Karmanjaka and their metal as fuck unreadable band logo come to us from the land of great melodic metal, Sweden. That Swedish influence of melodic, rocking and catchy riffs can be felt throughout the entirety of this recording. Black Metal is often seen as the grimmest of the grim but this album has an almost, “fun” feel to it. Listen to the standout track, “Sorcerer King,” and judge for yourself. With its outstanding guitars and howling vocals it feels like a mix of classic era heavy metal and black metal. With such a melodic approach to their sound Karmanjaka have put together a very accessible black metal listen to many who may not be a fan of the genre. In addition, the production on this album is slick and crisp making it even easier to pass it on to your friend who still hasn’t given a black metal band a fair listen. The themes on this album are still bleak, evil and pagan, so purists should night be scared off by Karmanjaka’s diverse sound. Easily one of the more engrossing and energetic black metal album to come out in some time. Highly recommended!
We recently caught up with the amazing Athenar, the guitarist, bassist and drummer behind Cleveland’s sleaziest and trashiest one man band, Midnight. Athenar took some time from his morning routine to discuss his upcoming album, “Let there be Witchery”, record collecting and combining tofu and peanut butter.
Trve Kvlt Coffee: What are you up to this morning?
Athenar: This morning? Just the usual. Conducting brain surgery, doing a little bit of star gazing. The typical stuff I do in the morning. Besides that just making coffee and eating oatmeal.
TKC: I usually need a couple cups of coffee before I think of any type of brain surgery.
Athenar: (laughs) Not me man. I dove right into the brain surgery and worry about the coffee later.
TKC: I feel it gives me more of a steady hand.
Athenar: True
TKC: Now you do have an upcoming show on February 12th at Photo City Music Hall. That looks like a pretty cool venue.
Athenar: Yeah, I went there for the first time in October, I went to see Nuclear Assault and it was really cool. I know the guy that sets up the gigs and he asked if we wanted to play there and I said, “Hell Yeah!” They started right before Corona doing a winter bash in Rochester. This is, I think, the second one, “Rotting in Rochester.”
TKC: After that, you have an upcoming tour with Mayhem and Watain.
Athenar: Yup. That’ll be our first tour since Corona. We’ve played a little mishmash of gigs in ’21 but this’ll be our first tour since 2019.
TKC: That’s a pretty good lineup to be touring with too.
Athenar: Yeah. At this point I’ll tour with Cindy Lauper and Huey Lewis.
TKC: (Laughs) I would love to see Midnight open for Cindy Lauper! How does it feel to be hitting the road again?
Athenar: Like I said, we’re not there yet. I won’t believe it until we are actually in the van and in the venues because the rug has been pulled out from underneath us and everybody else before so we’ll see. Still a couple weeks (for possible) disappointment.
TKC: Let’s hope for some good news, I think things are looking a lot better than they did before. I’m in the Cincinnati area and we were hoping to see you play here as a part of Transplant Fest in in 2020. I was so excited for that show, that was my one gleaming hope for 2020 that a show might actually go on. I thought maybe it still has a chance, Cleveland isn’t too far…
TKC:That’s all you see in Cincinnati right now. That’s all that’s going on.
Athenar: I’m sure.
TKC: Do you have an additional tours or festivals planned for this year?
Athenar: Well yeah, there’s a shit ton planned just like there was in 2020 when the last album came out. This one’s about to come out, the new album and there are US tours and European festivals, going to Mexico, that’ll be our first time going to Mexico. There is a fall tour, so there is definitely stuff planned but like I said, we’ll see what happens.
TKC: I hope it happens and I hope we get something in my area.
Athenar: Yeah, I’d love to come down there. I used to come down there all the time in Cincinnati. There’s a record seller guy there. We used to make trips all the time to buy records.
TKC: Oh, any certain record store?
Athenar: No it wasn’t a store. He just sold them out of his basement. He mainly sold NWOBHM singles and shit like that. I can remember that exact name of the town but it was just right outside of Cincinnati. Damn. I can’t remember.
