Helzebeth  are  a  band  from  Mexico  that  plays  an  occult  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Consummation  Est"  which  was  released  by  Silentium  In  Foresta  Records.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  musical  direction  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  songs  a  more  raw  style and  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams.

  A  great  amount  of  90's  second  wave  black  metal  influences  can  be  heard  and  deep  growls  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars  along  with  a  brief  use  of  whispered  vocals  and  they  also  bring  in  a  cover  of  Satanic  Warmaster's  "Vampiric  Tyrant"  which  also introduces  melodic  guitar  leads  onto  the  recording. 

  Helzebeth  plays  a  style of  occult  black  metal  that  is  very  raw  and  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  tradition,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism  and  Left  Hand  Path  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Helzebeth  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  occult  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Apophis"  "Saturnus"  and  "Consummation  Est". 8  out  of  10. 

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


Evilforces is a violent metal band originally from León Guanajuato Mexico, Influenced mainly by a mixture of old school metal bands. I could not define a genre as other similar projects but I like to call it the Demonic Blackened Metal style.


I.    In December you had released an album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

Yes, on December 25 came out the album debut of the band "PEST PLAGUES & STORMS" through Symbol of Domination in co-production with Mor Hate Prods. and can be purchased in their official sites. The album has a dark, fierce, violent, cold and sometimes ritualistic essence I would say.



3.    You refer to your music as 'demonic blackened metal, can you tell us a little bit more about this term?

Due to the themes and concept of the band, which is very far from the topics that are usually spoken within Black Metal, I decided to give the style that term. Evilforces does not attempt to impose an ideology, religion, or worship to no one or anything. The band shares the taste for evil, dark, mysterious, and cold, speaking in their lyrics about demonic possessions, conjurings and other terrifying concepts, I use my voice on different pitches, some sort of growls and shrieks, the songs could be long and slow but also short and straight, we uses a stuff that do not have many coincidences with the real Black Metal, even if there would be some coincidences as many people want to see. It's not Black Metal, nor any other genre in specific, so I'd rather give it a custom term.



4.    Your lyrics cover some Sumerian and Occult topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those subjects?

That's right There's really nothing special about that. The Assyrian and Babylonian deities related to the demon Pazuzu always attracted my attention, there is even a book that speaks a about all that stuff and I wanted include those topics a little bit in this album, Nothing in particular.



5.    What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Evilforces'?

It was until I had written almost the entire album that I decided to name the project this way, as I say before, due to the influences that I have had since childhood, a mixture of everything that covers the most Bitter feelings. All that stuff was what dragged me to give that name Simple and straight.



6.    With this project you record everything by yourself, how would you compare working solo to a full band?

Everything has its benefits and its obstacles. When you write and record everything for yourself,you have the freedom to do what you want completely, you decide how the songs will be structured, the drums, guitars, voices, and you'll never have a problem because you know what you want and how you want it to sound. It is difficult to find people who are on your own frequency and search for the same as you. In music and for a complete band is a challenge nowdays to find elements who shares the same goals, it takes to much time and at some point you are no longer willing to waste it anymore, so you have no choice than do it for yourself.



7.    The project has been around since 2013 but you waited until 2016 to release an album, can you tell us a little bit more about the earlier days?

Yes, well, it is not that I have waited for pleasure, being one man band has this situation that a single person has to do the work of 3 or 4 musicians, sometimes we use to be too self-critical and drop over and over ideas in the music and I suppose in every way that has to do with the art and creation, also I recorded myself in my house almost all the instruments, I mixed and I mastered, besides realizing the art of the CD and its design. So, as you can see, it is not so simple or quick when you have other responsibilities in your daily life. I can say I learned a lot in this process and the next album will probably take a shorter time.



8.    On the fb page you had said you have had a problem finding other musicians with the same ideology as you, do you feel a lot of black metal musicians do not live the dark lifestyle that a lot of them claim to living?

