Metalhead Spotted

Egyptian Death Metal Scarab Unveiled Manifestation "Coffin Texts'

Over a long-running career, Cairo based Egyptian death metal group Scarab after five years since the recording of their last sonic assailment revealed their first excerpt "Coffin Texts" from their upcoming third full-length album “Martyrs of the Storm” and will release on 6th March 2020 via ViciSolum Productions. Ancient Egyptian mythology, history was always enigmatic, mysterious and ambiguous from centuries and obviously difficult to trace. Pertaining to their geographical position where Egypt prevailed for centuries spreading knowledge and reaching higher levels of progression and exhibited humility in the face of cosmic forces such as death and divine wrath. Cleansing ignorance and darkness Egypt enlightened their mysterious history through spreading knowledge and exposure to the world about ancient enormous fields of science. Scarab means a large dung beetle of the eastern Mediterranean area, regarded as sacred in ancient Egypt. I believe that the fascination over ancient Egyptian mythology will never end and for a good reason. Always Egyptian mythology concept based article, image, band whatever easily attracted me because of their epic history, magnificent theme, culture.

Nowadays most of the bands experiment on their soundscapes to create a piece of music that can be different from others and bring to them a unique identity. Death Metal colliding with Middle Eastern, Egyptian or otherwise unconventional influences enjoys indeed tend quite rare but Scarab able to gain proper attention in this complex, unrelenting, disparate musical style. Scarab became a well-established group of bands who can make a fully sound and creative and with a lot of excellence in his lyrics, with well crafted, distinct content. It’s really difficult to separate a band, their story, their legacy and their music from each other to glean some truth about the piece you presently get to witness. Scarab has triumphed musically to attain their own particular style, religious history, and sound without sounding niche or trite. Scarab delivers a very unique kind of death metal combining brutal, technical, melodic and atmospheric musical style with Egyptian, Arabic folk elements. Their musical level of complexity, technicality and obscurity are fantastic.

Their latest studio release possessed me with their extreme, chromatic,multi-layered, powerful, blasting death metal musical style with technical riffs work, paradigm shift and melodic, folk vibe with sporadic middle eastern tunes, dark, sensual and mystical soundscapes and obviously their distinguishing musical composition, the grandiose concept just blew me away. Sammy Sayed and his cohorts exude tremendous effort in a radiant way on this track with excellent diligence and nailed it. I really appreciate each and every single musician's unsurpassed ability, efficiency, and skill. This new track is a triumphant rich death metal.

This whole track reflects the grand diversity of sound brought together on this new track. Their incredibly sensitive,slightly sandy,dusty antique and disparate musical styles all combined in one bold, enlightened display of unbound creativity Despite the often fast ,furious,cacophonous, heavy and extreme form of death metal assaults with a lots of segments of brutal,technical,melodic segments,tasteful Middle eastern,Arabic musical style involvement and without sacrificing the atmospheric aspect enhanced this new tracks unique flavor and enriched this track that is very powerful, heavy and excellent all at the same time along with a good balance of death metal music, Middle Eastern music, melody and brutality with strangulated, intricate riffs work and those effective rasps, harsh vocals simultaneously . Their music is both dark and ecstatic. I highly appreciate and applaud and cite this new effort because of their distinct style. This contains a strong dose of creative, memorable death metal with a trace of a modern taste, relentless rhythmic, technical, brutal and melodic that is simply outstanding.

This track is filled with a slew of twisted, traversed, chugging, groovy, intricate, apocalyptic, crushing riffs line ups with technical prowess. As well bass line up is shifting, chaotic, deeper, roving and bludgeoning. Drumming, the percussion line up is thundering, dodgy, punishing, frantic, blast beating and rabidly insane. Individual riffs, solo sections which sound briefly something exotic.

Intricate, spectacular riffs, bass lineups matched in a fantastic way with technical orientation. This indulges strong songwriting, grandiose concept, and brilliant musicianship. Tempo changes are excellent and complicated. Vocals harsh, snarling growls, deep rasps, aggressive, vigorous, crucial voice woven in a good manner with their utterly savage, merciless, onslaught, primal organic, violent, uncanny death metal sound with a lot of technical prowess, melodic segments, Middle Eastern musical accompaniment and embedded perfectly.

I really worship this band. This new track has a fantastic sense of exoticism without any sacrifice in intensity and will take you on a journey where myth, religion, mystery, the desert and the Egyptian bright night meet. Indeed it'd be outstanding another one release of 2020 so far. Scarab able to cultivate Middle eastern music with death metal properly and garnished presented this whole as a masterpiece. Yet the subtle touches of Middle Eastern, Arabic musical style inspired flair and groove is enough to distinguish the band from the extreme metal pace and their predecessor album demonstrates it perfectly. These themes of primordial order through the chaos are mirrored in the band’s own music. There is a sense of regality permeating throughout as the chaos is articulated, defined, and embraced by native sons with a royal lineage as old as the sands of the Egyptian desert.

Published by Souvik Basu. Dated 21/11/2019

Metal’s pantheon is inexplicably vast. The entities that reside in the depths of the abyss outstrip the heavenly host in variety, if not in devotees. Finnish depressive black metal abusers Benighted In Sodom is indeed one of the most consistently exciting and forward-thinking acts in the depressive black metal landscape. Numerous bands have created concept albums based around their own ideas that take insight from creative writing, but few bands will dedicate the entire span of an album to an existing piece. Benighted In Sodom has attempted an unwieldy mission to set the dark sounds of their past to the typically kaleidoscopic expanses of depressive black metal for better and worse, audacity is an essential aspect. It has always demonstrated its malleability throughout its existence, being infused with elements ranging from alternative rock to Avant-Garde. Benighted In Sodom delivers both the groaning textures and deserved, overpowering climaxes. When they repeatedly cycle through riffs and valleys, that audacity starts to become an onus, turning what should be an adventure into a rote marathon through the vortex of sound and changes less than the music’s overall embrace and intensity.

Finnish Negative Existentialism, Suicide, Occult Themes based depressive black metallers Benighted in Sodom will unveil their upcoming full-length opus entitled “Carrier of Poison Apples” on December 13th, 2019 via I, Voidhanger Records label with 58:32 min running time. This new album consists of 10 tracks. Benighted in Sodom was formed in 2004. Benighted in Sodom this one prolific act is helmed by the ever-provocative my long-time friend Matron Thorn (Ævangelist, Præternatura, Ragnarökkur, Obscuring Veil) brings this to another level entirely right and then you dive into the ever-expanding abyss of pure black that has carved from the very souls of the damned whose howls wreath this album gloriously. Matron's in this particular sonic vision, things won’t end with a whimper. As the label accurately describes, this is the sound of reality crumbling, revealing a nauseating yet fascinating abstract dimension of sin, deprivation, and oblivion. The eerie, sweltering melodies that creep in the background as the slow, stomping, patterned drums and morose guitars rumble through the air like an avalanche of audio lava and brimstone, and Monstrous, vocals of the strangest combination, ranging from animalistic growls to snarling shrieks, to yells, that give me strong Lifelover and Silencer vibes along with horrible rhythms grate nerve endings. That’s the difference and that’s what separates Matron Thorn from the rest of the younger garb who are trying to innovate and keep things fresh. Benighted In Sodom invoke scenes of graveyards and ancient monuments built to honor long-dead Gods and subtle layering of harmonious and disharmonious aspects that allow the listener to choose how they want to enjoy the claustrophobic closeness of being swamped in sadness. Now I am straight diving to the point about this new album.

