Here’s an interview based on an online-chat with the vocalist of the band –
Parash Shakya.

What was the anticipation for this International Music Day gig, since it was going to be the band’s first outdoor performance?

Parash: Well, when they - Sunit dai (LOOZA: guitarist) and some other guys - approached us for the gig, I was a bit skeptic since I thought it was going to be an all out mainstream gig with all the live and track-singing artists joining in. But they told me that it was a pure music gig with only live bands. So we decided to play and anticipation thus was huge since it was the biggest stage that we ever played on. So we were very excited about the gig, but did not think we would have much of appreciation.

So how did the gig go after all?

Parash: The gig was good. They decreased our sound level for some reason but nevertheless it was fun.

Did they?

Parash: Yeah they did. They thought we were too loud.

Hahaha. Were you sort of overwhelmed when the crowd – half of the apparently non-metal heads - chanted “once more” after you finished your set?

Parash: Hehehe, yeah we were surprised. I thought we were going to be stoned out of the stage when we saw the crowd full of different types of people. But “once more” was kind of weird, really.

What was your set on the gig?

Parash: We did four songs, three from the new album (In thy Ambience of
Malevolence) and one from first album (Forever Winter).Winter Blossom ov Ceremonial Grief, With vengeance I bleed, 300 and Forever Winter.

No covers this time, right?

Parash: No.

Is it “no more covers” from now on or what? So no more “Hallowed be thy Name”?

Parash: Yeah no more covers. We did “Hallowed be thy name” our album, so that can be an exception.

Why not play covers? Are they not fun anymore?

Parash: The time we take to learn and perform a cover song, we can prepare our own. Why bloody waste time while you have the ability to make your own song.

Okay, you have a new guitarist in the line up now, tell us something about him? And why add a second guitarist?

Parash: The new guitarist, Yudhir Gautam, is just a kid, just finished his SLC.
There’s no such big reason for adding a second guitarist since we don’t use any hi-fi lead solos and all but just felt like Pankaj (guitarist) needed some cover up because some new riffs sounded not very good without the rhythm guitar. The new guitarist, he is very dedicated and he’s got some talent too. So we hope we’ll get the best out of him sooner or later.

Was it any different playing the other underground/non-mainstream gigs and today’s gig? In terms of sound.. crowd.. satisfaction etc.

Parash: See, when it comes to crowd, underground gigs are million times better. There is no comparison of sounds, which would just be stupid. And about satisfaction, I prefer underground gigs rather than gigs like these to be playing in a larger context. The whole ambience is different when you play in an underground gig. Maybe sounds will not be as good as today’s anytime sooner but still, the small scaled underground gigs are way too satisfying.

In today’s gig, the sound system and stage was good. Few cheers always help but I don’t think we will ever be playing those sorts of gigs anymore.

Why so? It’s good for the band, the publicity and all, isn’t it?

Parash: Well, as far as I’m concerned, for love or for hate, people do know us in the underground scene better and we are an underground band. So we really do not want in some place where out of 100, only 5 people have idea of what we are playing. And, we are better off without any publicity where people have no idea or no interest what we are. And it really felt really odd at today’s gig.

So, any best and worst moments in today’s gig?

Parash: The best part was - we were part of a very good music fest with all good musicians and arrangements. Bad thing was being like an alien bunch playing out alien stuffs except for few.

How about the sound output? Why is it usually so bad?

Parash says: Well I don’t know really about this one but blaming sound people or the system itself is not very justifiable. Even the musicians are to be blamed for the sound mishaps.

Ok, change of topic now. Some comments are floating in the ktmROCKS forum like “Antim Grahan hasn’t grown in terms of music”, “the new album is hardly black metal” and so on. Any comments on those?

Parash: All I can say is we are trying to keep on playing and make the music in more professional manner if you can say that, and yeah we do have loads have criticism. But all I can say is we are trying and learning. If people think we are not growing up, then I guess its time for us to try even harder to make some good music.

Any significant changes that you’ve tried in your newer albums?

Parash: See to be very honest, we are trying to get out of all melody kind of thing you know. I mean as we progress we are trying to go more into the whole “black metal” thing, in the extremeness that is. Just trying to get a bit more extreme step by step. I know we have a long long way to go.. but eventually, maybe we will one day. So whole shifting process may not be liked by some of our older fans.

But you still have retained the “melodic” elements in the songs, haven’t you? And you even have female vocalists doing melodic backing vocals?

