Malichor – Lurkers in the Crypt

Malichor is a black/thrash metal outfit from Melbourne, featuring former and current members of Anarazel, Denouncement Pyre and various other groups.

Malichor’s style deviates from the usual balls-out black/thrash assault that you may be used to, focusing more on maintaining a dark and murky atmosphere. The majority of the riffs plod along at a mid-tempo with occasional melodic tendencies Lyrically, Malichor focus on Lovecraftian themes, which fit in very well with the mid-paced nature of the music. The rhythm section provides a nice and heavy backdrop for the catchy tremolo riffs and typical blackened vocals expected of the style.

Production-wise, “Lurkers in the Crypt” is a bit murky and dark sounding yet with a professional polish to it. Each of the 4 tracks is a catchy mid-pace stomper, but they all sound distinct from each other with “Jackel’s Spell” being the highlight and I was also quite fond of the opening title track, which instantly found itself stuck in my head.

All in all, “Lurkers in the Crypt” is a solid fourth release (first EP, following three demos with the first two being released under a different name) for Malichor and I will be very eager to check out anything the band releases in future.

Gorephilia – Embodiment of Death

Gorephilia is a death metal band hailing from Finland who formed in 2006 under the name Goretexx, which was changed in early 2007. They play a unique yet deliciously old-school style of death metal, sticking to a 90’s OSDM template yet taking elements from Incantation, Morbid Angel, Vader, Immolation and various other bands from the Swedish, Dutch, Polish and American scenes… and of course; the ancient Finnish death metal gods.

Gorephilia waste no time in picking up where they left off with last year’s effort “Ascend to Chaos”, quickly dragging the listener down into the darkness with their thunderous guitar tone and eerie tremolo patterns spread over dense drum work and subtly crushing bass tones. The vocals have a bit of Van Drunen mixed in with a bit of Craig Pillard and fit the mood perfectly. These Finns have a knack for changing up the pacing which keeps things interesting, going from plodding dooooooooom to all out blast-fests sometimes even in the same song!

The real highlight of “Embodiment of Death” is the production. It’s cavernous, evil and unforgiving yet still sounds totally professional and listenable; a difficult feeling to capture!

While “Embodiment of Death” is not the type of album I could listen to every day, as I would prefer to bring it out specifically when a certain mood calls for it, Gorephilia have crafted something truly unique that stands above the many clone bands that haunt the death metal landscape today.

Interview with Vacant Throne's Josh Mortensen

 You may have seen the review of Vacant Throne's Fall of the Feathered King a few weeks back. Well, Josh Mortensen (lead guitarist) is here to talk about the new album, how the band started, and their journey to show the US what Power Metal can be with their story-telling compositions and theatrical stage-antics that definitely separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Left to right: Reggie Handy, Frank Candelario, Josh Mortensen, Chris Mauro, and Jason Mortensen. (Not featured: Chris Fernald)

Witching Metal: Okay, first off: tell our readers about yourself and your band. What are you guys setting out to do in the metal world?

Josh Mortensen: We are Vacant Throne, a power metal band located in Denver, Colorado. We just released our debut album, "Fall of the Feathered King," which is based on the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs--a theme that has been missing from power metal that is too laden with fantasy concepts and Norse or Greek mythology. This record was entirely self-produced and is our strong attempt at making a dent in the lacking American metal scene that hopefully draws the attention of a major record label. Our mission is to revive true heavy metal in the United States, as untalented "core" bands are blemishing the American reputation for metal at the moment.

You're right about the mythology-laden bands, it does seem many of them just want to write about vikings and not venture into any new territory. What made you do an entire concept album on the Aztecs?

My brother and vocalist Jason has always been fascinated with Aztec history, in particular the coincidence involving the expected return of the god Quetzalcoatl and Cortes' timely arrival on the shores of what is now Mexico.
Also, I happen to be a war veteran and I have always looked up to the legendary fierceness of the Aztec's best warriors--the jaguar and eagle knights.
Mostly, it was just really fun trying to capture the atmosphere of Aztec mythology and history within the boundaries of heavy/power metal. I can only hope that listeners envision soaring pyramids, bloody sacrifices, and heated tension between the conquistador army and the Aztec people.

Concept albums tend to portray more of a theme. Do you value "story-telling" in your music?

Absolutely. This is especially apparent in our live performances, as we wear costume reminiscent of our theme then take a little time between songs for story-telling. It is a wonderful feeling to be enjoy music by allowing the melody and rhythm to overpower your emotions, but it is something entirely different to be intellectually involved with a piece of music--and that is what we strive for.

