Sludgy, heavy, despairing and epic, Lord Dying may not be flying high on the trendy bandwagon right now with their particular style of music, but that’s just fine for them. They’ve been dedicated to the dark and swampy arts for too long to let anything like that faze them. And their recent offering, Clandestine Transcendence, out now via MNRK Heavy, is a testament to their dedication to, and progression through, that sound. We caught up with guitarist and vocalist Erik Olson about their continued legacy on this record and how they keep things so damn heavy.

Can you tell us a little bit about the writing and recording process for Clandestine Transcendence? How did it differ from previous releases? 

The process was really similar to what we did with the last record, Mysterium Tremendum. Chris (Evans, guitar) and I demo everything. We each write a part and then kind of figure out if it needs anything else and go from there with what we think the song needs. We usually do guitars and drums first, and then we’ll do bass, and then vocals last. We usually stick to that format every time.

And what are some of the lyrical themes you tap into with this record? 

This album is a sequel to Mysterium Tremendum, so it was already kind of thought about when we wrote that record and decided to do a trilogy. We were already thinking about the second and third records and had a guideline of where we wanted to go with this one. Usually we brainstorm ideas and song titles and then go from there, see what the melodies and different songs are calling for lyrically and what would work best in each song.

With the trilogy in mind, do you think this is a story you’re going to keep telling and expanding on even beyond this story arc? 

We’ll probably want to try something else. I’m not opposed to coming back to this storyline at some point in the future, but I also wouldn’t mind trying something new. But it could be cool to revisit at some point.

What do you most want listeners to take away from either the music or this continuing saga? 

Well, we hope people like it, and we want people to see it as a hopeful piece of music more than something negative because it’s supposed to inspire. It may be dark, but there is some underlying hope, and I hope people get that from listening. We’re naturally kind of negative, and maybe it comes off in parts as being negative, but it’s not supposed to. It’s actually supposed to be a lot more positive than most of the stuff we’ve done.

I also noticed when I listened, and it’s pointed out in the press release as well, that there’s more of a melodic quality to this record, so that kind of goes along with the positivity. 

A lot of it was written during the pandemic, so it was very dark in some ways because it was impossible to not have that be a part of the record, since it was a part of our lives. But because all the news that was coming out was so bad, we decided we didn’t want to make a really negative record. We wanted to make something positive and almost uplifting to transition with everything that was going on.

That’s pretty ironic, since a lot of more positive bands had their darkest or most negative music come out during the pandemic. That’s an interesting take. Do you have any plans in the works for the next record yet? 

Yes, we definitely have some stuff in the works. We haven’t started demoing yet, but we’ve been compiling ideas for songs. We’re focusing on the release of this records right now, but we will definitely have something else soon.

You’ve been making sludgy, heavy music for a while now, and while metal trends may change, to me at least, I feel like you pioneered the modern take on this genre back in the ’00s. Would you agree with that, and how does it feel to have been playing such a heavy and definitive style for this long? Are there any newer bands you’re really into? 

I feel like trends have changed musically. It seems like death metal is really popular now, and we love that. We’re certainly not a death metal band by any means, but I love old-school death metal, and there are so many new, young bands right now that are playing essentially what the genre sounded like in the late ’80s, early ’90s. So that’s really cool.

As far as sludgy bands from the first decade of this milenium, Baroness is great, but there aren’t that many bands that are still going. They’re not exactly new, but e do love Primitive Man. They’re just so heavy, negative, and really crushing it. They’ve really mastered the sound. There are a lot of bands still continuing this sound. And really we wouldn’t know how to play anything else, but we still love to play this style of music.

Order Clandestine Transcendence here. 

The post Interview: Lord Dying on Expanding the Storyline and Keeping it Heavy appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Instrumental Funeral
The Making of Breadwinner’s The Burner

At just around 20 minutes of music, Breadwinner’s only full-length is the physical embodiment of the old showbiz maxim “always leave them wanting more.” Aside from an errant cover of the Birthday Party’s “Yard,” the nine perfectly imperfect songs on The Burner are all there are and all there ever will be of the band that paired the boundless intensity of punk with the rhythmic complexity of King Crimson and birthed an entirely new genre: math rock.

Rosy retrospection reveals Breadwinner to be the work of true iconoclasts. When you listen to the trio’s recorded output, you can literally hear guitarist Pen Rollings, bassist Bobby Donne and drummer Chris Farmer dismantling convention with stretched chords and mutant time signatures. By the time Merge released the posthumous compilation The Burner in 1994, math rock was not only well-established with releases from contemporaries like Slint and Polvo (as well as early-adopters like Don Caballero and Shellac), but also getting ready to mutate into even more metallic directions with acts like Botch and the Dillinger Escape Plan.

Watching Breadwinner level the room in a smoke-filled, 500-capacity venue is probably the best way to experience the band’s music, but alas, we have only a few YouTube videos to capture the ferocity of their live performances. Which leaves us with listening to the songs on The Burner in sequence as the preferred way to take it all in, like a roller coaster ride with a series of hairpin turns, presenting Breadwinner constantly in motion and passing kinetic energy from one song to the next. This also happens to be the chronological order in which the songs—originally released on a series of 7-inch singles—were recorded, making The Burner a marriage of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.

Thanks to the band’s critically short 18-month lifespan, Breadwinner never really had a chance to build a national following. According to Donne, they only played shows as far west as Chicago, as far north as Boston and no further south than Chapel Hill/Raleigh. But all three of the band’s members have remained hometown heroes in Richmond, where Breadwinner have always been spoken of in hushed and reverent tones, along with Rollings’ abrasive hardcore act Honor Role and Butterglove, the bridge between Honor Role and Breadwinner.

