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.
Originally hitting the streets on a self-released basis, the second album for New York’s Final Siege sees a reissue push through Wormholedeath in Nuclear Doom State. Arriving on the scene in 2018, there’s been a slow but steady evolution through lineup changes as they released a debut album March to Your Grave in 2021, finding their latest drummer and second guitarist in 2023 while garnering live seasoning in clubs/venues on the East Coast with D.R.I., Suffocation, Atheist, and Warbringer among others. These seven tracks possess a raw commingling of groove, thrash, and death metal sounds that could appeal to a wide underground community who love a mix of crossover influences.
What immediately makes these ears perk up is the devastating drum tones and infectious energy from Ameer ‘The Beheader’ Aljallad – his fluid kit mentality and execution exemplary at any tempo, especially evident in the groove to vicious double kick head crushing “Psychological Maceration”. The guitar work from Gil Vives and Rob Maldonado slices through beefy rhythms that contain additional tasty twists, sometimes working through tremolo-picking aspects of a thrash/death versatility, pumping up the energy in specific sequences of songs like “W.A.R.” and “Taxed to Death”. Where the crossover hardcore to metal elements sink in are through slower transitions as well as the hearty commander-like vocal presence Mr. Vives displays throughout. You can tell the quartet possess an equal affinity for Exodus as they do Power Trip when it comes to attitude, intensity, and strength. Speaking up for the working class and government /religious corruption in the lyrical themes matches the fierce musical components on display – the production values align well with what you would expect from the band live, just at a louder volume.
Favorite tracks change daily – the title cut a certain standout through its immediate gang-chorus appeal beyond the shredding lead breaks that pop in and out of the back half of the arrangement, while “Primordial Combat” throws a bevy of thrash and death passages into a solid twister of a song, the mid-tempo crunchy transitions sure to elicit windmill-like headbanging action. Final Siege is a force to be reckoned with through Nuclear Doom State – delivering in your face music that’s impossible to ignore.
A quick return after their debut EP earlier this year, Mana Diagram set Moonlight Desire as their first full-length effort to close out 2024. Grabbing influences from the power metal spectrum and bringing it together with some more modern and genre-blurring elements was the idea that Light of the Destiny led with, and Moonlight Desire continues to capitalize on that particular sound to thrust them into their own niche within the genre.
Those familiar with vocalist Uyu and guitarist Mayto’s previous work in Hagane (which has since more or less ‘restarted itself’) should be able to dig right into what Mana Diagram is doing. There’s plenty of classic power metal shredding and energy to be had within their sound. “Desire” opens with plenty of big riffing energy and urgent speed to grab the listener’s ear. It’s groovy and hooky, and it feels a bit on the modern side of things, but it’s prioritizing of the riffing over the occasional synth injections, and Uyu’s soaring vocals keep it very palatable for those seeking something more grounded in power metal traditions. While the gang vocals of “Trigger” evoke a different feeling, but it’s quickly enveloped by some vicious shredding and frantic drums as the tempo leaps forward. A scorching solo as the song progresses hits all of the marks for being flashy without too flashy, weaving in some nice melodies. It’s an exceptional track that really nicely blends melody with a raging metal backbone.
The group’s instrumental prowess is really showcased by the instrumental “The Moonlight Shines,” which gives Yusuke’s basswork a more prominent role to stand out. The second half of the album seems to be where the band stretches the metal boundaries a bit more, and melodies are employed to a greater degree overall. “KuwazuGirai” has a very melodic tone, both instrumentally with it’s lead guitarwork as well as the shining chorus which sees a more emotive Uyu at the helm. “WarewareBakuretsuParty” effectively blends the power metal epicness and gives it a more modern melodic leg to stabilize itself on. Likewise “Solid Guitar” offers some ballad-esque moments and injects some groove and shred into the mix for a fun blend of sounds. To close things is an acoustic version of their first single, “Glitter Wind,” which let’s Uyu again stand at the forefront with her vocals with maximum emotion. It’s a nice, reflective way to end the album.
Mana Diagram have really primed themselves to make a mark in the scene with Moonlight Desire. The balancing of melody, shred, and modern grooves makes for an exciting mix of sounds that can hook new listeners as well as those seeking more of a thoroughly metallic experience. Look for them to spread their wings even further as we reach into 2025.
French gothic metal band The Old Dead Tree arrived on the scene in 1997 – releasing three studio albums during the 2000s that made an impression on a global scene looking for more emotionally-driven material. The debut album The Nameless Disease hit especially home for the group, as the concept record paid tribute to Frederic Guillemot, who tragically committed suicide in 1999 at the young age of 22. The band would first dissolve in 2009 due to personal and musical differences – reuniting a couple of times in the 2010’s for festival appearances, plus a final EP release The End in 2019.