Putting on a show takes more than getting up their and playing your music. Takes pure showmanship.

Alright, so tell us how the band began.  

In 2008 I was an infantryman in the US Army and had a piece of shit guitar that I would play around with between patrols. I wasn't having the greatest time so I would dream of playing in a metal band when I finished my service. I got inspired by the what was happening around me, so I started expressing myself with some pure heavy metal riffs, that ended up becoming entire songs. I had a crappy laptop with Guitar Pro so that I could write down the tabs for guitar, drums, and bass. I then sent the tracks to Jason, who had aspirations for using his voice professionally as he had experience acting in local theater companies. I also showed the songs to my two best friends, Ryan Burbank and John Deasy, who played guitar and drums. Also, Jason’s roommate at the time, Reggie, said that he liked the music and was interested in playing bass.
After several back-and-forth emails, everyone agreed to start the band when my service contract would end in May 2010. I kept writing music until that time and we had a good 8 or 9 songs ready to go by the time we played our first show in March 2011.

You taught yourself how to play guitar in an army tent for two years or did you already know how to play beforehand? 

I am completely self-taught, but no, I started playing acoustic guitar at about 10 years old. A couple years later I got one of those Sam's Club knock-offs of the Fender Stratocaster for Christmas. After 17 years of playing guitar, I feel I should be much better, but the bane of my existence is committing to more projects than I can handle.

Do you play for other bands other than Vacant Throne? 

No, even if I wanted to I really couldn't handle it. I am full-time student and barely get any sleep trying to keep Vacant Throne charging at full-speed-ahead.

If one were to flip through the liner notes of your CD, everyone would see that you've got quite a few writing credits.

Would you say you are a driving force behind the band?

Yes, I try not to toot my own horn because all of these guys bust their ass. We have fired a couple members, so that's proof enough that you need to work hard to be a part of Vacant Throne. As far as songwriting and band management though, I am definitely the driving force!

Do your influences affect your writing/playing style? 

Of course it is impossible to write music without having listened to it, but I do try to write in my own style. We have about 25 songs in our library at the moment, so it is much easier to get a full grasp of my own style now then in the past. When I first started writing music, I was listening to a lot of Iron Maiden, Stratovarius, Kamelot, Helloween, Cage, Iced Earth, Crimson Glory, and Jag Panzer. I think the most tangible influence a listener could identify in "Fall of the Feathered King" is Iron Maiden, but hey, you can find that influence in pretty much every power metal band in existence today! The top comparisons I have heard from fans and writers are Jag Panzer and Hammerfall.

I would agree with the Jag Panzer comparisons. You guys definitely have the old school power metal feel. Speaking of Jag Panzer(Colorado power metal), what's the scene over in Colorado like? 

By "scene," do you mean metal in general? I must clarify that before I answer!
 
Of course. Or even power metal if you want to get more specific. How about both? 

As I mentioned before, the "core" type of metal has really taken over the scene here. I really don't want to go on a rant, because I appreciate all types of musicians, but the majority of the "core" bands here in Denver lack talent. Regardless, that seems to be what the fans want, although I don't understand why they enjoy it. Of course, there ARE talented bands here that have some kind of "core" association like Last Word, Deed of Martyrs, and the newly-popular Allegeon, but the majority is just crap.
Now, I will say the local heavy/power metal scene has at least tripled in the last two years, and I believe that Vacant Throne is very responsible for that. When we first started playing, about 50 people would show up, now we are having 200 people come through the door when we play a show. And it is small victory for me when I recognize many of those young faces from "core" shows I have attended! The younger generation is getting a taste of true metal, and they are realizing just how good it is. Other bands largely responsible for the revival here are The Four Horsemen, a Metallica-thrash group of young high schoolers, and Satan's Host, who feature Jag Panzer's Harry Conklin on vocals.

US power metal is often overlooked, especially when one views the 80s, where glam, thrash, death metal pretty much had a good hold. Do you see a growth in interest in USPM in the near future? Obviously, you've seen a decent increase in fans locally, but the US isn't known for being power metal friendly. 

