Destruction: Full Speed Thrash

There are not many thrashers left these days that can genuinely say they've been around to see the genre from its inception through to the present day. But Marcel Schirmer, better known to millions of metal heads around the world as Schmier, bassist and vocalist of seminal German thrash act Destruction, has been there from the beginning. Though the years and the miles keep adding up, Schmier has never allowed Destruction to let old age or the wear and tear of the road slow the band down. Quite the contrary, in fact, as the band, which also includes guitarist Mike Sifringer, the only member to stick with Destruction for its entire existence, and new edition Vaaver on the drums, has included some of its most consistently blistering material in its latest album, Day of Reckoning. Schmier points to the addition of Vaaver, a.k.a. Wawrzyniec Dramowicz, a classically trained musician from Poland who has also done time with the Wachau symphonic orchestra, as the reason behind Destruction's resurgence in the speed department.

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Interview: Abhor - On Esoteric Winds

For the past 15 years plus, Italian self-described “Esoteric Horror Black Metal” band Abhor has gone about maniacally splicing the unexplained elements of mankind's wayward path along the astral plane, occultism, witchcraft, and esotericism with an atmospheric, depressive, and darkly beguiling musical formula that drips from the many disparate branches of the black metal family tree. Though various forces have conspired in the past couple of years to keep Abhor off the stage, the band has nevertheless continued to compose, and has just released it's fifth full length album, the thought provoking and intriguing  Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti, a record that, while low on technicality, revels in its slow, simple brand of misanthropy and broad, heady exploration through minimalist but recognizable black metal progressions and layered keyboard atmospherics. Band founder, guitarist, and composer Domine Saevum Gravem spoke to Taipei Metal about the band's history, philosophy, and new album.

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Interview: Nocturnal Fear - War Metal

For over a decade, Detroit, Michigan  thrashers Nocturnal Fear have been dropping one bunker busting album of searing warfare-inspired Teutonic terror after another. Heavily inspired by the likes of legendary acts such as Sodom and Kreator, both lyrically and musically, Nocturnal Fear is a band that has known exactly what its message is from day one, and hasn't compromised its sound or values for one note or a single line. With a new album, Excessive Cruelty, the band's fifth full length, just released on Moribund Cult, founding member and guitarist Reverend Slavehunter talked to Taipei Metal about the new record, and Nocturnal Fear's unwavering and incendiary approach to true thrash metal.

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幻影樂團：傳說、神話、死亡金屬

Amorphis(幻影樂團) 對大部分的金屬頭而言，多不需贅述。20年前，這個樂團於芬蘭首都赫爾辛基發跡，先是以純正的死亡金屬樂風發了一張專輯，而後才走向前衛路線，出了《千湖之國 (Tales from the Thousand Lakes)》，遠較首張專輯廣受好評。這張專輯是幻影樂團首次融合清音唱腔、民俗與迷幻元素，並以19世紀的史詩巨作卡勒瓦拉為主軸，及其中收錄芬蘭及卡累利阿等地的民俗傳說及神話故事為題材，製成的概念專輯。在發行後的15年間，幻影樂團開闢了屬於自己的金屬之路，在民俗及金屬的模糊地帶間，以史詩作為串聯基礎，穿梭自如。這次，他們為了樂團的第十張專輯《新紀元 (The Beginning of Times)》，正在巡迴宣傳，而裡頭的樂曲及歌詞，也是再一次對卡勒瓦拉更深層的鑽研與啟發。2010年，他們先發行了一張名為《千湖之國現場特輯 (Forging the Land of Thousand Lakes)》的CD/DVD回顧精選專輯，才進錄音室為《新紀元》作準備，為過去忙碌的兩年劃上分水嶺。六月時，幻影樂團和死神之子 (Children of Bodom)一同到台灣巡迴演出，藉此機會，樂團發起人兼吉他手Esa Holopainen (以下簡稱EH)，與挺雜誌分享幻影樂團剛於五月在歐洲、六月在北美發行的新專輯，以及這二十年來的心路歷程。

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聖潔神靈：第二人生

在我們這個年代，雖說傲視群倫的金屬樂團，往往不是一時好運的年輕新血，而是堅守崗位的老學校死硬派，但其實，在這圈子裡，跟一群不及而立之年的小夥子玩團，卻遠比跟一些老骨頭混吃香得多。對許多人來說，二十歲時被視為最重要的事物，往往隨著年齡和智慧的增長，在自己年過三十後，不得不被重新評估定位。而這樣的改變其實是人之常情，只不過發生當下，多數人還是難掩心中失望。但有一種樂手，靠著堅忍不拔的毅力，在身邊的團員紛紛轉身，跟上前人步伐的同時，卻拒絕向殘酷的歲月低頭，死命的抓緊青春的尾巴。