When at first checked out their manifestation I was overwhelmed and the track sounds so authentic, mature from then I was clinched that I have to check this whole material for sure and this would be unblemished. Benighted in Sodom delivers distinctly experimental, atmospherically evil, a vivid, horrifying, sadistic, depressive, negative, suicidal form of black metal. Spitting the occult substance out from the top where it splatters into perverse monochrome psychedelia splayed across the landscape. The wonderful skill the band possesses that ability hits its apex here. This band's brainchild musician Matron did a fantastic job on this album in a radiant way and It’s really great when your high hopes are not misplaced. This whole album reflects the grand diversity of sound brought together on this album. It is really not easy to describe their musical style. A natural synthesis of dissonant sounds and disparate styles all combined in one bold, enlightened display of unbound creativity Despite the often crushing, cacophonous black metal assaults with a lot of segments of slower tempo too where Benighted in Sodom combines with cavernous drum thrashes, melodic, morose guitars and those effective rasps. "Carrier of Poison Apples" combines the angular and rabid technicality with the experimental tinges of their previous offering. Their soundscape initially forceful and ultimately complex riffs, extremely raucous and abrasive sound, constant aural disharmony and this new album redirects the image of black metal through a dervish funhouse.

Well, their upcoming opus opening track is “Last Stop on My Way to Hell”. This track starts with eerie, creepy sound with some slow vocals. Quickly the song returns to the sonic assailment and the musical style transformed into a heavier musical direction of guitar noise laced with deliberate cadence and progression seasonings. Their whole composition and musical style are impeccable also borrow great atmosphere with sour, dissonant riffs work. They emerge undaunted, with black metal sustain, an infinite beat providing a platform for sheets of noise and the perpetual rise of the sadistic riff. This album boasts some of the most dizzying, Avant-garde tinged black metal and every single song is meticulously crafted and shows an incredible sense of tension, flow, and technical acumen. This is frighteningly hallucinatory with floods in my mind with psychoactive substances and the veins with poison.

Matron Thorn, who has created some incredibly dim and depressing black metal along with pretty uneventful depressive music and Matron masks this in layers upon layers of a haze of distorted noise. Upcoming new album whole compositions are extremely filthy and unsettling pieces of sinister, grim euphoria and unearthly ambiance. “Carrier of Poison Apples” is an incredibly rewarding album and the musical content remains highly underwhelming. Their distinct entity infused me by a lot. Their musical style has some quite soft and smooth edge in the guitar playing along with clean vox which adds to the more atmospheric, morose, melancholic, unique kind of black metal but at the same time, the vocals and other parts of the riffing are straight forward ferocious simultaneously. Honestly saying after a multiple listen this album just blew me away with their ethereal abyss, melancholic, the multi-layered, ominous musical style. Matron Thorn has exuded tremendous effort on this album with excellent diligence and nailed it. Benighted in Sodom really does the trick for the atmosphere is the overall murky and misty sound that comes from the music. I highly cite and embrace this album.

This album is filled with a slew of cadence, apocalyptic, ominous, powerful riffs work including the way in which they are portrayed and the effects used on the riffs, are precisely drawn out and rather slow, forcing it’s listening audience to feel the pain with each and every stroke of the strings. As well bass line up is whopping, intense, strong, rumbling, slithering. The guitars are solely focused on creating a grandiose atmosphere but predominantly rely on walls of sound and swerving rhythms. In each track morbidly delicious, macabre, soaring, dark eerie riffs, bass lineups matched in a good manner. This whole albums sound deliver a dissonant, grim feeling, sinister, melancholic, gruesome black metal with raw emotion and pure energy with lots of noisy arpeggios during the slow dirge moments, while the riffs picked with a little more speed contain some very catchy morose melodies. “Carrier of Poison Apples” endures the beauty of black metal.

This album indulges strong songwriting and brilliant musicianship. Lyrically, there are interesting, provoking and intellectually stimulating and still be interesting to explore. This inhuman ability, however, is inconsequential, as the music needs such a delivery. This album has a hypnotic effect on the listener. Vocals decently large voice and clean vocals as well do well for Benighted in Sodom. Vocals howling voice,immense,deep rasps ,serene chanting,watery echo effect voice emerged on this album in a well manner adds a thick murky sound and intertwined perfectly with their utterly spellbinding,obtuse,bizarrely arrogant, mysterious,fully blistering black metal,distant musical style with a lots of depressive accompaniment and embedded perfectly . His expressive voice Perfectly positioned beside the tremolo distortion presented by the sweeping guitars, determines the emotive nature of the atmospherically driven record. His vocal expressions land droplets of melancholy and sorrow over the audience like rain. Overall you will get sinister, gloomy, desolate, mysterious ambient from this whole album with hallucinogenic with a healthy dose of paranoia. I really worship this band and highly embrace Benighted in Sodom‘s heinous deliverance.

Each song has energy, fluency and draws a flawless landscape. Stand out tracks are all of them. I personally Cherish each and every single track. The vision of the album cover is Pretty neat, solid, atrocious, grisly, gorgeously hideous. Overall “Carrier of Poison Apples” whole album is Spectacular, engrossing, significant and goes all the way through with a relentless rage from the beginning. The sound has a depth to it, with brief distortion. This album sounds so authentic and a truly remarkable sonic journey from beginning to end. Indeed this album is such an true gem of this year. The production is absolutely impeccable, capable of handling both the massive atmospheric and gargantuan heft. Indeed would be outstanding another one release of this year so far. The upcoming full-length will clearly show whether this act has enough in the tank to strive on to better things, or eventually dissipate into mediocrity. The Finnish bruisers still possess all the necessary skills and hard-won experience to put younger, newcomer challengers in their place. This black metal hybrid has built up steam, showing their ultimate culmination thus far. This is as intended, music meant for submission. Frightful atmospheres bring down the curtain on another exhausting, shattering listening experience that maintains Benighted in Sodom 's status as chief purveyors of psychotic yet creative carnage. Their thick back material which maintains the claustrophobic, nightmarish ethos seems like a good place to spend time while I wait for new music. If you looking for something different, epic this album will take you on a journey into another universe. If you choose to embark on this menacing journey then good luck and don’t get lost in the dark.

My Rating – 4.9/5 Review done by Souvik Basu. Published on 23/10/2019

The obsession with anything outre is not exactly a novelty in the metal scene, but occasionally it will assume a much more complex and nuanced dimension owing to musicians who insist on addressing such topics with utmost maturity and profundity. Numerous bands have created albums based around their own ideas that take insight from creative writing, but few bands will dedicate the entire span of a release to the relevant interpretation of the belief With the emergence and escalation of the novel and notorious tendency. In this extreme metal music genre first wave black metal and second-wave black metal bands are full of reverence.