You are correct, when power metal bands tour Europe, they play in arenas, stadiums, and fair grounds. When power metal bands tour the United States, they play in theaters and bars. For example, Sabaton is playing at a barbecue joint when they come through Denver next year. What a joke.
The interest in power metal is there, I just don't think the majority of Americans have heard it. 9 times out of 10 when I meet someone new and they ask me what type of music my bands plays, I tell them "power metal" and they have no idea what it is.
For those of us who still keep true metal alive, the best we can do is share it with our younger generation. Give them a CD, thumb drive, download links, whatever it takes. Because young kids love the music as much as us, they just haven't heard it yet.
For those fans who are interested, there is terrific community of US power metal fans on Facebook that love to discuss the music and anything else related. The group is called "US Power Metal Connection" and you can access it with this link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/228343920569311/ 

Word of mouth is just as good as a few clicks on the computer. In this day and age it's hard and yet easy for bands to get noticed because of the Internet. You guys did your debut out of your own pocket,right? Did you feel like you guys were going to be at a loss? Self-producing your own album is no easy task, I'm sure. 

We are hugely in debt from this album and all costs leading up to it as well. I can only imagine how rich I would be if I never spent a penny on Vacant Throne. But doing what you love takes hard work and money, and we are willing to do whatever it takes, aside from changing our music!
Self-producing our album was no easy task, but of course this was our first time recording anything professional so this is the only way we know how to do it. We can only hope to land a major record deal and get a lot more help next time.

Do you feel like record deals are still necessary in this day and age when you can just produce it yourself?
You guys have CDs but you also have links for free downloads, is it keeping up with the times or what? 

The difference is that major labels will advance you a fund to finance a large tour, and that is still the number one way to get a large fanbase today. The internet is changing this, but there really aren't that many bands today who became famous solely via the internet. And now that every other band wants an internet presence, the competition is really stiff.

The labels would certainly help with getting a leg up.

Alright, for closing: What's the future of Vacant Throne? You guys just released a debut...What now?

Well, it's on to the next one for us! Although we are saving the next recording for a record deal, we have about 8 songs ready to go and a few more to add that I am finishing right now. This time around, we will be doing some story-telling once again with our own interpretation of Arthurian Legend. Local fans reading this have heard a couple of the tracks played live. I feel that every one of the new songs are better than "Fall of the Feathered King." My songwriting has matured and this album will allow more opportunity to open up our synth, vocal-layering, and technical abilities.
To be specific, our next step is to record a demo of several songs and start shopping record labels so they can hear exactly what they would be signing us for.

Sounds like a plan! I'm looking forward to hearing that.
Thanks for your time!

Thank you for the opportunity Sean, it was a pleasure! *

You can check out Vacant Throne at their website, go buy their album, and even download their new album at: http://www.vacantthrone.com/
Check them out on Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/vacantthrone?ref=ts

 

 

Dead River Runs Dry – Winter 2012

Dead River Runs Dry is a new black metal band from Newcastle, just north of Sydney. They’ve recently self-released their first demo, simply titled “Winter 2012”.

While not exactly straying far from the standard conventions of the black metal genre, Dead River Runs Dry manages to avoid most clichés that tend to constrict the genre. Their sound is raw and untamed, evoking a pessimistic atmosphere that conjures images of a dying world. The songs tend to shift between mid and extremely fast pacing, giving the structure a nice amount of variety. The riffs are catchy and generally a bit thrashy with the occasional “epic” and “grandiose” feel to them. The rhythm section is very tight and solid, driving things along exceedingly well. The vocals are sickening shrieks and gurgles, with the occasional clean part, not atypical of the black metal genre but perfectly appropriate for the sound this band presents.

Considering this is just a self-released demo, the production is album quality and sounds very professional and well-done. The song structures have had a lot of thought put into them and its clear the band were not in a rush to release this demo. The amount of time and effort put into this music really shows and I will be keeping an ear out for anything else these guys work on.

Demo available here:

http://deadriverrunsdry.bandcamp.com/

Interview: Paganus Doctrina/Insepulto

Paganus Doctrina/Insepulto interview conducted by James Goatfukk.

1. Greetings Unholy Xerxes Haereticum!!! I'm currently listening to BLACK SABBATH's first album! What are you listening to right now? As I understand it, PAGANUS DOCTRINA was born in 94' and released one demo(n) in 95, called ''Natural Inbio De Paganismo'' and split with PSEUDONOSTRATIFIED EPITHLIUM (What a name!!) in 96', which basically contained the same songs as on the ''Natural Inbio De Paganismo'' demo; what had led you to use those same songs for the split? Summarizing that whole period; what is your outlook on your older material today? Are you proud of your older recordings? What was the reception like for PAGANUS DOCTRINA in those years? Any good memories?

Greetings to you James and thanks a lot for the chance to cast some spells in your fanzine regarding the craft done in PAGANUS DOCTRINA. Right now I’m not listening anything, actually. I’m just sit here quietly answering to your questions. As a matter of fact I tend not listening to any record while answering interviews since for me Metal is kind of a ritual. I need to focus all my attention to the album spinning in my stereo and not just as background music. Weird isn’t it? He he he!

