Sacrilegium  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  played  an  atmospheric  form  of  pagan/black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  1996  album  "Wicher"  which  will  be  re-issued  by  Pagan  Records  in  March  on  vinyl.

  Nature  sounds  along  with  some  atmospheric  elements  and  spoken  word  parts  and  after  a  minute  melodic  guitar leads  become  a  huge  part  of  the  recording  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  atmospheric  epic  black  metal  direction  which  also  utilizes  blast  beats  and  the  screams  sound  very  grim  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  tracks  use  spoken  word  parts  and  the  faster  sections  have  a  very  raw  feeling  ans  one  of  the  later  tracks  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  melodic  chants  and  the  keyboards  also  have  a  symphonic  feeling  to  them  without  falling  into  the  mainstream  trappings  that  later  bands  fell  into.  and  on  a  later  song  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  on  a  couple  of  tracks  as  well  as  one  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  and  the  bonus  track  also  adds  in  clean  singing  pagan  vocals.

  Sacrilegium  played  a  very  raw,  melodic  and  epic  keyboard  orientated  form  of  black  metal  for  their  time  and  had  more  of  an  underground  approach  to  this  instrument  than  the  alter  bands  that  came  out  in  the  following  years,  the  production  sound s very  raw  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Polish  and  cover  Slavic  Paganism.

  In  my  opinion  Sacrilegium  where  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric,  keyboard  orientated  pagan/black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Spiew  Krukow  Czamych  Cieni" "W  Rogatym  Majestacie  Snu"  and  "Wicher  Falami  Ognia".  8  out  of  10.

  Invincible  Force  are  a  band  from  Chile  that  plays  a  raw  mixture  of  war,  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2015  album  "Satan  Rebellion  Metal"  which  will  be  released  in  March  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  Dark sound  effects  start  off  the  album  giving  the  recording  a  ritualistic  feeling  and  after  a  minute  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  black/thrash  metal  direction  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  blast  beats  and  the  speed  also  brings  in  the  aggression  of  war  metal  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  old  school  death  metal  elements  and  the  songs  mix  some  of the  most  underground  and  extreme  metal  sounds of  both  the  80's  and  80's  in  all  of  the  songs  while  th e production  gives  the  music  more  of  a  modern  day  feeling  and  the  solos  and  leads  that  are  utilized  have  an  early  Florida  death  metal  sound  to  them  and  there  is  never  a  soft  or  weak  moment  ever  to  be  heard  on  any  of  the  tracks.

  Invincible  Force  takes  the  rawest  and  heaviest  elements  of  war,  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  mix  them  together  to  create  a  very  blasphemous  and  old  school  sounding  recording,  the  production  sound s very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satan,  Ritual  and  Sacrifice  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Invincible  Force  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  and  old  school  mixture  of  war,  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rise  The  Wrath  Of  Satan"  "Summoning  the  Black  Destruction"  and  "Unholy  trinity".  8  out  of  10.     

  Furia  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  a  very  raw,  atmospheric  and  melodic  style  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Norcel"  which  will  be  re-issued  in  March  as  a  double  gatefold  version.

  A  very  dark  and  raw  black  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  atmospheric  elements  and  they  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melodic  leads  throughout  the  recording  and  the  vocals  that  are  utilized  are  very  grim  sounding  black  metal  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Ritualistic  style  chanting  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  faster  sections  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  as  the  album  progresses  small  amounts  of  clean  playing  are  brought  in  at  times  along  with  the  music  getting  a  lot  more  experimental.

  Some  of  the  tracks  utilize  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  which  also  gives  the  recording  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  along  with  a  few  tracks  that  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  gets  more  diverse  as  the  album  progresses  without  ever  losing  the raw  feeling  of  black  metal  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  non  black  metal  elements  to  give  their  musical  style  a  great  amount  of  originality.

  Furia  creates  a  black  metal  album  that  is  very  raw,  melodic  and  atmospheric  sounding  while  also  adding  in  more  originality  to  this  genre  as  well  as  a  recording  that  takes  this  style  of  music  to  a  new  level,  the  production  has  a  very  heavy  and  powerful  sound  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Polish  and  cover  Depression,  Misanthropy  and  Hatred.

