Interview with Vorfeed from Promethean Burn.

1. Hail Vorfeed! It is truly appreciated that you took the time to participate in this interview. Firstly, would you divulge to our readers a few integral bits of background information on yourself, as well as how you came to be involved in the underground metal scene.

I've been into metal for nearly twenty-five years now. Bands like Ozzy, Metallica, and Megadeth started the journey, and I first got into death metal in the early 90s through bands that were on Headbangers Ball: Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Entombed, etc. I lived in Vegas as a kid, so I had the first Goatlord CD back then as well... Chicken Dance was a mindblower! Bolt Thrower were another big early influence on me, and are still my all-time favorite metal band. I found a used copy of In Battle There Is No Law on CD in a record store a year or two before For Victory came out, and was fascinated by the insane cover art (and more so by the music!) I even ran a very (very!) early Bolt Thrower fan-site in my college years, around 1996/97; shortly thereafter I discovered black metal through online reviews, using LARM as the primary gateway -- later on I wrote some twenty or thirty reviews for them, myself -- and dove into the underground from there. I happened to get Countess - Ad Maiorem Sathanae Gloriam as one of the first handful of underground CDs I ordered, and that was a HUGE influence on the kind of black metal I got into. To this day, all of the Barbarian Wrath & Witches Brew bands are very special to me, and I'm honored to have run Basar North America (the North American distro for these labels) since 2006.



2. Tell me more about the label that you run, Promethean Burn, when and how did this venture spawn to life?

I started Promethean Burn in 2011. The name is inspired by Prometheus Unbound (and by association, Milton's Satan), and by phoenix-fire and Nietzsche's Three Metamorphoses ("You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame; how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes!") The idea was to put out some new and different things for bands which are a bit off the beaten path; my first release was an "Outshine" shirt for Assaulter (Aus), done through the absolute geniuses at Holy Mountain Printing. Since then I've done zip-up hoodies for my friends in Ares Kingdom, shirts for Faustcoven, Helcaraxë, and Megiddo, and my personal favorite (at least, every time I pour a dram!), a sand-etched Faustcoven whisky glass featuring custom lineart by Seth Bennett. I've also done reprints of the Morbid Tales and Heretic's Torch zines.



3. Not too long ago you released a killer compilation album comprising of New Jersey's Death Metal act HELCARAXË - this was your first release if I'm not mistaken? What can you tell us about it and your feelings towards it?

Yes, the first music release on Promethean Burn is the Helcaraxë - Children of Ygg CD. I've been into Helcaraxë since their very first album -- their brand of dark, heavy, yet triumphant death metal really stood out from the pack, even then -- and I was honored to be approached to release Children of Ygg. As far as I'm concerned, some of the band's best songs are on this collection: Sonnenrad, Othala, and The Return are especially killer, packed with stirring vocals and shredding leads. There are eight unreleased songs on the record, so it sounds more like another full-length than your usual comp CD. I was amazed by the strong, unified sound the band achieved, despite the fact that the CD spans their entire output. Their Black Flames demo is on there, and it sounds just like everything else! You can hear the whole thing (minus the bonus track, a cover of Bad Religion's "God Song") at our bandcamp: http://prometheanburn.bandcamp.com/





4. What kind of response did you receive from this particular release? Did you happen to send out many promotions?

The response was quite positive. Half the run is gone already, and I'm still trading & selling it vigorously. I do still have some die-hard packs with double-sided shirt & patch left in stock, in sizes S-2XL, so grab one before they're gone... and yes, digital and physical promos are available (see our contact & store at our website below), so get in touch if you'd like a copy for review!

5. Would you elaborate a bit on what kind of music taste you possess- what makes you tick and what does not- and also to shed some light on your all-time favourite bands and albums.

I have pretty wide-ranging taste. Mid-paced, stomping death metal is a favorite of mine, but I also like fast and chaotic thrash, hateful and twisted black metal, and riff-heavy doom, plus plenty of classic heavy metal. Riffs matter a great deal to me; I tend to like bands which write memorable songs, even if they're chaotic, over bands which are more about atmosphere. Intelligent lyrics are also a plus, since I prefer bands with meaning. Desert-island discs for me include Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny, Mercyful Fate - S/T EP, Bathory - Blood Fire Death, Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness, Bolt Thrower - Realm of Chaos & For Victory, Slough Feg - Traveller, Destroyer 666 - Unchain the Wolves, Order from Chaos - An Ending in Fire, Countess - The Book of the Heretic, and Axis of Advance - Strike.



