HMTB Radio Episode 1

So we here at HMTB decided to do a little "radio show" and upload it for you all to hear. Don't worry there's no talk. All music, all the time for about 1 hour. I'll be doing this once a month. Episode 1 contains some of my favorite tracks from releases on my year end list. Check it out to hear tracks from Toxik Death, Black Magic, Swallowed, Nunslaughter, Eternal Khan, Mortuary Drape, Acid Witch, Innsmouth, Young and In The Way, Funeral Presence and Owl's Blood.

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"ME"TAL 101 w/Eternal Khan

Today's Eternal Khan's A Poisoned Psalm is being released and we couldn't think of a better day to share with you all our exclusive interview with the band. I was excited to hear the first track "Bells on the Black Hour" a few weeks ago and immediately reached out to the band for an interview. Eternal Khan are on a completely different playing field with this album. A Poisoned Psalm shows off the band's chops for orchestrating precise mind bending journeys embodied in all aspects of the death, doom and black metal genres. Let's take a journey in the shadows of the "Tower" and hear what the band has to say about their roots, the metal music scene and what methods of madness drive A Poisoned Psalm.

HMT: I'm totally loving the "Bells on the Black Hour" track from your upcoming cd.
You're a favorite of our writers. You hail from the city of Providence, RI. The city has bred some really great hardcore and metal bands over the years. Are you guys all from the area and how did you get together on this project?

Tou: Yes, we all grew up in Providence and still live in the area. At the time, these two guys were in another band, which went on a temporary hiatus. I had riffs. I showed Nate and we recorded some stuff which Da liked and here we are.

Nate: We actually met in middle/high school and have been friends for over 20 years. We were drawn to each other through music. One glance at our attire back then and it was pretty obvious where we stood on such matters. The unspoken communication (back patches, band shirts, sketched logos on book covers) prompted us to start talking to complete strangers, both sides recognizing some type of connection. It seems trivial in retrospect, but the lasting bonds speak for themselves.




HMT: It seemed like in the 90's there was a metal or hardcore show every weekend in Providence. What is your feelings on the club scene in Providence these days and the small amount of venues that still put on Metal shows.

Tou: There's been a lot of really good metal shows in Providence. Armageddon Records, Forza Morte, Intrinsic Events and Signature Riff, just to name a few, have been doing a great job putting on shows. Dusk is my favorite spot in Providence for metal shows right now. The sound is good and Gansetts are cold.

Nate: Back in 93/94, we were each in our first bands and it was very difficult to get on a bill. We had to do garage shows that our friends would put on. It's true, there seemed to be a steady stream of national acts that would hit Club Babyhead, the Living Room, Lupo's, and those events were well attended. But I think it was tough for a local act to get going if you weren't friendly with a lot of people in the right bands. With social media, it seems like local shows come together more often and with less friction. I think there is an engaged metal scene, it's just spread out a bit through the different subgenres that bands have moved into these days.

HMT:  I might be wrong but I hear a touch of Venom in your music. Who were your biggest influences? First albums that got you into metal?

Nate: The Venom influence is there, but indirectly filtered through second wave black metal. The first black metal album I listened to was Transilvanian Hunger and initially I thought it was a joke. The production turned me off but there was enough there that I kept listening. Eventually it all resonated and the haunting melodies burrowed in me. The Darkthrone and early Satyricon albums are some of the few recordings that have remained important to me throughout the years. They are my biggest influence.

HMT: I've always enjoyed learning about band's writing processes. Is there a primary song writer or is this more of a collaborative effort when it comes down to constructing your songs and overall feel of the latest album?

Tou: Nate and I write the riffs and then we show Da, who puts down drums and writes lyrics after we all construct the songs together during practice.

Nate: It's totally collaborative. Along the way we feed off of each other's ideas, coming up with alternate riffs, overlays, and vocal ideas. This band could not exist without all three of us.

