The Sound of Steel on Bone Zine looking for some underground bands to review

ryanofwar

New Metal Member
Feb 22, 2011
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I currently write a little blog on the net called The Sound of Steel on Bone, and I thought it would be cool to review some demos and albums of underground metal bands. Please shoot me a message on the blog if you'd like to have your music reviewed. I can't promise I'll get around to everything, but will do my best.

http://steelonbone.blogspot.com/
 
Underground Spotlight: Deus Otiosus (Denmark)

Deus Otiosus - "Murderer" (Denmark)
by Slaybag
http://steelonbone.blogspot.com/
The Sound of Steel on Bone

Danish death metalers, Deus Otiosus, offer a ripping blend of old school death metal and classic thrash on their debut album, “Murderer” (released via American Line in South America and on FDA Rekotz for the rest of the world). Everything grooves as only old school death can, and the vocals are quite intelligible, especially when you consider this particular style. Deus Otiosus lists Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Possessed, Deicide, Asphyx, Pestilence, Entombed, Grave, Slayer, and Bolt Thrower among their influences. This listener definitely gets a pungent waft of the aforementioned artists (especially vintage Morbid Angel, Death, Pestilence) from “Murderer”, but also the acidic, coppery scent of burning thrash metal, a la “Ride the Lightning”...and that’s a good thing.

Deus Otiosus is refreshing in the sense that their music retains an organic feel throughout their debut. Instead of bland technicality (or Pro Tooling all the life out of the music), the Danish metalers primarily focus on maintaining a slamming groove, which really works in their favor.

And what is Deus Otiosus currently plotting for the future? Guitarist, Henrik, says:

"Right now we are busy working on the songs for our second album. We already have some material written, which is being rehearsed and arranged right now. I think our second album will be a quite natural continuation from "Murderer" further emphasizing it's strengths - a strong character and recognisability in every song and a good variation in the dynamic and atmosphere in between the songs. We'll be sure to send you our next album as well. Thanks for the support!"

Highlights include the infectious riffage of “Wall of Violence” (with a special cameo appearance from JACK himself: “Gimme the bat, Wendy”…you’ll know what I mean) and the uber death metalish “No Life”.

Go here to check out their music:
www.facebook.com/deusotiosus.dk
www.myspace.com/deusotiosus
http://www.reverbnation.com/deusotiosus

Line-up:
Anders Bo Rasmussen - Vocals
Henrik Engkjær - Guitars
Peter Engkjær - Guitars
Jesper Holst - Bass
Søren Bentsen – Drums
 
Interview with Slime from COFFIN DUST (Philly)

http://www.stereokiller.com/CoffinDust
http://coffindust.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/CoffinDust

SoB: First off, thanks for doing the interview!

Slime: No problem, thank you for wanting the interview!

Anyways, when did Coffin Dust first come together?

Coffin Dust came together a little under a couple of years ago, however the idea came together between Slvt Slayer and I way before that. We wanted to do a death metal band with thrash and old-school hardcore influence. So we built some instruments out of some bones that we had dug up months prior and started jamming. We then brought our friends Reek and Eerie Geary into the equation, and before you know it we had a band of grave stomping ghouls. We recorded the demo, Reek and Geary decided they had to leave, and then we brought Disgustor and Eerie Steve into the equation.

What/who inspired you to start grave robbing and blasting thrash?

Grave robbing is a simple addiction that started awhile ago for us. It appeases the Batphomet. As far as music, we were always fans of old school death metal and thrash metal, like Death, Cannibal Corpse, Vio-Lence, Sepultura, etc. I wanted to write music that incorporated those influences, plus whatever else we feel like adding to the mix. Misfits are definitely a big influence on my songwriting.

It looks like you guys played a slew of southern dates on the Eternal Rampage Summer Tour. How was it? Any crazy stories?

