Cadaveris  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  an  occult  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "The  Ceremony  Of  Worshiping"  which  was  released  by  Heretic  Rex.

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  along  with  some  angry  black  metal  screams  and ritualistic  spoken  word  parts  are  also  used  briefly  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  melodic  direction.

  A  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  during  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  very  melodic  bringing  in  a  Swedish  influenced  style  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  death  metal  in  the  vocals  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  one  track  brings  in  a  brief use  of  ritualistic  soundscapes  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  and  melodic  chants  can  also  be  heard  briefly  in  the  background  and  clean  guitars  are  added  onto  the  last  track  for  a  few  seconds.

  Cadaveris  plays  a  style  of  occult  black  metal  that  is  very  raw  while  also  having  the  melodic  nature  of  the  Swedish  style,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Left  hand  Path,  and  Death  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Cadaveris  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  and  melodic  occult  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Worship To  Qayin"  and  "Black  Death".  8  out  of  10. 

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Ave!
A very successful year lies behind us. Currently there are some shows scheduled for spring this year, and for the summer we have a break to finish the upcoming record. I am also preparing a lot of handcrafted items and also organizing a small event (SAMHAIN CELEBRATION) at the end of autumn…so I am busy as usual.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the newer material?
The upcoming full-length "SECRET AMBROSIAN FIRE"  is a true Mosaic; there are just two real “black metal” tracks on it, the other ones are based on ritual percussion, post-punkish and neo-folkish influences – so I think it is consistent further development of the known style.
Lyrical it deals with regional tales around the “Hoerselberg” Mountain, a place where you hear the tortured souls deep down in the burning purgatory, the devil walks the earth and mother Hulda leads the wild hunt during the twelve nights. Next to this plant mysticism plays an important role on it, as well as the tria principia.

3. Your lyrics cover a lot of mysticism, occult and heathen topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the esoteric arts?
Mhhh not sure if “esoteric” is the right word for Mosaic. First of all, I think my music is a very narrating one – I tell stories, and the music is written very close to the atmosphere I want to evoke with my lyrics. It is right that we deal a lot with mysticism, occult and heathen topics – but more in a really personal view of mine. The lyrics of Mosaic are my studies of ancient mythology, alchemy, regional tales and history – abstract, metaphoric and bound together to create something personal, unique and new… like old poets did it in the past. I am highly inspired by the german lyrics of the 18th and 19th century - like the austrian poet Georg Trakl, who creates a surreal melancholy with a bittersweet morbidity - and next to him I love the blooming lyric of Joseph Eichendorff -  which stands in total contrast to Trakl. His lyrics are more positive but also feature a lot of melancholy and romanticism.
Mosaic is also highly referred to nature mysticism. I play a lot with the aesthetics of bones, plants and archaic customs and rites over the year. Mosaic is bound to the seasons; those are the main influences of the lyrics and music. They affect everyday life even if you do not recognize it and that is where Mosaic starts. I want to mediate a spree of nostalgic reminiscences and eerie feelings. That is what I want to create with Mosaic.

 4. I know that the band name came from a 'Wovenhand' album, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
The album of Wovenhand gave me the impulse to use this name. I love the atmosphere of this album; it is overall purely dark – but totally dedicated and reverent to God – that contrast is total fascinating. Back in time, I had a lot of ideas, concepts, and projects. But the day I founded Mosaic everything was melted together because I did not want to start over and over at point zero again – and so all ideas and concepts were bundled as MOSAIC. That name is just perfect, I do not have any musical boundaries with this name, and every creative matter can be a part of it – and that is why I love this name and why Mosaic sounds like it sounds.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Our stage performance is truly powerful and impulsive. I love to have real stage scenery like plants, candles, side and backdrops, incense and skulls. Often I pick up some plants around the venue and drape them around some microphone stands – to create my own world on stage. Then when we play - my bandmates are static to my left and my right, I am the dancer in between, the pulsating heart of MOSAIC.
All shows of MMXVI were really special for us. The first one was near a ruin somewhere in the woods on a mountain. That was very DIY, but the atmosphere was just splendid. Afterward, we played the Funkenflug – Summer Solstice Celebration – which was an event which is just unbeatable – that is pure dedicated nature mysticism – somewhere in the Alps.
At Party San Open Air we played on the tent stage, and a very short set, but the responses afterward was just incredible.
In autumn we played Phantoms of Pilsen, which was a quite successful too, I really enjoyed the audience there.
After this, we held our first organized event called Samhain Celebration, here in central Germany, in our hometown Gotha. This was pure magick too – a night to remember – and I am really looking forward to the second edition this year!