HMT: How important was it to get those first demos/singles out before heading into the studio for your first LP? The production on this new album is great.

Tou: Hell Yeah! Nate did a great fucking job! He put a lot of work into it.

Nate: The demo was basically an experiment, it had been a few years since any of us had played metal. We took elements of what we liked there, mixed in some other ideas, and distilled it into the EP. This time we knew what we wanted and were able to focus our songwriting and sound. All the early stuff was written under the assumption that it would include accompanying bass. After the EP, we embraced the fact that we don't have a bassist. We shaped our sound to include lower octave guitars - something that I think would sound too muddy if we had a bassist. What you hear on this release is our live sound, just guitars, drums, and vocals. There's no way we'd sound like this without first doing the demo and EP. Thanks for the comment on the production. It means a lot since we were responsible for all aspects of this release, minus the artwork.

HMT: Looking at your new album, the artwork says witchcraft to me, it might be just cause we're in the thick of Halloween season. What was the inspiration for the new album and is there a historical time period you guys are covering in this?

Damian: A considerable amount of thought went into the type of imagery we wanted to use for this album with the sole intent of creating a particular mood or atmosphere; something dark and brooding that hopefully relates back to and compliments the mood of the music. The new album has seven tracks and we tried to find a common thread between all of them and then develop an album title and a concept for the cover art. We didn't want it to be "dark" for the sake of being dark; nor did we want to make an attempt at being "evil" for the sake of being evil. We really just wanted it to be genuine and to make sense. We explore many themes in our songs, witchcraft being one of them. "Bells on the Black Hour" is about the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, so you're not off base in your observation. "A Poisoned Psalm", is a lyric from that song, which Nate suggested as a possible album title and we all agreed it was appropriate. Although it has a Biblical connotation in the song, we're using it in a different context in the album title. If you think of the genre of metal as an anthology of subversive, counter-culture polemics, that is, "poisoned psalms," we consider this release to be a contribution to that collection.

HMT: What are your plans for the rest of the year once this album is officially released?

Nate: We're eager to continue writing new material, it's my favorite part of all this. But when live opportunities present themselves we always listen.

That concludes our interview. Make sure to purchase Eternal Khan's new album A Poisoned Psalm. You can get a preview of the album streaming on their bandcamp page where you can also hear their previous demos. Also check out their merch page where you can pick up their sick tshirt as well.

ETERNAL KHAN are

D.MURPHY: drums, lyrics | T.PHRATHEP: guitar | N.WOOD: guitar, vocals

Follow link below to order and listen to Eternal Khan

eternalkhan.com

HMT Dual Track by Track Review of Eternal Khan's A Poisoned Psalm

A Poisoned Psalm

Eternal Khan

When I reached out to Eternal Khan last week about interviewing the band about their upcoming album "A Poisoned Psalm" they were gracious enough to send us a download of the cd to review. As I often do when I have a new interview coming up and need some expert advice I hit up Professor Fork Tongue, the in-house underground metal expert. He immediately pitched me an idea to do a dual track by track review for the cd. So here it is. I'm extremely happy at how it came out and it feeds off what Prof. Fork Tongue and I had collaborated on when we first started this site. If there is any band that deserves the special treatment and care that we gave each song on this cd, it is Eternal Khan. This  is just the tip of the iceberg as I will be posting later on this week our interview with the band. Great guys, great music and they are just a stones throw away from Heavy Metal Textbooks headquarters. Check these guys out and definitely pre order this cd. Now on to our review.

Bells on the Black Hour

Grownman - This song based on the Salem Witch Trials. Gotta love that very ominous intro. Sounds like a funeral march. I'll probably say this throughout this review but it definitely would make for a great score to an old school horror movie. Love the galloping guitars and the first generation Death metal feel to this. This is the song that originally got me hooked on the band.

