A lot has happened in the career of Italian progressive / power metal band Athena since their original breakup in 2002. Most evident has been the solid productivity and elevated status of singer Fabio Lione through his work in Rhapsody, Vision Divine, Angra, and a boatload of other guest singing, project, or live performance outings. Coming back in 2019 with vocalist Giacomo Boschetto, he would leave in 2022 – allowing Fabio to return. Renamed Athena XIX, the quintet has released their first album in 23 years for Everflow Part 1: Frames of Humanity – a 13-track effort that showcases a tightly driven look into the band’s sophisticated blend of virtuoso progressive metal musicianship mechanics while focusing on shorter, compact arrangements that can be easier to digest or retain.
Immediately waves of stunted guitar/drum interplay give way to softer keyboard / vocal passages on the “Frames of Humanity” opener – Fabio carefully crafting his melodies in mesmerizing shades of happiness, sadness, and confidence to match the musical dynamic shifts. At other points EDM aspects filter in, while previous chord progressions gain additional exploration briefly in subsequent tracks – tying things together conceptually to keep listeners ears perked up. The juxtaposition of circular sequences next to propulsive progressive parts ensures deeper dives to process all the information present. Bassist Alessio Sabella and drummer Matteo Amoroso jump start “The Day We Obscured the Sun” in a morse code-ish tandem off-time underpinning, once again encouraging further left-field mysterious vocal melodies and smoother organ / guitar parts that make this an early favorite. When all five musicians come together in faster bursts, the results can be equally breathtaking much like early Dream Theater, Symphony X, or Evergrey as “The Seed” exemplifies – while modern overtones next to a commercially-infused chorus makes “The Calm Before the Storm” a comforting instant appealer.
Progressive artists these days take in numerous outside influences to generate sounds that expand horizons into what musicians can execute. Mini-gallops or staccato-like guitar squeals next to semi-classical piano play, snare / fill hits that groove one measure, then hit on off-time sequences – that’s what you’ll get on “Where Innocence Disappears”, all at a tidy 4:31 time frame. Fabio’s harmonization capabilities also carry the semi-ballad “Inception”, his soothing lower register present in the verses that rise to upper glory in the chorus. And for those who like guest appearances, you can never go wrong with ex-Kamelot singer Roy Khan as a partner on “I Wish” – the unison guitar/keyboard parts very connective as the back-and-forth vocals unfold in masterclass resonance.
Athena XIX may have been more of a mid-tier progressive metal outfit during the late 90s/early 2000s in their first incarnation, but this second chance could provide them with a bigger platform of appeal. Everflow Part 1: Frames of Humanity contains a stirring sense of collaboration to reach a multitude of listeners, from those into the origins of this style all the way through newcomers – and that’s not easy to achieve. It’s clearly evident that the time away hasn’t diminished creative prowess or execution – channeling a stirring effort that will leave listeners thirsting for future records in this series.
Translated as ‘bards’ in English from the Greek language, Aoidos is a quintet from Portugal that formed in late 2019, fusing together an interesting blend of groove-laden blackened death metal on their first studio album Oizys. With influences running the spectrum from Gojira and Behemoth to Watain and Children of Bodom, the band also take inspiration from the struggles of personal experience in their lyrics. Mental health issues surviving a toxic relationship, wildfires that took place in their home country, even Warhammer 40,000 plays a part in matching the vivid musical compositions with equally intoxicating themes. We recently caught up with guitarist/vocalist Freitanás and bassist EkID to learn more about their musical background, the songwriting process behind the band, how the band is live versus what we hear on record, thoughts on the metal landscape, as well as future plans.
Dead Rhetoric: What were some of your earliest memories surrounding music growing up in childhood? At what point did you experience heavier forms of music – and eventually the desire to pick up an instrument and perform in bands?
Freitanás: The earliest memories I have of hearing music is in my home. My mom used to play a lot of rock records, like Aerosmith, and she always had the desire to play the guitar herself, but never got the chance to. She didn’t have the drive to do it, so she kept it in the back of her mind. At first, I didn’t actually like it, I was a kid – I didn’t have a good teacher at first on guitar. The first teacher I got would tell me to do this, then go outside for half an hour. I had half an hour of doing nothing, so maybe it wasn’t for me. Then the metal arrived in my life when I was twelve years old. It came in the form of Metallica – at the time I listened to Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, and System of a Down. Those were my four big bands, and a friend of mine introduced me to Slayer – so I found out there could be heavier things. At that point, I started again with guitar lessons, and I wanted to do it. Even if it was just to write some of my own stuff.
The focus has always been, and even with us now as a band, to make our songs and show them to the world, not be in it for money or the fame. We wouldn’t be playing this style of music if we were in it for that.
EkID: It was Metallica for me. I was never born into a music family. One day I was pissing drunk, and a cousin showed me a show from Metallica in 2004. It was love at first sight. At first, I wanted to play guitar, but then I found out what my true instrument was, and it was the bass.
Dead Rhetoric: How did the formation of Aoidos take place in late 2019? Were you familiar with each other in the local music scene, and did you know straight away the style of blackened death metal you wanted to develop, or was it a natural feeling out process to arrive at the sound you have?
Freitanás: We knew each other already. At first, I didn’t start it with EkID. There is a scene in our town, but it isn’t very big. You will know everyone from attending one or two shows, you get to know everyone. I started playing stoner rock with the drummer. Then we got into metal – I was a thrash metal aficionado for a long time. Then I got into black metal. I decided I wanted to play black metal. In the end, EkID joined us because even though I was into black metal at the time, my roots are always in rhythmic, groovy songs. Gojira is one of the greats for me, and I take a lot of inspiration from their guitar work. Although I started as a black metal band, I take some inspiration from other sounds. When Ivo the other guitar player joined, the black metal aspect got bigger because he is the real black metal guy. He wants us to inject the tremolo melodies for ambiance, and I want more of the rhythmic stuff.
Dead Rhetoric: Oizys is the group’s debut full-length album. How do you feel about the songwriting and recording process with this set of material? What challenges, obstacles, or surprises came up during the development and how do you feel about this record at this point?
Freitanás: This record has been a long time coming. The most recent song is almost two years old. With all the lineup changes, we started in 2019 with me and Victor, the drummer. Then EkID joined us in 2020, and we started as a trio, but we never got to play live. We just did a live recording, a live session, but not a show. Then COVID struck hard, and we were without a drummer. We decided to do a project to see where it goes. I started to write more songs because I grew tired of all my older songs, I have a lot of ideas. I started playing guitar fifteen years ago, and I started writing songs fourteen years ago. Writing is my thing, my jam.
Joining forces with EkID new stuff came. Then Ivo joined, we got a new drummer with Pedro – and Pedro is more of a grunge and progressive metal guy. His approach to the songs was really different, and I wanted to give him the freedom to do more of what he likes. These songs, although the oldest are five years old, it has so many changes and differences. We have a pianist as well Erlkönig, she brought all these classical influences in as well, she’s a teacher. It really morphed the sound into something different. I mixed the record as well, so I’m tired of it (laughs). I took the time to clean my plate. I’ve been away from it for two months, and I listened to the album a week ago and I still like it.
EkID: The biggest challenge was in the songwriting. We recorded the whole thing five times probably, each song.
Freitanás: Always something new to add. When you sit on something for too long – one of my greatest inspirations is Devin Townsend, and he talks about this as well – you grow tired of it. So, you change it, this could use a new lead, a choir, or whatever. You are constantly changing things, and it never ends – it never is finished. You want to move on, but it’s a complete hurricane of emotions. It’s off to the races.
Dead Rhetoric: Considering some of these songs are over five years old, which song do you think took on the greatest transformation from the original idea to what we hear on the record?
EkID: “From the Surface Grate”.
Freitanás: Yeah. Originally when I wrote the song it was at 120 BPM. It went to a 100, and now it’s 140 BPM. It is really different. It was ten minutes, and I cut a really big chunk of it. When we play it live, I remember the lyrics that I cut sometimes. And also “Black Swan” as well. But not the recording of the single, as it was already like that. The first recording was called “Anger” at the time. I salvaged one riff from that idea, and I built “Black Swan” around it. Even that riff is gone – it’s in the single that came out last year. Now it isn’t even there, it doesn’t work.
Dead Rhetoric: You draw from personal experiences as well as ancient Greek mythology for much of the subject matter in terms of the lyrical topics. Do you draw any parallels from both that work perfectly to match the diversity present within the music to capture the best atmosphere?
Freitanás: I think the most important thing in the music for me is the storytelling of an idea. Making the song for the act of it – the song must have a message. That’s why how I came across the figure of the bard Aoidos, it’s from Greece – it’s like lightning in the bottle. It made sense to continue getting some ideas from mythology, Greek mythology has lots and lots of Gods. I found out they had one even for anxiety and depression – yes, of course! My girlfriend has always battled a lot with anxiety and depression, and at the time of COVID when most of the songs were written, it was the thing going on at the time in our lives. It made sense, most of the songs are about things she went through. It’s her experience through her eyes, how she dealt with trauma.
