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MORGION
- All The Loss, All The Glory
By Alex Ristic
"Be attentive - for you may be allured by its presence, by its charm
deep in the cosmos, upon the throne of void and star. Each word
spoken, invocating. Each syllable, rune. For every emotion shall
be accountable, like the sand of the long since fallen. A singe
upon pale flesh. To form the darkness growing inside the heart,
inside the mind, like the fall of a thousand gods. Solinari. A testimony,
the hymnal to enlightenment and woe."
If you're trying to decipher the above paragraph, don't bother.
Taken from the latest CD of Californian deathsmiths Morgion, you
should just take it for what it's worth to you as an individual,
because according to drummer Rhett Davis, Solinari has many meanings,
but its true feeling is only revealed for the band.
"It has a meaning, but it's more like a feeling. It's more like
a state of being," says Davis of the words he penned. "In a sense
that paragraph pretty much describes what Solinari is. Originally
where I got the name from, Solinari, is the Black Moons from a series
of novels, from the world of Krin, called DragonLance. Morgion came
from that as well."
Deep, yet simple. Provocative, but not overpowering. All of those
things or none, Morgion's influences are their own to decrypt. In
a world where rock stars start bands just to get laid (Kiss), or
to make tons of dough (Fagtallica), there are many influences which
some might call suspect. But for Davis, the realms of magic, fantasy,
mystery and mastery are what speaks to him, and in turn he tries
to speak to the listener with the same fervor.
"It inspires my lyrics. I like to use a lot of mythical metaphors.
It started when I was kid, watching the Conan movies, Excalibur,
then reading Tolkien, then meeting friends who were into playing
Dungeons & Dragons, and reading books about that. To this day I
read mostly in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. I like the element when
you add all these fantastic things like dragons and magic and so
forth. It's something I've always had a love for, so it will continue
to be a part of what I write."
It's not a one-sided thing either, says Davis. His bandmates, Jeremy
Peto (vocals & bass), Dwayne Boardman (guitar), Gary Griffith (guitar)
and Brandon Livingston (keyboards) write with pretty much the same
themes in mind as their leader in scripture, from writing the lyrics
to putting the album artwork together.
"Jeremy and myself write all the lyrics, and I have a very poetic
way of wording things. When we sat down to lay the artwork out,
Gary, who put it all together, we wanted all the music and art to
follow a theme, and one theme only," admits Davis proudly.
Before there was Solinari, a gorgeously dark sculpture with pain
in every note and chisel mark, and mesmerisingly dark guitar tones
with a hypnotizing battery, there was but Morgion. The band started
in September of 1990, with its core members of Davis, Peto and Boardman
having been around since day one. Their heroes of that day included
the likes of Autopsy, Entombed, Bolt Thrower and Paradise Lost;
a mostly European flavor.
It wasn't too long before their scene had grown with bands like
Mindrot and Dystopia, but Morgion wanted to be more than just the
typical death metal band.
"We're influenced mostly by European bands. It was really different
for anybody in our area, or L.A., to hear us because we play such
a different type of death metal. We were influenced completely differently
from anyone else. Everyone else was listening to Morbid Angel and
Cannibal Corpse and basically trying to be in that style, in that
vein. We wanted to be more of the sound of Entombed, with the brutality
of Autopsy."
Don't forget those influences, goddammit!
"The name Morgion comes from the book "The Legend of Huma," which
is basically a King Arthur-ish type story. Morgion is actually the
god of death and decay. He's like the king of all plague bearers.
He doesn't really have any lines or speaks. They speak of him, but
he doesn't have any starring roles in any of the novels I've read.
In the time period that we started the band, it felt very death
metal. It worked out very well."
And, like any meat you leave in the fridge unprotected for six weeks,
it grows fur and teeth so you have to throw it out, as Morgion did
with several axemen to take up the second slot. By this time it
was 1993, and Griffith was still a few years away, but another impact
on the band's sound did make itself known: keyboards!
A self-professed drumaholic (and still going to weekly DA meetings)
Davis wanted to constantly drum and got involved with many side-projects
to keep himself busy. That's where he and his mates got the idea
after hearing some stuff being played in one of his side bands.
Since '94 the electric ivories have always been present, and although
only hired after Solinari was completed (Griffith tackled the chores
for the recording), Livingston is now a permanent resident.
Now that the band is firmly on its feet and projecting its ethereal
doom with deathlike dirge, perhaps they will find a new, younger
audience to impart upon them the lessons they have learned from
their influences?
As proof of Davis' comments, just ask him about New Jersey's Metal
Meltdown, which took place last March. Morgion was a highlight band
(although only playing two songs, albeit long ones) on the Relapse
stage and received a polite response, despite the shitty playing
time (mid-afternoon) and shortened set (they originally were supposed
to play 40 minutes). Even with some factors against them, Davis
loved the experience, and looks forward to a better experience at
this summer's Milwaukee Metal Fest.
"I thought it was awesome. I liked the fact that there are so many
bands, and there are so many people, and that people would just
stand there to see us play. We don't get an opportunity to do that
from where we are. To play to such a large community is really cool.