6. I understand you also have a passion for writing and spend a great deal of your time writing reviews. Can you tell us something about that? Have you ever considered on doing a fanzine? What are some of your favourite printed publications?

Truth be told, I have less time for reviews now that I'm running the label. I have over 250 reviews posted at vorfeed.net, so I figure it's long past time to write only about albums I'll be listening to ten years from now... but time will tell! I have considered doing a zine, but it's more work than I'm willing to take on right now. I feel as if reviews and zines are becoming less important in the age of the internet; now that every album can be heard, there's less of a need to describe the music, so I'm looking for zines with more to offer. My recent favorites include Morbid Tales (RIP), Heretic's Torch, The Sinister Flame, Chips & Beer, Convivial Hermit, Kaleidoscope, and Axiom of the Elite.





7. What do you think about all these pedantic wannabe "scholars" of English who believe, that because they possess grammatical skills, they can actually hand in a valid assessment on an album? I find this somehow annoying, in the sense that most of these dickbrains deliver negative reviews to good albums.

I prefer straightforward language over thesaurus/word-salad reviews. I've always felt that the purpose of a review should be to describe the album, so that the reader can decide whether or not they want to hear it -- a good review should give someone an idea of whether they will like the album, even if I didn't. Another pet peeve of mine is reviews which are mainly about other bands and/or "the scene" rather than the album under review...




8. What are your thoughts on format elitist fucks who express sentiments like: "only vinyl is real"?

I love the look and sound of vinyl, but between the cost of overseas shipping and the proliferation of three/four/five different collector's editions of the same record, I'm beginning to doubt that it's back to stay over the long-term. Which is great, in a way, because those of us who still care about underground metal after the Next Big Thing comes around will be able to snag all the LPs we missed on Ebay for a song, just as we could in the 2000s. I expect digital distribution plus touring and merch to take primacy over the next ten years.

9. Back to the concern of the label, could you provide us with your insights to any of your upcoming plans or aspirations that may be of interest to our readers?

First of all, the new Megiddo - The Final War shirt will be in stock and shipping the week of Oct. 14! With new live shows and a new album on the horizon, this top-quality shirt marks fourteen years since this Canadian black metal act's classic demo collection. These are double-sided shirts in sizes S-XL, limited to 60, featuring the demo's iconic woodcut by Albrecht Dürer ("St. Michael Fighting the Dragon") with lyrics on the back.




I also have two more scheduled releases on Promethean Burn. The first is Legacies Unchain - Satan Is Strong and Always Near CD -- this is their unreleased full-length from 2004. Insane epic/ritual death/black metal summoned by Dirtmaster and Kutcheck Gorealis from Hail (Fin). "Dragon City" must be heard to be believed... this has no release date at present, it'll be out when the art is finished. I'm also planning to re-release a new version of the Hunters Ground - No God But the Wild CD, remastered by Andrew Dunnam with brand new jewelcase art/layout. This is raw, bleak, and primitive black metal inspired by (and recorded in) the Appalachian wilderness. Both bands can be sampled below: Legacies Unchain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PC0d8xBDzA Hunters Ground: http://www.cvltnation.com/cvlt-nation-streaming-hunters-ground-no-god-but-the-wild/

10. What releases have you been buzzing on lately? Anything recommendable on your behalf?

Bölzer is the best new band out right now. Their Aura mLP is simply stunning! I'm also playing a lot of ZOM, Trepanation, Alchemyst, Mitochondrion - Antinumerology EP, the new Tyrants Blood record, Ares Kingdom - Veneration, the Antediluvian/Adversarial split LP, Revenge - Scum.Collapse.Eradication (their best since the early EPs!), Sanguis Imperem (everything, especially the split with Nocturnal Blood), and Urgrund's 2012 S/T release... tragically overlooked, that last one.

11. That's all from me. I wish you all the best with your ventures. Any last sentiments before we lay this interview to rest?




Check us out at http://prometheanburn.com and http://prometheanburn.bandcamp.com/ -- feed the fire!




