Listen To A New Song from Dragged Into Sunlight – “Terminal Aggressor II”


Enigmatic extreme metallers Dragged Into Sunlight have shared a new song, their first since 2015! ‘Terminal Aggressor II’ is streaming now via their Bandcamp page. Their original 2008 demo attainted respect at a level of folklore in the metal underground in the UK, and was dubbed Terminal Aggressor. The band has actually not released a full-length album since 2012’s incredible Widowmaker (Prosthetic Records), but the band has been teasing new music for 2020. They have a show booked for February at Patronet in Haarlem, Netherlands so hopefully, this is just the beginning of new activity for the usually secretive band. Continue reading


FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Damnation Festival 2019, Leeds University


Events Center, Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV 8/18/19

Damnation Festival is upon us, returning tomorrow, 2 November for that is extreme, unholy, and revolutionary in music. The festival is Sold out completely. Among the bands on the stacked bill are Opeth, Mayhem, The Vintage Caravan, Alcest, Venom Prison, Birds in Row, Dawn Ray’d, Imperial Triumphant, Lord Dying, Inter Arma, Primordial, Dragged Into Sunlight, Gaahl’s Wyrd, Gost, Voices, Blood Red Throne, Jo Quail and Carnation, and more.Continue reading


Ghost Cult Turns 7! Celebrate with Us and Win Our “Mystery Box” Prize!


Way back in 2012, Ghost Cult started as a magazine in The Netherlands, specializing in avant-garde and extreme metal, stoner rock, and doom. We ran 19 issues as a digital magazine, which was fairly successful with wide-spread and acclaimed features on Behemoth, Neurosis, Ghost, Megadeth, Amon Amarth, Dragged Into Sunlight, Dream Theater, Korn, Bill Ward, Anathema, Ihsahn, GWAR, Anthrax, COC, Down, Intronaut, High on Fire, The Atlas Moth, and many more. We’ve improved and grown every year with your help. We’d like to think that we provide news, reviews, interviews and concert, and festival coverage with integrity, and without the drama and BS you see from most other websites out there. We will always do what we do and curate and cover all kinds of rock, metal, punk, hardcore, and indie artists. Now in our seventh year, we move boldly into the future! Thanks for being here and supporting us! As a bonus, we have a gift for one lucky fan! Enter to win below!Continue reading


Mayhem – Dragged Into Sunlight – Inconsessus Lux Lucis: Live At Academy 2


First band for the evening were the Mancunian mouthful that is Inconsessus lux lucis, try saying that fast after you’ve had a pint. With a name like that and a bill like this you’d be forgiven for expecting so straight up black metal. That being said the fact they’re on I, Voidhanger also makes you expect the unexpected. Continue reading


Twilight Fauna – Fire of the Spirit


Twilight Fauna – Fire of the Spirit album cover ghostcultmag

I’m currently in my third listen of Twilight Fauna’s Fire of the Spirit (Ravenwood Recordings/Fragile Branch Recordings) but I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite clicking. Maybe it’s the case of a fascinating concept just slightly exceeding its execution. Sole player/creator Paul Ravenwood extracts as much as he can from his guitar work and very sparse rhythms. Continue reading


Exclusive Stream: Karcavul- Intersaone, Full Album Stream


Karcavul Intersaone album cover ghostcultmag

The purveyors of great underground music at Sentient Ruin Laboratories have partnered with Ghost Cult today to stream the new album from French extreme metallers Karcavul, Intersaone, out tomorrow. You can hear the stream of the album at this link or below:

https://soundcloud.com/sentientruin/sets/karcavul-intersaone/

Sonically adventurous, brutally unrelenting, and mysterious in aura, Karcavul’s Intersaone makes good on the promise of their earlier death metal/sludge-toned releases with an increased maturity and polish. Fans of Dragged Into Sunlight, Coffinworm, Undergang, Coffins, Neurosis, Wolvhammer, Eyehategod, Noothgrush, Portal and Acturus are sure to unhinge their jaws and swallow this release en mass.

 

Karcavul- Intersaone track listing:

1. Mangepierres

2. Illuminaschichs

3. Crackleurres

Intersaone will be released on July 8th 2016 as a 12″ vinyl LP and as a digital product on Sentient Ruin in North America, and through a collective of european labels overseas: Crustatombe, Deaf Death Husky, Et mon cul c’est du tofu, No Way Asso, Repulsive Medias, Saka Čost, Underground Pollution Records, and Witch Bukkake Records. The record was recorded live by Karcavul themselves, and mixed by Lizard. Mastering was done by Guillaume “Commissaire” Odile, while the cover art is by Rafaël Houée, and the LP will also feature and insert designed by the band.

