The Diary of the Path to Making a Bumpvideo - Entry 1

Bumpvideos, these dirty, edit filled videos have had a great big impact on me since I got into wrestling in 2010. It wasn't till 2011 when I disocvered them, but the impact they've had on me as I look back a little, is actually pretty extrodinary to me. These videos inspired me to change the look of my original CAW (Poe Ohlin), they got me into some great bands such as Mindless Self Indulgence, Deathstars, and into Garbage a little bit more, and they made not only play Smackdown games differently, but they made me think more about the games themselves, and what makes a good game, and what makes a bad one. So to say that these usually five minute videos have an impact me in only two years of viewing, is pretty big if you think about it.

So obviously, this fandom led me to try and recreate the bumps I would see, in these games, which has ultimately led me down the path of trying to make them. And it's a process that while I'm excited to just jump into, it's one that I'm also fucking loathing and getting mad at. And I'll get into those at some other point. But even with my mixed feelings towards making one, and all of the shit that goes into it, I still am determined to at least do one. And hopefully one will lead to more. Because I have over the course of these two years have come up with a lot of ideas on what to do. So many spots I want to show off, storylines that I'd love to do, music that when I listen to it now, I can just picture the spots, and even the flow and sequence of the video/s them self. It's something I want to accomplish (it being at least the one for now).

And with that determination, came the idea of documenting my path and road to making that first one. It's an idea that I've had for a while now. I planned on doing it, but it was one of those "I'll do ti when I can fucking bring myself to." But a conversation I've had with a friend who is a bumpmeister (the king to be specific) about documenting stuff as you age really gave me that final push to actually do it (to a degree, I'd even say he's my mentor).

So I'm obviously going to now be posting different entries you could say that take you into the world of trying to make one of this videos. And this is the first post if you haven't figured it out already. These entries won't just be me spouting off the process, and only the process, but it'll let me be able to say things outside of making one. It in a way will actually be a document of the time it takes me to make it, and everything around me in general. So this is also going to be a little look and ride into my mind and soul, so be prepaired to read some freaky shit, and even some things you may not know or even want to hear.

But enough introductory rambling, I should get on track here.


At the current moment, I'm not ready to shoot and film anything. Why, because I have no fucking way of doing so. Yes, this is a bit of a problem, and even a plague for me. To have all of the creative juices flowing full force, knowing what I want to do for the most part, and to not be able to get it going is really annoying to me. And most people (specifically my parents) tend to find me lazy and someone who will procrastinate. But they also know that when I want to do something, my little insane head gets set on it, and that I'll throw everything into it (they always hated that I didn't bring this energy to my schoolwork, both in public and homeschooling). So obviously, at the moment, I'm sitting here not able to get the work done...

...to a certain degree. I'm not able to record, but it doesn't mean I can't do any work on it. I have it planned and set to where my first bump video, will be strictly using only the game Here Comes the Pain, because it is the game (next to Shut Your Mouth) in the Smackdown series that I know like the back of my hand. I can think of a scenario and almost instantly know what move to use, how to have it look, where to do it, and how it should go about. I know the stuff I'm going to able to pull off, which in my case takes a good chunk of work off, because this first video will end up probably not containing any edited moves or spots.

Why? Well, I like to think because I'll probably suck ass at it. But in reality, while I do enjoy pulling off technical moves and spots, I'm more of an insane extreme spots type of person. And I figured that it may be best that I start off with nothing but hardcore spots, and slowly work my way up to doing edited moves. So as far as content of the video itself goes, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. And this also stems from me playing HCTP like a crazy person. If I don't have Fire Pro Wrestling Returns in, you're likely to see the disc for HCTP in my PS2 unless I'm busy and going through a non wrestling game (which doesn't happen a whole hell of a lot).

One thing that I have been going back and forth on is the length of the video itself. Now, I know for a fact what song I want to have in the video. I've had it set for months. But a slight problem is that there's a second song that I think would go along nicely with the first. Now this would end up bringing the total length of the video to around six minutes. Some people may not find this to be a cause for over thinking and getting headaches, but it actually is. It puts me into the position of making the decision of what all I film whenever I get around to doing it, and ultimately, how long the video would be. And while I can easily make the decision, it's still a tough one. I pretty much am in charge of everything about this video, which means I play the role of every last crew member you'd see in the credits of a film.

And that's one thing that I actually hate seeing or hearing people say. That making a bumpvideo is easy. I haven't made one, but I can tell you it's no fucking walk in the park. It isn't as simple as sitting on your ass, fiming yourself playing a game, throwing music to it, and uploading it to Youtube, or even Dailymotion. It takes fucking loads of time to make one. And that's if you don't turn into a perfectionist while making it, and want everything to be just right. An average length of time it can take to make one video that runs three minutes is about one to two months. And I'm the type whose bound to go through everything to get it just right. So you can probably go ahead and double that.

Not to mention how long it'll take to get all of the shit I need to record. People use capcards usually, I'm not going that route. I'm pretty much going to get a DVD recorder, and film that way. Which means I need to buy DVD-Rs to put the footage on. Not only that, but I have to then put it into the computer, and use a video editing program which I have to download because Windows Movie Maker is utter shite. And with me being somebody who tends to not save up money all that often, it takes a lot of time to get everything ready.

And I've heard stories from my friend, and the other bumpmeisters on their video making process. So when I hear some little dumb ass say "Give me a camera and 30 minutes and I'll make a better video then *insert bumpmeister name*," it makes me pissed! A) Because I know all of the work it takes to make one. And B) I haven't even started work on one yet, and I already have issues in creating it, and all of the shit that goes into making one. So obviously, as you can tell, it grins me gears to no fucking end.

Jesus Christ it felt a little good to say that. So (I say so a lot, can you tell?) as you can tell, it's a long tiring process. It makes me mad and tired, but I know that in the end, when I'm able to get it made and done, and put it out there, I feel extremely good about myself. I accomplished a major goal I set out for myself. A goal that lets me share my creativity in a non written or drawn form. It's still an artistic form, but it's a more lavish and accessible platform. I don't even care what the response or critics say about the video, I'll be so high and pumped up that I did it, that I'll bat an eye to what people say (as well as a finger or two). Because, well, because fuck you, I stuck through the process and finished it.

You know, as I'm writing this, I've had Mindless Self Indulgence, Nine Inch Nails, Maximum the Hormone, and Sum 41 playing through my headphones. I Never Wanted to Dance With Anybody But You is the current track (which is by the aforementioned MSI) I'm blasting into my brain. And it's making me think that while over the years, I've changed what type of videos I've wanted to do. Even now, there's a whole pluthora of videos I'd like to do outside of bumpvideos. But hearing it now as I write this is setting in stone that I only want to dance with this, this being bumpvideos. It may take a lot out of me to make these, but I know that there are people out there who will eat it up. I already have people asking for my original CAW and to do matches with them. And it makes me think that if I'm lucky enough, maybe one of these shitty videos will make some other little shit want to make them, the same way Teryo and LHC's videos made me want to go insane and make bumpvideos.

Plus the song is also making me think about me wanting to be in the country which I have a fucking love with (and it isn't America). And even to a degree, it's making me think about my very tiny love life. But not a whole lot. Even with a girlfriend of sorts, it's still making me think who I want to "only dance with." Because even though I have a girlfriend (of sorts), there's still a girl or two I'd love to take out on the boring ass towns around me, and possibly make mine. Making a girl mine in general is something which I've always dreamt of. These feelings heightened by me comparing myself to a character like Erik, AKA The Phantom of the Opera. It's not uncommon to hear my say something like "I want my Christine," or "Where's my Shelley (Shelley was the girlfriend of Eric Draven in the original Crow graphic novel and movie)?" It's not that I'm afraid of living and dying alone, it's just that as I sit and am now, I want somebody by my side who I can turn to for comfort and sanctuary.