When you finally find musicians, they have another perspective of work in a band, or you can find people with the same ideology, good taste in old school music but they don't play very well, or they play well and have similar ideas but just like you said, they are just image, claims to be "this and that" and they do nothing, They only want to drink and other shit, and I mean, it's ok, I respect them but we (Evilforces) have another priorities in this road so, it's really hard to find people, really.


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

The answer has been very good since I showed the project to what are now called "Social Networks", and not only BM fans, also metalheads from all ages who are into similar styles ( Death, Thrash, etc.) Evilforces, is genuine, does not try to copy or follow anything or anyone and that is why maybe people perceive it as it is, and has had a better response than I thought.

10. Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?

Still doing what I love to do, give life to this project and create a lot of music to give it for those who like and share the way we do.



11. 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?

I think it would be unfair to mention a few artists or one specific band because there has been a lot of people who did and still doing amazing things in music, and also a lot of brand new bands rising and releasing awesome albums so, it might be unfair but, I can say that my influence definitly came from the Heavy, Hard Rock, Black, Thrash and Death Metal of the 80's 90's. And the music I listen nowdays is rock bands from my country, we call it "Rock Latino".




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



Thank you for the space given for this interview and all those who have supported Evilforces since the beginning. A big big horns and greetings also for all the readers of Occult Black Metal Zine.

  Imber  Luminis  are  a  solo  project  from  Belgium  that  plays  an  atmospheric  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Nausea"  which  will  be  released  on  march  26th  by  Naturmacht  Productions.

  Atmospheric  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  and  also  mixes  in  with  the  more  heavier  and  melodic  side  of  the  music  as  well  as  adding  in  depressive  black  metal  screams  while  the  solos  and  leads  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  also  adds  in  more  of  a  post  metal style  to  the  songs  and  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  when  the  music  speeds  up.

  During  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  the  riffs  bring  in a   decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  black  metal  feeling  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  mournful  sounding  spoken  word  parts along  with  melodic  singing  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  a  couple  of  tracks  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars.

  Imber  Luminus  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  melodic  and  depressive  form  of  black  metal  and  atmospheric  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept album  deal  with  Jean  Paul  Satre  and  existentialism.

  In  my  opinion  Imber  Luminus  are  a  very  great  sounding  depressive,  melodic  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  black  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Starting  With  The  End"  "We  Are  Not  Free"  "Meaningless"  and  "i  Resign".  8  out  of  10.  

  Time  Lurker  are  a  solo  project  from  France  that  plays  an  atmospheric  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  titled  2017  album  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Emanations.

 Atmospheric  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  and  melodic  sections  of  the recording  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling.

  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  as  the  album  progresses  it  starts  mixing  in  some  of  the  modern  and  atmospheric  post  metal  style  along  with  a few  depressive  screams  and  there  is  also  an  instrumental  track  before  returning  back  to  vocals.

  Time  Lurker  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  atmospheric  and  modern  while  also  adding  in  some  of  the  raw,  post,  and  depressive  elements  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  a  long  and  introspective  journey  facing  the  human  nature  while  also  being  inspired  by  the  writings  of  H.P  Lovecraft,  and  Jules  Verne.

  In  my  opinion  Time  Lurker  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rupture"  "Reborn"  and  "Whispering  From  Space".  8  out  of  10.

 

  Au-Dessus  are  a  band  from  Lithuania  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  post  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "End  Of  Chapter"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Les  Acteurs  de  I'Ombre  Productions.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  and  melodic  singing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  post  metal  elements  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  while the  vocals  are  mostly  black  metal  screams.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  black  metal  feeling  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  a  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  some  of  the  screams  also  have  a  grim  and  depressive  touch  to  them at  times.

  On  this  recording  Au-Dessus  plays  a  style  of  post  black  metal  that  is  more  raw  and  aggressive  than  most  bands  of  this  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  havoc,  and  social  issues  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Au-Dessus  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  post  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vi"  "IX"  and  "XII  (End  Of  Chapter)'.  8  out  of  10.