Manitous  Springs,  Colorado's  duo  Akhenaten  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  their  mixture  of  black,  death  metal  and   middle  eastern  folk  music  from  their  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2021  album  "The  Emerald  Tablets  Of  Thoth"  which  will  be  released  on  April  30th  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records  and  Dark  Terror  Temple.

  Ritualistic  bells  and  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  while  also  introducing  elements  of  middle  eastern  music  onto  the  album  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs.  Percussion's  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  recording  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls.

  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  more  of  an  old  school  extreme  metal  style.  At  times  the  music  also  captures  an  ethnic  orientated  atmosphere  along  with  some  synths  also  being  mixed  in  with  the  heavy  riffs  and  one  song  also  introduces  clean  playing  and  folk  instruments  into  the  music.

  A  couple  of  the  tracks  are  also  instrumentals  along  with  the  music  also  capturing  a  very  shamanistic  atmosphere  in  some  parts  of  the  recording  as  well  as  a  couple  of  the  songs  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  clean  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  when  the  music  finally  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  the  songs  focusing  more  on  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  musical  direction.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Egyptian,  Mesopotamian,  Mayan  Mythology,  Atlantean  Magick,  Occultism  and  Alchemy  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Akhenaten  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black,  death  metal  and  middle  eastern  music,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Halls  Of  Ament"  "The  Atlantean"  and  "Priests  of  the  Jackal".  8/3  out  of  10.

  Autumn,  Leaves,  Scars  are  a  band  from  Romania  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  depressive  form  of  post  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2021  album  "Unter  dem  Füße  der  trauerd  Winde"  which  will  be  released  on  April  24th  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  and  The  End  Of  Time  Records.

  A  very  dark  yet  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  and  high  pitched  depressive  black  metal  screams.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  lot  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  When  tremolo  picking  is  utilized  it  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling  while  the  songs  also  add  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  Elements  of  post  metal  are  also  mixed  into  some  parts  of  the  recording  along  with  a  couple  of  instrumental  also  introducing  clean  playing  and  fire  burning  sounds  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  shoegaze  influences  onto  the  album  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  synths  can  also  be  heard  on  another  instrumental  and  they  also  add  in  a  touch  of  ambient.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Romanian  and  cover  life,  love  and  negativity  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Autumn,  Leaves,  Scars  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  depressive  post  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Der  Ausweg"  "Der  Ort  wo  sein  Herz  liegt"  and  "Weinende  Welt".  8  out  of  10.

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

P: Well, Im PROSATANVS, vocalist and lyricist

N: Im NORTHEN… All instruments and Producer.

P: Ancestral Domains is a black metal band with occult devotion. The band's concept plays around the oldest and powerful spells , the attachment to Lucifer as the intangible flame of total knowledge and about deities much older than any religion or cult practiced in the modern world. We also asociate our concept with the universal ambiguity: Ancestral Domains is the magic, and the magic is Ancestral Domains. As above, so below.  The sense of the occult is that lead us to immaterilally trascend after leaving life as we assimilate it.

2.During the ends of 2020 you had released an album, musically how does it differ from your previous demo and single?

P: I want to make clear something: Ancestral Domains has just created a promo/demo with 3 songs called “Luciferi ( Promo I)” and actually “Ira et Exilium Fraternitas”(Our first full I). We know there was a supposed rehearsal circling ,I cell phone recording in a rehearsal room which somebody made in 2017 but it’s not from Ancestral Domains discography. Our current album differs a lot from the demo, the sound and composition quality is infinitely superior since Najash (a past member) and I recorded the demo we have not so much experience making this, neither the tools. Lyrics from the  album are much more direct and more conceptual and indeed the graphic art , I consider we have evolved to a unespected point. Another great difference is that the demo was recording in two weeks while the album was a job of a whole year.

