Okketaehm - Stones [Demo] (2012, Contaminated Tones Productions)

I was on my way out the door one early winter morning in freezing Denmark. I got in the car to go to work on the hitherto coldest and snowiest morning this year, and like so many times before I was going over my CDs to find a couple to bring on the trip. I was going to go with some Entombed and Darkthrone, feeling like listening to some old school stuff, but then I found Okketaehm's promo "Stones" from Contaminated Tones Productions and thought I might aswell give a listen on the way to work. Though the total play-time of Stones is a mere 18 minutes of grey, wintry, space-like ambience and raw black metal the demo never left the car's CD player even though the trip is almost 40 minutes each way.

It was early, the climate was frosty and the road to work was long. Having only ingested some toast and a cup of luke-warm coffee I wasn't much in the mood for anything as I began my journey through the soundscapes of Okketaehm. The music that met me through the speakers was well befitting of the desolate roads. Stones consists of various parts of icy black metal, dark ambience and something that borderlines white noise mixed into one long track of 18 minutes, and all these parts in conjunction with masterful production lead my mind to things like the vast emptiness of space, void-like depression and mist-veiled frostscapes. Characteristics I normally attribue to bands like Darkspace, Ash Borer and Paysage d'Hiver. I admit I at this point wasn't much focused on my driving.

Let's not kid ourselves, ofcourse Okketaehm isn't perfect or innovating, but it sure as hell did make my drive to- and from work a lot more enjoyable. Okketaehm provides incredibly accurate atmospheres, and while you at times wonder wether the music is still on or someone is just vacuumcleaning in a nearby room it simply adds to the enormous impact the half-melodic black metal pieces of Stones presents. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Stones

Contaminated Tones Productions official site

Black Chalice - Submission [Demo] (2012, Contaminated Tones Productions)

Black Chalice. The name reeks of dying, depression and burdening, imposing matters. Black Chalice is the name belonging to an American one-man black/death/doom metal band, a band that I have been acquainted with for some time now.

With Submission Black Chalice are trying out a new approach with the album intro "Deluge", which features something very atypical for the band. Normally it's straight on and forward with chaotic, gritty guitars groaning under the stress of the player's hand, but Deluge is all about flowing acoustic guitars, thusly building an atmosphere not nearly as raw as on the prior demo material of Black Chalice. While the sound of Black Chalice hasn't changed much Hasson's approach to songwriting has changed a lot since the beginning back in 2011. On Submission he favours more melodic riffs and dredging speeds rather than the fast, unvaried drum-powered tremolo-riffs on the early demos. A change that I for one am happy to hear as it provides the music with a whole new level of detail to peak the listener's interest.

In context with the acoustic intro the last song on the demo, Submission, also starts out with simple acoustic playing that puts you into a false sense of comfort until it slowly fades into the raw guitar-dominated soundscape that I've come to link with Black Chalice. A thing that especially struck me on Submission is the accustomed use of layers that wasn't present on the earlier material. This is evident in all the tracks but in my eyes works best on the track Regret where weeping guitars provide a nice contrast to the groaning and coarse string-play of Patrick Hasson. Another thing that makes Submission stand out compared to Hasson's earlier releases is that the drums and rhythm section in general have been severely downplayed; Where monotonous drumming dominated the early demos, drowning out most of the other parts of the music, on this demo it's much easier to hear the details in Black Chalice's music.

The music of Black Chalice could always be best described as "discordant" and "rough around the edges", and while the previous releases also seemed rather unrefined the same things go for Submission. But Hasson has found a more suiting focus for the band which makes the album a much more interesting and welcome experience than Years of Flame and Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour. Though all the releases are very organic in their sound and composition Submission is by far the least mechanical-sounding, and even though Hasson's chosen style of black- and death-infused doom metal mostly focusses on depressive themes and desolate soundscapes he has still found room for epic compositions and gloriously melodic parts. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Deluge
2. Regret
3. Cornea
4. Submission

BLACK CHALICE on Bandcamp
BLACK CHALICE on Facebook
Contaminated Tones Productions

Interview with Michael Stützer of Artillery (2012)

I've had the opportunity to interview Michael Stützer, guitarist of Danish thrash metal veterans Artillery. Below you will find the English version of the interview. Beneath that you will find the original Danish interview. Pictures are all courtesy of Marika Hyldmar, whom you can find at her official Facebook!