Pre-orders are now live on our shop or on Bandcamp.

karcavul.bandcamp.com

Karcavul Official Site

http://sentientruin.com/releases/karcavul-intersaone

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/intersaone

Labels :

Crustatombe

crustatombe.free.fr

Deaf Death Husky

deafdeathhusky.wordpress.com

Et mon cul c’est du tofu

moncul.org

No Way Asso

nowayasso.blogspot.fr

Repulsive Medias

repulsivemedias.blogspot.fr

Saka Čost

www.facebook.com/saka.cost

Underground Pollution Records

undergroundpollution.e-monsite.com

Witch Bukkake Records

witchbukkakerecords.blogspot.fr


Maryland Deathfest 14 Part III: Various Venues, Baltimore, MD


 

maryland deathfest 2016 ghostcultmag

 

Sunday:

Sadly, here is where we start reaching the beginning of the end, the last day of Maryland Deathfest. After icing my foot, I hurried off with a friend over at the fest because we had another friend who had their car short out and we were coming to the rescue. Conveniently for them at least, they were parked right in front of the Edison Lot, so when their problem was dealt with, we power walked inside to catch the opener for the day, Australia’s Denouncement Pyre. I had been a huge fan of them since I had heard Almighty Arckanum in 2013, so when they were announced for MDF, I made their set a priority, and it was well worth the struggle of waking up early on a Sunday. From there came the band Shed the Skin, featuring members of Incantation and Ringworm, and other Australian black metallers Nocturnal Graves. During these bands, I went around on another food hunt, and found a stand in the lot that was selling deep-fried dumplings filled with different things. I spent almost the rest of my food budget on food just from this place, those deep-fried cheesesteak balls were some of the best food I could find during the fest.

 

Wombbath

Wombbath, by Hillarie Jason

Once I devoured those, I went up to the barrier to get a good spot for Wombbath to get my daily dose of Swedish death metal, and their début album Internal Caustic Torments was one of the first old school death metal records I heard, so I was very happy to find out they not only reunited, but were playing MDF! These guys haven’t missed a beat, I would not have been able to tell that they had broken up with how well they sounded and performed. When they were done, Desaster came thrashing out of the woodwork to the pleasant surprise of many, putting on a fantastic set and not missing a beat with their song. Around this point in the day, clouds began to form and the rain began to start, but that didn’t stop Bongzilla, or as frontman Mike Makela said during their set, “Weedeater without the Weedeater”, from busting out the fuzzy stoner metal that had been lacking from the fest since Thursday. We were then treated to even more delectable death metal courtesy of Sweden’s Interment, whose eerie guitar tone and almost d-beat style drumming makes the band sound like they could be the soundtrack of a horror movie, which is something I can really dig.

 

Phobocosm, by Hillarie Jason

Phobocosm, by Hillarie Jason

Once Interment finished, the rain began to really pick up, and instead of sticking it out, I decided to head over to the Soundstage, where I happened to catch Putrescence, some quality Canadian grindcore. I didn’t know much about him, and they put on a pretty decent performance, but unfortunately I went on to find out that MDF was their last performance as a band, so I’m kind of glad to have caught them when I had the chance. After them came Test, who were a two piece grindcore band from Brazil. They honestly blew me away with their performance, because it was so unique for a band like them. One minute they would just be noodling around and seeming like they were going to do some sort of an indie song, then the drummer would just start blasting as fast as he possibly could with the guitarist following suit. They would just flawlessly mix from sounding so light and smooth into relentless, muddy, disgusting metal, and it sounded just incredible. They definitely won over the crowd with their set. I proceeded to pound back some water and walk over to Rams Head to see Phobocosm setting up for their set. Even though their sound was a little muddy from the overbearing bass, they still put on a hell of a performance.

 

Mitochondrion

Mitochondrion, by Hillarie Jason

Once they were done, I went back to Soundstage to catch one of my most hyped sets of the weekend, Tragedy. Now, I have been a Tragedy fan for years, but unfortunately missed every chance I have had to see them when they have come around, so I was not letting this opportunity slip through my fingers. When those first notes to ‘Conflicting Ideas’ came in, I knew I was gonna be in for a rowdy time. After getting out my elation in the pit, I left to Rams Head, because they unfortunately had to put Mitochondrion on at the same time, and I’ve been waiting to see them even longer than I have wanted to see Tragedy! Mitochondrion were destructive, and somehow sounded even cleaner live than on record, which for their style of death metal, is rather impressive to pull off. Once their set ended, I decided to finally have dinner at the most illustrious of establishments: Subway. Once I got my fuel, I went to Soundstage to prepare myself for the crust overlords Doom to take the stage. As soon as they started, the whole front area turned into mass chaos, with beers, bodies, and objects just flying all over the venue, the pit turning into an ice rink from all of the spilled drinks. Mysterious odors aside, Doom’s set was incredible and probably the funnest of the weekend. Once they finished, I went to Rams Head to catch the last band of the weekend, Brazil’s own Mystifier. Mystifier falls into the category of bands I have heard of before, but know nothing about musically that blow me away, which is something that MDF seems to have a plethora of. Their fast and angry style of black metal is the type that is always right up my alley, and even though I was absolutely exhausted, I got really into their set.

