At the Gates Interview : Track-by-track guide to "At War with Reality" with Tomas Lindberg (Pt.2/3)

For those of you that might’ve missed out on the 1^st part of this interview (link: http://tinyurl.com/o2f6yth), earlier this month I was granted the opportunity to catch up with At the Gates on their tour promoting their latest record, titled “At War with Reality”. For the 2^nd part of this interview, I decided to some time to go through a track-by-track breakdown of the record. As some of you might’ve noticed already, I happen to be a big fan of concept albums, and considering the fact that one of my favorite bands’ latest record happens to be one, I could not help but jump on the occasion to discuss and dive into more detail into the twisted subject matter behind the albums’ lyrics.

1. El Altar Del Dios Desconocido
The spoken word section is a quote from one of these writers I talked about before.
-Ernesto Sabato, right?
Exactly, Ernesto Sabato, this guy (points to the photo on his cap with a large smile). It's from a book called On Heroes and Tombs, which is also kind of similar to one of our song titles on the record. It's really about one of the character in the book trying to find his own way to the concept of "God": "if God exists, what is it?" and stuff like that. It's like this whole questioning and cynical way of looking at the world that really declares the style of the record. We really wanted it to be recited in its native language and to create a really disturbing soundscape around it. So we got the guy who did the intro for "Blinded by Fear" back in the day to do the intro for us, together with our friend Anton (Reisenegger) of Lock Up and Pentagram to do the spoken-word part. He's from Chile, so he's got a somewhat similar way of speaking Spanish as in Argentina.

2. Death and the Labyrinth
- The title comes from a book by Michel Foucault, right?
Exactly! His only book on literary criticism. Most people know him as more of a philosopher dealing with the structures of power and other stuff that are also very interesting, I've studied a lot of that before. This, however, deals with his way of approaching how language is a way of perceiving reality and how we create reality with language. That's kind of what this song is about. He had one example in that book but I kind of made into a general thing. The song is sort of a declaration of the concept. The reference to the book is intentional so that you can go further and find out for yourself. That's the whole thing with the record, that's another thing that these writers had in South America in the 60s' and 50s': a lot of stuff references to other books. In one of Sabato's books, Jorge Luis Borges appears in the book, talking as a character. They make a lot of these references all the time, which makes it more fun.

3. At War with Reality
The title track is sort of in the continuation of the previous one. “Death and the Labyrinth” is the introduction to the concept of the record and “At War with Reality” points down and says "THIS is the concept of the record", that's what the song says. It explains the idea of breaking down our perception of reality and trying to understand other perceptions of reality and going further from there. There's a lot of naivety in the world and that's what we are at war with really, this western Eurocentric world view. We really want to strike against that, so the title-track is the declaration of the concept behind the record.

4. The Circular Ruins
That’s the title of a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. I started with his basic ideas, namely his criticism against modern man and how we use technology to sort of "play God". It's a very weird, nightmarish kind of novel, so I took that concept and then applied it into the modern world to refer to what we're doing today with all of this new technology such as gene manipulation and whatnot. Every song has a similar concept, only with a different twist on it.

5. Heroes and Tombs
That's basically what Sabato was doing with his book, and I tried to do that with another layer on top of it. It deals with the superficial state of mankind today, how we're focused on all of these materialistic values, how society's become very plastic and how deeper values disappear from our agenda completely. Sabato was calling humanity "a cancer" at this point in his life. It's almost like a punk, hardcore lyric! (laugh) Only it's more abstract.
-Do you feel like this is a song you could've written for At the Gates back in the 90's?
I couldn't have done it back then because I wasn't that mature (laugh). The words I'm using and the style of writing are similar to the abstract symbolism of the early records, but now it's grounded in real philosophical theories. So it's wider but it's also more... "brainy" I guess...? (laugh) Or Nerdy! It's more nerdy! (laugh) So that’s' why I couldn't understand these kinds of concepts when I was 20. Other than that, the subject matter is the same kind of idea I guess, yeah.

