Country: Moscow, Russia

Style: Funeral Doom Metal

Label: Solitude Productions





Comatose Vigil is a band that is active for over 8 years in the music branch. You might think that after 8 years they should be well known in the metal scene, well due to their musical approach and what music style they play, the band is more known in the underground metal scene.

Over the years the band has released three demos (2003 – 2004), an EP (2006) and two full length albums. “Fuimus, non Sumus”, the second full length album of the band and the album we’re going to talk about is release 6 years after the first release, “Not a Gleam of Hope”, back in 2005.

If we say that the break between albums was long, then we can say as easily that the songs on the album are equally long. There is a saying, “You know it’s funeral doom, if the intro is longer than 5 minutes” … well, “Fuimus, non Sumus” has only 3 songs, but all three songs are with a playing time longer than 20 minutes and the entire album has a total length of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Three songs and one hour of crushing, slow, droning, funeral doom.

The album is not reinventing the genre, there are no experimental passages, the approach is very rigid and classic. If you’re not into funeral doom and slow, oppressing music, then “Fuimus non Sumus …” is not the album that will make you fond and interested into funeral doom, it has classic funeral doom trademarks.

Unlike “Not a Gleam of Hope” and the other releases, the album seems to put a stronger emphasis, but not exaggerated, on the keyboards / synthesizer and it has a better feeling for fine details. The sound created by them is more evolved, there is a more professional approach to it, all of this giving the album a very cathedral background sound, it creates the mystical, dark and mournful atmosphere.

Apart from this, the rest of the album continues the cold, dark and gloomy journey that Comatose Vigil used us with. Distorted guitars, heavy and very slow paced riffs, insanely slow drum rhythm and heavily growled vocals. It is a doom album that follows the line of the previous releases but in a more balanced, mature and rich way.

“Fuimus non Sumus …” is a cold, oppressive and very atmospheric funeral march, a quick pass from existence to non existence, a easy way to say “We are, we are not” and I must say that this album is and it’s going to be a “classic” among funeral doom albums.

Rating : 8





Tracklist:

01. Fuimus, Non Sumus…

02. Autophobia

03. The Day Heaven Wept


Links:

http://www.comatosevigil.com/

Buy cd : Solitude Store

Label:  Solitude Productions

Handmade instruments form the cornerstones of SYVEN’s sound, A.T. having built the 15-string acoustic kanteles, 12-string electric kanteles, Lapland drums and synthetic soundscapes himself. The production, recording, mixing, digital manipulation and hand-drawn artwork of Aikaintaite, was all handled by the duo themselves, wholly expressing the album in the full proper experience.

“…this is music unbound from stylistic borders and floating from deeper wells than the common ‘dark’ sounds.” – Avantgarde Metal

“As picturesque and vivid as it is haunting and desolate, the seemingly perfect artistic union between A.T. and A. K.-S. has taken the worlds of folk and ritual-based ambient music to new, personal heights which will be exceedingly difficult to meet, let alone approach.” – The Inarguable

“There is a solemn quality to this album – the sense of great strength carefully curbed and leashed. For those looking for a release that can become a ritual, for music that doubles as a pagan ceremony, Aikaintaite is perfect.” – Exclaim!

“I put the album on and was blown away by the rich density and otherworldliness of the soundscapes on offer… it is a deep expression of elemental power that should be part of every music lover’s collection.” – Alternative Matter

“..pure perfection, on every level. And it has already joined that small and exclusive list of records I hold to be truly remarkable and unparalleled, past or future.” – Transylvanianhungerrr

“It’s slow and purposeful; it’s heavy, dark and mournful, but lacks that amphetamine-urgency that seems to drive most other metal. 4/5″ – MuzikReviews

“…gives me chills and it should do the very same to you if you have any kind of humanity left in you.” – Absolute Zero Media

http://syven.atolonen.cjb.net
http://www.last.fm/music/Syven
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Syven/179171838780488
http://vendlus.com

After recording their first demo’s, and with numerous labels offering deals (yet looking for the band to add vocals to their music) they instead decided to set up their own label ‘Revive Records’ to release their debut album ‘The End of the Beginning’ in 2002. This crucially allowed the band to remain in complete creative control. Speaking on their debut, which was originally intended as the bands farewell to the music industry, the band say “we just wanted to finish on a release we were really proud of, we had no expectations at all.” Over the next couple of years after the album’s low key release, the band started to pick up interest mainly through word of mouth on-line with rave reviews on blogs. Both video singles from the album “The End of the Beginning” and “From Dust to the Beyond” received airplay across Europe on MTV. This was when the world was first exposed to the bands strong usage of visuals to enhance their music.





