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ARCHIV HATE interview magazine. Supporting musicians, art, tattoo, photographers, skaters. Dedicated to friends.
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LIISI PUSS (EE) DAVIS BURMEISTERS (LV)
ARTURS VILMANIS (LV)
ARCHIVHATE@GMAIL.COM
HTTP://ARCHIVHATE.BLOGSPOT.COM
HTTP://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ARCHIV.HATE
Somewhere in the middle of the February 2008 I called good friend of mine. I had decided to make my first tattoo and he was kind enough to help me fulfill my dream. As of now I remember that day meeting my old friend who I had not seen for many years. I had no experience in getting tattoo’s, nor hadn’t seen any of my friends getting them. Uncertainty with heavy hangover resulted in indifference, yet enduring interest about this tattoo process. Still, I felt that this is the moment where my life started to change. There was an amplifier and a huge Radiotehika loudspeaker in the room. Rosetta “Wake/Lift” was set as a soundtrack for my life changing process. It started with the “Wake”. Yeah, I was really surprised how painful it was. Definitely, life changes come through pain, in every possible way. I started to become addicted to this pain. Heavy tattooing has followed during couple years – making, remaking and improving. Pain! The best part of being tattooed was exploring new sounds. Friend of mine shared his music collection’s best releases every time we met. It started with already mentioned Rosetta, then Cult of Luna, Isis, Old Man Gloom Cave-in, Tesa, Neurosis, YOB, Minsk, Nadja, Kongh, Mastodon, US Christmas and many more. I just can’t name them all. Some of you might remember one of the best blogs in the world – Sludge Swamp (RIP). There was EVERYTHING! Sludge Swamp served as inspiration for many bloggers and it was incredible source for music exploration. I also was inspired by almighty Sludge Swamp, but I decided to make a different kind of an approach – share only free of charge legally downloadable music provided by artists. I made my call. I called it - ARCHIV HATE. ARCHIV HATE founded in January, 2011
SLAVES BC HYDRA HEAD RECORDS
BENEATH OBLIVION MONSTER ALPHABET
DARK OMEN RECORDS/DEPRAVATION VON DRAKUS
MOST WANTED RELEASES FALL’12
CONTENT:
One Eyed Morse - moustache wax and custom designed t-shirts, hoodies, hats etc. Also vintage western and biker apparel.
If you're interested in hot-rods, cowboys, mysticism and imperial moustaches, then this brand is for you. One Eyed Morse connects the sacred geometry with V8 engines and moustache-aided levitating
gentlemens with afromammoths.
FREE shipping worldwide.
www.oneeyedmorse.com
INTRODUCE US TO SLAVES BC. We're just a group of
dudes that share a love of music. Jason plays bass with
lots of fuzz (from his Sanford & Sonny Bluebeard). Sean
plays guitar with his beard. Rick has a hundred guitars but
usually just plays one…for recording (Gibson Les Paul), for
shows (Gibson SG), for practice (Fender Telecaster with a
Dimarzio Tone Pro pickup), you get the idea... Josh
screams until he throws up or passes out. And Stephen
bangs his drums... and sometimes plays them. IT’S NOT A
SECRET THAT YOU HAVE FREE SPOT IN SLAVES BC LINE-
UP. YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A NEW DRUMMER. STILL
LOOKING AND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR? Yes.
(Don't tell Stephen) Just kidding. We're very happy with
how fast he's learned our songs. He's a great guy and
most importantly he's reliable. I MUST ADMIT THAT I’M
PRETTY IMPRESSED WITH “THIS WORLD SHALL PASS
AWAY” DEMO. IT’S ONLY A DEMO, BUT IT’S .. IT’S A KICK-
ASS DEMO! IS IT A SELF-RECORDED? Thank you! The
songs came together really naturally. Each practice
someone has a new riff or makes one up or has some
sort of creative idea. We still can't stop making new songs.
Josh's Dad recorded us in his personal studio. We call him
Dr. Weedbeast aka The Wizard because he's just magical
behind the boards. “BELIEVER'S RESPONSE” AND
“LUCIFER BOUND” ARE THE SONGS WHICH I LIKE THE
MOST FROM YOUR DEMO. CAN YOU NAME ONE OF
YOUR FAVORITE SONGS FROM THIS DEMO RELEASE?
We all have our personal favorites but we all agree that
we enjoy “Hide Us, O' Death” quite a bit. We had a lot of
fun making it and once we had all the parts organized, I
think we played the ending over one hundred times… and
then played it slower and slower a hundred more.
SLAVES BC ARE WORKING ON A NEW MATERIAL. WHAT
CHANGES CAN WE EXPECT IN SOUNDING & STYLE?
We've become more comfortable playing together and
have a more focused direction on our own style and what
we want to create. You'll hear a lot of the same elements
that make Slaves BC songs what they are, but with a lot
more influence of black, stoner and doom metal forming
the foundations of the songs. DOES RECORDING
PROCESS DIFFER FROM THE DEMO RECORDING
SESSION? THIS TIME IT SHOULD BE MORE
COMPLICATED, RIGHT? Actually, we don't know yet.