Weird ass first entry 'aint it? I've gone from talking about what this is about, to my current situation in making a video, to even my personal life. But this is the type of shit you all will have to read and deal with as I keep writing as I go along this wacky path to bumpmeister status. Me rambling (get the blog title now?) about what I'm feeling and doing. And if you don't like it, don't read it. Hell, if somebody out there doesn't like the fact that I'm swearing, don't even read my blog. I swear, at times I like to. But no matter if I like it or not, swearing is something that I do. People can look down on it, but I don't care. Everybody talks and writes in their own way, and this is mine. So if you don't like it, close the fucking tab.

I'd like to end this first post with a lyric by the very intelligent Marilyn Manson. He has a song/lyric that's called and goes "It's a long hard road out of Hell."

Well with this process, and even in life in general, we're all going to hell. I'm pretty sure I'm going down there, and I could care less if I go to hell or to heaven. They say hell is for those of us who are free minded and our ourselves. If that's the case, I'll skip down there, because even though I'll have to change some to make it out in society, I'm still always going to be myself.

So what does this have to do with that lyric? Because while some people find it hard to get to Hell, I say it's just as hard and easy to go there. So I'm on my way on the road to Hell, won't you all join me?

Children Of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet? Review

Children of Bodom is a band that many fans of Heavy Metal have mixed feelings towards. They're that type of band that the majority of fans like one part of their career, and dislike the others. They're also a band that has a lot of mixed views when it comes to their albums. The band itself started out very heavy in their music, even with keyboards. But as the years passed, they started to get softer. And this change is something that not everybody has enjoyed.

Are You Dead Yet? is a perfect example of this. The band's fifth full studio album was the first to receive a widespread mixed review. Sure the other COD albums before it had mixed opinions, but Are You Dead Yet? seemed to have a very split base of opinion. People either praised it as one if not their best record, and others outright hated. Some even stood in the middle of this argument and stated that the album is good, but isn't their best work.

So why is is this album so regarded as a mixed bag? Well, let's look at it and find out.

The line up for the album is what has been the line up since 2003. Alexi Laiho on lead guitar and vocals, Jaska Raatikainen on drums, Janne Warman on keyboards, Henkka T. Blacksmith on bass, and Roope 
Latvala on backing guitars. 

The musician ship of the recording is as great as always in my opinion. Everything can be heard clearly instrument wise, and the vocals are clean and audible. At times, the guitar work of Laiho can seem to be lost, but these instances are few and far between. The quality of the album is pretty top notch as well.


The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Living Dead Beat
2. Are You Dead Yet?
3. If You Want Peace...Prepare For War
4. Punch Me I Bleed
5. In Your Face
6. Next In Line
7. Bastards of Bodom
8. Trashed, Lost and Strungout
9. We're Not Gonna Fall

One of the major problems I read and hear that people have with the album, is that it's too soft. Really? I'll agree that certain parts of songs, or songs as a whole can feel softer then the loud and thrashy sound that some we're/are use to hearing of the band. But it's never completely and utterly soft.

Some songs do rely on the keyboards more then the guitars, and I think that this is probably where the softness people complain about comes from. In fact, it seems that anytime a metal band puts keyboards at a bit more importance then the regular instruments, the fans and critics pan it. If you want any proof of how people will react to this type of thing, just read reviews for the newer Dimmu Borgir albums.

Now as far as the pros of the sound of the songs go, there's quite a few. The structure for each songs is well built in my personal opinion. Each track offers something to keep you coming back. I've caught my self almost always hitting the replay button on a good chunk of the tracks when I'm not blowing through it all in one go. And it shows that while this is a Heavy Metal record, it can be catchy.

The guitar work is the standout for the entire recording in my humble opinion. I can head bang to almost every track, as well as go ape shit with air guitaring. When the guitars get down and dirty, it's when they really shine through.If You Want Peace...Prepare For War, Bastards of Bodom, and Trashed Lost and Strungout really show this off greatly.

The lyrics themselves, while they can be a tad weird at times, are relatively solid. But there are some that seem weird. The weirdest example of this in my view is In Your Face. The sound of the instruments and the lyrics present a very Thrash and Death Metal ring to it. However during the chorus of the song, it turns into a keyboard riffing melodic singing style. I don't have anything against this, but it does feel awkward since the song and lyrical structure does present Thrash Death. Then again, the band is Melodic Death Metal.

As far as a standout track/s go, it's really hard to pick a few. All of them are good in their own special way. But I'd say the heavy hitters of the album are the title track (Are You Dead Yet?), If You Want Peace...Prepare For War, and Bastards of Bodom. Some other tracks that while aren't heavy hitters, but are pretty good are Living Dead Beat, Punch Me I Bleed, In Your Face, and Trashed Lost and Strungout.

In conclusion, Are You Dead Yet? is an album with mixed pros and cons. The main cons of the album are the sometimes drifting guitar work of mister Laiho, and the occasional break/weird moment of the song and lyric structure. However outside of those few issues, the album is a great piece of work from the band. It's a shame that some people find a ton of faults with it, as there aren't a whole lot.

Regardless of what other people think, it's one of my favorite albums. And while it can be bad, when it's good, it's fucking great.

B -

My Ideas to Make WWE Games Better

 One thing that me and my fellow game players talk about almost yearly is "How could these games get better?" So for fun, I thought I'd share some of my ideas to make any future WWE games better.


Create A Taunt: Seriously, there was no reason to get rid of it. It was an awesome feature that while I don't really use it a whole lot, it's cool to just have there in case you find the in game taunts lackluster.

CAW Mode: I'll admit, I like CAW mode. I like it quite a bit, and the new games usually make it interesting somewhat every year. But it's still missing some things. First off, get rid of the damn limitations. Why can I not have finger paint on if I have those Jeff Hardy like wraps on? Why can't I have more then one other item? Why is it that if I copy an attire that had a shaved hair do, I can't fucking use a hair do that isn't shaved or bald!? Tell me the fuck why!

Another thing that needs to be addressed with CAW mode, is the Divas. I never quite understood why every Diva hair selection looks well boxxy and hollow. The short hair attires are usually great, but once the longer selections pop up, they look ridiculous. It's either makes the CAW looks like it's wearing a cardboard box, or it's so long that it glitches and parts of it disappear into the clothing or skin. Really, what the hell?
And while we're talking about Divas, for the love of God can we get more clothing selections? Not every female wrestle wears bikini like attire, skirts,  or a slinglet, Some of them wear actual clothes like pants and shirts.

Apart from that, take away the point system. I understand that there's a limit to layers and shit, but I hate having to keep track of what all I put on. I mean really, if you equip a belt, knee and elbow pads, you just lost half of your points. And when you try to make cool attires that are entriquite, you have to have a lot of points to do so. So ditch the point system, and let us go crazy.

Also, can't you just let me/us put jackets around our waists again to make accurate Raven entrance and cinematic attires

Freedom: This is a biggie. When you play the old SD games, you'll notice that you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want. Wanna go down into the equipment area near the stage, go right ahead! Feel like walking from one backstage area to another without glitching, do it amigo! Want to go into the crowd without glitching, or hacking? Why not.

This freedom that we use to have is what made the games enjoyable. You had the ability to go and do whatever you want for the most part. There were still restrictions, but not to where it is now. The current games make you feel claustrophobic. And that's the last thing I want to feel in a game that isn't in the horror genre.

You can give us some rules to this, but don't make it to where I have to start glitching and hacking the game to do these things. The crowd area from SVR07 was a somewhat perfect blend of this. It gave us a feature we always had to trick our way into, but then they finally gave it to us. It was restricted, and you still had to glitch to get in the actual crowd, and go higher on the scaffolding, but it was still great to have. Could you imagine if they combined that with the barricade break? It would amazing.

The same goes for the area near the stage. Except just let us go down. The same applies for backstage areas. It's nice that they connect now without having to wait and load, but they are utter shit. You can only do four moves, and your finisher. Let us use our full move sets, throw in a couple more environmental grapples, and let us be able to pin and submit the opponent back there.

