Wewelsburg - 2007 - Ultima Intolerance

Out of Russia comes this NS industrial Death/Black Metal band. Musically I find influences from a lot of different genres and groups. Mysticum and The Kovenant are apparent in the first track, Morbid Angel with a big dose rock n' roll in the second, the third track starts off with a classical piano piece, then moves on to more The Kovenant sounding elements. Track four is straight forward Death Metal. Over all this reminds me of early Stiny Plamenu.

The vocals are also reminiscent of The Kovenant, metallic and distorted but with more reverb, but as
with the music, the vocals change throughout the album. On the track "Gott Mit Uns", rather influenced by white power music, for instance, the vocals are deeper and much more catchy.

The sound is set very high on this album which tends to result in a chaotic effect, which indeed is the case here as well. They use a drum machine, with the cymbals set a bit too high which is annoyingly in the foreground at times. There is also a keyboard present. The vocals and the  drum machine are in the foreground, closely followed by the guitar. When there is a solo without any singing the guitar steps up to the foreground. There is also a keyboard present, fighting with the other instruments to be in the front. Despite all this this is a fascinating album, somehow, most likely because you do not know what to expect next. It is also a tiring album to listen to, since the recording level is so high and there is a lot of stuff going on. This is not bad, but it is not very focused. I think it would have been better if there were different bands for the different musical ideas.

Standout tracks are "Ultima Intolerance" and "There Where the Winds Sing Their Songs".

Sunday August 23 2009, by :Vragh:

Interview with Mannevond of Koldbrann 2005

Norwegian Black Metal horde Koldbrann played at the pre-Infernoconcert in Drammen, Norway. :Vragh: caught up with vocalist Mannevond after the concert for a little chat about the past, the present and the future.

:Vragh:: So what's happening with the new material?

Mannevond: What's going on with it? We're currently recording 3 new songs for two seven-inchers,
which have been known for quite some time, too long, but things take time. Everything is coming along now at any rate, we have finished the bass.. No wait! Not the bass, the drums, vocals and the guitars are done. One of them is an EP with two songs, one of which we played here tonite, "Atomvinter" [Nuclearwinter]. The other is a split-seven inch with Faustcoven, quite a good doom-black band from Norway signed to Barbarian Wrath.

:V:: Similar to Furze?

M: No, not at all. Imagine Darkthrone mixed with Pentagram, something like that, very chic.

:V:: When is the new album coming out?

M: No we dare not divulge any date this time, you know what happens when we set one, we're waiting until we've finished a couple of songs, but we're hoping it'll be out by the end of the year, I don't dare be any more specific.

:V:: There was a reprint of your first album, recently. Was that remastered or edited in any way?

M: That's right. There are no bonustracks, or anything new at all, unfortunately. The only difference is probably the addition of lyrics.

:V:: Lyrics for all tracks?

M:  No, four tracks only. For collectors it could be mentioned that the cover is slightly different. And I could mention that it'll be out on vinyl finally.

:V:: And is there anything extra on the vinyl?

M: No.

:V:: ...or nothing new there either, no.

M: But at least there will finally be a vinyl!

:V:: On the German label Northern Silence?

M: That's right. We've had a lot of offers about releasing it on vinyl, but we wanted to wait until we found a label that we would keep working with, then they could release both the CD and the vinyl, but as things go, despite everything we licensed it to a label that had previously asked to press it, so it could have been out 18 months ago on the same label.

:V:: As I understand it, you've had good reviews and an overall good response to your album?

M: It's been surprisingly good actually, we really hadn't expected it. It's pretty funny, the album is two years old and we still get reviews as it's reprinted, and it's still getting good critique, and that's
always nice.

:V:: Is the current lineup the same as on the album?

M: No. There's three of us, well we're essentially the core of the band, I guess you could say, there's been problems with bassist and second guitarist, people have come and gone, it's difficult to find people who aren't already involved in a hundred other bands, and that don't have that real feeling and dedication. But now it's working out great, we've had the same lineup for a year.