N: I joined Ancestral Domains in 2019 in an attempt to make a group of 4 individuals. It did not work, Prosatanvs and I followed him without caring about anything or anyone. Musically I only did what with nature came out of me. I did not sit down to think too much about the type of riff or what type of scales am I going to use? ... no ... I just let myself go and responded to what the music asked me as it came out. What it was, it was an incredible learning process, because we did not have money to pay for a recording studio, what I did was sit down and try to learn to improve the sound, that was a task of almost a year.Obviously I was guided in important things, like the name of the band, the grammar used in the lyrics, the lyrics themselves. It was a whole year process, between releasing the songs, recording them, mixing them, mastering them and finally releasing them. It is a strong process, Prosatanvs and I learned to see what we really wanted for the group in the professional aspects and well, here we continue and we will continue to make noise all over the world.

3.A lot of your lyrics covert Luciferian, Occult and Alchemy themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the dark arts?

P: The esotericism is a very important part in the band members life , I consider that the portal to the dark arts no one ever finds it but that is manifested before you if you were born to walk this path. In my personal situation I have been in this doctrine for more than two decades. Everything else about our interest in black magic is reflected in the lyrics and the concept we have created.

4 Originally the band was called 'Agalariept', what was the cause of the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ancestral Domains?

P: When we started the band we were aware that it was a temporary name since as all we know black metal bands with names taken from demons abounds. We choose this name in the meanwhile because of the power that he represent leading legions of demons and the strictly meticulousness of his invocation. Ancestral Domains can be a simple name but it covers many things since we refers to ancient civilizations in which the esotericism was the supreme law, and as I mentioned before, to deities older than any known religion. Also it's not an exploited name. In those remote times were written the most effectives grimoires. Some of this texts dissapeared without leaving a trace. 

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover?

P: I will explain it in synthesis: the cover art is a part of the painting titled " the fall of the damned" by Peter Paul Rubbens (Anno MDCXX). What you see in the illustration are us: the fraternity of anger and exile, the damned legion of Lucifer, our guide and master.

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

P:  We have focused more on creating the music than playing live (which is not to say that we will not to do it). We have performed in 3 concerts, our debut was in Aguascalientes (México) in wich we met a receptive and haunted audience. It was a great experience and we would repeat it with pleasure. The next two concerts we shared stage with bands such as Enthroned and Master's Hammer respectively in Guadalajara ( México). In these concerts we had some obstacles but we go up on stage to earn the respect of the audience. And we get it.

7.The album was released on Marwolearh Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

N: Marwolaeth Records is an independent company based in Wales, UK. It is directed by our friend Josh Thomas. We were taken by surprise, we did not expect to receive the support for Ancestral Domains. We are proud to work with people like him. We highly recommend following the Bandcamp page: Marwolaeth Records for more official information about us and other incredible bands from all over the world.

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

P: That' something that surprised us at first. We have received great reviews and oppinions by the media , labels, zines and of course by the adepts that little by little  joined us to the doctrina. Countries such as UK, USA, France, Poland, Brazil, Serbia and more, all of them have received our music in a very good way so we aspire to become a worlwide evil horde. México it's not an exception and also is part of the fraternity.

N: in fact, we did not expect such a response from so many countries on this doomed planet. It gave us too much encouragement to continue creating, obviously, but it also filled us with strength to make the second material, which by the way, we are already working and improving all the learnings of our first full lenght, we improved both the lyrics and the music and production. So let's see what happens ...

9.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?

N: For now I'm only working with EXAVERSUM, another Brutal Black Metal project. It is to keep making music or to go crazy. But let see what happen, no one knows. For now, i feel very happy and full of joy with all the sound that we are creating.

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

N: We don't know, but definitely making better records, making better songs, there will be time to worry about playing live, which really doesn't concern me that much. We are worried about leaving good material, that without a doubt, but as I said, let's see what happens.