It's really about damn time we stopped being treated like criminals in these games who are in a maximum security jail.

Movesets: STOP BEING LAZY BITCHES AND MAKE THE MOVESETS ACCURATE! NOT EVERYBODY USES THE DAMN SCOOP SLAM, AND PUSSY SPINNING GRAPPLES!

Importing: This is something that myself, and a lot of my fellow players would love to have. Especially for logos. Try to comprehend this:

You make a CAW/s that require you to go to Paint Tool and create their logo/s. This is a wrestler who you love, and want to put into every game you play. Which means that year after year you have to constantly re make the same logo.

Add on that the logo is very complex and takes oh let's say three hours to make, and you're pretty much pooped. Now imagine that you have to make three more logos, that take the same amount of time.
Paint Tool was introduced in SVR09. So...that's five years. Four logos times three hours apiece equals twelve hours. Twelve hours times five years equals sixty hours.

Now throw in the time to create the CAW itself, and it's four attires (six hours). You get the picture?
That's bull shit. If given the ability to import, we wouldn't have to worry about the time and hassle of making the logos. You could just transfer (let's say it would take five minutes or so), and you're done. We don't even have to import the CAWs, just the logos.

Oh, and on the import note, just let us bring import pictures from a website or something.

Physics: Do I even have to explain this one? We've had crap physics for about three years now. How hard is it to make the motions look right? If I turn the control stick right for a power bomb, I don't expect to go to the left instead. I know that the camera angle might play a part in this, but even then it's a little stupid.
And do not get me started on the weapons. It is the most annoying thing in the world to go to slam somebody onto a ladder, chair, bell, table, or any other object, and miss by one freaking pixel and degree.
Fix this shit ASAP.

Glitches/Blurs: Ass blur, crotch blur, chest blur (chest is only for the women), sinking into the mat, positioning changing at random, starting in the ring and magically appearing outside. You get the point.
The blurs need to be fix. When I can't make a band shirt for a girl, because the logo just starts disappearing you know shit is awful. The glitches I mentioned can be easily fixed and caught if you T E S T the damn product. And as for the positioning, that's a lost cause.

Online Play/Servers: Two years. Two years of just annoying, crashing, shite servers and play. Not much else needs to be said other then, fix it.

Abruptum - Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectére Me

  "Abruptum is the audial essence of pure black evil."

- Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth

Euronymous is correct in every sense of what he said of Abrutpum. I have never been to Hell, but I would imagine that this is what Lord Satanas would have his orchestra play. This is not music. This is pure evil.

Abruptum is the unholy brain child of Tony Särkkä, better known by his stage name IT. IT, who is from Sweden, wanted to form the band since 1987, but due to issues finding members, it didn't come to life until 1989. After a demo tape, a 7' EP, and the leaving of former member and co creator All, IT took a break from Abrutpum. During this time, he formed a secondary band/fantasy world in Ophthalamia.

While IT worked with Ophthalamia, he soon found a new member to join Abruptum. He recruited former Marduk member, Evil. This new duo released a demo tape in 1991, as well an EP entitled Evil. But it was not until 1993, that IT and Evil would unleash their first full-length album, Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectére Me, sign with Euronymous' Death Like Silence Production record company, and forever become known as one of the most Satanic, violent, and darkest bands in the Swed/Norge scene.

 The line up for the album is quite simple. IT performed the vocals, and Evil took care of the guitar, drums, and noise. The track list, is not even worth mentioning. As there aren't any. The entire album, is one hour long audial trip to and from Helvete. Each section of the record lasts twenty five minutes.

And it is within this hour, that you will experience a dark awakening and experience. Many listeners to that of Abruptum's work, especially of this, and of their second full-length Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebrarum, have noted that listening to their noise causes violent thoughts, vomiting, and even seizures. That, as well as hallucinations make this a noise like musical drug.

I would speak about the instruments, and the music itself, but there purely is none to speak of. While the guitar and drums are present, they are but there for an effect every now and then. This recording is nothing but loud, blaring, thunderous noise.

As for IT's vocals, they are absent. All that you have is his screams, as he tortures himself. This, coupled with the demonic noise, makes you feel like you're in Hell, and are listening as Satanas speaks in tongue.

There is not much else to say of Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectére Me. For there is not much to tell in the first place. The quality of the song is near perfect sounding for the effect it's trying to present, and succeeds in presenting. Listening to this will drag you down into the darkest reaches of the human mind and soul. It will show you that which we as man fear and wish to stay away from (although some of us embrace that side of humanity).

This is a record that is not for fans of music. This is not for the weak of heart. This is not for anybody with an utter hard on for all that is good and noble. This is for those of us who love the blackness. For those who enjoy being in the cult of evil. For those, who are not afraid.

If you truly believe you can handle this, I highly suggest buying the record when you can(it can get quite expensive) find it. It's on Amazon, as well as a few other sites that deal with Extreme Metal.

And this, my creatures is my gift to you on Christ's day of birth. As a stocking stuff, I leave for you part one of the album. Listen if you dare. Turn off the lights if you please, and become over come with the power of evil.

A +

Entranced Affection

Enthralled by a macabre life
She lives her life by the blade
Drowning herself in the depths of despair
All in the name of pleasure

She emulates her idol
Wanting to become him
Even if it ends her
To be him is her only goal

Those close to her try to stop it
Her lover offering anything if she stays
But these mean nothing
As her path is set in stone

The destruction begins
Three snips and a click
Leaving a hole in the hearts and minds
Of those that loved her

Her dream has come true
She going as he did
They met in the other world
And live in the darkness of death

An Interview with PsychoBliss

Well, here's the second interview. And it's with a band that next to Hithaeglir, has probably been the one I've the most ocntact and interaction with: PsychoBliss.

So yeah, let's get on to it suckas!

I suppose the first question would be, how did the fascination and fandom of Heavy Metal and Hard rock in general came about for the both of you?

Dan: I think for me, it was when I was about 13 or 14 when I saw my first real metal concert. My dad and one of his friends had a bunch of tickets for an Iron Maiden/Dio/Motorhead show. Before that, I wasn't really into metal too much, but after seeing the theatrics of Dio and Iron Maiden in particular, and the power of all the bands, I was pretty hooked.

Those are things I think I admire about heavy metal in general.

Kyla: I've always grown up around rock music, my mom always had it on the radio. I just went heavier and heavier after that, I started with Otep pretty young then fell in love with gothic metal through Lacuna Coil, who remains my favorite band to this day.

So both of you could easily say that music has consumed your lives since adolescence?

Dan: Sure, I think that music has consumed my life in a way that it's become a very integral part of me. I think that I felt listening to music just wasn't enough for me, and that I wanted to experience music from the other side. I wanted to create that feeling of power, sadness, mystery, etc.

Kyla: Absolutely, music is always there ever since your first crush and carries you through high school break ups. (Laughs) It becomes a part of you. I always wanted to be a singer, ever since I could remember.

 Was there anybody when the two of you were kids or teenagers that was also a metalhead or had general knowledge of the genre?

Kyla: My cousin Samantha is the one who got me into Otep, other than that there were a few friends I had that were nuts about Cradle of Filth I think.

Dan: At first, I didn't really have anyone to progress my interest in metal. My dad got me into it mostly, but it wasn't until after high school that I got into more modern and heavier forms of metal.
Back then, I was starting a thrash influenced death metal band called Moribound with an older guitarist. He got me into bands like Amorphis and Thorns.

So at that time, you obviously had a love of this music, and both of you wanted to perform as well as become a part of guild of bands.

When did you all start lessons for music whether it be singing or playing an instrument?

Dan: Actually, I've never had any professional guitar lessons. I'm totally self-taught with the exception of a good friend of mine that helped get me into playing.
I think most of my lessons came in the form of playing music with lots of guitarists that played various styles of music.