We're going in to record at Very Tight Recordings (Code
Orange Kids, Heartless) on October 6th and 7th, and it
will be our first experience in a professional studio. WILL
THERE BE SONGS INCLUDED FROM “THIS WORLD
SHALL PASS AWAY” DEMO TO THE UPCOMING RELEASE?
No. This World Shall Pass Away is still being worked on,
and it will be its own full-length album, separate from the
new stuff. WHAT INSPIRES BAND FOR THE LYRICS AND
TITLES OF THE SONGS? The lyrics on This World Shall
Pass Away come directly from the Book of Revelation. It is
basically a concept album that tells the story of Revelation
from the viewpoint of different people that are
experiencing it. The new stuff will reflect some of the
ideas found in the Book of Ecclesiastes. WHAT ABOUT
ARTWORK - WILL THERE BE THERE? Josh has done most
of the artwork for Slaves BC and will continue to do so.
There are artists that we would love to do work for us.
Jacob Bannon would be a dream. NAME THOSE SPECIAL
RELEASES OR EVENTS WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO DO
WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW – SLAVES BC? We
have all had a passion for music from early on. So
we've always been involved in music in one way or
another. Also, whiskey.
WHAT BANDS ARE YOU LISTENING TO DAILY? PLAYING
GIGS WITH MENTIONED BANDS? TOUR PLANS FOR
SLAVES BC THIS YEAR, NEXT YEAR? We haven't made
any plans to tour yet. We're mainly focused on recording
right now. So far we've played with Cousin Sleeze,
the recently reunited Once Nothing, and The Atlas
Moth. The shows keep getting better and better.
We're super stoked for an upcoming show with
Nachtmystium, Jarboe, and Weapon. Jason has been
listening to some new stuff like Fister, Grime, Dopelord,
Dopethrone, and a lot of old stuff like Cream, Taste,
Josefus, Blue Cheer, Blind Willie McTell, Son House and
older Blues and Rock bands. Josh has been jamming to
Converge, Electric Wizard, Graveyard, Watain,
Nachtmystium, and Lord Mantis. And political news talk
radio shows. Which is a mistake. Sean doesn't listen to
music. He spends most of his time grooming his beard in
silence and tending to his zen garden. But if he were to
listen to music, it would probably be a lot of Dog Fashion
Disco, Knives Out, Lamb Of God, The Chariot, Neutral
Milk Hotel, Amanda Palmer, Deftones, and Portishead.
Rick has been listening to an assortment of things lately.
The last four things he played in his car are Elliott Smith,
At the Drive-In, Hopsin, and The Smashing Pumpkins. A
whole lot of late '90s alternative music as well.
MAYBE THERE IS SOMETHING MORE WHAT YOU
WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOUR FANS? We're all on a
constant search for new music and hope all of you are
too. Don't be afraid to research music history and visit
music blogs like Archiv Hate, Metal Sucks, and Cvlt Nation
and explore your mind.
SLAVES BC
http://www.facebook.com/SlavesBC
http://slavesbc.bandcamp.com
…The decision to pull the plug has not been an easy one, and in some ways is a not a choice at all. The simple fact of the matter is we've been running on empty for a while now and cannot afford to keep our doors open for much longer. Years of imbalance between creative ideals and financial realities, personal problems amongst the label operators, an unwillingness to compromise our aesthetic standards, a tendency towards releasing challenging (i.e. unmarketable) artists, and the steady decline of the music industry in general, are amongst the chief reasons for our inability to continue. It is a harsh but undeniable reality, and one which we are attempting to confront with as much integrity and grace as is afforded by the circumstances. There is no way to sum up nearly 20 years of incredibly important music, experiences, and evolution other than to say a big heart felt "thank you", and that we hope this closing will provide an opening into other even more positive and rewarding experiences for all of us and all of you who have been a part of our shared experience. For now we bid you all a very fond farewell....
-Aaron Turner 09/10/12
As a look back at the history of Hydra Head Records, ARCHIV HATE
magazine has selected significant records, released by record label. These
albums are not sorted by relevance and all of these records, to author
confidence have been significant in the history of the record label.
XASTHUR – A GATE THROUGH BLOODSTAINED MIRROR (RE-ISSUE, 2008) Re-issue of Scott “Malefic” Corner, one-man black metal project, first album. Most depressive artist issued
by Hydra Head. Release held the best traditions of black metal - a lo-fi, dark shades, depression, suicidal behavior (considered to be affected in one case), ambience, at the same time without Satanism, paganism or racial parity properties. Heavy influenced by Burzum and early Graveland. The album was released 2003, only in 150 copies. Over time several record labels re-issued this release, including the Hydra Head. Hydra
Head issued 4 more Xasthur records - Subliminal Genocide (2006), Defective Epitaph (2007), All Reflections Drained (2009). Demo material recorded in 2005 was re-issued via Hydra Head in 2010. Xasthur ceased in
2010 and created a new project Nocturnal poisoning.