While some excellent, unique band attempting to sell their flavor of the month band to potential listeners, there are some that simply exist outside of pre-existing molds and take a few years to realize their full potential and thusly grasp the imaginations of many who are fortunate enough to witness their evolve talent. When it comes to notoriety in terms of black metal bands Germany is usually not the first place that comes to mind to a vast majority of people. Shadowy, Chaos, Annihilation based, death worshipping German veterans Negator's latest offering is cut above the rest. A legacy in black metal as genuine and mighty as Negator's is difficult to achieve. Spawning from the depths of Chaos, Knowledge, Esoteric Literature, Death, Annihilation is the newest record from orthodox black metal Negator - Vnitas Pvritas Existentia. Negator this German group married the ritualistic fury of esoteric, occult black metal with a creeping dose of mystical, ominous, sinister madness. The atmosphere and tightly plotted albums were based on mystical incantation while still employing their own take on black metal, a phenomenal addition to the Black metal roster.

Germany has solidified its status as one of the premier centers of black metal over the course of the last decade or so. Crafting four full-length albums of blistering darkness Negator play traditionally influenced black metal with fury and devotion and deftly navigate black metal’s token atmospherics for pureblooded passion. On this year Hamburg based German black metallers Negator unveiled their latest full-length album on this year entitled “Vnitas Pvritas Existentia” with 54:58 min running time along with hellish, spine-chilling, skin-ripping artistry. This new album consists of 10 tracks. Negator was formed in 2003. They have developed into an independent mystical, occult and grand entity with their predecessor release. Now I am straight going to the point about this new opus.

When at first checked out their manifestation I was overwhelmed and infused by the track because of authentic sound, ferocious, mature and from then I was clinched that I have to check this whole for sure material and this would be a savage beast. Black metal’s broodier bands, Cult Germany's underground veteran's Negator's latest effort "Vnitas Pvritas Existentia" is orthodox, nihilistic presence is felt strongly right from the start of this release as well cherish impressive songwriting as well apocalyptic and sinister. The rawness of it makes it ideal for the nostalgic, bringing back the past days when Black Metal was intended to be unsettling and highly creepy. Negator delivers a distinctly experimental, atmospherically evil, vivid, horrifying form of black metal. Playing the type of scathing, otherworldly black metal. Their each and every musician did a fantastic job on this album in a radiant way and It’s really great when your high hopes are not misplaced. Negator manages to strike the right balance between raw, atavistic aggression and a more sophisticated, occult approach. This whole album reflects the grand diversity of sound brought together on this opus. It is really not easy to describe their musical style. Negator creates a constantly shapeshifting maelstrom of crushing chaos and disorder. A synthesis of dissonant sounds and disparate styles all combined in one bold, enlightened display of unbound creativity Despite the often crushing,fast ,furious,cacophonous black metal assaults with a lots of segments of slower tempo too where Negator combines a melodic, mysterious, introspective passages with cavernous drum thrashes, whirlwind guitars and those effective rasps.

well,their latest incantations opening track starts with atmospheric slow build and eerie atmospheric vibe, chanting around the tones then suddenly the sound evolves into heavy,powerful,bestial grunt followed by intricate,fast,delicate riffs work,blast beating,fast soundscapes with onslaught of savage guitar and a wall of spectacular,relentless drums and then segues with evil vocals . The layered tapestry of slightly trebly and heavily laden with reverb, duo-tonal whirlwind of guitar noise laced with aggression,deliberate cadence and progression seasonings supporting the likewise crooning, almost moaning deeply in the throat, high-pitched , duo vocals drown a bit in the almost unhuman-like furiously fast though muffled drumming with ripping and snorting bass, although this evolves to a more dynamic sound on the rest of the album. Their whole composition and musical style are impeccable also borrow great atmosphere with sour, dissonant riffs work. All instruments are dynamic, clearly discerned, yet none stand out amidst the cacophony and indeed they have far surpassed it.

This new releases whole compositions are extremely filthy and unsettling pieces of sinister, grim euphoria and unearthly ambiance. “Vnitas Pvritas Existentia” commences chronologically invigorating and destructive. Their distinct entity infused me by a lot. "Vnitas Pvritas Existentia" bury the listener in an unrelenting cadence of tortured riffs that dance around the blistering drumming of Nechtan, while singer Nachtgarm recites the prophetic lyrics of the eternal night through the tracks of elite black metal. They produce unique kinds of black metal but at the same time, the vocals and other parts of the riffing are straight forward brutal, ferocious simultaneously. Honestly, after a multiple listen this album just blew me away with their ethereal abyss,multi-dimensional, the multi-layered, ominous musical style. "Vnitas Pvritas Existentia" perversely brims with an illuminating light, devouring the cosmic light of life and scurrying through the sort of black metal whose radiance is so obsidian as to consume energy as austerely as it expends it. Each musician has exuded tremendous, cohesive effort on this album with excellent diligence and nailed it. Their guitar work is the very blood that flows through the track, often adrenalized and near-boiling. Their riffs, whether pleasantly discordant or catchy as all hell and matching each other in both despondency and unremitting confidence. Honing their underlying nihilistic creed to awe-inspiring levels, this is a mixture of classic, mid-paced black metal, and equilibrium-ruining lurches. The cosmic sphere falls from this track. At this moment which is eternal yet transitory, new and pure energy grows within the womb of chaos, and which ignites the source of a new aeon, a flame needless of air to exist. Negator really does the trick for the overall murky, mysterious, Juxtapositions of darkness and light, a misty sound that comes from the music. A new true god that breeds its new self, purified and sanctified in chaos without an end nor a beginning. I highly cite and embrace this release.

This is filled with a slew of cadence, apocalyptic, pummeling, ominous, hellish, powerful riffs work. As well bass line up is whopping, intense, strong, rumbling, slithering. Drumming, the percussion line up is bleak, frantic, solid, clattering and powerful. The guitars are solely focused on creating a grandiose atmosphere but predominantly rely on walls of sound and swerving rhythms. In each track morbidly delicious, macabre, soaring, dark eerie, ghastly riffs, bass lineups matched in a good manner. This whole album sound delivers a dissonant, grim feeling, sinister, melodic, gruesome black metal with raw emotion and pure energy. “Vnitas Pvritas Existentia” endures the beauty of black metal. This album indulges strong songwriting and brilliant musicianship. This album has a hypnotic effect on the listener. Vocals decently large voice that does well for Negator. Especially his menacing and hoarse voice are excellent. Vocals howling scream, immense, deep rasps voice emerged on this album in a good manner adds a thick murky sound and intertwined perfectly with their utterly spellbinding, obtuse, bizarrely arrogant, mysterious, fully blistering black metal, a distant musical style with a lot of melodic accompaniment and embedded perfectly. Their sound, the musicianship is absolute prime, with every song unleashing a seething torrent of scalding dissonance and insidious melody, scorching distortion, and barbaric, blasphemous invective, all of which combine to produce an overarching atmosphere of creeping, crippling dread. Overall you will get a sinister, gloomy, desolate, mysterious vibe from this whole album. I really worship this band.

