Rakitiko  are  a  band  from  Argentina  that  plays  a  raw  mixture  of  black,  pagan,  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2018  album  "La  profecia  pagana".

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  angry  melodic  shouts  and  black metal  screams.

  A  great  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  tremolo  picking  gives  the  songs  a  more  raw  feeling  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  also done  in  a  melodic  as  well  as  the  music  also adding  in  elements  of  atmospheric,  pagan  and  death  metal  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard.

  Rakitiko  plays  a  musical  style t hat  is  mostly  rooted  in  pagan/black  metal  while  also  having a   great  amount  of  death  metal  influences  in  the  riffing,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover  Paganism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Rakitiko  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  pagan,  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Un  millon  de  muertos"  "La  profecia"  and  "Por  quien  vos  siempere  estas".  8  out  of  10.

  Obsolete  Theory  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric  form  of  post  black  metal  with  elements  of  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Mudness"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  My  Kingdom  Music.

  Water  sounds,  spoken  words  and  whispers  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  along  with  some  clean  vocals  also  being  used  at  times  and  synths  are  also  mixed  into  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs.

  A  great  amount  of  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  all  of  the  tracks a re  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  some  death  metal  growls  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  doom  metal  elements.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling  and  some  songs  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  incorporating  more  elements  of  post  black  metal.

  Obsolete  Theory  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  atmospheric  post  black  metal  and  mixes  it  with  elements  of  doom  and  death  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Misanthropy  and  Occultism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Obsolete  Theory  are  a  very  great  sounding  doom  influenced  atmospheric  post  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are a   fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Six  Horses  of  Death"  and  "Sirius  Blood".  8  out  of  10.        

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. Started in the fall of 2013 with the intention of blending depressive funeral doom with furious black metal elements, a style we felt was underrepresented in our local metal scene at the time. We all draw from our eclectic tastes, themes, musical truths, and strive to covey all of this in a live setting and on our recordings.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that has been presented on the recordings you have released so far?
2. We can only express a specific performance on a recording based on where we are all at in that moment in time. It's a captured essence of what we were channeling during the recording sessions. Each performance is an engagement along with those around us in a collective gathering coping with the harsh realities of the human condition that we are all dealing with at that moment in time. Each gathering is unique and fleeting.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical content that is presented on the full length that is coming out this year?
3. Each song is a meditation on destruction. Destroying our gods, destroying ourselves, and destroying each other.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Barren Altar'?
4. The Barren Altar is the ritual site where man in his desperation finally prostrates himself before the void. He begs for forgiveness and absolution. He offers prayers and sacrifices that are destined to go unanswered, for all prayer is vanity and no one is there to listen.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
5. Our first show out in the middle of a forest was an amazing experience. From the sweltering heat of the set to the epic late night adventure roaming the woods. There are still ripples from that set that affect us and our opportunities to this day. Also, some of our other early shows had a special magic to them when we were first galvanizing our band, seeing how the energy consumed yet rose higher than its sum, almost breathing a life of its own that we still conjure on stage to this day.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the album is released?
6. Yes, we're going on a 12 day west coast run up to Seattle and back and everywhere in between, June 21st to July 2nd.

7.Last year you where a part of a split with 'Argentavas', what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on the recording?
7. Love those guys, stalwarts of the local scene. In fact, their bass player joined forces with us last year and is doing a phenomenal job.


8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
8. If the right label comes our way with an offer we'd be interested. We'd also like to have a label press our works on vinyl at some point in the near future.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and funeral doom metal?
9. Can't speak for worldwide response, but as far as the Bay Area metal scene is concerned we've received very positive feedback from bands that share similar ethos, concert goers that catch our live sound and energy.

10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
10. We are all involved in other projects, either bands that existed before ours, or new collaborations with members of other bands in our local scene.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
11. Continuing down the same dark path until the coming storm pulls us into the void.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
12. Anything from classics like Black Sabbath, King Crimson, and The Doors to modern day black metal, Enslaved, Borknagar, Death Spell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, Svartidaudi, to sludgy/doom bands like Hell, Yob, Thou, Sleep, Chrch, and Primitive Man.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
13. Being disappointed every morning that we didn't die in our sleep and have to go to work.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
14. Fuck life, worship death, live for never.

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little about the band?