Interview conducted by James Goatfukk

Crawling Chaos Productions stock update for September 2013

I have recently added some new items to the Crawling Chaos Productions webstore, here is the full list of new stock for this month:

SACRIPHYX "The Western Front" LP and CD
SACRIPHYX "Sacriphyx" CD
SINISTROUS DIABOLUS "Total Doom//Desecration" LP
SPEAR OF LONGINUS "Nada Brahma" CD

Buy these releases and more at http://www.crawlingchaosproductions.com/

Vagabond's Band of the Month: Church of Disgust

Band: Church of Disgust
Year of Formation: 2010
Country of Origin: USA
Genre: Death Metal
Church of Disgust is a 2-piece death metal band hailing from Texas but currently located in Tampa, Florida. Their style of death metal is very raw and very old-school.

So far they have released a demo and an EP, both on tape and both available digitally on Bandcamp. Church of Disgust have also recently been signed to Memento Mori Records, which I am hoping will lead to the band releasing a full length for our listening (dis)pleasure!

Contact: marchthehorde@gmail.com
Bandcamp: http://churchofdisgust.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchofdisgust
Webshop: http://churchofdisgust.bigcartel.com/

HELCARAXE - Children of YGG (Promethean Burn 2012)

Hailing from New Jersey; HELCARAXE has been spewing forth their brand of Viking Death Metal since the year 2003 –and seem to have built up a reputable name for themselves in the underground during the last couple of years. I said “Viking” and indeed –but don’t think for a second that this is in the same league as Amon Amarth –a band, who might as well be endorsed by Coca Cola or play concerts at Disney Land – rather; HELCARAXE draw its influences from the early 90’s Death Metal movement and refine it into a sound they can safely call their own. As an obvious reference point; I would say a very prominent UNLEASHED influence comes to the surface ... And rightly so; since they are long-time pioneers in the realms of viking metal, and HELCARAXE to carry forth the flag for this particular style. But don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day, its still pretty much just DEATH METAL, and fancy genre categorizations become irrelevant; it’s only coined as “Viking” when speaking about the band’s particular lyrical theme.  

The songs are superbly constructed, with riffs pacing along at crunchy ease, always maintaining a fresh and interesting tone; catchy and majestic hooks, and the occasional epic lead melody to make your heart explode. There’s a definite majestic feeling in the guitar playing, and the reason why the music is able to leave such a memorable impression. There’s a repeated usage of catchy, groove-laden passages (which are prominently executed), as well as some heavier, more darker-sounding riffs. Jesse Traynor, the vocalist, delivers an abrasive, sort of low-end growl, with some high screams added for range and good measure. Overall, they are very well executed, and the type of vocals I like to hear in my death metal. Occasionally, some epic backing vocals make itself present, adding some multiplicity to the atmosphere and keeping things interesting for the listener.

The musicianship has been honed to a tee, and when they shred, they shred hard. These guys know all about how to write splendid and memorable compositions without losing track of the genre’s essence. They manage to balance melody and brutality in such a fresh manner, and add to that some striking technique. While the music is intriguingly catchy, I wouldn’t quite call this ‘melodic death metal’ compared to today’s standards…think EUCHARIST or KALMAH (a bit more brutal, though), and you might just get a good idea of what to expect. The produced sound is very strong and clear without sounding too plastic and ostentatious; thus making the instruments heard more prominently – even the demo tracks are well recorded, but with a slightly more crispy sound.

An interesting verity regarding “Children of YGG” is that it comes off sounding like an album, but it’s actually a compilation featuring some re-recorded demo tracks and a few new songs composed in 2011. It’s a definite treat, and surprisingly addictive. I don’t have anything negative to say about it, and I’m being truthfully honest. By now, I’ve listened to it a few times, and gets better with each listen. “Children of YGG” have convinced me to dig up the band’s back catalogue which consist of numerous releases, including three full length albums…All in all, this is nothing but straight-up, old school Death Metal to the core, and should have no trouble at all appealing to fans of bands such as OBITUARY, MORBID ANGEL, GRAVE, UNLEASHED, EUCHARIST and the like… The compilation in question was released under PROMETHEAN BURN, and came with a very neatly designed layout, including lyrics and a magnificent, epic artwork done by Alan Lathwell. “Children of YGG” is excellent compilation of strong material and well worth investigating, especially for those new to the band.     



