melodic death metal

Album Review: Majesties — “Vast Reaches Unclaimed”

VincentLeave a comment

I am not shy of being vocal on and around this site about not liking melodic death metal. This, however, is not entirely the truth, and is an oversimplification of my larger feelings on the topic. You see, I do love a lot of melodic death metal…just next to nothing that the genre is putting out in recent years. Give me a little Jester Race or Slaughter of the Soul though, and I am very much in my happy place. The classic sound of melodic death metal’s early incarnations have so much soul and life in them compared to the kinds of overly dour, riffless fare modern melodeath bands seem content to carbon copy from one another ad nauseam. Enter Minnesota’s Majesties and their debut release Vast Reaches Unclaimed, which pulls directly from the lineage of those halcyon days of the subgenre’s beginnings to remind one and all what melodic death metal should be.

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Receiving the Evcharist: Kromheim and Varangian

ColinLeave a comment
Receiving the Evcharist 2018

This month I’ve returned with more mead and an even more thematically appropriate album for this ancient drink, so let’s dive in with Kromheim’s Journey to Divinity and Groennfell’s Varangian.

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Majesties’ Matthew, Carl, and Tanner on their new album “Vast Reaches Unclaimed” and much more!

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Majesties

If anyone would‘ve hinted at Obsequiae and Inexorum combining forces in a new band, Majesties brand of 90s loving meloswedeath would not have been the first assumption. Yet, here we are on the eve of Vast Reaches Unclaimed and it’s an absolute beast of an album full of everything fans loved about that timeframe in melodic death metal. It’s almost as if these guys wrote the next chapter of the genre and the past twenty five years never happened. Buke recently sat down with Matthew Kirkwold (bass), Carl Skildum (guitars), and Tanner Anderson (guitars, vocals, drums) to get the lowdown on this new band and album, how it came to be, and so much more. We now bring you this conversation in its entirety so grab your beverage of choice, a seat, and enjoy.

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Bryan Eckermann, Kobey Lange, and Derek Russell of Scars Of The Flesh on their new album “In Darkness Alone,” and much more!

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Scars of the Flesh

Texas is known for a lot of things, and metal is one of those things. San Antonio in particular is home to none other than melodic black / death metallers Scars Of The Flesh who are about to release their third full length In Darkness Alone. Debut Harvest Of Souls was a barnburner and follow up Reaching Into The Void was a projectile of incendiary violence that far eclipsed the debut in many ways. In Darkness Alone stands to be the album that truly puts this band on the map with five brand spanking new tracks alongside four amazing cover songs that the band truly makes their own. Buke sat down with lead guitarist Bryan Eckermann, rhythm guitarist Derek Russell, and vocalist Kobey Lange to discuss the new album, how it came to be, and so much more. We now bring you this conversation in its entirety so grab your beverage of choice, a seat, and enjoy. 

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Viktor “Storm” Gullichsen of Brymir on their new album “Voices In The Sky” and much more!

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Image courtesy of Janica Lönn

Since forming in 2006 and presenting their debut in 2011, Finland’s Brymir has captured lightning in a bottle with their symphonic laced and hard hitting melodic death metal. And now with their fourth full length Voices In The Sky the band is in juggernaut mode with their best songwriting and heaviest yet most epic songs to date. Buke sat down with frontman Viktor “Storm” Gullichsen for a wide ranging discussion surrounding this new album, what it’s like to handle vocals, orchestration, writing, and producing, and so much more. We now bring you this conversation in its entirety so grab your beverage of choice, a seat, and enjoy. 

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