OLD MAN GLOOM – CHRISTMAS (2004) Sludge supergroup made up of members from bands like ISIS, Cave-in, CONVERGE, Zozobra. Fourth, the
most valuable album of the Old Man Gloom marks a new approach to the sludge genre. Extremely atmospheric and heavy record. This record will appeal to Cult of Luna and U.S. Christmas worshippers.
Aaron Turner to have one say on Old Man Gloom - one of the most engaging projects I have been involved with both musically and visually.
Issued with Hydra Head Records subsidiary label Tortuga, where you will find other records - Meditations in B (1999), Seminar II: The Holy Rites of Primitivism Regressionism (2001), Seminar III: Zozobra (2001),
Christmas Eve I and II + 6 (2003), NO (2012).
JESU – CONQUERE (2007) Calm melodies with heavy rifs and a variety of ambient insertions. Like the Pelican, clean post-metal
definition. With this record Jesu set a sound definition for genre. Later Jesu focused more on electronic sounds, multiple textures, mixing sound with forms, characteristic to post-rock. Band has released several splits with Envy, Eluvium, Battle Of Mice. Hydra Head issued the album Jesu (2004) and several EP’s. Last
one is Post Ascension (2011).
TORCHE – MEANDERTHAL (2008) Drone, punk, stoner, sludge - all combined with a good dose of humor and a powerful sound. A vivid record that will appeal to the postpunk, as well as Sunn O))) fans. Torch musical genre often enters extreme cases,
that is why diversity is extremely strong. Hydra Head released Torche's EP On the EP Healer/Across The Shields (2009). In April 2012 Torche released a new studio full length Harmonicraft (Volcom
Entertainment).
CAVE-IN – ANTENNA (2003) One of the most prominent Hydra Head issued recordings (although the main publisher of the album RCA). Material includes a very large diversity of sounding with powerful performance. Melody interspersed with
serious riffs, aggression with smooth chants, creating an interesting and even original set of alternative and heavy music synthesis. Cave-in was heard around the places with the pieces comparable to radio
singles and the band performed shows with the Foo Fighters and Muse. With the next record band returns to the more mundane, heavier and more aggressive sound as were criticized about the record, the
promotional methods and the people involved. However, Antenna has taken a major role in the development of the genre diversity. Hydra Head issued all Cave-in records - Until Your Heart Stops (1998),
Jupiter (2000), Perfect Pitch Black (2005), White Silence (2011).
ISIS – CELESTIAL (2000) Not to mention Aaron Turner cherished project ISIS, without which the sludge scene can’t be imagined. This is one of the few records issued on the Hydra Head. Celestial is planned, together with the record
SGNL> 05, together creating a long album, which consists of the sludge, as well as the ambient and electronic pieces. This approach later was overtaken by lot of sludge bands, issuing several albums that are conceived as a combination. ISIS has disbanded, leaving behind a lot of records, which is very important for
the formation of sludge scene and genre definition, leaving a strong influence to new European sludge bands. Latest releases ISIS tried to create very clean, seems even overproduced sound, yet not so
entwined in this record. It is worth mentioning the ISIS and Melvins split, released on the Hydra Head, who was the last one issued after the announcement of disband in 2010. Melvin can certainly be termed as one of the most influential and important bands in the US, they often collaborate with other artists, issuing the
common records. ISIS severity seems sometimes overrated, entering with playfull approach and unpredictability of Melvins. Isis in general has issued five studio albums.
HARVEY MILK – S/T (RE-ISSUE, 2009)
Existed from 1992-1998 cult group, reunited in the 2006 after which they issued several more records. Harvey Milk played typical for 90's noizrock and punk, by adding heavier sounds. The band was highly
recognized, even performed with REM leader Mike Stipe. The first album in terms of sound and composition is still very topical, therefore re-issued on Hydra Head in 2010.
KHANATE – CAPTURE & RELEASE (2005)
One of Stephan O'Maley projects involving the Hydra Head's founder Aaron Turner. Khanate plays a very atmospheric and dark music, mostly with guitars and vocals. This album consists only of two long compositions. Each of them consists of a strong mood, not the most positive (in the best sense),
sometimes becoming the stories, landscapes without limiting structures. Khanate generally released four records - Capture & Release (2005), Clean Hands Go Foul (2009) released by Hydra Head, the other two -
Khanate (2001) and Things Viral (2003) - Southern Lord.
PELICAN – THE FIRE IN OUR THROATS WILL BECKON THE THAW (2005) Instrumental post-metal, a genre definer. Varied record, became a model for many post-metal and sludge
artists, released in Pelican popularity peak. Very typical record of the new US heavy music trying to combine different genres of music, but doing it consistently across all records. The Pelican released four
full-length records, as well as four EP’s and five splits. The Hydra Head issued all full-lenght records - Australasia (2003), City of Echoes (2007), What We All Come to Need (2009).
