Metal Bulletin Zine #163 Washington state, US 2/2/19 (#1 in February)

Ahnenkult The Filth Hounds

Greyhawk Malphas

issues of this zine online: www.fuglymaniacs.com

Ahnenkult: Als das Licht verging

label: Einheit Produktionen; release date: October 26th, 2018

track listing 1.Konstellation 04:46 2.Vinland 06:16 3.Sol Invictus 06:28 4.Flux Temporis 05:18 5.Sternenstaub 04:51 6.Gezeiten 06:02 7.Stella Polaris 09:34 total time 43:15

Broadly speaking, the music is European-style pagan metal. The music works with

fundamental ideas of black metal: the melodies, the riffing and the vocals come from a

black metal tradition. That’s not all, however. The speed of the songs is mostly a

comfortable, uptempo/midtempo pace that is very, very appealing, and it helps that

the music is melodic and pleasant on the ears. The result is a melodic and memorable

album, with some melancholic and folk vibes, in addition to some progressive elements.

The vocals are a black-metal style of rasp. The vocals are mixed in the production in

proportion to the overall volume of the music. The vocals do not take over the music,

which has plenty of room to breathe and roam. The voice itself is done well, too. The

rasp is not too high, suggesting that the band has considerable experience in the

vocals department; how to do strong BM vocals, how to work with the strength of the

style; how to record them; how to mix them in the recording. There are some parts with

a midrange, male singing associated with folk/pagan metal, but that is not the

predominant style.

Every song features a good rhythm, and

melodies or melodic passages to keep

the listener engaged. Sometimes it is a

clean (acoustic?) guitar, sometimes it is

good riffs, sometimes it is a melodic solo,

sometimes it is a recurring simple melody

carried by the guitar. At any rate, it seems

like the musicians have spent the time

crafting the melodies for all the songs so

that the listener hear the songs as whole units. The fact that the music is

uptempo/midtempo (not blasting speed; not a hectic pace), it just makes it that much

easier and quicker to understand what’s going on.

The album is quality. It looks like the band prefers a more organic production. The

double bass kicks do not sound clicky and triggered, but I don’t know for sure. The

drums sound like real drums. The melodies are catchy, but not happy, either. Fans of

European-style progressive black/pagan metal with memorable songs would be very

pleased with the album. It is full of charm.

einheit-produktionen.de/einheit-artist-ahnenkult

einheit-produktionen.de/Ahnenkult-Als-das-Licht-verging-Digi-CD_1

facebook.com/Ahnenkult

The Filth Hounds: Hair of the Hound?

Pure Steel Records; October 26th 2018

The Filth Hounds (U.K.) send a message to rock fans over all the world. Their band name

comes from Filth Hounds of Hades, the debut album from 1982 from the New Wave of

British Heavy Metal band Tank, whose bassist/vocalist Algy Ward was in the legendary

punk band The Damned. Said Tank album was produced by Motörhead guitarist Eddie

Clarke. Seeing that Motörhead’s Lemmy was a guest on The Damned’s classic album

Machine Gun Etiquette (1979), Ward and Motörhead already knew each other before

Tank was formed. By the way, German thrash legends Sodom have covered Tank on

more than one occasion on studio albums, and thereby introduced the band to fans of

the German act and of thrash in general.

This 2018 album is called Hair of the Hound? and the expression “hair of the dog” refers

to a drink, as you can see on the cover of the album. Moreover, it cannot be a

coincidence that the album name is similar to the famous 1975 heavy rock album Hair

of the Dog by the legendary band Nazareth (U.K.). Nazareth songs are played on the

radio and it is probable that any listener of a classic/hard/heavy rock and metal radio

station has heard Nazareth. Many musicians have covered Nazareth songs, including

famous acts like the U.S. band Guns n' Roses, and Metal Church, Iron Savior, Artillery,

Diamond Head, and others (including covers of Nazareth’s heavy rock version of a Joni

Mitchell song).

This brings us to The Filth

Hounds themselves. Brit-

ish. Traditional. Heavy.

Metal. They are going to

give it to you straight. The

album sounds down-to-

earth honest, like they

want you to hear every-

thing, like you are right

there in their jam space in the garage. It could be a British thing. Lots of old British bands

have this work ethic: make sure that your recording is something that you yourself

played. Do not lie. Do not cheat. What you hear is what the band plays. Record what

you play. If you didn't play it, then what's the point of putting it on the recording? If it's a

computer program that we are hearing, then who are you trying to fool here?