6. Conspiracy of the Blind
It's also from this book On heroes and Tombs. One of the main characters has a conspiracy about the blind people taking over the world. He has very nightmarish visions about this and he starts this investigation, following blind people around... It's very twisted but of course there is a social comment behind it, and that’s' what I'm trying to do with this song as well. It's symbolic, with blindness referring to being blind to the truth. We are the conspiracy makers, but we are in on the conspiracy because we want to believe it. 

7. Order from Chaos
Order from Chaos is kind of like a sister-song to "The Circular Ruins", the continuation of it. There's a line saying "The Circular Ruins" in that song as well, it references back to that short story and whereas "The Circular Ruins" is more based on the actual novel, this one is more of an At the Gates comment on the novel. They really work together in that way.

8. The Book of Sand
This one is from a novel by Jorge Luis Borges. Borges really liked writing about literature; The library of Babel is one of his books as well. This novel is about a book that never ends, and it has a lot of references to that modern society he was living in, but brought in the idea of information overload that we have today and the questioning as to what is reality, what is true, what is information, and how these 3 interact together. I made it into a subplot to the novel, with this book of sand being the internet in a way really: how we perceive reality through the internet and not only through our language anymore.

9. The Head of the Hydra / Language of the Dead
The lyrics to “The Head of the Hydra” and "Language of the Dead" (a bonus track to the record) were intertwined from the start and I made them into two songs in the end.  “The Head of the Hydra” goes back to the Greek legend of the hydra of course but there's also a novel by Carlos Fuentes called The Hydra Head. It's also about this comment about modern man and how, if we were to forget the meanings of words and language, would we come up with new names and would the world change because of it? It's play with your mind. I speak a lot about language in this song as well. If we were to revive a forgotten language would our lives change?

10. City of Mirrors (Instrumental)
The city of mirrors is basically about modern society of today and how we constantly want to perceive ourselves through others, through media, through the internet, social media...

11. Eater of Gods
Eater of Gods goes back to the intro track, with this guy trying to create his own "God" concept and understand different concepts of God. In the intro there's the part that says that if God exists he's the devil, a bastard and this track is about his fight against his own personal concept of God that he grew up with.

12. Upon Pillars of Dust
Pillars of Dust are actually an astronomical phenomenon. It’s one of the few songs that deal with the general philosophical concept; with reality resting upon pillars of dust, which isn’t very stable. It's a metaphor for that. I really believe that we could really break down these barriers, not in the near future but we are starting to see the cracks. Maybe civil war breaking out in America... You can see stuff happening too, like the Arab spring for example. If you just look back a couple of centuries into the past, Europe wasn't how we want to remember it as, you know? We like to think that it's always been like this, but it hasn't. Reality is always changing and it's not as safe as we think.

13. The Night Eternal
This one is actually one of the few songs that doesn't really have so much to do with the concept, only it was written in the same style. It's being written from the perspective of a soldier from the Spanish civil war actually, that was the idea of the whole song. It's about being desperate and seeing something you firmly believe in torn away. That was the feeling I wanted to get across with that song. But there's also the idea that those beliefs are still stronger than the death of one person. The Spanish civil war has become somewhat of a symbol to me for struggle for civil rights, against fascist oppression and stuff like that. It's one of the best examples of how quickly we have forgotten about it. The fugitives from the Spanish civil war weren't let into France by the French and the British sent weapons to Franco. People have forgotten about this and it's being swept under the carpet. That kind of feeling was something I wanted to get across with this song. So in a way, this one strays away a little from the concept of the record but its’ written in the same perspective and with the same philosophy as the others.

Interview by Robin Ono

Interview with Tomas Lindberg

Part I: http://tinyurl.com/o2f6yth

Be sure to check the rest of the photos of the show on our facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Two-Guys-Metal-Reviews/120456451348727

PS : A huge thank you goes out toTomas Lindberg, Martin Marx for her amazing work as well as to Deborah and the rest of the Rockhal staff for their incredible hospitality, without which this interview would've been possible.