God Is An Astronaut live in:

Boiler Club

Cluj-Napoca
Romania

Ticket price: 30 lei

Available @ Booha Bar – Cluj Napoca


God Is An Astronaut live in Bucharest 12.03.2012

Ticket price: 50 lei.
Available in: Germanos, Orange, Vodafone, Domo Shops, Humanitas Library and online at www.eventim.ro)





Discography:
“Age of the Fifth Sun” (2010) 2012
“God Is An Astronaut” s/t (2008) 2012
“Far From Refuge” – Album (2007) 2012
“A Moment Of Stillness” – E.P. (2006) 2012 Album
“All Is Violent, All Is Bright” – Album (2005) 2012
“The End Of The Beginning” – Album (2002) 2012

Websites:
http://www.godisanastronaut.com
http://www.facebook.com/godiaa
http://www.facebook.com/events/223297341098461/

As a concept, TreeLogia (The Album As It Is Not) has a little secret, it is not entirely new. The EP was formed ​​developing the idea behind the track called “The Trees”, from their  first album “The Wind, The Trees And The Shadows Of The Past “.

The EP has many passages that abound in sorrowful melodic guitars, sometimes accompanied by gentle keyboard support. There are also parts of clean guitars that create a melancholic, thoughtful moment. The harsh voice used throughout the album, as I said at the beginning, are very similar to the ones in Agalloch.

As in previous albums, the “nature” plays an important role. Elements like the sound of rain or wind are very often used in the songs, they create an ethereal atmosphere, the image of a empty, cold and forgotten landscape … a place of meditation.

TreeLogia (As It Is Not The Album) is an EP that doesn’t require your maximum attention,  there is no need to examine each track  piece by piece, it is an album easy to listen to. Its main strong point is the atmosphere that it creates, that certain state of tranquility in which we can escape, it draws you in it.

So, if you like melancholic and melodic moments, sorrowful guitars, bands like Agalloch, you’re inspired by nature and you need an easy listen, then there is no reason why you wouldn’t like this one.

Rating : 7.5





Tracks:

The Trees Part One

The Trees Part Two

The Trees Part Three


Links

Solitude-Prod site

http://www.facebook.com/solitudeprod

Finally “A Disease for the Ages” on double vinyl. Limited to 500 and issued in a very noble Gatefold sleeve with silver scripture and noble rough material. No extra tracks, no splatter versions, no clear versions just black and silver. The new artwork is minimalist and bleak and compliments Mourning Beloveth’s darkest album yet . The 4th album on vinyl is printed through their label Grau Records. The second album “The Sullen Sulcus” will be released on DLP this year, on it’s tenth anniversary

For any other infos or demands contact : Darren@mourningbeloveth.com

Also Mourning Beloveth will be headlining the Into the Void anniversary show on February 11th in The Pint, Dublin

DonisArt wants to offer on the 17th and 18th of August 2012 in Alba Iulia something more than your average festival. DBE strives to be a sincere expression of the beautiful souls who are willing to spend a weekend between the walls of this fascinating fortress, alongside musicians who will mingle with fans, will talk to them and will enjoy a Beautiful normal, relaxing and friendly Atmosphere!





Solstafir – 1st ritual

SOLSTAFIR (www.solstafir.net) is an old Metal band that, with each album, proved us there are no stylistic musical limits. What does SOLSTAFIR play? Epic Metal & Dark Rock’n’Roll.


The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble – 2nd ritual


THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ  ENSEMBLE is a band with an as mysterious as exciting sound. The Experimental Ambient Darkjazz approach is new for the concerts in Romania and their representation from the 18th of August will close up DBE4.


Lantlos – the 3rd ritual

LANTLOS (www.lantlos.com) is the project of Herbst, a young German musician who stands at his third album. The Atmospheric Post Black Metal style he thought and interpreted was well received by listeners and we can even speak about a new music wave in this direction. The last album seems to have vexed some and captivated others, proving that LANTLOS keeps transforming, avoiding repeating the same riffs only to satisfy some conservatives. His musical approach’s cosmopolitanism quickly reached success maybe thanks to the fact that the vocals were done by Neige/ALCEST, a good friend of Herbst. Now it’s time we find out if the music of LANTLOS was accepted by the fans for its true value or thanks to the collaboration with Neige. A challenge DonisArt raises in the net to everyone interested.


