Entrevista : Moloken

Moloken.São suecos, tocam algo que fica entre o sludge, o doom e o post-metal. Estrearam-se nestas lides com o belo EP "We all face the dark alone", em 2008. Lentos,sujos e feios,os 15 minutos que compõem o EP são do melhor que já ouvi dentro do género. Agora, em Setembro de 2009, a banda lança o LP "Our Astral Circle". Que melhor desculpa podia eu querer para falar com a banda?

Pereira - Please introduce yourself, your band and explain to us what Moloken is all about.

Jakob - I’m Jakob, the drummer in Moloken. The band represents a mix of different influences and ideas from the early 90’s death/doom scene, the progressive rock from the 70’s, the alternative hardcore scene and many other things. I guess what defines us is that we use the bass in an unconventional way in how Nicklas plays, and how we intertwine that with minimalist guitar stems and our usage of pounding heaviness of controlled chaos.

P-You guys released recently your debut LP, "Our Astral Circle". Can you tell us about the recording process and the thoughts behind the songs?

J-We entered the XL studio the day after the gig at House of Metal 2009 was done, and continued to work there for eight more days, after which the recording was finished the material was sent once again to Sven Engdahl to do his magic thing in the mixing process. Musically the record has a variation of songs, some being very slow and perhaps soft, another one being fast and violent, and another one being introspect and dark. The common link behind these compositions is our notion that nothing is to be given a certain value unless we want it so. In other words: We tend to play with our own expectations – what might seem to be a good intro or a good verse might turn out to be something completely different in the end. It all depends on how we approach the material and how we play it together, as Moloken by nature is a collective effort. The lyrical themes of Moloken have a broad variation of expressions and thoughts. What unite them is the mixture of human fear and fascination of the unknown and different negative impressions that surrounds life and the world we live in.

P- What are your plans for the rest of 2009?

J - We’re going to have a release party in Umeå the 3^rd of October on Droskan, and between the 17^th till 31th October we’re on our Europe tour, which visits Belgium, Germany and Sweden. In November we’re going to arrange a festival in a small town outside of Umeå, the Holmsund Deathfest festival.

P - How is it going for a young band like yourselves; is it easy to "survive" nowadays in Sweden, playing Doom/Sludge?

J -If you mean survive as in terms of living off your music, then no, it’s certainly not easy. It’s not even possible. If you mean survive as in terms of managing to get gigs and support, then sure. Almost anything is possible, as long as you’re willing to work for it. There are many bands in Scandinavia that creates excellent music but never gets anywhere due to their own lack of interest or peoples nature of having multiple projects going on at the same time, which results in less focus on their supposed-to-be main band. That’s my opinion, anyway.

P - What are the main differences between your EP "We All Face The Dark Alone" and "Our Astral Circle"?

J- When we recorded Our Astral Circle we had a clear picture of what we wanted to do. The sound is more raw and natural, which meant a big step away from the sound we had on the EP. The guitars and drums sound much better than on our EP (which we recorded on a weekend) plus that the Bäckström brothers really performed excellent vocals on the album. We’re all very proud of this album and how it sounds!

P-I know that there were some line-up changes in the past. What happened?

J-A couple of weeks before our gig at House of Metal 2009 Johan Öman announced that he was planning on leaving the band after the recording of the album were done. We accepted his decision and were glad that he stayed and did his guitar lines in the recording process, and not left us “high and dry”. Luckily we found a replacement guitarist in the eminent Patrik Ylmefors just a couple of weeks after Johan’s departure.

P- You have toured in the past; how was it? Have you ever played outside Sweden? If no, can we expect that in the near future?

J-We did a two weeks tour last fall, which took us to Norway and Sweden. This was our first tour, and we really enjoyed it, at least most of it. Besides the normal problems of logistics and provisions we met all sorts of people, in which some later on has helped us with gigs and support, and for that we’re very grateful. In the future we’d love to come and visit other countries besides the northern regions of Europe, and also visit other continents!

