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New ALL DEAD Tracks! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

LP – Thanks. I’m not sure where that exactly stems from — but probably just the love of a good rock song. And punk rock.

PC- For me it is the influence of punk and older hardcore, when I am writing lyrics I like to throw something out there that can stick and hopefully people will be able to relate too. Those kinds of songs were very important to me as kid growing up in the south. If you stood out, you would have to take a lot of shit and it was great to hear music that made me feel that other people felt the same as I did. So i think even as we have grown older and maybe our lyrical matter has matured, that influence is still there and I agree with Laura that I also love a great rock song.

What visual artist – be them painter, illustrator or filmmaker – has had the biggest impact on the band?

LP – I’m not sure that there is “the one” artist that wins over all others. And, I think that would also depend on who in the band you ask. It’s probably safe to say that David Argento, John Carpenter, David Lynch, and Ralph Bakshi have all impacted our band.

PC: Yeah I agree with Laura on all of those, also recently I have been a big fan of a lot of the newer independent film makers there have been some great movies coming out over the last handful of years and in particular I am a big fan of Gaspar Noe’ s work.

Photos: Wicked Ways Photography

Growing up, did your home life nurture your creativity?

LP – My mother nurtured my creative side for sure. She was the one that gave me a guitar and let me take art lessons. She was always my biggest supporter, no doubt.

PC- For the most part yes, My mother would always support my interests no matter how weird they seemed to her, which I am very grateful for. My dad was until my adolescence. He and I started to disagree on a lot of things. He unfortunately passed away when I was 19. He was more on the conservative side and would push me to do things I really wasn’t interested in, he would definitely question a lot of my interests and choices, but I was lucky in that I did know he cared about me and was just trying to look out for me.

Are there certain life lessons you learned as a young punk that still hold importance to you today?

LP – Absolutely. I think the DIY ethic has stuck with me the most and the fact that there are other like-minded people out there in this world. I learned that being myself and having my own voice is totally ok and that I don’t need the status quo to live a fulfilling life.

PC- The lessons learned from the DIY ethic have enabled Kylesa to last as long as we have being able to make the music we want. Even though our music doesn’t really fall into what a lot of people would consider punk ,what we have learned taught us to do as much as we can ourselves. That being said we have also undoubtedly had a lot of help from others over the years that has been a huge importance to us and a lot of those people have come from the punk scene or a similar diy ethic. Plus the fact that Laura and I have always been very hands on with most aspects of Kylesa, it has helped us to truly and honestly create the music we want. I think that definitely stems from us learning the punk rock way from our youth.

How important are visuals to Kylesa (ie for your merch or videos)?

LP – The visual aspect to Kylesa has always been important. If we are going to represent our band with something other than sound, then the visual aspect is next.

PC- The art on a record and the the other visuals are sometimes seen before your music is even heard, so I think it is very important to have something that represents the correct vibe of your music.

What places, known or unknown, do you want to take your fans when they blast Ultraviolet?

LP – I hope that they will be able to tread the cloudy waters between the conscious and unconscious states of mind. I want them to go to the intangible abyss of the unknown and known energy that exists between all of us. That, and empathy. I think people will be able to relate to a lot of the lyrics.

PC- I hope that there are some people that will invest some time with it especially on headphones. We specifically made it a bit shorter because we know everyone is very busy these days and many people don’t have the time and the attention span to really spend quality time listeing to an album. Even though it is a darker record it isn’t meant to be depressing. We all go through hard times and usually if you can make it through them, you become stronger and hopefully this album reflects that and I hope thats what others get from it. Music for me has always been a great tool to find the strength to get through bad times hopefully this album represents that in some way and if anyone can find use in Kylesa’s music for that then I would be stoked.

As a band, you seem very confident to take chances with the direction of your sound, and this is evident on Ultraviolet. Where do you think this creative strength comes from?

LP – Thanks. I think a lot of it comes from our original mission statement when we formed the band over ten years ago; that we were not going to pigeon-hole our sound by not taking creative chances or flirt with various styles of music. I think that years of experimenting and refining our craft has allowed us to take chances with better results, perhaps, than let’s say, when we first started.

PC- I think mainly just trusting our guts. I think it’s good to write what comes honest and not to force it.

What was the writing process like for Ultraviolet? What comes first, the lyrics or the music?

LP – I have had a journal of thoughts, dreams and lyrics for a while and I generally take from that when putting words to songs. But I have to say that for me, the music is composed first. When I started writing for this record, I just dove in. I had a few melodies and parts that I had written while living in NC and I took those ideas and turned them into songs. I jammed a lot and learned to love garageband.