BIG BUSINESS – MIND THE DRIFT (2009)
Cogent classical stonerrock representatives, experimenting within the genre on this album - a bit slower and more complex than other band releases, however, an interesting and varied, which often was a
problem for many stoner rock performers. Two more releases were issued on Hydra Head label - Head for the Shallow (2005) and Here Come the Waterworks (2007).
BOTCH – AN ANTHOLOGY FOR THE DEAD ENDS EP (2002)
Cult group, which ended their activity in 2002. Mathematical modern hardcore, which highly influenced the surrounding scene. A convincing performance in the original approach. After the break-up, the
members of Botch formed many different major bands, such as These Arms Are Snakes, Russian Circles, Narrows, Minus The Bear, whos sound already appears on records Botch. Without a mentioned EP, Hydra Head issued the bands studio recordings The Unifying Themes Redux (re-issue, 2006), Death and Religion
(re-issue, 2006), American nervosa (1999), We Are the Romans (re-issue, 2007).
List made by Davis Burmeisters
BENEATH OBLIVION, part1/3 Q. PLEASE INTRODUCE TO YOURSELF AND TELL US WHAT YOU DO
IN A BAND, AND WHERE YOU ARE FROM. My name Is Scotty T.
Simpson and I am the screamer-singer and rhythm guitar in Beneath
Oblivion, out of Cincinnati, Ohio USA. Q. STORY ABOUT THE BAND
NAME? The name came from some lovelorn poem I wrote a long
time ago. One of the lines read ‘to go beneath oblivion,’ and I’d been
working on the band’s first demo around that same time. The name
seemed to fit the music, sum up everything without saying too
much, and be something that wasn’t going to pigeonhole a band
that wants to evolve just a little bit as time goes on. I think it’s pretty
safe to say that a lot of bands out there don’t put much thought into
their names, almost as though they did it at the last minute. Then
again, I don’t see a lot of people out there putting much thought
into anything at all. Q. BENEATH OBLIVION IS WHAT YOU DO FOR
THE LIVING? To say we are doing BO for a living would be to say
that we are making money from it, and that’s pretty far from the
truth. Speaking just for me though, it takes priority over jobs,
relationships, friendships, money, rent, sanity, etc., so I guess that
kind of makes it like a living. I think of it more like having a child
though. The reality is that we all have dayjobs and pour much of our
life-savings into our gear and our touring vehicle, while trying to stay
afloat with rent and bills in this failing economy we have over here.
Q. I KNOW THAT BENEATH OBLIVION IS YOUR COPING
MECHANISM FOR DEPRESSION, HAS IT ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY?
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE TO SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION? Well, yes. It’s
far too intense to not be emotionally invested while playing this kind
of music. Perhaps even to listen to it, but I have a hard time listening
objectively so I wouldn’t know. There are many other much less
healthy outlets I could use to cope and I suppose that playing doom
metal is better than taking Prozac or seeing a therapist. When I was
younger it seemed to be more anger and depression, now that I’m
older I think it’s about bitterness and resentment. I’m doing better
now [laughs]. I don’t want everyone to think I’m someone who
enjoys being depressed, nobody actually likes that and if they do it’s
somewhat of a sad statement of their character; but it is the most
inspiring emotion if you ask me, because that is where all of the
sincerity is in art. Depression is a familiar entity to me and
fortunately in time I learned that making the darkest and most
emotionally devastating sounds could lead to the greatest catharsis
of which I know.
INTERVIEW WITH A DOOM METAL BAND BENEATH OBLIVION
BENEATH OBLIVION http://beneathoblivion.bandcamp.com/
www.beneathoblivion.com - band's website www.mylenesheath.com - the label's website http://www.facebook.com/BeneathOblivion
Q. BENEATH OBLIVION HAVE RELEASED 6 RECORDS. CAN YOU
SHARE EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR SELF-RELEASED RECORDS? The
self-released ones are the Melancholy Demo (2004) and Existence
Without Purpose (2006). We also had a drone recording we did in
2005 called Hell’s Half Acre, but it’s nothing special other than it
being something that never saw the light of day except for 20 or 30
CDR copies with a label printed on them, whereas the other two
releases had some really cool DIY packaging to them that we glued
together ourselves.
The Melancholy Demo was recorded in my basement with a friend of
mine on drums and myself playing the rest of the instruments. It was
tracked and mixed in 1 day, and burnt to a hundred CDRs with my
contact information written on them, and then a day later I left to
attend school for a semester in England, and ended up backpacking
about 9 countries in continental Europe. Doom metal and
melancholy rock were so much bigger in Europe at the time than in
the states so it was no problem finding people to trade demos with
in the record shops I went to. By the time I got home I had a few
more songs half written and had people to jam with.
Existence Without Purpose was the first and only time Beneath
Oblivion had ever recorded in a real recording studio. This place was
super nice and slick, and should have been way out off our price
range but the engineer/owner gave us quite a deal because he’d
heard doom before, but said he’d never heard anything like what I
was describing and didn’t want us to go to some other studio. It was
a bonus that other bands we admired, including thrashcore legends,
Hellnation, recorded there. It was then mixed and mastered by Doug
White in New York, and released upon the world with the heaviest
sound I’d ever heard. It was even a little too good sounding for what
I was used to listening to at the time. This was also about the time
when Nate Bidwell joined the band on drums, and we started
touring a little bit regionally.