Seventeen years beyond the last studio album The Water Fields, we are fortunate to have the fourth full-length Second Thoughts. Stirring songwriting that reflects the band’s depth of creativity, the tracks can be heavier at times, reflective in others – always touching the depths of your mind, body and soul. We were able to speak to guitarist/vocalist Manuel Monoz and guitarist Nicolas Cornolo regarding the concerns going into the long break between records, how the songwriting process worked in a collaborative sense this go around, video work, what being on Season of Mist means to the group, career highlights, and also career advice for younger musicians.
Dead Rhetoric: Second Thoughts is the fourth full-length album for The Old Dead Tree. Given the lengthy time between records and occasional stop/starts that occurred in the interim, what was the thought process behind the new record? Did you have any worries, fears, or concerns of how this record would stand up next to the previous discography you’ve created?
Manuel Monoz: Oh yes, actually a lot. Before we recorded this album, we released and recorded one single by May 2023 – the song is called “Terrified”, and it really says a lot about how we felt. I was afraid of many things – that we couldn’t compose as good of material as we did before, I was afraid there was no more audience for us that would listen to our music. I was afraid that no record company would be interested in what we were going to compose. The main thing I was afraid of was the risk of ruining our friendship when we stopped the band for the first time in 2009. It took years to rebuild the friendships that we had back then. They are precious, and I didn’t want to risk anything about this.
Nicolas Cornolo: It was different for me because I wasn’t in the band back then. I was already friends with a couple of the members, including Nicolas (Chevrollier) in other projects. I had followed the guys in this band for a very long time. I needed to find my place within this friendship. Friendships change with the end of the band, and now we’ve had time to rebuild these friendships. There are sometimes choices to be made. My concern was to find my place in this band, and if I can make things stronger. To bring some ideas to the band, and I think I succeeded because we are here. Manuel is right, it’s difficult to make music after all this time. I was a fan before being in the band. I don’t want to make a fake comeback, there is a strong legacy for this band. We are very happy with the first response to this new album, and Season of Mist was the first to say to us that this was a great album and that they support us with this.
Dead Rhetoric: Did that acceptance of the “Terrified” single last year give the band confidence going forward with the rest of the material that you were working on for this album?
Monoz: Yes. We could see what we were really made of, nowadays. The friendships are the backbone of this band. We formed this band back in 1997. We felt very proud to compose a song together that was very consistent, very good. It was a huge challenge to develop music that still connects to what we’ve done fifteen or twenty years ago, and who we are now. I think we were able to succeed with this song, and with this album later.
Cornolo: It was the first time that Manuel and Nico played the song for the rest of the band, it was obvious that this was a single. It seemed very obvious, that it should show the path of things to come, like now.
Dead Rhetoric: Which songs either during the creative or recording process immediately stood out to you as strong efforts for this record – and were there any specific tracks that maybe took a little longer or took on the greatest transformation from initial idea to what the listeners hear on the final output?
Cornolo: I will try to make it short because I could talk about this topic for hours. The song “Fresh Start”, that song along with “I Wish I Could” and “The Trap” are a trilogy of songs, don’t move a lot. There are songs where we fought a bit in the band, to find our form of the song. There were debates about which singles to premiere. There was a lot of work on “Don’t Waste Your Time” and other songs. There were songs that were very natural to develop like “Solastalgia” or “The Worst Is Yet to Come”. We love a lot of different styles, and we didn’t want to mess with the recipe for The Old Dead Tree. When you listen to the songs, the back stories are important.
Monoz: There is a lot of care in the songwriting. There are chances that when we compose that there can be some spontaneity. Before one of us proposes the song, we have three composers in the band. We always try to go through all the problems that we may have in the arrangements. Because we don’t live in the same area anymore, it’s very difficult for us to get together and rehearse or talk often about the songs. Most of the time there were no big debates. “Without a Second Thought” was a difficult song to achieve, it had many versions, and we had different visions concerning the song. Like Nicolas, it’s one of my favorite songs on the album now. I am proud of “Solastalgia” because I did that song by myself. It was naturally touched by the others, but I have never composed a song quite like this one. It’s quite difficult to choose amongst the songs, it’s like choosing your children.
Cornolo: There is something special when Manuel sings these songs and the other Nico plays his guitar, there are two things which give The Old Dead Tree touch to those songs. It’s great for me as a composer, to see these two guys and two personalities, when they add their skills, we know if it will make the songs better.
Dead Rhetoric: How did the guest session vocalists come about – and what do you enjoy most about the talent and abilities they offered to color the record even more fully for those tracks?