Doom

Doom, by Hillarie Jason

 

Excel, by Hillarie Jason

 

Zhrine

Zhrine, by Hillarie Jason

 

Venom, by Hillarie Jason

Venom, by Hillarie Jason

 

Demolition Hammer

Maryland Deathfest 14 crowd, by Hillarie Jason

 

Demolition Hammer, by Hillarie Jason

Demolition Hammer, by Hillarie Jason

 

Testament

Testament, by Hillarie Jason

End:

With the last note of Mystifier’s set, MDF XIV had officially come to a close. This year, they had a post-show matinee as well, but for many of us, that was the end. At least until next year, for the 15th anniversary of Maryland Deathfest! I can only wonder who they are going to book for next year, but regardless of who they get, I’m gonna work my hardest to make my way down again, and I encourage anyone to do the same. If you even have the thought “Maybe I should go down this year…”, just do it, it’s worth the trip.

[slideshow_deploy id=’42172′]

 

MDF 14 Part I

MDF 14 Part II

 

WORDS BY JASON MEJIA

PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON

 


Maryland Deathfest 14 Part II: Various Venues, Baltimore, MD


maryland deathfest 2016 ghostcultmag

Friday:

Not wanting to miss a thing, I woke up bright and early to go on a hunt for food then head to the Edison Lot. Roaming the streets, I went to a restaurant called Big Apple Tree café, which offered deliciously cheap food and some of the best fries I’ve ever had. After gorging myself, I sped over to get myself a decent spot for South Carolina OSDM revivalists Horrendous, who opened their set with their rager “The Stranger” and were one of my personal highlights of the weekend. After them came some actual old school death metal courtesy of Sweden’s Centinex and Chicago natives Novembers Doom. Alien death metallers Wormed came out after the finished and went straight in, with their technical yet brutal riffing and robotic voices throwing the crowd into a frenzy. Their set consisted mostly of material from their new album, Krighsu, but they did play some older tunes like ‘Nucleon’ as well, which really god the crowd going.

Novembers Doom, by Hillarie Jason

Novembers Doom, by Hillarie Jason

When they finished, I went to buy myself a delicious sno-ball from the snowcone truck set up in Edison, which was a refreshing way to fuel up considering how hot it was outside on the concrete. I then sauntered over to the Soundstage while on the hunt for some fine dinner, which I found at downtown spot Chicken Rico, right across the street from the Soundstage. A fat burrito and fries for $8? Sign me up! After eating, I went inside to the venue, which essentially became my second home for the 4 days, and The Afternoon Gentlemen were getting ready to start. Having seen these guys just days earlier opening for Weekend Nachos, I was excited to see them again, and their set at MDF was even better, albeit less crazy of a crowd. Ohio grinders Hemdale went on after them, and their grimy style of deathgrind got the crowd moving hard, and their preachings between songs of “Fuck The Internet” being echoed throughout the rest of the night.

Infest, by Hillarie Jason

Infest, by Hillarie Jason

German fastcore juggernauts Yacopsae kept the party going, with circle pits and stage dives abound. Unfortunately, this was where things went a little over the top, and I ended up trapped at the bottom of a 20-man pile up, ending up with a pretty gnarly foot injury. However, I wasn’t gonna let that stop me, so I got out, put some ice on it for about 30 minutes, then hopped right back into the fray for both Magrudergrind (who brought out Joe Denunzio from Infest to do guest vocals at the end) and Finnish HM-2 maniacs Rotten Sound, with their buzzsaw guitars and relentless blasting making the venue into a warzone. When they finished, the adrenaline began to wear off, and I’d become a hobbling flamingo all around the streets. Due to my injuries, I opted to head over to Rams Head and see Angelcorpse since they had seats, and while many were ecstatic to see them, I was only really familiar with them by name. They tore into their set with aggressive solos and nonstop in-your-face death metal, and they were only a three-piece, which caught me off guard considering how intense their sound was. They brought night 2 to a close, and I limped and skipped the way back, getting myself ready for day 3.

