Article: "Pagan-Themed Science Based Meditation" by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

Pagan-Themed Science Based Meditation

"Harmony of Nature and Cosmos"

by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

Find a quiet, comfortable space where you can sit or lie down. If possible, surround yourself with natural elements—like plants, crystals, or candles. Close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths to center yourself.

Meditation

Grounding with Nature:

- Inhale deeply, visualizing roots growing from the base of your spine into the earth. Feel the solid ground beneath you, the heartbeat of the Earth, alive and vibrant.

- Exhale slowly, releasing any tension or worries. Imagine them sinking into the soil, nourishing the ground.

Embracing the Elements

- Bring to mind the four elements—Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. With each element, connect it to a scientific principle:

- Earth Visualize soil rich with nutrients and micro-organisms, understanding the ecosystems that thrive beneath surface.

- Air Feel the oxygen flowing into your lungs, the invisible yet vital gas produced through photosynthesis by plants.

- Fire Imagine the warmth of the sun, the nuclear fusion that powers it, allowing life to flourish on our planet.

- Water Contemplate the water cycle, recognizing the importance of this precious resource in sustaining life, and its molecular structure as H₂O.

Connecting with the Cosmos

- Expand your mind’s eye beyond Earth. Visualize the stars suffused with vibrancy, each representing different galaxies and billions of years of cosmic history.

- Reflect on the Big Bang, the beginning of time and space, and your unique place within this vast universe.

Unity with Nature

- Affirm your connection to the natural world. Repeat silently: "I am a part of the Earth, the elements, and the cosmos. I honor this connection."

- Feel the energy of the universe flowing through you. Recognize that you, a being of matter and consciousness, are composed of stardust.

Gratitude and Intention

- As you draw this meditation to a close, express gratitude for the beauty of nature and the wonders of science. Visualize how your intentions harmonize with the world around you.

- Formulate a clear intention related to your journey—whether it's healing, understanding, or connection.

Returning to Awareness

- Begin to bring your awareness back to the present moment. Wiggle your fingers and toes, gently open your eyes, and take a moment to appreciate your surroundings.

- Carry the peaceful energy of this meditation with you into your daily life, feeling anchored in the balance of nature and the cosmos.

The goal of this meditation is to create a profound sense of connection and understanding between the underlying principles of pagan theology and the wonders of modern science.

Goddess Rosemary

Sahjaza Meditations

3/23/2025

Full Length Review: Karla Kvlt "Thunderhunter" (Exile On Mainstream Records) by Dave Wolff

Band: Karla Kvlt

Location: Hamburg

Country: Germany

Genre: Experimental sludge

Full length: Thunderhunter

Format: Digital album, vinyl/CD bundle, vinyl

Label: Exile On Mainstream Records

Release date: February 21, 2025

Alternative and grunge may have been turned into a fleeting fad in the mid to late 1990s, but bands like Melvins, Unsane, Swans, and Cop Shoot Cop, among others, survived to inspire new bands like Eisenvater, Rossburger Report, and Karla Kvlt, who released their debut album last month.

"Thunderhunter" is the logical progression of where grunge was going before it broke aboveground and the mainstream realized they could cash in, with the mysterious and slightly dangerous post-punk street rhythm that would eventually fill the gap left by generic hard rock and glam metal when it imploded.

Karla Kvlt, led by Eisenvater's Markus E. Lipka, moves beyond the pre-mainstream vibes of grunge to explore the capturing and channeling of emotion, as well as the space between what is understood and what is unknown. It forges excursions deep into the subconscious mind and whatever link it may have with the infinite, exposing what one may discover, whether light or dark.

"Thunderhunter" frequently approaches the subterranean grittiness you'll find in experimental stoner, becoming repetitious enough to induce a natural high. With Black Sabbath/Trouble/Candlemass vibes, ethereal guitar and bass passages, apocalyptic dirges with distant keyboards, hauntingly monotone vocals, atmospheric bell effects, mystical sounds and thundering, booming percussion, it all creates an existence that deviates from how we anticipate rock to sound, thus it appeals to your sensibilities.

