Depraved literature part IV – Pulverizer zine #5

 

 

 

Depraved literature part IV – Pulverizer zine #5

Author: Bill

Origin: Scotland

Release date: (May 1993)

Interviews: Ungod, Suffer, Human Waste, Enchantment, Adramelech, Purulence, Altar, As Serenity Fades, Dead Christ, Gutted Pulp, Disembowelment, Excavation, Blood, Impetigo, Necropsy, Electrocution, Morstice, Therion, Avulsed, Embalmer

I’ve found this scans of this old zine on the killer Send Back My Stamps website and once I looked at the bands, which it featured I quickly started to read the zine, as the content seemed to be truly awesome. Pulverizer is a fanzine from Scotland and this fifth issue from 1993 deals totally with death metal bands (with just a small dose of black metal – Ungod and Dead Christ; two lame band hehe). Looking at the bands, which issue #5 features, it is like a list of what was the best in the death metal underground of that time – I mainly have to mention those bands, which I know and like a lot like Purulence (killer!), Excavation, Adramelech, Suffer, Morstice, Therion, As Serenity Fades and Necropsy. But really the whole content of this fanzine is very interesting, also because Bill, its editor, knew how to make some interesting chats. And even if they’re not too long (but sometimes they are), still he asks the most important questions, avoiding those bullshit questions, which some fanzines of that time loved to ask (because who cares if the guy likes to eat pizza or what’s the colour of his pants? OK, there’s one exception in this issue of Pulverizer, when the guy from Disembowelment is asked if he has any pets at his house hehe! What sort of question is that??!! luckily it is the only such stupid question). All in all I find most of these interviews interesting, maybe besides those shorter ones like with Ungod or Dead Christ. I think that the chats I liked most were the ones with Adramelech, Disembowelment, Impetigo, Suffer and Necropsy; they’re all very informative and interesting.

More so, along with the great number of interviews Pulverizer offers a strong section of demo / EP / CD reviews – and it is a big advantage of this issue, as it reviews some of the most important recordings of that time (early 1993). And it is great to read some words about the demos of now famous and popular bands, like Emperor for instance, you know… Back then they weren’t known and the feeling was totally different. And sometimes the recordings, which now are recognised as cult, back then could have been smashed with the critique hehe (actually that Emperor demo got quite positive reception in Pulverizer). Finally, speaking of the layout – Pulverizer was very typically looking fanzine, but clean and tidy layout was surely an advantage, even if the quality of the Xerox made the photos a bit blurry. But all in all I’ve really enjoyed the reading of this zine and if you wanna find out what was the death metal scene like back in 1993, then spare a couple of hours for reading it. You’ll find it on http://sendbackmystamps.org

Quote of the issue:

“Q: Do you practice Satanism? A: Yes I do. I practise about 2 or 3 times a week in an old farmhouse. I worship him in the shadow of the six burning black candles" (a proof why the early black metal interviews were so dam hilarious... but I wonder what the guy from Ungod has been doing for the rest of the week, if he's been doing his "satanism" only twice a week hehe!!!) – Infamist, Ungod

“Masturbation is a desire and I desire it at least 3 times a day” – Paul Jones, Enchantment

"...many zines have sent the questions and promised to send a free copy of their zine, but only few have come. Most of them are rip off, especially Polish zines, which only want to get a free copy of our demo..." (Jani, Adramelech)

“Q: Have you encountered many rip offs? A: “Yeah, too many! Many zines from Poland…” (Remi Cote, Purulence)

Hmm, any problems with the Polish phantom zines hehe?

Depraved literature part III – Crypts of Eternity #5

 

 

 

Depraved literature part III – Crypts of Eternity #V

Author: Ricardo Lucas, Victor Miranda, Xabier Sanchez

Origin: Peru

Release date: 2013

Interviews: Affliction Gate, Crucifire, Dark Descent Records, Desecresy, Diskord, Execration, Funerus, Grave Ritual, Infernal Conjuration, Magnanimvs, Malediction, Mark Riddick, Mausoleum / Morpheus Descends, Profaner, Repugnancia, Sanctifier, Undergang, Unholy Terror zine, War Master, Cenotaph, Cianide, Embalmed Souls, Headhunter DC

I already had in my collection Crypts of Eternity zine issue 4 for some time, so once I got a chance to purchase the new, 5th, issue I just knew I need to have it! And once it arrived I started to read it and I must say that definitely this Peruvian zine proved me once again that it is one of the best fanzines around the world nowadays. I like everything of it and must say that when reading it I felt like I have similar passion and enthusiasm as the guys behind Crypts of Eternity and we share a lot of similar musical tastes… and you know, having a fanzine 100% dedicated to death metal is also something cool (even if personally I also like some other styles of metal). More so, I must say that if you call yourself a diehard maniac of the traditional death metal, then Crypts of Eternity is just a must have for you… This zine offers a huge portion of reading (thick like a book!) with some of the best names of the present underground death metal scene.