Q. 2 OF THEM ARE SPLITS (WITH SIN OF ANGELS & ANGEL EYES).
WHAT WERE THE REASON FOR THESE SPLITS AND WHY DID YOU
CHOSE THESE ARTISTS?
The Sin of Angels split 10” record came to us from our friend Reuben
Little, who was the bassist in the now defunct band Ocean. We were
on tour and stayed at his place in Portland, Maine, when he told us
he wanted to put out a split between us and a Providence, RI band
he was into, Sin of Angels.
BENEATH OBLIVION, part2/3
, part3/3
I heard that one of the guys was in the band Warhorse, so he didn’t
get any argument from me. For those songs, Jay, Nate, and myself
recorded in our practice space where we rented a room in a decrepit
old mansion that had a caving in ceiling. At the end of practices we
would have to wipe all of the asbestos and dry wall that had
crumbled and fallen onto our amps while we were playing.
The Angel Eyes split was something we did as a precursor to the
‘FMtD’ record with a different mix and different master than the Billy
Anderson version on the album. ‘Be My Destroyer,’ is easily my
favorite, and one of the deepest songs we have, so it was an easy
song choice. We’d been label mates with AE for a year or two on the
Mylene Sheath, and always admired each other, so it’s something I’m
glad was able to come together because they broke up shortly
thereafter. We just played with their new band Ironborn, when we
were in Chicago a couple months ago. Q. LATEST “FROM MAN TO
DUST” IS MASTERED BY BILLY ANDERSON (ACID KING, BLACK
COBRA, HIGH ON FIRE, LIONS OF TSAVO, MELVINS, NEUROSIS, OM,
SLEEP, WEEDEATER). Indeed. Billy Anderson did a great job
mastering the album. Maybe next time we will have him play an even
bigger role and mix, or perhaps even engineer the next record. He
said he’d love to, but that’s at least a year from now and I can’t see
that far down the line. Q. WHAT IS THE ATMOSPHERE OF BENEATH
OBLIVION GIGS? A lot of very stoned people. Q. WHAT ABOUT NEW
MATERIAL? CAN YOU SHARE MORE DETAILS? There’s a lot of new
material in the works, but I’d say there won’t be a new full-length
record for about a year or so. Until then we will have a cassette
release limited to 50 copies and a couple of split 7” or 10” records
sometime in 2013. As far as the sound, I don’t want to tell you much
because the sound is still very much evolving. Q. WHICH BANDS ARE
ON YOUR DAILY PLAYLIST? Katatonia, Tiamat, the Gathering, My
Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Skepticism, Nick Cave, Pallbearer, Yob,
Agalloch, Magnolia Electric Co., Junius, Swans, Buzzov-en, Grief,
Rwake, Sleep, Monarch, State Song, Godspeed! You Black Emperor,
Silver Mt Zion, Dead Can Dance, Alice Cooper, Waylon Jennings, the
Beatles. Q. ANYTHING MORE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO
READERS? Thank you very much for the interview and for the
support Arturs! Thank you very much for the stickers you sent, as I
hope the package you received from me is treating you well. Keith
and I have been putting your stickers all over our gear. A big thanks
to everyone else for checking out this doom metal band from
‘Middle America.
TESA - IV
CONVERGE - ALL WE LOVE WE LEAVE BEHIND
PLANKS - FUNERAL MOUTH
ANAAL NATHRAKH - VANITAS
YAKUZA - BEYUL
PYRAMIDS - MAMIFFER/PYRAMIDS SPLIT
PIG DESTROYER - BOOK BURNER
THE SWORD - APOCRYPHON
GOD SEED - I BEGIN
GRAVEYARD - LIGHTS OUT
NEUROSIS - HONOR FOUND IN DECAY
CRADLE OF FILTH - THE MANTICORE AND OTHER HORRORS
SHINING - REDEFINING DARKNESS
EARLY GRAVES - RED HORSE
NADJA - DAGDRØM
ISIS - TEMPORAL
DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT - WIDOWMAKER
BEHEADED - NEVER TO DAWN
BLOODBOUND - IN THE NAME OF METAL
NIGHTWISH - IMAGINAERUM
MACHINE HEAD - MACHINE FUCKING HEAD LIVE
DEFTONES - KOI NO YOKAN
SOUNDGARDEN - KING ANIMAL
KYLESA - FROM THE VAULTS, VOL. 1
BAD BRAINS - INTO THE FUTURE
AEON - AEONS BLACK
RINGS OF SATURN - DINGIR
AMENRA - MASS V
AENAON/STIELAS STORHETT SPLIT
SHINING/MONUMENTUM SPLIT
MOST WANTED RELEASES
It’s all started pretty long ago, I remember myself drawing
since early childhood. My style's been changing for years,
sure. The topic never changed, though.