  In  my  opinion  Furia  are  a  very  great  and  original  sounding  atmospheric  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ptaki  Ida"  "My  Belkocza"  and  "Ogramna  Noc".  8  out  of  10.

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new ep?
Our current release is a 4 CD project titled ‘The Ages’. We spent close to two years writing and recording the project and have just recently released part 1 “The First Age”.
The launch show of The First Age was extremely successful, and we’ll be doing a similar launch show for the other 3 CDs across 2015. We are currently preparing not only for the launch of CD 2 (in late April) but are putting together both national and international tours for later in 2015 - so stay tuned for some big announcements!

2.Recently you have released a new ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
We are a band that doesn't like to be pigeon-holed into any one genre. It’s about trying to defy and challenge expectations of the musical labels applied to us. Not that we try to be wanky or arty, we just write the music that we want to and don’t want to settle for a formula and risk becoming stale or stagnant. We are going with the term 'progressive extreme metal' because our music doesn't conform to standard song structure or genre expectations, mixing a little bit of all our influences both as individuals and as a band.
Although most of our music is in your face and heavy, we try to find the right balance of clean atmospheres and sombre moods to bring balance to our sound. ‘The First Age’ (CD 1 of 4) is the lightest of the 4 CD’s as we were trying to reflect a world of balance and harmony that experiences death for the first time. Each release will become heavier and more progressive as we explore and journey through ‘The Ages’. Our 2012 self titled EP (Hybrid Nightmares ’12) has the foundation of some progressive black metal (Ashes of an Astral Winter & Emperor) but also had folky war tunes  (Mourn Not the Dead) and some straight up classic metal riffage (Upon the Cursed Wings) and we have continued on this path with ‘The Ages’, albeit we’re probably a bit more mature and refined in our writing now.

3.According to the Metal Archives page the band dislikes the term black metal and prefers to be called progressive/extreme metal, can you tell us a little bit more about it?
When we first started out we listened to and were influenced by a lot of black metal acts. Wanting to be like our heroes we adopted corpse paint and wrote some pretty extreme music because it was all fun to us. We take our music very seriously but also enjoy what we do, and bring a sense of humour and theatrics to our stage show which many ’true kvlt black metal' purists just couldn't handle.
We now understand that black metal is a genre centred in expressing hatred and extreme human emotion often extending to political and religious views of which we just can’t believe in or relate to, especially growing up in a privileged country like Australia where our social and economic situation is completely different. We like black metal, we respect it, but we just don’t want to be confined to it or be constantly heaped in with other black metal bands because of our image.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Our band is centred around the mythos of ‘The Obelisk’ a giant crystal structure that travels through time and space, bringing both creation and destruction, life and death, order and chaos to the planets and galaxies that it visits. Is there more than one Obelisk? or are their thousands? Who created them and what do they do?
Our story of ‘The Ages' explores the rise and fall of a utopian society of greater beings and their first encounter of death, mortality, destruction and the ensuing battle between good and evil that has been influenced by The Obelisk residing on their planet.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Hybrid Nightmares'?
Two of our founding members were on holiday in Thailand and came across a brothel called 'Hybrid Nightmares’. The rest is history.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We want to be more than music to our fans. We want each show to be a spectacle and for everyone in attendance to be engaged and included. A lot of bands put all of their effort into writing great music but give no attention to their performance and end up being very boring live. We see ourselves as not just as musicians but entertainers, and put just much effort into the performance of our live show as we do our writing and recording. People don’t just want to listen to music - they want to experience it, so we make sure that we put on a good show. In the past we have incorporated face paint, blood spitting and a dark humour to our live shows and in support of ‘The Ages’ have adopted a glow in the dark UV stage and light show with a different costume and story for each CD.
Some of our most memorable shows have included multiple performances at Melbourne’s Sonic Forge Festival, opening for our heroes ‘Enslaved’ at the Melbourne date of their Oz tour and more recently, the launch gig for our ‘The First Age’ CD, where we unveiled our new CD and stage show to a full venue. Seeing the entire room tearing it up in the pit, singing all of the words to the new songs and cheering us for an encore was one of the highlights of our career (hopefully we continue to get such a great response!)