At the Gates
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AtTheGatesOfficial
Official Website
http://atthegates.se/

From these Ruins

From these Ruins is riding the latest wave of nu-metal, and I must say, I like them a lot. Coming across more as groove metal with a nu-metal touch this is one of the few bands that properly fuses rap and metal. Their music is very tightly structured and features all sorts of funky rap rhythms that add a ton of flavor. This band has so many solid riffs it blows me away. I really like the way that the clean vocals are fused with the growls. It is artfully done and comes across well. The cleans are also well executed meaning you are not subject to any Asking Alexandria type whining. This bands singer can actually sing and really communicate the music. So go check these guys out! They just might restore your faith in Nu-Metal.
https://www.facebook.com/FromTheseRuinsFTR

Isolert -World In Ruins

 

Isolert is a band I've admired from afar for a while now. I've played them on my show on Hard Rock Hell multiple times, and I only just realized the record is actually out and due for a review. This is a masterful offering from the Greek black metallers and a fitting reminder of just how exciting the early promise of this group was. Beyond that I've only recently fallen in love with their label stunning black metal conspirators Nihilistiche KlangKunst but now I am pot committed. What I'm trying to say is that World In Ruins is a fucking stunner. 

For those not in the loop this is the first full length from Isolert in 4 years, and the first release of any sort in three. suffice it to say, Greek black metals fans like myself were eagerly waiting for... something from the pit that was twisted and magical. Isolert have managed to conjure up exactly that with World In Ruins, a record that while rather monochromatic in execution is also one that leaves listeners in awe, stunned by the vast evil that is routinely conjured up here. There is something endlessly exciting about this record, and it has made me come back to it for the month or so I have had the promo. It's a thoroughly well thought out and intense offering. 

Join me in getting lost in these devilish ministrations. This is a bleak offering from a band who seem focused on continually driving towards deeper levels of black metal perfection. While there are not necessarily any new ideas here, it's always good to hear second wave black metal executed properly, with the advantage of hindsight and a sense of bloodthirsty joy driving the music forward. Nihilistiche KlangKunst have found a winner and I can only hope it's not four more years before another offering from these madmen. 

Buy the album now!

https://isolert.bandcamp.com/

The Ruins Of Beverast - The Thule Grimoires

2020 has been an incredibly busy year for The Ruins Of Beverast. Earlier in the year they released a pair of impressive splits. Now they are beginning the promotional cycle for The Thule Grimoires, some of their most stunning music to date. This is a record that builds on all the band has done in their past and guides them to bold new heights. It's a dynamic and exciting offering that will keep listeners enchanted. It sees the bands unique take on black metal perverted and evolved to blasphemous new heights, capturing the imagination and guiding us all into glorious blasphemy. 

The Thule Grimoires is mesmerizing in the depth of the songwriting and the tight executions found throughout. This album has quite a few tracks that bleed over the ten minute mark, and yet they all seem to work. Ruins Of Beverast have proven themselves to be masters of dynamics. The extended psychedelic passages and subdued moments are a perfect counterpoint to some of the more over the top blasts of potent noise. There is a fair amount of droning throughout the record, it adds a sense of the grandiose to the band - once again couching their work in something greater. 

There is something truly epic and powerful about The Thule Grimoires. These compositions are bombastic and powerful, some of the bands most impressive to date. The Ruins Of Beverast have gone above and beyond here. Yes it may have been four years since their last fill length but the band has worked hard to ensure that they don't miss a beat and are instead driving towards something greater and transcendent. Mysterious and powerful, The Thule Grimoires is a delicious offering from these black metallers. I am eager to delve in once again!