The best thing for me was that I got to see a bunch of bands that
I had never seen before, so I was really stoked."
AURA NOIR - (Black) Thrash 'till Death
By Paul Schwarz
Eighties thrash metal is the form of metal which
has most prominently influenced the two biggest extreme metal movements
of the '90s: death metal and black metal. However, in the late '90s
a movement began gaining strength which took its influence far more
directly, and obviously, from '80s thrash. This was the so-called
"retro-thrash" movement. Whether Aura Noir intended to be a part
of this is debatable, what is certainly the case is that their Black
Thrash Attack debut had a very '80s thrash sound and prompted some
to label them as a retro-thrash band. In the aftermath of the release
of their second album, Deep Tracts of Hell, late last year, UNRESTRAINED!
talked to Appolyon (Olle Jansen, or "OJ" as he is often called),
one half of the band's songwriting core which also includes Aggressor
(Carl Michael), about Aura Noir: past, present and future. We begin
at the beginning, and how the band came to be.
"That is always a hard question, because I don't know," is OJ's
frank reply. What he does recall is that "(Carl Michael) actually
started it and it was meant to be a side-project from Ved Buens
Ende. This was supposed to be even more, like, strange music than
Ved Buens Ende was. He did some songs and went to the studio with
them and wanted me to help him with some guitar stuff, and I did
that." But then, "while we were in the studio, he figured, 'Hey,
I don't wanna do this anyway, so let's just play old thrash metal.
No-one else does that nowadays and everybody should like it'. So,
we started playing black thrash metal."
Thus, Aura Noir was born. Their first release was the Dreams Like
Deserts MCD on Hot Records: "After that we did some gigs here in
Oslo and, since we were only two guys, we had to have some other
guy on stage with us, and we asked Blasphemer from Mayhem, and he
wanted to join us, and suddenly he was in the band." The Black Thrash
Attack debut followed soon after on Malicious Records. Fast-forwarding
to their most recent release, the work of thrash brilliance which
is called Deep Tracts of Hell, one can see from consulting the booklet
that Blasphemer took no part in the recording or writing of the
album. "Blasphemer is not on that album because he was in the States
(with Mayhem). But I think now he's back again. Even though he may
not be on further albums he will always play live with us. I think
he will be in the band for the next album."
Appolyon and Aggressor are the core of Aura Noir. They have always
been the two songwriters. This is not unusual. What is, is that
they each write half the songs and only sing and play guitar on
the songs they write, each handling drums for the other's songs.
Why does this unusual practice occur? "It's probably because we
enjoy doing both things" is one reason OJ cites, the other is that,
"It's easier in the studio 'cause we don't practice that much. We
make half the songs each, so if (Carl) makes a song I will play
drums and he does all the rest, and (also) the other way around.
So, we don't have to rehearse that much before we go into the studio
(laughs)." One inevitable result of this process is that Deep Tracts...
features two alternating vocalists. Couldn't this cause problems
of consistency? OJ doesn't see it as a problem or as a distinct
advantage. "You can hear, at least now, (that) our songs are quite
different. I think it is more the songs (than the vocals). It doesn't
sound that boring, you know, with different vocals. Not that it's
boring to hear one vocalist throughout the whole album... (laughs)."
In the case of a band who began by playing 'old' music, the issue
of musical development is often a complex one to tackle. Aura Noir,
thankfully, do not take the view that development is a negative
thing, and Deep Tracts... has seen some mutations in the songwriting
styles of both band members. "I think, at least, Michael's songs
are more complex than on Black Thrash Attack. Also, both our songs
are somewhat harder -- it is more black metal, actually. That's
only because old thrash metal, the good thrash metal riffs are starting
to get well used by now. But there are also some songs that are
even more catchy maybe, some of my songs, the slow ones."
The compositions are not the only new things about Deep Tracts...
Aura Noir have also shifted labels since the release of their debut.
Now residing on Hammerheart, OJ is positive about the change. "I
think (Hammerheart) have done a good job so far. We only just released
the album, but we have already been on tour; the main reason why
we left Malicious Records was because they didn't want to send us
on tour. We think it is very important for every band to go on tour
if they have something to show on stage, and we consider ourselves
a pretty good live band so it's very important for us to go on tour.
I think (Hammerheart) have treated us well, but (the album has)
only just been released."
Despite the "harder", "blacker" progression of the band, Aura Noir's
influences are still the old ones. I inquired who, specifically,
gave them their musical inspiration. "Bands? I don't know if we
both listen to them, but Kreator, Slayer and everything. German
early stuff, but I don't think we are just influenced by all of
them (but by) good music in general." Putting it simply, OJ explains
that, "We just make riffs and we try to make as good riffs as possible
and it's just coincidental that they sound very similar to old stuff.
I could explain what I mean better in Norwegian."
Now comes the inevitable question: whether Aura Noir are relevant
to the present or whether they're just another retro-thrash band.