Each song has energy, fluency and draws a savage landscape. Stand out tracks are all of them. Every song, every hellish, skin-stripping riff, and vile vocal incantation is delivered with the righteous fury and unwavering conviction of the true believer. The vision of the album cover is Pretty neat, solid, atrocious, grisly, macabre, gorgeously hideous. Overall “Vnitas Pvritas Existentia” whole album is Spectacular, engrossing, significant and goes all the way through with a relentless rage from the beginning. Negator is surely the apotheosis of everything. The sound has a depth to it, with brief distortion. "Vnitas Pvritas Existentia" is an elite black metal sophistication in their music without sacrificing the feral, ugly core of the style. This album sounds so authentic and a truly remarkable sonic journey from beginning to end. "Vnitas Pvritas Existentia" is a deep and winding journey throughout the mysterious and stifling occult. Indeed this album is such an true gem of this year. The production is absolutely impeccable, capable of handling both the massive atmospheric, melodic and gargantuan heft. Outstanding another one release of this year so far .“Vnitas Pvritas Existentia” is shattering culmination in black metal evolution. Negator can effectively capture a pristine essence of bloodthirsty transcendent abandon, disenchanted delirium, or perhaps even a very inhuman strain of mystical experience. The German bruisers still possess all the necessary skills and hard-won experience to put younger, newcomer challengers in their place With " Vnitas Pvritas Existentia", Negator writes another chapter in their book of successive masterpieces. This is astral projection through a viscous dense black cosmic ocean. Negator realizes and re-imagines the great flurry of transcendent black metal and looking down from the pulpit with satisfaction on the desolation wreaked by their immense slab of rasping black metal. If you looking for something different, epic this album will take you on a sophisticated and weighty black metal journey into another universe where music has the power to transcend the spoken word.

My Rating – 4.9/5 Review done by - Souvik Basu. Published on 22/10/2019

Bangladeshi Melodic Death Metal band Trees Of Daymare released their new single «Strength In Weakness». The single was mixed, mastered and produced by Raad Shahamat Hasan in his home studio.

Trees Of Daymare was formed in 2018 at Dhaka, Bangladesh as a sole creation of Raad Shahamat (guitars, drums, keyboards, bass and violins). In the beginnings of Winter 2019 Stefan Nordstrom (vocals) from Stockholm, Sweden had joined the band, and the solo project eventually had turned into a 2 man duo band.

An ever-increasing number of black metal bands feature dissonance and accessibility in equally impressive amounts. Certain black metal bands were able to gain proper attention and actually attempt to cross both realms and unite them under one cohesive effort.

Achtung !!! Debemur Morti is proud to announce the signing of Czech Republic's Purveyors of Chaos, Ritual Whispering, invocation, Wrath, bringer of darkness Inferno!

Inferno formed in 1995 and adhering to radical currents of Black Metal devilry for five albums and numerous split releases, Inferno shook the underground with two daring albums of sinister surrealism, “Omniabsence Filled by His Greatness” in 2013 and “Gnosis Kardias (Of Transcension and Involution)” in 2017. Following the path winding ever downwards set out by the latest split release “Zos Vel Thagirion” shared with Greek draconian entity Devathorn, the band is currently focusing their effort on completing the upcoming long-playing opus “Phosphenes Of Aphotic Eternity”. Indeed Inferno is a well-established group of bands who can make a fully sound and creative and with a lot of excellence, ritualistic, hatred, blasphemy in his lyrics, with well crafted, distinct content. After so long in existence, they have gathered a wealth of experience and dark talents, which they liberally pour into their music.

Here is their Last Full-Length Ritual :

The band comments, “Pushing all aspects of the band to the next level has been an underlying current of thought within INFERNO for almost a decade now. Signing to Debemur Morti, a label with vision and qualities few can match, feels like a logical step in many ways since the toil on our next album brought us into truly strange realms.”

The tracking of “Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity” will commence at the beginning of 2020 in Prague based KSV studios. Stephen Lockhart will handle mixing and mastering duties at Studio Emissary. In the subsequent months, Inferno will storm concert stages with a revised setlist and renewed vigour.

A newborn spawn will arise from the very depths of Dementia, materialized upon this plane and beyond. Despite its ironclad pedigree, has almost entirely evaded detection. Aforementioned black metal stalwarts eschewed publicity and allowed predecessor ceaseless deluge of quality releases to subsume their monumental mastery.

In previous Inferno's ritual was filled with more unearthly, astounding, critical acclaimed, heavy, claustrophobic misery, enigmatic melodies, Infernal and raging metal of blackness. They have poured their musical devotion into a chalice of sulphur flame where it burns with obsidian light.

Indeed this secretive, anonymous black metal band Inferno are the masters of Primitive, Poisonous music from a band that’s now squarely on my radar screen for the future.

Here is their last Split album with Athenian Orthodox black metallers Devathorn:

Masterfully amalgamating cavernous Black Metal occultism with sinister psychedelia, INFERNO represents a high watermark for modern Black Metal, a refreshingly diabolical entity that retains its roots yet continues to push boundaries and explore new depths in a genre which often falls victim to stagnation, one which we are proud to induct into the ranks of Debemur Morti Productions.

In the name of promulgating greatness, let’s drag these occultists back to the forefront. Their movement within the genre that emphasizes a religious, metaphysical approach to Satanism and the occult. The have conveyed a tangible sense of devotion to eldritch obscenities. Definitely upcoming ritual would be savage, captivating, Spectacular, engrossing, significant, rich, Spirituality full of evil, Scary shaking of dark vibration. Stay tuned for utterly spellbinding, obtuse, mysterious, fully blistering, blasphemous, ritualistic, grandiose black metal, a distant musical style with a lot of melodic, atmospheric, occult, ritualization accompaniment.

Inferno Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Inferno-322975231147644/

Debemur Morti Production Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/debemurmorti/

Debemur Morti Official Page: https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/

Published by Souvik Basu on 25.09.2019

Abyssal, Cavernous, anonymous Reykjavík based Icelandic orthodox black metal outfit Naðra's last full-length offering "Allir vegir til glötunar" that surpasses the usual stereotypes and presents something enjoyable, chaotic and decidedly well-presented. Their concoction of black metal is more sprawling, adventurous, twisted into more madness, variation and dissonant. Their music is as intense and uncompromising as ever. This is so damned unrelentingly heavy with such a dose of morbidity and grimness. Overall shattering and memorable enough to stave off the banalities of the other albums tunes with its lurching, grooving riff patterns and linear, raspy, chaotic black metal vocal lines. This is encompassed by an atmosphere steeped in evil and menace as well as enhance and accentuate the pervading evil atmosphere. It’s tumultuous, furious and rather unrelenting. Well, now straight diving to the interview session with the drummer Hilmar.

1. Hello Hilmar, how are you doing today? Warm greetings to Iceland from India.

Hello Souvik, I'm doing great thank you and greetings from Iceland.

2. So you have involved with plenty black metal project like Naðra, Norn , Örmagna, The Moronic, Beware the blue sky, Sveimhugar, etc. since black metal is in your forte, So Can you give me a brief history of your previous and how can you manage all extreme bands together? Had you been in any bands or musical apparition before the aforementioned all bands?