The Filth Hounds is a humble band. Essentially, they sound like an old heavy metal band

that you might catch down at the pub on a weekend, giving it all that they got, rocking

away, happy to be playing the music that they love. The songs vary somewhere

between classic rock and heavy metal. The songs will cure that hangover you get from

listening to robotic and computerized rock music. It’s reliable old-time-style heavy metal

for those times when you want to hear a band getting down to boogie and rock and

roll in an unpretentious way. Rock and roll, friends. facebook.com/TheFilthHounds/

Greyhawk: Ride Out

independent; October 18th, 2018

track listing 1.Intro 01:11; 2.The Abdication 04:35; 3.Ride Out 05:15 4.Serpent King 03:24; 5.Wisdom of the Wizard 03:51; 6.Circle of Heroes 04:32 total time 22:48

What is an anthem in traditional heavy metal music? Isn't it a song that through its

sounds and lyrics sounds catchy, and in various ways celebrates our heritage in music?

When a fan of true heavy metal hears it, that person knows that it speaks their musical

language. It answers the question proudly and unwaveringly, this, this right here, this is

100% heavy metal. It says that we don’t care about the latest fashions, the most recent

trends, or anything like that. Heavy metal is big riffs, plenty of guitar solos, thundering

drums and the unmistakable voice of a singer with wildman vocals; and your guitar

players have full command and play the solos like their lives depend on it. The leather

and spikes is nice, the denim and long hair is cool, but that’s not why we are gathered

here. Play your heavy metal with the attitude of Led Zeppelin or Judas Priest or Iron

Maiden, whether you have one hundred thousand people in front of you or just those

23 people at the bar in Everett or Tukwila checking out whether you are any good or

not. Don’t curl up like a ball on stage, don’t hide, don’t look at your belly button, friend;

take the stage and make it yours; eyes up, chin up, and rock!

Do you know who plays heavy metal like that? Greyhawk. Who is Greyhawk? They are

anthem-obsessed heavy metal heroes rocking out from the Seattle region. They have

travelled all sorts of paths to get here, but they did get here. They are in the state of

Washington and this is their debut, but they sound experienced and skilled. This

recording is very impressive. As you can see, they are not signed to a big record

company, but that did not prevent them from going out and making a recording of

good sound quality. More importantly, they have the heavy metal anthems, and they

have themselves a real singer, too, not some poser schmuck from down the street.

Below is the official information hype about the band. Check it out the hype, get

excited, lift some weights, do the Conor McGregor walk and get into this recording at

the first link below.

OFFICIAL INFORMATION FROM THE

MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA: The

story of Greyhawk begins in late

2016, when Jesse Berlin, a neoclas-

sical shredder from New York, and

Darin Wall, a proud rock warrior

from the northern wastelands of

Canada, joined forces in Seattle,

Washington. Together they

scoured the city for fellow warriors

who were true enough to join their cause. After over a year of searching,

reinforcements finally arrived in the form of Enrico Mariuzzo, another rock and roll shred

demon all the way from Italy, and the booming operatic voice of Revere Taylor, who

while dazzling audiences at Seattle Opera also yearned for heavy metal glory. The four

gathered on the regular, crafting songs and planning their attack, and then finally the

last piece of the puzzle arrived from across the Cascade Mountains in the form of the

powerhouse drummer Nate Butler. After many hours of blood and sweat, Greyhawk

entered the studio, employing the expertise of audio wizard Cody J Brumlow to forge

their debut EP, Ride Out. Now they set out to bring their brand of heavy metal to the

unsuspecting masses. Ride Out was recorded, mixed and mastered by Cody J Brumlow

at Hangar 12 Studios, Mountlake Terrace, Washington. Album artwork by Jesse White.

Greyhawk is: Rev Taylor (vocals), Jesse Berlin (guitar), Enrico Mariuzzo (guitar), Darin Wall

(bass), Nate Butler (drums).

greyhawkmetal.bandcamp.com/releases

facebook.com/Greyhawkmetal/

twitter.com/greyhawkmetal @greyhawkmetal

interview: Malphas

Malphas is melodic extreme metal from the city of Philadelphia, U.S.A. The 39th Spirit is

the name of their debut full-length album on Via Nocturna (Poland). Some years ago

they released an EP called The Conjuring (2015), and that’s when their name began to

make the rounds more broadly. This interview takes up the music and lyrics of the most

recent album. The band also reveals some plans for the future.

What has it been like for your band to get to the point of your debut

album?

The 39th Spirit is a culmination of our first five years together as a band. We

recorded a rough demo back in 2013 and came back in 2015 with our first

professional release, The Conjuring EP. The EP served as a blueprint which

we built upon to create The 39th Spirit. It’s been a long road and is still a

long road ahead, but we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and

have great optimism going forward from here.

Eric Dunleavy plays the drums, Paul DeSanctis does vocals and guitars,

and Damian DiFrancesco plays guitars. Who played bass and keyboards

on the album?