Of The Wand And The Moon – the 4th ritual

Kim Larsen is, at least to me, a person with a beautiful soul, a complete artist and an extremely warm and friendly person. At DBE 1 he played about half an hour, by himself and he obviously felt very alone before that big and noisy crowd. I promised him even back then, that he would be back in Romania but with a full line-up. And finally :OF THE WAND AND THE MOON: (www.ofthewandandthemoon.dk) will play on the night of the 18th of August at DBE 4, especially since their new album who has been just released is a authentic Experimental Dark NeoFolk jewel.


Oranssi Pazuzu – the 5th ritual

ORANSSI PAZUZU is a rather unknown name but, after the first album’s release, ‘Kosmonument‘, the whole press was shocked by its beauty and the Finns’ original approach. Moreover, famous festivals like HELLFEST or ROADBURN were in a hurry to invite them this year and the album is already in the top preferences of many listeners. What are they playing? Psychedelic  Black Metal & Space Krautrock, a stylistic combination experimented by no one yet, but that sounds great! Let us find out who are the ones behind these odd denominations…


PG. Lost – the 6th ritual

PG.LOST (www.pglost.com) is a beautiful Instrumental Ambient Post-Rock Swedish band that will come to Romania for the first time and will play a show at DBE 4 on the 18th of August.


Isole – the 7th ritual

ISOLE (http://www.forevermore.se) is a Swedish Epic Doom Dark Metal with an impressing history of over 20 years. The last years also brought with them a couple of interesting ISOLE albums, released under Napalm Records label, that brought the bandmates an incredible visibility and impressive interest from the fans. Because the new album has a very smart mix of Doom Metal with Dark and Progressive, I decided to invite the band to play at DBE 4, in the evening of August 17.


Job Karma – the 8th ritual

Cinematic Ambient Post Industrial sounds dreadfully interesting. The Poles of JOB KARMA (www.jobkarma.pl) are coming en premier in Romania to introduce their compositions to the DBE public, on the evening of the 18th of August. Those who are into the genre already know what I am talking about. More than that, the musicians are part of a famous Polish festival.


Unholy – the 9th ritual

UNHOLY remain pioneers of this darkened musical style and can be considered a pillar of the genre. I don’t think there’s a Death Metal band today who hasn’t drawn its inspirations from albums “From the Shadows” or “The Second Ring of Power”, albums birthed in the second half of the 90s. After that UNHOLY became silent for the next 12 years. Some rumors and some interviews with the band members surfaced in the last years, and they spread the word about intention of reuniting the band for a couple of rehearsals and maybe some concerts during this summer, but nothing was certain.


Isobel and November – the 10th ritual

ISOBEL&NOVEMBER (http://isobelandnovember.bandcamp.com/) is a little known Swedish quartet. Regardless of this status, the band develops a sort of Pysch Country Goth Rock that leaves the listener stunned and overwhelmed by its beauty. After 2 full albums and a MCD, the band is now ready to show the public that it is worthy of being part of the DBE line-up.


Falloch – the 11th ritual

FALLOCH (www.falloch.com) is a Scottish Celtic Metal & Post-Rock project who has barely seen the light of day, but already caught the attention of major record label Candlelight, who has been known to promote bands like EMPEROR or OPETH


Hexvessel – the 12th ritual


HEXVESSEL (UK/FIN) is a new Psychedelic Forest Folk-Rock band but which at DBE 3 managed to captivate and fascinate everyone attending, Mat’s (ex-CODE/DODHEIMSGARD) band approach being an original, but spectacular one! Moreover, the eight musicians felt great between the walls of Alba Iulia fortress, everyone wishing to return to a new edition.


Dark Buddha Rising – the 13th ritual


DARK BUDDHA RISING (http://www.varjotila.org/dbr) is an extremely odd Finnish group, follower of a conglomerate of styles, the final sound being described as an original form of Trance Sludge Doom Metal. Entirely underground as visibility or communication, the group doesn’t brag about being generous with details… they don’t give interviews, press releases or declarations… the bandmates seem to live in another world, a real thing, considering they live isolated, somewhere in the North. Their live music throws you into an entirely different galaxy and you need proper mood to resonate with their message. With currently 2 best albums released, the Finns hardly accepted to send over a couple of words to the DBE platform, leaving the rest for the evening of August 17

Hi, Ismo. How is winter in Finland? Here we have around -25 degrees…

“Same here, minus 20-25… fucking awful!”
UNHOLY is one of my favorite Underground Metal bands from all times… Why you decided to stop the activity a few years ago?