And yes I have been in other bands other than you mention in this question. In 2007 I started playing drums because the former drummer in my first metal band quit and we needed someone to play drums so I bought a drumkit and haven't stopped drumming since then. That band was called Universal Tragedy. We played for a few years until I met the guys in Norn and later on Naðra. I have been in numerous “garage” bands that I don´t remember the names of. Good question how I manage all those bands.... uuummm most of the band members I play with, write their music down and send to each other so when it comes to rehearsal we have learned the songs and we just play them. Simple as that.

3. What bands inspired the direction that took and motivated you? Writers? Visual artists? Movies? Books?

Probably my biggest influences, when I began drumming, was Lamb of God, Megadeath and Judas Priest.

4. There are two basic ways of looking at music. In the first, there is a mechanism for the arrangement of certain tones, musical style.in the second, a narration occurs where a story is told or a poetic function completed. In your view of compositions, which is more important? Where were you when you first thought the project had the longterm potential for you?

I do not agree there are two basic ways of looking at music. Both options that you gave me are both really important, even in black metal. For example, in both Naðra and Örmagna there is a story being told with the instruments even though we have a singer singing lyrics over it, and Beware the blue sky is telling a story only instrumentally. One of the other ways to look at the music I find important is the feelings it brings you, how does the music you're listening to make you feel?
I never thought that one of my bands would have a long term potential for me at the time, I barely knew most of the people when I started playing with them, but they made good music and that was enough for me.

5. What for you is the significance of the aforementioned all band's names? Especially "Naðra", "Norn" , "Örmagna", "The Moronic", "Sveimhugar" ?

Naðra is a common Europian serpent, Norn translates as a witch, Örmagna is an utterly exhausted mental state, The Moronic = stupidity and Sveimhugar means basically wandering/drifting minds.

6. If you could tour with other bands in metal, who would you pick if you were looking for bands similar to your acts?

This one is really hard to answer because there are a lot of bands that I would like to tour with, the more bands from different genres you play with the more people you meet and get to know.

7. If I choose "Naðra" Since starting year Naðra released demos, EPs, Live and Debut album etc and shaped the style of music. How do you and the bandmates maintain this consistency yet keep developing with each release? How do you guys prepare yourself in the matter of writing songs with new, unique thoughts? What is the most difficult part of composing songs as per your perspective? As well kindly give a brief for your other projects too.

Good question. The demo Eitur was recorded only 2 weeks after we started playing together so we just rehearsed and recorded it. The full length was recorded 8-9 months later and after playing the songs for that period of time a lot of small changes that every instrument player did just happened at rehearsals and became normal. I didn't play in the live album or the EP album 'Form' that was H.R.H. And like I said earlier, we write the songs down and send to each other and then we meet and play them and most times when we play them together then maybe me or the guitarist, for example, get some idea and we change it on the spot. I think passion has a lot to do with it also. If you're not passionate about something you're doing it's not as good so I guess me and the guys just really enjoy playing and composing together and that makes all the difference.

8. Do you have a preference for the type of equipment? In your mind, how important is equipment for the production of music?

For me, the equipment is really important for most of my bands. But not for Norn and The Moronic. Sometimes it´s good to have bad equipment to get a certain atmosphere that is important. About composing new songs.. that is something that just comes instead of being forced.

9. Well, now I’m going to the main point. Already you had woked with Naðra. So is there any new black metal project coming near the future consist of you? Since I'm too obsessed with Icelandic black metal haha, As well how can you manage your all projects consistently this is still mysterious to me and highly cite your unsurpassed quality, ability, and skill.

I'm not starting any new projects in the near future I think. I have almost too little time for the ones I'm in! But sometimes you get dragged into some project and end up sticking around.. that just keeps happening. So you never know.
At the moment the answer is no but who knows what will happen in the future. I have a system on how I manage all of my bands. They are good at recording or writing the music down and then they send it to me. I listen to it while working and create a beat to each song when we meet. Sometimes they don't work so I change them and we play it a few times. Then we record it on our phones so I can listen to it when I'm at work.

10. What's going on as far as lyrical themes on release and if you are potential, kindly unleash the forthcoming name of your projects/album/official track?

I have no clue about lyrical themes and lyrics altogether. I am always recording something and releasing. Right now I'm recording with Sveimhugar, The Moronic, Norn and old material I and my friend are working on but I can't reveal anything about that at this point.

11. In my opinion, all of your project's musical style is packed with references to Misanthropy, Darkness so hideous that the mere sight of one is enough to drive a person insane. The harrowing music that swirls like the vortex of a tornado ripping through the blackest of tar pits and tuneful vocals adds a new dimension to the template, often replacing the usual ambient horror cocooning the complex riffs and rhythms, Hallucinogenic with a healthy dose of paranoia. would you agree with this though black metal stalwarts, its purveyors willingly eschewed publicity?

Well to a certain degree, but what matters most to me is that each individual has their own personal experience to the music that they listen to but this is my perspective:

Naðra has a kind of a tense feeling to it, its vocals leave you with chills in your bones you can basically feel the agony. The melodic guitar gives it a certain atmosphere and that makes the sound unique in away. The undertone of the bass corresponds with the guitars and they and the bass come together to form a special combination. The lyrics are also only written in Icelandic and I enjoy that a lot about Naðra.

Sveimhugar has an amazing energy, especially live. You can feel the emotions put into the music and it all comes greatly together, really tight and all over a pleasant band. Our lyrics all tell a story, some are really humorous and others more serious but the crowd always seems to have a good time.

Beware the blue sky is a post-rock band that has no vocals and drives itself on only by emotion, tone, and atmosphere each moment. It has a comfortable presence and leaves you with a positive feeling. Because there isn't any singing it makes it harder to keep the listener focused somehow but I think that we succeed at that, but the people who listen will have to judge as with all the others. I'd also like to mention that the man who mixed and mastered our EP is Torsten from God Is An Astronaut. Örmagna is exactly what its name means. It means exhausted and you can feel exactly that emotion mixed with a sort of desperation and depression. It gives you the feeling that there is no hope. The Moronic is experimental hardcore with surprisingly deep lyrics, hard riffs, difficult timing, and my bandmates are so good at it, in all meanings, you can get from that. It's really fresh and energetic and some of the song's dark lyrics make it somewhat sarcastic. This is a band that you just have to listen to to get your own feeling for it.

Norn: Norn: Was founded in a cellar in Garðabær. Norn: Plays fast d-beat and black metal
“Norn hates Iceland, Jesuits and other peace-loving losers, babies, theSjálfstæðisflokkurinn, the crumble of financial growth in third world countries, the letter Y, lines for the bathroom and the smell of newly washed hair” We are basically fucktards with messed up humor.

12. I’ve categorized all of your projects significant and signature style.so, How did you get into this style of music and explain about this music genre?

When I got into this music genre I started as a bass player and our drummer quit the band so I decided to buy a drumkit and yeah that was 12 -13 years ago. I started playing music styles like Metallica and Megadeth but as I got older the music started to get more and more heavy. And as a drummer, it's quite fun to play fast. I play and enjoy most styles of drumming there's no one special style I use in any of my bands.

