Interview with Deathkin

 

Two weeks ago I reviewed this Finnish band’s debut album “Kohti Kotiani Kaaosta”, and then I had the pleasure and opportunity to talk to them about the album, their plans and a bit about their local scene. Here goes:

First things first, give me an introduction to your band.

Deathkin is a five member band formed in 2009. We have had our share of lineup changes in every other position than drums and one guitarist. The purpose of our existence is proclaiming the majestic trinity of chaos, death and immorality. So far we have released two EP’s (Deathkin & Purged by Impurity) and one full-length album (Kohti Kotiani Kaaosta) which was released in  November 1st this year.

You have released an album this month, what is the feedback so far? Are the sales going as you expected?

Yes, we did release our debut album “Kohti Kotiani Kaaosta” few weeks ago. So far the feedback has been really good even on a global level so it seems that we managed to create an album which really is enjoyable to listen to. The sales have been surprisingly good comparing to the fact that we haven’t put any money on marketing and done only minor web promotion. That is another example of the fact that it really is a quality record. If someone wants to buy it, they better be quick.

It’s a bit early for this question, but, now that the album is out there, would you change anything in it?

There are a couple small things that didn’t make their way to the album which would’ve made the album even a little bit better than it is now. We are not talking about any major changes, just one guitar lead, one extended ending. Yet it may be possible that those changes would have ruined something. We will never know. Otherwise there simply isn’t anything to change since the album is pure diamond all the way.

Tell me of your lyrical themes.

“Kohti Kotiani Kaaosta” is a concept album. It preaches about an eternal crusade beyond all boundaries. Of a Journey across aeons that is trodded on the bones of your predecessors in order to witness the faces of Chaos. Of reaching out and longing towards entropy, home of the universe from which we were spat out as a cosmic joke to suffer in a prison of flesh and blood in the wheel of life. Guided by the ardor of darkness and awakened by the serpents venom we will return home.

You decided to stick to Finnish for the lyrics. This may alienate some fans and add to the mystical feeling for others. What is your view on this?

Our first two releases were written in english. Since our guitarist already had some decent lyrical content in finnish it was something worth trying and it turned out really great. There is so much more in the lyrics now that they are written in finnish, it has gained some extra depth in the context. And what comes to the matter of how people globally response to hearing finnish lyrics and not understanding, we couldn’t care less since everything we do in Deathkin has nothing to do with pleasing anyone or making any compromises. And even though you didn’t understand finnish there is some words and names that are familiar to give a little perspective on what the lyrics are made of. And to be honest, you just can’t deny the fact that it gives a little extra on the mysticism.

Give me some insight on your artwork. You decided not to have your logo on the cover, which is a rather bold move. In retrospect, was it a good choice?

Leaving the logo out of the cover was a really quick and easy decision. Our friend Saila Leskinen did so spectacular job under the loose guidelines we gave here that we decided to give the artwork as much space as possible. There is a load of interesting stuff in the whole artwork itself (cover, booklet, etc) and it fits to the concept perfectly. So it is not just the music that is worth buying, it is great concept art as a whole.

Describe your creative routine. How do you form your tracks? What is some of your equipment/software you can’t live without?

The usual process begins with guitarists writing riffs on their own and bringing them to rehearsals to build full songs out of them. Sometimes the structure is almost ready when we start to create a song, sometimes it is just fragments that we pull together. So as you can see, we do a lot of arrangement stuff together. When we get to the point that the structure is satisfying we start to build the details and our vocalist begins working on the vocal arrangements. What comes to equipment, you couldn’t manage without quality instruments, for example good drums or good valve amps. At least they make things a bit more comfortable.

Moving on, what are your future plans?

We don’t really know what will happen in the future. Maybe some gigs and releasing Kohti Kotiani Kaaosta in vinyl. Hopefully our new album will gain us enough interest and give us enough visibility among black metal scene to have a possibility to tour in Europe and maybe give us a deal on a bigger international label. There hasn’t been any writing so far done regarding new material yet so can’t say anything reliable about possible upcoming album. Maybe it will continue in the vein of our debut album or maybe it will be something totally different. You really don’t know. Even the fact that is it going ever to happen.

You are an independent band, are there any difficulties in Finland for such an act? Tell me a bit more about the Finnish scene. Any notable bands we should research?