Following the DIY recording method, this album goes on to piece doom, drone, post rock, sludge, and noise into the puzzle, becoming an immense statement that’s evocative of a waking dream state. We've all heard how much leaning toward one or more genres of music helps shape one's own individual character. Deconstructing, recreating, and transmuting the mind while blurring the lines between live performances and rituals, "Thunderhunter" exemplifies the letting go to rediscover oneself.

The album is described as devastating one moment and an example of beauty the next, compared to a flowering plant pushing upward through a slab of concrete, or to tides flowing, ebbing, and flowing again. Since those waves progressively undermine your ideas of what grunge, doom, or sludge should be, I can most easily identify with the latter description. Karla Kvlt’s talent lies in finding the connecting spaces between musical genres thought of as being incompatible. –Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Markus E. Lipka: Guitars, guitar soundscapes, voice

Teresa Matilda Curtens: Bass, vocals

J. Victor Wientjes: Heavy drums, synth soundscapes

Track list:

1. Karma

2. Temple

3. Swallowed

4. Magna Mater

5. Mun Kvlta

6. Hekate

7. Thunderhunter

Full Length Review: Yelena Eckemoff "Scenes from the Dark Ages" (L&H Production) by Dave Wolff

Artist: Yelena Eckemoff

Location: Manhattan, New York

Country: USA

Genre: Progressive jazz fusion

Full length: Scenes from the Dark Ages

Format: Digital, double digipak CD

Label: L&H Production

Release date: March 28, 2025

As I listen to this double album I find it hard to believe it was recorded in only three days. It sounds more like something that took a few months to complete in the studio, with its quantity of instruments and the subtlety in its arrangements.

Yelena Eckemoff, a well-known and prolific musician who has been playing piano since she was four and recording since 2009, once stated she dreamed of being born in medieval times; her romantic vision of living in that era is evident in every hue of her latest work. I've been reading about where her devotion to music has led her and what I've discovered is inspiring to say the least. She studied music theory and music literature, trained with notable classical musicians, gained versatility in her profession, and launched a career from scratch, leading one to wonder why she hasn't received wider mainstream recognition.

"Scenes from the Dark Ages" is a surrealistic blend of prog, jazz fusion, world music and classical with something to offer fans of Led Zeppelin, Yes, Jethro Tull and prog rock/metal/jazz bands like Gordian Knot and Sons of Ra. It’s important to emphasize that Eckemoff did not produce a standard reconstituted jazz fusion album; rather, she created something unique and trailblazing by fusing the structure of jazz fusion with the rhythm of world, classical, and songwriting brought into being from her own mind. Her albums are characterized on her official website as being focused and compelling, and her profile states that each has its own unique concept to expand on.

One theme that appears to remain consistent is the humanity she sees in nature, as evidenced by her romantic depiction of medieval life. Granted, this is based on modern-day reflections, but she and the band she assembled compose music to make this vision compelling to contemporary ears. Eckemoff based "Scenes from the Dark Ages" on a concept album she prepared independently called "Medieval Symphony" that she shelved because she felt it needed more than just midi and synth.

While I'm no expert when it comes to modern jazz fusion, the addition of a full band and Eckemoff's use of synths and sequencers give "Scenes from the Dark Ages" an affectivity that's spontaneous and transcendent. A vibrant, omnifarious record that musically conveys a tale, or a sequence of stories, as powerfully as a poem or a novel, it is intended to enthrall the listener, relying as much on context as melody, with each instrument playing a part in putting the songs across. Accessibility for prog rock fans and a flair for conveying complex arrangements makes this a special recording. -Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Yelena Eckemoff: Piano, organ, clavichord, celesta, synths

Riccardo Bertuzzi: Electric guitar

Carlo Nicita: Soprano, alto, and bass flutes

Eloisa Manera: Acoustic and electric violin

Riccardo Oliva: Electric bass

Trilok Gurtu: Drums, percussion

Track listing:

Disc 1:

1. Pilgrims

2. Village Tavern

3. From Peasants Life

4. Spell-Bound Fortress

5. Monks In Scriptorium

6. Cathedral

7. Legends Of The Castle

Disc 2:

1. Adventures Of A Knight

2. Battle

3. Chivalry

4. Tournament

5. Masquerade

6. Alchemist

7. Quest

8. From The Life Of The Lords

EP Review: Seventh Station "On Shoulders of Giants" (Layered Reality Productions) by Dave Wolff