13. How would you describe the sound of aforementioned all of your project to someone who hadn’t heard it, and what distinguishes your music from any other act in the same genre?

Naðra and Örmagna would be, of course, black/heavy metal, Norn.. that is hard to put in a category. I and the bassist call it “Árna metal” people just have to check it out and make up their minds themselves. The Moronic is experimental hardcore, Beware the blue sky is post-rock and Sveimhugar is folk music and is non-metal. I don't really know what would set us apart from the rest, just the people listening I guess.

14. Do you have any playthrough videos coming out soon?

Yes, I do, I am working on some playthrough videos at the moment but I don't know when they will be released.

15. Who came up with the Naðra "Allir vegir til glötunar"album cover? The album artwork is truly indelible, remarkable, appreciable and meaningful too. Kindly explain the album in your thought.

That would be Skaðvaldur which is a very talented artist. He has made a lot of designs for the metal scene in Iceland.

16. Let's talk about your early memories. What's the first gig you ever went to? Have you been to any killer live shows lately?

My first metal show was in 2006 or 2007 when Cannibal Corpse came to Iceland.
I went to a festival here in Iceland this summer called Norðanpaunk and most of the bands playing there were Icelandic and all of those bands had a killer show at that festival.

17. In before you performed a lot of gigs so, Which show was the most memorable to you so far? Do you get a good crowd response? Did you get offers to play in other countries or anything like that?

Most memorable at the moment is the one Naðra had at Inferno festival in Norway last year, that was an amazing experience and opportunity and then Ascension, which is a metal festival in Iceland, this year. And yes I get offers now and then to play other countries in Europe and wish I could do more of that.

18. Do you study other band's music to come up with ideas?

I used to do that when I was younger but now I am in a music school called FÍH which is a highly respected jazz school so I am getting new ideas from there and I'm still growing as a musician and hopefully always will be.

19. How do you prepare yourself before the studio or especially for live performances? Did any band, in particular, inspire you in the shrieking department?

Number 1, 2 and 3 warmup. I always start my warmups one hour maybe one and a half-hour before the show or recording.

20. In your opinion is there a difference in the Naðra's sound as compared to the Full length, EPs and demos you guys have released in the past?

Of course, there is a difference in the sound. The demo was recorded with a really bad setup which makes it sound really nice, the right sound. The full length was recorded with much better equipment and therefore the sound is different, and I can´t answer for the EP because I didn't partake in recording it.

21. You are from Iceland, so how much have you discovered about the extreme metal scene and how much of it were you aware of before aforementioned all of your band started?

Before I started in these bands and especially Universal Tragedy I didn't know of any other extreme metal bands. The scene here isn't really big but you can always find new bands to listen to. We have so many great musicians here that you never run out of music, extreme or not.

22. There is some authentic imagery with your lyrics, theme, Sigil. Is this just an image or something you believe in?

I believe the imagery is important for music. The pictures represent the personalities of the bands like Norn has a picture of a witch on the LP album. I personally do not believe in the sigils in any spiritual way.

23. What do you do as individual band members to relax, when not working on music? Do you have jobs or business?

I never relax really. I have a day job as a carpenter and also go to school two days a week. I usually never relax but I take time 2-3 times a year for maybe one week to relax and go on vacation.

24. What albums are you listening to lately or just the bands and albums, in general, you're really digging right now and tell me about your anticipated album of this year?

These I'm not listening to anyone specific album/s. I rather listen to songs that capture me and are catchy to me and I listen to them a lot. But to name one song then I'd have to choose Deliverance by Opeth.

25. Last one question, what are your future band goals & tell us something about an upcoming tour. Lastly, lots of teenagers aim to be full-time musicians. Many of them might be without any proper guidance, any words of wisdom for them?

At the moment there are no upcoming tours I can talk about, and kids, never stop playing your instruments no matter what happens. And if you feel like you are stuck at some level, seek guidance and keep practicing even more.

26. That's all I've got right now.best of luck for the future. Looking forward. Thanks a lot for enduring this torture haha. Any final thoughts, comments for the readers? If I forgot anything, please insert it here.

Keep playing, keep listening to new music and thank you for your time :)

The interview was done By Souvik Basu. Published on 12.09.2019

I enjoy prototypical brooding doom band. Death/Doom metal is a style that remains untapped and it is hardly swallowed by Metal fans in general. When someone tells you about Death/Doom metal at first a delineation will click automatically in your imaginary such as excruciatingly slowly, most hauntingly beautiful, graceful, down-tuned, slow-motion soundscapes of drifting, floating, dreamlike music, groovy riff moving in gentle transitions to vaguely shift perspectives of mood. Feel yourself decay, gaze helplessly, thoughtlessly as the preternaturally odious head over the horizon, blotting out the last scarlet gasps of a moribund sunset, looming over the eerily tranquil and temperate ocean like an antediluvian menhir - massive, silent, mysterious and unspeakable journey, alone in a darkened room, lighting a few candles, unsealed some good wine and settling in for an uninterrupted hour of beauteous doom sound driven by feelings and thus creates immense power and resonate overpowering as it is a purely exquisite voyage of yielding passion. That's probably just me and my definition. While some excellent, underrated and mostly overlooked band attempting to sell their flavor of the month band to potential listeners, there are some that simply exist outside of pre-existing molds. Some challengers exist, such as Onirophagus, a phenomenal addition to the Death/Doom metal roster.

1. Hello Paingrinder, how are you doing today? Warm greetings from India.

Hi Souvik, here Paingrinder, singer of Onirophagus and Estertor. All good for Barcelona! How about India?

2. Yeah all fine here, So you have involved with plenty project. since death/doom metal is in your forte, So Can you give me a brief history of your previous and how can you manage all extreme bands together? Had you been in any bands or musical apparition before aforementioned all bands?

Being in several bands at the same time takes a lot of patience and time. The trick is that none of them match or overlap the other. My story began singing in the extinct band Paintone. There I learned to sing and move around the stages in the underground scene of Barcelona. Later I got involved in the grindcore band Empanadilla de pus and then in Decapitated Christ with which I recorded 4 albums.

3. What bands inspired the direction that took and motivated you? Writers? Visual artists? Movies? Books?

In the case of Onirophagus the influence is very clear. On the one hand the old school of Death / Doom: Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema, old Katatonia, Winter, etc. And in the Death Metal side everything that has to do with the classics like Autopsy, Morbid Angel, Obituary, etc.

But not only do we suck that scene but we are also influenced by bands like Candlemass, Iron Maiden, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate or Primordial.

I was always in love with Giger's art. To such an extent that I have tattooed a whole sleeve with his work, a mixture of Biomeckanic, Alien and the cover of the Eparistera Daimones of Triptykon, a record that marked me a lot and also one of the triggers to form a band like Onirophagus. Also artists like Goya with his black paintings, Gustave Doré, Joel Peter Witkins, Beksinski are part of my love for dark art. I consider myself a great lover of Stephen King's literature, from which I have read almost all his books. Lovecraft is also one of my most contemporary inspirations, Poe or writers like Bret Easton Ellis. As for the cinema one could say that it is a passion that I have been since I was a child. My brothers tortured me with horror movies from the eighties like Demons, Evil Dead, Re-Animator, etc. And thanks to them my passion for cinema was growing over the years. I am not stuck in a single genre since in one day I can see Serpico and then see The Room or Borat. From directors like John Carpenter to Polanski, from Spielberg to Jarmusch. A life without cinema or music makes no sense!