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

P: There are many influences: : from Burzum, Mayhem, Bathory, Gorgoroth to Opera IX, Noenum, Limbonic art, Summoning... In my personal situation I am a fan of lo-fi demo tapes so it's part of my day by day, bands like Sanguine Relic, Moon (aus), Burning Apparittion of the Master. Also atmospheric black metal bands such as Mesarthim, Lustre, Mare Cognitum ( these guys are incredible), and finally, another genre that I explore and listen much nowadays is the Dungeon Synth/ Dark ambient ( In Slaughter Natives, Aghast, Hexentanz, Old Sorcery, Eternal Fear, Secret Stairways, and more).

N: I’ve been listen to Trelldom, Obtained Enslavement, Kvist, the last two albusm of Gorgoroth (Infernus is a very important Guitar player), Mayhem, Angel Corpse, Mgla, Kriegsmaschine  Darkthrone, God Seed, Opera IX, Abigail Williams, Satyricon’s old and new stuff,  Graveland, Taake, Mondocane, Beherith, Luciferian Rites,  and our friend Islender… in fact I like all types and genres of darkened music.

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

N: Thanks a lot fo this great interview that we enjoyed. Remember to follow us at  our official social media web as: ANCESTRAL DOMAINS OFFICIAL.

P:  Support the ritualistic magic doctrina and reember the seal!

Prosatanus - Northen

Ancestral Domains

 I.S.W.S

Date: 03/31/2021 | Band: Antrisch | Members: Maurice Wilson [MW] - lyrics & vocals

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

MW: Currently we're working on our 2nd expedition while waiting for the release of the first one.

2.Recently you have released your first ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

MW: The official digital release is still to come, it's the 8th of April. Our general route of march can be labeled as Atmospheric Black Metal, but we spice it up with ambient sounds typically used for Djent, Doom and groove parts in order to broaden the horizon.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

MW: Our leitmotif is the impact that the most extreme parts of the planet have on humans,  mentally as well as physically. It's kind of a stress-field between the heights of the world and the depth of man which we narrate and set to music by retelling historical expeditions.

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

MW: Antrisch derives from Austro-Bavarian dialect and means "eerie, strange or uncanny", a term which perfectly illustrates the very core of the band's identity.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?

MW: It's a still picture taken from Hans Ertl's documentary "Nanga Parbat" from 1953. The way Ertl is abstracting the rope party by filming them against the dazzling sunlight and thus turning them into shady moving spectres perfectly symbolizes what Antrisch is about.

6.Does the band have any plans to do any live shows once the pandemic ends?

MW: So far we don't have concrete plans about presenting our material live, but it's not impossible. We don't feel the urge to play live at any cost, but with the right circumstances, maybe.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

MW: Our first EP will be released completely by ourselves, that's why we chose a digital release for now.We'll see what the future holds for us.

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

MW: Quite well so far. Since it is not out officially there were just a few press commentaries, but "public reactions" are yet to come. We received a quite positive echo so far.

9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

MW: Our general concept is tho limit the outputs. It's not our aim to release full length albums only for the sake of being full length. Currently it feels right to tell a story in five episodes. It might be possible that the songs will extend, so that we might extravagate the "EP character", but for the forthcoming expeditions this procedure is laid down.

10.What are you currently listening to nowadays?

MW: Not so much current stuff I'm afraid. I enjoy listening to the music of Jesper Kyd and Vangelis; when it comes to current Metal albums I should name Thy Catafalque's "Naiv", Grima's "Rotten Garden" and Kanonenfieber's "Menschenmühle".

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

MW: Mountain hiking, travelling, art & architecture/visiting art museums, history & prehistory

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

MW: Thanks for the benevolent review. Keep your eyes open and your binoculars polished: After the expedition is before the expedition. Cheerio!

