The opener “Skjend Hans Lik” is – as you probably already have guessed – taken from 2003′s multi-platinum selling (just kidding!) album “Defending The Throne Of Evil”. Here we get the chance to hear it in an alternative mix and I must say that I’m impressed. The vocals are extremely well-performed, the drumming is of interesting nature and thanks to the keyboard the song has gotten even more personality. Unfortunately I don’t think it will stay in my mind for such a long time due to absence of strong riffs. The second song is called “Humiliation Chant” and it’s the only one on this release that hasn’t seen the light of day (or maybe the dark of night?) before. The piano and the scary voices together with some effects creates a very creepy atmosphere. I can’t see why they didn’t use this one as an intro cause it really serves its purpose! Without wasting more time figuring out why let’s jump to the next track. “Spill The Blood Of The Lamb” is up next and this version is a pre-production from the song that originally appeared on the above mentioned album “Defending The Throne Of Evil”. This song also marks where my interest for this release drops. “Martyr / Sacrificulum” (originally appeared on 2000′s “Strange Old Brew”) is the fourth track played live and to tell the truth; it’s fairly uninteresting. Sure, great musicianship by frontman Nattefrost and his troopers, but the song is still quite boring – in my opinion. The last five songs here (“Through The Black Veil Of The Burgo Pass”, “Bloodlust And Perversion”, “Return Of The Freezing Winds”, “The Woods Of Wallachia” and “Wings Over The Mountain Of Sighisoara”) are all taken from Carpathian Forest’s first demo – “Bloodlust And Perversion” that was released in 1992. The title of that demo is quite cool, but unfortunately I can’t say the same thing about the songs. Aside from the not-so-impressive vocals, the variation presented here is pretty much non-existing. Besides that – the music is slow and boring. Boring and slow. No, this demo just isn’t good but I have to admit that the last track “Wings Over The Mountain Of Sighisoara” is a quite decent intrumental outro.

There isn’t enough interesting material on “Skjend Hans Lik” to justify a release of this kind – sad but true. However, I’m more than sure that real fans of Carpathian Forest is still going to invest in this release.

Peter Eliasson

Tracklist:
01. Skjend Hans Lik
02. Humiliation Chant
03. Spill The Blood Of The Lamb
04. Martyr / Sacrificulum
05. Through The Black Veil Of The Burgo Pass
06. Bloodlust And Perversion
07. Return Of The Freezing Winds
08. The Woods Of Wallachia
09. Wings Over The Mountain Of Sighisoara

The press release is pretty sparse with information regarding the background of the individual band members, but on the other hand – just listen to the damn recording. It stands clear directly from start that we aren’t exactly dealing with amateur musicians here. The songs often prove to have a powerful drive and smooth vocal lines. The fact that vocalist Nicklas Sonne lacks some character is somewhat negative but this is compensated by strong guitar work.

The six songs on this EP are pretty varied but at the same time not that hard to get a solid grip on. The songs lose focus from time to time though, meaning that the songwriting isn’t top-notch. Yet. Improvements in aforementioned area will hopefully be noticeable already on their next offering. I mean, the style is good as it is. Retain the sound and just forge even stronger tunes, is my humble advice to this Danish band.

My favourite tracks? “Excluded”, “Desperate Addict” and “Out Of The Day”. The first one is heavy yet relaxed with a soft chorus. The second one is straight-forward and leaves little to be desired. The latter one induces a feeling of mainstream, sort of, but at the same time the progressiveness is clearly heard. They’re balancing on the line and they’re actually pulling it off. To repeat what I implied in the beginning of the review: things never get too complicated.

Not bad at all, is my final judgement. Refreshing with a (slight) personal touch. The production is very good as well. With a real hit song present on their forthcoming full-length album they might be able to make it into the charts.

Peter Eliasson

This band from Finland is – truth to be told – just another band that I stumbled upon when I was surfing the web. Giving them a chance felt like the right thing to do – I mean, what exactly did I have to lose? Human Sculpture is a quite newly-formed band with this being their first offering to the world.

We’re talking about three tracks, and those three songs have quite a lot in common with modern death metal. We all know what that means by now, heavy riffs, screamy vocals and steadfast drumming. From time to time they rely on some cool melodies to do the talking, but we’re mostly dealing with death metal of the modern kind. They’re aren’t exactly aiming for breaking any new boundaries. If that was the goal, they failed completely.