We decided to reissue the demo in “Accesis al Uno Primigenio/Sinistrous Necromantika” split CD because the tape back then was of recent manufacture and when we got the offer from AMERICAN LINES PRODUCTIONS we thought that was a very good opportunity to spread our work in a major scale and in CD format was more than appealing to us. Besides, back then wasn’t as easy to record as today does. So, getting ourselves into a new recording was kind of hard since we just got out of money when paying the studio for “Natural Inbio del Paganismo”. Those were basically the facts that leaded to our debut demo to be put on CD back in 1996.

I still feel proud of what we accomplished with the demo and Split CD. Certainly the new songs has nothing alike to the older material but that one represents our past and part of our history and it also opened many doors to us, even when we got back in 2006 since many older maniacs still remembered us for that demo. Anyhow, since 1996 my aims were clear regarding our musical orientation and it was to turn the band into a more Black Death Metal band with Thrash Metal hints and I went for it once I took over it. Besides, the old songs are too primitive in structure and I wanted a more complex dynamic in a simplistic riff formula. And I guess we’ve heading successfully to that path without getting ourselves into too much technique and shit like that.

2. Not long after that the band went inactive due to - as I understand it - some sort of ''indifference'' between you and few of the band members; care to tell us a bit about that? Are you still in contact with some of the old members or are they all happily married now and reading bedtime stories of Jesus and co to their kids? Is it hard to find like-minded individuals in Costa Rica with similar ideas and vision as you, especially from an ideological perspective?

As a matter of fact, indifference is exactly the word to describe the attitude of the early line up regarding a further recording. Perhaps, since the band was my very first experience in one I had a blast with it and it actually became in something of deep importance to me, not just because the music we played is the kind of metal I’m most fond with but also because it completed my wish to transcend my thoughts regarding subjects of personal interest. The other members just visualized it as a band more, as a project how to get quick attention to. So, they lost interest to forward with it and everybody leaved the project leaving me in charge of its destiny.

Today I keep contact with several of them. The fact they visualize metal in different way as I don hasn’t ever be a problem although I always keep telling them they are posers! Ha ha ha! The founder member in spite being married is still one of my best friends and he is perhaps the one with the bigger metal collection in metal here in Costa Rica. He has some really rare original demo tapes from the late 80’s and early 90’s because he had a killer fanzines called SARCOTRIPTOR and he was one of the leading forces in the local underground scene back then. He still collects metal as hell and his collection increases weekly! I’m also in contact with the drummer and I’m working with him in INSEPULTO, a band which I will talk about later.

Yes, it is complicated to find like-minded individuals to be part of Paganus Doctrina. That’s the reason why the band since its reformation has kept itself as a trio. Balpehor and Agharoth from MORBID FUNERAL helped me out to get back from the past and record new stuff in 2008 but they left the band in 2010. Now, the new drummer was actually part of the band somewhere in 1997-1998 but he is back and stronger than ever. The new vocalist is comes from a local black metal band called FORNOST and his vocal rage is quite versatile for the kind of moods I want to accentuate in the news songs for the album. I hope to find the correct session members to bring this band on stage. As about the ideological approach, that’s basically the problem. Many people see us and fear us because we are openly declared ourselves Satanists and the drummer and I are deeply connected with that world. So when they met us and realized this is the real deal for us they tend to go away or simply we just don’t take them seriously and ask them to leave. Today the line up for the band is: L.Demogorgon (vocals), G.Damaethyan (drums/keys/samples) and U.Xerxes.H (guitars/bass/backing vocals).

3. What is your opinion on these pseudo Metalhead idiots that criticize Satanic Black/Death bands for not having a 'conceptual' direction with their music? I know ideology is very important to you, thus I had to ask.

Well, I don’t give a fuck to their opinion since we firstly do this music for us and for the rest of people who find themselves connected in some way with our sound and lyrics. Other metal heads have the right to listen and criticize whatever they want.

4. After a 9 year fukking hiatus you finally decided to re-form PAGANUS DOCTRINA and released the split called ''Deathblast from the Centre of Hell'' in 2009 with two of Costa Rica's finest - namely: NECROLISIS and MORBID FUNERAL. You recorded 3 new tracks for this pest on which you use programmed drums; how come? Are you satisfied with your current direction and how the songs came out on the split or are you still exploring your style? Correct me if I'm wrong, but ''Deathblast from the Centre of Hell'' received mostly a positive response from 'zines? How do you feel about that?