I've always liked corpses, zombies, monsters,
nature and dark motives. That's one of the reasons why I don't use colors except
black and white when drawing (I only draw with pencils
and pens). The "concept" has always been to reproduce
and depict shapes and textures without using mid-tones
and shades and at least try to make the picture look alive.
I've been thinking of how to use my pictures outside
band-merch and releases, wanted to do something by
myself and for myself, in some way. So once at night the
thought came down at me and I started choosing the
pictures for the zine. I decided to call it MONSTER
ALPHABET due to the concept I had under this name:
MONSTER ALPHABET zine is a really small
book with a picture matching each letter of
the alphabet placed in the alphabetical order.
Each is hand-painted and inserted into an
individual envelope of random color -
brown, red, ivory or dark brown. I made around 78 copies if I'm not mistaken, first 30 were
just a test for me, but as far as I could see it had a success
and got sold out in less than a week. Then I made the
second press and took it to Europe this summer when
travelling. I was surprised with all the positive feedbacks I
got and I appreciate it a lot. Now the First MONSTER
ALPHABET (as I call it) is completely sold out and I'm
currently in the process of collecting some material for the
new one. Hope it's gonna be of a better quality but still
DIY as we all like it, haha.
INTERVIEW WITH LINA, FROM MONSTER ALPHABET
HOW DID YOU DECIDED TO COLLABORATE WITH
BANDS? It started a long time ago. My friend had a band
and wanted me to draw some kind of a poster. Then I
tried photography as well but failed and decided to go on
drawing stuff. To my surprise people got interested and
now I consider drawing to be my job.
HAVE YOU RECEIVED SOME REALLY CRAZY OPINION
FROM PEOPLE ABOUT YOUR ART? SOMETHING WHAT
YOU WOULD NOT HEAR ANYWHERE? Once, pretty long
ago an anonymous user asked me a question that
puzzled me: "Why do you draw pictures that make
people feel depressed and worthless?" Sorry, dude, never
intended to. Seriously. Well, what I really dislike, as many
artists and musicians, I think, is when you're compared to
someone else. Each artist and musician tends to become
a unique one and that's what leads him or her or them to
develop, grow in this respect. Comparisons depress, it
feels like you've stolen something from someone. That's
the worst, I think. Not necessarily for me, for everyone.
Self-criticism does make you stronger. That's the only
thing that matters to me. If I don't like what I'm doing I'll
never ever let anyone see it, most likely I'll just damage it
and start again. And that of course a very hard step to
take, frustrations are really hard to overcome sometimes.
CRAZIEST ARTWORK MADE BY YOU? Craziest...Well I
haven't yet made anything really crazy, I think. But the
very unusual to me was the poster I did for Unveil and
Run With The Hunted European summer tour. But I really
liked the concept and the idea, though. So I was just
pleased to do it.
FUTURE PLANS? Well, nothing extra - just working further.
Still bear tattooing in mind, just need to come up to it
one day, I guess. Now I'm about to start working on a
very interesting project with Basti (Moment of Collapse).
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Never give up! The more you
move the more you gain, that's what I think.
TAKE CARE. LOVE ANIMALS // LINA
TATTOO DESIGN MADE FOR DANILA SOCHNEV/DISTRESS, BELONGS TO HIM / MONSTER ALPHABET
SHIRT DESIGN/CONTINENTS. / MONSTER ALPHABET
TOURPOSTER/UNVEILXRUN WITH THE HUNTED EUROPEAN TOUR'12 / MONSTER ALPHABET
SHIRT DEIGN/THE TIDAL SLEEP / MONSTER ALPHABET
All type of piercings,
tunnels & stretchers
www.pirsingi.com
www.facebook.com/pirsingi www.draugiem.lv/pirsingi twitter.com/@pirsingi
NTRODUCE TO YOURSELF AND TELL
WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR THE
LIVING FOR THOSE WHO NOT KNOW
YOU.
Hi my name is Jonas. I am 24 years old
and I study in Giessen, to become a
teacher for elementary school one day,
in a future far far away... Since studying
alone won't pay the rent I've got 3
jobs...which often is as stressful as it
sounds.
WHAT CAME FIRST - DARK OMEN
RECORDS OR DEPRAVATION?
Well, the idea for Depravation came
first, but Dark Omen Records was born
before. Even though the idea for the
label came later. I think it was last fall,
when my buddy Jens (who also plays
guitar in Depravation) and his band
Derelyction wanted to record and
release a demo. We talked about on
which format they want to release it
and stuff. They planned to release it on
CD, which I thought was lame (and
they have not done to this day ;) ),
because I feel that a CD is not such a
cool thing as a vinyl or a tape. This was
when the idea was born to make a
label and release music. It took a while
for everything to come together,
because we wanted to do something
'special', but this year in spring the first
DOR release was finished.
DARK OMEN IS OFFERING EXCLUSIVE
RELEASES RECORDED IN TO
CASSETTE. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE
THIS TYPE OF RECORDER?