The songs are partly good and partly boring, with the first one called “Deconstruction” being my favourite. No matter how you view things, the production is definitely good, but on the other hand – getting a qualitative production these days isn’t exactly the hardest of tasks. These guys are young (judging from the promo photos) and the way I see it, they’re only in the beginning of their career. “Our World/Torn Down” is a decent first try from Human Sculpture. That I don’t deny.

Like I implied in the beginning, these guys deserve some credit for keeping things non-boring. Three songs with a total playing time of under 16 minutes isn’t exactly destined to bore the listener to death.

Peter Eliasson

I’ll start off with my own opinion on this. Personally, It think it does exactly what it was meant to do. Bring you into the evil sounding atmosphere, and not let you leave until the album is done, or you simply turn it off. I warn you now, don’t do the second option. I enjoyed this album more when I listened to the whole thing at once than when I listen to individual songs. An exception to that, however, would have to be the song “Revolution Begins”. Every time I listen to it, the extreme skill of it takes me over. The way it evokes feelings within you, the way it creates an atmosphere of music that envelops you with its grasp, all of that adds up and turns it into a song that simply leaves you wanting more.

However, no matter how well done certain songs are for quick listens, I still recommend that the whole album be heard at one time. Or at least in two halves if you do not have the time to sit down and listen to it the whole way through.

Of course, there are extremely few albums that are flawless, and this one is no exception. Although the heaviness was intended, it creates a feeling of repetition at a few points in the album. If you listen closely, you’ll realize that these aren’t exactly the same riffs, but quite similar, especially if you listen to this with the volume level high up. Unlike many fast and heavy albums, I did not have a problem with the drums, and that, is a good accomplishment I think, especially coming from me( There’s probably at least a 60% chance I’ll have some sort of problem with drums in extremely heavy and fast music).

Anyway, let’s look at the vocals and lyrics next. I really think the vocals fit the music well, as well as the theme of the album, I also think that adding in some areas of clean singing would help the overall effect. Mostly because after 30-40 minutes of this album, the harsh voice gets a little repetitive, and sounds ever unchanging. Not particularly bad, seeing as the theme for this album is certainly revolution against a tyrant, so harsh voices would be expected, but the songs themselves suffer from this.

Lyrically, this album was quite good. I can’t say I haven’t heard better lyrical work than this, but I also cannot claim that this is uninventive. Some songs take the approach of having a conversation before the actual song. An example would be “Rise of the Tyrant”, which in all reality, really fits the what the song soon becomes. Throughout the songs, choruses will be repeated, and usually have some kind of anger attached to them, they are almost something to project you from one part of a song to another, and they do it perfectly, carrying you through the many feelings and thoughts of this album.

However, I cannot say this is an album that is easy to listen to. If you dislike heavy albums with very harsh singing, this is not for you at all. Just about the entire album features grizzly, brutal, savage riffs, while harsh singing erupts from the vocalist. The whole album has a feeling of controlled chaos, but certainly chaos will be what you realize at first. If you prefer metal that is more on the softer side, stay away from this album.

In the end, I have to tell you all to go and get this album, whether you go and buy albums, or you download off the internet. It’ll be worth your money and your time. Unless you are a hater of very heavy music, and everything stated in the above paragraph, you’ll probably enjoy this album, who knows, maybe this album will even turn you haters around, and make you enjoy the savage beauty of this kind of music. A must listen to fans, and first-timers alike.

Patrick Burent

(Review originally published in 2007)

If you don’t know about this Fulda-based band then you’ve only got yourself to blame. Edguy is one of the most established artists in the whole power metal scene, and not surprisingly also one of my favourite bands in this part of the metal universe. This means that I’ve very high expectations on anything wearing the Edguy label, and for many years now I’ve only been disappointed once by Tobias Sammet and his gang. Curious about this 2006′s album “Rocket Ride”? Feel free to continue reading.

“Sacrifice” is the longest song on the album (not by far, though) at just over eight minutes and it turns out to be – not surprisingly – the most detailed track of them all with lots of interesting and imaginative parts. It begins very softly with piano playing setting the initial mood before it escalates into a rousing guitar driven tempest, almost in the blink of an eye. When the guitar action has settled down it’s time for Edguy mastermind Tobias Sammet to make his vocal entrance. He can, when the song quality decreases, give a bit of a bland impression, but for most of the time he sounds superb and I know that a lot of people agree with me on this, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. By the way, carrying out a song like this in a live setting wouldn’t be the easiest of tasks, but I’m sure that Edguy would do more than well.