I started with the storytelling part of it, then EkID took it and went to the next level.
EkID: I am a big wrestling guy. Most of my inspiration comes from the old school WWF at the time. We have some stuff that I write from there. We are a bit chaotic. We take less inspiration from metal and more from everything else. Metal is our smallest inspiration.
Freitanás: Metal is our tool. Our way of showing things. We love storytelling a lot.
Dead Rhetoric: Sofya Alves did the cover art for Oizys. What was the process like developing what we see as the final product – do you still see the importance and significance of strong cover art to draw people into the band in today’s modern scene?
Freitanás: Sofya Alves is actually my sister and cover artist as well. I had the idea to have her do a full -size painting. I wanted to unite all the things that we had done up until this point. What you see on the cover is Oizys the goddess where her heart is open, then there are parts of the first single we produced. At the right side you have the trees from the fire, the cover of that single. At the left is the black swan from our third single. Then we have up top the face of the crow for the trauma. A little angel as well. To take all those isolated steps throughout our career, mix it all, and try to give a full picture of where we are right now. I did a little sketch for her in Photoshop – I can’t really draw, at all. I sent it to her; she had a sketch in two days.
Cover art is really important. We have a saying in Portuguese that we say – we eat with our eyes. I think that cover art in this day and age, it’s important. If cover art has the power to capture your attention, it’s really as important as the music itself. If the first glimpse is interesting, you are probably going to want to check out the music.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe Aoidos when it comes to your live performances versus what people hear and experience on record? What have been some of the more memorable shows or festival appearances for the group so far in your career?
EkID: Good memorable or bad memorable? (laughs). Bad memorable – we played in Spain for five people. Two of them were staff from the venue, and the other three were from the other band.
Freitanás: It was the first show on the tour. Still memorable. We have a mindset that if you want to hear our songs like they are on the album, play the album. Pedro the drummer, he sticks mostly to what he does, but other songs he has already changed live, and we weren’t going to go in and re-record things. He changes it, we have some breaks and moments of silence between the songs that work well in a live performance that aren’t on the album. These are two different artforms. At first when they started recording music, it was to capture the live sound. Then it inverted, trying to replicate the other way around. I had a moment in time where I said I can’t do this – because I won’t be able to replicate it. When I took a course in studio engineering, my friends said you have to paint the best picture you can. And then you do another thing, the presentation of it. It’s like sending a picture to a gallery, then you have the presentation to show it to the people. That’s the live show.
We try to be charismatic and talk to people. We are not the looking at ourselves as a black metal kind of band. I joke a lot, when I speak, I do jokes, mostly Dad jokes. We take the band seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. It gets to a point where you are too serious about being brutal and metal, and it gets a little goofy. We are not goofy, but we are a little comedic. Our guitarist Ivo is like – you can’t smile for pictures; we have to be serious. But we like to hang out together, so we are smiling because we are happy.
The first show was cool, the birth of a baby. We played as a trio, with one guitar. I knew that we needed a second guitarist after that. At the second show, we added a second guitarist. The train was running. Our first live open-air festival, we had a crowd-surfer. That was a good accomplishment for us.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the state of the heavy metal scene on a local versus global level? What do you enjoy most about the movement, and what changes (if any) would you like to make for the greater good of all parties involved?
EkID: Quality-wise, it’s probably great. Our bands are awesome. Being good is not enough. The metal scene, it’s almost like a grind. We don’t have any support here. There’s no tv time, no radio time. We have bands that tour the globe, but nobody in Portugal knows them because they play metal. It would be a nice change, a little bit of help.
Freitanás: You have one radio show that has been alive from the 90s. It goes on at one in the morning, really late. If you are not up at that time, you miss it. We have loads of gigs and shows happening. There are five other shows that are going on the same night as when we want to do our album release show. The quantity of shows is up there. Most of the time, you can’t even cover the costs for the gigs. Some don’t even give you food. You pay to play. On the pop side, indie rock genres, there is a little more money for them, but not that much as well. For metal, it’s like fifty Euros – we are like, eh? Most bands will say yes. The promoters, most of the promoters have bands as well. And sometimes the ones that have bands seem to be the worst. They want us to play for twenty dollars. Would you play for twenty dollars? A little more money for the bands – please!
Dead Rhetoric: Where would you like to see Aoidos over the next three to five years as far as establishing yourselves in the music scene? Do you have short term and long-term goals you’d like to achieve, or bucket list items to check off?
Freitanás: First, a European tour would be awesome. We are working on it, with the contacts. We were trying to book one last year, but we didn’t have the album out yet. Going to America would be awesome as well. It’s the thing everyone wants to do. Financially speaking, the idea is always to have the band pay for itself. We don’t think we are ever going to be able to do this as a full-time job – if it comes, it comes. We would be happy for it, of course. But we do this to express ourselves, and I want all of us to be involved in the process of writing and developing the band. So, everyone will be happy participating in it. A lot of bands focus on getting bigger and getting bigger faster. But they forget that they are a group of people trying to be together, trying to do something together.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s next on the agenda for Aoidos over the next twelve months to promote the album?
Frietanás: We will start promoting the record locally. We have two shows booked right now. These are the first of this album cycle. We are planning a tour of Portugal and Spain for next year. From there, the world, I guess. We will try to do things piece by piece. Start locally, start creating a community. People know us already, before having an album that’s pretty cool. It’s our main focus right now, to expand things outwards.
An Italian-Swiss combination progressive metal unit, Virtual Symmetry continue to amaze through their stellar compositions plus fluid musicianship abilities. Consistently following this group from their second studio album release Exoverse in 2020, the pandemic hasn’t slowed down any productivity as they now issue their fourth full-length for Veils of Illumination. They’ve chosen to execute an interesting promotional strategy – the physical release appearing now, but trickling out digital singles for the record monthly until May 2025. Whatever the reasons, it does not diminish the quality songwriting and performances contained within these eight tracks.
Two new members join the ranks in the period between records – keyboardist Ruben Paganelli and drummer Andrea Gianangeli, the latter with previous experience in David Reece’s solo band. The five-piece continually challenge themselves (and the listeners) through the tightly driven measures that can be bombastic in musicianship interplay one moment, then highly melodic or serene the next – yet make both sides of the coin work in the same song. Opener “Heart’s Resonance” achieves both elements right away, the Dream Theater-esque keyboard work allowing the subsequent adventurous to aggressive guitar parts more driving power – all the while encouraging Marco Pastorino’s alluring vocal range to widen the colors available in his emotional tones even further. Cinematic sections sit next to progressive passages, occasionally using more of an Evergrey or Symphony X-like down-tuned guitar texture that appeases dynamically, as “Blades of Inner Battles” illustrates. The left field distant screams beyond the prolific guitar/keyboard instrumental break angles add thrills to this almost nine-minute-long arrangement. At times you can almost close your eyes to envision magnificent, outer universe splendor – a song like “Echoes of Silence” shines through a series of jazzy meets progressive runs next to tamer verses, Ruben’s orchestration and keyboard layers rising to the peaks necessary especially on the back half of the song.
As customary for Virtual Symmetry, the band love to deliver a true ‘epic’ song in their progressive metal framework – that’s what you’ll get to conclude the record for “Eightfold Path”. At almost twenty-one minutes, there’s so much information to process between the slower, marching instrumental start with pitch-bending keyboard solo work on through to graceful guitar play, as well as tight rhythm section mechanics which shift tempos at the greatest of ease. The male/female tradeoff vocals provide dramatic tension, bassist Alessandro Poppale given minor spotlights while the instrumental passage midway through pushes all instrumentalists to their neoclassical, progressive proclivities – it’s the type of song that ardent followers of this style treasure.
With mixing and mastering under the proper hands/mind of Simone Mularoni (DGM), Virtual Symmetry recently gained a great opportunity to tour Europe with Evergrey to hopefully acquire larger followers to their ways. Veils of Illumination deserves plenty of investment, especially for those who love the classic progressive metal framework taken to the next level in a format that can appeal not just to the schooled musicians but a broader audience.
Here’s a group in Mavorim I knew very little of until their current (fifth) album fell into my lap. In Ominia Paratus is the German duo’s latest effort for a band active over a decade and I can only think, ‘how fitting!’. This is the stuff black metal is made for, if you ask me (not that anyone would). So, let’s dig in.
Right away I was all about “Zerfall” which really got the ol’ clarin pumpin’. You follow that with the fourth track “Tu’ ich meine Augen zu” and you’ve got a recipe for success! It also doesn’t hurt that this song clocks in at nearly eight minutes. I love epic tracks, and that’s not changing soon. “Stählerne Reihen” was my other favorite because it just goes from hell to an appetizing breakfast as it stops seemingly on a dime. Baptist (voices, strings, keys) and Valfor (drums, voices) really hit their stride on this number, indicating violence is imminent.