You are correct! I we got back in 2006 and decided to record three new tracks all forged by myself. We did this drum recording thing because it was the fastest resource to record the drums since at that time I didn’t have a drummer and didn’t want to lose time by searching one that won’t ever share the vision I have for the band. The new drummer, Grackons Damaethyan, was the one I always had in mind to belong to the band and none else. As a matter of fact he was part of the band back in 1998 and will always be the drummer for PAGANUS DOCTRINA since us both share philosophical and musical views. By some reason, when we got together in 2006 he couldn’t do the drums for us. Am I proud for the drum programming use? Hell now! I always wanted to have a real drum sound but that was the circumstance our three tracks came out and that is how the band worked at that stage of our time line of existence. And yes, I’m very proud of the new songs and how they’ve become in something more personal to me and more complex in its simplistic structure based in ranging bestial black death metal riffs! I guess we are always exploring our style, for instance, in the split’s songs we didn’t use keyboards but for the album we are going to use it in some parts and we’ve also incorporated more slow-doom parts which suits better to accentuate some ritual moods into the new songs. You’ll see!

Up till the present day I’ve read very positive reviews and I’m pleased about it. But I never intended my songs to have such welcome and reading good comments is very gratifying indeed.

5. Do you believe the term ''kvlt'' is synonymous to Black Metal, seeing that so many poser bands nowadays proclaim themselves as such? Can a myspace band with 3,000 ''friends'' really be KVLT?

I think the term “Kvlt” today is synonymous for moronic low qualified black death metal since most of the bands that blanket themselves with that term are always sounding like retards that don’t know to handle their instruments and just copy to death the worst crap of Blasphemy/Beherit. Now there are other bands that just copy Sarcofago and some founders of the Brazilian scene and think in themselves as cult just by releasing a shitty rehearsal or demo limited to 20 copies! That is how KVLT is today in the mouths of teenage scum easily attracted and idealizing the scene of the 80’s and 90’s.

To me a CULT band is that one that breaks the paradigms by doing something on their own and left a landmark for others to follow. Those CULT bands left a legacy to such point others would turn their sound into a style or genre. So, to me, CULT bands are those of the height of BATHORY, VENOM, MOTORHEAD, BLACK SABBATH, DIO, KREATOR, EXODUS, SARCOFAGO, MYSTIFIER, IMPALED NAZARENE, ENTOMBED/NIHILIST, DISMEMBER, HELLOWEEN, among others! The rest, well, we just follow their teachings and NEVER a stinky bad recorded rehearsal or demo will ever be in the level of a “INRI”, “SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH”, “BLACK METAL” or “UNDER THE SIGN OF THE BLACK MARK”. Period!

6. Do you think the political situation whether it be a rich thriving country or one that is impoverished or war torn has an overall affect on the extremity behind the Metal?

Possibly that’s something that could have some sort of impact in the sound. After all, real artistic music is a reaction to a surrounding environment and that is why, maybe, the sound from the bands around here is a bit more extreme and less polished. Kind of in your face! But other aspect is the fact that many don’t know how to play a simple riff and the overall outcome is just dull and since the low recording conditions are dull as well the whole result tend to be more “brutal”. Well, at least that’s the concept of how many categorize their moronic sound.

7. Does opportunity allow for the members in PAGANUS DOCTRINA to come together and rehearse on a regular basis?

We just rehearse once a week in CAVAN STUDIOS, the place where we are recording the album. Since we are just three fuckers then the situation isn’t complex to match our schedules for that. We wish to have more time but we all have regular jobs so things are this way for the moment.

8. Gilbert, I know that you are a big Death Metal freak and also play bass in INSEPULTO, which plays crushing old school influenced Death Metal, and probably one of the few true Death Metal hordes from Costa Rica. Mind telling us a bit about this band - how and when did this fucking beast come to life?

He he he, the story behind INSEPULTO is really funny. INSEPULTO was intended to be the first name for PAGANUS DOCTRINA. Before my involvement with Paganus Doctrina back in 1995 and before even Paganus Doctrina would take form, the initial idea of the band was to gather several musicians of the local scene at the time by making a band performing old rotten Death Metal. And that is how INSEPULTO came into picture for the first time. That was circa 1993-1994. Since nothing came out of that (not even rehearsals took place!) for different reasons, the founding member of Paganus Doctrina (Raun Szandor Malfas) took the name with him and started building the foundations for what was about to become PAGANUS DOCTRINA. Since the concept for the band changed from Death Metal to Black Metal, it was obvious that the name would change too. So, INSEPULTO was shelved.