Parash says: Yeah, that’s what I mean to say… we will have this melody part.. meaning that we want to have our melodies and all but not into the extent that we had before and, trying to get more extreme. I’m sorry if my words didn’t come out right.

What do you mean when you said about getting extreme? What kind of extreme metal music could be expected…although this is too vague a question to be touched?

Parash: Talking about expectations, we would like to get our music as extreme as Arkhon Infaustus or Cryptosy (I’m just talking about extremeness). I mean one will always desire for that level of extremeness… but for now all I can say, when we do our future albums, at least we would be trying to make our music more heavier than our previous albums, which just does not mean all brutal drumming and extreme guitaring but getting the level and quality of music better than our previous effort.

And how does that put you closer to the Black metal thing?

Parash: Antim Grahan is NOT a black metal band by definition. I mean yes, we are a band which is related to black metal, the sub genre you may call but I wouldn’t call Antim Grahan as a real pure black metal band. The whole thing is really about getting into the ambience and music, so we are learning and trying to make our music what you may call black metal or anything which is as closer to it as possible.

Okay, so are you guys thinking about the fourth album or is it too early?

Parash: Yeah we are planning for a new one now… just planning a theme for it… but not just yet. It’s a bit early.

Can you illustrate a little about the band’s practice session.. practice rooms and such ?

Parash: Umm.. about practice sessions, we start off with all our completed songs and try to be more tighter.. and then when it is done, we go through with any new songs that are yet to be completed… and that’s basically how we do our sessions, new songs are focused more at times if it doesn’t sound good enough.

About our practice room, we have our practice room inside the premises of
Moroccan Embassy in Thamel. So it is quite a nice place and we are lucky as we have a nice place to jam, coz I know, not having a decent practice room is one of the main problems our metal bands face.

Ok some personal questions then. What really inspires you to sing and write lyrics?

Parash: Well I’m quite obsessed with the whole dark forests, pathways in between.. Angels and dark palaces… you can say basically a fairytale of some sort. So every time I sit down to write something it just begins with this! And thus a song is created, writing wise.

Let me rephrase that, I’m not quite obsessed but I’m very obsessed indeed with
the stuffs I mentioned above

Hahaha. What else inspires you?

Parash: To be very honest, gore and more gore is perfect too. Just that I can’t make songs out of it since my band mates are against the gore lyrics. They think it’s not going to fit into since we play anything but gore metal or anything of that sort.

Any particular band/music you are listening these days?

Parash: Arkhon Infaustus, Origin, Dying Fetus and Cannibal Corpse. Dark funeral and some battle metal bands are spinning too. Would it be gay if I say I’m listening to older Cradle of Filth too? Like Vampire and Dusk kinda old era Cradle of Filth.

Can you share some of your experiences of seeing foreign bands live during your stay in Cyprus?

Parash: I’ll be totally honest with you - apart from few bands (and I mean less then a handful) they suck ass!! If they were to stand off against out metal bands here, they just would be fucking grind to ashes! And oh the fact – local bands there own stuffs original and more expensive then what we have in recording studio, Nepali bands here play with “khiya lageko strings” and less equipment and still they kick ass anytime given. Bands here are much much much more superior and prove the fact equipments are nothing, but talent is.

Do you think the crowd here has changed in this span of 3-4 years since AG started performing?

Parash: For us it has changed… we have a larger following now.. hehehehehe. Ok that was selfish but I see loads of young faces in the crowd… so I’m guessing it has grown than when it was like before 3 years.

Chat-interview with Parash Shakya (vocalist of Antim Grahan), done online by
Umes Shrestha, Dipesh Gautam, Gagan Atreya and Ayush Maskey)

Featured on the 6th issue of ktmROCKS EMag
July, 2008

Line-up:  Yuskey K.C. –Vocal
     Yuvash Vaidya- Keyboard
     Prabin Lal Manadhar- Drums
     Kritagyan Shrestha- Bass
     Nikhil Sikarmi- Guitar
     Bhavin Pradhan- Guitar

Formed: mid- 2008
Genre: Experimental/ Progressive Rock
Status: Active

With intentions to create atmospheric, experimental and dynamic music, Stairs Of Cirith has just started getting involved in the local scene. The band comprises of similar aged musicians who have different musical taste but a common musical direction and ideas.