Rotten Sound, by Hillarie Jason

Rotten Sound, by Hillarie Jason

Saturday:

Hellbringer, by Hillarie Jason

Hellbringer, by Hillarie Jason

Waking up and seeing that my foot was multiple shades of purple and yellow should have been more alarming for me, but I decided it wasn’t gonna keep me from enjoying myself, so I iced it then went back for round 3 of shenanigans. Kicking off day 3 were Australia’s Hellbringer, whose fresh mix of black metal and thrash was a good way to wake up the crowd! After them came Sweden’s own Demonical, who I caught much of, but the Pad That I bought from one of the vendors unfortunately did not agree all too well with me, and I fled over to the Soundstage for some relief. After, I ended up hanging around for a little while and caught Whoresnation from France and Priapus from North Carolina, two bands from two different areas, both providing their own 1-2 punch of grind to the face.

Angelcorpse, by Hillarie Jason

Angelcorpse, by Hillarie Jason

Once they were done, I decided to head back to the Edison Lot and ee what was going on and find friends. Luckily I made it just in time to see California thrash legends Hirax take the stage and deliver a blisteringly fast set in equally as hot weather. The thrash didn’t stop there, with Arizona’s Atrophy coming out and delivering their own style of thrash metal. I personally wasn’t into their set, so I decided to head over to HeadBangin Hot Dogs and got myself a Vegan hot dog to help curb the hunger pangs along with a strawberry lemonade from the Asian food stand to cool off from the heat. I eventually went back to the Soundstage and caught the last bit of Severed Head of State, featuring Todd Burdette of Tragedy/His Hero Is Gone fame, while waiting to the reason I came back, Despise You, to come on stage. The powerviolence OG’s came out to a rabid crowd, and their fast, angry, unrelenting style of hardcore brought everyone to go insane from the first note until the very end.

 

Centinex, by Hillarie Jason

Centinex, by Hillarie Jason

The insanity didn’t stop there, with General Surgery coming out and busting out the chainsaw sounds with their HM-2 tinged deathgrind while dressed up and coated in fake blood. As soon as they stopped, I ran to Rams Head to catch Vancouver’s Auroch, who shares members with fellow contemporaries Mitochondrion, and sonically it is very easy to see, with the overwhelming, dark guitar tone and nonstop blasting, but slightly thrashier than them. I then went back to the Soundstage to catch the crazy Spaniards Haemorrhage, who were all decked out in doctor’s outfits and scrubs except for the lead singer, who was coated in fake blood running around with a plastic bloody leg. From there, things just went to the next level, with Infest just going absolutely bonkers. Even though they started about 20 minutes later than planned, they just went right into things and did not stop at all, with trash cans and people going flying. I unfortunately had to leave before it ended to catch the second half of Grave Miasma’s set, whose doomier approach to recently growing trend of cavernous death metal was much welcome, and incredibly heavy, with the band having a very dominating stage presence, playing with little lighting and letting the music speak for itself.

Dragged Into Sunlight, by Hillarie Jason

Dragged Into Sunlight, by Hillarie Jason

 

When they finished, the stage crew then began to set up for Dragged Into Sunlight. I had heard a lot about their live performances, and I was a big fan of their music, but nothing could have prepared me for what I was to witness. 5 minutes of feedback and noise, with the solitary lighting coming from strobes behind the drummer, the dimmest red stage lights possible, and the candlelight from the animal skull candlestand at the front of the stage. Then, the samples start, the first notes of ‘To Hieron’ begin, and they kick in to what may well have been the heaviest thing that I have ever witnessed. I felt like I was slowly being driven into a state of insanity watching them, with the vitriolic screaming of the vocalist, the lack of lighting, how loud and abrasive they were, and the lack of acknowledgment of the crowd, playing almost entirely with their backs turned. Besides the one drunk guy trying to bombard to the front who eventually got carried out by a multitude of people for his behavior and the pit going on, everyone else was just entrenched into the performance going on in front of us. Near the end, the lights were cut, so the only source was the strobe going off behind the drummer. Their set was easily the highlight of the fest, and may very well have been the best set I’ve seen from a band. Craft went on after them, and while they were good sonically, they didn’t really have much of a stage presence, which really dampened their performance, and after Dragged Into Sunlight, as far as my brain and ears were concerned, we were done for the day.