Band: Seventh Station

Country: Slovenia

Genre: Progressive metal

EP: On Shoulders of Giants

Format: Digital, jewel case CD

Label: Layered Reality Productions

Release date: February 21, 2025

Seventh Station was started by Dmitri Alperovich and Alexey Polyansky, students at the Rubin Academy of Music (later the Jerusalem Conservatory of Music and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance). There must have been serious, intense studies, because their joining spawned wide ranging explorations of prog rock and metal. “Between Life and Dreams”, their 2016 debut, was operatic expansion comparable to Queensryche, Megadeth, Dream Theater, Frank Zappa, Yes, and Steve Vai. Probably too cutting edge for conventional benchmarks since it transgressed categorization, it attracted the curious with classically trained innovation.

One album (“Heal the Unhealed”) and one EP (“On Shoulders of Giants”) later, Seventh Station is still making their mark in an industry where no rules exist and there's always room for creating and experimenting. This EP has fresh perspectives from musicians from countries with different musical development periods: Israel, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine. This cultural balance mixed with intricate songwriting and complex arrangements appeals to listeners everywhere from the U.S. to Europe to the Middle East to Slovenia.

From some of the band's lyrics, I gather the reason for their radical advancement is because they look deep, within and consider how to channel their collaborative ideas and genre-crossing bond. “On Shoulders of Giants” takes a huge step in that direction. While “Heal the Unhealed” leans closer to metal and rock, with industrial and operatic themes, pays greater attention to its classical features, including refashioned works by 20th century composers. Pushing the “artistic resistance” of underground music, the band choose composers who were musical dissidents.

To say the band has taken their unconventionality up a notch is an understatement. This time, they really went out of their way to create something as far from what we know of metal as they’ve gotten. The material, described as “free thinking art metal” is designed as an alternative reality to the collectivism and extremism we see in news and on social media. Since their first album, their composition has become much more theatrical, incorporating time changes and off-tempos with lightning precision and transitions from contemplative moments to soaring emotional intensity and heaviness. Davidavi Dolev in particular contributes with his ability to draw inspiration from Geoff Tate and David Bowie.

However, there are only a few examples of the band's skill and ability. If I was to discuss every nuance brought to these five tracks I would need an entire page to do so. Suffice it to say that this album has more tempo, theme, and mood changes than I've heard from an album of this kind. Additionally, the cultural backgrounds of the band members are given more weight than usual because each member seems to have contributed to the composition and been given reign to flavor the songs. Most likely the most boundaries I’ve heard crossed this far. –Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Dmitri Alperovich: Electric and acoustic guitars

Eren Başbuğ: Keyboards, editing, programming

Davidavi (Vidi) Dolev: Vocals

Alexy Polyanski: Bass guitars

Grega Plamberger: Drums, marimba, percussion

Track list:

1. Three Days in Dresden

2. Seid nüchtern und wachet... : VII. Es geschah

3. Tropical Limbo

4. Melodia Sentimental

5. Nagasaki Kisses

Article: "Meditation March 4 2025" by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

Meditation March 4 2025

Article by Goddess Rosemary Sahjaza

Starting with a quote:

“Sounds like science fiction, but "memory reconsolidation" is a promising new strategy that combines memory reactivation and the beta blocker propranolol to make traumatic memories less painful.” *

Meditation and information

Memory reconsolidation sounds like science fiction, yet it represents a groundbreaking advancement in our understanding of the human mind.

This innovative strategy involves reactivating traumatic memories while administering the beta blocker propranolol, which dampens the emotional intensity of those memories. By engaging with the experience of a traumatic event during therapy, the neural pathways associated with that memory can be altered.

This process allows individuals to recontextualize their memories, rendering them less painful and more manageable.

As we delve deeper into the intricacies of memory, this method offers hope for countless individuals grappling with trauma—transforming distressing recollections into less impactful echoes of the past.

Memory reconsolidation not only challenges traditional notions of memory but also signifies an evolving landscape of psychological treatment, bridging the gap between cutting-edge science and emotional healing.

In an era where mental health is increasingly prioritized, such innovative approaches are truly illuminating pathways toward recovery.