In 2008, Alfonso Perez, our former drummer in „Natural Inbio del Paganismo” and once known as Alocer Paganus Avigazirtor, put himself in contact with me once again. He started talking me about some ideas he had in the works that perhaps with some more effort could become in something solid. I advised him to shape something with those ideas he had. One day he sent me a finalized song and it was pure old styled Death Metal in the vein of old Massacre (Usa), Napalm Death, Benediction, Demilich, Bolt Thrower and Death. So right there we agreed to collaborate and shaping the band into the Death Metal style. Alfonso wrote 10 songs all by himself and I started helping him out with some advices. Later he asked me to join in bass and I agreed. In the process, Ronald „The Master Butcher” Jimenez, former vocalist for PSEUDOSTRATIFFIED EPITHELIUM (he did vocals in the first two demos of PE and also all the vocals in the split PE released with us in 1996) and now in MUMMIFIED, joined doing the vocals and the dorsal spine for the band was established. Since I was busy with the recording and arrangements with the Paganus Doctrina album, I told Alfonso to record the bass lines for all the songs he already had written. Due to time constrains that was the decision in order to make things faster. Well, there was the music and the lineup already but no name for the band! Ha ha ha! Then, someone took INSEPULTO from the shelving of time and everybody seemed to be into it very much. After all, the concept was still intact: Death Metal played by several musicians of local bands. So, INSEPULTO was born. With all the songs recorded we decided to take three of them and release a promo demo tape this year called „The Posthumous Trinity” and it has been sent to distros, zines and labels to see how things might evolve with it. Right now the album and the whole layout for the booklet is ready, we are just waiting to see if a label would be interested in release „Morbid Spawn of Resurrection”. So, if there is someone who might be interested reading this, write us to insepultocr@gmail.com in order to set something.

9. What bands would you cite as INSEPULTO's main influences?

As I told you, the main core of influences for INSEPULTO might be early BENEDICTION, MASSACRE (USA), DEATH, BOLT THROWER, DEMILICH, GOREFEST, ENTOMBED and NAPALM DEATH. That’s why the songs have that crust feel to it, we basically don’t follow exactly the formula of today’s new emerging Stockholm sound trend.

10. What do think of Black and Death Metal bands that don't listen to the genre to which they conform to? You know when you read an interview of some BM band and the vocalist states that he hasn't been into BM for like 10 years. I find this rather pathetic. I mean, what's the fucking point of playing in a Black Metal band if you aren't possessed by the music?

I find that pathetic as much as you do. How the fuck you play Black Metal but don’t listen to the style? For me, they are just musicians longing for some recognition in whatever genre would be hip, being Black metal, Thrash metal, Heavy metal or whatever. I know people who play extreme music but they don’t feel the music at all, they only want to explore new sounds by shaping a “musical career”.

11. What is to you some of the most underrated albums of all time?

Mmmm….difficult question since I’ve never thought that before… What can I say? Perhaps, GOREFEST’s “False”. I don’t understand why many new bands into the new old school death metal bandwagon never cite that album as influence! Other killer album is Baphomet’s “The Dead shall inherit”, a very underrated album indeed.

12. Despite not having much of a discography, your band still gets strong support from underground maniacs as you have been interviewed 25+ times; so how do you feel about that? Are you fond of doing interviews? In which 'zines has PAGANUS DOCTRINA been featured so far? Were all your interviews in relation with your band or more a general scope of things like in this interview?

To me answering an interview is important as much as writing the music and lyrics, because that’s the medium where you introduce the essence of your band to all the maniacs that would find themselves connected with what you do. So, when a band answers an interview with evident lack of motivation that tells me that their essence is as shallow as their music.

So far we’ve been interviewed in many zines. Right now I only recall to HELLRAISER ZINE (Chile), ORFISMO (Spain), ONLY DEATH IS REAL (Bolivia), ARS INFERNA (Bolivia), VAMPYR ZINE (probably the best intie so far along yours!) and others more… I’m very pleased when zines contact us to make exposure of our craft because that tells me they know that we are for real and not seekers of fleeting fame.

Most of the current interviews have been in relation to all my annexed projects although the prevailing matter is PAGANUS DOCTRINA. Just a couple of those were strictly focused to CTTIH ZINE.

13. Gilbert, tell me a bit about your 'zine called CALL TO THE INFERNAL HORDES - what inspired you to start a 'zine? Does it take up most of your time? What kind of bands do you usually feature in your bloodstained pages?