Seeing a good platform to perform in, they entered the 5th KCM Music Competition. They not only came first in the initial round, but also won the competition. The band was very much appreciated for their originality and the dynamic nature of their compositions. After this big break, SOC has been actively involved in the ktmROCKS scene playing in the Underground Uproar IV and Scene: Unseen.

The entire band was lifted when they performed ‘Sano Prakash’ with the incredible Sunny Tuladhar (Shadows, ex- Atomic Bush/Elysium). Psychologically lifted with such moments, the band has been concentrating on creating dramatic, virtuoso, progressive, yet heavy music. As the individual members draw influences from many genres of music, their main focus is to write materials that bring together all their influences and form a unique sound.
 
Influences: Everything.

Favourite Local Band: Atomic Bush, Karmaavalanche, Baking Space Cake, Lost Oblivion, Vhumi, Ushmaweg, The Time.

(July, 2009)

Line Up:

Bijil Shrestha - Guitars
Joseph Sthapit - Vocals/Guitars
Sam Limbu - Guitars
Srijan Bhattarai - Drums
Tandin Wangchuk Sherpa - Bass Guitar/Vocals

Formed: 2009
Genre: Black/Progressive Metal
Status: Active

Formed in the early 2008 by the students of Xavier Academy, the band performed in the 5th KCM Inter college event and other programs in the college as well. But the band did not show up in the underground gigs until the IDES OF MARCH IV organized by ktmROCKS.

Earlier, the band used to play heavy metal numbers in the college programs until Bijil joined the band in 2009. The band then emerged into a black-metal band with touch of progressive metal music. The band members then decided to name their band as “Spells Of Prophecy” during the 5th KCM Competition. The band name itself signifies the type of music they play. The band is highly into composing songs with powerful guitar riffs and melodious guitar solos with dual vocals and odd timings. Their originals contain the theme related with the darker side of the life.

The band is now currently focusing on their original compositions. Their future resolution is to preferably continue the band till possible.

Spells of Prophecy is currently active and is planning to record their first single named “Asafal Chu Ma”

Influences:
Opeth, Lamb Of God, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Dream Theater, Dimmu Borgir, Children Of Bodom, Dark Tranquility, Emperor, Pantera, Cradle Of Filth

Favourite Local Bands:
Antim Grahan, Cruentus, Atomic Bush, Karmavalanche

(Bio: June, 2009)

Line up:
Kisor Tamang - guitars / vocals
Sumit - lead guitars
Sagar Tamang - bass
Rasu Raj Karnikar - drums

Formed: 2009
Genre: New age / Metalcore
Status: Active

Formed in 2009, the band was formerly named ‘Black September’ and had been performing in various local gigs, competitions since the early 2004. The band, however, had not been involved in the underground scene and was rather a dormant band until they finally started playing in metal gigs recently.

The band did not have any originals under their former name and did not even have a definite genre or stream to follow. Sumit came is after their first guitarist quit the band. The band then began composing originals and because of their love for aggressive guitar riffs, breakdowns, odd time signatures and dual vocals, the band headed towards the new age/metalcore approach of the music.

The band’s originals contain elements of both aggressive breakdowns filled metalcore along with the dark and mysterious themes of symphonic black metal and guthenburg metal.

Black Sins Immortal is currently active and is planning to record their first album.
 

Influences:
Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, Dimmu Borgir, Dusk, Vital Remains, Mayhem, Origin, Gorgoroth, Emperor, Burzum, Slipknot, Ebony tears, All that Remains, The Black Dahlia Murder, Kreator, Lamb of god

Favourite local bands :
Vhumi, Lost Oblivion, Shannon Scam

LINEUP:

Tom Burchinal - vocals
Diwas Gurung - guitar
Shikhar - guitar
Mike Parker - drums
Dan Halperin - bass

DISCOGRAPHY:

STATUS: Active

Discussion at ktmROCKS Forum:
http://ktmrocks.com/forum/index.php?topic=298.0

Website:
http://www.ayurvedamusic.com/

Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/ayurveda

Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ayurvedamusic

EDITORIAL

• Favorite Non-metal Band/Artist
• Lyrics – Primary or Secondary
• Guitar Solo – Yay or Nay

IN THE VAULT

• CRISIS (Pokhara)

INTERVIEWS

• Hari Maharjan (NEPATHYA)
• LOST OBLIVION

RAG n ROLL

• PRAVEEN CHETTRI

5 RECORDS THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE

• Yoban Gurung (EPITAPH)