Kyla: We all know how expensive singing lessons are, so I decided to join choir throughout most of high school. There's good and bad results from it, the good being I know how to sing the right way and control my voice, the bad being not knowing how to project that well and having that "choir voice". I still try to get over that tone. I never was as involved as Dan was, simply because I thought as a woman there was no place for me in this scene, or that it would be extremely difficult to get into. I had a bass guitar when I was 14 but barely ever touched it (laughs).

As a former choir member, I understand the cons of it *chuckle*. 
(For Kyla) You mentioned Lacuna Coil earlier. Were there any other female vocalists that you were inspired by, or like?

Kyla: (laughs) Yes, though I am a little embarrassed to admit it now, I practically worshiped Amy Lee in middle school. I would try to emulate her as best I could. I also loved Angela Gossow but thought I wouldn't be able to scream ever. After singing along to "We Will Rise" for so many times in my car in high school I finally got a taste of how to scream. It was difficult to do without singing that song, however.

No need to be ashamed of it *laughs*.

What was the first band that you guys had, whether they be one man or not?

Kyla: This is actually my first serious music project. And here's Dan! (laughs) He's got much more of an answer for you.

Dan: As far as serious bands go, I've been in a couple. The first, was a non-metal band that I played bass in, and between that band and now, I was in the Chicago black metal group Empyreus for a short time as the rhythm guitarist.

(For Dan) Was the joining of a Black Metal band due to that enjoyment of Thorns (and possibly other BM bands)? Or was it just a random thing?

Well, it came about in a funny/unfortunate way I suppose. The guitarist I was talking about before, in Moribound, had some life issues and ended up moving away. Since he moved away that essentially ended Moribound.

Oddly enough, his cousin is the lead guitarist in Empyreus. I found out that they needed to fill the rhythm guitarist position, so I tried out and I was in.

My interest in Thorns definitely did help push me into playing black metal, but once I got in Empyreus, I was totally submerged in the "black metal culture" and the countless other great black metal bands out there. It was actually quite refreshing.

 Obviously you two both are in to the more gothic and doomier side of the Black Metal coin. What made you both enjoy that sound/lyrical material/write it more then the violent and Satanic side of things?

Dan: I think it's mostly a musical aesthetic for me. I've always perceived black metal as having a raw, aggressive sound. And that's great! It's very unique in that aspect, but I believe that it often times is too "unpolished" and doesn't "breathe" as much as it could/should.

My goal is to make black metal with that familiar intensity, but also with emotions that make you feel more attached to the music--letting the music tell it's own story.

I guess that in doing that, it came out as doomy and gothic in nature.

Kyla: Although I love most types of metal, I agree with Dan. I think we were inspired by Amesouers and Draconian because it showed me that gothic/doom metal has so many sides to it. It's rough and evil but can be meaningful and beautiful. I also think it works best with my vocals to really show the variety we have in our vocals.

  

That makes pretty good sense, especially for singing.

How did you two meet?

(Both laugh) Kyla: Dan and I met in high school.

Kyla: We've actually been romantically involved with each other for almost seven years now.

 Awww.

(For Dan) At what point did you decide to leave Empyreus and start PsychoBliss?

Well, PsychoBliss actually was in existence already, but we never really had an official release. At the time I quit Empyreus, it wasn't even to continue my music under the PsychoBliss name...driving 2 hours (one way) to practice was just too much. (laughs)

Plus I imagine it wasn't the most cost effective route as an independent artist (chuckle)

Was PsychoBliss always a two man job, or were there more members at one point?

No, PsychoBliss started out as a one-man project back in the end of 2008. It was more death metal oriented. We had a demo we made some copies of, but I didn't do much to support the release in the way of reviews or radio play.

About 6 months after I quit Empyreus I got back into the idea of writing music again, and eventually decided that I really wanted to have Kyla be a part of PsychoBliss.

 Was the original choice of having the band be made of one man due to feelings of being constricted creatively in past projects?

No, not really... I could have gone on by myself, doing all the vocals, but I felt that Kyla would add a new layer to the music that I didn't have before. As far as the actual songwriting process goes though, I've always written the music and lyrics by myself.

I feel like I'm more efficient when writing by myself. I can write with other people, but it tends to take a much longer time to do. (laughs)

 (For Kyla) You said earlier that this was your first real/serious experience with a band. What was the feeling like when Dan asked you to join up with PB?

Kyla: I was ecstatic! I was like, "Really?" haha. I never wanted to invade in his project because I wanted him to have the vision he wanted for it. But when he asked me to join and told me he really thought it was a good idea, I felt so honored.

Obviously you have a more operatic style of singing then most vocalists use in the genre. Was that the path that was agreed upon you joining, or was there any "Could you try doing the screaming and shrieking?"

Kyla: I've always wanted to scream, so that was an unspoken mutual feeling. As for my singing, we've done so much to try to learn about it and work with it. Because personally it's not where I'd want it to be. I do feel too operatic and girly, and it's really confusing when you listen to your recording right after you sing because it sounds different. I sound deeper to me and I like it, so I've been trying to learn what sounds good for me to do and what is realistic for me to try to do since I can't change everything about it.

When you recorded the demo back in 2008, was there any mindset you went into the recording and writing process of it?

Dan: I wanted to the music to give the listener the thought, "wow--this is different! But somehow familiar..." That mindset was very apparent I think on the demo I did, but that mindset is still present on the current material. I want to offer something different, but in a way that people aren't repelled because it's so weird or different.

The writing process was very quick. I wrote, recorded, mixed and released 5 songs in about 3 months.

So you never wore a stage outfit or paint to get in the element (laughs)?

(laughs) No, nothing to that extent, but I've always felt that's it very useful to be absolutely comfortable when recording. Sometime I'll turn off the lights and light a candle or two--just enough to create a relaxing mood.

Incense helps, too sometimes. It gets the creative juices flowing... (laughs)

Things were more "secretive" at the beginning, too. I had an alias and didn't reveal my face any what not... I ditched the whole idea though, because I think it's a little juvenile.

(chuckles) When did you both start the process of making the EP which would become Dreams of Dystopia?

Dreams of Dystopia has been a little bit of a roller coaster for me. I actually wrote the first two songs while we still lived in Wisconsin, and actually had the participation of the current bassist in Empyreus. More was written in Indiana, and the rest was finally finished in Arizona, where we are now.

We wrote about 9 songs total, and decided to use the best 5 songs for the EP. The whole process from beginning to end was probably a little over a year

How did it go trying to find a studio to record it in?

That's the easy part! Everything we've recorded is done on our own equipment. I do the best I can with what's available...

Now that's being prepared.

Oh yea. (laughs) We have everything crammed into a walk-in closet. It actually provides nice acoustics for vocals...

(laughs) I'm sure it's very easy to move around in there.

Kyla: Especially with our husky under the desk sometimes (laughs)

(For Kyla) Obviously Dan has had the most experience in recording and being in a studio. Even though it was done at home, how did you feel when being in the closet booth?

And what were your thoughts when you got the chance to lay down the vocals for the EP?

Kyla: It's very intimidating for me to record with Dan. He's always played guitar and bass guitar and recorded vocals, I definitely felt like a newbie! But at the same time it was very fun. I was nervous when I first started laying down the vocals but I also was having fun playing with it. I'd record and then be so eager to hear myself. All in all it's been a really enriching and learning experience.

Once everything was said and done as far as making the album goes, what did you do to start promoting it and getting it out there?

Dan: Well, it's an ongoing process in itself, but beforehand, I compiled a huge list of contacts to help get the EP some reviews and news coverage.

I also have the whole EP streaming for free on SoundCloud, Reverbnation, and Youtube. One thing I've learned is that you really have to be creative in finding new ways to get the word out about your music. It's like diving into an ocean filled with sharks, ready to rip you apart. (laughs)

But we can take it... In fact, we encourage it!

That's a pretty good attitude!

From the news I've seen you all post on the (MA) forums, you're still looking for physical distributors. How has that been going?

Finding distribution has been going pretty well, actually. Tridroid Records found us pretty early on and was interested in releasing our EP on cassette. I was unaware that people still buy cassettes, but apparently it's a big thing in the metal underground!

We're still looking for a release on vinyl and CD, but it's not mandatory. Our main concern is making the release widely available, and that will be done by making it available on Amazon, iTunes, etc...

Of course. Cassettes are the shit!

Are there any plans to sing a full on contract with a label?

It all depends on what the label has to offer, I suppose. We'll just have to wait and see...

Have you played any live shows since forming the band?

No, not yet, but it's definitely been talked about. We both think playing shows is an important step we need to take.

Are there bands currently active either near your guy's area, or anywhere else that you'd like to associate yourselves with? Such as performing with, or just being linked to?

Yea, we've actually been in contact with a technical black metal band around here called Singularity. There's a good chance we'll be playing alongside them on our first show.

Well that sounds very good.

With Dreams of Dystopia now out, what are the plans moving forward?

I guess the current goal is to spread the word, get people talking about Dreams of Dystopia, and just keep going from there. We've already been conceptualizing what our new material will sound like...

Hopefully we can piece a live band together within the next few months and be playing shows by summer/fall 2013.

Well thank you both for taking the time to talk to this one. Do the two of you have any final words?

Thank you for interviewing us, and we hope anyone reading this will take the time to support us by purchasing a copy of our EP on the last day of our existence on Earth! (12/21/12)

Thanks to both Dan and Kyla for taking the time to talk to me and for the Blog. PsychoBliss's EP Dreams of Dystopia is out now as a stream and is coming soon as a digital download/MP3.

PsychoBliss - Dreams of Dystopia Review

I'll be the first to admit it, Gothic Metal isn't really my cup of tea. Nor is Gothic/Depressed Black Metal. However, I'll make an exception to my usual distaste for that sub genre here.

PsychoBliss is an act that hails from Phoenix, Arizona. The group is made up of the engaged couple of Dan Stollings and Kyla Paveleski. The band itself has been around for years now, but has only recently made the trek to become known within our fun little underground.

I met the two (Dan more Kyla) as I have every indy artist reviewed here, on Metal Archives. They'd been promoting their EP Dreams of Dystopia for quite some time, and so I finally sent them a message about me reviewing them. They agreed eagerly almost immediately, and since then, we've become comrades and to a degree friends. They even let me interview them for this place.

But enough about my history and the history of the band. Let's just dive into this sucker.

The quality of the album, is surprisingly/really good. All of the recording, mixing, producing, and what not was done in the two's house, in a walk in closet. One would think knowing that that the quality of sound would be utter shite, but it's not. It still obviously has that "Made at home" feel, but it doesn't really show (or hear, you know what I mean). It sounds like it was made professionally, and thus comes off as a very pro quality recording.

The individual sounds of the instruments themselves are pretty nice as well. Each one produces that Gothic feel that I mentioned earlier, and at times sounds like one of my favorite bands, Joy Division. It sets the atmosphere of darkness, coldness, and overall gloomyness.

The guitar work (which is the most audible instrument outside of the bass) is very simple in chords and playing (not saying you're a slow sucky player Dan). It has that sound of something that almost anybody who can play a guitar will easily produce at pure random. But it is effective here, as it adds to that G sound.

The riffs are consistent throughout the entire album, and helps provide the main structure of the album (almost as it was a narrator). I couldn't really think of any cons that stuck out besides my one little mention about the simplicity, but that was more or less a regular old observation. So yeah, guitars don't really have any beef with me.

The bass as I mentioned is the second most audible instrument. It's a tad weird hearing the bass so clearly in a Metal recording, as it's usually hidden like a damn Easter egg. Even though it's audible, there's not much to really say about it. It's there, and it's heard. But it doesn't really add a whole lot to the songs.

Now let's talk about le singing. Have you ever listened to spoken word Metal? Well that's kind of what the style is here. But that might be an insult, as Miss Paveleski does an amazing job here. While she does scream in one part of the recording, everything else is done very operatically, some which I enjoy greatly. You can hear shades of female singers such as Cristina Scabbia, Amy Lee, and the list could probably go on. 

I don't know what it is, but this soft, spoken, and almost classical form of singing really fits and works here. It could be due to the Gothic sound of the entire album, which would be my main guess. But I don't know boys and girls, it's just fucking groovy.

Dan also does vocal duty as well. He mostly provides back up vocals, although he does prominently sing in one song. His style of singing is also very soft and spoken, but it has more of an edge to it. While Kyla comes off more as somebody you'd hear singing in Faust, Dan has more of a Metal sound to his singing.

Time to go on about the tracks. The track listing for the EP is as follows:

1. The Coldest Years

2. Don't Leave

3. Poisoned Fangs

4. Drifting Away

5. Finally Dead

Each track, while it has the same sound structure, is different from each other, and each one has a unique sound to it in same way. Each one is structured to be slow, rhythmic and brooding. Which is obviously the goal of the EP.

All of the songs deliver in that aspect. They bring you into a world of dark, fairy tell gothicness. Think of stories such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and pretty much anything by Lewis Carrol. It leaves you in that dark fantasy throughout the entire recording, and they do produce a feeling of being in a dream (uh...I wanted to do a version of Doug Walker's timing joke here, but I couldn't think of anything. So yeah...).

There are a few moments when the songs do have and bring you into a depressing state and form, but it's not to the same degree of other bands. The depressiveness here helps build up that dark dream like atmosphere I mentioned, instead of making you feel sad and in the mood to off yourself. 

And while this is a Metal recording, the Metal sound never really shines through. Sure, you have a few riffs that will produce a Thrashy like sound, but it never really shines out. I know though that this is what the sound of most GBM is, and so I won't gripe about it like I have in the past.

As far as a favorite track goes, ehhhh. There isn't really a track on here that I'd probably listen to more then the other. I'd listen to the album again, but none of the songs (for me at least), really struck me as "Listen to again and again and again" like other songs have.

All in all, Dreams of Dystopia is a great EP. The quality of the sound here is top noch, and really helps the album as a whole. The instrumental portions of the EP are great as well. They set the mood, and prepare you for the vocals, which will bring you further into the fantasy world the songs try to set. The songs themselves while great, aren't nothing fantastic. Don't get me wrong, they're great and as I said previously, I'd listen to the EP again. But they don't have that something special going with them. 

But this is just my opinion. Listen to the album yourself to find out for yourself and make your own opinion. It's currently streaming on SoundCloud, and is uploaded in it's entirety to Youtube. It's also due out soon on Amazon and iTunes from what I've heard.

Closing words, listen to it you bakas.

B -

https://soundcloud.com/psychobliss

Hallucination - Memories From A Dream review

Children who are into any form of music, a dream/goal is to one day release or at least record a song and album. However, with us kids not always having the funds to do anything outside of just write songs, or even finding band mates (and if you can, just rehearsing). This means that we usually abandon said goal and dream in lue of something else.

This to a degree is the case of Hallucination, and this album titled Memories From A Dream. The band (an OSDM band) has self admitted that the songs were written when they were fifteen and sixteen, and that only recently, they decided to record them, and put them on an EP. And this is that EP obviously, which also doubles as the band's debut album.

The album it self, is about the length you'd find most Death Metal EP's to be. There's only seven tracks on it, and each runs from at least one minute, to up to six. I'll get into the songs themselves in a little bit.

The entire production of the EP is decent for a band that had no previous experience at recording. Everything is quite audible, and the quality of the sound itself is very nice. It obviously has that home made/first time sound to it, but it doesn't loom or strangle the album itself. It's noticeable, but you won't really pay much thought to it.

The instrumental work for the songs, are pretty nice as well. Each song sounds like a Death Metal song would, and thus makes the album almost instantly recognizable as an album in the genre it is representing. The guitar work is obviously next to the drums and vocals, the first thing that you'll hear and get blown into your ears. The twin guitar attack  brings on the heaviness for the entirety of the recording. They do sound like the norm, but as always it doesn't really matter, as every song in the world sounds the same at some point and time.