“Few years ago? In fact it’s 10 years ago. Well, we were kind of stuck in position where we couldn’t get more famous, to get tours and gigs abroad and to conquer the world really. We could have been able to continue as ‘nameless legend’ but we already seen that life. That’s what we were the whole time Unholy existed.  So it was no point to continue, because we were suffering from lack of motivation.”

Who had the idea to restart again to work to the band? Have you kept the contact between all of your members in these years?

“No, we haven’t been in contact a lot, except with Pasi who is as the matter of fact, my brother-in-law.  We got the idea of reborn when Rusty Crowbar contacted us and wanted to release our demos. When that project went forward, and same time our albums got reissued, things began to seem quite auspicious for comeback. But this is just a project, so we’re not going to be alive with Unholy for next 10 years. This may end already after this summer, if we feel that we’ve made everything that had to be done. So this summer is for sure the last possible chance to see Unholy alive. We may release something new if it feels good, but gigs will not happen after this summer touring.”

Are you listening to Metal music? What old albums are you prefer? How about from the new ones?

“No, I listen more like rock and progressive stuff, and some other stuff not so easy to categorize. I like very much the band called Alamaailman Vasarat. Very interesting music! Could be good visitor to DBE also.”

Going back to the state of the band… Are you intending to create a new album? If yes, what kind of musical direction will be? Your 4 albums are really masterpieces. How do you see these albums today?

“We don’t know. The style will be pure raw, ‘old-schoolish’ and not overproduced. That’s the vision we have, because nowadays there’s too much overproduced music that sound nice and clean, but lacks the feeling and presence. It’s a long story to detailed describe every album, but I’ll put it this way: every album has its own feeling and style, and so it’s really hard to put any album before the other.”

Tell me a few things about the current line-up. The rest of the guys play also in other bands, maybe?

“We’ll do this the old fashioned way, with 2 guitars. No keyboards, female vocals. Just pure, aggressive, ultra heavy Doom for doomers.”

You have more than 12 years of no live activities. What are you expectations from your upcoming shows? Have you decided where you will play this year, maybe?

“We have no touring manager or anyone to organize gigs. And we don’t know any organizers. So we basically cannot get any gigs by ourselves. We just have to wait is someone asks us to play. That’s why I’m not waiting for any world tours.”

You will come in Romania in August. What do you know about my country?

“Honestly, I don’t know anything about Romania. Except, when I was a kid, my second violin teacher was Romanian. I remember him as very demanding man. Romanian and Hungarian classical musicians have always been highly respected in Finland.”

DBE 4 is a platform where will play a lot of bands with different musical roots… Do you know some bands that will play in the same edition with you?

“I haven’t looked at the list in detail. But I will.”
What tracks you will play in August here and how will be the show in comparison with your past gigs?

“The track list is under construction, it’s too early to say. But as we will play with two guitars, most of songs will be from demos and first couple of albums. (keyboards are in too big role in last two albums to leave off).”

Thank you. See you in a few months. Do you believe in some sort of religion?

“Thanks to you too, friend! I hope we get lots of fans in there. I’m an atheist. I am a believer in physics.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zguUJQ_k-2M

UPCOMING INFO ABOUT DARK BOMBASTING EVENING 4 IN A FEW DAYS ! KEEP IN TOUCH

Country: Italy

Genre: Melodic death / doom metal

Label:  BadMoodMan Music






The music industry is a hard one, especially if the label promotes metal genres that are not so “mainstream”. As a record label it’s normal to search for that kind of band that can make the difference from the very beginning. A band that has the desire for affirmation, vision and of course a really good album to release.

Bad Mood Man Music have found all this good aspects in (Echo), a melodic doom / death metal band from Italy. Until now (Echo) have self-produced a demo entitled “Omnivoid”, containing five tracks, and later, in 2010, a promo, again, self-produced. This promo was released as a preview of the first album “Devoid of Illusions”, album recorded at the Priory Recording Studios in Birmingham (UK).

“Devoid of Illusions” is an album that has no border in what gender is concerning. It’s really hard to categorize them as being X or Y. The diversity of influences found on the album range from post rock elements, atmospheric to doom / death metal. It is a creation that has managed to attract my attention from the very start by its diversity and complexity.