P-Your sound has some unique and fresh characteristics, like the role of the bass guitar, the dual vocals... What inspires, what influences you to write a Moloken song?

J-For my own part, I’m always in search of new ways of expressing myself both musically and lyrically, and if I’ve accomplished that through my contribution in the band, then I’m as happy as ever. But I’m also trying to develop my understanding of other music styles and ideas alien to me, so playing in a band, which encases many music styles, has its advantages. But in terms of music, I think that the common feelings I personally want to create is mental darkness, madness, confusion and alienation of things that is considered to surround your world. I think it’s mainly because of my own musical preferences, but also because of my state of mind, affected by long years of exposure to horror literature. J And off course all of these artistic visions gets filtered and analysed by the band. We might be a group of individuals, but we work as a collective.

P-What have you been watching/reading/listening lately?

J-I’ve had the opportunity of reading Michael Focault’s Discipline and Punish, which describes the elder traditions of corporal punishments and later on the development of rehabilitation penalties that was formed by social paradigms in the 19^th century, but especially the ideas behind The All-Seeing Eye and its effect on the prison system and society in general. I’m also an elder-culture-geek, which is why I read a book about the creation of the city-state Assyria, Gudens Skygge by Mogens Trolle Larsen, and how the administration and organisation changed this society. When it comes to movies then I’ve seen Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex, a German movie about the creation of The Red Army Faction in West Germany and its development during the 70’s and the 80’s. Musically I’ve been enjoying Virus’ latest album The Black Flux. It has become one of my personal favourites, maybe of all times. Besides that I’ve also been listening to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum’s In Glorious Times. It’s not very rhythmic oriented, at least not as the percussions were on the album before, Of Natural History, and it’s not as polyphonic as on the before-mentioned album or on the debut, Grand Opening And Closing. But it’s still very dark and weird music and I like it.

P-The Post-Metal/Sludge/Doom scene is becoming a bigger scene, with bands like Isis and Neurosis getting more and more recognition and drawing attention to the genre as a whole. What do you think of this?

J-The majority of this attention might be good. For example the creation of bigger networks, bigger institutions, that hopefully will be flexible and appreciative of new ideas and ways of corporation between borders and scenes. The downside can be that commercial interests might want to interfere in the musical creative process, or that marketing deliberately mislabels a musical product, like a boost-effect created by hard marketing rather than based on the consumers’ preferences.

P-What is the origin of the name "Moloken"?

J-Kristoffer came up with the name of Moloken, which is an old Swedish word for gloomy, or downhearted.

P-When can we expect you to play in Portugal?

J-As soon as we can come in contact with someone interested in booking us for a gig there, hopefully next year.

Take care and thanks a lot for your time!

Cheers for the interview!

Moloken @myspace

Manatees - Icarus, the sunclimber

Based on the legend of Icarus, “Sunclimber” is the follow up to the well-received “The Forever Ending Jitter Quest of Slow Hand Chuckle Walker: An Introduction to the Manatee”, and it is a slow, heavy and distorted voyage. It lacks not only variation, but contrasts and an identity. What the Manatees are doing isn’t really different from the rest of the sludge metal bands. This whole “hey, let’s play a heavy riff and repeat it over and over again for 10 minutes” has been done a thousand times before. The vocals, buried and distant, sound like most bands of the genre. But the whole “package” isn’t bad. Far from it. It’s just completely forgettable.

Originality is an important factor, when listening to an album. It is not essential, but it is important…

The Neurosis influence is more than obvious, but again, sometimes originality is not the problem; Year of No Light’s “Nord” is the perfect example of that. The first three tracks, “ Of Wax and Wing”;”The Sunclimber” and “Hyperion Altitude” are weaker and more forgettable than the other three; “Untitled”, “False Sun” , “Out of the sky, into the gutter” are better and more consistent. These last three songs are not revolutionary by any means, but they sound a lot better compared to the first half of the album; maybe it is because of the acoustic guitars, the spacey vocals or the tribal drumming, that add a nice element to the music . I am confident that this trio has a lot more to give, let’s just hope that their next release sounds closer to the second half of the album than the first.