Find them on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/The-Ruins-Of-Beverast-116265971848680/

Arcadia-In Ruins

Now, you guys know I don't really like metalcore, but metallic hardcore is a whole different story and some Arcadia pull off with aplomb. Their new record In Ruins is a masterpiece in genre, showcasing melodic passages, explosive riffs and a variety of growling techniques. Hey, there are even some tolerable clean lines tossed in for good measure! Straight out of Adelaide, these guys have been making their own brand of punishing metallic hardcore since 2009 and with this inspiring debut they show no signs of ever letting go of the throttle.

One of the best things about this album is the tight riffing style, the precise playing on songs like Skylines and Graveyards is impressive to say the least. Their are also a lot of melodic guitar lines which tastefully provide some nice hooks to keep the listener engaged. They are definitely a highlight of the album for me. I want to quickly address the clean vocals, usually they come off pretty well, giving a Killswitch Engage or Trivium type feel, but they are sometimes overused and make things a bit too 'generic metalcore'. Fortunately, everything else seems to be contradicting this label, from the aggressive riffs the absolutely killer breakdowns. Seriously, these are some of the best breakdowns I've heard in a long while.

In conclusion, Arcadia have released a very promising debut record. Their sound is bombastic and passionate, something that is easy to get attached too and fun to fall in love with. As these metal monsters progress I get the distinct impression they will streamline their sound more and get rid of any extraneous clean vocals. The songwriting is tight and the riffs tighter, what more could you really ask for from a metal band? The future seems bright for this young group and I can't wait to see where the unique brand of hard riffing metallic hardcore heard on In Ruins takes this Adelaide quartet in the near future! 

Find them on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/ArcadiaMetal

Almyrkvi/The Ruins Of Beverast - Split

Van Records has always done an amazing job of bringing together underground bands for excellent splits. Their place as a curator of taste is unmatched. Furthermore, for nearly twenty years The Ruins of Beverast have carved out a reputation as one of the premier black metal bands in the scene. So when they decide to do a split with a much newer band you had better sit up and take notice. This is the starting point from which you've got to pick apart this wonderful new split they've done with Almyrkvi.

When Almyrkvi kick off the split you can tell that they are on some next level stuff. While their previous offerings have been excellent, the two epic length songs that they unveil here are truly excellent. It's another step forward for a truly excellent band. It further establishes them as newfound greats in the scene. When Ruins of Beverast come in with the majestic 'The Grand Nebula Pulse' to launch their side of things its a sort of completing of the circle. It's so thrilling to spend time listening to a band so committed to developing their sound over decades of existence. These two new tracks only add to their wondrous legacy.

This is a split that can't help but to capture the imagination and transport the listener somewhere transcendent. It's rare that you find bands with this level of bombast behind what they do. So to have two of them together on one split makes for a really compelling listen. The fact that each band only brings two songs to the split means that there is high replayability here too. This is a record you're going to get lost in if you are willing to take the time to breathe in and then dive deep into the ethereal magic.

Find the bands on Facebook!

Almyrkvi: https://www.facebook.com/Almyrkvi/

The Ruins Of Beverast: https://www.facebook.com/The-Ruins-Of-Beverast-116265971848680/

Sounds of a Playground Fading-In Flames

So it's saturday, time for an essay type thing on the new In Flames album. This album, is... the beginning of the end for melodeath. In Flames has truly lost their might and their latest record symbolizes something more than just In Flames officially sucking. In Flames where the beasts of Melodeath, they were the guys taking metal to a new level. But thats all gone now, melodeath giants have killed themselves and In Flames is using pop layering for their choruses. All the majesty that was In Flames has literally gone down in flames. I am sorry to say it but these guys are no longer relevant. And melodeath as a genre is starting to lose its relevance.

This album starts off with a quiet and calm acoustic solo at the beginning of Sounds of a Playground Fading. This song just reeks of sadness and it comes across as almost pathetic with it's poppish chorus. This song, is clearly not In Flames. But the title suggests something. It suggests that the playground and childish joy of In Flames is officially over. The playground has faded away and I think that as a consequence melodeath is going to start disappearing from mainstream metal.