CTTIH ZINE came out in 2006 and six issues have been released so far. Right now I’m in the works for the 7th chapter to be released very soon this year 2011 and it will have interviews to Watain (again!), Necros Christos, Armour, Sick Violence, Skull Fist, Battlestorm, and a bunch more! If you are into extreme underground metal in the lines of classic heavy metal, thrash metal, black metal and death metal, you will enjoy CTTIH ZINE a lot! Ha ha ha ha!

What pushes me the most to do the zine is the fact that one is the medium that keeps me in contact to what UNDERGROUND METAL represents to me. So, I enjoy a lot doing interviews and having the pleasure to hold at the end, in tangible form, all the effort you make to support the music you love the most. It is basically the manifestation of my maniacal addiction to extreme underground metal music. Just that!

14. Would you ever conduct a interview with a band who's music you did not like, just to support them because they're friends of yours who are in need of promotional favours?

NEVER! What you see in the zine is exactly what I like.

15. How is the 'zine situation there in Costa Rica? Are there any other 'zines besides CTTIH worth mentioning?

Very few zines indeed! Aside of mine I can name SEPULCHRAL TERROR and VICERAL VOMIT, but both of them are Spanish written and still need more work to polish. Still, their intentions are admirable since they are new blood from the scene writing printed media. So, I support them just by that.

16. What is in your opinion some of the tightest and most consistent Death Metal bands of all time? I vote MORTEM (Peru), DISMEMBER, THE CHASM and INCANTATION. These bands' entire discographies consist of excellent albums/releases. what do you say?

I definitely share your list man! Ha ha ha! But I would also add HEADHUNTER D.C (Brazil) to that one. Other one might be MORBID ANGEL; I love even their entire weird phase as much as their early material. I don’t know man, listing here would be a hell of a list!

17. A lot of bands seem to lack the ability to provide thoughtful/or informative answers in interviews. Do you find this as annoying as I do? I reckon it's an aspect that bands ought to work on, especially if they regard themselves a serious act. Your thoughts?

I guess I already made reference to this question early but yeah, it is damned annoying since you shape a serious image of their work when holding it into your hands so you hope that such image would actually be real when interviewing them. So, annoying perhaps isn’t the correct word, it is rather disappointing. To me a band that reserves to itself the right to speak about their lyrics or inner concept aren’t even worthy for the space invested by a media in them.

18. How do you feel about the use of synthesizers/keyboards in Black Metal? I think it can work well if it adds a sinister atmosphere/or if the music is aggressively performed. Some good examples that spring to mind now are GEHENNA, ABIGOR, ANOREXIA NERVOSA and FROZEN SHADOWS.

I agree with your opinion. I love keyboards in Black and Death Metal. When they are correctly added can evoke some really dark passages and atmospheres. I don’t understand this strange stupid trend these days of people hating to death keyboards just for the sake of it. They simply forget the fact some killer early bands used them and did great albums such are Impaled Nazarene’s “Tol Kormpt Norz Norz Norz”, Necromantia’s first albums, Mysitifier’s “Goetia” and others. I even like some punctual symphonic passages as well in some parts. But when keyboards are the predominant instrument it tends to bore me to death.

19. You are currently putting forth final touches to your upcoming debut full entitled ''Omnipotense Aaeternae Diabolous'' which will be released through Austrian based label ASHEN PRODUCTIONS; how did ASHEN PRODUCTIONS find you? Were there any other offers lying around that you were tempted by?

There were other offers but ASHEN PRODUCTIONS was the best in spite they are an underground label they work and offer to their bands a really good deal. So, it was perfect for us to work with them. They got to know about us due to a trade I did with them by sending them our split CD with MORBID FUNERAL/NECROLISIS against some items of their roster. Once they heard our tracks was a matter of few emails to get to a good agreement and well, up till now they only hope for us to deliver an outstaning black death metal album and don’t ever pressure us even for the delay’s we’ve been through.

20. ASHEN PRODUCTIONS seems to be quite a professional and reliable underground label, so that's pretty much all you need, right? You've mentioned that the upcoming album will be printed as a digipack, as well as a limited tape version; so tell me, how many copies will there be available as far as both format?

That’s right, the only thing we need from them is that sense of mutual trust and that is something we’ve been having since being with them. The first pressing will be 1000 copies of the jeweled cage regular CD, 500 copies of the digipack version and 200 copies in tape format. The digipack and the tape version will be a limited press while the regular CD will be spinning in a more regular time depending in the demand it could have in further maniacs.