We have a relatively big metal scene here in Finland so popping up from the vast mediocre majority is really difficult and many good bands don’t get recognized. And it doesn’t make it any easier if you aren’t already in acquaintance with the small amount of the right people. Black metal isn’t as big thing in here as it used to be in the ‘90s which is probably a good thing as it almost got into a mainstream position in some areas of Finland but at the same time it means that it is quite hard to get your band to gig as there is still a great amount of independent bands trying to do the same thing. At the end it all comes back to knowing the right people which is a bit annoying when you don’t couldn’t bother knowing more people than few closest friends. Finland has quite a lot of at least “quite good”-category black metal. Quite well-known bands to get yourself familiar are for example Horna and The True Black Dawn but from the more underground you shouldn’t forget for example Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising.

Any albums you listened to recently that you want to share with our readers?

Rome – The Hyperion Machine and Deathspell Omega – The Synarchy of Molten Bones are pretty close the best albums this year. Ravencult’s Force of Profanation deserves to be mentioned because it was very good!

Closing thoughts or anything else to add?

Buy the album, support black metal and especially your local scene and greetings to Greece!

 

Contact them via

FB: https://www.facebook.com/deathkinband

email: deathkinband@gmail.com

SMT/ATF Episode 12: USA

Welcome back to a very special episode of Against The Fragmentaire. Why is it so special you may ask. Well, mainly because I decided to post a double episode and be done with it for the whole “season”, but also because this week we are going to check the USA, home to all things evil that somehow aren’t Russian!

Ever since I realized I was going to keep this series going by myself (yup, my original plan wasn’t to “blog” this alone), I had a hard time to figure what I am going to do when the United States of America come in line for a showcase: I mean, 6 slots are really few when it comes to so many states counting over 17000 bands in metal archives! It felt like I had to squeeze all of Europe in 6 slots.  Just a week ago a decided to tackle this in a manner that looked right: I will split the US in west and east and give 6 slots for each. And so I began my cherry picking ordeal as usual. And now that I decided to have a holiday episode to spend more time with friends during the following week, it doesn’t really matter…

 

One of the very first album’s I’ve heard in the black/death metal genre was “Rites of the Black Mass” of Acheron. This felt extreme and harsh back then, and even while it isn’t anything super new I most fondly remember it because of the weird introductions right before each song. Unfortunately I have lost the tape since then and the CD version I found only has the music. A shame… Thankfully there are a few songs in youtube that include the intros too!

 

Ladies. Gentlemen. Children. Forget everything you knew about doom and drone metal. Sunn O))) is the new definition of Ssssssllllllloooooooooowwwwww gggggggzzzzzzzzrrrrrnnn music development. Either like them or hate them…

 

One of my favorite blackened folk metal bands around is Agalloch. They are constantly pushing their own envelope a bit further and they offer –to me at least- the best music to accompany my whiskey. Their beginning wasn’t so impressive but they now show such maturity and quality that words are meaningless…

 

Another similar band that I also enjoy is Falls Of Rauros. This is the American school of shoegaze black metal and I love it…

 

When it comes to depressive black metal, one of my favorite picks is always Wolves In The Throne Room. These guys really are up to something. Their atmosphere really takes you there, in the ancestral roots of this land, all you have to do is be patient…

 

Another excellent sample of weird black metal. I don’t understand how Lurker Of Chalice manage to create such soothing feelings when they play such a nightmarish music. Ritualistic, astral, aggressive, epic. No, terrifying! That is the key ingredient that mixes all in a unique way. Dive deep into their abyss, you are going to like it. At least I do…

 

And since we touched ritualistic stuff, let’s take a look at Equimanthorn. I got to listen to this very song back in 1994 and though I don’t usually get to listen to them, it really has a place in my mind as something unique.

 

I will close the extreme/black metal chapter of the States with December Wolves, a band that sounds completely Norwegian and sometimes feels like listening to 3 albums of Satyricon simultaneously. Very underrated band for such a feat!

 

The time has come to relieve Andrew a bit from all this cacophony. Coming next are… Cacophony, a project of the genre I hate most: show-off metal! At least those huge names DO play some tough shit! Or should I say did…?

