Interview: Cambion (2021)

Cambion from El Paso, Texas, have released one of the most crushing black/death metal albums of the year with "Conflagrate The Celestial Refugium", which has been a regular on my playlist since its release. Fans of bands like Diocletian, Angelcorpse and Lvcifyre take note. The following interview with the horde was conducted in support of their deadly music.

Greetings! Firstly, thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview. Secondly, congratulations on the release of your crushing debut album.

Thanks so much for the support, it helps push our endeavor forward.

To my ears, "Conflagrate The Celestial Refugium" is one of the best black/death metal albums of the year. Few albums have come close to matching its aggression and sheer ferocity. In addition, the production really does the music justice. What was the overall writing and recording process like? Are you satisfied with the overall result?

Thanks again for the positive words. Thorben and I are separated by many thousands of miles, but our songwriting rapport is uncanny. With a love of frantic Death, the music is constantly flowing. We rarely disagree on how a song should progress. As for the final result, the band is very, very pleased. Christian Erkens took our tracks and mixed them to an ultimate crushing level. The sound is just raw enough to rape your ears, but everything is balanced and heavy.

Cambion’s music is technically proficient and pushes the boundaries in terms of sonic access. Do you rehearse a lot to achieve such a sound?

Yes, definitely. I mean there are way more technical awesome bands out there, but we try to push our own boundaries and that comes with keeping our chops up as best we can.

Would you ever sign to a "bigger" label or are you content with your place in the spectrum of the underground?

Lavadome has been very forward and fair to us. Jan is a complete underground maniac, not just a 'collector of bands' - he puts out stuff that he really digs. Cambion are among some imposing labelmates there. As for a larger label, they would need to understand our non-live situation before anything could move forward. Never say never.

What are some of your biggest musical inspirations?

Rich: speaking personally, I'm driven to create music for Cambion by classic Slayer, Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Krisiun (first 3), and Gene Palubicki's stable of bands (Angelcorpse and Apocalypse Command in particular). Others include Centurian, Fallen christ, and newer stuff like Lvcifyre and Omegavortex.

Thorben: Classic Slayer for me as well. Mixed with some Swedish old school death metal and some more technical stuff such as Origin, Nile, Defeated Sanity, Insidious Decrepancy, Gorgasm and modern bands like Cytotoxin.

What themes do you explore with your latest work and what is the significance of the title?

I'm a simple man, I enjoy the classic tropes in Metal music like the Devil and occult-related themes, Robert E Howard/Clark Ashton Smith, the Annunaki, as well as some historical stuff. The title track talks about how Catholic pigs shelter child molesters, and the 'what-if" heaven itself sheltered these degenerates after death. The Lord of Hell leads his hordes to burn the whole shit-house down, "cauterizing the firmament".

What can you tell us about your drummer? The man is an absolute beast behind the kit.

I had the pleasure of seeing Chason Westmoreland play drums with Hate Eternal live. The man was splintering roof-beams with his merciless power and speed. He beats the shit out of his kit, unlike a lot of the current tapping nancy-boys. Fortunately, Jan at Lavadome reached out to him and Chas agreed to play on our record. We have our fingers crossed that he can play on our second album, let's see what the fates allow.

How would you personally describe your music to someone who has never heard it?

If you like excessive blastbeats and relentless face-melting solos, you'll dig Cambion.

10 albums you can't live without? In no particular order:

Rich: Hell Awaits, Pleasure To Kill, Morbid Tales, Black Force Domain, Covenant, Abduction Ritual, Legion, Exterminate, Horrified, and World Downfall.

Thorben: Reign in Blood, Ride the Lightning, Legion, Effigy of the Forgotten, Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, In Their Darkened Shrines, Antithesis, Entity, Psalms of the Moribund, Masticate to Dominate.

What are your favourite sub-genres in metal? Are you someone who mainly listens to black and death metal, or do you like other sub-genres as well? What kind of music excites you?

Rich: Favorite subgenres are Heavy Metal and extreme Doom, but Darkambient like Kammarheit is great for driving the lonesome distances through West Texas. I do mainly listen to Black and Death, but also regularly to stuff like Waylon Jennings, Hank Sr., Willie Nelson, The Highwaymen, and Bob Wills.

Thorben: Currently very technical Death Metal or Brutal Death Metal. Like Rich I also love to dig into Darkambient but also other things like the darker or virtuose pieces of classical music.

Can you tell us about the artwork of the album and what kind of vision you had in mind? I think it fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the music.

The piece is called "Ordeal of the Abyss" and it's by Shaari Moth, an artist out of California. Its a pretty big piece, done on canvas with acrylics. The artwork has actually been very polarizing; some despise it and some love it. I personally think it's a style that's not so common these days. The artist was basically given free-reign to make a hellish cover with a lot of hidden symbolism. As a side note, she used a real insect on the doorway on the left side of the art.