That is not to say that melodeath is over, there are still mindblowing acts like Frozen Infinity and Torchbearer, acts that have not yet reached great popularity/gotten a wikipedia page. In fact I think that melodeath will live on for centuries because the musical style is so complex and evolved it would be hard for them to die off. But still, now that the giants are effectively dead melodeath is going to start losing its popularity and it will be replaced, probably by metalcore, but more on that later.

After the lead track comes Deliver Us, a song with vocals that are often borderline clean. This song features another crappy chorus with poppish layering but even worse is the songs intro. The beginning of this song features a section that is almost trip-hop, but this won't be the biggest offense on the album. Still this trick is rather lame, there is some solid bass and guitar work but the vocals are just sad. They are pretty much clean in the chorus and I feel that In Flames has truly gone too commercial.

The third track is called All For Me, it with the fourth track The Puzzle are among the better tracks on this record, at least it does not make me feel physically ill and sad for In Flames. Still the choruses are fairly cheesy and makes me very sad at the glory that has been lost. They do prove that good things can be done with this 4 man In Flames lineup, if all the tracks on the album were more or less like this one I would be fairly happy, but unfortunately they are not. And In Flames committed sins to atrocious on this album for me to ever really love their new releases. One of the tings they do on both of these tracks is that they have really cool beginning but then the last minute of both of these songs is just downright pathetic and limp. These songs show good things can be done, but they probably will not happen.

The fifth track is called Fear is the Weakness, and it starts off with a really dull acoustic intro that is just weak. After the intro there is a reasonable melodic passage but then the atrocity comes. The lyrics, are literally a piece of emo poetry. “You, you are leaving me”. It's like something an emo metalcore band would say. This is not In Flames. Then there is some hilarious hypocrisy where they sing about how they are refinding themselves because they lost their identity. Well guess what In Flames! Your last album was a lot closer to your identity than this mash up of trip hop metalcore and melodeath! This album is nothing like you guys. When you say in this song “We Have been on the same road for too long” you act like its a bad thing, but its not! On your original road you guy's were gods! Now you are just some stupid old farts who are trying to make money.

The sixth track is called Wheere The Dead Ships Dwell, this is one of the most atrocious song as it features clean vocals that just do not fit the whole In Flames vibe. The other problem with this song is that there are breakdown type things that are literally trip hop riffs! Now there's nothing wrong with trip hop but In Flames is not at all trip hop and never should be trip hop! However it will get worse.

The Attic is one of the two worst songs on this album, it disgusts me, it makes me feel physically ill, it is nearly as bad as Dancing Queen. Yes, that bad. It starts of with a stupidly simple non melodic trip hop type riff and then there are some stupid clean vocals that make me forget that I am listening to In Flames. Then a string section kicks in and you expect it to turn into an epic ballad, but it doesn't. This song just stays as a dull and flat piece that just curdles my ears and makes that open third floor window right next to me look very promising. When I heard this song I almost cried, how far can one band fall in just a few years!

The eighth track, Darker Time just starts to make up for it, this is one of the better songs on this album and it is another song that proves that good things can be done with the new 4 man In Flames line up. Of course the chorus is a bit poppish, however on this song it actually kind of works because the rest of the song is awesome and high powered. So this is one of the few songs where the chorus actual lifts me up because the song itself is awesome. This is probably the best song on the album because at the end it does not die off and start to suck. Still the solo sounds like it was stolen from Zakk Wylde, it could do with more melody. The final chorus to this song is awesome. I can truly tell you that this is the one song on this album that would fit perfectly into Clayman.