 

As you may already guess if you take a look at this series from the beginning to this point, I have a great distaste for progressive power metal. Circle II Circle however is one of those few bands of the area that managed to get a place in my collection. Not as show off as most prog bands, not as silly as most power metal bands, they settled in between and I like them for that!

 

There is a genre that only two countries in the whole world have invested, and this is humorous thrash. M.O.D. is one of my favorite, mostly because they do write music to accompany their jokes, whereas other bands like To Plokami Tou Karxaria or Anorimoi mostly aim for the pointless fun and nothing else…

 

Closing this marathon of metal, we have November’s Doom, a band I would recommend to fans of Opeth mostly, but certainly everyone can feel free to check them out. Melodic doom death at its finest…

 

This was the last Against the Fragmentaire for 2011. Whatever you do these days, have fun, drink and eat more than you can, but in the end of the day drive responsibly! See you next year…

SMT/ATF Episode 11: Canada

And here we are again, a bit late due to work and other bleak stuff, but still alive and kicking. This is yet another ‘episode’ of Against the Fragmentaire, a series dedicated mainly to the weird cases of music, though sometimes ‘normal’ or ‘traditional’ seems to be the statistical anomaly when it comes to this art. This week it was time for a break away from Europe, so here we are checking out Canada, the place that is so near yet so far from the rest of America, and also the place where the Apocalypse WILL happen if we accept “South Park” as a documentary from the future.

So, Jack, do YOU know jack about Canada?

 

One of my favorite epic bands in the modern scene is SYG:AR:TYR. They remind me a bit of Bathory at points, though these guys have the privilege to expand on solid ground where Quorthon was experimenting over a decade ago. Enjoy.

 

 

I keep telling in my reviews –which are growing sporadic by the day anyways- how much I hate it when a band plays 10 different styles in 10 songs, especially if they are part of the same album. Well, Woods Of Ypres is one of those rare occasions this doesn’t hold as much water. From post black metal to funeral doom to melodic post rock with a touch of metalcore, I enjoy these guys and the fact they have a song for each of my moods…

 

 

I know a certain amount of prog deathsters believe their favorite genre died when Chuck left this vein world, but Quo Vadis are one of the very few bands that managed to keep that flame burning. Technical play and awesome songwriting matching this of Death (the band)…

 

 

And now for something completely different: a blast from the past. The year is 1998 and I am on my first radio show. Oh, how much I liked Thunder Rider back then! I still do, though I rarely spend time listening to that stuff anymore. A good song in any case. I really dig the vocals!

 

 

Fans of old Darkthrone, I present you Godless North. Go forth and conquer! I kept this near the end so poor Andrew can listen to some bands before he dies of boredom…

 

 

Some of you may by now wonder where this ‘weird’ music I mentioned is. I mean sure, those bands aren’t exactly ‘mainstream’ and ‘popular’, but seriously, weird? Ok, here is your present then: Menace Ruine is an excellent example of awesome music that no tag can describe it clearly, unless if you tag them ‘experimental ambient drone ritual funeral doom post rock black metal’, because they are all these. Weird huh?

 

Off I go for some rest, sounding the chips and beer alert for another week. Enjoy your weekend. I won’t because I work tomorrow too

SMT/ATF Episode 10: United Kingdom

Loyal to our rendezvous for another week in a row, and today I present you 6 weird cases from the United Kingdom that will hopefully entertain most of you (one), while they may drive some (the other one) crazy due to so much ‘death voice’…

It was around a decade ago, when a band had to have long hair in order to play metal, and even ‘skinheads’ had to prove their worth when a woolly band was accepted into the elite even at a lower quality level. Around that time I discovered Anaal Nathrakh, a band that shamelessly promoted their music while wearing colorful t-shirts and demonstrating short, well taken care of hair. BLASPHEMY! Well, until I pressed play. BLASPHEMY!!! So much blasphemy and so tasty black metal in fact that their hair never bothered anyone from then on…

 

Forefather is a band that moves in the epic Viking/black metal spectrum, the melodic end mind you. I don’t really remember how I got to them, but it is a shame that they have so many albums and yet I haven’t read a single line in any metal magazine about them. A shame!