21. Let's talk a bit about your upcoming album which will have a bonus re-recording of ''Infernale Vox Satani'' taken from the Deathblast from the Centre of Hell split. How will the re-recorded version of ''Infernale Vox Satani'' differ from the preceding one? And what should people expect to hear from your forthcoming full length assualt?

Yes, the digipack version will have that track re-recorded again. Initially it wasn’t my intention to re-record any song from the split, but seems to be that one really liked to some dudes and I decided to add three guitar solos that weren’t featured in the first version. Moreover, the new version will be entirely sang by myself and will have a real beast playing the drum kit which brought more diversity in breaks and even more brutal than before.

The album basically keeps the style the band had in the three songs of our latest split; but more brutal and faster. Besides, we tended to add some really doom slow parts to accentuate some ritual thought moods and we are going to make use of keyboards again, but not in a symphonic way, more up to albums like “Goetia”, “The Migthy Contract”, “Tol Kormpt Nors Norz Norz”, “The Eye” etc… the intention is to increase a sinister atmosphere in our songs. It will be one of the best records of Black Metal ever emerged from Central America, that is for damned sure!

22. I'm absolutely anticipating hearing the upcoming album. Let's chat a bit about BLAZING OBSCURITY PRODUCTIONS - the label that you co-operate with another comrade of yours; this is a label that specializes mainly in tape format, right? Can you tell me a bit about your involvement with BOP? How much commitment does it demand from your side?

Blazing Obscurity Records is a label run by a friend of mine who used to collaborate with me in CTTIH ZINE during the first three issues. Once he left the printed project he started to set in his mind the idea to invest all of his effort into a small underground tape label. And that his how it came to life! I exactly don’t remember the date of its unholy birth, but I guess it was around late 2007. When Occult Records ceased to exist, Throneofmight (owner of Blazing Obscurity) asked me to help him out with some layouts for his releases and I accepted. In few time I asked him if I could help him out in release some stuff as well and that is how the partnership started between us. When I got in, the first release I contributed to was the WAR GENERATION 666 pro tape (once intended to be released through Occult Records) and there are more stuff cooking right now and we hope to have it ready in few days. In spite I’m investing my effort in it the final decision is up to the legal owner, and that is Throneofmight himself.

23. BLAZING OBSCURITY did a re-release of MORBID FLESH's Dying Lapitation; a killer fucking demo I might add. Can you please provide us with a brief evaluation of all the releases BLAZING OBSCURITY has put out so far and what is currently available?

Prior to my adhesion to the label I just got to listen to The Wakedead Gathering demo tape and the Cold Grim demo tape. The first is kind of doom-like melodic Death metal with a sort of old school vibe. The later, is a local black metal band but I wasn’t that fond in their sound. I know there were a couple of more I haven’t listen to them. When I got in the project we released the WAR GENERATION 666 tape and it contains bestial black death metal the south American way, the Colombian way! Think in bands like Mystifier and Sarcofago blended together but well recorded in studio, not like most of the bad recorded scum that tends to be related to this style. The next in line to be released, as you just said, is the MORBID FLESH tape release of their CDR demo and it will contain bad ass old school death metal; also the Costa Rican band CHEMICIDE unleashing a relentless dose of infernal Thrash Metal and finally, a tape for DAWN OF CRUCIFIXION (Belgium) unleashing bestial black death thrash in the likes of BESTIAL MOCKERY (this tape will include a studio demo of the band plus a killer live gig recorded somewhere in 2010).

24. Thanks for your time man! I
sincerely appreciate the attitude that you've shown towards this dark interrogation. If only more people out there would be as enthusiastic as you in their interviews, which is sadly not the case. Anyway, if there's anything else you'd like to add to this interview, now would be the time. Good luck with all your endeavors, the last blasphemies are yours!

No way man, thanks to your for the chance to have this nice chat with you. To all the people interested in Paganus Doctrina, just write us some lines and get in contact. All the letters and emails are answered asap! Those interested into trading stuff, just send their lists and let’s see if we get to set something. As always, live metal honestly outside preconceived trends! Hails! AmSg!

Paganus Doctrina

Apdo. Postal 2711-3000

Heredia – COSTA RICA

(Central America)

Email: paganus666doctrina@yahoo.com

CTTIH ZINE email: calltotheinfernalhordes_magazine@hotmail.com

INSEPULTO EMAIL: insepultocr@gmail.com (it is checked by all the band members)

BLAZING OBSCURITY: www.myspace.com/blazingobscurityrecords

Paganus Doctrina gayspace: www.myspace.com/paganusdoctrina

Insepulto gayspace: www.myspace.com/insepulto

Cttihzine gayspace: www.myspace.com/cttihzine