"No, it is not just a retro-thrash band," comes the decisive reply,
"because it is sort of a black metal band. We consider the old thrash
metal bands, very influential, or should be, for a black metal band.
People have started to play all this moving shit, not shit, but,
um... it goes in another direction now. So we thought, 'Let's do
the aggressive thing again,' 'cause we think that this kind of music
gives us the most black metal feeling."
For those of you not yet familiar with Aura Noir's "black thrash
attack", OJ has the following words...
"If you like old thrash metal bands, you should check it out at
least. If you don't, if you're only into, like, new wave of black
metal, you should either check out us or the old thrash metal bands,
and maybe them first. Really old, like Slayer and Kreator and stuff,
of course, everybody should have heard of it. The first album of
all those guys: Destruction, Sodom whatever. Then check us out.
It's really aggressive music, the way it should be played. I think
our strongest side is maybe our live act, so come check out the
shows as well."
NECROPHAGIA - The Zombie Terror
By Chris Bruni
There's the stench of a rotting corpse brewing in
the air. The army of the living dead multiply by the thousands.
The fog is thick and opaque, and as the sky turns black, you hear
the thunder crack. Wandering aimlessly in this realm of terror you
find there is no escape, so you better pray for a quick death, which
in Necrophagia's world of horror, you're not gonna get.
Yes, Necrophagia have caused a storm with their return album, Holocausto
De La Morte. Red Stream re-released their cult Seasons Of The Dead
from '87, and Necrophagia have been sodomizing the scene ever since
their beginnings in the early eighties. Nevertheless, Holocausto
De La Morte serves as a true-to-heart testimony not only to the
death metal scene (this being a very true death metal record), but
to the entire horror and gore genre -- the way it's meant to be
done, and mainman Killjoy tells it all.
"When Necrophagia first started we just wanted to make the heaviest,
most vicious stuff anyone has ever heard," comments Killjoy, reflecting
on his career. "Our influences were Venom, Hellhammer, Plasmatics,
Black Flag, and Mercyful Fate."
Although Necrophagia are a band that never really revered being
in the spotlight.
"I really don't think of things in that way," replies Killjoy. "Success
or the spotlight is something that really never came into play.
I just made the music that I wanted to play."
Is the new album a continuation of what you started out as? "I believe
the new album to be a continuation of what we started out to do
in the first place. The new lineup is far superior to the old one
and once again, we do not care about mass acceptance. If people
get into it, then great...if not, then..."
With all the trends happening in extreme music today, did you feel
that this was the right time to bring back Necrophagia?
"It was something that I had thought about for a while, but I couldn't
find the right members. It has nothing to do with trends or other
band reformations or the retro movement."
What has 'Anton Crowley' [a.k.a Phil Anselmo from Pantera - ed]
brought into the band?
"Anton has brought his own style of writing to the band, while still
being able to capture the essence of what Necrophagia is truly about.
I've known him for years, and it was his idea to reform the band
with the current lineup."
Holocausto De La Morte is a sick and deprived, blood-splattered
offering where visions of cannibalism, head splitting, limb severing,
eye gouging, and decapitations are the only way. The new music has
that blackened sludge groove to it, with traditional elements of
death metal, grind, and black metal.
"I don't get concerned with labels," Killjoy brushes off. "When
we first started out it was death metal. Now that's totally changed
because we sound nothing like today's death metal. I'll leave that
up to the people to decide."
An inspiration to the band is the late, great cult Italian horror-gore
filmmaker Lucio Fulci, to whom Necrophagia dedicate Holocausto De
La Morte. It seems that Fulci is practically the main motivation
for Killjoy. To Killjoy, Fulci is a genius filmmaker.
"Everything about Fulci inspires me. From the music in his films
to the graphic nature in which he shows things and his abstract,
surreal directing ability. He was a pure genius. Horror and Fulci
are a big part of Necrophagia and also my personal taste."
And it is through Killjoy's love for true horror that he has made
open statements about today's age of horror flicks, speaking against
mainstream horror like Scream and such.
"I think that most of today's horror films are pure garbage, except
for the work of Jim VanBebber and a few other things. Yeah, I think
everyone has their own interpretation of what a horror movie should
be. To some it's shit like Scream, which is laughable, but to me
it's a different thing. Garbage like Scream has nothing to do with
true horror. They evoke no true feeling of fright and horror. They
put no thought into them and it's a mockery of what horror should
be."
And Necrophagia will continue their ways of raping and dismemberment.
Killjoy tells me that he and the mighty Fenriz have a band called
EIBON which also features Maniac and Blasphemer from Mayhem, Satyr
and Anton Crowley. He has written lyrics for a song called 'Severed
Ways', on the upcoming Sigh album and plans on putting out a MCD
with Necrophagia in the fall.
"Yes, we will make more albums and just keep getting heavier and
sicker! I just try to support the underground. I will never sell
out or compromise, nor will Necrophagia follow any trends. Check
out our video once it's finished as it will be our true vision of
what horror should be. Hail Fulci! Hail VanBebber! Gore Forever!"
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