Prof. Fork Tongue - The thing like I enjoy most about this band is I instantly know it's them as soon as it comes on. That's rare these days. I love the synopsis of each song that comes with the download. I hope it's also in the CD notes. It's fairly common in metal but I also love the intelligent lyrics. I made mention in previous reviews of this band to Faustcoven and Negative Plane and I don't hear that anymore. I'm not sure they were ever an influence but that's what they conjured up in my mind. Now they just conjure up Eternal Khan. That's the sign of a good band. Love the dropped out outro.

Raging Host

Grownman - The production on this album is incredible. Eternal Khan definitely have their own signature sound. A great song about a Spectral Horde riding across the sky. I absolutely love how the vocalist phrases the lyrics "No refuge in the dark wood". Something about it every time I hear it triggers this response in my brain and I just wanna head bang.The combination of the speedy picking and those crashing symbols really give this song that cold wintry atmosphere. You can almost feel a cold breath riding down your spine.

Prof. Fork Tongue - Love the middle eastern style drums that run through this song. There's a couple great sounding transitions in here which seems to be a strength of the band. I prefer when these guys slow it down which they do a bit in spots on the song. Again. the lyrics are fantastic throughout the album and so are the drums which were both done by D.Murphy. I love the guitar and vocals too don't get me wrong but drums are something I never really notice but I'm noticing them so that's somewhat new for me.

Undermined and Abandoned

Grownman - A tune based on the existential quandary of why we're here and what the hell to do with that realization. This band has amazing timing and rhythm. Love that each song takes you on a journey and the songs have these crazy twists and turns.

Prof. Fork Tongue - A great thing about the guitar work with these guys is that they never sacrifice atmosphere for riffs or vice versa. I love both but combining the two well is tough and they do it exceptionally well. The line "At odds with the nature of our nature. Tragically self-aware." is a great line and I love the cadence at which it's delivered.

The Tower

Grownman - This is absolutely my favorite track on the album. The intro reminds me of something off Danzig's 4 album. Any comparison's to the Evil Elvis rhythm section is coincidental. This isn't about the Gods Killing...this is about their complete disdain for humanity.The low and slow bluesy strum transitions into really beautiful atmospheric riffs. Hammering drums and the lightning fast picking that quickly come into play bring to mind a scene from Godzilla. Throngs of people just running away from a godlike monster that's just glaring down at them with rage and disgust. I'm probably reading too much into this, no? 

Prof. Fork Tongue - The gods may have been disappointed when humans couldn't actualize their potential but I'm not disappointed in this song. Best track on the album hands down. What a great intro. Again, I love when these guys slow it it down, always the highlight in my eyes. When it picks up I can't help but head bang while I'm typing. Your gods have left The Tower.

The Black Stork

Grownman - Thanks to Professor Fork Tongue for filling me on what this song is about. This song is fast and brooding. The acidic vocal delivery of each line along with the grand scale of the song structure makes you feel like your walking down the long corridor of an abandoned hospital. The chords during the last 30 seconds of the song are really beautiful and somber like a sad lullaby.

Prof. Fork Tongue - I've done deep, deep research into eugenics so when I saw the title of the song I pretty much knew where this was going. To make it short and sweet I'll quote a little something I wrote about the movie "The Black Stork" of which the song is based on. "In 1917, Hollywood produced The Black Stork, a story about a mismatched couple who are counseled by a doctor against having children. However, the couple become pregnant anyway and the woman gives birth to a defective child that she allows to die. The deceased baby’s spirit then ascends into the arms of Jesus Christ. Hailing it as a "eugenic love story" in publicity ads, the eugenic movement had its own propaganda film at last, and it promoted The Black Stork throughout the nation.It’s catch-phrase: “Kill Defectives, Save the Nation and See ‘The Black Stork.” Not quite “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World,” but close. Dr. Haiselden, then famous in eugenics circles for his baby-killing ways in Chicago, played himself as the doctor in the film." Anyway onto the song. Once again really great lyrics seemingly through pro eugenics glasses. I don't mean that as a knock either, that's what you do when you write songs. People take stuff too literal sometimes. Really great somber ending as Grownman said, almost like a "sad lullaby".