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Interview: Vains of Jenna

It's been quite a ride for Swedish rockers Vains of Jenna. On the strength of nothing more than a four-song demo, the Falkenberg four-piece was offered a spot on the bill of the Motley Crue-headlined Cruefest in Hollywood in January of 2005.  It was at that gig, at the infamous Whisky a Go-Go club on the even more infamous hive of scum, villainy, and depravity, the Sunset Strip, that the band caught the attention of former Tuff front man and current Metal Sludge proprietor Stevie Rachelle, who would become the band's manager. At the time, the band's two youngest members were just 18 years old, not even of legal age to set foot in the Whisky.

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Interview: Satan's Host - Guided by the Hands of the Devil

Twenty-five years is a relative eternity for anything to endure in these modern times, let alone something as combustible and erratic as a metal band. But that’s exactly what so-called cult metal act Satan’s Host, an overtly Satanic power metal band which in its contemporary era has grown to incorporate more extreme tendencies into its sound, has managed to do. The band was founded in 1986 when vocalist Harry Conklin, a.k.a. Leviathan, left Jag Panzer, and would release the full length Metal from Hell that year, followed by the Midnight Wind EP in 1987, before the group was derailed by a 12-year hiatus. In the years following the break, Satan’s Host has kept a steady clip of productivity courtesy of guitarist and main songwriter Patrick Evil, and last year announced that Leviathan, who had not joined his band mates in their reunion, was in fact returning to the group to appear on their latest offering, the acclaimed By the Hands of the Devil, which was released in early May. Drummer Anthony “Evil Hobbit” Lopez recently spoke to Taipei Metal about Satanism and all things Satan’s Host—past, present, and devilish future.

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起死回生的藝術

說到灣區鞭金那個人人歃血為盟，叱吒舞台的盛世，總少不了Death Angel的影子。當時，一群來自同一個家族的毛小子初試啼聲，拼了命的幹，在金屬界傳為佳話。1987到1990年間，他們發行了《The Ultra-Violence》、《Frolic Through the Park》，和《Act III》三張經典之作，後來鼓手Andy Galeon卻因車禍重傷，導致樂團不得不解散，而團員們也因此懷憂喪志。之後，主唱Mark Osegueda退居圈外，移居紐約回大學進修；吉他手Rob Cavestany及貝斯手Dennis Pepa，則夥同Galeon和另一個吉他手Gus Pepa組了一個團，取名為「The Organization」，在發行兩張專輯，並與「Motorhead」和「Fight」幾個長老團一起巡迴歐美後，就銷聲匿跡。直到1998年，Osegueda、Galeon和 Cavestany組成「Swarm」，同時，也為Death Angel的復出之路，灑下即將萌芽的種子。

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Interview: Hrizg

Spanish misanthropic one-man black metal act Hrizg recently released its second full-length record, Anthems to Decrepitude, via Moribund Cult Records. Taipei Metal corresponded with the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for whom the band is named.

Taipei Metal: Hrizg's new album, Anthems to Decrepitude, possesses a very raw sound with nods to the early Burzum and Mayhem releases. What drew you to this raw approach?

Hrizg: Ave! It is because this is the Black Metal I like and I usually hear. I mix this influences with some other southern Black Metal bands, and as I see it, Hrizg is a sum of those sounds.

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Interview: Dodsferd

Athens, Greece-based nihilistic black metal band Dodsferd, the solo project spawned by the perpetually bleak and seemingly psychologically unstable Nikos Spanakis, better known by his stage name, Wrath, has maintained a blistering pace since the band was first formed in 2001. Since the release of its first demo in 2003, Dodsferd has cultivated a catalog of 10 more releases, from EPs to splits and compilations, to go along with six full length albums. The band’s latest full length release, Spitting With Hatred, The Insignificance of Life, which was put out by Moribund Records on March 21st, sees Wrath and Dodsferd at its misanthropic best. Dodsferd’s main man took a brief moment to humor Taipei Metal’s humble line of questioning with some bellicosely punctuated and often truncated responses.

Taipei Metal: What is the overall message behind your latest album, Spitting With Hatred, The Insignificance of Life?

Wrath: The key sentence is “debasement of humanity”!

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