However one thing I've noticed a few people gripe about, is how some of the work on the songs sound a little to groovy. Now I myself enjoy Groove Metal, so when those parts come up, I bat an eye at them and don't really care that the type of sound changes

 Another thing I've seen people talk negatively about is how the guitars don't really sound inspired. And this is an argument I'd agree with. As I said earlier, the guitar work is what you would hear o a  ton of other Death Metal recordings. And while it does let you know that this is an album and band on the Death guild, it does sound uninspired and to a degree not really thought out.

But as a whole, the guitar working for the EP are very nice, and are tight enough to keep order with a little bit of chaoticness. It does sound like it wasn't thought through fully, but it isn't just copied and pasted chords from another song. And even with these negatives, it's still a great work.

The drumming for the album, is a mixed bag when it comes to pros and cons. The drums are audible, and the snare and cymbols sound excellent. But the bass drumming, as well as the work on the toms leave a little bit to be desired. However outside of that little gripe, the drumming is very pleasant sounding.

The singing on the album, is your garden variety styling. Gutteral, loud, and in your face. The sound of the vocals, and for the album itself reminds you almost of old school Cannibal Corpse, which is a very nice compliment to me. But like the other musical aspects of the recording, there is some cons to the vocals.

The main negative about them, is that they were mixed far to low, and sound as if they'd easily get lost. This is quite the no no when it comes to music in general, especially when a good 50 % of the songs is dependent on the lyrics and singing. You can hear them, but due to the mixing of them, it sounds like they'd just jump ship at some point.

But this is the only con in the cap of the vocals. While they do sound like they could just up and vanish, they have a good sound and ring to them.

Now let's move on to the songs for the album. The track listing is as follows:

1. By the Hands of God
2. Abyss Diver
3. Memories From A Dream
4. The Forlorn Watchman
5. Bloodmoon
6. ...As My Flesh Crawls
7. Inhumation

The songs themselves, are pretty damn good. Each one has that Death and Thrash sound to them, and at times can sound pretty catchy (this is mostly due to the guitar work).

Each track does sound like they were well written, and all of them have pretty good song structure. The only time that the structure doesn't sound all that great is on Memories From A Dream. It has this fairly decent dark build up, and proceeds to introduce Groove like riffing. As I stated a little while ago, I quite enjoy Groove Metal. But here it isn't really needed, as it kills the aforementioned dark atmosphere that was being built up.

There's also a few instrumental tracks (5 and 7). They sound nice as well, although the first one has a bit of a Mexican/mariachi sound to it. It catches you a little off guard, as up to that point it was pedal to the medal thrashing guitars, and now it's medium paced soft sounding guitar work that makes me think of Chii Chiis.

My favorite track I must say is probably By the Hands of God. I love the riffing in it, as it has a good flow to it.

In conclusion, Memories From A Dream is a fairly good and decent EP as a debut for the band. It has it's moments when it sounds bad, but those are due to the bad mixing of the vocals, and occasional drum work. While the guitars don't sound all too inspired, they do sound great and catchy, making the replay value pretty high.

So in the end, nice debut, fairly good EP with a few bad spots.

C

http://hallucinationofficial.bandcamp.com/

An Interview with Feigr of Hithaeglir

 As part of branching out in the content department of this tomb of rambles, I almost instinctively wanted to do interviews. It's something that I've enjoyed since I took it up earlier this year. However, that was with an independent wrestler. This is for music.

One of the first people that came to mind to interview was Feigr of Hithaeglir, who has became a comrade of mine. There was also another band that I thought of, and that interview will be coming shortly (I'll be finishing that up tonight hopefully).

So sit back and enjoy the interview.


Feigr Principal Saludos. ¿Cómo fue el viaje hasta aquí a las tumbas de Metal Archives?

Buenas! I'm fine, thanks.

Well first of all, every story has a beginning. How did you discover Heavy Metal, and what was it that brought you to become a fan?

My father has always been a fan of 'classic' metal/hard rock bands like AC/DC, Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden, but I didn't get into metal until I was 13 or so. I had been playing Irish folk music for a year and busked around town with a friend. One day, he gave me some folk metal albums he got from his cousin and I just fell in love with it. From then on, I started reading more about metal and getting vinyls and CDs, and getting into other genres, like death, progressive and eventually black metal.

Once becoming a metal head, and falling in love with the genre, how did you about learning about the sub genres, and learning about the bands and musicians themselves?

I just started reading articles on the internet, but mostly interviews with bands. Checking out new bands constantly also led me to many different bands and genres which I now listen to often, and expanded my metal knowledge.

What was your childhood like? Was it one of those cases of "shitty childhood so kid turns to Metal and dark things?"

My childhood was actually good. My family never had any extreme difficult situations in any way, and life at home was nice. However, at school I didn't have such a good time, as I didn't have that many friends and was always interested in things for peope older than me (I have always hanged out with people at least 5 years older than me). I never really fitted in there.

Do you listen to music outside of the genre of Heavy Metal? If so, what are some of your favorite genres and bands?

If by Heavy Metal you mean metal in all its subgenres, I do listen to other non-metal music, mostly ambient and folk, but also some 1980s rock, some punk...

Living in Spain, was it difficult to get a hold of physical copies of albums that weren't of the more common music one would find in Spain?

Yeah, there were some stores (most of them now closed) in my area where I could get metal vinyls, although it took some time 'til they arrived. Nowadays I get most of my material from online distributors, both national and international.

Many artists, especially within Metal have always spoken about how the atmosphere of their hometown/country is? How would you describe Spain in those elements?

Well, I have never really liked Spain. I'd say mostly because of its traditions (bullfighting, flamenco...) and its history (Catholic supremacy), but it's ok. I'd prefer a place where it was colder and a bit more rainy as well, it'd be more inspiring.

Are there any other big Heavy Metal fans in Spain?

Yeah, there is a good metal scene here in Spain, mostly in big cities like Barcelona, but also in smaller cities like here in Alicante. I have seen fans of black, death, power, doom... Lots of metal bars and pubs. Not so many concerts or festivals, though...

Obviously being a Black Metal band, that one would assume is the happy place for you in Metal. How exactly did you come across it, as it's quite hidden to most people unless they dig.

One day I read an article where they mentioned black metal, Bathory, Burzum, Mayhem, etc. and I decided to see what that was. I got some early black metal albums as well as some black thrash from a record store, and I was shocked by its raw, low-fi production and the darkness of the music, and I instantly thought 'Now, that's what I've been looking for, raw, dark, cold and fast'.

Was there any band in the BM cult that you instantly fell in love with?

Bathory, Darkthrone and Burzum. Those were the first 3 bands I checked, and I just loved their sound, although I am more of a fan of Bathory's viking albums than the early black albums.

From discovering Metal, and to becoming a fan of Black Metal, how did you come to the idea of forming a band, a one man band at that?

Since I started playing music at the age of 12 more or less, I liked the idea of playing and sharing music with other people. As I said, I started playing in a folk music duo, and after that a folk metal project followed in which I played mandola, low whistle and Swedish bagpipes. We wrote material for a full-length, but it was never recorded and no pictures or footage of the band exists, sadly. After the band broke up, I decided to explore the one-man band experience myself, concentrating more on playing and writing black metal.

How did you come up with the name Hithaeglir?

When I was 8 years old I read Tolkien's The Hobbit, and it has since then been one of my favorite books. I really liked the part when the dwarves are captured by the goblins in the Misty Mountains, so the name Hithaeglir, which is Sindarin for the Misty Mountains, seemed appropriate.

Did you already know how to play guitar, bass, and drums before your began your band, or were they (or just one or two) something you had to get lessons for?