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
At the moment we have a Launch show planned for every individual CD in 'The Ages’  within our home town of Melbourne, Australia. We are currently booking a national tour for June & July and are planning our an international tour hopefully later in the year.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Currently, we’re taking the DIY approach and taking our music direct to fans. We have been approached by several indie labels that weren’t quite the right fit, but are definitely open to working with label and distribution partners that share our musical goals.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of underground metal?
The feedback from the worldwide underground has been great, and we’re actually taken aback by how quickly our music has spread. We’re mailing international orders on an almost daily basis and couldn’t be happier that people the world over can relate to and enjoy our music.

10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other musical projects or bands these days?
We are all dedicated to serving The Obelisk and giving all of our time and effort to Hybrid Nightmares. It has subtle influence over our thoughts and actions but always reminds us of our servitude when we stray too far from the cause.

11.According to the bandcamp page the band has 4 releases planned for 2015, can you tell us a little bit more about them and also what should we expect musically?
Our 4 CD project 'The Ages’ explores the concept of a utopian society of immortals who experience death and mortality for the first time. Across time and through the ages chaos and evil infiltrate what was once a ‘perfect’ society, until civil war divides the world and ultimately death reigns supreme. At the end of this cycle the empty void gives birth to a new age. A new world is born from the ashes of the old and order and purity once again returns to the universe.
This cycle repeats endlessly throughout time, and we are the observers telling their tale. Each CD will explore a different age and the music grows darker and heavier to reflect the thematic content of the story.

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?
Each member brings their own influences and to the band however Emperor, Satyricon, Immortal and Dimmu Borgir have been strong influences since the start, as have grand film scores like Lord of the Rings and anything epic in nature. We find that the more music we can listen to and enjoy (regardless of genre) the better the influences we can bring to our music and the more creative we can be.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
World domination comes to mind as an immediate interest however when we’re not busy living in constant terror of all the indigenous wildlife here that can kill us, we often find ourselves playing video games, hanging out with mates and waging unending psychological warfare on each other.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Once again, we are honoured that so many people are discovering and enjoying our music. The internet has made the world a much smaller place and we will make sure that we visit and play to as many of our fans as we can in countries the world over.

All Hail The Obelisk.

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

Jon: Acid Cross was formed in July 2014. It was myself and Mich (Drums) just jamming some riffs I had written. We both were in a crossover band called REGRET together but he played guitar and I played bass. It started to sound like something so we named it and started writing more songs. Adam (Bass) joined a bit later on around November 2014 and we are now recording a full-length cassette and starting to play live rituals.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?

Jon: I would say we are black metal but with d-beat and thrash thrown in the mix. We use the label “Black n Roll” because we are influenced by bands like Motorhead, Venom, At War and Tank as well. We don’t rely solely on tremolo picking and blast beats, we try to have melody and more rock influenced riffs in the songs. At the same time, the sound is raw like old school black metal and it is kept simplistic in the riffing.

Adam: Definitely has the classic raw black metal sound to my ears. Probably more riff based and rehearsed if anything which lands us in the “black n roll” style. We're only a 3 piece so there is lots of room for each member to “move” around and have their own space. No one really shadows anyone else's part. As a bass player it’s easy to just hide behind the guitar but for me I try to accompany Jon's playing as well as add an additional layer to the song that stands alongside the drums and guitar equally.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Jon: Most of the lyrics are apocalyptic themed and occult/horror movie themed. No one in the band is religious or a Satanist so when I write lyrics about the devil or devil worship, I am speaking about the image of the devil from 60’s and 70’s horror movies. I read a lot of history books about WWI and WWII so there are a few songs related to war. We also have a song dedicated to the BAKU from British Columbia, which for the uninitiated are a group of militant skateboarders that only skate concrete barriers and listen to old school black metal. All three of us in the band are skateboarders, so it’s related in a way. I don’t like politics in black metal or any metal for that matter.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Acid Cross'?