What is your opinion on the current underground scene throughout the states? And in your opinion, does each state that has a developed metal scene have its own distinctive sound like some of the countries in Europe?

There are lots of good bands if you know where to look. I think, generally speaking, American acts have a tendency to be more on the brutal side. Sadly, there are more bands than ever, so it becomes difficult to comb through mountains of average material. Since I'm a grouchy old man, I screen bands on youtube and almost immediately stop the song if it's something I don't like.

Do you have any merchandise available for people to get hold of? Also, if any zines or promoters out there would like to get in touch with the band, how should they do this? Cheers and thanks!

The best place to look is directly to the Lavadome bandcamp. The album is available on CD and shirts are in the works. I have a few copies of Conflagrate for stateside maniacs. The best way to contact us is through the Cambion Facebook messenger or Lavadome Productions. Thanks to Death By Hammer for the interview, H&K to our supporters!

Album review: Cambion - Conflagrate The Celestial Refugium (2021)

Cambion - Conflagrate The Celestial Refugium

USA

Lavadome Productions

“Conflagrate The Celestial Refugium” is the debut album from these Texas based maniacs and is a profoundly hard-hitting and militant slab of Black/Death. The musicianship on this album is as tight as it gets, including the fact that the music is utterly ferocious, with the bulk of the music consisting of blazing fast drums, shredding riffs, and evil vocals that are more akin to black metal. Essentially, the output has more in common with death metal (at least musically), although there is a fair amount of black metal in their veins, at least in terms of atmosphere. In my opinion, anyone who likes bands like Angelcorpse, Force of Darkness and Infernal War will go absolutely nuts over this, as this album delivers the goods. I'm not saying the band sounds like the aforementioned bands, but they are definitely on par with them in terms of intensity. The music is truly fast for the most part. But not in a bland sense, as each track is peppered with tempo changes and solos that make the music way more interesting than the usual "fast-all-the-time" brutal black/death band. There is enough variety in the songs to maintain a consistent flow and not become repetitive. Slower parts are well interspersed and used to break up the intensity a bit while still keeping it relentless and crushing. I have read a few comments comparing Cambion to Angelcorpse, which is fair enough, though they are far from being called "Angelcorpse worship" as they have a sound all their own that is easily identifiable when you actually listen to their music. There are a myriad of interesting and razor-sharp, flesh-piercing solos, and it's even more impressive considering the band only consists of three members, and considering all the chaos you're being subjected to literally comes from one guitarist backed by a maniacal battery, incendiary drumming and hate spewing vocals. The bass is also very involved in the mix and makes a valuable contribution to the execution. It's a thorough and well-executed display of bludgeoning and vicious black/death that deserves to be heard and is a prime example of proper American black/death. Cambion fucking slays! (HT)

Album review: Riexhumation – The Final Revelation of Abaddon (2021)

 

Riexhumation – The Final Revelation of Abaddon

Italy

Lavadome Records

RIEXHUMATION is an Italian death metal band formed in 2009. “The Final Revelation of Abaddon” is their debut LP and fourth overall release in the band's 11 year life span.

This record most certainly does not follow the modern trend of non-stop slowed down old-school death worship – this stuff is blisteringly fast, heavy production, high gain tremolo riffing, and hate-filled gutturals on top of everything. This is a solid straight-forward death metal album with an evil occult touch to it. This album sounds like a mix between Swedish and US old-school death metal, which is quite prominent during some parts, giving the whole thing a very distinct sound. The album has a very evil atmosphere inspired by the Stockholm school of death metal, but with an American-sounding production, especially with the vocals.

A mix between slower, mid-paced, and ripping blast-beat sections is quite evenly spread out. The tempo changes feel fresh every time they do occur. Though this brand of death metal has the feel of death metal from 1990 to 1998, it does an excellent job of being its own master. This is a worthy release for any death metal connoisseur to listen to as it brings a well-rounded and sinister listening experience to the table, with competent musicianship and songwriting throughout. (AR)

Interview: Chaos Inception (2021)

 

Chaos Inception is a killer Death Metal band from Alabama worth supporting with a new album in the works. I got in touch with guitarist Matt to show my support and also get some details about the upcoming album. If you’re a fan of dark, abstract, and crushing death metal with tight musicianship, then you should definitely give them a listen. Chaos Inception is no lightweight, despite their under-the-radar status.

Hails! It's been a long time since Chaos Inception released an album. Can you please give us an update?