I picked up the guitar years ago, when I was 12, and bass followed soon after. In the EP I used a drum machine, but since it was released I have been learning to play the drums and it's going pretty well, so maybe for the next release I'll be able to play them myself. Except for the drums, I am self-taught with every instrument I play.

Why the one man route? Could you not find any members, or did you just decide to do it all on your own so that you wouldn't have headaches?

After playing in some folk music projects and the folk metal band, I didn't like the way it was to write music with other people, as it limited my creativity and I limited the other members', so I decided to give a try to the one-man thing, and it worked out better than I expected. Also, I have always preferred to work alone.

Are there any bands or musical acts/personalities that influenced the sound of your music?

Mostly early black metal bands, like Darkthrone and Burzum, but also many DSBM and 'folky' black metal bands, like Wigrid, Happy Days, ColdWorld, Lifelover, Kampfar, Isengard, Falkenbach... Fenriz, Grim, Varg Vikernes and Hoest (from Taake) have been some of the biggest personalities that have influenced my lyrics and music.

Did you talk to any local bands to get advice and tips?

No, I didn't. I have met some bands from the local scene, but never really needed to ask for any advice.

Black Metal has always had this bad reputation to it due to the acts of a few musicians under its guild, as well as for having an anti christian pro Satan message. Do you incorporate any Satanic imagery into your work, or anything that is against religion as a whole? If not, why?

No, I don't incorporate any Satanic imagery as I really think the whole Satan thing is absurd (I like some Satanic bands though, Gorgoroth and Beherit to name a couple). I am very anti-religious though, feeling special hatred towards the 3 main monotheistic religions. Maybe some lyrics reflect this, as it's a topic that sort of frustrates me, especially considering the Catholic supremacy and control that we had in Spain (and still have).

In the promo shot on your band page and in the booklet for Tidvatten av Svart Sorg you appear to be pretty young? Mind indulging to us how old you are Senior?

Yeah, you could say I'm pretty young, although I would prefer not to tell about my age.

How long was it till you decided to record a Demo and EP?

I decided I wanted to record it a couple of months after I formed Hithaeglir, in March 2012 or so, as I had produced a lot of material I thought was worth releasing.

What was it like trying to find a studio to record in?

It was easy, as the studio I used (Ranking Youth Studio) is a friend's homestudio. I just talked to my friend and he agreed to let me use the studio, as well as helping with the mixing and recording of the EP, as I didn't know much about that (and still don't). I am now starting to form my own homestudio, so maybe the next release would be recorded with my analog tape studio.

Any family and partner/s that supported you through recording and before it?

My family didn't really support the metal project, but they didn't oppose it either as they don't really care much about the music. My father likes some metal as well, but not black metal.
I have no partner at the moment.

How much was the cost of recording, mixing, and the overall making of the album?

Luckily, the studio and the recording were free, as my friend said he didn't want any money. I just spent some money in blank CDs, CD cases and printing the booklet, although the quality turned out pretty bad...

The album itself has a very gothic and depressive feel to it. Was this the goal you had in my when/while you wrote the songs for it, and any other song?

Yes, I wanted to have a depressive touch, as I listen to a lot of DSBM, dark ambient and other forms of 'depressive music' and take inspiration from them. Some songs, like 'Blaze, Grow Arise' or 'Embracing Chaos' weren't supposed to be depressive, but rather chaotic.

What was the process of the recording like?

Easier and shorter than I expected. It took only 9 days to record and mix the album, of which 4 were recording instruments and vocals. Also, the friend that helped me with the whole process made things a lot easier, if it had been just myself it would have taken at least a month.

When everything was done and said, what were your thoughts on the finished mix, and on the situation as a whole?

I liked the whole product in the end, although, as some people told me when they first listened to it, I could have worked more in the mixing of some parts, as the vocals get too loud in some parts, or you can't hear the bass properly. But the whole thing sounded good enough to me to publish it.

How did you come up with the photo for the cover? Did you take the picture yourself? Or was it just a random find on Google Image or an image sharing site?

I can't remember whether some friend took it and gave it to me, or I found it somewhere on the internet... But I don't think that's important, the thing is that it's a really nice picture which I think suits the album well.

You're currently distributing the EP through download, as well as through sell on Facebook? Are there any plans to sign to a label, or just sell out the album for distribution?

The EP isn't actually being sold, as I am giving the CDs for free to whoever wants it. For the moment, I’ll keep releasing the albums independently, but if some label shows interest, they can contact me to talk about signing.

Will you continue to keep the EP on a download and CD basis only? Or do you have any plans to possibly release it as a cassette and/or a vinyl?

I plan to keep it as it is, although the first EP is available for download from Catalonian label Mortem Est Propositum/Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (http://www.iaesl.tk) as well. For the next release, I am talking with a Hungarian label to release a limited tape edition, although this hasn't been confirmed yet. I would love that to happen, though. Also, I am talking to fellow Canadian one-man band Warground (http://www.facebook.com/WargroundBand) about making a split EP, and maybe releasing a very limited 7" vinyl edition, we'll see how this goes. I am a big vinyl fan, so if Hithaeglir (and my budget) gets bigger, I'll release vinyl editions as well.

Has your album been reviewed by a variety of people/sites?

I have gotten comments from individuals, and only this blog's review, although I am aware that a couple of reviews and maybe another interview are on the way.

When you received the first review/s for Tidvatten av Svart Sorg, how did you react to them?

I was happy because it was mostly positive. And it came quite soon, I expected it to take more time until I got my first review or comments.

Well from my personal thoughts, the album is great, and one of the best to be released in the underground and independent scene in this year. Has anybody else expressed this opinion to you, and do you feel it yourself?

Most comments have been positive or constructive criticism, so I am thankful for that. I feel that the EP was good, but some things could be improved for the next release. Also, I was quite surprised by the amount of people that showed interest in Hithaeglir in such a short time.

The last time you and I spoke before I published my review, you mentioned that you were relocating to Sweden? What made you desire to go out that way?

Yes, hopefully I would be relocating in about a year, maybe year and a half, but it takes a lot of planning so I am working on it already. I have always admired the Nordic countries, their mythology, the metal scene they have, their forests and lakes... I really like Scandinavian languages as well (as you can see from the lyrics, I am fluent with Swedish, and would love to learn Norwegian and maybe even Icelandic).

Do you think the change in environment could possibly affect how the music, writing, and production of any future releases?

Yes, I think there would be some changes in the way I write my music, but let's hope it's for the better.

With Tidvatten av Svart Sorg now out, what are your musical plans and goals heading on now?

Right now I am working on a second EP, and soon I'll start working on the split EP with Warground. Hopefully they will both be released next summer.

So it is possible that we could see a studio album come out from Hithaeglir?

Sure, why not? Although I personally prefer to record short albums/EPs (mostly influence from Bathory's debut album, I guess), there might be a full-length released some time. Just stayed tune for any upcoming news.

Well myself and all of the dark creatures who read this Blog appreciate you sitting in front of a computer and have a chat with this one.
Any final words?

Yes, thanks for your interest and the interview, and thanks to the readers as well. Hails!

Tidvatten av Svart Sorg is out now and being distributed on CD via Facebook and digital download through Catalonian label Mortem Est Propositum/Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges. If interested in talking with, or setting up an interview with Feigr, contact him on the forum section of Metal Archives, or through the band's Facebook page.

Until next time dear creatures, Bo metall og død til nazistenes punkere.

In Chaos Forged - In Chaos Forged Review

Now that we got that depressed music out of the mind of your favorite reviewer, let's kick it into overdrive!

Today's second review is the band In Chaos Forged's EP titled In Chaos Forged. The band is a one man affair, with everything being played, sung, written, and handled by Scott Lawson, the former guitarist of the band The Ziggurat. ICF is a Melodic/Death/Thrash band, which means it's right up in my alley of preferred listening. I'm not quite sure when the EP was released/uploaded (there's no date mentioned on the band's ReverBNation profile.