CONCERT REVIEWS

• The Underground Anthem - Kathmandu
• Coming Back To Life - Pokhara

ALBUM REVIEWS

• The Last Verse of Madness: LOST OBLIVION/MORGOTH
• From Mars to Sirius: GOJIRA
• Das Donnerduett: DONNERGROLL
  

ARTICLE

• Top 5 Live Albums - II
• Cemetery Gates - DEAD
  

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Written by: Dipesh 

 
  
Yngwie Per Ohlin (Dead)
(January 16, 1969 – April 8, 1991)
 
Suicide is probably the consequence of fear to face the present and the future, an attempt to end life prematurely because it doesn’t go through the intended paths and seems to worsen everyday. But, what about people who have no fear of death? People who have already died many times before….
In 1991, Yngwie Per Ohlin (Dead) tried to cut his pulse veins open with a kitchen knife and then blasted his head off with a shotgun which belonged to Euronymous. The vocalist of early Mayhem and Morbid, Dead is regarded as one of the most obscure and weirdest characters in the whole Black Metal scene. He himself often stated that he was not a human but a creature from another world. And his introverted, depressive, withdrawn and silent character complemented what he often said about himself. As he mentions, during his childhood, he would usually have deep sleeps and reach to a state of unconsciousness. He also reported many near-death experiences where he returned back to life after reaching at the other world. He adopted the stage-name Dead because he considered himself already dead and claimed that he would die very soon.

After leaving the Swedish Death Metal band Morbid because of his discontent with the commercial viewpoints of other band members, Dead joined Mayhem in 1988. With Dead, Mayhem turned from a “hobby band with shitty lyrics” to a more sinister and meaningful band that would begin a whole new era of Black Metal and produce albums of the caliber of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. His ideas of afterlife, decay, individualism and the supernatural combined with Euronymous’ increasing “godfather” image influenced many youths to join the wave of Black Metal. The Inner circle, Helvete and the corpse paint movement found their origin because of Dead (not ignoring Euronymous). The lyrical concepts of Dead which related to matters beyond this world: the supernatural found their way in De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, the legendary album that defined Black Metal itself. He had written all the lyrics for the album and was supposed to be the vocalist for the album before he shot himself dead.

Many musicians try to act different from themselves in a stage. Either under the influence of drugs or with the wrong conception of “stage-performance”, they perform strange antics which contradict their normal life. Dead’s stage performance, unlike others was a part of what he was. He often mentioned that “if it was Gore, it had to be real”. With routines of self-mutilation and sacrifices, Dead was again “not human” in stage. With blood streaming and pig heads flying everywhere, the Mayhem live performances with Dead as the vocalist (most notably Live In Leipzig) were strange and haunting for anyone.

With Mayhem themselves bluntly replying “He died for the scene” when asked about Dead’s suicide, the nihilistic scene of the 90’s Black Metal showed no emotion for his death. Yet, as an initiator of the Black Metal movement and a creator of such masterpiece as De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, he will always be remembered. The “ultra-nihilistic” approach of vocals which was later followed by Attila and the self-mutilation followed by Maniac found their roots in Dead. I will refer to Dead as the tr00est one amongst millions of others who wanted to look tr00. Unlike some iconoclasts who write endless stories about what brought them to suicide, Dead’s suicide note simply read “Excuse all the blood”. While Mayhem and its other bandmates have been part of so much popularity over the years, the name of Dead lies like a face in stone, buried by time and dust.

——————————————————————————–
Rel: 2007
Genre: Black Metal
Reviewed by: Binay Raj (schuldiner)  
 

 
Donnergroll is a German black metal band. And this album, Das Donnerduett, is a tribute by the drummer, Gram, to Myrkvid, the former guitarist. But this album that is being reviewed does not have the conventional black metal feel, but then again, black metal is not something conventional.

This album starts off with a very different musical feel. Being honest, I was ‘wtf?’ the first time I gave this album the first run. The album is based partially on the ambience, raspy vocals and low-end recording that are characteristic of black metal, while the guitar riffs are fast paced and sound very much thrash-like, even going as far as using harmonics, which IMO are quite unheard of, in this genre. The drumming is quite mediocre in terms of speed and technicality but the drummer, Gram, has been very successful in pulling off some astonishingly suited beats to accompany the guitars. But no, this does not mean that the album is sort of an Old School black metal album, if, by the mentioning of Black/Thrash metal, arouses that feeling in you. The lyrics are draped in elements of death, drugs and ahem Satanism. And, there are no bass lines for the album.