 

This is one of my favorite bands from the big island. Fen are an oneiric atmospheric post-rock/black metal band. They don’t have so big a discography but I loved them from the very first song…

 

Biomechanical is a band I can’t really say much about. I don’t really listen to them anymore –especially after the turn away from thrash- but they do offer some nice technical stuff, if a bit chaotic. Worth checking anyways…

 

If epic is your thing, look no further than Bal Sagoth, the band that could have written the music for Warcraft II and many other games or even movies. Their style is pompous, symphonic, a bit silly for my tastes, but they do know how to entertain someone. If you always wanted to listen to Manowar and not be mocked by your black metal friends, you can now talk openly for those guys…

 

When it comes to video clips, I have some standards, and boy, do these guys fail me all the time! Akercocke won their reputation because of the fact they play wearing tuxedos on stage –look another British band that broke away from black metal tradition-, however they do carry some awesome music to their shows. The satanic influence is way above noticeable but that was never a problem, right?

 

Another week, another ATF. See you soon peoples. Now back to WoW!

SMT/ATF Episode 9: Russia

This is the 9^th and up to now the most difficult part of this series where I pick a country and choose those bands that have something exceptional to show, if not their exceptionally great music, at least the fact that they are an exception to the rule of “play the flavor-of-the-month music or sink trying”…

Why was this week’s post so difficult to write? There are two reasons: at first, this week I present music from Russia, home to all things evil, like communism, the Czar and Konstantin of Stellar, and sadly enough I couldn’t find that many candidates for a slot. Does this mean there are not that many good bands there? Hopefully not! I just don’t seem to have as many CDs from Russian bands, and those that I do have are pretty ordinary as the practice of running through them showed me. The second reason is that WoW’s patch 4.3 came out this week and I just HAD to check it out. Actually I wrote this post in a hurry and heading back in some dungeon crawling afterwards. So here it is…

 

One of the first Russian bands I ever got to listen to was Alkonost. They play melodic pagan/folk metal, and I mean every word in this tag!

 

 

The second band is Dukhi Predkov, and they also happen to play melodic folk metal. The Slavonic folk elements are very prominent and fans of Skyclad and Eluveitie will definitely enjoy their music. For me, at least they are better than Temnozor…

 

Seducer’s Embrace is russia’s answer to NWOSDM. I have to admit that I first got interest in them after reading “death metal” under the very colorful cover of their album ‘Self-mythology’, and to be honest I prefer their older works, as this one is too melodic for me. Almost Gamma Ray melodic!

 

Wine From Tears was a real shock for me. They play melodic doom/death metal, something similar to Saturnus, and they are very good at it. The production and the whole detailed-to-perfection package fooled me into believing them Swedish at first. Probably my favorite band from this huge land!

 

This is the first time since I began this series, where I went shopping and asked specifically for ‘Russian metal’ music. Thehappymask is my collection’s latest addition and they have some lovely shoegaze post-black metal treasures in their pockets. Invest!

 

Last and in our case probably least, we have Ordo Coquatrix, a band that shot their own foot in today’s way of making and promoting music. I was thinking of not having them here, because they have no means of letting you hear their music. That’s right! No youtube videos, not official website, not even myspace! All I can show you is the last.fm page of them, but unfortunately you won’t be able to listen to ‘XVIII’ which is a lovely weird song, but only a few typical depressive black metal samples of them. It really is a shame that the only way to get their debut (?) XXMI is to order it through some obscure underground distro or download it from some blog… Did I mention they didn’t even bother claiming their last.fm page as their own, artist-run page?

http://www.last.fm/music/Ordo+Coquatrix

The comment for them is no longer valid, since there ARE now videos available, so enjoy some ambient/drone from Russia!

 

 

Have a nice weekend!

SMT/ATF Episode 8: Germany

This week we visit a country that gave birth to tons of metal bands around two decades ago, but now the metal production has either stopped or turned to NSBM… Germany is the name of that place and I will not say anything about what else it gave birth to, because as I learn, it is even illegal in some countries –Germany included ofc– to even refer to such stuff… Holocaust Maleus Maleficarum!