ENGLISH:
Artillery has, since their creation in the 80's, been a huge influence on the many bands aswel as the general evolution of thrash metal in Denmark and Northern Europe. Having churned out 6 albums since the classic "Fear of Tomorrow" in 1985 they've stuck around for as long as many of the well-known Teutonic thrash acts like Destruction and Kreator. The brothers Michael and Morten Stützer form the solid core of Artillery and as such are the only members to have been on every Artillery release.

Goul
Artillery has had a lot of singers by now, especially on the early demos, but as steadt lead-singers you've only had Flemming Rönsdorf (Fear of Tomorrow, Terror Squad, By Inheritance & B.A.C.K.) and Søren Adamsen (When Death Comes & My Blood). I think most will agree that when the band switched from Rönsdorf's very old school vocals to Adamsen's Bruce Dickinson-esque vocals it brought with it a small change in style with the band. Was this change a natural part of changing lead singers, and was it a conscious change?

Stützer
When we started Artillery again (after By Inheritance with "B.A.C.K." in 1999, ED.) we met at my place to play in the practiceroom just for the fun of it. Already after two rehearsals we could feel that we wanted to seriously focus on it again. All agreed that we needed to find a singer who wanted it onehundred percent.

Former lead singer Søren Adamsen

I contacted Torben Askholm who at the time had just left Anubis Gate (Danish power metal band, ED.) just to start somewhere. He couldn't do it but suggested Søren.
After two rehearsals it went so well with Søren that we decided he was in.
We've written all the songs the same way as the time when Flemming was in and we haven't changed anything, at least not conciously.
Of course in the eyes of many Søren is more of a power metal singer, but we've always felt that he did a great job and we've had many great experiences with him. Søren was actually the only singer we tried out!

Goul
Then how did you find your new lead singer, Michael Bastholm Dahl?

Stützer
We already knew back in February that Søren would maybe stop the 22nd of September and that he wouldn't play two gigs in Denmark in the start of September.
So this time we had time to find our new singer.
We played in Agger (Danish town known as "Heavy Agger", ED.) with Mercyful Diamond (Danish King Diamond/Mercyful Fate cover band) where Michael was singing. Already there we were convinced at he could fill the role both musically and personally. I contacted him and asked if he could be stand in for Søren at the two jobs he didn't want to play and he said yes immediately.
After we played those two jobs in Svendborg and Nykøbing we were convinced he was the right guy. And he didn't think twice when we asked him to join us!
And with the response we've had on him and the new vocals and by the way also our new drummer Josua it looks like we'll be incredibly well equipped now with two new people who are onehundred percent ready to tour, record etc.!

Goul
You have had a rather large change in drummers... Is Josua a more permanent solution?

Stützer
Definitely!

Goul
You mentioned a new record... Is there a new album on the horizon?

Stützer
Yes we've started on new tracks and the plan is that we'll be going to the Medley Studio in February 2013 with Søren Andersen as producer again. The plan is to have it ready in April 2013.

Goul
Sounds exciting! Can we expect a sound as aggressive as on My Blood and When Death Comes?

Stützer
Yes, that's one of the reasons we're using Medley and Søren again. It worked extremely well on both When Death Comes and My Blood.

Søren Adamsen with guest-vocalist Søren Crawack of Impalers

Goul
Do you think Michael's vocals will influence how the new album is going to turn out?