PC- For me it just depends sometimes the lyrics come first and other times it’s the riff.

Has growing up in the south had a major influence on the way you hear music? Was southern rock played in your home growing up?

LP – Southern Rock was not played in my home growing up. Motown was though. And, it’s hard to answer that question because I’ve lived in the south my whole life, you know? I do think that your surroundings play into your over all outlook. Those surroundings can be physical, emotional, cultural, intellectual, etc. That said, I don’t think my outlook would change that much if I had grown up somewhere else. I’d still be me, but slightly different.

PC- It’s hard to say, I guess in some way it’s had to have had an influence but when I was younger I always envisioned my self moving away. Now that I have had the chance to live out of it and I have gotten to travel all over, I have grown to appreciate many things about the south.

Southern rock was never played in my home, I actually hated it for a long period of time. I always associated it as redneck music and when I was in my teenage years rednecks were definitely the enemy. I can still clearly remember being younger and having my skate ramps destroyed by Jocks blasting it from their trucks. It took someone from California to actually get me to appreciate it. I can remember the first time listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Second Helping” and it sinking in. I was on tour with Damad and we picked it up at a gas station and listened to it over and over. From there I was able to get into other southern rock bands.

Why is rhythm such a big part of what Kylesa creates? Where did the concept of two drummers come from?

LP- Because we love it! I know that I’ve always been more interested in the overall groove or feel of the rhythm in a song than the vocals or lead instruments.

PC- Yeah it’s all about the head nod. The two drummers idea originally just came from wanting to be heavier but over time we have tried to expand on that some.

What has been the greatest gift so far that being a part of Kylesa has given you?

LP – Ultimate creative freedom perhaps. But traveling the world is way up there. And playing a real guitar and not air guitar all the time.

PC- Getting to do something fulfilling with my life.

Is anyone in the band a fan of dub? And if yes, who are some of your favorite dub producers and why?

LP – I’ve heard the best stuff initially through Phillip and then later a roommate of mine. Love that delay…

PC- I am a huge fan of Late 70′s and early 80′s dub. Scientist is hands down my favorite dub producer. I was actually just reading an interview with him not too long ago where he was saying that a lot of what he was doing was considered too weird with some of the other people in the reggae scene at the time. That is probably why I like his stuff the most because it stands out from the rest.

Why do you think our 22-month-old can’t stop dancing the minute we put your music on?

LP – A good beat will make your ass shake.

PC- Yep

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CVLT Nation Interviews KYLESA appeared first on CVLT Nation.

The album comes on slowly, with the first five minutes of opener “Humanity: Born In The Way Of Eternal Grief” devoted to a simmering riff backed with subtle whispers and ambient melodic touches. “Humanity…” lurches from one lynchpin groove to the next, the whole mass held together with reverb-drenched shrieks and moans that give a mournful flare to the crushing heaviness. While the riffs at times become a murky edifice of reiteration, they never lose the sense of dynamism that runs like a black vein through this whole album. The tone and timbre of the guitars changes so slowly in spots that, before you’re fully aware, you’ve gone from listening to a chugging bit of repetition to being engulfed in a bongload of atmosphere. And, just as easily, Oxtongue shift into the forceful and infinitely heavy “Anguish: Abide With Suffering,” which sets the same dragging tone as the opening track but follows a much more direct approach. It would have been easy for Oxtongue to take the path that far too many “doom metal” bands have and churn out 15 minute tracks full of bone-dry, Neurosis-aping schlock. Instead, they’ve created something that is at turns groovy, startlingly heavy, and dynamic. Oxtongue manage to strike a near-perfect balance of creativity and nihilism that stretches out into the black edges of emotion that serves as the mark of a truly talented band.

“Where The Light Is Mute” is an anomaly: a debut album that deftly incorporates the obvious influences and flourishes of bands that have come before while signing each riff with an irrefutable essence of innovation. The recording is solid and bottom-heavy while maintaining a clarity and space that’s lacking in many debut recordings. If you sleep on this album, you’re missing out on one of the most delightfully heavy experiences I’ve had in years.

-Brandon Elkins

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Of Eternal Grief: Oxtongue-
“Where The Light Is Mute”
Review appeared first on CVLT Nation.