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yes, we are planning a 10 date European tour with our mates GRIFT in early October. We hope to announce the dates soon and visit a lot of places. I am still thinking about a more minimal line-up for a kind of more ritualistic shows, based on loops, ambient, neofolk – really personal and so on – I hope that I will find some time to prepare such kinds of shows too.

7.Your 2014 ep recently got re-issue this time as a full-length, can you tell us a little bit more about the extended the recording into a full length?
This decision was made because the first pressing is nearly sold out. Because we play more shows now, the decision was made to keep the Mosaic releases available, and the idea was born to re-release it as an A5 Book because I like the format a lot.
This gave me the possibility to include a lot more artwork, translations, and an in-depth interview. I love how this turned out in the end. It is a  jewel in my eyes – also because of the 32 minutes of additional material on it.  The chapters represent three totally different sides of winter; the first one is the beautiful side – the second one is the harsh side and the third one is the mystic side of winter. But these aspects are not bound to one of the single chapters – you will see that every aspect is present in all chapters – they are omnipresent within each other – you will find it out when you have soaked up the record.



8. On the new album you also had a few guests, can you tell us who they are and their contributions to the recording?
Yes, I finally wanted to create some songs that are real mosaics, based on many different musicians, so we have a lot of nationalities on it. From Sweden to Austria and the US as well as some German guys and ladies have contributed a lot to the new chapter on the re-issue.
On the closing track “Silver Nights” I had a lot of guests with me. Due to the song is a very long one (22.24 min) and tells a story of mother Hulda, a secret stranger, the wild hunt, old man winter and at lastly, his daughter the snowflake - it was more or less necessary. In the beginning, the snowflake is chanting; those vocals were performed by Maya -  a young lady, with a warm but also fragile voice – perfect for this scenery.
Overall the song is telling about the rise of the wild hunt, and at the end, the wild hunt finally storms in. For this I needed a lot of screams, howls, laughs and shrieks which were performed by E.H. of Wolfhetan, Erik of Grift, Barth of Our Survival Depends on Us and Leshiyas of Vivus Humare. It was truly necessary to reach the intended atmosphere I wanted to create on that track and for me personally, it turned out how I wanted it.
Another depth was created by Scorpios Androctonus (Acherontas, Crimson Moon, Ex-Melechesh, Ex-Zemial aso) (is also part of the band name? Not sure what this is) who performed bass guitar on two of the tracks. He is a true master of various instruments; I really look forward to working with him again on the upcoming MOSAIC full-length.
Also next to these gentlemen I had the neoclassic duo Nachtreich on the track “Vom ersten Schnee” doing some string performances at the end of the song.

9. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?
It is difficult to say what “Black Metal” fans think about Mosaic. Mosaic is not a typical Black Metal sounding band. I refer to it as “Black Metal” yes, but I guess, the listeners has to be a bit open-minded when they are listening to my music. But I can tell you that our fans give us so much great and personal feedback, and that is something that I really enjoy. It is like a boost to go ahead and craft more music, more unique artworks, and handcrafted items and so on. I do not want to create a kind of sell-out – I want goods that catch the interest of you listeners and were done with a lot of lifeblood – and I promise that every single thing is done with that and I guess everybody recognizes this – the dedication, the passion – my heart on fire.