Aside from the opener “Tourette’s,” Breadwinner remained a largely instrumental act, which makes The Burner an outlier in the Decibel Hall of Fame. It’s also one of the shortest releases we’ve inducted (edging Plague Soundscapes by the Locust), and probably the only LP that takes on the practical form of an album, but was never intended as such. That said, we make the rules, and we can bend ’em as we please. And it’s not a stretch when you crank shit-hot tracks like “Kisses Men on the Mouth on the Mountain” and “Mac’s Oranges” and hear that sound continuing to reverberate in diverse acts like Mastodon, Meshuggah and KEN Mode. If you know, you know.

Need more classic Breadwinner? To read the entire seven-page story, featuring interviews with the members who performed on The Burner, purchase the print issue from our store, or digitally via our app for iPhone/iPad or Android.

The post Breadwinner – The Burner appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Louisville’s Volcandra seem like the kind of guys who would have strong opinions on which Deathstalker movie is better. (It’s Deathstalker II.) The melodic black/death metal band have dedicated their forthcoming second album, The Way of Ancients, to the sword-and-sorcery genre, in all its over-the-top glory. The first display of Cimmerian might they’re revealing is “Fouled Sanctity,” a bloodthirsty ripper that evokes the beer-cracking black sorcery of Skeletonwitch as well as the mountain-striding muscularity of Amon Amarth. It rules!

Another thing that rules is the music video for the song, directed by Inferi guitarist Malcolm Pugh. In the frame story, a dude sits down on his couch with popcorn, a beer, and his cat and pops in a dusty VHS called Volcandra. The bulk of the video takes place inside that imagined film, where the band tear through “Fouled Sanctity” while a gloriously no-fi ’80s fantasy flick unfolds around them. This thing has it all: chains, demons, skeletons, heads on pikes, knights with lightning swords, repurposed Spirit Halloween decorations. It’s a video for people who own the Roger Corman’s Cult Classics – Sword and Sorcery box set, and you can watch it now.

Volcandra also shared this statement on The Way of Ancients, “Fouled Sanctity,” and the music video:

“The Way of Ancients features an overarching high fantasy concept inspired by some of our favorite pieces of media from the sword and sorcery genre. It tells a tale of unlikely heroes traversing through deadly terrain in order to take on insurmountable forces of darkness. The album title refers to the final passage that must be taken in order to complete such a perilous quest. For this release we blended our influences from thrash metal, melodic death metal, and black metal all into one finely crafted sonic assault. It is our most aggressive record to date and we can’t wait to bring these songs to a venue near you. We are ecstatic to share this album that we are very proud of on the world stage via Prosthetic Records and expand our reach as far as possible.”

“We chose ‘Fouled Sanctity’ as the first single for this record because it takes no time to get going. From the first note you know you’re in for a banger. The track showcases our love for thrash and death metal with a blackened twist, but not without a hint of melody in the mix. The lyrics are about a brave warrior who ventures into the depths of a defiled cathedral that has been infested with demons in which he must do battle with. By the end of his quest he is possessed by the soul of the beast who is the cause of all of this chaos. For the music video we recruited our good friend Malcolm Pugh (Inferi) once again. The video pays homage to sword and sorcery films of the 1980s and our love for analog media of yesteryear.”

Preorder The Way of Ancients, out March 1, here.

The post Video Premiere: Volcandra – “Fouled Sanctity” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Formed in Helsinki in 2010, Finnish death/doom trio Altar of Betelgeuze released their first EP At the Shrine of Light in 2012. That three-song EP clocked in at 34 minutes in length, blending funeral doom’s menace with stoned Sabbath riffs. Over time their compositions became leaner and meaner, culminating in their second LP Among the Ruins, released by Transcending Obscurity in 2017. Seven years have passed since new music from Altar, but today that drought ends. Decibel Magazine is thrilled to share the first single from their upcoming record Echoes, scheduled for release on March 22nd.

“Conclusion” begins with a riff that evokes triumph and melancholy. Altar of Betelgeuze patiently adds layers with Aleksi Olkkola’s punchy drums, and a siege of distortion from guitarist Juho Kareoja. But the song truly lunges into battle when Matias Nastolin first roars from the abyss. Armed with his emotive growl and the song’s shadowy melodies, the track transforms into a hypnotic dirge. While this single doesn’t incorporate the occasional clean vocals that surface throughout Echoes, it still hints at the band’s epic Candle-massive doom edge. The band’s fresh blend of old school influences will appeal to fans of early Paradise Lost, Chapel of Disease, and Bathory’s Hammerheart.

“It has been close to seven years since our second album Among the Ruins came out,” the band shares in a comment. “Working on new material hasn’t been an easy task, but finally everything is ready to go! Our third full-length Echoes offers seven songs of doom in the Altar of Betelgeuze style. You can expect a crushing mix of death and traditional doom metal, along with other elements. The first single “Conclusion” is one of the more atmospheric and epic tracks on the upcoming album. We think the heavy verses and instrumental passages give a good impression what to expect from Echoes. Crank it up!”

Summon death, doom, and demons by pressing play below.

Pre-order Echoes on Bandcamp HERE

Follow Altar of Betelgeuze for news and updates on Facebook

The post Track Premiere: Altar of Betelgeuze – “Conclusion” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.