The crowd at MDF 2016, by Hillarie Jason

The crowd at MDF 2016, by Hillarie Jason

 

[slideshow_deploy id=’42149′]

WORDS BY JASON MEJIA

PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON


Temples Festival Cancelled, No Future Events Planned


temples festival banner ghostcultmag

With an announcement on their Facebook page, Temples Festival which was to take place next weekend has been permanently cancelled. Ticket refunds are available at point of purchase. The fest was to have been headlined by the cream of the crop in underground metal such as Mayhem, Melvins, and Carcass, alongside bands such as Agoraphobic Nosebleed, MGLA, Windhand, Iron Reagan, Dragged Into Sunlight, Primitive Man, Jucifer, Vision of Disorder, Undersmile, Voices and many more. In a message festival organizer Frances Mace gave an explanation and apology to all involved claiming the fest “can’t face another year of debts & damage..”

Patrons of Temples Festival,

After an arduous 48hrs of uncertainty, and with deepest reluctance we have been forced to cancel Temples Festival 2016.

At the beginning of last week, the organisation we had onboard to finance the event pulled their funding, and with limited access to advance ticket sales and no sponsors to back us we have been unable to source the funding required to cover the overheads which would allow Temples Festival to go ahead.

Following Temples 2015, we were left with a sizeable debt and as opposed to dissolving the company and declaring bankruptcy – I decided to take on the debts personally and subsequently pay off all our creditors in instalments as quickly as possible, this meant bands, staff and contractors were all paid late – and it’s had a crippling effect on both my professional and personal life as a whole – truth be told, I made a series of bad business decisions and dealt with the situation very poorly – which I take full accountability for.

I’ve spent the past week trying to gain access to the funds we need to make this year work and avoid the problems we encountered following last year’s event, with our financiers pulling their involvement – it’s been an uphill battle, which I’ve fought to the best of my abilities – and unfortunately, have been defeated.

Over the past weekend, I’ve been attempting to produce the festival’s continuation on a ‘scaled down’ level so we can offer something for those of you who have purchased tickets, accommodation, transport etc and allow the bands who are touring, UK based etc – unfortunately this morning it became clear that even if we were to proceed as such, we’d be left with another huge debt and therefore unable to pay the bands, staff, venue, contractors and a number of other crucial overheads the festival relies on – thus repeating the mistakes that were made last year.

Having already lost in the region of £70,000 throughout Temples Festival’s existence – I’m afraid adding more debt to that will simply cripple both myself and the festival, and after such a difficult year it’s not an option for me to take on such a huge debt personally.

I am deeply deeply sorry to all of those who will lose out as a result of this decision, having put three years of my life and having already lost so much of it to the festival I’m afraid there is no option to continue with Temples Festival 2016 and I take full responsibility for events cancellation. I am truly sorry.

My intention was always to setup a unique UK festival which books bands who are rarely seen in the UK, I’ve tirelessly dedicated myself to this event for a long time now and the decision to cancel this year’s event has been unequivocally the hardest call I’ve ever had to make in my life. My sincere apologies to those of you who will lose out as a result of this, I am truly sorry – but I can’t face another year of debts & damage.

Thank you to everyone who has actively supported Temples Festival from the start, I launched this ambitious event with the best intentions and unfortunately it’s become too damaging for me to oversee single handedly. Although curating the festival is something I’ve been able to do well – managing the business side of the event has proven too much for me. I’ve been promoting concerts for half of my life, and those of you who know of the work I’ve done will hopefully be aware of how upsetting and damaging this decision has been to me on every level.

Our ethos has been No Surrender for the past year, as I was determined to make this festival work and finish what I started. I’ve worked so hard to make this happen for our Patrons in 2016 but against my will and core beliefs – today’s news has forced me to surrender.

Ticket refunds are available from your point of purchase, please contact them for a full refund.

Again, thank you to those of you who have been supporting this event for the past three years – your encouragement and kind words have kept me going through incredibly difficult times and I hope that despite this negative outcome you’ve at least enjoyed the two events we hosted for you. I’m proud of what was achieved with this event, and if there was any way of making this year work I’d be continuing with the same passion and dedication which oversaw the last two editions of Temples Festival.

With the utmost regret & sincerity,

Francis Mace

– Temples Festival


Jennifer Christensen/Twilight Fauna – Split


a0303072411_16

Sometimes music is for dancing to, for laughing to and for loving to. And sometimes music is an art form, a means to expressing something subconscious, so deep down, and utterly fundamental to the human soul that expressing them with mere words only serves to highlight the inadequacy of language over art. Such is the case with the Jennifer Christensen and Twilight Fauna’s two track split on Red River Family. The two tracks are joined together neither by style nor genre, but as a means express the inexpressible, to express the inevitable, when dancing, laughter and love ultimately fail us all.Continue reading