“Ein fahles Ross” sounds very much like a rallying cry, in which case I say, ‘Sign me up!’. About halfway through it takes on a faster, heavier, more sinister tone and I am here for it! “Aller Abart Gloria” bashes you over the head (in a good way) while you beg for more. My next favorite was the killer track “Träume” with its cold darkness and vibes similar to veterans Immortal. That’s not a slight because they are one of my favorites in the genre. Look, all told I loved this record. In Ominia Paratus will be out soon and it would behoove you to snag a copy, so go and do so, hey?
We’re back! This year was both quick and long for many reasons. Personally, we dealt with two catastrophic hurricanes that displaced us for close to a month – what we get for living in the Florida hellscape – a huge move, the trashbag of an election, amongst other bits of madness. We’re also planning another move that will hopefully happen in 2025 while trying to sell our old house.
Our ever growing fuzzy family also grew by two cats. One who was found by a good friend, whose family owns a catering company, hiding out in the engine of their business’ van. Our friend wasn’t able to keep him, so we gladly gave the little orange nutball a home. His name is Dougal (Father Ted inspiration completely, due to the whole orange cat shared brain cell thing), and he actually went viral for a moment when the wife caught him on video running into a running shower – not a normal thing for a cat! Our other and most recent kitty was found with her littermates abandoned behind a Wendy’s. A wonderful local rescue took them in and took amazing care of them, and we gave this little one – pictured with me above – a home. Her name is Mabel – named after Mabel Pines from the incredible Gravity Falls – and she’s a spicy little piece of cornbread. I don’t know what I’d do without all of them, and they enrich our lives every day. Our two horses Naru and Mystik are doing great, too. I regretfully forgot to mention them last year, so we must right that wrong!
All the thanks to the DR crew – especially the tireless Matt Coe, and the awesome Katarina McGinn – who got engaged this year, congrats! – as well as the mighty Gehlke, who are the rocks of this site. It was a great year for us, with a spiffy new redesign, and a lot of phenomenal artists covered. Some of my favorite moments this year in music were the couple of interviews that I was able to conduct – Eternal Storm and Resin Tomb both were talks that were a ton of fun and interesting.
We covered a number of shows, including the 2024 Decibel Magazine tour, Powerwolf’s return to North America, and the unreal King Diamond St. Lucifer’s Hospital tour, and a few others. We hope to cover more in the coming year, including possibly a festival or two, if things go our way! Huge shout out to the wife Brittany Barkasi for her incredible live photography for many of our live show reviews!
When it comes down to an end of year wrap-up, it’s been a full calendar of incredible releases. Throughout, we took in everything we can, and as it’s surely evident, we aren’t casual in our music consumption. Investing the proper time to take in an album is important in judging it fairly, and everything we talk about here are works that we took in many, many times to fully understand and appreciate the breadth of the art we’re diving into. Even the stuff that wasn’t particularly favorable!
With that said, we’re not going the traditional route this time around. Usually, it’s a more traditional list, with a few other things tossed in there for good fun. Instead, we’re going to go with a few different categorizations and give a brief listing of what ranked highest. Think of it as an awards ceremony of sorts, but with zero fanfare, and about seven people giving a shit about it. Yeah, seven. If you want to read a more traditional listing from me, check out my feature on No Clean Singing.
A rule for this: no repeat winners/nominations for music-based awards. That means if a band is in one category, they can’t be in another. However, they can win, say, best album artwork and best *insert category here* album. Confusing? Probably. We simply want to spread the love to as many as we can and not allow any one band be too dominant!
As such, there isn’t a sort of real physical trophy that we have to hand out, or anything of that nature. That said, we’re going to borrow a fake award from one of the greatest television shows ever invented – Father Ted. Some of you may not know what in the hell that is, and if you don’t, you can find most – if not all – of the episodes on YouTube. It’s a 90s show about three Irish Catholic priests who are all relegated by the church to an island that’s a backwater dump due to various ridiculous reasons. This is fittingly the Christmas episode, where Ted wins a Golden Cleric award, and delivers an egregiously long speech calling out people that “really fecked me over down the years.” It’s abrasive, edgy, and full of angst – perfect for our little ceremony!
Or something! Of course, we jest, and without further fanfare or rambling, we present to you…my super serious, top favorite music stuff of 2024.
Chillingly dark albums of 2024:
The realm of black metal is where these ears spend a fair amount of their listening time, as you can see by the list of recommendations below. It’s become such a diverse genre, with a wide array of sounds to pick from, of which most have more than a few standouts. However, there can be only one.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Aara – Eiger
One of the top creative forces in black metal, Berg’s flagship project always is steeped in story, with Eiger being based on the mountain of the same name in Switzerland, and the climbing disaster that occurred in 1936 that led to the deaths of four climbers. In typical Aara fashion, it’s a blizzard of sharp black metal prowess with a healthy dose of nuance and atmosphere. Eiger feels cold when listening to it, helping to push the story forward.
Runners-up:
Vorga – Beyond the Palest Star: Sci-fi black metal with plenty of texture. They’ve expanded their sound, and are all the sharper for it.
Gaerea – Coma: Post-black metal; this album being a bit more on its own island compared to previous efforts, without losing what makes Gaerea click.
Sun Worship – Upon the Hills of Divination: Virulent and passionate with plenty of raw exuberance, adding a few new elements in comparison to their previous recordings.
Beenkerver – De rode weduwe: A revenge tale about a character named Sophia, aka the Red Widow, who is murdered for witchcraft accusations and takes her retribution, chronicled by an aggressive black metal assault.
Death metal is another categorization that’s overflowing with varying approaches, and one that is a go-to for my daily listening. Twas a great year for this genre, with an originator leading the pack.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Ulcerate – Cutting the Throat of God
I dove deeply into the latest from Ulcerate; the band that took dissonant, discordant death metal and moved it into a gnarled, darker direction. Their latest delves further into atmospheric, suffocating soundscapes, as they continue to innovate and blaze their own path.
Mitochondrion – Vitriseptome: Grotesque and fascinating, these Canadians had a long hiatus between full-lengths, and dare we say, the 13 year wait was worth it.
Sacrificial Vein – Black Terror Genesis: One half cavernous and incongruous, the other half whatever the hell they want, this represents death metal done on their own terms.
Crawl – Altar of Disgust: Crusty death metal without the train hopping, these Swedes chainsaw their way forth with their most virulent release yet.
Phenocryst – Cremation Pyre: A “phenocryst” is a crystal within igneous rock, sometimes formed in magma from a volcano. Fitting for a death metal band who sings about…volcanoes, who are just as fiery and forceful as their subject matter.
Doom as a genre had an interesting year. There wasn’t as high of a volume of top tier releases in the genre this year as the past few, however, the standout releases that we’ve gotten have been incredibly impactful and are amongst the best examples of the slow and mournful sound that these ears are drawn to.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Hamferð – Men Guðs hond er sterk
When a historical event is the subject of a record, my interest is piqued. Hamferð took it deeper, utilizing their native Faroese lore – a 1915 whaling incident in Sandvík where 14 people perished that’s deeply ingrained in the town’s population. The soundtrack is a smothering, intimate affair that will tug at one’s heartstrings hard. Beautiful and memorable.
Runners-up:
Crypt Sermon – The Stygian Rose: The Philadelphia doom merchants crafted their most sharply written record in a career of the highest of quality, bolstered by individual performances that are among the best that any member has done yet.
Lowen – Do Not Go to War with the Demons of Mazandaran: Stunning and ambitious, Lowen took me by surprise with their creativity, usage of middle middle eastern sounds and themes, gargantuan riffs, and the incredible voice of Nina Saeidi. There’s no other that sounds like Lowen.
Officium Triste – Hortus Venenum: Having been at it since 1994, the melodic yet harsh atmospheres by the Dutch ensemble continue to be a leader. Gobs of soulfulness and sorrow abound.
Endonomos – Endonomos II – Enlightenment: Newer to the scene, Endonomos’ impact on it is unquestionable. Their latest is a downtrodden, tightly weaved trek that’ll leave one breathless.
Tzompantli – Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force: Leaning heavily towards the death side of the death/doom balancing act, the authentic Aztec-inspired Tzompantli delivered what is not only the heaviest doom release that these ears listened to in 2024, but also one that’s truly one of a kind.
Blóð – Mara: Hypnotic, devastating, and filled with equal parts muck and haunting aura, Mara is a harsh and monstrous record highlighted by vocalist Anna W.’s extreme versatility.
Ghostheart Nebula – Blackshift: Spacey, vast, and ambient, Ghostheart Nebula’s latest is a complex and despair-filled journey.
Helevorn – Espectres: Gothic doom from Spain that has never led us astray, Espectres is a melancholic, bleak, and weighty piece that’ll stick with you.
Oryx – Primordial Sky: Parts drone, sludge, doom, and death, Oryx have conjured a leviathan that’ll stomp craters into the Earth.