TKC: It’ll hit you in the middle of the day and you’ll remember. I did actually catch you guys at Psycho Fest which was an awesome show!
Athenar: Yeah in Vegas. That was our first show back after Corona.
TKC: You guys were on fire!
Athenar: Yeah it was cool. It felt good and natural to get back out there and play tunes again. I did not expect to be playing in an arena, that’s for sure. That was a bit bizarre.
Photo by Maurice Nunez
TKC: Definitely a cool festival. It was my first time and hopefully I’ll make it out again.
Athenar: Yeah that was good. Danzig was good, Repulsion was good.
TKC: I missed Repulsion because it was the last performance and (The House of Blues) was so crowded, I didn’t think I would make it. Your latest album, “Let there be Witchery”, comes out on March 4th and this is your second with Metal Blade. How does it feel to working with Metal Blade now that this is your sophomore release with them?
Athenar: It’s cool. It’s good they gave us another chance. The first one, we didn’t get a chance to really at all and promote that first one with Metal Blade so if everything goes good here it’s gonna be much mo’ better. They’ve been doing this kind of thing since most of the people that listen to the music have been alive. They know what they’re doing. They are not fly by nighters, they do a good job at what they do.
TKC: Almost everyone’s favorite metal bands have had some kind of brush with Metal Blade at some point in their careers it seems. I am enjoying the re-releases they are doing. I think that’s pretty cool to make them available for people, like myself, who may have discovered Midnight a little later and are having a hard time tracking down some of your earlier material.
Athenar: Yeah. That was part of the reason for them to get involved, so that they could keep the catalog in print and get it overseas more. Where as the previous label (Hell’s Headbangers) they got stuff overseas but it wasn’t as accessible. We are a band of the street and for the street. So we wanna get the music out there. I know it’s easy for people to download and to whatever, get it off the computer. I’m still of the mindset of having an actual record in your hand and playing the record. I would like to think that people can go to the store and buy a record.
TKC: Yeah I’m there with you. I usually go digital for the sake of space or if I can’t find it anywhere else. I’m excited you have stuff coming out on cassette. I’ve listened to the new album and I think it’s fantastic, everything you want with a Midnight record. “Szex Witchery”, “In Sinful Secrecy”, I love “Villainy Wretched Villainy”, which is a great title by the way. I can’t pinpoint a favorite yet, it’s tough. Which song are you particularly excited to unleash upon the world?
Photo by Maurice Nunez
Athenar: Oh man. I mean shit, this question my usual answer for it, they are all my babies. Some of them might have a bit of difficulty in life, some of them may excel in life but I can’t choose favorites. But to play live, we are going to start with “Szex Witchery” because it was the first releashed, so we’ll jam that one. I’m sure we’ll get the other ones, “Frothing Foulness”. The drummer seems to like “More Torment”, it’s got that nice plodding drum beat. So maybe we will do that one too.
TKC. Very cool. Speaking of live shows, much like KISS and Alice Cooper, you totally own that sleazy rock star look complete with a crazy and wild show like the one I saw in Vegas. I remember I was looking at some of my photos I took at the show to see if I could use for this interview but I was like, “No, no they are too blurry, they are running around too much.”
Athenar: (Laughs) It’s all the cocaine and blue meth that we do. We do a lotta blue meth.
TKC: Blue meth?
Athenar: Blue Meth. I just started watch Breaking Bad, they have blue meth in there. I’ll try it one of these days.
TKC: (Laughs) Was the look that you have planned from the get go when you decided you were going to start doing live shows?
Athenar: It wasn’t really intended to be a live band, it didn’t really start out that way but there was an intent to at least to take a picture and put it on a record or something like that. The masks were always there. That was the idea because it was so easy to have a look in exactly one second. There was no applying makeup, there was no getting into some sort of space person costume or whatever else. This was like an instant .99 cent look, ya know? Very Cleveland and just as you know, very Ohio in general.