Monoz: This was the first time we decided to have some guest singers on an album. We played a show with the band S.U.P., which has one of the guest singers we decided to have on the album, Ludovic Loez. They are quite known in France, but maybe not as well known abroad. It’s a very cult band, they were inspirational on the first wave of French death metal, that movement during the 80s. They’ve changed their name and style, and they have made some very interesting Avant-garde metal. It happened that we had never played together during our years together. It was quite obvious that we had to work together one day. We played together a year ago, and it was obvious that we had this connection right away. You have never met the person, but it feels like family. We also found another singer, T.C., who is in a black metal band called Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, they are growing here in Europe. He was a big fan of The Old Dead Tree when he was in high school. Both of the guys gave an outstanding performance. We composed things for them that fall in line with their skills, they recorded the vocals by themselves, and we were very happy with the results. It paints another color for the record.
Dead Rhetoric: You’ve released three videos to date for the record – do you enjoy developing the visual side of the band, and where do you see the importance of this medium in promotion of the record?
Cornolo: For us it’s something that’s very important. We live in a world where imagery and communication are very important. We have the chance to work with people that have known the band for over twenty years, like the director Julien Metternich. We trust him for his vision. He proposed to us different concepts and we worked with them. We did three videos for the album. The videos can be very powerful for the band and for other people. There are a lot of people that tell us that these are beautiful videos. We have had 150,000 people view them in a couple of months. We are artists, we are ourselves on stage, and we need to communicate the visuals, and what the band is about with these videos. We have had good feedback about these videos. I think the videos cost us more than the recordings (laughs).
Monoz: The director always takes some parts of the lyrics to go within the storyline. It’s interesting for us to see another vision of what we compose. It’s impossible now to imagine producing an album without a video. We invested so much in the album and so much in the videos, it helps us to get known by everybody.
Dead Rhetoric: How does it feel to be still on Season of Mist this many years later? Have you watched the growth of the label since the last record and this new one?
Monoz: It became more complicated! (laughs). I have too many people to communicate with now. Now they have offices in France, the Netherlands, the US. You have to choose carefully who you want to send information to, to be sure the right person gets it. We have a strong relationship with the label. They really love the band. That’s why you can say these guys are doing this for the right reasons. We will never be an enormous commercial hit. There is a strong and trustful relationship with the label. We are semi-normal people, we still have the same technical stuff, the same core people. It means a lot to us that we are loyal to people and people are loyal to us.
Dead Rhetoric: When looking at your musical career with The Old Dead Tree, what do you consider some of the personal highlights – either specific albums, tours, festival appearances, or other events when you knew you were making an impact with your art to touch people and garner deeper critical acclaim/respect?
Monoz: It’s a strange timeline actually. The story of the band – we lost our drummer two years after we created the band, he killed himself. We were really good friends, hanging out every day, and it almost broke us. It really impacted the band; it had a huge impact on the way we compose music and the way that we see life. We saw the value of this band. We worked for three years on the composing of the first album The Nameless Disease. This album is about the way I dealt with that death of our friend. We had a huge success with this album, we were a very underground band who sold 1,000 copies of our demo. All of a sudden, we were playing abroad, it was a bit like a fairytale. I was convinced back then we were the best band in the world, because of this success. We had our own tour, and the album that followed The Perpetual Motion was my favorite of all these days. But maybe Second Thoughts is my new favorite. We started to play festivals: Hellfest in France, it was a big festival. In 2009 we stopped the band, we were exhausted. We had kids, wives, a family life, small jobs besides the band and we could not keep things in rhythm.
That’s when we decided to come back when our families were settled in. We decided to compose something new. We gathered again and we wanted to put things back artistically to the way things were before. The feedback we had, we worked with the same people for decades, it really helped the band.
Dead Rhetoric: What fuels your desire to create, compose, and play music? Do you have equal affinities for playing live music as well as recording songs in the studio?
Cornolo: When it comes to creation, I just can’t explain it. Songs are coming, inspiration, we always have a lot of music within us. The process of creating something, for me it’s natural. When we have to share our ideas, it’s work. For the live side of the band, now that we are a five-piece band, it’s great. We are a great live band. Each time we play live, we choose to channel different emotions to the audience. Today, we love to do both from the studio side and play live. The studio side was difficult, we are far from each other, it was more of a logistical maze and a puzzle to fit together. When we are on stage, we are more than the five of us. We create something that is bigger than us. I think today I prefer to play live.
Monoz: For me, the composing part is my favorite. I really love to work on these compositions with the guys. We are far better as a live band now without me playing guitar than we were before.
Dead Rhetoric: Do younger musicians ever ask for your advice when it comes to music or the business side of things – and if so, what words or ideas do you try to impart upon them?