10. What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that the band members are a part of?
There is a lot going on those days. Some new music of my side projects is finished and sent to the press and there are also some new tunes which will be captured quite soon.

My drummer’s main band WOLFHETAN recently finished their third full-length, which is currently in the artwork state. My bassist's main band INFAUST has also finished their new full-length, and the yet unannounced band of my guitar player has also a record nearly finished.
Next to this, my old bandmates of VIVUS HUMARE have started the songwriting for their second full-length record, and FARSOT has also finished a new full-length which should be out in late spring.

11. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I hope that the music will be more unique, with a lot of influences – also some electronic elements, or feature special and more unique instruments. That is something I really want to do within the next years.

12. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
The main influences of Mosaic are surely ABSU, ZEMIAL, AGATUS, PRIMORDIAL, EMPYRIUM and KATATONIA. Next to this, I listen to a lot of Neofolk, Ambient and Soundscape stuff like ROME, APOPTOSE, INNERES GEBIRGE, STURMPERCHT, and SOL INVICTUS to name just a few. But I also enjoyed some of the female fronted stuff like CHELSEA WOLFE, ANNA VON HAUSWOLFF, ZOLA JESUS and DARKHER. I also love bands that are totally out of everything or wove different genres into the extreme metal like TRIBULATION and CHAOS ECHOES or the stunning new EP of ZEMIAL (what the hell is going on with the greek masters?! – a real journey).

13. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for your questions. I hope I was able to give an insight behind the MOSAIC.
MIRA BILITAS NATURAE
Inkantator Koura on behalf of the elements

  Black  Bleeding  are  a  band  from  Belgium  that  has  had  an  album  reviewed  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  a  raw  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2005  demo  "The Awakening"  which  was  re-issued  as  a  mcd  by  Nihilistic  Holocaust.

   Movie  samples  start  off  the  demo  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats  and  death  metal  growls  while  black  metal  screams  are  also  added  onto  the  recording  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies.

  When  tremolo  picking  is  utilized  it  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  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  presented  on  the  recording  and  the  solos  also  bring  in  a  very  raw  yet  melodic  style  while  also adding  in  a  touch  of  old  school  death  metal  at  times  and  acoustic  guitars  along  with  a brief  use  of  synths  are  added  onto  the  last  track  which  is  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  On  this  recording  Black  Bleeding  took  a  raw  style  of  black  metal  and  mixed  it  in  with  a  more  brutal  style  of  death  metal  to  create  a  very  heavy  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  demo  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  gore,  demonic,  and  scientific  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Black  Bleeding  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "One  With  The  Universe"  and  "Demonic  Quantum  Boundaries".  8  out  of  120.

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

I “founded” Siechtum back in 2005 when i had my first riff which would become the intro of my first album. But i almost spend 10 years without releasing any stuff, just doing demos for myself – which are really crappy i have to admit. In the first days i had this stereotype themes like hatred, and unreflected satanism which i think many start with in their puberty-state. But i felt this doesn`t really fit to me for 100%. My education deals a lot with nature and so i had chosen to make these topics center of my concepts, but not in this Neo-Hipster Black Metal style. When you study nature and the role that mankind and yourself play in it – you realize that our lives are just a small glimpse of an eye in earths history and the individual life is worthless in the large scale. That is of course a quite nihilistic approach, but we`re talking about Black Metal, right? And of course Mankind depends on the natural environment – not the other way round.


2.So far you have released 3 albums, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on all of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

I think there is a clear development in the sound – although it`s recorded with the same equipment and software (I just added three more mics for the drums since the second album). I just changed the way of recording which is still on amateur-level. But i think i`m at a point that i found my sound, maybe i will even take a step back and do the drums in the style of the second album again. It`s important for me that everything sounds like it`s just coming out of the rehearsal room. Recording in the studio isn`t an option for me, because when you enter a studio you have to do a job, done under financial and time pressure. I also include the note on every record, that i use shitty-cheap equipment exclusively (for example all guitars are done with my small 30watts amp and my crappy amateur guitar – maybe i should change guitar-strings by time?). I think Black Metal isn`t about musicianship or technique but passion, sweat and blood you put in it.  