I think both paths are important. There is not one without the other. When composing, we are already clear about what these riffs transmit to us and what we want to narrate in them. But not everything is so obvious, perhaps in a rotten riff we are expressing a beautiful and sincere feeling and yet in a sad arpeggio, we are throwing up all our anger. Onirophagus was created in 2011 with Moregod on guitar and Uretra on drums. They needed a singer and contacted me since I was currently in Decapitated Christ. I went to see them at a rehearsal and after exposing my idea of creating an old-school Death Doom band, this little beast was born. So, I have been present at birth and in all the progress and advances that the band has been giving little by little. I also hope to be the day of his death! But calm, that will be in a long time!

5. What for you is the significance of your all bands name? Especially "Onirophagus"?

Paintone was a pun, Decapitated Christ was a blasphemy against Christ and all organized religions. Empanadilla de pus, let's say it's a kind of pus cake, a funny name since we made grindcore of sexual content, psycho killers, etc. Onirophagus means dream eater. The name says everything. A beast, a carnal or spiritual entity that ends all hope, that destroys everything it encompasses. Pure desolation.

6. If you could tour with other bands in metal, who would you pick if you were looking for bands similar to your acts?

There are so many bands that I would like to do a tour with, but especially with My Dying Bride since I think our music is similar to what they did in the early '90s with their As I flower wither or Turn loose the swans. A more current band that we also venerate is Ophis.

7. If I choose "Onirophagus" Since starting year Onirophagus released two successful full-length albums till date and shaped the style of music. How do you maintain this consistency yet keep developing with each release? How do you write your riffs, songs? What is the most difficult part of composing songs as you do? As well kindly give a brief for your other projects too.

When we meet to compose new songs we always say the same thing: we must maintain a balanced balance between the most rotten Death metal and the saddest and most depressive Doom. As long as that balance is balanced Onirophagus will continue to maintain that consistency. In Endarkenment we have added other elements that in the previous albums were not, such as current Black metal dyes such as Mgla or Svartidaudi and more than the Swedish Black / Death school as Dissection or Necrophobic. All these strokes are thanks to the inclusion of Shoggoth and Desecrator to the guitars.

When composing a song we let the riffs flow in the rehearsal room and from a riff that transmits something we are preparing the song. We are all contributing ideas and I am structuring where each element has to go. Perhaps the hardest part of composing, then remember all the riffs and where each one goes. We usually make paper structures, but with Endarkenment it has been particularly complicated since the songs were much longer than the previous works. In the rest of the bands, we do it the same when creating new songs. In Estertor I take care of the lyrics since they are all related to classic horror movies.

8. Do you have a preference for the type of equipment? In your mind, how important is equipment to the production of music?

It is very important to have good equipment when recording a disc. And above all have a good producer. That's why we always have Javi Félez from Moontower Studios. A dude who has been on the scene for many years and a fucking metal bible. It also depends on the style of metal you want to do, that is, with Estertor we do Thrash Metal at Sodom, Celtic Frost, Kreator, etc. In the next album, we want to sound darker and dirtier than in the first job, but for that, we can't go recording with cheap crap combos.

9. Well, now I’m going to the main point. Already on this year, Onirophagus released their new effort. So is there any new official video coming near future? As well again how can manage

your other bands consistently this is still mysterious to me and highly cite your versatility.

Unfortunately, there will be no more Endarkenment videos, nor a video clip since our songs are very long and we don't like video clips either. Maybe in the next job, but for now we want to stay true to our ideals. Well, I handle it as I can and when I can haha, a few days of the week with Onirophagus and the others with Estertor and always watching that no concerts or dates of either band coincide. It is hard work but not impossible.

10. What's going on as far as lyrical themes on release and if you are potential, insisted kindly unleash the forthcoming incantation name of your other projects too?

Well, 6 months ago Endarkenment has gone on sale and for now, we have not thought about the concept of our next album since it is still very soon and we want to present the album live. Yes, I can say that our next work will be very dark and perhaps more rotten but without losing our essence and beautiful places in our songs.

With Estertor we are fully involved in the composition of our second album. There is still no title for the album, but it will follow the trail of its predecessor in terms of lyrics. Musically it will be more violent, fast and dirty like the old Sodom with "Persecution Mania" or "Show no mercy" by Slayer!

11. In my opinion, all of your projects musical style is packed with hideous that the mere sight of one is enough to drive a person insane. The harrowing lead guitar that swirl like the vortex of a tornado ripping through the blackest of tar pits and tuneful vocals adds a new dimension to the template, often replacing the usual cocooning brutal riffs and rhythms, Hallucinogenic with a healthy dose of paranoia. would you agree with this though death/doom stalwarts, its purveyors willingly eschewed publicity?

Totally according to your description. Let's say it's like a Lovecraft story. It puts you fully into chaos but let your mind imagine the horror behind it. There are times when I listen to Endarkenment and I feel like crying and other times I hit something hard! There are many feelings in this album and I think we have reflected it perfectly.

12. I’ve categorized all of your projects significant and signature style.so, How did you get into this style of music and explain about this music genre?

When I was 10 years old I discovered Heavy Metal thanks to the old Italian horror movies. I had a neighbor older than me who was passionate about metal and thanks to him I discovered Thrash and Death metal. Over the years I met friends who taught me Black metal and Doom. That was when I wanted to cover all those sounds. I have to say that I hear almost everything, even until the Gothic Rock of the eighties as Sisters of mercy or The mission. The first Death / Doom band I heard was Katatonia, specifically the “Dance of December Souls”. That record left me shattered. At first, I did not understand very well since it was something much slower and more agonized, especially coming from hearing things like Sepultura, Accept or Obituary. When I knew how to understand every note and every stanza of that Katatonia record, it was when the doors opened to everything else: Gothic of Paradise Lost, Pentecost III of Anathema, Turn loose the swans of MDB, etc. It is a genre that shows you many feelings at the same time, just like what we try to do in Onirophagus. It can sink you into the most absolute misery as well as make your day. It is hypnotic and hopeless in equal parts and perhaps therein lies its charm.

13. How would you describe the sound of aforementioned all of your project to someone who hadn’t heard it, and what distinguishes your music from any other act in the same genre?

It could be said that we pay tribute to the school of the early '90s and something that distinguishes it from other bands is that we don't try to copy or imitate the sound of any of our influences. Onirophagus simply practices old-school Death/Doom. Sometimes it may remind me of Lost Paradise and other times of Black metal with a more modern cut, but always adding to it the essence that I think we have achieved in these almost 10 years of existence.

14. Do you have any playthrough videos coming out soon?

No, at the moment there will be no videos until our future release and there is still a lot of time left for that! But on youtube, you can listen to Dark River and the Full album.