We're just a bunch of no good Heathens having a good time making music. We started about 5 years ago. We've added another guitarist to the fold since the e.p. was recorded as well as a new drummer...

2.You have an ep coming out in June, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Ominous & Relentless.

3.When I listened to the ep you had a musical style that was closer to the 90's era of war metal which was different from the more modern era of the genre, which era do you prefer?

There are great bands and Influences of ours in both eras...  dont have a preference.

4.The band is from Salt Lake City which has the highest Mormon population anywhere, do you feel having to deal with these religious freaks on a level worse than the rest of the country adds  a lot of the hate into your musical style?

All of these religions are just as shitty and self centered as the rest. I personally came from a psychotic Christian family and another one of us, from a clueless mormon family and so on. it's not what our music is based around but could have definitely influenced our own aggressions...
-R.S.

5.One of your tracks deals with the Qliphoth while another one is about 'Mammon', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the left hand path currents?

I am speaking personally as the one who wrote the lyrics, my interest in the left hand path is strictly observatory, after past participatory experiences (albeit they being mostly unintentional).  I am finding it difficult to name individuals who have followed these creeds and not slowly degenerated to excessive, habitual hedonism, ignorant to their transformations into dishonorable and contemptible clowns, or simply found themselves in complete ruin.  I have met those who would go on the defensive, alluding to the "Road of Excess/Tigers of Wrath" quote by Blake, I am not holding my breath for them, though.  Honestly, I those who had success with these methodologies are likely in positions of very high power, such as politicians, "secret chiefs", and would likely not speak about it altogether.  Each member of the band may have a different outlook on this, however. 
-A. Mire


6.You also have a track that covers the Siddhi, how would you compare the workings of Eastern Occultism to Western Occultism?

I have benefited greatly from delving into both.  Again, I am reluctant to comment in the context of black and death metal.  I think the forum for that content has been abused and diluted everything from infinite, meaningless obfuscations. 
-A. Mire


7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical content on the song 'Black Skull Hypogogue'?

This song is inspired by sleep paralysis.
-A. Mire




8.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Goat Disciple'?

The name is what we came up with. A fairly generic black metal band name that we definitely like but weren't too concerned about assuming our music would speak for itself.

9.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We have been pretty lucky with the string of shows we've gotten to open. Our first show was opening for The Mighty Archgoat followed by Hades Archer, Antichrist, Impiety and in July 2018 Mortuary Drape & Volahn. As for our stage performance not much into "gimmicks" or anything really. Again, we'd like to think our music speaks for itself. so theres no talking in between songs. Shout outs, or thank you's. Just us playing our set to the best of our abilities and enjoying our time.

10.Do you have any touring or show plans for the rest of 2018?

The only show booked is Mortuary Drape & Volahn in July 2018. Our hopes are to get on some good fests and keep playing shows with excellent bands, as we've done so far. 

11.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of war metal?

We have heard a lot of good feedback. How far our music has reached out, in the underground is unknown and I'm sure, as with anything, there will be people who hate it but that is no concern of ours. If people like our music then, Fuck Yeah. If not, we do.
-R.S

12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

No plans of change. We will continue down the path that we have chosen...

13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We are all fans of The underground war/black/death/thrash/doom. For me, personally Destroyer 666, Diocletian, Nocturnal Blood/T.H.P., Profanatica, Massacre, Arghostlent/G.B.K., Kerasphorus, Hypocrisy, Archgoat, Katharsis, Demoncy, Cemetery Urn, Order From Chaos, and many more have been a huge influence on myself and the music I write.
-R.S.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? "You either get it or you don't"

  Moonreich  are  a  band  from  France  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  fast,  aggressive  and  melodic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Fugue"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Les  Acteurs  de  l'Ombre  Productions,

  Melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as well  as  the  vocals  being  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  spoken  word  parts  are  also  used  at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  at  times  the  music  also  brings  in  elements  of  post  black  metal.

  On  this  recording  Moonreich  takes  a  very  melodic  and  traditional  style  of  black  metal  and  mixes  in  some  of  the  more  modern  post  style  to  create  an  album t hat  really  stands  out,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  French  and  cover  war  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Moonreich  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  aggressive,  melodic  and  post  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "With  Open  Throat  For  Way  Too  Long"  and  "The  Things  Behind  The  Moon".  8  out  of  10.