Hails, and thanks for the interview. It’s good to know someone cares about the band. We’ve been through hell and back trying to get this done and I can finally see the light at the end. Gary White and I are the band now, and that’s probably all there will be to it. We have been through so many changes in lineup and so much on a personal level, but I anticipate that a new album will be out on Lavadome Records by the end of 2021, or early next year.

Chaos Inception Members also play in various other bands such as Monstrosity, Diabolic, Quinta Essentia, etc. Are these other bands rather side bands or priority?

It’s hard to say what band is a side band or priority, mainly because it would piss off the other people in those bands. The priority for me is simply to play guitar in a band and to have someone hear it. So all I do is keep playing, keep writing, and when someone says let’s do an album I can say ok, here’s what I can contribute. At this stage of the game, and at the risk of pissing off some people, I’d say that the bands you mentioned are nobody’s ‘priority’ as far as their daily lives go, because it’s not their job or their family, with one exception that you might guess. Chaos Inception is my priority in a way, because I write everything. In other projects there is compromise, with other people changing my songs, but I’m proud of all of them. When it’s time to get it going the priorities shift to each one, but the constant is me sitting around playing a guitar. I’m much better at it now for being involved in those projects.

What led to the departure of Chris White and what does the new vocalist Jason Flippo bring to your sound?

As I mentioned, we’ve had a lot of changes. None of them were truly rancorous but to go over the reasons would be picking at scabs. Gary White is the vocalist for Chaos Inception now - you heard it here first!. He has done vocals before in spots with Chaos Inception and Convergence from Within, so it’s just easier and better for us to do it ourselves, together.

How will the direction of the new material differ compared to The Abrogation? What can we expect?

Expect something that’s a little more streamlined, without as many opposing guitar riffs. I mean I used to have one riff and then do another riff on top of it, and it sounded pretty cool, but I realized that often the reason for doing that is the first riff is not very good. It’s covering up for a crap riff, or what we call in the rehearsal room, ‘shizer’. That’s Alabaman for schiesse. Good riffs, not noise – that’s the goal. Just remember that the layers probably don’t make you a musical genius. Some death metal (ourselves included) use a blast beat as a cover for crap riffs. Put a blast on that and it sounds cool. Especially when the drummer is 10 times the musician as the guitar player, which is often the case. Well, we are blasting 90% of the time, so we try to avoid that. Besides all that, the new album runs more of the gamut – it goes from total defeat and despondency to triumph and overcoming. The latter is an absolute necessity for me, because if it’s not spiritually majestic and the singer is growling, you might as well be in Pantera – you’re making angry music, and I’m just not that angry. Now, there’s one song on it that almost makes me nauseous to think about, it’s so nasty. A bit of a departure. And as always, I have in mind the legacy of Floridian and South American death metal and we will always be happy to plant that flag through the eye socket of a poseur.

Which bands influenced the sound of Chaos Inception?

For me it’s everything, but mostly Floridian and South American bands. Sweat-panted and farmer tanned death metal from hell, as opposed to pale, cold death metal with neck beards and leather pants. The album Blessed Are the Sick. Any and all Sarcofago, not just INRI. Angel Corpse. Krisiun. Perdition Temple. Suffocation. Centurian. Sinister. Any kind of weird, dark metal. Necromantia. Striborg. Slayer should go without saying. Can’t forget Iron Maiden, Uli Roth, The Smiths, and Graham Parker. Just listen to what you like, or you will burn out your love of music. Use all your influences. I am not a huge fan of all death metal, such as mid-paced or slow stuff, or the stuff made by trained musicians who are slumming in the death metal world. I respect any band that has made a name for themselves doing this, and I’ve gone to their shows and bought their albums, but when it’s time for me to distill influences and create my thing, there’s none of that involved. And there’s always an element of horror involved, brought by a lifelong study of horror movies.

What are some newer bands that you like? Are there any albums that have left an impression on you recently?

That is a good question. I try. I really try. I think most everything sounds pretty good, with good but usually the same production values, but I just don’t have that goosebump feeling from anything new. And there are so many old things that I haven’t heard that sometimes it’s best to check out old bands that I missed. Like with horror movies – what’s the best new horror movie of 2021? I couldn’t tell you. But I don’t just sit around watching John Carpenter’s Halloween for the 127^th time. I’ll find out there was something I missed from back then with the same vibe. Or there is some band that the label Nuclear War Now found from the USSR or Haiti from way back that’s cool. There are lots of new bands that try to recapture the old magic, and I’m cool with them doing that too – like Gruesome. Some overzealous fans or critics sometimes piss me off when they say it’s even better than the original when it isn’t. I’m still looking for the heir to Azagthoth, Palubicki, and the rest. Where are the psychotic soloists? Anyways, if absolutely pressed to name a newer band I’d say Cemetery Lights, which is like a Greek black metal sounding thing on Nuclear War Now. If you asked Gary that question, he would definitely not drop the name Cemetery Lights, that I can tell you.