Are you ready to re-enter a psychedelic state of mind? The split record between Huata and Bitcho will be the perfect companion for your trip to places where gravity has no place and time has no meaning. Three songs from the two bands are paying homage to the psychedelic side of doom, filled with great synth sounds that will make your head spin, dreamy voices and heavy riffs.

So to break it down: Huata contribute two songs to this split album, the fifteen-minute long “The Retaliator,” with its majestic heavy sound, the 60s and 70s influenced groove and the vocals buried deep in the mix, completely out of this world sonic manipulation of synths to create an unworldly ambience that will entrap the listener with its mesmerizing quality. The repetitive themes also assist the hypnotic process; an almost Sleep-ish (from the Jerusalem era) feeling overflows from the song. The second offering of Huata is a heavier, more compact track. Still in the same style but maybe focusing a bit more on their heavy guitars and sludge background than on their psychedelic elements, which are still obviously there (and quite noticeable), but they are not the main focus of the track.

And after the devastation of Huata it is time for Bitcho to take charge and take us further into the realms of psychedelia. Suddenly the warm atmosphere that Huata brought to the album is almost instantly transformed into an industrial-like coldness and after the four minute intro into “10050 Cielo Drive”, Bitcho come out in full force, with their repetitive heavy riffs, bringing Godflesh instantly to mind, and their great synth sounds – they pin you to the floor, especially when the ritualistic chants kick in, you will be astonished. The mechanical beat entwined with the huge sounding riffs and the abnormal atmospheres are key to the sound of Bitcho, the end of the track where the sound becomes more aggressive before they almost triumphantly retreat to an even slower pace is truly awe-inspiring, and the effects on the vocals are also unreal to say the least.

That is what completely blows you away here, how these two bands are using similar elements – heavy riffs, great trippy synth sounds and repetition in their song structures – to get completely different sounds. This is a split that combines the musical abstraction of bands like Sleep and Ancestors and the cold construct of industrial doom bands such as Godflesh. I do not know about you, but I have just found two bands that I will be waiting quite eagerly to see what they are going to do next.

The split vinyl is out from MusicFearSatan and you can stream it here:

http://musicfearsatan.bandcamp.com/album/huata-bitcho-split-lp

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Huata Full Heavy Days…In Doomtown Set
Now Showing! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

There’s not much to say about Grime. Hailing from Trieste, Italy, these three dudes (they were four before becoming just three) came back in 2013 with their debut record, Deteriorate, their second in a discography that started with the self-titled EP back in 2011.

A quick search on the web will lead us to their facebook page where we can find, almost instantly, the kind of music the Italian trio plays and their goals for the music itself: “Their only goal is bringing destruction to a town near yours. Their sound is rooted into rotten burial ground and their songs are the sound of a decaying swamp filled with trash.”

Sinking our ears into the great (yeah, it is great) Deteriorate shows us a band that knows exactly what it is doing and that can transport us to a parallel universe. A few minutes in the universe of these guys and you will scream in a high-pitch/growl voice “SLUDGEEEEEE!!!!” Oh my fuckin’ god… This is exactly what we fans of old-school sludge needed.

The eight slabs of pure filth and destruction on this album are fuckin’ awesome. A drummer that pounds in your fuckin’ head like Thor with his hammer, a bass player that grooves all way around, a guitar player that delivers only addicting riffs and a vocalist that gives a very GOOD name to the genre… This is how you “sing” when you’re in a fuckin’ SLUDGE band.

What else can I say? Talk about each track? Fuck no. They’re are all great and they are filled with little details that make them unique and the record NOT boring at all… In fact it’s the other way around.

I LOVE THIS SHIT!!!! SLUDDGGGGEEEE!!!!!

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Deteriorate – Review appeared first on CVLT Nation.

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Old Wounds // Trenchfoot
Split 7″ Tracks Streaming Now! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

On this sunny beginning of May started the second edition of Heavy Days in Doomtown in Copenhagen, Denmark. The four days DIY sludge/doom/stoner fest who made a massive impression last year is back again, with an incredible line up (five bands performed their first European show ever), bringing fans of “all things slow and heavy” from all over Europe and beyond. For those who are unfamiliar with the festival (?!), HDDT is an event organized by the “Undergrundsmusikkens Fremme” (Underground music Promotion) who has been organizing for several years the now notorious “Kill-town Death Fest”. The concept, which makes this festival so unique, is to bring the DIY principles to the doom/stoner/sludge/psych scenes that are rarely exposed to these ethics and create music and culture without having any profit involved.