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

1- Greetings ... thank you for your interest and respective interview for the Morte Sacra project. I am Phobus Espiritus Malignus a self-taught. I don't consider myself a musician but an amateur composer. I never thought about having a solo project but a band, and Ruina Humana Pestis, although it seems strange, is already 20 years old and the 6 themes were taken from another Phobus Perpetus project and is the summary of a life and home recordings on cassette . My taste and interest in music was born at the age of 4, playing by ear on the keys of an old Bontempi air organ, with a very characteristic sound. after 2 years I absorbed the first metal band and it stayed in my ear, but it was at school and in adolescence that I identified myself with the noise and power of Heavy and Trash metal, I only deepened later on to death metal and the preferred style until when I was 19 years old, and without thinking or looking back, I had the idea of ​​buying the first guitar, a cheap Maison, where I also learned to play alone and to see bands playing live, I later met a bass player and later a drummer and we rehearsed but it turned out not to be a serious thing, both on their part and mine, for a lot of alcohol and other personal distractions or reasons, the band never moved on. but I never conformed and in 2008 i bought the first Pc, i learned to work with musical programs, i perfected the way i play the guitar and i bought a new Yamaha organ and a borrowed bass, i made the first digital demos with a programmed drums which i hate the sound for sounding like plastic, and only in 2012 I managed to buy a second-hand Tama rockstar drum kit with the basic hardware, which was restored and where once again I learned to make some rhythms for this project, it was the year that I recorded this album, with a roland cube30 and a jackson guitar RR1 with very rusty strings and no interface, just like the drums I used a shure ovehead in the snare drum and two more micros from the Chinese brand, the three connected to only one cable, by spacing in front of the drum and toms without interface, which was on a single track and limited to better equalize

2.Recently you have released your first full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you have went for on the recording?

 2. it couldn't be any other, especially since I have always lived in a remote Christian-minded village, 3 km from the Alhadas circle, Portugal, where I met their identities, (Corruptor and Morphine). where rituals were performed and with whom I had improvisational jam sessions and original themes, black metal was more popular with them, sharing on pirated cassettes and CDs, and for example the founding members of (Israthoum). So ,in 2001 I ended up completing the skeleton and composing with the virtuoso guitarist (W.uR - Monte Penumbra / Ab Imo Pectore) the opening theme Entranhas Demoniacas. it was there, still without me knowing that Morte Sacra took shape and gave the first breath, since I welcomed the Black Metal that is ingrained in my blood and is certainly the purest style to express myself in music and what I have in mind

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with your music?

3-- well it is a satire to the religious believers that surround us, the Entranhas Demoniacas, the lyric talks about sinful believers who end up casting and practicing spells and witchcraft against other people, even in today's times and to those who are jealous or want their own evil, already Morte Sacra is the total criticism and invocation to the extinction of the church. and their crimes committed over 20 centuries, sins such as pedophilia, torture, punishment, falsehood, morality, lust and raising money for their welfare and not for the sheep that follow them.Tempestade Sangrenta , is based more on the forces of nature when it manifests itself and causes the death and mass destruction of the Human (plague) species,Peste Negra talks about the same, the plague that decimated half of humanity, believing the church at the time that it would be witchcraft made by women they called Witches and burned in bonfires to serve as an exorcism basically an attack on false morality ,the evil surround us the black nature and plagues, Spirits, Witchcraft, invocation to bloody chaos and Death 

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

4- - Morte Sacra is born from the lyrics of the same theme of this album. and when I wrote the lyrics, I understood that this would be the name of the project, which basically invokes the destruction and extermination of the church as I had previously responded, this is an attempt to control whoever wants to be free is an obsolete aberration. even more nowadays and since I was born I’m sick of seeing popes rise to power in the Vatican, and they all come with the same soft words, as if they were saints, and the most ironic thing is that they don’t want to end pedophilia in church itself, an aberration against vulnerable children who cannot defend themselves, and in the end nothing is ever done until another case comes up, here in Portugal we have Fatima, and an invention by 3 illiterate shepherd children who ended up claiming they had seen a miracle, the church soon took advantage and started to do one of the biggest business of today without paying taxes in this country, where thousands of faithful leave the money, but this is just one of the countless lies around the world

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover?