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?

I have chosen to call my music “Ecocentric Black Metal”. It should describe the opposite of anthropocentrism in the way i described it in the first part. Also – as a logical step – my concepts are strictly anti-christian (in the logical way this includes also judaism, islam and all religions that put a anthropocentric concept above). I often cite the Bible-vers Gen. 1:28 (about subduing the earth) cause in my opinion this is one of the most cruel and unreal Dogmas that has ever been stated. And claiming that a god, who creates man as his likeness – by the way i think it`s the other way round – has created this one species in the long evolution of the earth and universe, claiming that it (Homo sapiens s.) should subdue the myriads of species is just perverse and stupid in my opinion, especially when you see how dumb and arrogant mankind acts.
With this new album i explore that topic in the reflection of a pig in factory farming – sounds strange concerning Black Metal, but when you think about it, it makes perfectly sense when it comes to suffer, a justified hatred towards mankind and christianity. Also the title itself (“...durch die Augen einer gequälten Seele” means “seen through the eyes of a tortured soul”) is truly  blasphemic cause the christian theology (among others) claims that only humans have a soul. So what are these fuckers claiming that a feeling, thinking and acting live form like the pig on the cover doesn`t have a soul? Fuck them.


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

Siechtum means a sort of decay; originally it was just referring to the decay of our civilization or mankind in general – it wasn`t a really creative band name back when i started i have to admit. But concerning the new album it get`s a new form of definition – cause this time it deals with the physical and psychic decay of a individual.

5.On the albums you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to remain solos?

With the new album it was the first time with “humanoid” guest- vocals in some parts,  which a good friend of mine did. He also stands behind this topic and i felt his deep vocals would be a good affect behind my voice – and i really like the result. A “trademark” also may be that i include samples of animal voices on every album. Sometimes it`s really astonishing how it fits to the music and atmosphere – for example i recorded some toads (Bombina bombina) for my second album and this time it still gives me goose bumbs when i hear the pig sounds on the new Album. Otherwise i`m doing everything by my own – also the layout – cause i like the control and not to do any compromises. And the only one who i have to give account to is myself.

6.I have noticed that there was no websites or social media for the musical project, do you feel these things have destroyed the underground nature of the genre?

I can`t really estimate this because i was never part of the undergound or any scene. I grew up in a small town and later moving to an even smaller village nearby. Social media was never a part of this and i explored my Black Metal universe by my own. I think it`s the way Black Metal should be enjoyed - like listening to Darkthrone`s “Panzerfaust” roaming through the woods at night with a bag full of beer instead of twittering about how true somebody is.. In a way it`s strange when i imagine how bands sing about hatred, sorrow, misanthropy or isolation and the same time they`re happy about every like on Facebook. So for my project it would make no sense to present myself on social-media.


7.So far the albums have been released on 'Winterwolf' 'Northern Fog' and 'Depressive Illusions', do you feel these labels have been very supportive when it comes to getting your music out there heard?

I don`t know, working with a label is just a thing that has to be done, cause i don`t have the time and passion to deal with this stuff. There can be a lot of frustration and disappointment dealing with labels, also i really got fucked up by another one that isn`t mentioned here (So, may i say: “Fuck You Black Blood Records! Wasting my time for half a year!”?) On the other hand the wok with “Northern Fog” was quite good and professional but i think no label can really support my vision for 100%.

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

I`m not in contact with Black Metallers nor have i been part of a scene or something. I just have some good friends who listen to different genres and if i would need an honest response, i would reply to them. But in the end it`s me who makes the decisions and only when i`m pleased to 100% with the music, it`s worth to release it. But of course it`s nice to here if there`s anyone who likes the music. On the other hand i also like it when people find my music crappy, haha.