Huge congrats to the organizing crew for topping last year’s event, for the top-notch organization and for making this weekend absolutely amazing. With this edition, HDDT really proved that it can compete with other renewed European festivals – so if you haven’t attended yet, this is definitely not the fest you want to miss next year!

DAY ONE
The first day started off very well at Stengade, with a sold out warm-up show enabling the public to visit the art gallery placed on the first floor of the venue. For this edition, HDDT continued in line of last year, adding even more artists to the bill. The artistic dimension is to me a great addition that provides a very unique atmosphere to this festival and showcases artists who also contribute in making the scene something more than “just” music but a culture of its own. For this day, you were able to admire the incredible works of The 13th Sign Collective (D), responsible for the fest’s artwork, Manuel Tinnemans (NL), Timo Ketola (SWE), Sami Hynninen (FIN) and assist to a book reading by Ulrike Serowy, narrated by Mat McNervey from Hexvessel.

HUATA
First time on the Danish soil for the French doomsters and not the last! I’ve had the chance to see these guys quite a few times by now and I can say that this was probably their best set I’ve seen. The Breton quartet certainly warmed up the audience in due form – a warning for the three following days of madness ahead. Huata came with no fuss, bringing their massive sound and bottle of chouchen that the singer Ronan, dressed up like a satanic priest, was using to “bless” the audience. The band played mostly tracks from the heavy “Atavist of Mann” such as the catchy “Lord of the flames” and their brilliant cover of “Black Sabbath” from Coven. Definitely a stoner/doom delivered in perfect manner. Great job Huata!

HEXVESSEL
Last performance of the night is the fine Finish quintet Hexvessel. After another success at Roadburn, it was long due for them to step on Danish soil. It was with no surprise that the band completely blew away the audience with an inspiring and mesmerizing performance. A perfect set list mixing beautifully songs from the two first albums and their latest EP with highlights such as the fabulous and heady cover of “Woman of Salem” from Yoko Ono, “Unseen Sun” and “Woods to Conjure”.

The band seemed much more comfortable than the first time I saw them, their fusion was stronger and you could read on their faces they were enjoying themselves. A superb way to start the fest that left me under the moon for a while…

DAY TWO
A new day at HDDT which is taking place for the rest of the weekend at Ungdomshuset. The sun is shining, the people and the bands seem psyched to be here.

Today the rest of the artists invited to the fest show their work in various locations of the venue. The canvases used are diverse, from screen printing, to drawing, to metal and photography. Whether it’s a coincidence or not, I’m glad to see so many female artists on the bill, such as Aminah Slor (US), Bronwyn Pandemon (D/US), Maija Lathinen (FIN), Kristiina Letho (FIN) and Frida Hulthén (SWE).

TONER LOW
I was thrilled when I heard the Dutch three piece was going to perform at this year’s fest, a great addition as the band is the epitome of what is slow and heavy. After being underrated for quite a while, the band finally gets the recognition it deserves and is now on its 15th year of activity with a third album recently released! Toner Low is a one of a kind band, they do drone/stoner but with a psychedelic twist to it. They played in the dark (not to accommodate me) with an hallucinogenic patterned illuminated on the bass drum. A very heavy and groovy and loud set that surely warmed me up for Bell Witch!

BELL WITCH
First show in Europe for the Seattle duet, a very awaited performance after they released the phenomenon “Longing,” which is a pure doom jewel. The band starts the first track and BOOM! Now we’re talking! Their sound is massive and haunting. But Bell Witch is more than a band who just spits that super sonic weight in your face, they prove their excellent musicianship: Dylan’s bass work is impressive, consisting of two hands fretting and out chord changes – a delight to watch. Adrian’s drumming is impeccable, hitting the skins very hard, like his goal was to crumble the whole place. They pulled off an amazing epic and actually quite emotional set, I would say. This drum and bass duet is probably one of the thickest of the current doom scene. Europe, catch them on tour!

CONAN
Unfortunately I caught Conan too late and arrived in front of a packed house! Nevertheless, no need to be up front though to realize how unreasonably loud the band is. It’s heavy, fuzzy it’s more of a monster machine than a band: disgustingly good!