Harmoniously melodically crushing albums of 2024:
Melodic death metal, my entry point to extreme metal many years ago, and the primary reason you’re dealing with my nonsense in this capacity. Plenty to wax poetic about in 2024, with a string of adept releases to celebrate.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Night in Gales – Shadowreaper
The million dollar/euro/sterling/whatever question: will this guy ever shut up about Night in Gales? The answer is unequivocally, no. Their historical significance and grasp on the best elements of melodeath continue to age like the finest spirits, and their hot streak continues via the darker and infectiousShadowreaper.
Runners-up:
Iotunn – Kinship: The second Jón Aldará band represented here, with good reason. Iotunn no doubt went more progressive and soaring with Kinship, with a well-fleshed out concept and songs that strike a chord in their own magical way.
Nyktophobia – To the Stars: Overflowing with rich landscapes and detailed compositions, the German’s ascended to new heights with this sharp, well-composed record.
Dark Tranquillity – Endtime Signals: Their legendary reputation precedes, and this release is the band’s most engaging in years from the model for consistency in this realm.
Withering Surface – Exit Plan: Similar to Night in Gales in the category of not having nearly enough respect given to their name, and have released two exemplary albums since re-forming – the latest Exit Plan embraces both the classic and the contemporary.
Dark Oath – Ages of Man: Epic melodeath has ironically become a somewhat blaise approach, but Dark Oath breathes plenty of life with a truly original concept and momentous songwriting. More of this, please.
Andy Gillion – Exilium: The prolific ex-Mors Principium Est songwriter/axeman extraordinaire has been a busy bee, releasing the metal-meets-synthwave Arcade Metal, and now this year with the shredding Exilium; a fierce example of guitar-driven melodic death that’s an utter joy to take in.
Majestically, mind-bendingly soaring albums of 2024:
I have an interesting relationship with power/prog. One of my absolute favorite festivals is ProgPower USA, who puts on one of the best events year upon year filled with exciting, forward-thinking artists. When it comes to new releases in these realms, it’s been a solid year, with some incredible records to make us ponder, though the numbers that really hit the mark for yours truly weren’t overwhelming, there are bonafide gems to be uncovered.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Caligula’s Horse – Charcoal Grace
Simply put, no album this year was more heartfelt and affected me personally more than the latest album by Caligula’s Horse. We’ve had plenty to say about this career-defining opus, so we implore you to dive deeply into this beautiful piece of aural artistry.
Runners-up:
VOLA – Friend of a Phantom: Witness was near-impossible to follow, and while it remains as the band’s seminal album for now to these ears, Friend of a Phantom took some creative risks that paid off, showing VOLA as a band that doesn’t stand still and will always have that knack for big hooks and effusive melody.
Fellowship – The Skies Above Eternity: If there was ever a band who sounded like an animated Disney classic soundtrack (they did cover a song from The Lion King, and it was wonderful) with the sweetness of maple syrup, it’s certainly Fellowship. There’s plenty of depth there, however, with The Skies Above Eternity showcasing a band who has assuredly grown substantially, but are still the most exciting and incredibly fun band in power metal.
Orden Ogan – The Order of Fear: No band embodies the spirit of Blind Guardian – other than the actual band, of course – while carving their own niche like Orden Ogan has. The Order of Fear is undeniable, proving the band’s ascent is in line with the ever increasing quality of their music.
In Vain – Solemn: Ænigma stands as an all-timer for progressive black/death metal, and while Currents had its moments, it had an impossible task to take on. Solemn stands as the strongest effort that the band has had since said classic, and it’s a creative force that will take the listener on a harrowing trip.
Powerwolf – Wake Up the Wicked: It’s a Powerwolf album, so we know what we’re getting, and it’s a howling blast of glorious blasphemy that’s catchy, tongue-in-cheek, and bombastic as hell. Don’t think too deeply about this one and have some fun!
Evergrey – Theories of Emptiness: The preeminent progressive metal band for many, their discography certainty backs up that claim, with Theories of Emptiness boasting a creative verve that has many miles left on the odometer.
Anciients – Beyond the Reach of the Sun: Vancouver’s Anciients sort of vanished for eight years, and we were ecstatic to see their triumphant return via Beyond the Reach of the Sun. Evidently a great album was definitely not beyond reach; it’s like they never left, and they’ve gifted us their most complex record thus far. Don’t make us wait another eight years again, please!
Violently heavy albums of 2024:
This category doesn’t have a genre attachment. The only requirement is visceral, unmitigated sonic violence. Many bands got the memo, so for those who wish to be smashed and bruised, it’s been your year.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Resin Tomb – Cerebral Purgatory
Sludgy death/grind that’s untamable and damn near impossible to stop spinning. The most aggressive Tim Tam slam you’ll ever experience.
Runners-up:
Kvadrat – The Horrible Dissonance of Oblivion: Solo black-death by the jack-of-all-trades Ivan Agakechagias that will suck you into a vacuum of hopeless bleakness. Fans of all things dissonant must check this out.
Alta Rossa – A Defiant Cure: Blackened sludge infused with hardcore’s fervent nature, France’s Alta Rossa is a thinking-person’s brand of destructive endeavor, with a smidgeon of hope shining out amongst the darkness.
Still – A Theft: You want a fierce audible explosion, you listen to Still. Post-sludge with much to say, done so in a voice overflowing with primal angst.
Spectral Voice – Sparagmos: Blood Incantation may be getting all of the headlines, but for me, the gem that three of those dudes released this year – along with Black Curse drummer Eli Wendler – is the droning cloud of death/doom known as Spectral Voice and their latest Sparagmos. Their lights out (literally) show at Maryland Deathfest of this album was also all sorts of nuts.
Ancst – Culture of Brutality: Blackened crust with attitude, this is some heavier than heavy, antagonistic stuff that sticks the landing.
Ataraxie – Le déclin: Bar none, the weightiest and most vehement funeral doom (laced with a huge dosage of death metal) that’ll be uncovered this year, or really, most years.
Aberration – Refracture: Death/black with a gnarled twist, Refracture is a grimy, thick wall of pure discordance.
Wormed – Omegon: Their reputation for mind-mashing brutal/tech death precedes them, and this stands up as one of the most in-depth, slamming machinations the Wormed fellows have forged.
Apes – Penitence: Black/grind that’s dark and will tear your face off. Sign us up.
Nekus – Death Apophenia: Cavernous, bleak black/death/doom mashup that’s focused and savage to an immeasurable scale.
Soul-shredding emotive albums of 2024:
This category is reserved for albums that touched the heart in profound ways. You’ll find a fine mixture of tearjerkers below.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Vægtløs – Aftryk
Poetic and heartbreaking, Danish post-black group Vægtløs is the most personal record that we’ve taken in, dealing with the many struggles that vocalist Troels H. Sørensen has sadly experienced – specifically, excruciating loss and trials that he has endured, like his sister to cancer (the song a hopeful dedication to her daughter), the still raw loss of his father over 20 years ago, his aunt’s battle with alcoholism, and a close friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, but is still fighting. It’s a challenging album that’s exquisitely written, and taken musically, is amongst the most adept and pulsating post-black/hardcore records out there.
Runners-up:
Pillar of Light – Caldera: Wildly heavy and burgeoning with downtrodden overtones in a post-doom wrapper that’s utterly unrelenting.
Counting Hours – The Wishing Tomb: A DR favorite over the years, the masters of melancholy have graced our senses with another powerful offering of dreary, reflective, and intoxicating. They’re the top draw for this style of melodic doom.
Dark Affliction – Five Stages of Grief: Atmospheric black metal swath with a heavy subject; the five stages of grief. Genuine and complex, Panagiotis Christias has created quite the brave work for us to immerse ourselves within.
Dawn Treader – Bloom & Decay: Post-blackgaze with an edge, Bloom & Decay is an alluring work that puts a light on all aspects of the human experience with a caring touch.
Weather Systems – Ocean Without a Shore: Once Anathema split in 2020, it left quite a void. Daniel Cavanagh returns after a long few years of personal struggle to bring us his solo project Weather Systems, which continues the Anathema style of proggy rock atmospheres with that singular touch I adore so deeply.
Fantabulous non-metal of 2024:
Yeah, we listen to music other than metal. Most of which is based in the vast ocean that is electronic music. We’ve covered a few things within this spectrum here in the past, and here’s the best stuff that we thoroughly enjoyed in 2024.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Gost – Prophecy
An originator of the darksynth sound, the seminal Gost has returned to his early roots with Prophecy, which is a punchy, visceral album that’s uncompromising and cathartic.
Runners-up:
The Anix – Voltage: One of the foremost creative forces in electronic music, The Anix evolves with every release. There’s plenty to unpack within this densely layered, forthright and trippy release that showcases a brilliant artist continuously innovating in their own space.