15. Who came up with the predecessor releases cover? I personally cherish all of your projects each and every released artwork because those are truly indelible, remarkable, appreciable and meaningful too. Kindly explain about this.

On our covers, we have always wanted to express the absence of animal or human life. We base ourselves on the primitive, on returning to the primeval mud from which everything arose. Not life, just desolation. In Endarkenment we wanted to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors but adding that amorphous, androgynous figure with a crown of illumination. Beneath her feet lies a lotus flower that in other cultures may mean life, but here it withers. Illumination through putrefaction or putrefaction through illumination. That's our message and the music I think perfectly reflects the work Adam Burke has done for this album.

16. Let's talk about your early memories. What's the first gig you ever went to? Have you been to any killer live shows lately? Also as per my understanding, you were also a part with one of my favorite band "Decapitated Christ" so, there is no news regarding their upcoming release. The band is dissolved or still active kindly confirm.

Well, my first concert was Metallica on Load's tour in 1996. I was 11 years old and for me, it was incredible to see a band that influenced me so much. I recently attended the 25th Anniversary Party San, probably the best extreme metal festival in Europe. I have seen bands like Svartidaudi, Mgla, Nekrovault, Slaegt, Taphos, Deicide, Bloodbath and many more. As for Decapitated Christ, I have no news on whether the band is still active. I left the band after the recording of the last album and later they toured Europe together with Graveyard. Desecrator, our guitarist on Onirophagus is still on Decapitated Christ but they've been down for years as he also has another band called NECRORACLE.

17. In before you performed a lot of gigs so, Which show was the most memorable to you so far? Do you get a good crowd response? Did you get offers to play in other countries or anything like that?

We have played in many places and every concert has its charm. For example, the first time we played in Madrid together with Avulsed, Purtenance, and Dissect was the host. We were treated like kings and the response from the audience was spectacular, we even got to sign autographs.

But I think the concert where the public response was massive was a few months ago in Barcelona presenting Endarkenment with Saturnus and Helevorn. We hadn't played in years, people were waiting for that album and we gave a dark show, ritualistic, very cold, without speaking to the audience, just sounding samplers between songs. When we left the stage people screamed like never before. We sold a lot that night and we sold out several boxes of Endarkenment doing even sold out on t-shirts and CDS.

18. Do you study other bands music to come up with ideas?

I'd be lying if I said I don't take ideas from other bands. It's obvious that when you hear something new you say "Fuck, I want to do something like that in our next job". But as I mentioned before, they're just influences, we're not trying to copy anyone, we're trying to pay a tribute to underground.

In Endarkenment we have added touches of more current bands like Mgla or Svartidaudi, bridging a lot of distances. But if you look at a more accelerated melody, there are punches and arpeggios that can remind you of the new wave of Icelandic Black metal.

19. How do you prepare yourself before the studio or especially for live performances? Did any band, in particular, inspire you in the shrieking department?

I don't have any protocol or any kind of preparation before the studio or concerts. I can only say that 5 minutes before I go on stage my heart looks like it's going to have a fucking heart attack. I have a lot of nerves, but as soon as I pick up the microphone and look at the audience everything fades away and I fall into a trance. Many are the singers who have inspired me from James Hetfield (from his first three albums) to John Tardy from Obituary. But my greatest exponents are Aaron from My Dying Bride, Karl Willets from Bolt Thrower or John McEntee from Incantation.

20. Is there a difference in the band’s sound as compared to the Full length, EPs you’ve released in the past?

Yes, there is a difference in the sound, especially because of the equipment we use to record in Defiler. Personally, Defiler Of Hope is the most spectacular sound we've released to date. It's rotten, dense and dark. It's a mix of the early Hypocrisy and Ophis. For the future, we want to go back to those more primitive roots.

21. You are from Spain, so how much have you discovered about the extreme metal scene and how much of it were you aware of before aforementioned all of your band started?

Spain has a huge scene when it comes to the Underground. From classics like AVULSED, HAEMORRHAGE or FERMENTO. In Barcelona, we enjoy a very strong and overwhelming scene. The vast majority of bands know each other from going to concerts, playing together and many of us are friends. To name a few: ERED, GRAVEYARD, NECRORACLE, LUX DIVINA, BARBARIAN SWORDS, OSSERP, VIDRES A LA SANG, KORGULL THE EXTERMINATOR, MORBID FLESH. Etc. Outside the Catalan scene, we have friendship with great bands and friends like LÓSTREGOS and BALMOG (Galiza), EVADNE (Valencia), HELEVORN (Mallorca), DEVOURING (Mallorca), ATARAXY (Zaragoza), etc.

It's a pity that few of these bands have repercussions outside this country, as we have quality everywhere!

22. There is some imagery with your lyrics, theme. Is this just an image or something you believe in?

You could say it's something we believe in and in which we've also created an image. We talk about real fears, diseases, the mind, madness and we mix it with our inner monsters, our anger, and all our feelings. All mixed with the Lovecraftiana madness and its primitives.

23. What do you do as individual band members to relax, when not working on music? Do you have jobs or business?

I live with my wife in the mountains, so we take advantage of nature to make excursions with our dog. We go to the cinema, to concerts, we meet up with our friends and family. We go to the normal in a human being moderately sociable hahaha.

24. What albums are you listening to lately or just the bands and albums, in general, you're really digging right now and tell me about your anticipated album of this year?

I think the two best albums of the year are undoubtedly ATLANTEAN KODEX "The curse of empire" and MGLA "ages of excuses"!Lately, I am very involved in the Icelandic Black Metal scene. At the moment I think that one of my favorite albums of the year is Algleimi by Mysphirming and the last one by Sinmara. In our visit to Party San we were able to discover a great band called NEKROVAULT and their EP, Obscure is spectacular. Pure Death metal!

One of our next goals in Onirophagus is to play some dates outside of Spain, but the thing is very fucked up since we don't find promoters that want to take us outside.

We will give a presentation concert in Barcelona and another one in Valencia. At the moment it's the only thing I can say about it because the dates haven't been confirmed yet.

Well, I don't think I'm the best one to give advice to those teenagers, but let's go if they're Spanish, they'd better dedicate themselves to something else because Metal isn't something that attracts a lot of attention here. In countries like Germany, it's different to sing, because they live differently and have thousands of competent promoters. The problem here is that there are only a couple of legal promoters, the rest is filthy trash, scammers, or people who do not even bother to answer a fucking mail. But there is always hope! Anyway Metal in all its variants should not be seen as a way of making a living but as a passion! If you can make a living from it, for fuck's sake, but above all, it's a pure and unique passion for what you play and for what you express with your band.

People like SLAEGT right now are pumping it all over Europe and they are 20 years old kids! I was able to talk to them at Party San and it shows that they are young and they are freaking out with people's response. They deserve it and I hope they go far because they are the best I have heard in many years.

Thank you very much for your time! Sincerely it is the most elated and longest interview we have ever had and it is to be thanked. Nothing more on my part.

If you like the Death/Doom of the 90's listen to our latest album "ENDARKENMENT: ILLUMINATION THROUGH PUTREFACTION". We are ONIROPHAGUS!

Interview done by Souvik Basu. Published on 04.09.2019