A combination of all these elements can be found starting with the first song, “Crimson Summoning the Soul”. The song begins with a simple “play” of notes on the guitar, but quickly loses its simplicity once these notes are backed by heavy, low tuned riffs and haunting keyboard passages, passages that sound more like a “choir”, a choir that gives substance to the song and a mystique feeling, even alluring. This track is a mix of  atmospheric doom metal and some post metal elements, clean and harsh vocals, brutal metal riffs and melancholic piano lines.

The second song, “Unforgiven March” keeps largely to the line of the first song. “The Coldest Land” brings us a moment of piece and tranquillity, still it’s an apparent calm. Behind this apparent calm actually there’s a cold, desolate and sorrowful atmosphere, it’s a classic doom metal track with soaring guitar lines.

One interesting part for the doom metal fans, especially those who are into funeral doom, is the last song, “Sounds from Out of Space” (Feat. Greg Chandler) and yes, if you say Greg Chandler you can expect a very heavy Esoteric influence in the song. In fact it is a blend between the extremes, chaotic and esoteric dark atmosphere and a serene, dreamy and nostalgic Echo atmosphere.

Some quick info about the other tracks: “Omnivoid” – a very experimental track, “Once was a Man” – a track with very strong post rock influences.

“Devoid of Illusions” is really a journey, an experience somewhat unique, an original way to  explore every corner of what doom metal means and all the influences which it may include. No borders between songs, experimental influence (Omnivoid), post rock (Once Was a Man), funeral (Sounds from Out of Space), doom-death metal (The Coldest Land) and all of these wrapped in one material named “Devoid of Illusions” and played by a really good band  Echo.

RATING :     8.5





Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. Summoning the Crimson Soul

3. March

4 Unforgiven. The Coldest Land

5. Internal Morphosis

6. Omnivoid

7. My Disclaiming Faults

8. Once Was a Man

9. Sounds from Out of Space (Feat. Greg Chandler)

Links:

Solitude-Prod site

Echo – facebook page

Ea – IV





Ea as usual bring us something new. The album doesn’t sounds like first one or second, It sounds like fourth . This time no pauses between tracks just a long 50 minutes monolith journey…

Evadne – The Shortest Way





Evadne is a band from Spain who shows incredible growth with the second full length album. Very catchy, very well done album. One of the main candidates for the doom death album of the 2012!

When Nothing Remains – As All Torn Asunder





When Nothing Remains was formed in early 2010 by Peter Laustsen (Nox Aurea, The Cold Existence, Rimfrost) and Jan Sallander (The Cold Existence).
After writing music together in The Cold Existence for many years they wanted to try something new, darker and more experimental from ideas they both have for years. The result turned out to be very good after a couple of songs and they felt that this is something they really want to do.
Peter Laustsen felt that after his work with Nox Aurea he wanted to add something extra to this style of music and invited a couple of guest artists to patificate with clean vocals duties on some of the tracks. Johan Ericson was an obvius choice as Peter know him for years and he have very interessting ideas and feelings for this style of music. In middle 2011 first album “As All Torn Asunder” was recorded in Massive Assault studios and mixed/mastered in Dead Dog Farm studios with producer Johan Ericson (Draconian, Doom:VS, Shadowgarden) to get the perfect sound and feeling for the music. Release is sheduled for spring 2012 on Solitude Productions. As for Nox Aurea they once again used mastermind Zoltan Horvath to paint the artwork.

Obsidian Sea – Between Two Deserts





Obsidian Sea is the young Bulgarian band with the strong traditional doom metal roots. Higly recommended to all fans of classic epic doom genre. The powerful sound of the album also makes this recording interesting for the doom death fans.

Release dates to be announced soon.

Fursy Teyssier on the video: “We’re very happy and proud to share the very first LES DISCRETS music video with you. It was such a pleasure to make it. Audrey Hadorn wrote and directed it, and it is the first music video she did. We really hope you’ll like it as much as we do…”

Les Discrets – Ariettes oubliees (promo clip)






Les Discrets: “Ariettes Oubliées…” sound samples

Today 03.02.2012  in one week “Ariettes Oubliées…”, the successor of the highly acclaimed Les Discrets debut album “Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées”, will be released. Here are some sound samples to get an impression of what to expect from Fursy Teyssier’s new work:

“Au Creux de l’hiver” (preview excerpt)
“La Nuit Muette” (preview excerpt)
“Les Regrets” (preview excerpt)

Pre-order “Ariettes Oubliées…” now!
Pre-order Fursy Teyssier “Collected Works 2006 – 2011″ book now!