We’ve had a revolving door at bass for the entirety of the band’s history.

Dave Gugleilmi was our founding bassist, but he left in 2016. Dallas Lutz

played with us for a year and recorded bass on the album, but quit the

band right before we went on tour with Tengger Cavalry in Summer 2017.

We didn’t want to lose the opportunity, so we had to run the bass through

the PA with the live tracks. Jon Sutherland (Seraph in Travail) recently

joined us on bass, and is a great fit for us musically. We’re excited to have

him on board, along with our new violinist Thuy Nguyen. The keyboards on

the album were programmed using Metropolis Ark 1.

Has Malphas been playing

shows around the Philadelphia

area?

We’ve played consistently

around the Philadelphia area

the past 5 years and have

done two tours now. We’re

definitely excited to get back

on the road with our new album and lineup. We’ve already been playing

some of the songs from the album live the past couple of years and

received some great feedback on the Tengger tour. We played the

album in its entirety at our CD release show December 7th.

There are some six bands named Malphas. Have you had any legal

problems with the name?

There were only two bands with the name at the time we started up, one

of them being inactive for more than 20 years. The other is a French band

whose EP title was the same as our album, but have no clue if they’re still

active or not. Our album is simply a story about Malphas who is the 39th

goetic spirit. None of our music is plagiarized from their EP. Over the years

we noticed more bands named Malphas surfacing, so we obtained the

trademark. We now own the rights to the name; none of the other bands

would have a leg to stand on in trying to sue us. We’re cool with them

continuing to release music, though.

How much did you know about recording music when the band began?

It’s been a learning curve every step of the way. Our demo back in 2013

was very raw, but we came back in 2015 with a more polished product in

our EP. We took another step forward with The 39th Spirit, but are setting

our sights even higher with album 2, which we are soon to begin

preproduction on. It will be our best sounding release yet, without a

doubt.

What has happened to the band’s profile internationally now that you

have a foot in Europe with Via Nocturna?

Having distribution always makes things easier. Being signed has indeed

turned some heads and helped us out a bit. We’re planning to come over

to Europe for a tour on this album cycle, so keep an eye out for us.

Do you have more Polish fans now?!

I guess we’ll find out when we play there ;)

Metal Archives says that your lyrics revolve around demonology. Can you

tell us the story of Malphas the demon and how the story fits in the world of

demonology and the occult in general?

In demonology, Malphas is the 39th of the 72 goetic spirits in the Key of

Solomon. He commands 40 legions of demons, builds high towers, and

brings artificers together. He will appear as a crow when summoned and

speak in a hoarse voice. He will give good familiars and accept a

sacrifice graciously, but then will deceive the conjuror. The Conjuring EP

and The 39th Spirit are a story about a man who encounters Malphas and

forms a pact to sacrifice his life to lead Malphas’ armies against the

Church in the afterlife. The events in the afterlife influence the real world -

which is set in a dystopian future plagued with natural disaster and

economic recession.

How would you describe your interest in the occult? Does Malphas have a

particular political objective?

I don’t practice the occult, but find things like demonology and astrology

interesting. Demons represent the dark side of humanity; greed, envy, lust,

hate, gluttony, etc. You can observe that in looking at paintings of some

of them. Pretty scary stuff. Doctor Faustus was a particularly significant

influence on the story - Malphas plays a role similar to Mephistopheles. This

is referenced in Red Constellations when Man’s corruption by Malphas in

taking his own life is lamented. Malphas has no political or religious

allegiance; his simple objective is to obtain power for himself. He deceives

atheists into thinking they’re fighting for a noble cause in destroying

religion, but Malphas only wishes to enforce his own regime. This why at

the album’s conclusion, Malphas is killed by Man; as Man understands he

has been deceived. Now he must inherit the ashes and assume

responsibility for what he’s destroyed. These concepts will continue to be

expanded upon in album 2. Though our music is influenced by religious

and political themes, our lyrics don’t have an agenda. We’re simply telling

a story involving those things and hope that it can be enjoyed by

everyone.

Can you tell us where people can

hear the full album now? Where

can people buy your merchan-

dise?

Our album is available digitally on

Bandcamp, Spotify, and iTunes.

Physical copies are available

online at Via Nocturna’s website,

and from us if you come to one of our shows. We don’t have a band store

up yet, but will in 2019; along with lots of new merch. Keep an eye out for

us – we’ll see you on the road soon!

vianocturna.bandcamp.com/album/the-39th-spirit

facebook.com/malphasband

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metal programs in Washington (Pacific Times)

Excuse All the Blood (Olympia, WA): Friday night 10pm-1am www.kaosradio.org

Metal Shop (Seattle, WA): Saturday 10pm-3am KISW 99.9fm www.kisw.com

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