But going from the beginning… well, Crypts of Eternity #5 is first of all decided to memorize and honour some old South American bands and this it devoted them lengthy articles. In this issue you’ll read strong editorials about Cenotaph, Repugnancia, Sanctifier, Headhunter DC and Embalmed Souls. Some other very old bands, but not from SA, also appear and it this issue they are Cianide, Morpheus Descends and Malediction, which are also well deserved, but rather underestimated old school death metal bands. Cenotaph is all about the 20 years anniversary of their excellent “The Gloomy Reflections” album, Embalmed Souls hails their 20 years of deathactivity, Cianide talks about their new, killer album “Gods of Death” and Headhunter DC is the less interesting a studio report. Meanwhile Repugnancia and Sanctifier, bands which I don’t know, to be honest, talks about their history, their releases and what was the scene like in their countries in the early 90’s. A lot of great reading and it is impossible to stop in the middle, so interesting and in depth these all articles are. But more is to come…

Finally Crypts of Eternity #5 supports in form of stunning and very long, very interesting chats such bands / labels / zines like Affliction Gate, Crucifire, Dark Descent Records, Desecresy, Diskord, Execration, Funerus, Grave Ritual, Infernal Conjuration, Magnanimvs, Mark Riddick, Mausoleum, Profaner, Undergang, Unholy Terror zine and War Master. Isn’t that list enough to raise the interest in the zine? And I can assure you that the crew of Crypts of Eternity did their work very well. Each interview really good, with lots of interesting questions and even if they deal mainly with the music, they still are pretty original. I really liked this work and the reading of it was just a huge pleasure. More so, also because the layout of this issue of Crypts of Eternity looks awesome; the whole zine is professionally printed, I like the paper and the whole result… Yeah, definitely these are 106 pages worth of sin.

So, to conclude… once more I was totally blown away by the South American fanzine. It seems like maniacs down there do the best zines at the moment, so give it a huge support and let’s hope that the next Crypts of Eternity issue will be out soon!

Gehenna - First Spell

GEHENNA - First Spell (HEAD NOT FOUND - CD 1994)

“First Spell” is considered to be a debut full length album of Norwegian Gehenna, but I must say that calling it a full length is a bit exaggerated, as the whole material is only 26 minutes long (short). Obviously some other bands also released albums with such a short content – like Deicide for instance – but still it feels a bit awkward to debut with such a short material, especially as some songs already have appeared on the demo or EP. Anyway, I remember that when I got this album back in 1996 or 1997 I really liked it, because of the unique atmosphere and some nice, kind of catchy, memorable songs, which differed so much from the typical primitive and raw black metal. But when I listen to “First Spell” nowadays I feel like my impression on this album has changed through the years, for worse, as nowadays this album sounds just too archaic and too infantile. I feel like it didn’t grow old well… at least not as good as some other stuff Gehenna or some other Norwegian bands have recorded back then.

The main problem with this album is that it just feels to be too soft and too delicate for the early Norwegian black metal release. Not evil enough. Obviously the keyboards play a significant role in the music of Gehenna, as the band tries to evoke a dark, ghoulish, sort of inhuman, macabre atmosphere… and sure, they do it well, but it is just too pleasant, in my opinion. There were other Norwegian bands, which played the more atmospheric black metal in much better way, just to mention the early incarnations of Ulver, Satyricon, Troll and Dimmu Borgir. When comparing Gehenna’s “First Spell” to them the difference is quite huge. Obviously I cannot deny the fact that Gehenna has developed their own sound and style already on this debut album – or even earlier, on the “Black Seared Heart” demo – and for that they must be praised. But the songs, which “First Spell” contains, are just not so good and I am afraid that the passing time wasn’t too kind for this album. Now it almost sounds infantile, some arrangements and melodic passages are hilarious, in my opinion, like that keyboard solo in “The Shivering Voice of the Ghost”, which is such a happy tune that I am scared to call it black metal. And no, I don’t think that it is very bad, when the keyboards are leading the music, while the guitars are almost behind them, if it was only helping to create the dark and evil atmosphere… Hmm, maybe if the production of “First Spell” was rawer and so clean and polished, then the band would achieve this effect? I don’t know.

Of all songs from “First Spell” I think that “The Shivering Voice of the Ghost” is the most memorable and best; I like that chorus part in this track and also the whole atmosphere in it is just as the title says: ghoulish and macabre (except the happy keyboard “solo” part). I also like that organ theme, which opens this song and Dolgar’s harsh, raspy vocals. Yeah, this is really good track. “Unearthly Loose Palace” is not too bad also, but it is so slow, almost kind of melancholic that after a while it starts to annoy the hell in me. “Angelwings and Ravenclaws” is probably the catchiest of all the songs; it is also the only one, which is so short (less than three minutes, while rest of the songs is about six minutes long each). It is slightly faster, in the sense that it won’t put you to sleep as much as “Unearthly…” just did, but I am surprised by what the keyboards sometimes play here. I think that Gehenna really done it all wrong on this album, when we’re talking about this instrument and its arrangements. Finally “Morningstar” sounds quite close to what Dimmu Borgir was doing at that same time on “For All Tid”, and for sure it is my second favourite song from “The First Spell”. It is more lively, has some cool riffs and finally the keyboards don’t play such an important, leading role in the music, giving the guitars more space.