As I said before, “Icarus, the Sunclimber” is a heavy, ugly and slow. Just like a manatee.

5.5/10

Long Distance Calling - Avoid the Light

O "Avoid the Light" foi um dos dois albuns que me foram pedidos para avaliar pelo Silent Ballet , como teste para ver se eu servia ou não para fazer parte dos escritores do site. O outro album foi o "Icarus, the sunclimber" de Manatees. Mas eu não sirvo para o site, por isso, já que não vão ser usadas para o SB, não vejo inconveniente em postar ambas aqui.

I have to say that I wasn’t surprised by “Satellite Bay”, Long Distance Calling’s debut. It is a decent album, sure, but it isn’t the masterpiece that lots of people seem to think it is. Now, with “Avoid the light”, the hype is fully justified: it has that special something that separates a good album from a great one. While not revolutionary, “Avoid the light” is, without any doubts, a great album.

The songwriting is strong and varied, managing to avoid most of the “modern post-rock traps” (like the whole tremolo picking riffs, for example). That, and the ability to write 12 minute songs that flow like 5 minute ones, makes these 55 minutes truly a joy to listen.

The production is very good, making the sound “huge” and stronger than most instrumental rock bands.

The bass-guitar plays a big role in the sound of this German quintet; it is always present, often combining with the drummer’s double-bass. Talking about that occasional double-bass, it isn’t the only metal influence present on “Avoid the Light”, with Jonas Renkse from the Swedish metal band Katatonia collaborating on “The Nearing Grave”, one of the highlights of the album. The programming/keys, while not original by any means, add an interesting industrial/spacey element, especially on the second track “Black Paper Planes”, something that they should explore more often on their next release.

The fourth track, “I know you, Stanley Milgram!” ( google it, it’s worth it… ), a 10 minute epic, marks a turning point within the album, towards a darker, more introspective sound.

As a conclusion – it is always good to be surprised, especially in a genre when surprises don’t occur often. “Avoid the Light” is probably one of the best instrumental rock albums I’ve had the pleasure to listen since last year’s “Embers” (by upcdowncleftcrightcabc+start) - and I’ve listened to quite a lot of them.

8.5/10

Dia 1- A de Agalloch

Começo hoje um novo segmento do nosso/vosso AIFD : o segmento Dia x Banda y. O primeiro dia corresponde à letra A,o segundo à B e por ai em diante...

Banda : Agalloch

Género : folk/doom/prog/black metal ( inicio de carreira )

folk/ambiente/post-metal ( actualmente )

Origem : Oregon, Estados Unidos da America

1995-

Devem existir em todo o mundo meia dúzia de bandas tão unicas e criativas quanto Agalloch. Em constente redifinição, mas ainda assim mantendo sempre caracteristicas muito proprias, Agalloch é uma banda que tem ganho muito reconhecimento com o passar dos anos. E justamente, acrescento. Albuns como o mais recente ( que já data de 2006 ) "Ashes Agains the Grain" conquistaram novos terrenos, novos fãs e o respeito da critica mais "mainstream". É um album mais acessivel que o anterior "The Mantle" ou que o debut "Pale Folklore", mas nem por isso deixa de ser excelente.

Entrevista : We Made God

We Made God

Islândia

Post-Metal

Pereira - Please introduce yourself and your band .

We Made God : We are: Arnor: Guitar, Birkir: Drums, Magnus: Voice/Guitar, Steingrimur: Bass

P - How was the reception of your debut EP, "As We Sleep" ?

WMG - The reception was amazing, it exceeded our expectations

P - You guys toured/are touring the Uk, how is it going? Is it your first tour outside of Iceland?

