The Temple of Sharkuel

Greetings. First of all, I am very sorry for my absence. I was having my finals on the Sound Engineering Course in the last couple of months, and although I may not created a post in a while, actually I have been very busy. My band Daemon Forest released our debut album. Today the 1st of August 2018. We are just a two man project, where I am the drummer, but also the sound technician who was responsible to record, mix and master the whole album. We also re-recorded our EP in order to match the whole album's sound texture. Also, we both have grown as musicians and we felt the need to record those tracks into a more "mature" sound, per se. Also, this album was my final project of my Sound Engineer Course, therefore I managed to blend my artistic needs with the University's own demands, where I was forced to up the quality of the final product considerably. We used the resources available at the University, although limited, we managed to get something cool go...

Summoning and Alcest had a baby in the Woods 90% The ambient black metal genre has so much potential that sometimes we get surprised by the most fascinating works. This one is one of those cases. I see that some people tend to dislike the overusage of synths and MIDI, but this is where the musical composition shines the most. This is a bright colored album, not just by it's cover, but the music is also more uplifting, and it gives constantly the feeling of uprising, either emotional, or nature-wise. The tracks are similar sound-wise, but they are quite distinct in their structure. The songs "A Graceful Spirit" and "Autumnal Embrace" rely mostly on string guitars and ambient synths with some folk hints like violins and flutes. Aside from the harsh vocals (that resemble a lot Coldworld), there is also some clean vocals. The cleans aren't that bad. Okay they are bland, but he manages to make them fit in the song structure. I actually praise ar...

If you aren't aware of how metal concerts work here in Portugal, well let me break it up to you right out of the bat: - We only get mostly mainstream bands here - We have festivals that are backed by large companies that use the fests to promote themselves - Here in Portugal people are mostly Thrashers and Deathmetal heads, therefore the Black Metal scene here is pretty slim. So when we have the True Mayhem visit twice on the same year our small patch of land near the Atlantic, then this is "godsend". We have a major festiva here that is more "Underground" called SWR Barroselas. It is a festival that I go quite often since it attends to my musical taste. It has a great atmosphere and aura to it, since it happens in the middle of a forest in the northest reaches of Portugal. Makes sense that Mayhem would come here to celebrate it's 20th edition, even though they had their name mentioned before in previous editions of the festival where they ...

Hilarious cover art vs Serious black metal 100% I will start this review with a honest observation from my part. The cover art of this album is quite something different. When I saw this, I though it was a meme. Then I saw this in the black metal hipster channel, where they made fun of this. But since they aren't a credible channel for music review (considering the hate that is around both Myrkur and Deafheaven, such hate highly promoted by them), I went to the guy's bandcamp and gave a listen. Boy was I blown away. This record starts hard and fast, with "Cleave the Alicorn" blasting away. It is quite fast tempo, and the heavily distortion and reverb gives the whole sound scape a unique character. I also love the vocals. They invoque a particular pain that goes in great contrast with the album cover, since he looks so chilled and smiling. Perhaps that's the gimmick. The second track keeps up the same pounding rhythm, until it slows down to Eternal...

Hello readers and followers of my blog. First of all, sorry for my absence. I am not done with my blog as some may approached me about it. I have been sick lately, and had been in the Hospital doing some exams and stuff. But I am all better now, and I am back to share some more stuff with you. I am going to share a project of mine that I have with a friend. It is a black metal act named Daemon Forest. I play drums, and the band is made out of two members: Sharkuel (Me) and Azazel. Azazel handled the lyrical work, as well the vocals and the guitar. Honestly he is the main creative force behind the project. I was the drummer in this project, and also I handled the recording, mixing and master of the EP. We released our 1st EP on April the 24th, and we are selling some physical copies of it. We have a limited, hand numbered, tape edition if you are interested on our project. If you desire a physical copy, we can arrange it if you send us a request through the band's e-mail ad...

Grab your bike, your beer, and your inverted cross boys!!! 95% Black n'Roll. Never in my life I was happy for having something that I didn't even knew I wanted it. Okay, this up there may be one hell of a hyperbole, but truth is that I always loved when black metal bands implement rock influenced riffs and rhythms into their song writing. Darkthrone did it. And so did Carpathian Forest, and even Craft. This dude take the whole rocky black metal to a new level. Plaag is different. It is a one-man black metal act from a guy that is known as "Somber". He decided to give his own twist in the genre by including some rock n'roll guitars, punk drumming, and lyrical content that is not common in the overly serious genre that is black metal. Haven't seen a twist so interesting to the black metal genre since Lifelover decided to include some indie rock in their depressive black metal. The opener starts strong, with a cool guitar shred and then blast...

A good amalgamation of ideas that fall short at the end 70% So, Morvheim. I actually found this one-man-band via Youtube suggestions, listened to this, and the previous album. And the previous one, due to it's production, I simply can't get into it. And I feel that I miss a lot. But this album makes me appreciate what is in the mind behind the album to some extend, and I gotta say, there are some neat ideas here. This is a melodic death metal act that resembles more of a melodic black band with some pop influenced melodies. You have pretty and catchy melodic keyboard sections, and clean vocals. The instrumental side of the album is quite creative and original, within the standard melodic deathmetal scene. This album has a great opener, I love the build up it has, and his voice is superb. Also, the violin effects, though quite evident they are VST or some low quality keyboard, it gives a sense of magic and supernatural. The harsh vocals, also very cool, they have mo...