Of course the very next track is such a horrific abomination that the glory of Darker Time is just wiped away and pooped on. There is a cool intro, but then the song, it devolves into... a pop song? This song is a bad pop cliché with a cool intro. The vocals sound whining and weak. There is no glory in this song, there are just weak and wussy vocals with a solo that comes across as limp. This track is an utter abomination and on it's own it nearly wipes away the glory of The Jester Race. The band that recorded that album was significantly better than whatever this abomination is.

The next song is Enter Rage, it is very aggressive and has a cool sound that features heavy drumming and comes across very nicely. However it dies off when it comes time for the solo. For some reason the majority of the solos on this album just feel, lifeless. They feel weak and they fee like they have no passion behind them pushing the onto the next level. That's really one of the biggest issues with the songs on this album, the solos are dispassionate. Its very sad. Overall though this is a good track.

Then there is the horror and doom of Jester's Door where In Flames just pees on their old classic and creates a new overdubbed track with sad clean vocals that are literally spoken for the first half of the song. Now this would be okay if the next part was really cool and blew my head off but it's not and it doesn't. It just transforms into some crappy trip-hop breakdown with a slightly crunchy guitar that isn't even that melodic. Jester's Door is a pathetic song and one of the worst on this album, it is truly disgusting.

The next to last track A New Dawn is mediocre and it is extremely cheesy. In fact a lot of the songs on this album are extremely cheesy. I mean “I can't wait to see the sun rise again?”. That is the cheesiest thing that I have seen all day! Then there are some meh clean vocals. However the guitar work on this song is sick and there are some great drum fills. In fact one of the things In Flames that has not deteriorated in quality is the killer drums. There is an acoustic part in this song that comes out of nowhere that takes away from a lot of the energy that was there. This is not a good thing for the song because the energy in this song was just about to takeover the cheese. But it just missed.

The final track of this album is even more cheesy than A New Dawn. Liberation starts off with some ridiculously weak and whining clean vocals that come across as pathetic. The guitar riff is also simple and not at all melodic or mind blowing. Then theirs the chorus with weak clean vocals. It is stolen from a POP SONG!! THIS FINAL SONG IS LITERALLY A POP SONG! THE CHORUS IS SO HORRIFIC AND IT RUINS THE ENTIRE IN FLAMES DISCOGRAPHY. This album shows that In Flames is doomed forever.

So what does this mean for the future of metal? Well I feel that the general direction of metal now is going to be towards metalcore type things. I think that As I lay dying and A7X can lead the metalcore charge. I am not going to say if I think thats a good thing or a bad thing, its just whats happening. Metalcore is the next big thing, accept it people. As for melodeath, I think that it won't die however it will become less prominent in the metal community and not dominate the scene anymore. Death metal as a whole is going to start to die off now, it will be mostly gone in 5-10 years I think. Metalcore will be in and who knows where that will take us?

So, this album, is decent as an album, but it is an abomination to all that In Flames has ever made. This record shows the end of In Flames' career as a commercial artist and there beginnings as heritage rockers. There are 3 or so solid tracks however the trip hop passages are just disgusting. Some of the choruses are interesting but nothing really blows my mind and they are too poppish for my taste. The final track Liberation truly is the end for In Flames. The other tracks where bad, however they should not have ended such a weak album with an incredibly weak song that features pretty much entirely clean vocals. So melodeath is going to die soon and In Flames sucks, hello metalcore.

OVERALL 4.5/10

Burn Everything/Graven/Reckoner Split

A lot of hardcore splits that go three ways follow a common pattern, two good bands and one crappy one. The sad part is that this ruins a lot of split records, for me at least. Fortunately, this new split from Burn Everything, Graven, and Reckoner does not have that problem, instead, it has almost the opposite issue, there are three great bands here and none are give enough time to really develop. Exciting and powerful, Dullest Records have truly put out a split for the ages, one worth many a spin, showcasing some of the East Coasts best hardcore groups.