At 1980 – Forgot to Remember: Pure 80s, neon-soaked, sappy synthwave, and we love it so. Featuring one of the best vocalists on planet Earth in Josh Dally, this is a shining example of how mesmerizing the genre can be.
Dance with the Dead – Dark Matter EP: Dance with the Dead were one of – if not the first – band to so seamlessly combine synthwave with metal, and while they’ve been predominantly an instrumental act, their Dark Matter EP is filled with guest vocalists, seeing the band branch out with the expected catchy, fast-paced and delicious results.
Fury Weekend – Million Flares and Starlights: Belarus’ Ars Nikonov knows how to craft danceable synthwave tunes that are also pure earworms, and his latest Million Flares and Starlights is a furious (see what I did there?) album that doesn’t let up.
Dan Terminus – Gothic Engine: Another originator in the darker side of synth music, Dan Terminus simply never misses, with Gothic Engine being the most recent example of his impressive consistency.
Timecop1983 – Metropolis EP: Synthwave legend Jordy Leenaerts and his project Timecop1983 are of the most important artists in the style, and the new Metropolis EP is an all-instrumental effort that hits on all facets.
Red Lokust – Hope is the Last Refuge of the Dying: Aggrotech stalwarts Red Lokust have built their deepest, most forward-thinking record to date; a testament to the genre’s underground strength and staying power.
Surprisingly stunning release of 2024:
Shocks abound this year! The following albums took us by surprise in the best ways conceivable.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic
With the folks involved, this shouldn’t be a surprise, but the fact that they’ve created 90s era inspired gothic rock/metal that’s this potent certainly qualifies. Some of the most fun with a record that was had in 2024.
Runners-up:
Múr – Múr: Having first came across this band by accident via a YouTube video of a live performance, we’ve been waiting on a record from the enigmatic Múr, and the Icelandic ensemble delivered beyond any realistic expectation with a progressive wall of virulent sound that’s hard to label, but is spellbinding all the same.
Opeth – The Last Will and Testament: Sticking with the Father Ted theme, this meme personified the return of harsh vocals perfectly. Opeth’s most engaging – for yours truly, anyway – album in quite some time, and their first conceptual album since Still Life, this was a surprising and delightful record that has dragged me back into the Opeth world once more.
Reveals – Attachment, Destruction and Extinction: Though oddly in pre-order status on Bandcamp since May, Indonesian atmospheric black metallers Reveals have created a relentless, fascinating debut that’s totally worthy of a listen.
Vanessa Funke – Void: The multi-talented instrumentalist is a busy creator, with Void being her third solo effort, blending melodic death, black, gothic, and other styles together in a satisfyingly potent manner, resulting in an album that we re-revisited plenty.
Blighted Eye – Agony’s Bespoke: Progressive death metal merchants Blighted Eye took me out of the blue with Agony’s Bespoke; a blitz of a concept album that’s got more turns than a road deep in the mountains.
Creatively ambitious album of 2024:
These albums were the most creative, singular records of the year; whether musically, thematically, or just plain freaking odd, these all left an indelible mark.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Kanonenfieber – Die Urkatastrophe
To those wondering why this wasn’t in the black metal section, you can relax. Another album I reviewed in grisly detail, Kanonenfieber is a project unto themselves. A black/death work that’s momentous in stature, and met that moment with gusto.
Runners-up:
Veilburner – The Duality of Decapitation and Wisdom: Black metal that’s gloriously weird and out there, this conceptual release based around the number seven (number of songs, length of each song, etc.) is quite the wondrous trip.
Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean: This being more reserved in some ways, with plenty of breathing room throughout, the surreal avant-garde black metal horde of Schammasch have yet again dazzled like only they can.
Hail Spirit Noir – Fossil Gardens: The always offbeat and psychedelic black metal offerings of Greece’s Hail Spirit Noir triumphed once again with a dazzling album that’s a little heavier than other recent releases, but no less odd and supremely different.
Hauntologist – Hollow: Post-black/rock from members of MGLA that’s quite the experience; ghostly and irreverent.
Bedsore – Dreaming the Strife for Love: Jazzy, rife with organs and 70s psychedelic principles, Bedsore surprised us with their atmospheric death metal offerings of the most strange varieties. Yet, it works so well that it’s difficult to contemplate.
Sgàile – Traverse the Bealach: Based on a Scottish nomad’s fictitious travels in a post-apocalyptic world, this progressive work takes elements of pots-metal and many others to make a singular sound that morphs as the tale unfolds. Tony Dunn outdid himself on this release.
Solbrud – IIII: The swansong of a Danish great, Solbrud’s enormous final album IIII, was an ambitious undertaking that’s totally in character for the band’s nature. Split into four parts representing an element – earth, water, air, and fire – with each of the four band members writing one of those parts. This results in 94 minutes of dynamic black metal that asks a lot, but gives even more.
Electric EPs of 2024:
The short players need some love, too! There were a number of quality EPs that were bestowed upon us – some serving as potential bridges towards a new album, some completely fresh – that are absolutely worth a small sliver of your time.
The Golden Cleric goes to: Golgothan Remains – Bearer of Light, Matriarch of Death
Australian death metal is in a healthy spot, and Golgothan Remains is one such act whose work has been admirable. Their latest EP is a four song massacre of huge riffs. Hopefully a new album won’t be far off.
Runners-up:
Glassbone – Deaf to Suffering: Among the most forthright and barbaric releases on any format, the hardcore/death metal fusion is a potent force that’s only warming up. Sick art by Paolo Girardi to top it off, too!
Whispers – Yom-Ma-Lok: Crunchy, slamming hardcore from Thailand, Whispers’ threw this incredibly strong EP in December, and it’s been one that we’ve dedicated plenty of time to, getting better with each rotation. This is how it’s done.
Obsidian Tongue – The Stone Heart: Extremely unique, organic progressive black metal that hopefully are signs to come from this underrated act.
Kruelty – Profane Usurpation: The angst-ridden Japanese death/doom act Kruelty is in full forward motion – this time with an EP to quickly follow their critically acclaimed Untopia album from last year. Expect more violence from this enticing romp.
Hexis – Relictus / Umbrae: The relentless road warriors Hexis have a two song EP with remaining songs that weren’t used on the beastly Aeternum album in 2022. Expect a similar blackened sludge vibe here, with hopefully another album in the near future.
Absorb – Smog: The Canadian death/doom consortium made some tweaks to their output, vying for an increase in aggression and a thicker sound profile. The resulting Smog EP is a fitting moniker for their huge Primitive Man-esque onslaught, setting the table for more.
Morokh – X: Opting for a black metal foundation infused with hardcore energy, Russia’s Morokh didn’t wait long to release more music after their successful Insomnia album via X; a blazing inferno of dread and swaths of atmosphere to boot.
Continue to page 2 for the rest of our overly indulgent awards, including label awards, album art, music videos, live shows, and the silliest release of the year!
It’s black metal time, let’s go!! I’m excited because this latest offering Мрьтвоземъ from Vspolokh is the stuff I bet your nightmares are made of. This third studio album contains riffs that evoke the cold darkness of winter and the like. Ironically, this is the stuff that gets me warm.
From the beginning, ” Шићиръ” was the runaway favorite, all flipped tables and bit necks! Relax, none of that happened. But still, pretty cool, huh? The thing I really dig about this band is the feeling that the hunter killers are coming like it’s The Terminator. From here we go to the one-two punch of “Киалимская падь” and ” Инзер”. This last one wound up being a favorite because it’s just so cold and dark that I love it. Again, the colder and darker the music is, the happier this scribe is.
“Юрма” starts out with a little gear shift before embracing its proper black metalness. Then closer “Шићиръ” brings us on a bit of an atmospheric journey before going full bore into that dark and heavy world that we thrive on.
All told Mertvozem / Мрьтвоземъ is a great record. Just in time for the end of the year darkness via Purity Through Fire, so get on that with a quickness, Jackson!!
Japanese power metal quintet Illusion Force appear ready to conquer the global marketplace as they issue their third studio album Halfana for a worldwide release. Previously performing and recording for the Japanese scene with the debut album The World Soul in 2019 and the follow-up Illusion Paradise in 2021, these musicians mix a lot of bombastic / cinematic qualities into their brand of uplifting power metal that takes on numerous European melodic and neoclassical influences. After a few passes, expect all senses to be taken on a physical, mental, and emotional journey that will not be forgotten – the maze of treasures waiting to be heard again and again.
Properly positioning proficient tracks next to much calmer yet no less intoxicating cuts allows these musicians to explore all facets under the power metal umbrella. While the record starts with some Dragonforce-esque meets Far Eastern or Disney-like atmosphere within speed/culturally driven efforts like the title track and “Miracle Superior”, elegant clean guitars next to swaths of sweeping keyboard orchestration give “The Serene Valley” that reflective mood shift to keep listeners attentive. A thoughtful ballad executed at the right time on the record where vocalist Jinn Jeon uses lower register melodies that build into dramatic, theatrical highlights in the chorus, its something you would expect from Edguy in their prime. Visions of grandeur set sail when taking in “Protector of the Stars”, while the contrasts between commercial keyboard/guitar riffs next to more bullet-train BPM sixteenth-note action keeps “Serendipitous” a favorite on the back half of the album. Heroic shredding, intricate syncopation musically in tandem with challenging multi-octave register passages on the vocal front makes this 63-minute effort feel like the proceedings fly by in no time at all.