TKC: Yup, the place I work at, we sell a bunch of those hoods.
Athenar: Well, there you go!
TKC: In many of your photos and promos, you are always holding something on fire. In your most recent promo photo, you have a pair of sai on fire.
Photo by Hannah Verbeuren
Athenar: Yeah! I found those at a garage sale for 3 bucks.
TKC: Oh wow! Really?
Athenar: Like I said man, that’s the Cleveland thing. You do with what you have. You find little things and you make do with ’em.
TKC: It’s looks cool as hell. Anything else that you plan on lighting up?
Athenar: I plan on lighting up the crowd man, that’s what we do. (laughs) Who knows? Fire and Heavy Metal go so well together. It’s kinda like tofu and peanut butter. It goes so well.
TKC: I don’t know about the tofu and peanut butter.
Athenar: But there’s always things to light on fire. Who knows? If I ever grow hair I might light my hair on fire like Michael Jackson.
TKC: There you go! That’ll be…something. Going back to records, I’ve seen a video on Youtube where you are going through your record collection. I love the tour of your house. If you are ever looking for a career change you should look into becoming a realtor because you are pretty good at demonstrating appliances.
Athenar: I love it, I look at realtor.com all the time.
TKC: How long have you been collecting music?
Athenar: Since I was a kid probably when I first started getting into this stuff. Probably since I was 10 years old and I’m *cough* *cough* years old now. (laughs) I’m 48 now so about 38 years.
TKC: Do you have any grails or most prized pieces in your collection?
Athenar: There’s all kinds of things. There’s records that are rare and not that good musically. There’s dollar records that will crush you every day. The thing about it, it’s still about the music for me. It always has been, it’s not about finding, “Oh, that’s the rarest record ever, you’ll never see this copy.” But, I’m always looking for the ultimate risk somewhere, the ultimate tune. You never know where you’ll find that. I’m always looking.
TKC: Do you hit up shops when you are on the road?
Athenar: Oh yeah. All the time. When there’s downtime, which there usually is, me and my other buddy Rodney that go out, we’re scouring the place for records. It gets tougher nowadays but you still gotta look. You never know.
TKC: Any favorite shops that you have run across?
Athenar: Over the years some of the best I’ve always thought were…actually we always have fun looking in Rochester speaking of that. They had a place called Heavy Metal Records, Record Archive, House of Guitars. There is a lot of good stuff upstate/western New York. I don’t know why that is. Maybe because it’s a little on the outskirts of New York City. They had the distribution company, I think it was called Important. So there was always a lot of records going around that area. But shit man. That’s the thing about records. You can find a Tyrant 7″ behind the counter somewhere in Cincinnati. You never know, you just need to keep looking.
Photo by Maurice Nunez
TKC: That’s always part of my mission when I travel. Where’s the record store?
Athenar: Yeah, it’s always an adventure.
TKC: This interview is for Trve Kvlt Coffee, have you heard of it?
Athenar: Yeah! I have. I wanna say they made Midnight coffee mugs?
TKC: Yes indeed.
Athenar: Alright. I’m not crazy. Mark that off the list.
TKC: You gotta make sure to try some of the coffee sometime!
Athenar: Hell yeah, I’d love to. Send a bag of coffee and a bag of blue meth.
TKC: Well, I do live in Kentucky, I can probably get some next door, it’s like borrowing a cup of sugar. Anything else that you would like to add?
Athenar: I don’t think so. It was nice rapping with you in the morning while conducting brain surgery.