5- it was a futuristic image that crossed my mind, many bones and skulls of disciples, priests, bishops with the beheaded pope himself, wearing the Miter with a perched raven, to symbolize the Church's own death

6.With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?

6-it would be nice to find a drummer who could give something more and a bass player to play live, you never know, I really don't like people very much, especially when they constantly change their mind, they don't know what they want or just like to appear. And to play Morte Sacra, which is a ritual, you have to feel what you are doing and not be playing just for playing and showing the musical gifts or clothes you have on (posers). I believe that it will be difficult to work with someone at the moment unless someone from the Alhadas circle but only I rest around these parts, but I also don't need to, and even on the hardest path I end up doing everything myself

7.The album was released on 'Nomad Snakepit Productions', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

7- in fact I am a little isolated and disconnected from the musical world, or from the bands that are at the top, and I still know less about publishers, I in 2012 had even sent this project to contacts within the black metal environment and who could find a publisher to launch the demo, but it came to nothing and I ended up almost giving up. In the middle of last year as soon as I was leaving a local bar, I came across someone I hadn't seen in a long time, I ended up drinking another beer and catching up with the conversation and ended up touching Morte Sacra, when he asked me if I continued to play or record something new. - I replied that very little, and from what I had done, I had already sent more than a decade ago, so unexpectedly, I received a phone call after a month, asking if I wanted to edit the project, I felt like a child I just received a new toy, so from the beginning of autumn until last November I worked on the demo, which ended up becoming an album, I know the Dutch publisher Nomad Snakepit for less than half a year, I am eternally grateful for what they did with Morte Sacra, for that I realized are competent, quick to work and as good professionals as they are, I think they are on the right track and have everything to be an even bigger publisher

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

8-well, for now i have few fans hehehe, but who really likes black metal and is on the subject, i have received good reviews on the themes, and who like the composition of them, but strange as it seems the few fans i have and although be sung in Portuguese are few, and mostly from other countries like Usa, Mexico, Hungary, England and Holland and I know very little about it

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

9- to tell you the truth, I'm already 42 years old and I see myself in exactly the same place without major changes or expectations, nothing will change or even very little, just with two or three more albums edited, even more now that I have one home studio with all the material I need, or whatever it is possible to do, and that's just what goes through my head

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?

10- well i'm like an old elder, some doom metal heavy metal death metal and black metal, of course, I usually hear what was good and what is good remains, of course I heard BURZUM / EMPEROR - / Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism - Pure Holocaust / Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas - Wolf's lair abyss / Thy Serpent / Darkwoods My Betrothed / Satyricon / Obscenus /DARKTHRONE / Gorgoroth / Varathron / SWORDMASTER / Dissection / watain / THORNS/ Dodheimsgard / Craft, e.t.c - something new I believe that nothing but BØLZER

11.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

11- it is a mystical parallel, since there have always been rituals of witches, sorcerers or healers, for good and evil and long before Christianity and which were forbidden by them, I often wondered where this teaching came from and how it is possible and how it has been passed down through generations, or how the elders knew things that today still have no explanation, or are still hidden from science and from everyone, and the fear of the unknown that this still causes, from simple ones prayers for the evil eye, or a circle of people who call for a spirit or more to communicate with him, but some are not true and only a distorted or manipulative sick brain, but the sacrifice of humans by higher forces has always been what fascinated me the most and I believe that if there is enough concentration everything is possible and I am the proof of that, by being a conductor and a sponge of negative energies

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

12- I think the world is entering the final abyss at a great pace, like Black metal in general, which is becoming commonplace and that there are more and more uneducated bands and fans, most bands are a counter product made for selling like faces covered with masks and caps, and which are nothing more than a poorly made and absurd recipe, sometimes from older master pieces, are all things that did not exist in my time, I think it’s enough, for example, empty lyrics, tutorials and the competition of who is the fastest and most technical drummer / guitarist and bassist, end up forgetting the sonorous and dissonant melody,

 black metal composition, involvement, atmosphere and sharp brute force