The left field elements when you hear aspects of 50’s/60’s American rock n’ roll or jazzy/scat-like interludes prove Illusion Force aren’t a one-trick band of musicians even if extreme power metal is the main thing in play. Those who love Dragonforce, Twilight Force, and others in that breed should add Halfana into their regular rotation of albums to spin.
Featuring musicians with ties to acts like Tombstoner, Thank You Scientist, Windfaerer, and Cranial Damage among others, New Jersey act Slaughtersun aims to develop a potent brand of progressive death metal through their debut EP release Black Marrow. The uniqueness of their sound matches the quality output present – utilizing influences from domestic and abroad acts to capture a style that’s hard not to engage with quickly, especially for an underground audience clamoring for newcomers to cherish. We spoke to the ‘treble strings’ musician Ben Karas to learn more about his rich family background, how the original Slaughtersun lineup came together, thoughts on releasing singles to set the stage for the debut EP, cover art, favorite album/ concert memories, his approach to production when working with other artists in his studio, plus future plans amongst his many bands.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your earliest memories surrounding music growing up in childhood? At what point did you start gravitating towards heavier forms of music – and the desire to pick up an instrument to perform in your own bands?
Ben Karas: Earliest forms of music in childhood – I started playing the violin at about the age of six or seven years old. My parents, they really pushed me along and wanted to learn an instrument. My mother, she actually danced on Broadway – she was in the musical Cats back in the 80s. My dad, he plays bass guitar, and his father was a violinist who played in the Hartford CT symphony for about 40 years. My grandmother, on my mother’s side, was also a professional musician until she had children and became a mother full-time. My grandmother on my dad’s side, she was a singer as well. Music ran throughout the family, there’s no question there.
I remember going to concerts where my grandfather was playing in the string quartet, that sort of thing. Hearing my dad practice for his band back in the day. Finally, picking up an instrument- although at that time it wasn’t by choice. If it wasn’t for my parents pushing me along for the first several years until I was about a teenager, I may not have played. Once I was 13-14, I got into heavier music. I remember hearing “Crazy Train” on the radio, that was my gateway drug. I asked my dad who is this- he said Ozzy Osbourne. I picked up a copy of Blizzard of Ozz, and I listened to that record constantly. Dove deep into his discography, Down to Earth was the latest record he had that I was into. Filled the gaps in between.
Around that time, my dad got me an electric violin when I was in high school. I remember playing with a friend’s band, they were called Reaper at the time. That was the point where I knew I could do something that I was really going to be interested in this. I played classical music because that is what I was pushed to do. To be able to experiment with the distortion pedal and an amp at a young age, and have some friends who were open-minded enough to let me sit in with the band and play along, that was my first exposure to being a part of a band and writing material, playing some gigs.
Dead Rhetoric: Did you also have early on that ambition to transpose your ability to play the electric violin in a heavy metal context? Because a lot of times, people associate violin parts with more of a folk metal feel than what you achieve with your technique…
Karas: Certainly. Especially when people think of the violin in a rock or a metal context, as you said folk metal, it’s the melody instrument that’s doing a lead. Something of that sort. I always liked riffs. Solos are great, don’t get me wrong – but riffs are a lot of fun. It’s the riff of “Crazy Train” – that’s what got stuck in my head. The solo is great too – but the riffs are what drive me. I remember listening to Black Sabbath records, and I had a transcription book for guitar. I would look through it, start playing parts – “Paranoid”, things like that, similar tunes. I was doing that on a four-string violin, then when I was a little older, I got a five-string violin, so having that lower C string, I was able to get a little more of a chunky tone out of it. That opened a lot of doors as far as what I could do as a rhythm instrument.
Dead Rhetoric: Slaughtersun began in 2023 – can you discuss how the current lineup came to be, and where you wanted to go with this progressive brand of death metal that maybe differs from what you’ve done previously in other acts?
Karas: I’ve always set out to have the band with no guitars – just violin, bass, drums, and vocals. When I was first thinking about it, I was considering to do the vocals myself to just keep things as a three people. It would have been simpler to have three schedules than coordinate four. But I realized the vocals were going to suck if I did that just myself – I will do a couple of backing vocals where I can. I started writing the first demos as early as 2016-2017. I shelved it, and around 2022-23, I started realizing I was getting married soon, I’m in my mid-30’s now, life isn’t going to get any simpler now. If I want to do this, I want to get it started now while I have some freedom before I start a family soon.
For personnel, I turned to my buddy Cody McCorry who is the bass player in Thank You Scientist. He’s one of the best bass players I know, period. He’s open-minded and likes all kinds of different music, so this is an opportunity for him to expand his repertoire and styles, as he’s never played in a band quite like this. He’s into jazz, avant-garde classical, and loves Frank Zappa. Jason Quinones, the drummer I’ve known through the band Tombstoner, who I produced. I thought he was a phenomenal player, and I was very pleased when he said he was down to do this. And Justin Hillman, he is a vocalist with Cranial Damage, who I also know through my work at Frightbox previously. His vocal style really stood out to me. He really likes to read poetry, so he has interesting lyrics. He writes like somebody who reads a lot. There are more subtleties, metaphors you could say. He brings something very special to the table as far as the lyrics and what he can envision with the words. I’m very fortunate to have some really, really talented people to work with.
Dead Rhetoric: Black Marrow is the latest EP from the band – consisting of material that you’ve released previously as singles over the past six months to a year. How do you feel about the evolution of the songwriting, performances, and how you’ve been able to establish the band in this format – do you believe it’s been beneficial to gain more attention in this way with a smaller, steadier schedule leading up to this EP?
Karas: Yeah, I think so. This is my first time being the leader of the band, so it’s been a bit of an experiment. I didn’t want to just release all the songs that we had all at once because we are not really anybody just yet. I believe we will be somebody, someday. It didn’t seem like the right move to just throw it all out there and hopefully something happens. The singles, it gave us the time to put one out, do a couple of videos, stretch it out over the course of a few months. Just so I’m not putting out the same old material again, I felt it was appropriate to update the mixes and remaster. Plus, we added a bonus track with the live recording of one of the songs to round out the release, make it a little more complete and make it something fresh. Still keeping in mind that a lot of people don’t even know who we are. To the majority of people out there, it’s going to look like a brand-new band with a brand-new release. I’m assuming that a lot of people haven’t heard the original singles.
Dead Rhetoric: What is your outlook in how you approach your instrument and technique for Slaughtersun – are there specific challenges that take place in how you want to convey your sound convincingly in a metal context?
Karas: As being the primary rhythm player in this band, there is no guitar. In my other bands Windfaerer and Thank You Scientist, I’m playing with the guitars a lot of the times. You end up fighting for those mid-range frequencies, you have to think about where you sit, orchestration, and what you are playing versus what they are playing and how to make it gel. Now, I have all those mid-range frequencies available to me. The challenge is, how can I write parts that fill it out? Using the limitations of the violin there and work within that. It’s nice because Cody can do just about anything I throw at him on the bass, he comes up with crazy stuff himself. He has a lot more sonic space to flex a little bit and to be heard.
It’s a really interesting sonic landscape, in my opinion. That’s the challenge, to write something compelling that is full. To not feel too boxed into one range on the instrument. Not just playing the song on the two lowest strings – no, no. I want the low and mid-parts, but I want to do some melodies and put everything together.
Dead Rhetoric: And when it comes to your influences, do you draw from both the American and European side of things for your approach to progressive death metal?
Karas: My influences are all over the place. Half the time it’s whatever band I’m thinking of, whatever band I’m listening to. Peter Steele said good artists borrow, great artists steal. If somebody busts me for stealing something one day… sorry! (laughs). If something gets in there that I unconsciously threw in, I don’t believe in ripping anybody off. I make things my own by taking inspiration from others.
Dead Rhetoric: How did the cover art process develop for this EP?
Karas: The cover art, I found this guy who goes by Curseofface on Instagram. My buddy Brian from the band Pile of Knives showed his work to me. I like the style, it’s really nicely detailed. I got in touch with him and told him what I was looking for. How I wanted the four panels for the CD layout. I let him do what he wanted – I told him a little bit about the band, told him about the lyrics for the songs, and gave him the mixes to hear. We went back and forth a little bit once he had it 90% done, little tweaks. I didn’t want to be too hands on in terms of what he did.
Dead Rhetoric: You’ve been able to play a few live shows so far with Slaughtersun – how would you assess the band in a live context compared to what people hear on the recordings?