Let There be Witchery will be out on March 4th via Metal Blade Records
With a name like Puke Mutant you get a feel for the band before you even manage to hit play. Not much is known about the band other than they formed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 2020 and claim to be the #1 Adult Contemporary Artist for citizens of sewers across the nation. They guys in Puke Mutant play some nasty no frills Death Metal with a heavy dose of gross out humor added to the chaos. Gross out humor and Death Metal? That’s always a winner in my book. If you are a fan of Pungent Stench or early Carcass, this is one for you to check out. The vocals are regurgitated and spewed perfectly melding with the bands dark and vile lyrical themes. The twin vocal attack reminds me of the grinding my garbage disposal does whenever a spoon is accidentally lodged in the drain. The guitars provide some thick, chunky and punishing riffs with a few biting solos thrown in for good measure. With only 6 tracks, “An Unsightly Desecration,” is a short and satisfying listen.
Peep that cover. Dosen’t it just scream early 90’s Death Metal? Fuck yeah! I’m surprised the band’s name is MortalVision and not Morbid Vision with their similar sound to early Sepultura. This sounds like it could have been released right between “Schizophrenia” and “Beneath the Remains,” it’s that awesome! Comparisons aside, this Ukrainian quartet is here to kick your ass with stompable riffs, squealing solos and gnarled vocals. This isn’t quite “Death Metal,” or “Thrash,” by purist’s standards but who cares when it’s this much fun? It’s a rather short record with just over 30 minutes of run time that feel even shorter do to the high octane filled adrenaline rush that comes with the listen. If you are a fan of the early early days of Death Metal, back when the style was still new and developing, this is a must listen for you. I swear there must be a phone booth or DeLorean parked outside somewhere in the Ukraine that Mortal Vision are utilizing for the benefit of all old school Metal Heads everywhere. This is 6.66 gigawatts of pure extreme Metal power!
Wow. There is a lot here in this release that’s 20 years in the making. Crucified Mortal’s latest offering, “20 Years Damned,” is a collection stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey ready to be devoured. Included is a collection of limited vinyl releases, EPs, splits and demos that the band has released over the years. Also included is an unreleased rehearsal from the legendary CBGB and a soundboard recording from a 2005 gig in Cincinnati.
Crucified Mortal’s style of extreme Thrash is high energy, speed driven, angry and completely addictive. Think early Slayer, Venom and Exodus and you’ll have an idea of what this Cleveland based band are doing. There are loads of speed driven killer riffs, reckless solos, pounding drums and angry vocals with the occasional growl. The horror movie audio clips that proceed a few of the tracks are a nice touch, other than that this is some pretty straight forward Thrash Metal here. That’s not a dig, Crucified Mortal don’t have to reinvent the wheel to be entertaining. This is some kick ass material that should satisfy even the most jaded Metal fan.
Hatemonger’s “The Vile Maxim” is simple, short and savage as fuck. The Chicago based group performs a killer style of no frills, no fads, no holds barred Death Metal that is set to stomp your skull into the soil. Their sound is fresh and familiar without the “retro” Death Metal sound that many bands are trying to emulate these days. Vocals are are vicious, the guitar work has plenty of thick and heavy riffs and the drums are filled with great blast beats, all the ingredients you need in your Death Metal stew. If you listen carefully enough, you’ll notice a hint of some early Swedish Death Metal style amongst the carnage. The songs within are both brutal and on topic with such titles as, “Plague for Days,” and “Disinformation Campaign.” If there is at least one good thing to come from the Pandemic, it has provided plenty of material to keep bands busy for years to come.
Wise Blood Records are absolutely killing it with releases this year. Graveripper’s “Radiated Remains,” (which was included with our July subscriptions) was already included in my top albums of the year. Swedish newcomers Natterman’s debut, “The Lurking Evil,” is an incredibly strong album full of old school metal that is covered in murky and dirty thrash n’ roll.
From the opening track, “Beauty in Chaos,” you can feel what you have gotten yourself into, a heavily 80’s inspired Blackened Thrash album with its high speed punk chords, piercing solos, tight drumming and raspy vocals. While the punk influence is high here, so are plenty of elements from first wave of Black Metal with its rawness and darkened lyrical content. You can hear and feel the early influences of Bathory, Venom and Celtic Frost along with more modern bands Midnight and Toxic Holocaust.