Goddess Rosemary

Sahjaza Meditations

* Quote by Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, a prominent psychologist known for her research on the malleability of human memory. She has extensively studied memory reconsolidation and its implications for trauma and recovery. If you're looking for specific sources or works by her, I would recommend exploring her published research articles or books that discuss memory and trauma.

Visit Temple House Sahjaza Artifacts to purchase jewelry and benefit animal rescue. -DW

Interview with Mando Gutierrez of The Recasts by Dave Wolff

Interview with Mando Gutierrez of The Recasts

What are the current members of The Recasts and how long have they worked together? How do you contribute to making the band’s voice distinctive? Did any of the members work in other bands beforehand? If so, has the experience contributed to sharing ideas? 

The current members are David Esquivel: lead guitar, Brian Gilmore: rhythm guitar, Michael Waight: bass, Dr. Dan: drums, and Mando Gutierrez: frontman. Each contributes by bringing their own style and sound that is meshed into what The Recasts is. Every member of the band listens to different kinds of music along with being from different places. So everyone has different influences. This comes together when you really listen to The Recasts’ music. Each member was in a band or two prior to The Recasts.

Where are the band members from? What are some of the bands you grew up listening to? Since many bands expand the scope of their genres, what led you to start creating something unique?

The Recasts members are currently from Chicago, Mexico, Mississippi and Texas. We all came together, as part of our journeys and live near or in San Antonio, Texas. Some guys grew up listening to 80s metal, others Lamb of God and Gojira, Lenny Kravitz and Rob Zombie, it's all over the place really.

Your latest singles "Immortal Resolve" and "Knightfall" have been available since 2023. How did they come together, and how have people reacted since their release?

"Knightfall" was written just prior to Covid. It was a sign of things to come. We had to humble ourselves and not lose who we were. We understood it was the first single coming off our "Devastator" EP and we had to bring it. Unfortunately it was released early Covid and we didn't even play it live for about two years really. So we remastered it, and recorded a Spanish version and released "The Knightfall Chronicles" EP along with a music video to really give the track its due. "Knightfall” is constantly requested and has definitely delivered.

"Immortal Resolve" was the first track post Covid that we wrote. During Covid, in a two year span we lost my Grandmother, Mother in Law, my Mom and my Dad. That flame had burned out for music. But my bandmates didn't quit on me, they came every week and we would play cards or video games or just talk. Eventually we started practicing again and "Immortal Resolve" was born. The release along with a music video were received really well. It showcased that we were back, just like all of us who survived Covid, stronger than ever!

How well did "Devastator" perform with listeners and zines? Which songs are included on it, and how do they reflect the band's growth at the time?

"Devastator" performed really well when it released and still going strong to this day. "Full Throttle", "Devastator", "Home" and "Banshee" were on the EP. This was the first release we worked with Fernando Lemus on. It was a major turning point in our professionalism and what we would come to expect from ourselves. There is a huge jump from our releases prior to "Devastator". Fern definitely challenged and brought out the best in us.

Were the lyrics modified when you recorded the Spanish version of "Knightfall"? Has the song made an impact in Spanish-speaking countries?

Mando worked with longtime producer Fernando Lemus to make the lyrics fit in Spanish. The song has, as The Recasts were just on Argentina radio recently and have received kudos from Mexico as well as coverage.

Who penned the lyrics to the songs on "The Knightfall Chronicles"? Did these tracks have a direct connection to the pandemic, or did some deal with other topics?

Mando penned the lyrics to "Knightfall". It also has to do with who you are inside. That egotistical side is the knight, inside we are all just people. We are all capable of great things in our own way, and we have our own purpose. We need each other, all of us are stronger together than we are alone.

Explain how the videos for "Immortal Resolve" and "Knightfall" reflect the songs. Did you feel it was best to independently produce those videos or did you consult with professionals?

We worked with our longtime producer at FL Recordings, Fernando Lemus. We felt Fern would bring out the best in us cinematically as he does musically.

What is Fernando Lemus' total amount of studio and video experience? Did his studio and video work history lead you to hook up with him?

I can't speak too much on his stuff, but take a look at his website. He's been producing records since 2010. His work as a drummer is what led us to hook up with him actually. Our drummer Dan watched his videos and content and as we were looking to find a new producer, suggested we should meet with him. After meeting with Fern the first time, we knew he would be the guy and he's been that guy since.