Can you tell us a little about the themes on The Abrogation, including some details about songs like "Pazazu Eternal" and "The Exterminati"?

Lyrical themes . . . For me, it’s nightmares, visions, and whatever happens in the rehearsal room. We name riffs and then those names make it back into the lyrics. We had a riff called the Pincer riff and that translated into a working title of 1000 Dead by Pincer. Now the challenge is what the hell does that mean? I can’t even remember why we called the riff ‘pincer’ now someone has to base lyrics to a song about that. I will admit that some of the things I put in my lyrics are meant to shock, but not in the usual sense. How can you shock someone who’s been listening to Cannibal Corpse for 25 years, or watching Evil Dead for 40? Well, you can put in something unexpected, maybe something that leaves them scratching their heads. Usually it’s because I’m scratching my head about it as well. You just know it’s right when you hear it spoken. Go with your instincts and don’t overthink it. Some people have accused us of being devil worshippers because of some lyrical content, but I can tell you that we don’t believe in devil worshippers. Anyone who wastes time seriously studying demonic rituals to put them into practice is a fool. But if you study them for historical interest, that’s something else. And if you have studied them and you think some of it sounds cool, like ‘man, that’s some heavy shit. What if that was a song lyric?’ Also cool. But copying directly from the text? Boring. Plagiarism. And obviously, the rituals don’t work in the intended way, or else all these underground metal bands would have wealth, fame, and there’d be a lot more women at their shows. So I use some artistic license and maybe write a lyric in the language of ritual but make it my own, knowing that it’s nonsense. You can be serious about your art and do that at the same time. No one can tell me I’m not serious, given the time and years I’ve put into this, with little to no reward. So I leave people wondering if it’s from an ancient scroll or a dreaded tome found at an archaeological site, or is it totally made up yet sounds like a cool death metal song? I try to be honest about what we’re doing here – making music for teenagers (in spirit, at the moments even a mature adult is enjoying this music), just like the teenagers we were when you got into it.

Will your collaboration with Lavadome Productions continue?

Yes. Lavadome is the best. The have the best roster of any newer label. Jan has treated us well and has not pressured us to hurry up and put out the album. We know it was too long between albums, but there was not much we could do about it. I don’t like getting involved with the business of music. I’m just too busy. I worry about making money at my day job. If I calculated how much money I make on music I’m probably paid a fraction of 1 cent per hour. If I made some phone calls and deals I could maybe bump that up to 1 whole cent per hour. I just leave it alone. Anything is a bonus. With Chaos Inception I only care about making good music that I like, and meeting my potential for creating magic through a musical performance. I have always felt that I failed to hit that mark. The songs for this 3^rd album are finished except for vocals and leads. This is where we might make it happen.

Thank you very much for your time. Looking forward to new material from Chaos Inception. The last words are yours.

Hang in there. We’re still around. Thanks for sticking with us. I think there will be a lot of happy folks out there once you put the needle down on the first track off this one. Yeah, you thought I was all nice in this interview but you didn’t realize that what I’m putting together is going to be a megaton blast of destructive madness pounding through your skull and it will torture your soul in the nether region past the Third Inferno in the wasteland of the desolator. Eaaaagghhhhh!!!!!

Demo review: Cambion - Unfold Chaos Supreme (2015)

 

Cambion – Unfold Chaos Supreme (2015)

International

Lavadome Productions

Cambion is an international project with members situated in the US and Germany. "Unfold Chaos Supreme" is the band's debut demo from 2015, featuring five songs of blisteringly fast and menacing black/death metal that hits the listener like a freight train. The songs are backed with a considerably good production which works in favour of the excellent rhythms and tempos therein. The intensity is taken to its peak, with insane, wizard-like drumming perpetually battering away, while jaw-dropping riffs and solos are hammered out with fervour and precision. The vocalist commands the chaos, belching out sickened rasps of madness and malice rendering a more blackened element to the music. The guitar solos on this release are absolutely top-tier, fast and precise, and brings to mind Gene Palubicki. A pinch of thrash-infused riffs also makes its way in the mix, showing an affinity for old school metal. The band shows a great capacity for fast, ferocious and evil blackened death metal, coupled with excellent musicianship. For a first demo, it sure packs a hefty punch, and keeping that in mind, I'd definitely like to hear more material from this band. This demo is absolutely sick and I cannot recommend it enough. For fans of Angelcorpse, Force of Darkness, Hacavitz, etc. (HT)

https://lavadome.bandcamp.com/album/unfold-chaos-supreme