The track listing for the album is as follows:

1. Rise of the Sentinels

2. F.U.B.A.R

3. Self Sabotage Syndrome

4. To Live, To Suffer, To Learn

5. Misery Freak

The quality of sound for the whole EP is very well, and is almost pro quality. You can easily tell that time went into producing, mixing, and all of the good things in between to make the album come out sounding good.

Each instrument, is clearly audible, and is tightly held together and streamlined, making the listen easy to in one go if one desires to do so. While everything does sound to the typical format of Death and Thrash Metal, it brings a couple of things new to the style. These though are mostly in how some songs sound. There's a few nods throughout certain guitar solos and riffs that kind of shout out to other genres like power metal, hard rock, Depressive/Gothic Metal, Metalcore, and even Nu Metal. So while it does sound the same, it has that slight difference to it.

The drumming for the majority of the tracks, stays on beat all the time, providing a good back beat and rhythym for the EP. And the drumming is quite exceptional to in how it's used and sounds. As like the guitars, it sounds like typical old Death, but it gets the job and point across of "Hey we Death Thrash and we gunna fuck up your ears for a little bit!"

The vocals are clearly there and heard. All of the singing is done in the style of Death Growling, with a few spoke verse parts thrown in every now and then. At times, it sounds a little weak, and that Mister Lawson is having to try harder to keep them going. In one song, the melodic singing comes out, and it sounds almost like System of A Down to a degree. But all in all, they sound very nice.

As for the songs themselves, they are all great in my humble opinion. I was able to listen to the entirety of the release without wanting to pause, take a break, or get bored. All have a very catchy sound to them, and this mostly stems form the guitar work. I can easily see myself listening to this at any point when I need a good quick injection of Metal, and don't want to pick out a CD.

Each song is fairly different as well. You get songs with vocals, songs without vocals, ambient sounding songs, and pure Slayer sounding ones. It has a great variety to it, and makes each listen enjoyable as it never gets old or repetitive.

As far as cons for the album go, there are a few. As I stated earlier, the vocals at times sound as if they're fading and getting weaker, which I would imagine is due to the strain of having to growl your way throughout the entire recording process. And when it comes to the soft melodic singing in To Live, To Suffer, To Learn, it doesn't sound like the pro quality of the other songs, and feels like it was done at home and just thrown in at random. And while the bass can be heard to a degree, it's presence would be enjoyed more, as I feel that if it was louder and clearly heard, it would give the album a good bit more of a backbone and rough sound to it.

But those are were the cons end in my opinion. The album is great beginning to end. I'll leave a link at the end of the review so that you can all go and give it a listen. It's kind of funny, I'm finding my favorite releases of the eyar to be these obscure and indy metal ones.

In Chaos Forged is a great debut EP, from a great band. It gets the Poe Ohlin blood smear of approval.

A -

http://www.reverbnation.com/inchaosforged

SKJAERSILD - The Pillars of Suffering Review

For today's review, we'll be looking at (shocker) a black metal band. This band as the title of this entry states, is SKJAERSILD. Don't ask me how you pronounce it, because I have no friggen idea on how to do so. The demo release which will be critiqued here is titled The Pillars of Suffering. Yes my people, we have another DSBM band on our hands. I rarely listen to this genre, yet it keeps seeming to find me.

The album, which was just recently released, was given to me via Youtube by one of the band's members, who I met on Metal Archives (I pretty much meet everybody there in hindsight *chuckle*), whose name is Khalvst ov Mhurn. The band hails form Spain (yeah apparently outside of DSBM always trying to get me, the Spanish are as well). And like my last album review, since this is on Youtube, I have no idea on the track order. So you're getting a track listing in the order I listen.

Now then, let's enrich our minds.

The first track, titled Go Away, is just a 56 second intro. There isn't much to critique for the track, but I do love it. It's made up entirely of piano, and it sounds very well peerformed and written. I'm a sucker for any good classical sounding piano music, and this track is no different, as I enjoy it very much. If only it was longer.

The next song, called "Is Not A Voice Anyone" starts off with a clock ringing. After we're told of the time, we get greeted by more piano work. And once again, it's very nice. But then we come to the vocals. Now, throughout the reviews I've done, I've talked about how vocals are too loud, too inaudible, and so forth. But literally I can't understand jack shit here. It's performed in a whispering tone, and very softly I might add. You can hear the vocals, but don't try to decipher anything, you won't be able to. It does kind of go hand in hand with the piano and depressing tone of the song and album, but come on, can't you speak louder? And this is the whole song. No other instruments (outside of the clock in the beginning) make an appearance. So yeah, the track ends, we move on, and I feel somewhat bored. Be it this is still the first real track, but when I feel bored during the song, it doesn't make me or any other listener for that matter want to even continue listening. But alast, I have a job to do. So let's move on.

Track three, given the name of "Looking at the Emptiness," starts off with a violin. You know, I know DSBM uses non metal instruments, but I'm starting to think I'm listening to classical music, or lost tracks from a non Webber version of Phantom of the Opera. But wait, we finally get a guitar finally. And it sounds decent, although it is mostly the same chord/sound over and over and over. The vocals for this track, are a little better. They're more audible, and not as fucking soft as the last one, which means I can finally critique them properly. And all I have to say on them is, bleh. I know I've been kind of harsh on the album so far, but my job is to review these albums (or whatever else I review) in a professional manner, which means I have to play the role of bad guy every now and then. Anyways, while the vocals start off as a screech and scream like most are known for hearing in Black Metal, we quickly go back to whisper land. Although this time, it's somewhat more loud then the previous track. To a degree, I can kind of make out the lyrics, but all I was able to decipher was "Why" and "Pain." The electric guitars do pick up though, and we even get not a piano, but an electric keyboard playing thrown in. To be honest though, like I was with "Is Not A Voice Anyone," I'm bored, and so I'm moving on to the next track. Oh, and one last thing to mention, near the end of the song you can hear an acoustic guitar and a what I think is a mandolin.

Track four, called "Rotten Nature" starts off sounding quite a bit like Marilyn Manon's "The Nobodies." Whether this was intentional or not, it's fairly nice, and probably the only other thing outside of the piano work that I've honestly enjoyed on the demo. And it carries on. And goes on. Continuing...and continuing...and continuing. Holy shit this is getting unpleasantly repetitive. Finally though, the song pick ups some. The rest of the song though is just the same guitar riffs which change to a degree near the middle and end of the song, a pretty simple drum beat, and more iKeys. Oh, and the vocals are probably at the best here on the album. Soft yet loud, whispering yet screaming. So I can say I enjoyed the vocals at least once.

And now we come to the final track. This one, entitled "Blinded to See the Most Inhuman Pain," starts off with some lively electric guitars. Except while it is lively, it sounds depressing as Hell. The vocal style from the last track returns....and then hot damn we get something I thought this album didn't have, a guitar like solo. And the solo proceeds to carry on the guitar duties for the rest pf the song, with the singer coming in and out of it. And thus, we come to the end of this album.

As I stated earlier, I hate to be mean, but this album just does not do it one bit for me, and is going to have the lowest grade of any album I have reviewed (at the moment). As a DSBM demo, it does the job well in making you feel depressed, and I will give it credit on at least achieving it's goal. It has and makes the right sounds to get you down and gloomy, and the vocal styling helps enhance this with that damn whispering style he went with.

But this is where my pros and compliments of the album stop. Stop as dead as my investment into listening to the thing. In my full hearted opinion, it's overly repetitive, something which metal is known for, but it really is over abused here on how much the chords from the guitar sound the same. The vocals, while they do set the atmosphere and mood, can only be heard clearly on two tracks. And yes I know it's Depressive Black Metal, but there's barely any metal in it except for a few riffs here and there. As said though, it does a very good job of getting you depressed if you're into that thing. I'll leave the link to their Youtube page, so you all can listen to it, but just do it when there aren't any sharp objects, pills, or rope around.

Now if you all will excuse me, I need to go cheer myself up.

D

http://www.youtube.com/skjaersild