Here's the thing though, I say this is a hardcore split, but that hardly does it justice, none of these bands can fully be described by the term 'hardcore' each has their own unique take. Burn Everything bring in grind, death metal, and noise elements to their sound, making for something exciting and powerful. Graven have a policy of "No boundaries" which allows them to mix a variety of styles which engage the mind in a strange and exciting new way. Finally, Reckoner have a unique take on the genre, taking elements of Neurosis and Morbid Angel, among others to get an attack that is violent, sludgy and strangely intricate, it will capture your mind and take you on a exciting musical journey.

In conclusion, this is the kind of split you can listen too again and again, and, you know what, spin it again. At just under nineteen minutes long, this is a record you can easily spin at any time. Listening to it two or three times in a day is also pretty feasible, it shows the flexible and exciting nature of this release. Each of these three bands is exciting to delve into, and I certainly have burrowed into discovering these three groups. This is what hardcore is all about, young innovators bringing forth exciting elements from an extreme sound. Prepare to bang your head and stage dive, this is one of the best splits I've heard in months!

Find the bands on Facebook!

Burn Everything: https://www.facebook.com/burneverythingnow

Graven: https://www.facebook.com/GRAVENSOUND

Reckoner: https://www.facebook.com/reckonerisdead

Tempel - The Moon Lit Our Path

If memory serves I first wrote about Tempel all the way back in the summer of 2012 when I was a bored 16 year old at my grandparents house. How things have changed... and yet the sublime music of Tempel seems to remain the same, well, if anything it's only gotten better. Tempel, already iconoclastic and exciting to begin with have only become moreso with their latest release, the melodic and inspiring The Moon Lit Our Path, a five song instrumental black metal epic that will capture your imagination.

What Tempel do is craft unqiue soundscapes using blazing guitars and fierce drum patterns that come together ina sense of sublime ecstasy. You can't deny the overarching might that these songs have, they come from a soundworld that is wholly their own and reflect upon the greater sense of humanity that black metal is so often alienated from. There is something incredibly beautiful with what Tempel do, the way their music takes you on a journey, from the monolithic Carvings In The Door to the strangely triumphant, and very inspiring closing track, the twelve minute epic Dawn Breaks Over The Ruins.

What I'm trying to say is that The Moon Lit Our Path may very well be the instrumental record of the year. It's epic in scale and immaculate in its conception. Tempel are crafting music that feels ancient, it speaks to an older truth and it's almost shamanic at times. Incredibly meditative and refreshing Tempel are breaking boundaries that most people don't even know are there. One of the most exciting bands to be coming out of the the Arizona scene. Refreshingly direct and providing a bold new direction for metal Tempel might just change the face of the genre.

Find them on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/Tempelofficialband?fref=ts

Nightbringer - Terra Damnata

Terra Damnata - holy shit Nightbringer have done it again. This is a band who have always made a name for themselves as cutting edge and potent black metal. They have always pushed boundaries and used their seemingly endless compositional and technical prowess to craft some of the finest music the genre has ever seen. Their unique brand of intense and hyper intellectual black metal has never failed to impress and from the first ripping chords you know that Terra Damnata is another step in the legacy.

As much as black metal these days seems to strive to be beautiful I think that Nightbringer confidently spit in the face of that and instead go in from sheer bombast. Hell, the opening moments of As Wolves Amongst The Ruins burns brighter than what many of us even thought possible. The crazed synth provides a sort of benzedrine background to a record that seems dedicated to pushing further, blaspheming harder and inverting more ideals than anything that came before. It makes for an incredibly intense listen and a record that is punishingly dense, requiring the listener to come back and pick it apart time and time again.

It's hard not to love what Nightbringer bring to the table here. It's invigorating and destructive. It makes you sit up straight in your seat and ask questions about the true nature of black metal and it broadens the spectrum of what this music can be. There is a certain perverse uniformity to this, a message of entrancing darkness that makes Terra Damnata one of the year premier black metal releases. Hearkening back to a time when black metal was scary, the bar has been set, perhaps higher than any other band can climb.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/NightbringerOfficial