WMG - This is actually our "first" tour... we have done a lot of concerts all around Iceland but not a big tour.. and yes this is our first tour outside of Iceland. It was really great.. a breath of fresh air to get to play there.

P -Iceland is a country well known for its music and artistic scene in general. What do you think of it ; is Iceland a good place for a Metal/post-rock such as yourselves to be?

WMG - It is a common mistake to think our scene is really unique.. it is really quite like the scene in other countries. it is just smaller.. it is maybe quite unique for our size as a population. The thing is the rest of the world only get to see the best of it.

P -What is the concept, the idea behind "As We Sleep" ?

WMG - There is no general concept behind the album. The songs on that album are all from our early days as a band, the only thing linking them together is possibly the fact that it's us getting to know one another through music. There are songs on that album that reek of teenage rebellion while others show a more darker take on subjects like love.

P -What are your plans for the rest of 2009?

WMG - We plan to record our second album this summer... and hopefully release it this year. we will play a lot of concerts in Iceland but if everything goes well.. then we will go abroad again and play.

P -When can we expect a new album?

WMG - We plan to release the next album late 2009 .. maybe early 2010

P - Any european tours planned? When can we expect you here in Portugal ?

WMG - If we get some contacts over there in Portugal then maybe we can do something about it ;) we'll definately try to come over if there is interest..

P - Iceland was one of the most affected countries by the economical crisis. How is the crisis affecting the music business in Iceland?

WMG - It is hard.. but actually this is making our music scene moving in the sense of new bands forming because people have nothing else to do because of unemployment.. you see people going to concerts more (and most of the concerts are free over here btw)

P - What are your influences,when writing a song?

WMG -We play what we like... that's how we roll.
Basically it's starts with the atmosphere. When we write songs they are constantly changing. we sort of "jam" on them until the songs get to a place we like.

P - What have you been listening lately and which bands do you recommend to us?

WMG - This is a hard question for a band that has members with such different musical tastes. But of the top of our heads we would have to say. Devil Sold His Soul, Funeral Diner, Envy (Japan), Mr 1986, Radiohead...that last one everyone should know :D

Como diria o Émile Zola... "j'accuse!"

Novo objectivo de vida : transformar o nosso AIFD numa coisa destas -->

I'm the most important fucking person in the world.

Além dos 2 senhores fazerem parte de Angel Eyes ( que é apenas uma das melhores bandas da cena sludge ), são tambem ... opinion makers.



Agora a serio, I'm the most important fucking person in the world é um blog muito interessante, especialmente para quem tem um fraco por musica extrema ( ou, como eles preferem chamar, "slooow,heavy as fuck, hardcore-influenced music " ). Recomendo os amantes do sludge e instrumental em geral a darem uma olhada as summer series, um conjunto de bandas que Ryan e Todd destacaram como "resposta" às lamurias de escritores de sites como o The Silent Ballet , que, entre outras asneiradas, fartaram-se de defender que Russian Circles foi a única banda da cena a fazer algo decente em 2008...

Já que estamos na área do instrumental e das acusações, aproveito este espaço para acusar o SirensSound de me ter dado a conhecer muitas bandas ( como os suecos Ef e Immanu El, bandas que partilham o mesmo vocalista/guitarrista, da foto abaixo ) que não só passei a gostar, como mais tarde,a adorar. Obrigadão...sacan**




E,já que estou numa de "confissões" : estou neste momento a ouvir o "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" de Katatonia, e os vocals do Jonas começam a me irritar seriamente.



Tá na hora de mudar para :


a) um melo-death/black nórdico, com berros gélidos e agudos...
b) uma cena qq instrumental...

Desde que seja uma mudança para algo que não comece faixas com "we had you down on your knees / we were kicking you in the head"... Sinceramente, Jonas...




( Para não dizerem que sou má pessoa, aqui vai uma boa faixa de Katatonia )

(Já agora, depois de cagar no "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", mudei para In Flames - The Jester Race . )