So, as you can see “First Spell” is not my favourite Norwegian black metal release. It is not a bad album, for sure it is good to have it in the collection and giving it a spin once in decade. Gehenna captured here a unique atmosphere, but too many things have been done wrong in my opinion, speaking of the arrangements and the keyboards. Personally I liked this album 15 years ago more than nowadays. And “Seen Through the Veils of Darkness” is far, far more superior to this.

Standout track: “The Shivering Voice of the Ghost”, “Morningstar”

Final rate: 69/100

Archives of the Dead part V: Asphyxia – Conflagration (demo 1990)

Archives of the Dead part V: Asphyxia – Conflagration (demo 1990)

Recording line up: Eamonn Farrell (guitars), Norman Hunt (drums), Vinnie O'Brien (guitars), David 'George' Thomas (vocals / bass)

I have never heard of this band (Asphyxia) until recently and I don’t know whether I would really bother to check them out, if I haven’t found out that Asphyxia is actually a band, which transformed into Morphosis in 1992. And obviously Morphosis is more familiar to me, as they’re probably the most interesting Irish band, along with Primordial and maybe Abaddon Incarnate. The beginning of Asphyxia goes back to the mid 80’s when Vinnie O'Brien and David Thomas started playing together and formed their first band, but it wasn’t until 1990, when they’ve released their first – and last under the name Asphyxia – demo. “Conflagration” is a three tracks plus intro demo, with about 25 minutes on the clock, so there’s enough portion of deadly musical archives to satisfy the hunger for something from the past. And I really recommend you Asphyxia, as their music was a classic and maybe typical for the time, but good quality thrashing death metal.

I must say that I like what Asphyxia did on this demo. Their songs were quite lengthy, with seven to nine minutes long tracks, what for sure wasn’t so common back in the old days, but somehow the Irish band managed to fill them with enough interesting riffs and arrangements to avoid any boredom or monotony. They provided some nice riffs and a variety of tempos, from slower to fast thrashing stuff... And I mention thrash again, as it is debatable whether “Conflagration” was more influenced by the German and US thrash metal or the US and European death metal… I guess it is almost like 50 / 50 affair. There are some parts, which remind me Incubus (US), as well as Mercyless, Massacra, Merciless and Messiah (the use of bands with names on M is purely unintentional here hehe)… On top of which there’re the harsh, screaming vocals, which are quite close to Mille Petroza and Rogga Petterson. When I listen to “Conflagration” it is almost impossible to resist those sounds. And even if nowadays such music may feel very archaic, especially with the production like this one, then I am sure that back in 1990 this demo must have impressed maniacs a lot. Anyway, nowadays it is still a nice listening experience. For sure Asphyxia was creating something more original, with these lengthy and more structures songs, crazy guitar leads, etc. If there’s anything what really disturbs me in their music are such calm fragments as the opening theme of “Conflagration”, which just sounds bad and weak.

Oh, I must add also that the songs “Conflagration” and “Symptoms of Suffering” has been re-recorded by Morphosis back in 1995 on their “Malicious Malfiguration” demo and then “Conflagration” was again recorded for "Rise of the Bastard Deities" album (in completely rearranged, fastened and shortened version). It is nice to know that Morphosis never forgot their roots. Obviously on “Malicious Malfiguration” these songs sounded better, tighter and more aggressive, faster and more brutal, but at the same time they completely lacked that archaic thrash / death metal feeling of the original Asphyxia recording. Anyway, “Conflagration” demo of Asphyxia is really nice, maybe not the most thrilling of all death / thrash metal demos of all time, but a solid one and worthy being exhumed now, 23 years after its original release.

Final rate: 70/100

Iron Maiden Gdańsk 4.VII.2013

 

 

Just woke up after yesterday's grat gig of Iron Maiden here in Gdańsk @ Ergo Arena. I must say that I really enjoyed the show (despite some very bad news, which I got on the phone right before the start - my wife miscarriage in the 2nd month of pregnancy; the music allowed me forget about the shit for a couple of hours). Maybe the sound wasn't the best, a bit quiet, I had a feeling like the guitars were just not loud enough and one may have thought that Janick is there just to pose rather than to play - or maybe it was the crowd, which was so damn loud, because we all sang, screamed for Maiden and had good fun... Anyway the show was good very good, the band is in good form, there were great pirotechniques and all the visuals, killer figures of Eddie and more so, I just loved the setlist, filled with the classics. I especially enjoyed "Run to the Hills", "Fear of the Dark", "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" and "Seventh Son...". Unfortunately the air conditioning was very bad and it was almost impossible to breath in the crowd, so after few songs I thought I will collapse. But I survived and found some more energy for the finishing songs like "Running Free" and "Iron Maiden". So, I am very happy to have the opportunity to see the band FINALLY after 20 years of being a fan. I hope it wasn't my last time with them and when next time I'll see them I won't be getting so bad news like yesterday. Up the Irons. 
PS. I forgot to add that the support band VoodooSix turned out to be a nice surprise, really solid and catchy rock music. I have enjoyed them as well! Power of riff!