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

I will start to record a new Siechtum album this summer, this time with really new material cause the amount of song material on the further albums is based in my starting period from 2005-2010. I´ve also started a second Project called “Ökomisanthrop” which has a lot more black-thrash vibes in it – there i can realize my “Fuck Off” approach better. I hope the first EP can be released this year.

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?

I think the two most important bands, who also shaped my visual comprehension of Black Metal are Darkthrone and Agalloch (of course Agalloch isn`t what one would define as Black Metal, but they pushed the approach of old Ulver to new dimensions). When i first got in contact with extremer music – a keystone was Venom's “Black Metal” – the whole second wave of Norwegian Black Metal really cast a spell over me (and it still does). So i still love old Taake, Carpathian Forest, Gorgoroth or Hades for example cause the music has this dark nature-mystic in it – also there are some italian bands like Tenebrae In Perpetuum or Lorn who carry this spirit. But there are also more progressive bands that i love, like Agalloch, Alda, Primordial or Nocte Obducta (check them out if you don`t care about genre-borders).
I´m quite exploring the Thrash of the 80ties a little bit more right now, when the genres were not that fixed and many bands also had a blacker vibe in their music – check out early Excidium form Italy or Sacrilege from UK. And i really recommend some german BM-Albums like Lunar Auroras “Ars Moriendi” or “Perished And Forgotten” from Graven.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I`m a nature-boy and spend a lot of time outside, roaming through the woods (or what is left from them), drinking beer and listening to good music. Unfortunately you don`t have the freedom here in Germany to do real Trekking-tours cause it`s official not legal to camp outside, nether can you do a fire or something. Of course sometimes i do smaller Tours or larger ones in other countries. But it`s a pity in Germany,, cause there are a lot of good places, especially in north-eastern Germany where not so many people live. It really fucks me up when i imagine that you can`t even get water here outside, cause everything is spoiled with agro-chemicals or fertilizer. What a shame for a “civilized” country (as almost for the whole world) to sacrifice this natural goods for some economical values – as it stands in the fucking bible “Subdue the earth”. And yeah, another hobby of mine is being in rage about these environmental-topics and the fucking religions, haha.

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

Thank you for the support, it`s maybe one of a few opportunities for me to give some infos about my projects. There are two tracks from the new album on soundcloud and if anyone is interested or want to receive my music, contact me on Waheela666@gmx.de.
Or just send me money (ok, that was a joke).

Thanks and keep the black flame burning!

  Verwesung  are  a  solo  project  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  raw,  lo-fi  and  noisy  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2016  demo  "Crushing  Thy  Existence  !!"  which  was  released  by  Pahahenki  Productions.

  Angry  spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  demo  along  with  some  violence  before  adding  in  a  raw  raw  yet  powerful  bass  guitar  which  is  also  used  as  a  lead  instrument  and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  while  a  later  track  shows  the  vocals  going  into  a  grim  spoken  style  as  well  as  some  blast  beats  from  the  drums.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow, mid  paced  and  fast  parts   and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  90's  influences  while  the  bass  riffing  is  all  open  note   riffing  along  with  some  tremolo  picking  and  some  of  the  distortion  almost  has  a  harsh  noise  feeling  and  the  demo  also  remains  very  heavy  and  raw  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  and  the  bonus  tracks  are  very  harsh  sounding  instrumentals  with  a  great  amount  of  static.

  Verwesung  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  raw  and  lo-fi  sounding  while  also  being  very  harsh  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  German  and  cover  hatred,  death,  depression  and  vampirism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Verwesung  are   a  very  great  sounding  raw,  lo-fi  and  noisy  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blutbad  Im  Schatten  Des  Petersdom"  and  "Verrottetes   Daesin'.  8  out  of  10.