Void of Light and Reconciliation

Grownman - Hearing this makes me want to unsheathe a sword and storm a castle. Something really medieval about the tone and rhythm. This is another amazing tune. I wanna hear this as a score over a movie about an evil king. This song perfectly captures the transformation of the mind and it's descent into evil. The rage in the delivery of the vocals and the overall composition of the song really illustrate the story. I absolutely love how much range the band has and the tools they have at their disposal. To think this is only three musicians and how immense of a sound they can get out of all the transitions they come up with. There is not one song on this album that just stays the course. Eternal Khan strive on each track to outdo themselves.

Prof. Fork Tongue - I read the lyrics before reading the synopsis and what I came up with was "a darkness is creeping up ever so slowly and when it takes hold it obliterates all". After reading the synopsis that's pretty much what it was. I thought about it in a literal sense but it's more of "a negative and repressed aspect of one's personality reemerging on its own terms to the detriment and shock of the unsuspecting subject" which is essentially the same as what I was thinking just from a different angle. That's a sign of great writing right there.

Into the Twilight Abysses

Grownman - Based on a HP Lovecraft "The Dreams in the Witch House". Take my money. One of my favorite Gothic horror writers, H.P. Lovecraft hailed from Providence, RI, home base of Eternal Khan. This makes me very happy. The song captures all the drama of the story and I really wish someone would adapt it to a movie so this could be it's lead score. Love how the chords are like the angles in the character Gilman's room. They draw you in while the bass, percussion and vocals hint at the void that waits behind it all. There is drama and adventure at every turn.

Prof. Fork Tongue - Take away my metal card, I don't know shit about Lovecraft. Could never get into fiction, shoot me. This may be my second favorite track of the album and the one that most reminds me of their EP "A Primitive History", which I also loved.

Conclusion: An amazing album back to front that finds the band fully realizing their own sound. The exceptional cover art and extras make this a must own. 

D.Murphy - drums, lyrics T.Phrathep - guitar
N.Wood - guitar, vocals

Click here To Preorder "A Poisoned Psalm" 

Support Local Music

You never quite know what's lurking around your area. I've come upon quite a few RI/Mass bands lately who are right up my alley. I always thought the scene here was populated by more mainstream metal fare than anything but apparently there's a whole under the underground scene that I wasn't completely aware of and today I'll do a little profile of two of my favorites.

Hailing from Rhode Island, ETERNAL KHAN is a band I ignored for a bit without hearing the music. I heard the name, I saw the album cover and for some reason it screamed DEATHCORE to me, which I'm generally not a fan of. Earlier this year, another metal scribe whom I'm generally on the same page with gave them the thumbs up so I decided to give them a shot. Upon first listen I knew I had stumbled upon a gem. In 2012 my #1 album was FAUSTCOVEN Hellfire and Funeral Bells which combines Black Metal elements with the slow dirge of Doom to brilliant results. On their new EP A Primitive History ETERNAL KHAN, while certainly their own entity, blend the same elements together for similar results.



ETERNAL KHAN has quickly become my favorite local band. I'm looking forward to what they can do on a full length and hoping they create enough noise to get picked up by a decent label like Nuclear War Now! and get some decent distribution.

You can grab their CD at the great Armageddon Shop or listen to the EP and buy it direct from the band at their Bandcamp page.

At the other end of the spectrum is SANGUS LEGIONARIS also from Rhode Island. A Black/Thrash/Crust outfit who has been stealing the show from known bands for a little while now. Their 1st demo Vengeful Brutality is just a raw, uncompromising mix of some of my favorite things. Instead of me fishing for a proper description, it's much better to let the music do the talking.



You can also check out more of SANGUS by purchasing the cassette from Armageddon Shop or at the above Bandcamp.