Genres: Death Metal, Slam
Labels: Siege of Amida/Candlelight

Hmmm… how do I begin this review?
First up, I’m not into this. At all. It’s kind of like watching Baptized in Blood again; all the same stuff all the time. But, there are some redeeming qualities that WtC has over BiB.
Such as their drummer. He’s pretty fucking good. Their guitarists have some good riff-writing skills. Their bassist is competent at following the guitars. Their vocalist, however, I do not like. He’s also competent at following the guitars, which isn’t too bad usually, but when it’s through the whole fucking song? Come on people.
Now if only each song didn’t sound exactly the same as the other, and they had more than just br00tality going on for them. Such as brutality. Or even songs that weren’t made out of breakdowns with breakdowns between them.
4 out of 10.

Waking the Cadaver on MySpace.

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So I sent these questions forever ago, and honestly I forgot I did. But they came back, answered and ready for the world, and I’m happy to post them for you all to read. This is my interview with Sarah Jezebel Deva, enjoy; and look for it to also be in the second print issue of Funeral Rain Zine.

Can you update us on what is going on these days?

There’s loads of things going on these days… What would you like to know? Price of petrol keeps going up

How would you describe the sound of the new album?

Emmm… Mixed. Its for open minded people. if you are solely into one kind of styled music, then its not for you. Some is metal, some has a BM edge, some is more rock, some is like a movie score and there is a piano song. So its very varied.

How would you describe the lyrical content of the new music?

Well its not a concept album but of course every song has a concept. I do not sing about mincing vampires and the slitting of wrists while bumming on a grave stone, I like to sing about real things like mental illness, sex, hate, disappointment, betrayal, life!

Do you have any plans to do a tour for the new album?

Well we just did our first ever tour in the UK with label mates The Dead Lay Waiting and LOVED it. We have 2 more UK shows with them and then head out to Europe with them for a 3-4 week tour. Can not wait because although The Dead Lay Waiting are totally different in music style, they are so tight, so professional and so energetic. We all gel so well.

You have worked with plenty of bands over the years, which ones did you enjoy the most and what are some of the albums that you have worked on that you are the most satisfied with and do you have plans in the future to work with any other projects?

Every band has its pro and con, its good memories and its shit ones and to tell you the shit memories just wouldn’t be good. My proudest albums are of course my band Angtoria “God Has A Plan For Us All”, COF “Midian” and “Vempire”, Mortiis “The Star Gate”. The Kovenant “Nexus Polaris” and Therion “Vovin”. I am active with The Kovenant again, we just played Inferno festival in Oslo, Norway. We headlined our day and it was amazing. We played the entire Nexus Polaris album from start to finish and we hadn’t all played together as that line up for 13 years. We are all older, maturer and it was just an great experience.

The new album came out on Candlelight Records, how would you describe the support that the label has given you so far?

Well right now, I cant really comment because its only the beginning. I have know Paula for many years and she has been my main contact so far, other than that, I can not comment yet but I am very happy and proud to be on such a well respected label!

What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

This album was a “finding my feet” album… there are ways I worked on this album, that I will never work on an album again. Like recording in four countries didn’t help. Recording with a stranger over the internet didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. The next album, I will work closer to home and not take so many chances. Not saying stick to what is safe, I mean stick to real friends, people who have passion for music and not money. I did plan on A Sign Of Sublime being no fixed style, totally intentional but the next album I want to be more extreme for sure.

How have fans reacted so far to the new album?

Well I can not really comment on the USA/Canada right now, I know a lot of people bought the import and I am so so grateful that they did that as I know it wasn’t cheap. My side of the world, I think its doing ok but you cant expect to sell if your not doing shows and we have only just started, so next year, I hope more and more people will have the album and the shows get bigger and better. So all I can say is, people have been very supportive.

What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and what are you listening to nowadays?

There is just too many to mention. Nothing influences the music for me because then I would be copying wouldn’t I. But bands that I adore are anything from Dead Can Dance to Emperor. Faith No More to Mysticum. My Dying Bride to Moonsorrow. Type O to Gun’s N Roses. As for lyrics, whats going on around me influences my writing. I find it hard to write when I know nothing about a subject, I cant just make things up to fill a song out.

What are some of your interests outside of music?

Right now, the only thing that exists outside of music is my wedding next year. When I am not touring and paying my lovely bills, its wedding, wedding, wedding draining the very life from me ha ha… I have even fallen behind on music. I am so behind, I think the last album I bought was the new Immortal, I don’t even remember the last time I went out to see a film. I am so not grim huh! As you get older, life takes its firm grip and you find yourself having less and less time. When I can think, I am very much into animal rights. I am TRYING to get 10,000 names for an Anti Fur petition in the UK to take to my local MP.