The first song, Ouverture Infernale, starts off with a clean electric guitar intro and the song progresses into an interesting instrumental piece. The intro is fairly simple. The second song, Macht der Gewonheit, follows with a subtle intro, and the song instantly runs off the road. The high and screaming vocals are accompanied by a well guitaring. But this is the part in which this band will surprise the listener because, the song will transform into something almost out of the genre. The songs are short and sweet. The third song, Involved, sets the groove with an aggressive guitar and double bass beats. It is laden with unique guitar riffs and the melodious phrases here and there make it very interesting and attention grabbing. The harmony of the two instruments is supreme and in fact very enjoyable. The fourth song, Abysical Remains, starts with a soft intro of electric guitars, but what you will notice instantly is the way the vocals stand out unlike how, the vocals are very suppressed in the previous songs. This is partly because from this point on, the vocals has been done by Gram, the drummer, while the previous vocals were done by Myrkvid and also partly because the album itself had been recording between a period of about 8 years. This song sounds very much black metal like, and this is probably the point from which onwards, the album sounds like the genre it has been classified under. The drumming is brutal. The fifth song, I Dwell in Hell, is my favourite song from the album. The song starts with a very sad intro but instantly, as I said before, it transforms into, but something interesting this time. A guitar solo accompanies the whole song in the background and the drummer has again been very able in producing very experimental, yet interesting drum beats. The song definitely provides an atmosphere of despair and melancholy. The vocals can be called the characteristic black metal vocals and sometimes very reminiscent of Csihar. The sixth song, Human game, will surprise you because of the feel that is almost completely different from the previous tracks. At this point, the album can be said to have virtually transformed. It starts off with fast paced playing. This song poisonfully speaks of self-hatred, sadness and drugs. The vocals in this song are not of screams and grains but of shouts and wails. The seventh song, Lions z rigers, uses synths here and there. The vocals conspicuously pertain to elements of Satanism and sometimes to rituals. The eighth song, Stand above the earth, enters with creative riffs and brutal blast beats. Most of the song is vocally quiet but this at all does not make the song less enjoyable, with weird guitar solos and the brilliant production of the drummer. The lyrics refer to a certain ‘you’ throughout, but to who, I have no idea of. And lo! the album has transformed once again. The riffs and recording are differently carried out and there aren’t any vocals. And the song, In thy blood, progresses into an instrumental and is melodious and colourful. The last song, Between Heaven and Hell, enters with a sad guitar and remains as the only instrument till the end. This part however, offers the most melody that the album could not offer in abundance.

This album neither shows profound displays of musicianship and talent nor does it show a vomit of unnecessary speed and endurance, very common in certain genres of metal. This album neither spews out melody nor does it chew out the brutality reminiscent of the many black/death metal albums you have heard so far. This album is mediocre in its very existence and the musicians themselves are not ‘very’ skilled IMO, from how the guitarist furiously increases his speed on every change of part in a song while at the same time the drummer narrowly manages to drag his speed up to the guitarist’s who at the moment has already come down to the normal pace!! But what I do believe is that the album is special, not from the factors that I have mentioned before but from the creativity of these musicians and how they have managed to create an absolutely brilliant harmony between their instruments. They have, although, shown certain signs of overdoing it here and there but as a whole the songs are beautifully laced and simplistic. If you are looking to experience surprise, disgust (by judging the peculiarity), indifference… all at the same time then this album is the deal! I will not refrain from giving this album an 8 out of 10.

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Rel: 2006
Genre: Modern Metal
Reviewed by: Anish  
 

 
From “Mars to Sirius” is the latest offering from the French Metalllers GOJIRA. Before LAMB OF GOD took them for their first North American tour, this band was virtually unknown to other parts of the world besides France and some other European countries.
To quote the mighty Devin Townsend from SYL, this album is super fucking ‘heavy as a really heavy thing’. Although these guys may not be the most technical players with frantic riffs and mind boggling song structures, they all are incredible songwriters who really make a song explore different musical sides keeping an overall theme and a
concrete heaviness intact. What makes this band even more interesting is that they deal with the songs which are really relevant in the modern world that talks about how we people are exploiting our planet earth.

Here’s how the album goes:-

1. Ocean Planet - 9/10 - This song pretty much gives you an idea of what the band is all about - Super Heavy and melodic. It is a very well structured song with some choking guitar slides in the end, something that I’ve never really heard any other bands incorporate that nicely in a song.