:V:: Considering sideprojects, is anyone of you involved in any sideprojects?

M: Yeah, the drummer Fordervelse has been playing a bit with Slavia, I'm not sure if you've heard of them.

:V:: Sure, he [Slavia] played on your album.

M: Yeah I've no idea what the fuck is happening there, it's all moving so slowly. He's my roommate that man.

:V:: But he's probably busy with Disiplin. [Note: Disiplin guitarist Drakul Azacain has since kicked out all other bandmembers since they weren't members of MLO.]

M: Yep. That's right. It's been slow with Slavia but he's [Fordervelse] still playing on with his things. There was talk of him playing drums on the next Vulture Lord album. Chic old-school death metal with some members from Urgehal among others. There's not much more to be said really.

:V:: You haven't been at it for long have you?

M: No we started in 2001, so four years now, three years with the old lineups.

:V:: And then an album after two years?

M: Ah yes, it's gone fast, very rapidly, maybe a little too quick.

:V:: No plans for any extensive touring?

M: Fuck no, we really have to finish recording the new album, there'sbeen far too many concerts lately, but when you get an offer, it's just really hard to say no. There's one more concert planned, in

Fredrikstad with Myrkskog, and there will be some festivals in Germany, but the rest of the time we'll spend concentrating on the new album, it's just about time.

:V:: There's an awful lot of touring in Germany among scandinavian bands it seems, I assume black metal is pretty big there...

M: Ye-ees..

:V:: ...despite them being german.

M: Oh yeah, Watain and Dissection were touring at the same time as us, we almost followed in their footsteps, every place we arrived at there were Watain stickers, it was like, OK! They were here three days ago! Fucking awesome band by the way.

:V:: To finish up, a standard question; What do you listen to?

M: Heh, well that's a lot really. Good ole black metal, DHG,  Mysticum, those types of bands. Of course it's more norse, oldschool-norse, but Sweden has a fucking copious amount of good bands now, Craft, Arckanum, Watain, I could probably ramble on for half an hour, Grand Belial's Key has to be mentioned. I listen to other genres aswell, crust like Skitsystem and similar, it's just so good. It's important for me to not limit myself within black metal, it quickly becomes boring. Like, metal and extreme-metal as a base, but there's so much else you have to catch on to.

This concludes the interview. It should be mentioned that halfway through, the proprietor of the establishment wanted to kick us out as he was closing, however, confronting him with an official look of importance and mention of interviewing, quickly shut him up, and kept him coming back for a seemingly small part of this piece. So here it is.

Also, I love germans, you're just so easy to make fun of.

-:Vragh:

Interview conducted Wednesday March 23 2005, by :Vragh:

Translated into English from the Norwegian and Swedish languages.

Incursus - 2005 - Incursus 7"

American Black Metal act Incursus has released their first 7", containing two tracks plus an intro and an outro. Quite good, fast Black Metal is what we get on this black vinyl.

The mostly snarled vocals remind me of mostly of Spectre of Vultyr, with hints of a less highpitched
Maniac of Mayhem, Cerastes of Mysticum and Wrest of Leviathan (US).

The music reminds me of Vultyr and early Emperor with a bit of Thorns thrown in here and there.
This sounds like Norwegian Black Metal with a twist of USBM thrown in. Not bad!

The soundquality is slightly muffled, with a strangely bass oriented sound with a lot of treble in the
guitars. The drums are present, but a bit unclear and a bit at the back of the mix, with the vocals at the front and guitar in between. The bass is given a bit more space than is usually the case in Black Metal.

This is well above average Black Metal with a few surprises along the way. Of the two tracks "Black Burial" was the one that stood out slightly more. My only complaint with this release is that it was not a fullength. This is a band I will keep an eye on, for sure. Well worth checking out!

Wednesday October 15 2008, by :Vragh: