Ov  Mhum  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  started  out  as  being  dark  ambient  but h ave  evolved  more  in  an  atmospheric  mixture of  black,  doom  metal  and dark  ambient  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  single  "Death's  Relief"  which  was  released  by  Sepulchral  Silence  Records.

  Ambient  style  synths  start  off  the  song  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  melodic  guitar  leads  are  added  into  the  music  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  to get  more  heavier  along  with  some  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  lot  of  atmospheric  and  depressive  elements  while  the  slower  riffs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  the  vocals  also  get  very  deep  and  grim  at  times.

  Ov  Mhurn  evolved  with  their  music  keeping  the  dark  ambient  elements  while  also  adding  in  more  atmospheric  black  metal  and  doom  metal  influences  which  also  takes  their  style  into  a  heavier  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and d eath  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ov  Mhurn  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  atmospheric  black  metal,  doom  and  dark  ambient  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  8  out  of  10.

  Aka  Funeral  are  a  band  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  very  raw  and  melodic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Stormy  Tide"  which  was  released  by  Sepulchral  Silence  Records.

  A  very  fast  and  raw  black  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  while  the  vocals  are  high  pitched  screams  and you  can  also h ear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  style.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  lot  of  second  wave  Swedish  black  metal  influences  from  the  90's  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  classical  music  elements  before  returning  back  to a  heavier  direction.

  Aka  Funeral  plays  a  style  of  black  metal that  is  very  raw  yet  melodic  at  the  same  time,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  yet  powerful  at  the  same  time  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  Nietzsche  philosophy.

  In  my  opinion  Aka  Funeral  are  a  very  great  sounding raw  and  melodic  black  metal b and  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Stormy  Tide"  "Ecce  Homo"  and  "Narrow's  Soul".  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?

- Bathyum is a “one man” UK Black Metal band that has been compared with early Darkthrone, Satyricon and Immortal. I started around 2013/2014 with some rough demos that eventually evolved into the songs you hear on the debut album.

2. In February you had released your first album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

- The musical sound is very heavily inspired by the “Second Wave” of Norwegian Black Metal bands but I have taken a more modernized approach on this classic sound.

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

- Lyrical/Song topics generally include anti-religion, suicide, (Satanic!) Sodomy and general hatred for myself and this world we live in. One of the songs on the album (titled “Black Exorcism”) is about the life and death of Anneliese Michel and uses samples from the actual exorcism ritual.

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

- The name “Bathyum” has two meanings. The first is based of the name “Bathin” who is a Duke of Hell. The second is wordplay on the band names “Bathory” and “Burzum” as these two bands are a massive influence to me.

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

- I do prefer usually to work solo but as far as working with other musicians to create music, I may consider this in the future. I have had a lot of interest from people asking if I will ever perform any Bathyum live. This is something I have thought about that could potentially happen in the future, but right now I would rather focus on creating more music as a solo act.

6. Heathen Tribes, are re-issuing your album, what are your thoughts on the final product?

- Heathen Tribes have been brilliant in the driving force to bring the music of Bathyum to the world. Having “Rituals of the Damned” on a physical format of music should push the album a lot further than through just digital only production.


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

- Feedback has been great so far. I have had people from around the world leaving me comments and constructive feedback about my music. Many reviewers/bloggers have also expressed an interest in the album with mainly positive reviews throughout.

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

- I hope to become more diverse in my song writing. I love it when a song can take you to one place then completely change direction without warning. My main aim for Bathyum is to craft a completely unique sound that cannot be compared to anything else (whilst still retaining the classic Black Metal feeling).

9. 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?

- Bands that have inspired me are generally pretty varied, from “Darkthrone” to “Type O Negative”, from “Emperor” to “The Smiths”. I am a firm believer that dark music doesn’t necessarily need screaming and a blast beat. I am currently listening to a lot of 80s Goth Music such as Bauhaus, Depeche Mode, Sisters of Mercy etc. Even though these are not necessarily “Black Metal” they will, as with every life experience, influence me for the future.

10. How would you describe your views on Satanism?

- Satanism is something that does interest me a lot but not as far too actually consider myself a Satanist. The ideology of “LaVeyan” Satanism is a thing of beauty; to “worship yourself” as “God” seems to be the only logical religion in my opinion.

11. What are some of your non musical interests?

- I am a big fan of professional wrestling. This has interested me from a very young age. I became so obsessed with the sport that I trained to be a pro wrestler and wrestled some local shows in 2013/2014. Due to injury and wanting to pursue other paths, I decided to end this journey at the beginning of 2015.

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

- Thank you to everyone who has listened to the album (I hope it wasn’t too disappointing…). Keep an eye out for the CD release through Heathen Tribes and keep supporting underground metal. 

  Allaxull  are  a  band  from  Mexico  that  plays  a  very  old  school  and  satanic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Evangelio  De  Brujos"  which  was  released  by  Sepulchral  Silence.

  Demonic  growls  along  with  some  synths  and  classical  guitars  start  off  the  album  and  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  a  ritualistic  feeling  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  along  with  some  dark  yet  melodic  guitar  leads  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  the  vocals  are  high  pitched  black  metal  screams.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  riffs  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  some  songs  also  mix  the  synths  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  recording  to  give  the  music  more  of  an  atmospheric  feeling  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  black  metal  feeling.

  A  lot  of  90's  second  wave  influences  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  released  more  than  20 years  ago  while  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Allaxull  plays  a  style  of  satanic/occult  black  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  also  brings  in  a  very  raw,  melodic  and  ritualistic  style,  the  production  sounds  very  dark,  raw  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Spanish  and  cover  Satanism,  ocucltism  and  Left  hand  Path  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Allaxull  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  style  satanic/occult  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Evangelio  De  Brujos"  "El  Ultimo  Angel"  and  "Goecia".  8  out  of  10.

  This  is  a  review  of a  split  album  between  Spain's  Gathering  Darkness  and  Canada's  Tyrant's  Blood  called  "The  Light  Won't  Save  You"  which  was  released  by  Hectatombe  Records  in  2014  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Gathering  Darkness  a  band  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  death  metal  growls  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  songs  also  bring  in a   decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while t he  solos  and  leads  bring  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  style  and  high  pitched  screams  are  also  used  at  times  and  there  is  also  a  brief use  of  spoken  word  samples  and  all  of t heir  songs  stick  to  a  heavy  and  brutal  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death  and  suffering  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gathering  Darkness  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Devoured  By  Earth"  and  "Through  The  Oceans  Of  Misery".  

  Next  up  is  Tyrant's  Blood  a  band  that  plats  a  mixture  of  black,  war,  death  and  thrash  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy,  chaotic  and  old  school thrash  sound  that  evolves  into  war  metal  once  the  music  speeds  up  and  adds  in  vocals  while  the  vocals  also  bring  in a   great  mixture  of  both death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  dark  sounding  melodies.

   All  of  the  musical  instruments  sound   very  powerful  and  the  solos  and  leads  remain  true  to  a  war  metal  style  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  heavy  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  raw,  heavy  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  violence  and  war  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Tyrant's  Blood  are  a  very  great  sounding  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  "Destroyer"  and  "Fragments  Of  A  Dying  World".

  In  conclusion  i  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  war,  black  and  death  metal.  8  out  of  10.