Back to the tune in question. Parts of the song are definitely surrounded by a certain mysticism, but that’s not all “Sacrifice” has to offer. No, it alternates (in a masterful way) between being emotional, powerful and being compelling and almost epic sounding at times. My conclusion: one of the highlights of the release without being one of the finest tracks from the Edguy catalogue. Any questions?

“Rocket Ride” is on contrary to its predesessor not one of the album’s highlights. It’s a lot more basic and more to the point than “Sacrifice”, making it an easy target for the reptile part of our brain to like, so to speak. The main riff supplies the song with a certain amount of power, but what one must not forget about is that a song is build out of many parts, each part playing a significant role for the final result. Here comes metaphor of the week: you can see a song like an airplane, all the parts need to be working together in order for the plane to fly. In this case the plane doesn’t actually crash, but nor does it fly very high either – by Edguy standards. I guess one could say that it doesn’t come out as richly as I want it to, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like it. I think it’s a very good track, but it pales in comparison to the best “Rocket Ride” has to offer. Enough said.

“Wasted Time” is another highlight with an suggestive opening. Some acoustic guitar playing is brought in here to relieve the heaviness. The song itself is quite long, thirteen seconds from being six minutes but not a single second is wasted here as time (I know…) is taken care of. Take the chorus for example. How often do you hear such a powerful and cool chorus? Not very often I’d say. This is very steadfast stuff. The remaining song is excellent as well, but the chorus is the biggest attraction. I think I can say that without being arrested. Almost forgot, I really dig the echo effect on the vocals as well.

“Matrix” (of the best movies of the late 90′s) convinces with its superb rhythm section, interesting effects of the more futuristic kind and – once again – a very strong chorus. I haven’t bothered finding out exactly what the lyrics are meant to convey, but the song itself is what really matters and trust me when I say it keeps you constantly hooked. Solid stuff, in other words.

“Return Of The Tribe” is one of the more speedier numbers to be found, being quite reminiscent of 2001′s “Fallen Angels”, from Edguy’s finest hour to date – “Mandrake”, and that’s what bugs me. The song sounds surprisingly flat, for being an Edguy song of typical proportions. The chorus is a good listen, although it doesn’t stand out as much as that of “Fallen Angels”. The rest of the song constitutes no threat to anyone.

“The Asylum” is a pretty darn cool song title, I think. The newly adopted hard rock sound can be heard clearly here. The music alternates between being soft and fairly packed with power. My verdict? Good without being impressive. The arragements are pretty great, but there is something that prevents the song from reaching the desired destination, and I can’t seem to pin point the source of the problem. Damn.

“Save Me” has grown on me significantly since I heard it the first time. At first it seemed to be pretty poor and medicore, but as time passed by I came to realize that it actually is a great power ballad, with an awesome pulsating melody. It isn’t exactly a new “Scarlet Rose” (one of my favourite ballads of all time) so to speak, but there’s still something about it that makes me want to listen to it every now and then. In fact, it’s not completely unlike “Blessing In Disguise” (from the “Superheroes” EP, you know?) in terms of style, mood and quality despite the fact that the intro isn’t very Edguy-ish at all. Conclusion? Well, not particularly beautiful, I’d say, but still a solid and essential (the only ballad to be found on the CD) part of the album. But like I said: not the greatest ballad achievement of Edguy. Let’s move on.

“Catch Of The Century” is a funny song equipped with lyrics about Tobias himself being – yes, that’s right – the catch of the century. Only one of many humoristic elements available on this disc. The chorus is kind of pompous chorus but the song lacks some really memorable guitar work. Still four minutes and two seconds of catchy Edguy music though.

“Out Of Vogue” is more than decent, I guess, but nothing to write home about. This is where the band speeds things up a bit again, resulting in a pretty good (not great) power metal tune. There is overall much stronger riffs and melodies here than in “Return Of The Tribe”, the opening riff in particular is full of attitude. What else is there to say? Not very much. Yeah, the song structure is quite simple, but that’s not my main concern.