For me, this is kind of album to me that defines “Metal.” Are they thrash? Are they Black Metal? Is it fun? Fuck yes. From start to finish the energy is high and I want to bang my head and pump my fist as listen. “Die you Will,” is the perfect anthem for anyone who calls themself a “Metalhead,” with so many elements of old school metal blasting you in the face you can smell the sweat, stale beer and black leather.
“El Destituta Mortis,” is the debut EP from a mysterious Spanish duo of Black Metallers known only as A.84 and L.77. I am not sure what their names mean or even refer to but what I am certain of is, this is an EP of solid and effective Black Metal. With only 3 songs and a run time of roughly 15 minutes Vacio provide a brief and bleak stylistic interpretation of modern Black Metal. This recording is fast enough, raw enough and has plenty of blast beats and tremolo picking to keep even the Trvest Black Metal purists satisfied. The vocals on this recording are full of high pitched shrieks and the lyrical themes focus on occultism and general human misery. Perfect listening for a Monday morning.
If you are a fan of cheesy B-movies horror, then VHS has you more than covered. With song titles such as, “From Crystal Lake to Space,” “Earth Girls are Easy,” and “Space Jam,” (yes, you read that correctly, it is not a typo.) “Gore from the Stars,” is oozing with plenty of film references to your favorite interstellar horror and science fiction films.
Have you ever noticed once a franchise starts to become a little stale, setting the next movie in space always seems to be the next option? Jason, Pinhead and even the nasty little Leprechaun have all taken the trip beyond the stars for better or worse. (mostly worse) So, how does VHS fair on their 4th album? Are things starting to go stale? Have they run out of any fresh ideas?
Thankfully Gore From Beyond the Stars delivers all of the maniacal and brutal fun that we have come to expect from VHS while still remaining fresh and memorable. For those unfamiliar with their insanity, VHS sound like a blended version of old school punk, Grind, Thrash and Death Metal with deep guttural vocals and an infectious sense of humor. Most of this release is hostile and brutal but VHS also delivers some diversity on this album to keep things interesting. The somber synth filled intro track, “Blast Off,” starts the album off with a nostalgic nod to 80s Sci Fi. The tracks only intensify from here as VHS stomps your skull in with a blitzkreig of horror mayhem with most tracks well under the 1:30 mark. “Earth Girls are Easy,” breaks this mold with an extremely Glam Metal feel compete with some ridiculously funny falsetto vocals and almost power ballad feeling solos. Another highlight are the movie samples that proceed most of the songs giving you a little break in their blood soaked audio onslaught. “Space Jam,” is an instrumental track that takes a moment to slow things down with some incredible grooves and solos that may leave you asking yourself, is the same band? If you are a fan of the humor of the legendary Macabre but need something a little more hard hitting, this CHUD is for you.
Ontario’s Six of Swords bring some heavy, groovy and brutal punishment with their latest beast, “Regime Decay – Polar Vortex.,” which is a pairing of their first two EPs. While playing old school Death Metal has become popular in the extreme metal scene in recent years, Six of Swords manages to retain the old school vibe while still managing to include plenty of modern Death Metal elements. Think Morbid Angel meets Gatecreeper and you’ll get a good idea of what Six of Swords is trying (and succeeding) to accomplish.
What makes this a great listen is the amount of variety with each track. With that being said, there is not anything fancy or over the top to be found here. No blast beats, no break downs and no overly complicated or technical guitar riffs. No. This is just some down and dirty Death Metal. Sometimes, simpler is better. Some songs are full of complete brutality, while others chug along with some fantastic grooves. This is where Six of Swords excels. When they slow things down, they lay down some incredibly heavy stuff with great riffs and sick vocals. Vocalist Josh Gordon kills it on this release. If you dig on Doom Metal, you are gonna love some of this serious sick and sludgy material. If you aren’t a fan of Doo, there is still plenty of Thrashy and speed to keep you raging here and sending you straight into the pit.