Stützer
The vocals are ofcourse always incredibly important so yes it will, but we will still make the riffs as we usually do, so style-wise it'll still be thrash the rules. We have great confidence in Michael's vocals and look much forward to presenting some new tracks ASAP.


DANSK:

Goul
Artillery har efterhånden haft en god del sangere, specielt på demoerne, men som faste foresangere har I kun haft Flemming Rönsdorf og Søren Adamsen. Jeg tror de fleste vil være enige i, at da bandet skiftede fra Rönsdorfs meget old school vokal til Adamsens Bruce Dickinson-inspirerede vokal medbragte det et lille skift i stil hos bandet. Var det skift en naturlig del af det at skifte forsanger, og var det et bevidst valg?

Stützer
Da vi startede Artillery op igen, mødtes vi hos mig for at spille i øveren bare for hyggens skyld. Allerede efter 2 øvegange kunne vi mærke at vi ville satse seriøst igen. Alle var enige om at så måtte vi finde en ny sanger der ville det her 100%.
Jeg kontaktede så Torben Askholm der dengang lige havde forladt Anibus Gate for ligesom at starte et sted. Han kunne så ikke men foreslog så Søren.
Efter 2 øvere kørte det så fedt med Søren at vi besluttede at han var med.
Vi har skrevet alle numrene på samme måde som den gang Flemming var med og ikke ændret på noget, i hvertfald ikke bevidst.
Selvfølgelig er Søren i manges øjne mere en Power metal sanger men vi har altid syntes at han gjorde det godt og har haft mange gode oplevelser med ham! Så Søren var faktisk den eneste sanger vi nåede at prøve!

Goul
Hvordan fandt I så frem til jeres nye forsanger, Michael Bastholm Dahl?

Stützer
Vi vidste allerede i Feb. at Søren måske ville stoppe 22 Sept og ikke ville spille 2 jobs i DK i starten af September.
så denne gang havde vi tid til at finde vores nye sanger.

Guitarist Michael Stützer

Vi spillede så i Agger med Mercyful Diamond hvor Michael var sanger. Allerede der var vi overbevist om at han kunne gøre det både musikalsk og på det personlige plan. Jeg kontaktede ham så og spurgte om han kunne være stand in for Søren i de 2 jobs han ikke ville spille og han sagde ja med det samme.
Efter vi spillede de 2 jobs i henholdsvis Svendborg og Nykøbing var vi ikke i tvivl om han var den rigtige mand. Og han var slet ikke i tvivl da vi spurgte ham om ville joine os!
Og med den respons vi har fået på ham og den nye vokal og i øvrigt også på vores nye trommerbasker Josua ser det ud til at vi står utroligt godt rustet nu, med 2 nye der er 100% klar til at turnere ,ny plade etc!

Goul
Ja I har jo også haft en ret hæftig udskiftning af trommeslagere... Er Josua måske en mere permanent løsning?

Stützer
Helt sikkert!

Goul
Nu nævnte du selv en ny plade og sådan... Er der et nyt album i horisonten?

Stützer
Ja vi er startet på nye nr. og planen er at vi går i Medley studiet i Feb 2013 med Søren Andersen som producer igen. Planen er den skal udkomme i April 2013.

Goul
Lyder spændende! Kan vi så forvente en lyd der er lige så aggressiv som på My Blood og When Death Comes?

Guitarist Morten Stützer

Stützer
Ja det er en af grundene til at vi bruger Medley og Søren igen. Det funkede ekstremt godt både på WDC og MB.

Goul
Tror du Michaels vokal vil have en indflydelse på hvordan det nye album udformer sig?