Any final words or thoughts?

Yeah…… We really wanna come to the USA….. We so want to tour. Its been a few years since myself and Gian Pyrez were there, so guys, hate us or love us, give us a chance and check us out! Thank you

Sarah Jezebel Deva on MySpace.

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Genres: Death Metal, Doom
Label: Candlelight Records

Fuck I love doom, as anyone who’s read this site for awhile can tell you. My favorite album of all time is doom, and it spawned half of the name of the label that Typhon and I run together (Deathless Reality Records). My fourth favorite album of all time is doom too, and now, a new favorite is discovered.
October Tide is a band with tons of history, and only three albums. They formed during a short break-up of Katatonia, founded by Frederik Norrman and Jonas Renske, and they’ve barely done interviews or played live, only keeping a low profile and achieving a real cult status in the underground. And now they’ve released a new album with Candlelight, and it’s awesome.
Musically, it’s very doomy, melancholic and a little bit just plain depressing. But it’s the vocals that really take the front for me. Deep, throaty death/doom vocals, courtesy of Tobias Netzell. It’s perfect for fans of Griftegård, Draconian, and Paradise Lost.
9.5 out of 10.

October Tide on MySpace.

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Genre: Gothic Metal, Pop, Rock, Symphonic Metal
Label: Candlelight Records

Oh Sarah. You look angrier in your promo pictures for this album, but you’re still just as gorgeous sounding as the Angtoria album, and your work with Cradle of Filth. I’m so glad I got to hear this.
Those that don’t know Sarah Jezebel Deva, she’s been the female vocals on all the CoF albums, and has had a successful album with her band Angtoria. And now she’s going (mostly) solo, with friends playing the music but it’s all her pretty much. And man does it show her voice’s range. She goes from sounding like Siouxie Sioux to… well, Sarah Jezebel Deva.
And the album itself is not really a genre specific album, hopping around a little with more rock-influenced songs, and epic sounding stuff too, with some poppy elements, and a cover of Meredith Brook’s “Bitch”, which I really like. I’m definitely a fan. My favorite songs are “The Devil’s Opera”, “Your Wonderful Chair”, and “Bitch”.
I agree with Chase on this album, the songs definitely do stick with you after you’ve listened to them. Very catchy, very good.
8.5 out of 10.

Sarah Jezebel Deva on MySpace.

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Candlelight Records today confirms October 26 as the North American release date for The Isolationist, the new album from Krieg. Recorded at Volume Studios in Chicago, the nearly hour-long album will challenge the listener with its primitive yet complex sound. It is Krieg‘s sixth full-length recording, and the first since 2006’s Blue Miasma.

Working with producer Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Pelican, Yakuza), The Isolationist finds Krieg further experimenting with sound. The rage and dissonance fans have come to expect from the New Jersey band emerges even more frenzied making the journey through this album far more intense than on previous efforts. Vocalist Imperial admits, “The Isolationist presents Krieg at it’s most evolved yet primal state thus far in fifteen years of causing problems for people’s hearing. It is my ugliest and most personal child, going deep into the darkest places in my own history on earth. I’m a fucked up wreck, and this record shows that.”

The Isolationist features performances from guitarist Joseph Van Fossen (Noctuary), bassist Wrest (Leviathan), and drummer Chris Grigg (Woe). “It was an intense process, considering everyone only had a few days in and out due to their own hellish schedules. I was fortunate to work with dedicated artists who each brought their own identity to the project and a good understanding behind the meaning of the record.”

Krieg has been an integral part of the American black metal scene since forming in 1995. In addition to their full-length albums, including 2003’s acclaimed The Black House (which Terrorizer Magazine noted it as “one of the ten most important American black metal records”), Krieg has recorded and released numerous demos, split and live recordings. Fans tally more than 40 individual items as part of the band’s creative efforts. In addition to Krieg, vocalist Imperial has several other band projects including N.i.l., Apothecary.Sound.Lodge and his doom band March Into the Sea. He is also a member of Twilight which features members of Nachtmystium, Leviathan, The Atlas Moth, Isis, Minsk and more.

The Isolationist Track Listing:
1. No Future
2. Photographs from an Asylum
3. All Paths to God
4. Ambergeist
5. Depakote
6. Religion III
7. Blue of Noon
8. Decaying Inhalations
9. An the Stars Fell On
10. Remission
11. Dead Windows

Krieg on MySpace.

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