Karas: The shows have been fun. I am definitely looking forward to doing more. On the EP, there are production elements that we add there because it’s the polished, under the microscope recording – we have all this technology available, and we see what creative sprinkles we can add on there. I think it’s fun to utilize them in a way that it doesn’t take away from the core composition. I’m always keeping in mind the bare bones, what’s the live show version of a song going to be. Is this element we are going to add, is it something that a) we can reproduce or if we can’t, will it’s absence really take away from the whole song? We find that balance, and make sure the live show can keep up with the recording to some extent.
Without using any backing tracks too. I don’t believe in playing to a click. Having a sample pad that Jason can hit to do some sort of soundscape between songs, that’s fair game in my opinion. Making the live show engaging, making things fun.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you assess your outlook or philosophy when it comes to establishing Slaughtersun in your DIY, self-released world where you are trying to garner underground attention / acceptance not only on a local scale, but nationally / internationally? Do you believe you spend just as much time and energy on the business / promotional side of things as you do on the musical end?
Karas: Yeah, I spend a fair amount of time on (the business end). I don’t know if it’s necessarily 50/50, but I thought about the business side a lot, starting this out. In my other band, Thank You Scientist, we have an LLC and everything, and we’ve had for over a decade now. Tom, Cody, and I handle all the business in that band ourselves, we don’t even have a manager, we just have a booking agent. So, when it comes to banking, the bills, getting all the taxes done, organizing it all, I see what needs to get done and the work that’s put in. And also, it’s tough to trust people when you have so much already going on. I want to make sure we put out top quality music. The videos and recordings we put out, I want it to be outstanding, honest. And I want it to be true to us, a good representation of what we are capable of. I don’t want to cut corners. I want to not really limit myself. I keep the general genre of death metal in mind.
On the business side, you have to start locally, you have to make your contacts, you have to make friends. Fortunately, we’ve all been playing in bands independently for quite some time. We have a lot of friends in the area, it’s about community. One of the things I love about metal shows in northern New Jersey is, I feel that there is a sense of community. I will go to shows without telling people and I’ll run into other people that I know. When we are playing a gig, I believe that at least one person in the band should stay there until the end. Even if it’s two or three in the morning, because you have to support each other. Business is great and all, but you have to think about people.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you consider three of the most important albums that continually inspire you as a musician – they can be heavy metal or otherwise? And what’s the best concert memory you have purely attending a show as a member of the audience – plus what made that show so special and memorable to you?
Karas: Wow. Three albums, these are going to be the three albums that I’m currently thinking of. Anytime I get asked these questions I would probably switch my answers a little bit. Diary of a Madman – Ozzy Osbourne is one of my flagship albums of all-time. The title track itself; I was always amazed by that composition. It has a lot of classical musical elements, the strings on there, and sick riffs plus a nice long-form progressive tune. That whole album, there are so many good bangers on it. Another album that I really listen to a lot was Battle Metal by Turisas. That came out in 2004. I love power metal, I love heavy metal, epic sounding stuff – they had those harsh vocals too. The orchestrations on that album are so thorough, so compelling, it’s a cool band. They have a violin player, Olli Vänskä, who is definitely one of my biggest influences early on when I was starting to play heavy metal. He plays electric violin too, I saw the solos he would do on YouTube, playing with the distortion. I thought that was sick. And another one growing up – Obscura by Gorguts. I got into them a bit later – as far as death metal, Cannibal Corpse was the first influence of death metal on me. But that’s a flagship album, weird beyond belief. Avantgarde compositions, it’s gross in the greatest way possible. Luc LeMay even shreds a viola solo on there too. Have to respect the strings there.
Favorite concert memory. One of my best memories was in 2005 at Ozzfest, the PNC Bank Arts Center. I’m hanging out in the seats, towards the back of the seated area, and I started talking to this guy about music. He was telling me how he snuck in, he knows the venue very well, so he knows how to get to the front. We ended up in 4th row for Black Sabbath – Ozzy grabbed a bucket of ice water, threw it in our faces as we sang along to every tune. That was a sick memory to experience that, right there.
Dead Rhetoric: You also own your own studio Frost Gauntlet Recording, and have done a lot of sessions for a variety of musicians/bands. How do you approach each session with these artists – are there specific things you take into consideration depending on the input desired and experience of each artist, where you may be more hands on versus hands off?
Karas: Depending on who you are working with, you really have to get to know people. You have to know what they are listening to, and what they are going for. And also, gauge the skill level of the people you are working with. If you have a singer that is really good and can do any idea you throw at them, then yes, it will be different production ideas that I throw out there versus somebody who is set in their ways. It may be more of this is what they are doing, but how can I take them to the next level to do exactly what they are doing, but that 5% better. It goes with every instrument, unless I’m told not to put my producer hat on. Sometimes it can be simple things like throw a harmony here, double track that there. How to edit the drums, how tight or loose something may be from the grid. Always talking with the artist to see what they are going for. If it’s a band doing tech death, they want something more stacked to the grid, they are probably not going to want something loose. Or if it’s a singer/songwriter thing, you want to leave things a little more loose, not as robotic but organic.
I firmly believe in having a conversation with the artist. Seeing and getting things the best that I can.
Dead Rhetoric: What are some of the choices you’ve made in life that make you the person that you are?
Karas: All of them. All the choices whether I am aware of them or not. The choice to listen to my parents and play the violin for those early, formative years. I owe a lot to them, and luckily, I wasn’t too rebellious. I wouldn’t be here without that. The choice to stick around in college. I never liked school – I hated being in classrooms. When I went to Montclair State University, I spent the first three semesters undeclared. I took an oceanography class that third semester, and I hated it. I realized I was in a 2 ½ hour lecture talking about dirt underwater, and I went home to say I’m dropping out, I can’t do this. My folks reasoned with me, stick to school, get a degree in anything. Doesn’t matter. I thought to myself, yes, I want to be in a band and tour one day. I’ll get a music degree.
I had been playing long enough so I was able to get into the program, I had a very good teacher, graduated and throughout my time at the college I met the people in Thank You Scientist. The opportunity to get in that band came up. The rest is history there. That band has been the biggest catalyst in my career. Realizing that opportunity after seeing the guys play, they were killer. I learned every song they threw at me. I memorized every damn note. I went in super prepared, it was around Christmas time in 2012. I was working two jobs, the UPS deal with the Christmas rush, and teaching violin, teaching at an after-school program. I would shed the songs, right before the last audition days I was sick, exhausted – at that point I wanted to sleep. Sure enough, I was in the band. Sticking with it – touring is tough, back when we started touring, we were making practically nothing. Make a couple hundred bucks for being out there for six weeks. I’m glad I stuck with it, lived at home and saved money so I could afford to do that. I lived with my parents until I was 28 or so.
It can be lonely, even if you are with your friends on the road, everyone else is living their lives at home. If you are in a relationship with the wrong person who doesn’t support you, which I have been, that will make you want to quit if you have somebody that is guilting you too much. It can be sad, depressing – I’m glad I didn’t give into this. I’m married now to a really amazing woman who supports me in everything. I’m glad I picked a good one.
Dead Rhetoric: What is the worst advice that you see or hear being dispensed in the metal music industry?
Karas: The worst advice? I’m not sure… there is tons of bad advice. Worst advice is don’t practice to a metronome. You have to shed, use that when you are practicing your chops. It helps you for rhythm.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the agenda for Slaughtersun over the next year, and your other acts that we may be looking forward to?
Karas: First and foremost, for Slaughtersun it’s getting the first LP done. My goal for 2024 was to have enough material demoed out for an album, I’m nearly there. I might be a week or two late, but I have the majority of the first demos done. Jason and I will dissect them, freshening things up. We have an EP release show on January 21st at Mother Pug’s Saloon in Staten Island, NY. Tombstoner is headlining, Festergore and Torturous Inception will also be on the bill. Try to play as many gigs as we can, extend out of the NY/NJ area. Nothing is planned as of yet.
Thank You Scientist has a new singer, Daimon. Our first gig with him will be in April on the Cruise to the Edge, with Yes and a bunch of other bands. We are knee deep in writing new music as well. Windfaerer, although we’ve been dormant for a few years now, we are still around. We are going to be writing new music, and hopefully playing a gig sooner rather than later. It’s been very quiet, but we are still active.
Quickly establishing themselves for their brand of zombie-oriented power metal, Germany’s Dominum arrives at their second album in two years for The Dead Don’t Die. Strong anthem-like hooks on both the vocal and musical fronts should align well with their followers – beyond their captivating stage names and haunting imagery. We reached out to vocalist Felix Heldt (aka Dr. Dead) to find out how the band were able to get a quality second album released quickly, the collaborative process and levels of lyrical content at play, video work, the relationship between imagery and music for the band, special thoughts about live shows and their favorite fans, what the band has learned touring with a legend like Bruce Dickinson, special hobbies away from music, and future plans.