As mentioned above I'm not a huge
fan of CDs. I think a vinyl record, or
a tape offers more 'emotional'
value. You have to make a bigger
'effort' to listen to a vinyl record. It
also makes you listen to the music
more intensively. It looks and it
feels better than a CD. Well,
unfortunately I'm a broke student who
can't afford to release on vinyl. That's
why number two on my list was the
cassette. It shares many of the above
features, but it is way cheaper to
produce. It also offers a lot of ways to
design every tape indivdually, which is
what I try to do. I always like it better
when the music I buy has some special
gimmick, is limited and is nice to look
at.
ONLY ONE BAND SUPPORTED BY
DARK OMEN IS NOT FROM GERMANY.
HOW DID YOU GET KOLOSS FROM
SWEDEN INVOLVED? PLANNING TO
INVOLVE MORE OTHER COUNTRY
BANDS?
I stumbled upon Koloss
somewhere in the depths of the
internet one day and downloaded
their album. The funny thing is, I
really got into this band and their
awesome record, when I visited
Latvia and Estland last year with
my girlfriend. We stayed in Riga,
which is right around the corner, where
you live, as we noted. So we were on a
five hour busride from Riga to Tallin
and I listened to the album for almost
the entire ride.
INTERVIEW WITH GERMAN RECORD LABEL DARK OMEN RECORDS
The music was the perfect soundtrack
to the baltic nature which was passing
by. Well...enough of romantic
anecdotes and coincidences.
I just liked the music and had
something nice for the tape in mind.
So I figured I'd just give it a try, wrote
the guys a message and after a few
messages we worked everything out.
Really nice guys which make awesome
music and actually deserve way more
attention, than they have. The paper
used for the inlays is handmade by the
way. So there are not two copies who
look exactly alike.
I don't have something planned out
yet, but I think one or the other future
band on DOR will come from other
countries.
DEPREVATION FOUNDED IN
DECEMBER, 2011. TELL US ABOUT THE
BAND AND THE BAND NAME.
Though, we were founded in
December 2011, the idea to start a
band was in Jens' and my mind since
2009, I think. We played in a band
before, and when the band called it
quits we were sure we wanted to do
something together. But finding
people, a rehearsal space and time to
come together and play was quite
difficult at that time, since I was living
in Mannheim, which is about 150km
away from Giessen. We got together
with a mutual friend, Fridge (he now
plays drums in Harm/Shelter) to play
once, but that was it. So we finally got
Depravation rolling two years later,
when I changed to Giessen, to
continue my studies here. After that it
was no big deal. Pelle (drums) and
Philipp (guitar), which where friends
with us joined. We looked for a bass
player and found one, who only was
with us for a few weeks, since I guess
the music was not quite his style. We
quickly found a replacement in our
friend Blöcher. So since February we
have a constant lineup. This is
Depravation and I can't imagine any of
these guys leaving. So I'm positive we'll
stay in this constellation until the end.
THE LYRICS - IT’S REALLY SOMETHING
LIKE WHAT HUMAN EXISTENCE IS
GOING TO AND THERE IS NO DOUBT
THAT IT WILL END LIKE LAST LINES OF
THE SONG “RUINS OF MANKIND”:
NEITHER KING NOR SERVANT SHALL
BE SPARED, GROUNDS RIP OPEN,
SWALLOW ALL CIVILIZATION. YOUR
COMMENTS TO SONG LYRICS?
We get a lot of inspiration from
stuff like the medieval times,
inquisition, plagues, the
apocalypse, insanity and other
dark stuff. So these lyrics are, as
one can easily guess, about the
end of the world and humanity. I
think they are pretty clear and
leave little space for
interpretation. The end of days
will come and nature as well as all
people will demise. Hahaha...sounds as if we're some
cheap TV-preachers.
WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FROM
DEPRAVATION AND DARK OMEN
RECORDS IN NEAR FUTURE?
We're planning on recording tracks for
a full length with Depravation this
October. There might be news on our
demo as well in a few days or weeks,
but nothing worth speaking of just yet.
If you want to stay up to date like us
on facebook.com/depravationkills and
read the newest gossip. Also we hope
to play as much live as possible. So if
you have a gig for us just hit us up.
We'll play for a little gasmoney, food,
booze and a place to sleep.
As for Dark Omen Records, I will help
out Von Drakus
(www.vondrakus.bandcamp.com)
distributing and promoting their new
vinyl. You should definitely check these
guys out if you're into agressive
Hardcore/Punk. Besides that, there are
no concrete plans for now. But
everyone should keep their eyes open
for news. The best way to do this is to
follow the DOR blog or give the
Facebookpage a like.
www.darkomenrecords.wordpress.com
www.facebook.com/darkomenrecords
CHEERS, JONAS.