 

Some people really like classical music. Well, I don’t. I can listen at a few tunes but that’s all there is. Some people really like Angra. Usually those are the same people who like classical music too. As expected, I don’t really like them either. For people like me there are Haggard. This band of around 20 musicians combines death metal with classical music and metal tunes in the vein of Angra. Well, I personally don’t like those guys either, but I am certain there are those who do… somewhere… someplace…

 

 

Empyrium is one of those bands that you get to listen to a song, don’t give them the attention they need and then forget about for a decade. But when you do get back to them and pay attention, they create a long lasting impression. Excellent atmospheric black metal. They later experimented with other music forms and they were good at it too!

 

 

Every once in a while I will suggest a new discovery to friends of mine, only to be asked “how do you find these bands? Do you randomly bang your hand on the keyboard and then go check what you got?”. One such case is Aaskereia. Very well crafted pagan black metal…

 

 

Lantlos is a quite recent appearance. If you are into depressive black metal or liked Lifelover from Sweden, don’t miss this band!

 

 

I know a lot of people don’t think ambient is music. Well, maybe it’s time to reconsider. The atmosphere, the calmness, the cold Vinterriket emit really put them on the throne of ambient black metal –if there is such a thing– and for me, this is one of the most relaxing stuff there is…

 

 

Last but not least, a band I always thought were British yet only LAST NIGHT it turned out to be German. I am talking for the darkwave Goths Diary of Dreams of course. Did you know they have a huge discography? I didn’t until LAST NIGHT. Seriously, digging in my collection can sometimes shock me!

 

 

That was all for now. Thank you for putting up with me for one more week. See you around here!

SMT/ATF Episode 7: Austria

Next in line is Austria, a small country similar to Greece’s size and population, only surrounded by the Alps instead of the blue seas. It is birthplace to tons of musicians, philosophers and scientists, and this is reflected even in their modern music…

 

One of the craziest bands I have ever listened to is Angizia, a metal opera enclosed in a circus tent. I am not really a fan of their music, but it surely is interesting to listen to such bizarre stuff…

 

Back in 2006 when I first discovered Dargaard I was amazed by the way they manage to transfer the air of medieval renaissance and also sound fitting in the metal soundscape. I used to listen to them while reading R.A. Salvatore’s novels. They build a really good atmosphere for pen and paper R.P.G.s…

 

Slowly but steadily we get to harder stuff with Hollenthon. Folk death metal, in the vein of old Therion. Worth checking them out, especially if you dislike the path the later picked after ‘Vovin’…

 

Summoning is a band that shouldn’t really need any introduction. However, it is really common nowadays to meet people into black metal that never heard of them. The band was even accused by a reviewer of the Greek Metal Hammer that they followed the ‘trend’ of Lord of the Rings back when they released ‘Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame’, but is actually one of the first bands to pay homage to J.R.R. Tolkien’s story with the entirety of their work. Awesome atmospheres and a music style similar to the LOTR books, pompous and adventurous. Another must for pen and paper R.P.G.-ers!

 

 

If you fancy extreme, sick, misogynic and utterly blasphemous black metal, Belphegor is definitely a band worth pausing over. They flirt a bit with old school death and thrash metal, but their awesomeness truly lies within melodic black metal.

 

I left Abigor for the last spot. Probably the greatest band this country has to offer, they always were one of my recommendations whenever some friend wanted to listen to great melodic black metal. They also began to explore the most progressive aspect of this genre with their latest albums where they play what was once called ‘Intelligent black metal’. I personally don’t like the tag because I don’t really consider stupid or unintelligent the rest of the style so, yeah, whatever…

 

That was all. Have a nice weekend all of you (two persons) reading these series!

SMT/ATF Episode 6: France

It is this time of the week again, when Tragon decides to pick a country and showcase some amazing bands that may have slipped under your radars. 6^th week already, and this time we visit France, birthplace of so many stuff that I can’t really name them, and total black metal playground. Seriously, it seems to me that most of the metal bands there play some kind of black metal, and the majority of them are so awesome I had a very difficult time picking only six…

 

While I am not a huge fan of folk black metal, Aes Dana was one of the bands that kept my interest for a long time. Not that I loved their fast paced folk bursts, but they offer extremely good black metal as an added value. Fans of Eluveitie, check them out…

 

 

Smohalla is probably one of the most interesting avant-garde bands around. Their latest album ‘Resilience’ is stuck in my mind and I have to listen to this song every.single.day. What they sound like you ask? A sickened mix of Arcturus with experimental ambient. But this description is very poor. You have to listen to understand it…

 

 

I first heard of Dark Sanctuary thanks to the following cover of Dead Can Dance, and their eerie feel made me dig a little deeper. Amazing music. Add wine for extra pleasure!