“Superheroes” is a song all Edguy fans should be already familiar with. Talk about a hooky opening! This is the shortest song of them all, and what an amazing piece of work it is. Granted, the title is silly but sometimes there is more than meets the eye, you know? This is a prime example of such thing. Beneath the title lurks a track with enough qualities to make it a future Edguy classic. Just listen to the way it builds up the tension before exploding into the delightful chorus, perfectly complemented by solid piano playing. Downright memorable! One of the better songs of 2006.

“Trinidad” leaves me puzzled. I have no idea what triggered these guys to write, record and release a song like this. Not bad – but kind of inappropriate. Next!

“Fucking With Fire (Hair Force One)” is yet another humoristic expression buried under an song title that doesn’t speak to me at all. The music here is sheer hard rock and we all know what that means by now. Nothing fancy and nothing special.

That’s it, dear readers. The end of the line of “Rocket Ride”. Time for a summary?

This album basically sees the band paying tribute to its own musical heroes, by adapting a reasonable hard rock attitude that can’t be mistaken. Although this very release pretty much came out of the blue, it is only natural for bands that have been doing their thing for many years to keep pushing the boundaries and expanding the horizons of their music, and finding new ways of expressing themselves.

Whereas the band has lived up to its reputation or not is up to each and everyone to decide. Personally, I really enjoy this disc yet I have a hard time seeing how “Rocket Ride” will be the album that people will remember Edguy for crafting. Still, an entertaining piece of music nonetheless.

Peter Eliasson

TRACKLIST
01. Sacrifice
02. Rocket Ride
03. Wasted Time
04. Matrix
05. Return To The Tribe
06. The Asylum
07. Save Me
08. Catch Of The Century
09. Out Of Vouge
10. Superheroes
11. Trinidad
 12. Fucking With Fire (Hair Force One) ]]> http://www.soundofmetal.se/reviews/cd-review-edguy-rocket-ride/feed/ 0 http://www.soundofmetal.se/reviews/cd-review-wintersun-wintersun/ http://www.soundofmetal.se/reviews/cd-review-wintersun-wintersun/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:53:26 +0000 admin http://www.soundofmetal.se/?p=98   [ Read More ]]]> Ever had a nightmare? I’m sure we all have, some especially gut wrenching and terrible we wake in the night trembling with sweat. The next day, it still invades us. Well, that’s what Wintersun does as well. This may make them seem a Black Metal Band. In a way, they are, in a way no. The songs have so many differences, it may very well be impossible to place a tag on the band. This is their Debut album, a masterpiece, and so far, their only album.

“Beyond the Dark Sun”, the album’s first song, is 2:48 in length. Not that much, but does it matter? The guitars and drums remind me of the next song, some of the lyrics and especially the vocal sound remind me very much of the second song. It’s a nice little shot of heaviness. It’ll get you in the mood of the album.

The next song “Battle Against Time” might be considered a cross between symphonic black metal and death metal. You’ll see what I mean. There is plenty of vicious guitar riffs, with the most brutal of voices. But there are also parts with some chants, with symphonic and orchestral elements taking over. Basically, this song creates a very good feel of what the album has to offer.

Next I want to talk about “Death and the Healing”. This song is perhaps the most haunting I have ever listened to. Maybe because I have so many memories attacted to it, good and bad, or maybe it’s the way the song is created. Anyway, it starts off with some electronic effect, almost what you would expect in a trance song. It’s a very slow, doom-like song. Guitars come in, and a pained sounding voice starts slowly singing. The instrumentals continue for a short time more, before taking a very calm direction, then, they suddenly explode. It’s not that explosion you hear most of the time, it’s a subtle one. The chorus will have you swaying from side to side. The way it is sung, is simply beautiful. I cannot understand why this song is so gripping. Perhaps it is only me and my own personal tastes/etc, but in all honesty, you have to listen to this song at least once in your metalhead life.

Most songs are more akin to the first and second ones. Dark, quick, and with the brutal vocals. Not all, for example Sleeping Stars starts off very slowly, gradually builds, but never finds the peak raw power. Perhaps that’s a good thing. It is another very beautiful song from the band.