BELZEBONG
Another band I was nicely surprised to see appear on this edition of HDDT. That night they played Dødsmaskinen and the room was filling up quickly. I make my way to the front row and the smoking machine is already in full swing! By the time the Polish quartet enters the stage, the room has transformed into a giant aquarium full of blur and other illicit substances: perfect scenery for a ritual to the bong and weedy riffs! The band begins the ceremony… Damn these dudes are already far, far out and they take us with them within a few seconds. It seems that their sound is even slower than on the album, which added to the heaviness of their set that made us bounce and bend under the heavy weights of their mighty riffs. After that rollercoaster, I left the venue a bit fuzzy…

SAMOTHRACE
The night ends up with Samothrace playing the main stage. It is no secret that CVLT Nation is a huge fan of the band and therefore I had to witness their first show ever in Europe. After being hooked by their debut album “Life’s a trade” and overly impressed by their recent opus “Reverence to Stone,” I have to say it was one of the shows I was looking the most forward to. That night, the quartet definitely exceeded my expectations and completely blew my mind away. They opened with “A Horse of Our Own,” grandiose on the album but the true power of that masterpiece only reveals itself live. Man, Renata and Brian definitely know how to hit your sensitive spot while Dylan works his magic with his bass and Joe’s drumming builds an overwhelming vibe with devastating cymbals crashes. The band surely tore my heart apart and gave me chills during the rest of the set, which consisted of “Awkward Hearts” from their debut album and the other part of their EP “When We Emerged”. What a band!

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Days One and Two
Mammoth Photo Essay! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

By doing so CMA perfectly pursue what they also did on the previous (and excellent) Luciferian Deathcult EP, except that these four obviously very angry men became even tighter and heavier, making Whiskey Sierra an absolutely convincing release that should please the ’83 Napalm Death shirt sporting 40-something guy as much as the 15 year old dude who only recently got introduced to Spazz by his older brother.

The four songs of Whiskey Sierra get straight to the point, hit you in the face, kick the shit out of you and disappear as fast as they came, leaving you as a bloody wreck begging for more. In about ten and a half minutes CMA do really everything it takes to tear your shiny happy world apart. The down-tempo’ish, sludgy parts are wisely placed and mostly leave you only a few seconds to breathe before one of these really ridiculous fast blast-beats bevels your skullcap or a 10.000 ton breakdown beats your head onto the concrete floor. If you still don’t have enough, the dual vocal assault makes sure you feel completely fucked. The high screams ultimately sound like a buch of rusty nails onto a blackboard. Nice eh?

What’s really remarkable about this unhealthy mixture is that CMA have in down like not too many other bands to make all this sound very coherent. At no point you have the feeling that Whiskey Sierra sounds put on or strangely constructed. It’s more like CMA found a way to melt down over 30 years of extreme music and turn it into a merciless, unforgiving sonic mayhem. Try this at your own risk.

This 7″ EP is up for pre-order via Dead Chemist Records.

facebook.com/CorruptMoralAltar

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WEEDEATER’s Dixie Dave
Sippin Syrup! appeared first on CVLT Nation.

While one would think “Rudiments of Mutilation” was a quickie when considering its twenty-minute run time, this record fucks with your ears, drags them through the dirt and subjects them to all manner of agony, rage and paranoia. It is nothing short of enjoyable. “Dichotomy” pierces your skull from the get go, that signature broken frequency used by so many peers but made a weapon here. Roars echo from beneath, a booming, forlorn mantra establishing a tone that would call a David Lynch film kin. “Vessel Deserted” manifests as a punk neckbreaker, only to morph into a barren soundscape that fluctuates from freneticism to corporeal loathing. “Throbbing Lung Fiber” allows no trespassers beyond its virulent arsenal, melding its missile silos with zero flaw into the menacing warheads of “Indigence and Guilt.”

“Embrace” quakes, acting as the closest thing to a breather “Rudiments of Mutilation” offers, no matter how welcoming its suffocation is. “The Lord is My Light” refuses to keep the dark heralded by embrace at bay, forcing the listener into a total descent. The resulting fall changes into gleeful madness of “Bone Coral and Brine,” wavering with fright and passion before the title track lays a blunt force hand on the listener. Closer “In Contempt of Life” culminates as a mass suicide of the senses: a collective, bodily thump that lingers long after the final second has passed.

“Rudiments of Mutilation” is shapeless, above all portentous and one of 2013′s best records, while without question being Full of Hell at their best. Listen and prepare to numb your mind.

“Rudiments of Mutilation” can be preordered from A389 Recordings and can be heard in full over at Terrorizer.

Full of Hell will be touring with Gehenna, Integrity and Seven Sisters of Sleep (each on varying dates) this summer. Dates can be found here. Support them, buy their wares from Cold Cuts Merch.

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FULL OF HELL Review + More appeared first on CVLT Nation.