2. Backbone - 10/10 - The intro starts with the riff that’s pretty much the meat of the song. The vocals are pretty good too. The song does a little bizarre thing in the middle. A song definitely to break your neck to in a live show while headbanging.

3. From the sky - 10/10 - Again those choke guitar slides incorporated riffs. At times, one would feel as if they were listening to a SYL record while going through this.

4. Unicorn - 6/10 - A 2 minute long melodic filler with the same repeating melody lines. There’s nothing much to it really.

5. Where Dragons fall - 8/10 - Nice song with nice riffs. You know, this type of song really sets them apart from any other metal bands. It’s so unique. The vocals take an interesting turn near the ending.

6.. Heaviest Matter of the Universe - 100/10 - Yes , that’s right. 100 out of 10. The title pretty much says it all. This song is one of the most heaviest shits you’ll ever come across. The intro sounds like a militia march and when that main riff kicks in, Fuck!..Kills you. This song is a must any HEAVY Metal fans out there.

7. Flying whales - 8/10 - A long, clean melodic groove starts up the song and
the real song kicks in after some 2 and a half minutes. Not necessarily my
favorite track off the album, but it is still really good.

8. In the Wilderness - 10/10 - A typical GOJIRA song. Extremely intense.

9. World to come - 8/10 - A little too weird. Intro / main riff sounds slightly bluesy/Hard Rockish. Leaves you confusing if it’s a metal song or not but it fits in weirdly with the other songs in the album.

10. From Mars -8/10 It’s a filler that I think builds on to the next song (To Sirius)

11. To Sirius -10/10 This is the single from the album. They have a music video to this which can be seen [url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=k2rLuTJzaKQ]Here[/url]. Once Again, it’s a trademark GOJIRA song with extreme heaviness a melodic arrangement. I
wouldn’t say that it closes the album with a bang but it definitely serves to what the album is all about and kindly finishes it off.

The album overall is a wonderful piece of art. It maintains its melodic side while being as heavy as it possibly can. If you are looking some new metal with different and unique sound, this is definitely an album to get. It’s a breath of fresh air and a slap in the face of bands like TRIVIUM who make nothing more than some catchy, clichéd metal songs. Get the fucking album.

Oh, and you know what the coolest thing about this album is? It can be streamed and downloaded from the band’s own official website. Now how awesome is that? Here, go here - http://www.gojira-music.com/ then click on Media, then Audio. You can also listen to other albums from GOJIRA which are pretty awesome as well.

——————————————————————————–
Split LOST OBLIVION with MORGOTH
Rel: 2007
Reviewed by: Umes   
 

 
“Last Verse of Madness” is a split album by (still active) LOST OBLIVION and (now defunct) MORGOTH, released just a month ago. The album was recorded in Vinappa Studio in Nagpokhari Naxal, produced by the band and released through ktmROCKS Records. It has ten songs, five each (including intros) by the two bands.
LOST OBLIVION half:

I find it really hard to categorize the band’s sound as it is a mixture of a wide range of music, from thrashy riffs to keyboard laden black metal-ish elements to grooves of metalcore to some alternative and even nu-metal stuffs.

It is interesting to hear a band breaking out from the norms and trying to achieve something different in the scene dominated with ideas of normal traditional metal music. However, if the band becomes successful in bringing something “new” to the scene, remains to be seen.

I find the production of the album turned out to be pretty good despite recording the whole album in a LO-FI studio. Recording on a live drumkit in the studio is the major obstacle for any band because most of the studios here in Kathmandu are not made for recording drums live. But I have no complains as the drums have more “human” sound compared to the programmed drums.

I have always hated “intro” tracks but the rest of the tracks in this first half of the split are fairly enjoyable. My pick as the strongest track is – “She Dies Today” (especially because of those kwuuu kwuuu harmonics in the middle).
MORGOTH half:

MORGOTH used to call themselves a black metal band but since my knowledge about black metal is nothing exceptional, I really don’t know which sub-genre the band’s music falls into.

“From Hell” is obviously the standout track in this later half, with a lot of riff changes and dual vocals sometimes shifting the mood. What MORGOTH have done is mix the traditional black metal style of riffing with nice grooves to which some might rant and hurl “nays” to this certain music and some might find it digestible.

Production wise, I think the LOST OBLIVION songs are better mixed and mastered and MORGOTH’s sound suffers a lot in this half.

Buy this album and see for yourself where our scene is heading!