Did you look for a studio with the equipment you wanted to use, or does Lemos have a studio of his own where he works with bands?

Fern has his own equipment and all that. He's really a producer that does his homework and constantly works on getting better at his craft. As a man, you got to respect that. Never get complacent.

By Fern's autonomous development as a producer, how is the band inspired to advance in their own manner?

It's allowing us to not only grow but empower us to be even better. It's an amazing this when you believe in someone and vice versa. Once that happens, the possibilities are endless!

The "Immortal Resolve" promo video was shot with a tribal theme. For what reason was this chosen to symbolize the song’s lyrics?

Being that this was done after both Mando's parents passed, we wanted to signify that by honoring Dia De Los Muertos and all that it means.

What aspects of Dia De Los Muertos and its traditions are depicted?

Paying respects to those we've lost, including Covid, is the blood of this video and track. It felt like they pushed this, made it happen. We were lucky and honored to be a part of it.

How did you select the locations to film "Resolve" and "Knightfall"? How long did it take to find a place to provide the mood you desired?

We left that up to Fern since he is the one who shot the video. We spoke about concepts and so on and left the rest to him. You can't put into words, the talent that he has. The synergy between the track, the person we had as an actor and Fern producing and directing, was just incredible.

Can you tell us who the actor is in your videos, and how you tracked him down? Alongside the band's performance, what role does he play?

Of course, Tarzan is an actor who not only does the character in the video, but is also does a Papa Bones voodoo type character which is great! He brought the meaning of what we were inspired by and portraying to life!

What other plans does the band have for 2025? Is there anything special in the works you want to hint to the readers?

We plan to release our new single "Scream and Shout" soon along with a few more releases this year! We also plan to hit the road quite a bit, play a few festivals, and really put our stamp on 2025! This has been great. Thank you for the insightful questions and you guys for reading them! Together, we are Immortal!

-Dave Wolff

therecastsofficial@gmail.com
The Recasts at Linktree
The Recasts at Facebook
The Recasts at Youtube

The Recasts at Spotify

The Recasts at Instagram
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The Recasts at Amazon

Mini album review: Tria Prima "Three Primes of Alchemy" (Independent) by Dave Wolff

Band: Tria Prima

Location: Zhytomyr

Country: Ukraine

Genre: Alchemical death metal

EP: Three Primes of Alchemy

Format: Digital

Label: Independent

Release date: January 12, 2025

In Tria Prima’s “Three Primes of Alchemy”, three original songs and one cover give early death metal a massive enhancement with doom metal, classically trained guitars, and the electronic fusion of black metal and dark ambiance comprising what's known as dungeon synth. Electronic sounds blend with sound effects and lyrical explorations of the science, philosophy, and mysticism that were part of alchemical studies in medieval Europe between the fifth and fifteenth centuries.

As a result of the various subgenres of dungeon synth that served as inspiration, Tria Prima was provided room to expand the EP's horizons, and it shows in a number of ways. “Solar Sulphur,” for example, introduces a ceremony that gradually intensifies through the use of a doomy guitar line, strange bass progressions, evocative choral vocals from guest Anira and esoteric keyboards until finally unleashing a full assault of arcane wisdom and magic through the songwriting.

There is a strong similarity between the riffs played during the verses and bands like Death, Obituary, and Autopsy; the band states their inspiration to incorporate doom metal came from listening to Katatonia’s album “Brave Murder Day”. As a firm foundation for the recurring mystical theme and Anira’s otherworldly vocals established previously, these progressions are able to stand alone in straightforward classic death-thrash. Developed by bassist Serhii D. D. Bondar (aka Serg, Bestial Invasion, Cosmic Jaguar), the promotional video for this track depicts rituals taking place in an abandoned house, unleashing forces that surpass the surroundings of the ritual space.

“Philosopher’s Mercury” and “Witchcraft Salt” exhibit a greater degree of similarity to classic death metal, but they don't come without their share of time changes, ethereal keyboards, and unsettling effects that seem to originate from a distant past. Featuring grinding doomy sections, brilliantly executed, classically flavored keyboard and guitar solos, the latter song is the most progressive here.