The Eternal Rampage tour with Tombstalker was absolutely devastating. It ruled. We played a bunch of killer fucking shows with some killer fucking bands, we got to hang out with old friends (and make new friends), we got to drink lots of beer and smoke lots of weed. What more can we ask for? Not to mention that touring with the ghouls in Tombstalker was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had. Those dudes are some of our closest friends, they fucking rule.

How do the local scenes down south compare to the Philly metal scene?

The Philly scene is very strong, and I sense this strength in a lot of other scenes down south as well. One word dude. Atlanta.


I feel there is a bit more melody (e.g. the thick harmonies on March of the Machete Militia) on the Ancient Rites EP. I’m really a sucker for the twin guitar stuff. It sounds great, by the way. How do you guys think the band/music has progressed during the time between the Unimaginable Horror split (2010) and the Ancient Rites of Buried Evil EP (2011)?

Thanks dude! I believe the music has matured a great deal since the demo. The music has already matured a great deal since the AROBE EP as well. Lots of people talk a lot of shit when death metal bands use melody and whatnot. I think melody is a great thing, as long as it's used tastefully. As far as melody goes for us, i try to focus on writing hooks that are more 'spooky' than melodic. Sinister, and spooky. We are almost done writing the full length, and you can bet your skull that the album is going to be full of horrific spooky splendor.

Something that really strikes me about your music is the thickness of the guitars. Is that a trade secret or can you expound upon that crunch?

We carved our half stacks out of bones and grave stones.

The artwork for both the split and EP is awesome. Who is doing your covers?

Again, thank you! I do all of our artwork. I do artwork for a lot of bands, actually.


I see that you’re currently working on your first full length with Chris Grigg. How is the process coming along so far?

We are going to start recording in early January, of a course of three weekends. The writing process is almost complete. I have a feeling that recording this album is going to be a lot of fun. Chris knows exactly what we are going for, and he knows exactly how to record us and mix so that it sounds perfect. He is great not only to work with, but just as a dude in general. I highly recommend anyone to him for recording.

I notice that there are some tunes from the split and EP listed on the new project. Do you plan on making major changes to the material (rearranging, new solo here, blast beat there) or just rerecording for purely technical reasons?

There are a couple small changes, but nothing to drastic. We just wanted to re record some old tunes simply because we like them, and a couple of us feel that the demo didn’t do them justice. Plus, the album is a concept album (AROBE EP was a lead up to the album), and one of the songs is incorporated in the story.

I was checking out your tunes on http://coffindust.bandcamp.com/ and noticed you can “name your price” when downloading the tracks. How is that working out for you?

I don’t know, I barely check the bandcamp. I usually check the stereokiller. I could care less about people paying to download our music. I just want them to listen to it.

Do you plan to take a similar route with your upcoming full length, or are you looking at getting picked up by a label?

We are hoping that a label is going to want to help us out with putting it out. We really want to have it out on 12". I think that's the proper release for this album. Maybe I have high expectations, but I think our first full length is going to be epic, for lack of a better word.

Where can we catch Coffin Dust live? Any tours in the works for the near future?

We only have a couple of shows set up. We are playing with Exhumed at the Mojo 13 in Wilmington Delaware Nov 11th (I have to sell tickets so if anyone is interested please hit me up!!!! 6please6die6now@gmail.com). We will be doing a record release show when its out, and in June we are going to play Goregon Massacre Fest III in Portland with a bunch of RAD bands. We may do one or two other shows here and there in between.

Thanks again for doing the interview. Before we wrap up this treatise in thrash, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for the interview! It's greatly appreciated. Anything I'd like to add? hmmmmm...Check out the bands Spewtilator, Living Decay, Tombstalker, and Mangled. Get your hands on the new Blood Freak album, and the new Cannabis Corpse album.

Thank you to all who have supported us and who continue to support us, and we hope to pummel some bone yards with you all soon!!!!

CRUSH THE SKULL, SNORT THE DUST!

http://www.stereokiller.com/CoffinDust
http://coffindust.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/CoffinDust