Monoz: We are not a very famous band from the commercial side of the world. Try to make music that people want to hear. Try to make music that you want to make. That’s the first thing – you have to develop your own personality. It’s always messy in the beginning. You get together, and you have to go through this step to build your first set of songs. After that, now you have your own ideas, you have your own way to express your own ideas, what do people want to hear? How can I make my ideas become songs, and not only titles? How can I make something really consistent, from the beginning to the end? The small details make the difference from an artistically successful band and just good ideas thrown on an album. Think in steps, and be true to yourself.
A random Spotify recommendation caught this scribe’s eyes when going to put on some music, and Gore-Girl Project turned out to be quite the diamond in the rough. What initially seemed like a VTuber project turned out to be a multi-faceted, genuine metallic article with a surprising number of high-profile guests (for those aware of the Japanese scene at least) and an impressively diverse number of tracks that run the gamut from slamming, brutal death metal to power metal to jpop and blurring the lines in between.
Gore-Girl Project stands out because of it’s unique blend of different influences that span it’s tracks. One of the album’s strongest tracks, “Death Penalty” opens with an anime-ish upbeat synth only to instantly drive firmly into brutal death metal riffing and blastbeats. Featuring guttural lows and slamming riffs, it’s an impressively heavy onslaught with a surprising amount of catchiness…until Uyu (Mana Diagram) storms in with some upbeat vocals and danceable synths take the song in a completely different direction. It’s a bit shocking, but in the best way. “Crimson Violator” soars with epic, blasting power metal energy blurred with melodic death courtesy of vocals from KOKOMI (Fate Gear) and Eugenics Scarlet Divinity. Toss in a fiery solo and it’s a ripper of a track.
“Coagulation” brings some sonic battery and raging death metal behind it, complete with gurgled vocals, but some female cleans give it a few moments of restraint amidst the chaos. A fun, ‘don’t blink or you’ll miss it’ cover of Napalm Death’s “You Suffer” featuring Fate Gear serves as a nice wink and nod to the heavier moments. Meanwhile, “Blasted Blue” is laced with jpop/idol elements with a good chunk of the heaviness removed, sans some energetic drumming and riffs subtly sitting below the synthwork. The closer “Meteorstorm” fuses those modern electronic elements with a heavier backbone to push the track into a futuristic feeling, bolstered by a catchy chorus, to finish the album on.
Coregula feels very much like a beautifully woven together passion project. From the grim, almost guro-styled artwork of the cover, to the eclectic musical diversity that springs from track to track, it’s clear there was a lot of thought and effort into putting together a unique vision and concept that blends heavy metal, anime, and more. Gore-Girl Project is a welcome discovery for anyone seeking something totally outside the box that pulls from much of metal’s greatest elements and merges it with a dark yet kawaii aesthetic.
A Swedish quintet with ties to acts like October Tide, Centinex, and Interment beyond live experience with Katatonia and Entombed A.D. under their belts, Moondark originally developed a couple of demos in 1993 and 2015 respectively. Guessing that good things take time to gel (or just finding the right opportunity/time to strike), we finally arrive at the group’s debut full-length for The Abysmal Womb. Steeped in 90s-style riffing, tones, and atmosphere, these eight songs straddle the greatness of doom/death that encompasses both stateside and European elements to convey a crushingly heavy sound.
The despair seething through the growls and sadistic screams of vocalist Alexander Högbom can’t be missed while the low churning riffs plus slower rhythm section parts thump your chest – as opener “Where Once Was Life” sets the mood with its mixture of Crowbar-like moodiness next to early Crematory / Cathedral heaviness. Every riff evolves in its own fashion, the five-piece using subtle dynamic tricks to keep ears on alert. The occasional thick use of the rumbling bass by Allan Lundholm sets up death-oriented sequences where drummer Kennet Englund can flex a bit more of his double kick groove-driven flair – working to symbiotic perfection on “Palliative Dusk”. The foundational riffs along with tasty mini-breaks or circular runs from guitarists Johan Jansson and Mattias Norrman never disappoint – every nuance logical in terms of phrasing to execute the next depressive musical montage. One listen to the savage, slow intensity for “Sterile Earth” or the devilish bellows throughout “Beyond Darkness” speak volumes to the doom/death axe ambiance in full effect, a raw purity driving a stake into the heart of all underground metalheads. Intertwining songs of average four to five-minute lengths with the occasional seven to almost eight-minute epics, these musicians serve the right balance between adequate songwriting mechanics in this style to serve each track’s individual needs without overburdening the proceedings.
It’s not very often that you find artists who started a band in the early 90s returning to that same form thirty plus years later convincingly. That’s what you’ll hear from Moondark on this record. Sincere execution on The Abysmal Womb should lead most listeners into a path craving more material hopefully released in a timely manner.