The lyrics to their original songs are partly inspired by I’ve Greek mythology and the work of sixteenth century Swiss alchemist, physician, mystic and philosopher Paracelsus, who is described by the band as having been an enigmatic, complex and contradictory person. “Three Primes of Alchemy” also includes a cover of Asphyx’s 2012 classic “Deathhammer” from their album of the same name. –Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Ruslan Hrytsiuta: Vocals, guitars, keyboards, lyrics

Serhii D. D. Bondar: Bass, backing vocals, keyboards, songwriting, conception

Jury Sinitsky: Drums

Anira: Guest vocals

E. Maestro: Guest guitar solos

Track list:

1. Solar Sulfur

2. Philosopher's Mercury

3. Witchcraft Salt

4. Deathhammer (Asphyx cover)

Interview with Tria Prima by Dave Wolff, February 2025

Full Length Review: The SlayerKing "Tetragrammaton" (Off the Record Label) by Daniel Ryan

Band: The SlayerKing

Location: Athens

Country: Greece

Genre: Gothic doom metal

Full length: Tetragrammaton

Format: Digital

Label: Off the Record Label (Netherlands)

Release date: October 17, 2019

This band here is founded by none other than Efthimis Karadimas and is his side project he’s been doing since late 2013. They consist of very much rock and doom elements to their music with mid paced attack. The SlayerKing also has a few music videos out if you haven’t seen them yet, but this album overall is the meat and bones of what the SlayerKing is all about. This is their 2nd album they put out. Their heaviest really sticks to you and is meshed with non compressed progressive metal forces that keep everything slightly together in a solid way. Their grinding around really sounds more like an older Mastadon to me than anything but more so like Nightfall with changes in the vocal approach here and there by Efthimis. Overall very tight sounding and excellent bunch of songs here. I can’t wait to see what they do with their next album and also with Nightfall with Children of Eve… but that my friends is a WHOLE nother story…. Check them out here! -Daniel Ryan

Lineup:

Efthimis Karadimas: Vocals, bass

Kostas Kyriakopoulos: Guitars

George Karlis: Drums

Track list:

1. Intro to Your Darkness

2. Bless those who Weep and Sell their Tears to Unbelievers

3. We Crucified the Pilgrims they Believed in You

4. Story of the Snake who Grew Legs and Became a Lizard (The Slayerking)

5. My Love has Died on the Vine

6. Where I Saw You Last Time Bleeding (Revelation)

7. Queen of Sheba Undresses before Pulsating Chords

8. Umbra, Penumbra, and Antumbra (Evil Eye)

9. Under the Spell of Alice and her Virgin Sin (The Expulsion)

10. Out of Your Darkness

Full Length Review: Ensiferum "Winter Storm" (Metal Blade) by Dave Wolff

Band: Ensiferum

Location: Helinski

Country: Finland

Genre: Folk/melodic death metal

Full length: Winter Storm

Format: Digital, vinyl

Label: Metal Blade

Release date: October 18, 2024

I came across various references to Ensiferum's previous albums "Thalassic" and "Victory Songs" when reading reviews by other critics. Although I'm not familiar with them, I would listen to them after hearing "Winter Storm" for a frame of reference of the band's direction. Since it combines melodic death metal and folk with power metal, this album has been called "boring and cheesy" by some reviewers and "towering," "epic," "reinvigorated," and "boundary pushing" by others. "Winter Storm," which serves as my introduction to Ensiferum, is a romantic narrative with sweeping temperaments and a broad range of musical aptitude that often verges on classical and symphonic metal.

I had a better understanding of the plot of the album after watching the band's promotional video for "The Howl." The video, which reminded me a little of "Conan the Barbarian", “Excalibur” and "Highlander," seemed to depict a hero's inner quest to discover his own strength with the aid of the ancients in order to drive darkness from his land and bring the light back. Of discovering this strength by connecting with his innate, primordial nature and coming to fully appreciate it. The lyrics function as a kind of prophecy pushing forward a protracted and difficult journey.

I can see why some might find this album schlocky given that the lyrics heavily reference power metal themes, and whether or not you respond to "Winter Storm" favorably will rely on how much you like classic and contemporary power metal. However, the presentation of the songs, plot, and videos places you right in the thick of things, as though you were taken out of reality and thrown into the events surrounding you. Even though the time of the narrative has long since passed, you can't help remembering as it’s been passed down through so many millennia.