Written by James Goatfukk

BINAH - Hallucinating in Resurrecture (Dark Descent 2012)‏

When looking into the past, there’s absolutely no doubt that the United Kingdom has given birth to some of the very best Death Metal acts the genre has to offer – despite the fact that there weren’t as many death metal bands from the UK back then– they certainly made up for it with some of the finest, most widely regarded classics in the fathomless realms of Death Metal (quality over quantity). I feel obligated to mention, out of my humble opinion, that the UK has had a rather average Death Metal scene (even less for Black Metal) since its glorious heyday, with not much exciting bands popping up, whereas lately, it seems that things have improved vastly (and continue to) in the last ten years or so.  Great and exciting bands have turned up, who seemed to have spawned themselves from absolute nothingness, only to deliver an (un)healthy dose of morbid metal mayhem with the sadistic intention of thumping a hammer to your faggot face. Indeed, bands like CRUCIAMENTUM, ADORIOR, GRAVE MIASMA, LVCIFYRE, EVOKE, VALLENFYRE, ABYSSAL, SPEARHEAD, DIAMANTHIAN – all deliver what I can proudly call: DEATH METAL – and it fucking owns. Along comes BINAH …

BINAH storms forth from the deepest abyss and delivers an unholy slap of absolute dense, filthy, skin-crawling DEATH fucking METAL to make the nuns bleed from their assholes once more.
“Hallucinating In Resurrecture” is their debut opus and a finely crafted piece of morbid, Occult Metal. An aural sphere to the infinite realms of madness.
 
Speaking of the music; BINAH manage to come up with a sound that’s both fresh and conventional – and not a bad thing at all. There’s a definite (and very obvious) Swe-death influence concerning the axe-tone, which is ultra-heavy, distorted and rhythmically crushing. Concerning the above mentioned underlying element, it does not mean to say that BINAH is another retro Swe-death worship band, NO – “Hallucinating in Resurrecture” is more of a fusion between some good old murky Fin-Death, Incantation-like density, and the predominantly old era of Swedish Death Metal, all packed in one.
 
The album is introduced with the awesome ‘Into the Psychomantrum’ – a hellbending, haunting intro that brings to mind old horror movie soundtracks, especially from the Argento variety. ‘Morbid Obumbration’ is a seven minute + psycho-train into the hellish caves of darkness where all dreaded things await. The song takes about two minutes to kick itself into gear with a mammoth and skull-bludgeoning build-up riff. The solos throughout the album are, for the most part, fairly short and concise, but still pretty stellar. They definitely make their appearance at the right moment. The vocalist utilizes a type of mid-range growl that’s akin to that of Mors Dalos Ra, and most certainly worth a mention. 

“Hallucinating in Resurrecture” puts a strong emphasis on atmosphere due to the massively-layered guitar tone, and as a result, resonates a very dark mood that will captivate and raise the hair on the back of your neck. Despite the music being relatively atmospheric; it doesn’t quite operate in the same manner as bands like PORTAL or ABYSSAL – with the two aformentioned bands, a big part of their fundamental essence is focused greatly on creating a hypnotic ambiance (atmospheric Death Metal, anyone?).  
 
The cool thing about BINAH is that they display a great deal of technical capacity without sounding like a total wankfest. Deep, monstrous and demonic growls, dirge-like buzzsaw riffs and curvy, but well-executed guitar solos, are but few of the many, or ‘basic’ elements the listener will tread upon. I’ll say this though: if I was to choose only one stand-out element from BINAH’s music that I felt would define their sound, then I would say it’s their flawless ability to craft an atmosphere drenched in horrifying evil and the absolute cacophonous hell it manages to hassle upon the listener. In some sense, BINAH can almost be described as: GRAVE (first two albums) meets NECROS CHRISTOS. At least it does so for me. Most of the songs are of a lengthy variety –with a few notable exceptions such as ‘Absorption into the Unearthly’ clocking at a mere 3:09 – a short and furious beater that pummels you headfirst into the dirt. 
 
Initially, I will recommend this to anyone into bands such as AUTOPSY, IGNIVOMOUS to DEMONICAL and SONNE ADAM. This is killer Death Metal the way it should be played. No fancy bullshit.  
Expect nothing less than a warped and turbulent attack on the senses by the morbid auditory that is “Hallucinating in Resurrecture” which fervently promotes darkness, death and decay… Enter the temple of BINAH at own risk.



Review by James Goatfukk