Once the polls indicated that I was practically guaranteed to win this little contest, I decided that one thing that I really wanted for this site was an interview. But I didn’t want an ordinary interview—I wanted a killer interview. Luckily, bassist/vocalist Arthur von Nagel of the band Cormorant was more than happy to provide this interview. In fact, Arthur went way beyond anything I expected!

For starters, Cormorant is a band that is very hard to categorize. Some might be very general and say “extreme progressive metal,” while others might just be up to the task of labeling them using every subgenre that Cormorant integrates into their music (an arduous task if I do say so myself). Regardless, these guys bring an incredibly unique and diverse sound into the metal scene. Based on what I’ve heard so far, their new album Metazoa is definitely looking like it’ll be one of my top albums of the year.

Besides being a great bassist, Arthur is just a genuinely classy guy and quite the intellectual as you’ll see in the interview after the jump.

Read the interview after the jump.

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Yes, you read that correctly. For those who don’t know, I hate Sunn O))). I abhor them. I loathe them. The pointless, pretentious, and artistically void droning just infuriates me. They are just beyond awful in every conceivable way. Thus, when I found \\\Maytag, I fell in love with them instantly. You see, the members of \\\Maytag hate Sunn O))). They hate them so much that they went out of their way to make a parody band based on them. They compared Sunn O)))’s sound to broken refrigerators, so they took that idea and made their own brand of “drone metal” using refrigerators and various other kitchen appliances. It started as a joke, but they somehow got over 65 minutes of material for an album with 23 tracks, grimly entitled The Saga of the Frostbitten Lands of Frigidaire, and enough material for two extra EPs (with one long epic track each). I have to say, the result is fucking hysterical! Just listening to the droning fridges, with the tiny subtleties thrown in, makes me giggle like an idiot watching Dane Cook (only idiots like Dane Cook).

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http://freemetalalbums.wordpress.com/

For those few of you who don’t know what this website is, it’s a collection of thousands of free metal albums, EPs, and demos. It’s truly an excellent website and a service to the metal community. Here, I’m going to recommend a few artists and albums, but I want you to search them on there. After searching what I list, randomly browse the site for other albums. I’ve found lots of great stuff on there that I otherwise wouldn’t have noticed. This is the way to truly get the word around for bands with absolutely no financial backing. Here they are:

Vortech – Posthumanism
Against Nature – Discography
Demilich – Nespithe (if you don’t have this by now, you should be
ashamed of yourself)
Carcariass – Killing Process
Cloudkicker – Discography
Clad in Darkness – Amidst Her Shadows
Cephalectomy – An Epitaph to Tranquility
Esoteric – most of their discography
Fist in Fetus – their EP
Grey Skies Fallen – discography
Heathen – discography
Iron Thrones – Visions of Light (MS user groverXIII brought this band
to my attention–thanks!)
\\\Maytag – discography
Moroghor – …and Space as Chaos
The Pax Cecilia – Blessed are the Bonds
Synestesia – two EPs are on their website

Those are just a few bands on that site that are great. I’m certain that all of these bands give their albums away for free, and I’m almost positive that links are all on freemetalalbums. If not, Google is your friend.

-Ziltoid

Hexlust is a band that I have been familiar with for a little bit. They recorded a rehearsal demo in 2008, and I happen to get my hands on a good quality mp3 version of it. All of those songs are on their myspace for streaming, and even though I think that they shitty myspace player severely detracts from the overall sound of the songs, I still think that they show hope for this new thrash movement. Instead of overproducing and making their music sound clean, they retain the old-school thrash production sound which really gives them an edge. Sure, it might just be because of budget, but Hexlust also have substance behind the sound. All of the songs that they wrote (I think one or two are covers if I recall correctly) are very energetic and retain the spirit of the old thrash bands of the 80s, yet are also written rather well, with some odd structures and solos here and there. They may wear their influences on their sleeves (there’s one point where the high-pitched shriek sounds just like Slayer’s Angel of Death), but while doing so, they also throw in some originality, and in this thrash scene, that is rarely done. They are currently working on new songs at the moment, and frankly, I think that they deserve some recognition. Also, according to people I’ve spoken to, they play a killer live show. They’re in Texas, so if you find out that they’re playing, I’d suggest going to see them. Here is Hexlust’s myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hexlust I got an mp3 copy of their rehearsal demo from one of the members of the band. Maybe if you message them and ask nicely, they’ll send you a link. No guarantees on my part, but it’s worth a shot.

-Ziltoid

The middle of this video (3:20) is quite funny. Devin just rants about crappy “wank bullshit.” Needless to say, this man continues to be one of the best people ever.

On an unrelated note, I finally got Ki and it’s awesome. I expected nothing less…

-Ziltoid

What could be more grim than recording your black metal album in a cave?

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-Ziltoid

Many of you here know that I hate just about all of your crappy music. But I obviously have my roots. Here, I wish to go into great detail about my intense infatuation with the greatest guitarist ever. Some of you started with Iron Maiden, Metallica, or Black Sabbath. I started with the best metal band ever—Iced Earth. Iced Earth formed as Purgatory in the late 80s, and in the early 90s, changed their name and released their self-titled debut. As a lonely 12 year old with no hope in this cruel world, Jon Schaffer and his amazing band were my glimmer of light. Their debut album is at the very least an intense experience of both the mind and soul, and as a young, self-conscious lad, this album spoke to me in an infinite amount of ways. The masterful and creative guitarwork by Schaffer here set the foundation for all creative and progressive music that would ever be made. Each riff is impeccably and meticulously written, yet never overstays it’s welcome, soon transitioning into yet another riff of equal beauty.

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