Stützer
Vokalen er selvfølgelig altid utrolig vigtig så ja det vil den, men vi vil stadig lave riffne som vi plejer så stilmæsigt vil det stadig være thrashen der styrer. Vi har stor tiltro til Michaels vokal og glæder os utroligt meget til at præsentere nogle nye nr asap

Find Artillery at their official Facebook here
Find more of Marika Hyldmar's concert photos here

Black Chalice - Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour [Demo] (2011, Self-released)

So here we are again. This is the second time I'm reviewing Black Chalice, the first time being the second demo "Years of Flame". This demo, "Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour", is Black Chalice's first demo and was unleashed upon mankind in 2011. Black Chalice is but one of many projects by Patrick Hasson, who is also behind the atmospheric black metal act Auspicium, which I have also reviewed in the past.

In my previous review of Black Chalice I noted how the music, though often being labeled as death/doom metal, bore significant hints of black and funeral doom metal, especially in the long, drawn out sequences with little variation. Though the same can generally be said about Black Chalice at this earlier point I detect a much more distinct nod towards death metal than I did on their later material, even if the two demos share one track, Infallibility of Semen.

Though Hasson has been musically active years before the creation of Black Chalice and this demo it does have that certain tinge of uncertainty. You get the feeling that you're not quite sure what the idea of the band is, what kind of music Hasson wants to create. This creates room for a few surprises here and there, but in the end most of the demo consists of guitar tracks distorted beyond belief and unvaried drumtracks. The speed of the drums and tremolo-picked guitars gives the music a lot of momentum, but it sort of lacks the intensity that I would normally associate with such speeds, and often I see this momentum wasted on sudden stops that annoy me immensely.

My last encounter with Black Chalice yielded a score of 6/10. This time though we're ending up with a 5/10 score. This is simply because the music doesn't sound very cultivated, and when you've listened to newer material by Black Chalice you know that this is merely a prototype for the music yet to come. It's easy to see how the band moved from this gritty, heavily distorted sound to its newer, more ripened state, and I got to say that I much prefer the newer material to this.

Tracklist:
1. King of No World
2. Infallibility of Semen
3. A New Earth and No Heaven

BLACK CHALICE official facebook

Diseased Oblivion - Portals of Past and Present [Compilation] (2012, Contaminated Tones Productions)

From the dismal darkness of some obscure, long forgotten chasm in the depths of the earth came Diseased Oblivion in 2009. With them the duo brought ominous duo brought several incantations of enigmatic, arcane droning metal in the forms of black- and funeral doom metal. The sixth incarnation of Diseased Oblivion's music is found on the 4-track demo from 2012 entitled "Portals of Past and Present", which features songs from the very initiation of Diseased Oblivion in 2009 to some of their newer material from 2011.

The four tracks on Portals of Past and Present feature everything you could expect from a band of this type: Winter-like funeral soundscapes, eerie black abysses and abstruse ambience from the vastness of space. By pairing highly distorted guitars with profoundly cryptic noises the band achieve the bizarre atmospheres that their songtitles such as "Ghosts of Nuclear Winter" and "Blackhole Funeral III" paved the way for in the mind of listeners, and  throughout the retrospective experience of Portals of Past and Present does indeed see an interesting evolution in the band's sound.
As we progress back in time through the increasingly eerie, murky waters that are the sounds of Diseased Oblivion, the imposing blackened doom tracks grow ever more filthy, tenebrous and oddly threatening from the newest track "Unquenchable Hurt" through Blackhole Funeral III and Ghosts of Nuclear Winter and ultimately coming to a grinding, funeral-like halt with the death/doom-ish Reclusa Eternus, which is also the oldest song on the demo.

I recon that Diseased Oblivion are succesful in creating effectively mind-invading black-laden doom metal. The demo gives a fulfilling look into the still short career of the american duo and their compelling but very traditional take on the genre, but through competent songwriting (if their is such a thing in funeral doom metal) they manage to keep their music, all 3 years of it, convincingly decent to make it worth listening to. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Unquenchable Hurt
2. Blackhole Funeral III
3. Ghosts of Nuclear Winter
4. Reclusa Eternus

DISEASED OBLIVION official facebook
CONTAMINATED TONES official site