DARK OMEN RECORDS
http://www.facebook.com/darkomenrecords
http://darkomenrecords.storenvy.com/
http://darkomenrecords.wordpress.com/
DEPRAVATION
http://www.facebook.com/depravationkills
http://depravation.bandcamp.com/
VON DRAKUS IS WELCOME TO
SHARE THOUGHTS AND VISIONS
ABOUT THE MUSIC! PLEASE
INTRODUCE TO YOURSELF FOR THE
PEOPLE WHO MIGHT ARE NOT
FAMILIAR WITH VON DRAKUS.
We are four friends from Gießen,
Germany and we play hardcore
punk together since 2009. We've so
far released a DIY-tape in 2011 called
"The Mirror", as well as now a one-
sided 12", "The End", with the help of
Dark Omen and Dingleberry
Records. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE
SOUND OF VON DRAKUS? IS
THERE SOMETHING WHAT YOU ARE
TRYING TO DEVELOP, SOMETHING
WHAT MAKES YOUR OWN
SOUNDING? Although we are
influenced by a lot of great bands,
we don't strive to sound like any one
of them. We also don't care about
what sounds hip in today's or
tomorrow's hardcore music. We just
play music and try to express our
feelings... anxiety, rage, despair... this
is what comes out of it.
VON DRAKUS LATEST RECORD IS
“THE END”, RELEASED IN AUGUST,
2012. AVAILABLE DIGITALLY, ALSO
THIS RELEASE IS IMPORTANT
BECAUSE IT’S YOUR FIRST VINYL,
RECORDED ON 12”. WHAT DOES
THE VINYL MEANS TO YOU? We
always wanted to release our music
on vinyl, it's great. You get a nice
large artwork and lyricsheet, and the
vinyl itself of course: every piece is
unique, it sounds raw, better, and it's
overall a much more conscious way
of listening to the music. If one
insists on a CD, there are 50
handnumbered pieces out there
since March, find one, otherwise
download it for free and burn it
yourself. If one pays for our music,
he/she should get something
valuable. That's why we chose vinyl
and that's why the basic design and
artwork was very important to us. Q.
THIS IS SOMETHING WHAT YOU
WOULD LIKE TO HOLD IN YOUR
HANDS FOR DAYS - THE ARTWORK
FOR “THE END” IS A MASTERPIECE.
Thanks, we're also really happy with
it. We had of course a basic idea of
how it should look like, but when
Sara and Sam showed us their work,
this was something we haven't even
dreamt of. The result is amazing and
we thank both of them.
INTERVIEW WITH A HARDCORE/PUNK BAND VON DRAKUS
Q. I’M NOT FAMILIAR WITH OTHER
SARA WINKLE & SAM WORKS, BUT
IT LOOKS LIKE VON DRAKUS “THE
MIRROR” (RELEASED IN JULY, 2011)
CASSETTE ARTWORK IS DONE BY
THE SARA & SAM TOO, RIGHT? No,
the tape design and artwork was
made by our guitarist Julian. Since
Sara and Sam knew this design, and
since we did the basic concept for
the LP, it shares some similarities with
the tape. If you want to see more of
Sara's and Sam's work, visit:
www.sarawinkle.com/d-e-s-i-g-n
bloodbankdesign.tumblr.com
And of course, if you don't already
know Sam's band GLASSES, you
should listen to them:
glasseshc.bandcamp.com.
BY THE WAY, VON DRAKUS “THE
END” IS RELEASED VIA EXCLUSIVE
GERMAN RECORD LABEL - DARK
OMEN RECORDS. Yes, we're very
grateful for Jonas' help. With all his
energy, he got Dark Omen Records
going in such a short time, releasing
quality music. Jonas really puts his
heart and soul into DOR, the music
and the scene. And so does Tim
from Dingleberry Records, who too
helps us with the release and
distribution. Like Jonas, Tim is from
Gießen and a good friend of us, and
he's supporting us since the
beginning in 2009. Many thanks to
both of them! CAN YOU DESCRIBE
THE PROCESS OF THE LYRICS
WRITING? I MUST SAY THAT TOTAL
DURATION OF THE SONGS FROM
BOTH RELEASES “THE MIRROR” &
“THE END” DO NOT EXCEED HALF
AN HOUR PLAY, BUT SONG LYRICS
ARE REALLY LONG ONES. WHAT
INSPIRES YOU TO THIS? We play
fast, and because we don't want to
repeat ourselves over and over
again, the lyrics are pretty long.
That's basically it. Or André doesn't
know when to stop. WHAT IS THE
VISION OF VON DRAKUS IN NEAR
FUTURE?
Right now we concentrate on
playing more shows -- having fun,
getting to know new bands, people
and places. That's always exciting. Of
course we keep writing new songs,
and if all goes well we will record
another release in the coming year.
VON DRAKUS
http://www.facebook.com/vondrakus
http://vondrakus.bandcamp.com/
JASON CANTU (US) JANIS BURMEISTERS (LV) EDGARS FREIMANIS (LV)
DACE LACE (LV) JURIS LACIS (LV)
JARMO NUUTRE (EE) JONAS HERDEJOST (GER)
LINA (RU)
Special thanks to team LIISI PUSS (EE)
DAVIS BURMEISTERS (LV)
And supporting people
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