If you like everyone from Queensryche and Helloween to Hammerfall and Stratovarius you’ll find enough to keep you listening. In addition to sufficient presence and force to convey the tale, the vocals in particular show equal proficiency in delivering harsh and melodic vocals.Although the influences are applied strictly, there are in fact boundaries being expanded when it comes to composing arrangements and artistic presence. Some albums are more about the effort you put into arranging different genres into a song and your dedication at it than about the genres being combined. The next example is the transition from folk to choral symphonic metal to thrashy power metal from the opening song "Aurora" to "Winter Storm Vigilantes" which creates the feel of a movie soundtrack.

From that point on, the soundtrack is rendered consistently, with what sounds like horns and keyboards peppering some of the tracks, evocative monologue presentations, choral sections, mellow refrains that further define the narrative, and a furious intensity that verges on maniacal seal. These arrangements provide the time shifts in each track new twists, pushing the story to such a wide range that it may alter your understanding of melodic death metal and power metal to the point where you perceive more possibilities for development. If you listen to "Scars in My Heart" and feel the heartfelt emotion Madeleine Liljestam puts into her guest vocals, you'll likewise see the possibilities. –Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Petri Lindroos: harsh vocals, guitars

Markus Toivonen: Guitars, percussion, melodic vocals

Sami Hinkka; Bass, harsh vocals

Pekka Montin: Keyboards, melodic vocals

Janne Parviainen: Drums, percussion

Track list:

1. Aurora

2. Winter Storm Vigilantes

3. Long Cold Winter of Sorrow and Strife

4. Fatherland

5. Scars in My Heart (feat. Madeleine Liljestam)

6. Resistentia

7. The Howl

8. From Order to Chaos

9. Leniret Coram Tempestate

10. Victorious

Full Length Review: Deus Sabaoth "Cycle Of Death" (Independent) by Dave Wolff

Band: Deus Sabaoth

Country: Ukraine

Genre: Melodic black metal

Full length: Cycle Of Death

Format: Digital, CD

Label: Independent

Release date: January 17, 2025

A sound of doom-laden black metal mixed with post-Renaissance baroque classical music is the soundtrack to an existential search of viewing religion in other, non-traditional ways while confronting one’s own mortality.

Digging deeper than themes of blind faith and skepticism, “Cycle Of Death” explores the relations between arbiters of truth and followers of any belief system which exploits and deceives them, turning religious belief into a means to keep people under control. The medium is not sacrilege as we’ve come to know it but takes form through speculation and questioning of the nature and motive of the sermonizer or institution.

Lyrical images of spiritual emptiness and martyrdom are accompanied by servitude and the drive to convert with the first track “The Priest” against a musical backdrop that’s’ mutually cheerless and magnificent. Classical and metal both adhere to coalescent arrangements, generally to humanize the elaborate private discord resulting from said disharmony between faith and dominance, and it does so in a clenching way that places you in the middle of the conflicts expressed through the verses.

Anton Vorozhtsov (Hell:On, Rame) mixed and mastered “Cycle Of Death” to orchestrate the classical and metal elements as equal parts to a greater whole, as opposed to one pushing to eclipse the other. The metal elements mirror those of baroque classical, sweeping from thunderous bass and hammering percussion to ascending guitars played to enhance the piano and strings. This execution is as profound in the slow parts of the songs as it's profound in the blast sections.

The more passionate and beautiful the musicianship, the more expressively desolate the lyrical content becomes until we get the minutest taste of what lies beyond the physical. The entire album seems made to narrate a steady descent into a spiritual universe of melancholic sorrow despite promises offered by religions. Its running motif of internal strife grows increasingly pronounced until its final crescendo of nothingness with “Beginning of New War”, ironically the most beautifully arranged song. –Dave Wolff

Lineup:

N-Exul: Vocals

Alyona Neith: All instruments

Ercld: Drums

Track list:

1. The Priest

2. Mercenary Seer

3. Cycle Of Death

4. Executioner

5. The Blind

6. Faceless Warrior

7. Beginning Of New War