“Starchild” seems to be a favorite of fans (where I hangout anyway). It’s extremely speedy from the start. It features black sounding lyrics, extreme drumming, and fast tempo music. What more can you ask? Well, lot’s of stuff, but that doesn’t stop this one from being a good song. The chorus is very important sounding, and the whole thing, just has a special feel to it. A melodious yet raw song, there’s a lot going on here. It’s a complex song, but a good one at that. Not my favorite on the album, but since people seem to love this song, I thought I should at least include a paragraph or so about it.

So, what’s the final impression. It’s simply beautiful, from the deathly despair feel of some of the songs. To the energetic black sounding ones, this album will please many, especially people who are looking for constant variety in their music. The music is progressive, yet primitive, it combines feelings of sadness, anger, even hope all in one gigantic package, that somehow manages to stay in one piece. There isn’t very much more to say about this one, just perhaps that you should honestly listen to this one. It has something for you, I can just about guarantee it.

Patrick Burent

(This review was originally published in 2007.)

TRACKLIST
1. Beyond The Dark Sun
2. Winter Madness
3. Sleeping Stars
4. Battle Against Time
5. Death And The Healing
6. Starchild
7. Beautiful Death
8. Sadness And Hate

Released by Nuclear Blast Records in 2004.

Every single song on Act III: Armageddon has its own identity. The album starts out with a track that is strikingly similar to that of fellow countrymen Behemoth, mostly because of the vocals. Along with “Diabolicanos”, the first song, “T.H.O.R.N.S.”, is the most intense track on the album. The following song is actually reminiscent of Dimmu Borgir at times, which goes from being rather slow and melodic with annoying clean vocals to bombastic violence. Quazarre’s vocals, which are by far the high point of this album, come out of nowhere and completely catch the listener off guard. After a dark intro, “The Word was Made Flesh Turned into Chaos Again” begins, which is quite possibly the most annoying song on the entire album. The drumming is way too simple and the ride cymbal sounds fucking retarded. “Tales of Babylon’s Whore” features an increased amount of melody and more proficient symphonic keyboards, but the chorus makes me antsy for something more. Right when the listener becomes used to the mid-paced tempo, “Diabolicanos” comes blasting in and provides consistent enjoyment, and the song gets even better when the chorus comes in. The biggest disappointment for me, however, is “Natas Ro Dog On Si Ereht (Of Plagues And Blasphemy)”. It starts out with an extremely catchy guitar riff, but the song just goes nowhere. The final song, entitled “Mass for the Dead”, clocks in at over eight minutes, but the song has enough hooks and depth to make it interesting.

What we get here is a band with good ideas, but bad execution. The songwriting generally sounds mature and creative, but the instruments are just too simple. The overall production of the album is great, especially on the drums, but I can’t help but notice that the guitars sound thin at times. This album could be great if the drumming wasn’t so basic and if the guitars had more of an impact on the songs, but this is by no means a bad release and fans of blackened death metal should at least check out Devilish Impressions.

Nicholas Dow

(This review was originally published in 2008.)

Audiovision is a new Swedish band (or project?) centered around Narnia’s frontman Christian Rivel and Lions Share’s guitarist Lars Chriss. The rest of the band is made up of Mikael Höglund (Thunder, Great King Rat) on bass, Thomas Broman on drums and finally; Andreas Lindahl (Loch Vostok, ex-Platitude) on keyboards. For some reason, a whole bunch of guest musicians have contributed to the creation of this CD. To mention a few: Michael Andersson (Cloudscape), Mattias “IA” Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Mats Levén (At Vance, Krux), Mic Michaeli (Europe) and Carl Johan Grimmark (Narnia).

The debut effort “The Calling” (that consists of nine own-penned songs and one The Sweet cover) is in my ears a fairly good mix of hard rock and heavy metal that fans of Narnia probably will enjoy listening to more than others. By the way, after having listened to this CD for some time I’ve discovered three things. First of all, the performance of all involved musicians is simply very impressive. I definitely can’t find anything to complain about. Second, the production is a demonstration of true professionalism. Every single instrument is heard clearly on every song, and that’s something that can’t be said about all releases of this genre – no, surely not. Last (but not least?) is the songwriting aspect of this album. Damn, it almost pains me to say this, but here it goes: The song material itself isn’t that convincing. Actually there’s not one single song that remains in my mind (nor heart and soul, for that matter) after repeated listens. The only thing that leaves some sort of lasting impression is the wonderful chorus of the third song (and to some extend also the chorus of the second song – I’m man enough to admit that) but that’s also it, and that’s far from enough for my taste.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I still don’t consider any song on the whole record even close to being bad, but, I don’t think that any song is really great either. My personal recommendation to Christian is as follows: Stick with DivineFire, there is no coincidence that DivineFire sells better than Audiovision in Japan.

