pedigree of extreme musicians, including current and former members of Necrophagist, Obscura, Spawn of Possession, Aborted, Dark Fortress, God Dethroned, Blotted Science and Noneuclid, Alkaloid set out to push the boundaries of progressive, extreme music on their full-length debut. The group also decided to self-record and self-release The Malkuth Grimoire via a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.com.

ALKALOID is:

Morean (Dark Fortress, Noneuclid) – ¬Vocals, Guitars
Christian Muenzner (Spawn of Possession, Ex¬-Obscura, Ex¬-Necrophagist) ¬- Guitars
Danny Tunker (Aborted, Ex¬-God Dethroned) ¬- Guitars
Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Noneuclid) ¬- Bass
Hannes Grossmann (Blotted Science, Ex¬-Obscura, Ex¬-Necrophagist) –¬ Drums

Alkaloid on Facebook


Thulcandra – Ascension Lost

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Anyone that has ventured into the Thulcandra back catalogue has probably noticed this German black metal band seem to exist as a living shrine to one of the former giants of the genre. Although their Dissection worship has decreased with every release, recent album Ascension Lost (Napalm) has not truly shaken off the homage to the band, with veins of Reinkaos (Black Horizon) rippling throughout.

Despite being inspired by such revered material, Ascension Lost leaves very little impression. Lacking any distinct identity or style of its own, the material passes by you with only vague echo of a few musical moments really standing out at the end. Ascension Lost falls into the trap of becoming black metal by numbers, filling in all the tremolos and blasts in all the right places to make a black metal track, but it lacks the atmosphere that is so crucial to the genre. It’s hard to deny the bands technical proficiency in both playing and song writing, but the music is devoid of personality. Being the side project of Obscura’s Steffen Kummerer, it is hardly surprising that technicality has taken preference that leaves the record lacking.

Fans of the band will already know what to expect from the album. The songs follow a similar style to their previous work and this album is no departure from this. Ascension Lost remains enjoyable boasting impressive riffs and drumming, but is also distinctly unmemorable. As the title suggests, Thulcandra haven’t ascended to any level of brilliance with this record and until they break from their Dissection homage, are unlikely to any time soon.

 

4.0/10

Thulcandra on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Obscura In Pre-Production For New Album, Seeking Help For Interactive Project

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Obscura vocalist/guitarist Steffen Kummerer posted an update on their progress on their new album:

Obscura is working hard on the follow up to 2011’s “Omnivium”. The band is already in pre-production process and starts tracking demos for the new record. We are all pleased with the new material which pairs songwriting, technicality and arrangments of the last albums with creative input of Linus Klausenitzer, Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger and Sebastian Lanser, while keeping our trademark prog riffing across fusion and death metal that makes Obscura sound unique.
While working on Obscura’s fourth, yet untitled, record we just initiated an interactive project we need your help for. We are looking for all kinds of photos, videos, graphics, flyers and tour posters since the very beginning in 2002. If you have any footage you would like to share and be part of the band’s project, please get in touch via contact@realmofobscura.com.

Especially videos of our shows in Japan, South East Asia, Mexico, Europe and North America would be appreciated. If you made pictures with the band members after a concert or just made a few shots during a show, feel free to send an email to the band. Everyone contributing will be mentioned in the final credits.
Sincerely,
Steffen Kummerer


Alkaloid Crowdfunding New Album

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German extreme metallers Alkaloid (featuring current and former members of Necrophagist, Obscura, Spawn of Possession, Aborted, Dark Fortress, God Dethroned, Blotted Science and Noneuclid) have launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to fund their debut album The Malkuth Grimoire.

Besides CDs, downloads and T-Shirts, the band is offering perks which include personal items, equipment of current and previous recordings plus the offer to do session work for a contributor’s own project. The campaign is running for 60 days, in which the intended amount of 12,500 euros will be raised. Fan’s can contribute to the project HERE.

Check out “Carbon Phases”, along with an album teaser here.

Drummer Hannes Grossmann (Blotted Science, Ex¬-Obscura, Ex¬-Necrophagist) commented on the campaign:

“Even though all of us have worked with record labels for years, we’re not going to work with a label this time. Labels just expect music that you can label! However, the music of Alkaloid is very diverse and sometimes radically new. We are music lovers ourselves and write music for other people who love music. And to keep it as simple as that, we’d like to connect with these people as directly as possible. Crowdfunding is the perfect instrument to do that.”

Describing the band’s music, singer Morean states:

“One thing that has been clear since the beginning is that there will always be more than one element present. We define this band through the field of tension created between opposites. All of us are active death metal musicians who nevertheless all have a much broader view of music than blastbeats and growls. We can try to establish from the beginning that we have many faces, and that oscillating between (seemingly) contrary or mutually exclusive styles is a factor.”

Alakaloid is:

Morean (Dark Fortress, Noneuclid) – ¬Vocals, Guitars
Christian Muenzner (Spawn of Possession, Ex¬-Obscura, Ex¬-Necrophagist) ¬- Guitars
Danny Tunker (Aborted, Ex¬-God Dethroned) ¬- Guitars
Linus Klausenitzer (Obscura, Noneuclid) ¬- Bass
Hannes Grossmann (Blotted Science, Ex¬-Obscura, Ex¬-Necrophagist) -¬ Drums

 


Blastfest is this week in Norway!

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Blastfest, the newest and best European metal festival of the Winter 2014 is this week! Held over three days with 36 killers bands on five different stages, Blastfest promises to be an annual tradition of excellence. Ghost Cult Magazine will be on hand to cover the event. Fielding such luminaries from all walks of metal such as Hypocrisy, My Dying Bride, Vader, Triptykon, Marduk, Tiamat, Carpathian Forrest, Aborted, Aura Noir, Wardruna, Shining (SE), Belphagor, Annal Nakrath, Swallow The Sun, Sahg, Obscura, and many more, it should be an amazing show. In addition to the music, there are exhibts and special events all weekend long, making this a unique experience compared with other festivals. Held in Bergen Norway, the main venue USF Verftet is based right at the dock by the city fjord, and second venue Garage is in the heart of town. Bergen is the second biggest city in Norway and counts 250,000 people. The 3-Day passes are all sold-out, but there are plenty of great deals on tickets still left for all three days. Tickets can be purchased via the festival website below. Also keep up to date with the festival on Facebook.

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Buy tickets now!

The Blastfest website

Blastfest on Facebook


Death To All/Exhumed Live @ The Palladium, Worcester MA

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Death To All 1Over a decade after Chuck Schuldiner‘s untimely demise by cancer of the brain stem following a long and expensive medical battle, fans worldwide were certainly pleased to hear that past members of the highly influential group would be banding together to reactivate the long dead crew in select cities. The 2012 tour saw some enormous fiscal controversy, what with money being mismanaged, the scope of the tour being underestimated, and of course, the charity aspect making any and all profit almost non-existent to begin with. Not to mention the lack of Chuck Schuldiner himself, due to being inhumed, and the last-minute nature of adding Exhumed‘s Matt Harvey in place of Obscura‘s Stephen Kummerer. It was destined to fail from the beginning, and reviving Death was a huge mistake.Continue reading →