 

 

It was exactly 9 years ago when me and some friends found a new way to discover new bands. We sat down and set up a last.fm account, hit ‘black metal’ in the search field and Himinbjorg was what we got. Amazing Viking black metal by one of the oldest bands there…

 

Experimental. Progressive. Doom. Grotesque. Dark. Religious. Sick. Black metal. I don’t know how they do it, but Blut Aus Nord put out one great album after another over the long span of their history. This is going to be a pretty bleak weekend…

 

 

Finally, we have Alcest, probably the only European band that can play shoegaze depressive black metal so close to the American school. Their album ‘Ecailles De Lune’ is simply a masterpiece!

 

SMT/ATF Episode 5: Denmark

5^th week already, and for this installment I picked Denmark, home of Kim Bendix Petersen, also known as King Diamond. Funny fact (is it really?), he was a RR artist!

 

I always thought that Cradle of Filth did something unique in black metal. I never liked them to be perfectly honest, but still they were unique. And then I happened to listen to Illnath, a melodic mix of CoF with some Dimmu Borgir thrown in, just to get the two schools of mainstream BM closer. I am not sure why they never made a name as bright but they sure worth a listen if you fancy CoF…

 

Nortt on the other hand present some awesome funeral doom / depressive black metal. Can’t get why some Dane would feel depressed living in such a great country, but they sure have the feeling! Oh well…

 

It was over a decade ago when I was deeply involved in radio shows and such stuff, and one of the ‘perks’ that this era left me was the hunt for the unknown bands, no matter the genre. It was by pure luck that an Exmortem’s CD came to my hands. I was not a huge fan of death metal then, and this holds true to this day, but their sheer brutality was captivating. Bang your heads with this one!

 

Horned Almighty is Denmark’s answer to recent Darkthrone’s punky transformation. Groovy, thrashy, old school, but still more black metal.

 

Just to dismiss the impression that this country only breeds sickening, blasphemous, brutal music, I’ve included Of The Wand & The Moon in this short list, as one of the best neofolk bands I’ve ever heard…

 

If you are a fan of great melodies, storytelling songs, lyricism, dark romanticism, constant progression and melodic death metal, Saturnus is definitely a band you need to research right now!

 

Until next week, have fun with some new music!

SMT/ATF Episode 4: Finland

For our next installment I picked Finland, land of the thousand lakes, Kalevala, and birthplace of some of the greatest metal bands, including Amorphis and Impaled Nazarene…

 

Despite the great tradition in black metal, with bands like Azaghal, Horna and Calvarium keeping the banners high, it was Oranssi Pazuzu that caught me by surprise with their …‘space pagan’ black metal. Seriously, if alien tribes ever had a ‘pagan’ era, their music could only sound something like this…

 

Am I Blood is a band that tried to pick heavy metal where Metallica left it after their ‘black album’, and push it a bit further adding a bit of hardcore and a touch of Amorphis. They never saw their career skyrocket, not even when all of the semi-worthless metalcore bands were hitting the mainstream. You will sure love them, especially if you like Hetfield’s voice…

 

If elven myths, Tolkien’s books, role playing games or symphonic death metal is your thing, don’t skip this one. Battlelore have some awesome songs and really beautiful voices. Worth checking them out…

 

It is gothic. It is avant-garde. It is progressive. It is symphonic. Silentium are so far from my everyday musical taste, yet I love so many of their songs throughout their long discography that it would be a shame if they didn’t make it into this short list today. If you like listening to music in candlelight with a red wine at hand, this is an excellent choice…

 

RAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRR…! Turisas forged an awesome mix of Rhapsody and Bal Sagoth, named it Battle Metal, and then recorded it. Like them…

 

Ajattara is a nightmare-ish doom/black metal project that somehow managed to stay underground, even with Pasi Koskinen (Amorphis) in their ranks. Still, their quality is unquestionable and their dark tunes unmatched by anything you may have heard before…

 

So this was the bizarre side of suomi metal. Another week, another country. Stay tuned!