Peter Eliasson

The somewhat blackened death metal unit Ghamorean was formed as early as 1997, but it wasn’t until 2005 that the debut release of this Swedish metal band arrived via the much-critized Karmageddon Media. In december of 2008 the second offering entitled “Eon Eschatos” was unleashed upon the world, this time released by the band itself. I figured an interview was in order.

First and foremost; your latest offering “Eon Eschatos” is a completely self-financed and self-released album, right? What prompted you guys to take care of everything by yourself?
Yes it is, but we have a distribution deal with Stockholm based Plugged Records. We had a goal to release the album within 2008 but as no label made an offer satisfying enough we took matters in our own hands. People don’t seem to realize that most record deals for new and unknown bands are based on the do-it-yourself/pay-for-it-yourself doctrine. Instead of taking a chance signing with a label, we decided to be in total control, from recording to release.

How do you feel about the reactions to the new album by fans and critics?
The reactions in magazines have been mixed, mostly positive though. I just heard we got 8/10 in Sweden Rock Magazine. A very well written review I must say. When it comes to the fans I just have rely on the ones I’ve met and talked to, and it seems like they all enjoy the album.

Is there anything you wish you could go back and change on the album?
There are always things you want to change but I feel satisfied. It could have been released earlier though. Too much label related fuss.

Please elaborate a bit on the album title “Eon Eschatos”, what exactly does it mean?
Eon Eschatos are two greek words, eon means time and eschatos means last. I chose those words because they fit very well together and the phrase “the last time” also summarizes the lyrics on this album perfectly, as they tend to be somewhat apocalyptical.

Song titles like “Burn Me Like The Kings”, “Humanity Dethroned” and “Obey You Shall” tell of an equally nocturnal mindset as that of “Plaguempire”. Can you give us a deeper dive into the lyrics of “Eon Eschatos”?
The lyrics on “Eon Eschatos” are darker and even more targeted on the fall of man. I have also written about personal issues alongside lyrics more connected with history and philosophy. You might say all lyrics are about the decline of civilization and my part in it.

Do you have any special form of promotional activities planned? Such as making the entire album available for streaming through your MySpace profile or something like that?
I think the best promotional activitiy is to tour and that is something we really want to do. We haven’t really discussed making the album available for streaming. We’ll see…

What about the video for “The Imperial Eye”, are you satisfied with it? Why was this particular song chosen to promote the album, music video-wise?
We are satisfied. We chose it because it is a very “in-your-face”-song, not even four minutes long with a cool guitar solo and a striking chorus.

Can you hand out some information about the immortalization of “Eon Eschatos”? Where did you guys record it and how long did it take? Are you thinking about using the same studio for the next effort as well?
We recorded it in two studios in our hometown of Umeå. Drums, guitars and bass were recorded in Enhanced Audio Studios and the vocals were recorded in Dimrakk Studios. It was recorded in the late summer of 2007 and it took about two months. I don’t think we will use the same studio again as we always wants to explore new territory.

What is your take on the music industry of today? There is no denying that more and more bands are turning to the internet when promoting and releasing music.
Maybe I am old-school but I don’t understand bands that only release their music digitally, I need a physical product. This doesn’t mean that I disregard the internet with all its possibilities, I’m just not that interested in digital forms of communication.

Would it be unthinkable for Ghamorean to sign with a record company in the future? Or are you completely devoted to the do-it-yourself approach from now on?
No, but we want a deal we can benefit from. What’s the difference of having a logo on back of the CD cover when the label is nothing more than just that. That was the case with our first release “Plaguempire”. We need a label ready to put some real effort into their work.

Do you guys have any tricks to stay motivated when writing and performing music?
To keep pushing boundaries when it comes to arrangements and riffing keeps us motivated. It is also important to always explore yourself and your abilitites in order to evolve, both musically and personally.

