Awaken The Shadow look on the darker side of relationsships

These days Facebook is often a source of food for thought for me. One of those pictures that was shared there a while ago said:

"So many people that are together are not in love
so many people that love each other are not together."

Thinking about it this painfull reality first came to my mind. As ever so often I moved on with the daily stuff to do but just recently this topic came back to me when I heard the new single of the New York based band Awaken The Shadow.

Singer Taylor Paul pointed out about the meaning of the track: “The Hunter is from the point of view of someone who may or may not realize they are in an abusive relationship, be it mentally or physically. The idea that you’re so in love with this person that you can’t see yourself ever leaving, but at the same time knowing this person could be poison. All the while your significant other is always on the hunt looking for their own self-gratification, and doing whatever is necessary to keep their partner mentally caged."

In addition to the lyrics I feel that the production on this one is somewhat special. The vocals as well as all the instrumental parts in the song go through so many variations that it needs some time to get through the many song layers and moods they represent completeley. It's massive what band's put inside of their music these days. It's becoming more dedicated than ever.

The cover of the debut record "Life Beyond The Curse", (c) by Awaken The Shadow, used with kind permission

"The Hunter" is taken from Awaken The Shadows debut album "Life Beyond the Curse" which has been released on March 11th. The 12 track full length was self recorded, self produced and mixed by Ali Hassan (the bass player of the band) and mastered by UE Nastasi at Sterling Sound. If you'd like to buy the album head over to the band's mech store for a CD or click on to iTunes for a mp3 download.

Make sure to follow the band further on via their website, Facebook or Twitter.

Band history of doom band Nest speaks of hope

Making music has never been easy. And in fact it still is like this these days. I cannot understand some people saying making music is free. It's not. You need to buy equipment, you need a rehearsal space (a lot of bands need to pay a rent for that) and in the end you need to make a record and promote it with a decent video. Everyone of these steps (and some more) needs to be backed finacially. Plus in the end you can never know if the people out there will like and buy your stuff.

But there are also signs of hope out there in the darkness. One is the story of the doom/sludge three-piece called Nest situated in Stockholm, Sweden. Read below how things went out for them and listen to their full record in the stream below.

It started in 2011 with two brothers, Fredrik & Jonas, and a riff. The riff is key, for it carries the song, driven only by understated and economical drumming. For this the band  needed the right drummer, but good drummers are few and far apart. The brothers happened upon a Frenchman named Dave, a drummer with death metal roots that brought that extra something to the fold. Nest was now a three piece. A band. The idea came to life and the riff became a song.

(c) by Nest, used with kind permission

A couple of riffs later, the songs became a set, and Nest played their first show at a bar called Snövit, known to play host to punk shows. People seemed to like it.

When the time came to record their songs, they knew that the heaviness was there but wanted to capture the raw nerve of the punk influences that might get lost in hazy riffs. They turned to their friend Mattis Rundgren (Makabert Fynd/Dissekerad/Kakafoni) for the recording. The result is the self-titled debut, released in 2015.

The band was now faced with a new problem: how to get that recording out into the world. Nest opted for a DIY approach, pressing CDs and selling them themselves, in hopes that they could sell enough to afford a vinyl pressing.

At a bar in Tilburg, Holland, during the Roadburn festival, Fredrik and Jonas met up with their dear friends, Craig and Andrew, from the new country across the sea, Since they, too, worship at the altar of the riff, they were given CDs and t-shirts. The words spoken after that went something like this:

Craig: So when do I get to hear this on vinyl?
Fredrik: When we've sold enough CDs and shirts to afford it.
Craig: If I start a label, would you consider letting me release it?
Fredrik: Yes. That would be awesome!

Not long after that Tribunal of the Axe Records was born, and the record was pressed.

If you'd like to purchase a copy on vinyl just head over to the Bandcamp page and get one of the limited physical releases or the digital version.

What I like in the band's sound so much is that they keep things raw and direct. It's not that much polished and it's kept simple and straight forward. If you like bands like Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and the like I think you'll love this.

Make sure to stay in connection with Nest through their Facebook page or have a look at the label that helped them to do the vinyl pressing - here's the link to Tribunal of the Axe Records Facebook site.