Jon: Acid Cross means that the holy cross is corrupt, like how you see people say “Serpents of Christ” when defining Christians, it is the same as that. The cross is not a holy or good symbol; it is acidic and full of lies. It also just sounded fucking cool and no one else had the name because it’s really hard to come up with an original band name these days.

5.Has the band done any live shows yet?

Jon: No, we are playing our first show at The Bleak Life Festival in Ottawa at the beginning of May and then we have some more shows scheduled in the summer.

6.Recently you have released a rehearsal, what was the decision behind releasing this before an album or ep?

Jon: I always liked how the old bands would release rehearsal tapes before they did proper studio demos or albums. It’s recorded live, in the jam room, usually with a single track recorder and it captures the essence of the band better than anything else. We also just wanted to put it out to have something to show people before the album comes out.

Adam: It's pretty easy these days to record and share content with the internet. Even if it's just a one track demo, it shows people what we're up to and what to look forward to. It's always good to share and document your hard work. It shows people we aren’t lazy.

7. Currently you are unsigned, are you open to working with a label in the future?

Jon: We are going to release the album on cassette ourselves and then hopefully someone will find interest in it and want to release it on their label or maybe some bands will want to do some splits. We are open to working with labels and other bands.

Adam: The album will definitely help with this. It's going to be sick, I’m excited to start work on it.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by black metal fans that have heard it so far?

Jon: From the feedback I have gotten through e-mail and on facebook for the two rehearsal tracks it has been good so far.

9.You have a full length cassette coming out at the end of May,what should we expect musically once it is released?

Jon: We are planning on recording the drums and guitars live off the floor to keep the raw sound and then we are going to track the guitar leads and vocals separately. The album will have 9 tracks, 7 with lyrics and 2 instrumentals. I think our thrash and d-beat influences will be heard more on the other songs that will be on the album.

Adam: I think its going to be a huge improvement from our early recordings. The challenge will be capturing the energy and rawness with a sense of clarity but also not putting too much emphasis on post-production. I really want it to have a live off the floor sound with minimal production but still heavy as fuck.

10.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?

Jon: My playing style is definitely influenced by thrash and punk bands such as Slayer, D.R.I., G.B.H., Discharge, Sodom, etc. but I am also a big fan of NWOBHM and American Heavy Metal bands like Manilla Road, Angel Witch, Brocas Helm, Cirith Ungol, Satan and obviously Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. And of course I listen to old black metal like Von, Bathory, Mutiilation, Mayhem, Beherit and so forth. I think some bands that do the “black n roll” sound really well are Blizzard (Germany), Sodomizer (Brazil), Motor (Germany), Sardu (Canada), Drunken Bastards (Hungary) and of course Midnight, Nifelheim and the last five or so Darkthrone albums. Currently I have been listening to Nekrofilth, Zoroaster, Welkin Dusk, Sabbat, Aura Noir, Abigail and Autopsy, who are the best death metal band period.

Adam: I'm influenced by good music in general, all over the map. But I guess if we're talking bass playing and the heavy heavy stuff along the lines of Acid Cross I'm looking to bands like Converge, Russian Circles, early Opeth, Wolves in the Throne Room, hell even Primus, it's hard to say. I'm listening to new bands all the time. Yautja, Om, Pallbearer, Mindrot are some pretty awesome bands I've been listening to recently.

11.What are some of your non-musical interests?

Jon: I read a lot of history books in my free time. I have a zine called Metal Punk Death Zine and a small record label called Die Screaming Records that take up my time. I like watching old horror movies and exploitation films. I also skateboard and drink beer whenever possible.

Adam: Uhhhhh… I watch a lot of movies and play video games. Weekend beers with my buddies. I like to cook a good meal on the regular. Without music I’m a pretty boring person I realized.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Jon: Thank you for the interview and thanks to anyone that supports Acid Cross. Keep an eye out for our full-length cassette tape coming out this spring. Listen to metal and bang your fucking heads.