I’m a bit curious about the band name Ghamorean, what does it stand for and who came up with it?
I came up with it a long, long time ago. I liked the way it sounded and it felt unique. It has lost its original meaning and now I see it only as our band name exclusively. It stands for everything written in the lyrics.

Which bands would you say have influenced Ghamorean the most?
Personally, Emperor first and foremost but also the rest of the norwegian scene. Bands like Satyricon, Mayhem, Darkthrone and Dödheimsgard are some I really appreciate.

You’ve made it clear that touring is something you’d like to do. What if you could assemble a touring line-up of your own, what bands would you personally like Ghamorean to go out on tour with? How would you describe a live show with Ghamorean?
We’ll go with anyone at this point. It doesn’t matter that much. It will just be a bonus going with bands we respect and appreciate. I think we are a high quality live band with lots of intensity and soul, but we want more experience. We are ready for the stages around the world.

You’re already writing what will become the third Ghamorean record. Can you tell us something about the direction of the new material? Are we in for any surprises?
Oh, it will fucking great. I am really excited. Much darker than its predecessors and more profound. We have evolved a lot in every possible way. There will be surprises but I don’t want to reveal too much just yet.

Has the songwriting process within the band changed over the years? Who does what? Is the whole thing a collaborative effort?
Yes it has, since “Eon Eschatos” the music are written by Samuel and me, and I provide the lyrics. Before he became a member of the band I wrote everything myself. I really enjoy collaborating with Sam, even though we tend to get on each others nerves all the time. The two of us are the ones with a clear musical vision and the rest of the band, with their specialized skills, are tools to perfect that vision.

What are the future plans for Ghamorean?
We want to do some extensive touring as soon as possible. In the meantime we’re working with songs for the next album. It will be released late 2009 or early 2010.

I guess that’s about it. Any last words you would like to add?
Thanks for this interview. I really appreciate it. Buy the album folks!!!

Peter Eliasson

Every instrument on The Architecture of Oppression is perfectly represented by the production. The drum work is meticulous and precise, and it is impressive from both a rhythmic standpoint and a technical perspective. There happens to be a large keyboard presence on this album, but the keyboard use isn’t as overwhelming or flamboyant as certain other symphonic metal bands. Granted, it is a large aspect of the music, and it certainly makes it’s dent on the album; on more than a few occasions, the guitars will take back seat while the keyboards drive the music. The music typically doesn’t suffer from this. Contrary to many failed attempts (by numerous metal acts) to beneficially incorporate keyboards into a metal album, Against the Plagues’ keyboard use only adds to the accessibility.

With members coming from many different ends of the metal spectrum, it isn’t an easy task to put your finger on one concrete influence. However, the easiest comparison one could make would be a Dimmu Borgir one. Vocalist Logan Perez sounds like a Shagrath clone numerous times throughout the album, but he refrains from relying solely on this vocal technique and uses a wide range of more guttural, death metal style vocals. The music is also similar to Dimmu Borgir’s in the sense that it is very grand. The music is heavily weighed towards the black metal side of metal, but certain obvious death metal influences manage to shine through the haze. The drum work, for instance is very similar to many of today’s more popular death metal acts, and the riffing is very intense and intricate more often than not which lends itself to the death metal side.

I’ve never been one to equate originality with quality. Against the Plagues doesn’t exactly do anything that hasn’t already been done. Their sound, while more mature and serious than many of their contemporaries, is a familiar one. However, they do play this sound exceptionally well and even improve upon foibles created by past bands. There is a nice atmosphere to many of these songs, usually generated by the keyboards and how they play off of the guitars which is an element missing from the more popular black metal acts of today.

While a black metal project at heart, certain tracks allow a death metal influence to overpower the black sound. <b>Renegade Manifesto</b>, for example is comparable to modern day Behemoth for its high level of blasting and intensity. During the same song, the band slows the tempo down to focus less on force and more on atmosphere. This is a perfect representation of the band’s general sound and their ability to never allow a song to become stale or repetitive.

Against the Plagues may be a young band, but it is comprised of members who know exactly what they’re doing. Their music works on so many different levels. It has a sound that is familiar enough to base a successful career in the metal community off of, but manages to retain enough artistic integrity to gain them credibility in the long run. I can’t imagine what metal-inclined record label wouldn’t salivate at the thought of having this band as part of their roster. You’re going to hear from these guys again, that’s for sure.

Kevin Roy