Dead Rhetoric: The Dead Don’t Die is the second studio album for Dominum – and a fairly quick follow-up to last year’s Hey Living People debut. Did you feel confident going into the songwriting and recording sessions with where you wanted this release to go, or progress, compared to that previous outing?
Dr. Dead: We were aware of that if you are able to release a second record very quickly, people will pay very close attention to what you are doing. We didn’t stop writing songs at all. We are writing songs constantly all the time. If we would have not done this, that would have been impossible to do. We also have a recording set up on the road, so if we do have some ideas, we either sing it on the phone or immediately record it onto the laptop. If this technology would not exist, we would have been super screwed. It would have been impossible to do another record in that amount of time.
Obviously, there’s some pressure. For the first record, you have your whole life – and for the second record, you have one year. There are many artists where the debut is good and the second record is not so good, so you say, the pressure got ahead of them. If we had that impression ourselves, we would not have given the record to the label. We want the quality to be satisfying and top notch. We did have the impression that this was a great album, so we submitted this to the label, and they were also under the impression that this is a good album. Everyone is happy now! (laughs).
Dead Rhetoric: How does the songwriting process work between the band members? Is there one person who comes up with an idea for everyone else to flesh out, or are there collaborations at the same time between people to come up with the best ideas?
Dr. Dead: Especially on this record, there were many collaborations. For example, Ben Metzner who I worked with in Feuerschwanz, we did “One of Us”, when you have a vibe with someone, it’s an efficient way to write songs. Someone who you have a vibe with, he tells me if things are good or if it’s not good enough. That was really fun to do an experience, this collaborating experience for the record.
Dead Rhetoric: When it comes to the lyrics, there’s an obvious zombie metal framework, but do you try to put another layer of content that may be more relevant to current times or social themes?
Dr. Dead: Of course. Explaining lyrics is a hard thing to do, but we try to serve all the people. Also, the people who just want to have a good power metal show, the people who want to get into the lyrics and get something out of it. You have both possibilities; you can go on this path or that path. It works both ways, that’s the art behind the lyric writing. That you don’t have one layer, you have multiple layers that you can discover. If you want to – you don’t have to. Sometimes people just want to sing ‘one of us’ – and that’s fine.
Dead Rhetoric: Does it become a case as well from taking these songs live on stage in front of audiences that you see what works best in that context to influence your next set of material – or is it just trusting your intuition and your own instincts that drive you creatively?
Dr. Dead: The thing you said last, trusting your instincts, is what we did on the first record. We didn’t have any other choice – it was during COVID-19, and we didn’t have any shows to play. We did our best, but of course when you play sixty shows in a year, this influences you heavily. A show is not a one directional thing to do – you get so much back from the audience, which is very important to us. That had an enormous impact on our songwriting, that’s for sure.
Dead Rhetoric: Discuss the importance of the stage names, the make-up, and imagery when it comes to Dominum? What do you want the followers of the band to understand about the relationship between this and the music?
Dr. Dead: To us, the music is the most important thing. This zombie thing of course, here and there the songs are about zombie business, zombie games, and zombie-ness. In the end we want to write good music, and I am very much of the opinion that the music is what really matters most. You can have the greatest masks, the greatest names, the greatest outfits – if your music is no good, no one is going to pay attention to you. And no one will like you – they will see you have a cool mask, and swipe away and you are gone forever. Music lasts, and music is what connects us to the people. The zombie-ness is just a little gimmick I would say, not a little – but the music would be possible without this, and the masks and outfits would not be possible without the music.
Dead Rhetoric: Is this where you explore the imagery a little bit more through the videos?
Dr. Dead: Absolutely. It’s great fun. We are a zombie band, so we can do so much stuff. We shot a video in a graveyard, a real graveyard in Germany. Which is a challenging thing to do. We have some real bureaucracy going on here in Germany, and we were able to do this. A zombie video in a graveyard is just the most natural thing to do.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you place the importance of band chemistry and assembling the right team as far as management, record label, promoters, etc. to building the brand of Dominum?
Dr. Dead: This is very important. First of all, I don’t want to talk about myself being a product, but I think the product needs to be very good, and then if someone is interested in you, it’s mainly because of that product. Then, having Napalm Records helps a lot, the Cobra agency, and also our management, to have a good team around us that understands what we want and where we want to go. So, we can all pull with the same force. For a band on our level, the team is very important. The guys on the road, they are lovely guys, and you hang around with them all day. Of course, you play a show on stage for 45 minutes to one and a half hours, it depends if you are a support act or not. The rest of the day, you have to hang around – so they better be good people, or otherwise you will freak out.
Dead Rhetoric: Is it a challenge to juggle priorities, as I know some of the members also work in other bands that are very active in the scene?
Dr. Dead: Let’s put it this way – it’s not making things any easier! (laughs). We try to always find a way to make everyone happy. This is just life – we don’t live in a world without any issues. It’s how you treat the issues, this is the art behind it, I think. In a perfect world without any issues, this just doesn’t happen.
Dead Rhetoric: You’ve picked some intriguing covers over the last two records between artists like Billie Eilish, Dead Or Alive, Midnight Oil, and for this new record – The Scorpions. What criteria comes into play in what makes the final cut to take these songs and pay tribute or redefine them in your own way?
Dr. Dead: On the first record, it was more out of intuition and what would be fun to do. On this record, it was also that – as well as “Rock You Like a Hurricane” turned forty this year, so we thought it would be a nice birthday present to a band like The Scorpions who built such a great foundation for us to build our little band houses on. It’s like Metallica and Iron Maiden – those bands have done so much for us; we thought it would be a nice thing to pay tribute to them.
Dead Rhetoric: You have an impending headline tour across German and the Netherlands as well as a UK tour early next year supporting Gloryhammer and Fellowship. What do you hope to get across to these audiences, and will Dominum continue to add new stage elements or aspects to differentiate things tour to tour?
Dr. Dead: Of course. We are a zombie band, so we can do whatever we want to. This tour with Gloryhammer and Fellowship, we’ve been to the UK before, and we’ve had great fun. This is a perfect power metal package. One big circle of shaking hands. The package with Gloryhammer and the unicorn vibe, Fellowship vibe and the Dominum vibe, it’s going to be a cool package for the power metal audiences.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you think about the state of power metal currently? What excites you, and what changes (if any) would you like to make?
Dr. Dead: I wouldn’t want to change anything. In this power metal world, I feel very comfortable. I am a fan of gimmicks, I like bands like Visions of Atlantis, Warkings, Powerwolf, Sabaton, I like them and the styles of music that surround us. It’s just my cup of tea. I’m in my thirties, and those bands created a zeitgeist which I’m proudly the one that’s supposed to be enjoying that.
Dead Rhetoric: What have been some of your favorite fan interaction stories you’ve had with Dominum so far?
Dr. Dead: We have such great fans. They come to as many shows as they can. We have a fan club here in Germany, and those are the cutest people. They always think of little interactions between new fans that might have joined us, they think of little gimmicks like posting selfies. They will hide some presents in the venues for this new tour for other fans to find – that’s so cute. It’s exactly what we are trying to do with Dominum – we want to bring people together and try to have a good time. It’s great to have such cool fans.
Dead Rhetoric: Being a relative newcomer trying to make an impact in the scene, what do you consider some of the biggest challenges in breaking through in a very crowded marketplace?
Dr. Dead: I would say the consistency. Because you really have to commit. We are just at the beginning. The commitment to do this full-time is the most important thing. If you have too many other things to do, you won’t have enough time for this. If you have a plan B, you don’t have enough time for a plan A. I can feel right now, I’m still producing bands, but it gets heavier and heavier to manage time over all this. Dominum is taking up so much time and space, it’s crazy.
Dead Rhetoric: What are some hobbies or interests that you have away from your musical endeavors that you like to engage in when you have the free time and energy to do so?
Dr. Dead: Wow, that’s a question I’ve never been asked before! Great question. I like cooking a lot. I like all sorts of kitchen gear, which is a weird thing to say. I love pans, I like Italian food, I cook that stuff all the time. I like eating, and therefore I also have to do some physical training to be able to eat a lot! (laughs). It’s the sad truth.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you think you’ve learned so far being on the road, especially touring with artists like Bruce Dickinson and Orden Ogan, that you’ve applied to Dominum to make the band stronger?
Dr. Dead: Never lose the fun. When Bruce Dickinson came out every day, he was always there for soundcheck himself. Just to be good, he wanted his music to be as good as possible. I would say you can learn from him; he enjoys what he is doing. And that’s really cool.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the next year or so developing for Dominum as far as activities, touring, recordings, etc.?
Dr. Dead: Obviously we are writing new songs for our next record. We are also planning new shows. North America is always on our list, but for a European band on our level, it can be tough to get there. It’s very expensive to tour there, getting the visa permits and to travel there, your country is very big. But this is on our list, we are trying to make it work as soon as possible.
