Dark Horizon is a German black metal band that recently released their second full-length album "Darkness Falls Upon Mankind" (read review here). If you liked the Scandinavian melodic black metal scene back in the 90s and if you don't know Dark Horizon yet this band could probably be a cool new discovery for you. Completed with a fantastic cover by Juanjo Castellano and driven by cool icy melodies this album is probably one of the best newcomer stuff in 2024. But go on and read the interview I had with their vocalist Mike and check the album while you're doing it.

Michael

Hey, how are you guys doing? I hope all is fine?

Hi Michael, we are fine. Thanks for asking.

In my review of your new album "Darkness Falls Upon Mankind" I already told a little bit about your band history, maybe you can go a little bit more into detail so that our readers get to know you a little bit closer?

Dark Horizon started with another band name and music style in 2006. Just one year later there was a change of the music style, which remains until today. We recorded our demo "Surrealistic Existence" in 2008, as well as our full length album "Diabolic Agreement" in 2012 and the "Odyssey" EP in 2017. In the meantime we played several gigs and focused on songwriting.

I didn't have you on the radar until that album and I guess many other people had the same experience. With the new album you caught some more attention in the underground and also got a lot of good reviews so far. Are you a little bit surprised about that sudden success?

Yes, we actually had good acknowledgement and positive feedback by the listeners so far. Basically we have the feeling that "Darkness Falls Upon Mankind" brought Dark Horizon to a new level, despite following the way we did in the past. Nevertheless, we didn't expect this overwhelming feedback and therefore are thankful for all the support.

Musically you go back to the mid-90s, especially the Swedish scene. Which impact had the bands from these days onto you?

These bands of the 90s had a certain spirit. Most of them were young and had the "hunger" to bring out their music to the world. Partially the song structures were different than today and they managed to touch all of the possible feelings just with one album or even one song. Furthermore the sound didn't have the focus on perfection, which gives the music some kind of authenticity from the point of view nowadays. Another factor is their own activity during the past times or dealing with the 90s music and to have the opportunity for comparison. Probably there are omnipresent feelings and the association with the music.

Which albums from that era are absolutely essential to possess?

There are so many good bands and each band member of Dark Horizon has his own preferences. I guess that the usual bands like Dissection or Unanimated are expected to be named, which of course can be found at the most CD collections. But if we have to concretize, albums like the first two of Naglfar have to be named, as well as "King Of The Distant Forest" by Mithotyn, "Slaughtersun" by Dawn, "Silence Of The World beyond" by A Canorous Quintet and "At The World Of Untrodden Wonder" by Thy Primordial at least. In my opinion the latter deserved more attention, because they had impressive characteristics. We don't have a limited view on the Swedish bands, which had a big influence on us. Nonetheless we recommend other albums like "Age Of Cataclysm" by Cryptic Wintermoon or the "Morning Crimson" by Catamenia. You recognize that we can continue with a couple of bands, but basically this summary of the named band portfolio is a good overview to have a good journey through the past.

The lyrics deal with darkness, ancient times, and death. Is there a certain philosophy that you want to spread with the album?

In general "Darkness Falls Upon Mankind" is not a straight concept album as the "Diabolic Agreement" album. "Darkness Falls Upon Mankind" considers the destruction, death and finally the message of transience from different perspectives. At the end this combination coalesced and merged to a unity.

With 'Am Tag Meines Todes' you have a German track on the album, too. Why did you decide to do only one German one?

I've a personal relationship with 'Am Tag Meines Todes', because there were dark times when I wrote the song. The German language is very expressive and can be used in multiple facets. I think to choose the German language was the best way to transfer the emotions and moods from the consciousness of transience.

You also have two cover songs, one by Naglfar and one by Mithotyn. I mean, Naglfar is comprehendible but why Mithotyn? This band was more than some pagan party stuff for me….

The "In The Sign Of The Ravens" was a great album, but "King Of The Distant Forest" made a big step on top. I remember the first time I heard a preview track from a sampler. It blew me away. I didn't expect that. Rickards aggressive vocals, sawing guitars and epic hymns. A coherent sound. On these days the viking/pagan party bands, which had their peak between 2006-2014 were not yet on sight. On this point we can recommend the "King Of The Distant Forest" for those, who are not familiar with this album. But finally everybody has his own preference.

The fantastic cover artwork was created by Juanjo Castellano. Did you just ask him if he would like to do it or how did you get him on board?

Juanjo is a big artist! As soon as we saw his work we wanted to collaborate with him. We got in contact and sent him our concept. He picked up our ideas and transferred them to the artwork we have now. He did a great job!

What about purchasing the album? I know you can get it on Bandcamp and with SM-Metal-Shop there is a German mail order who is distributing it now. Are there any other options to get it?

You can only order the merch and stuff via Bandcamp or the CD's via sm-metal-shop (sm-metal-shop.de; M.)

Another good option is probably live. When can we see you guys on stage?

Based on the fact that our line-up changes regularly, we are confronted with this situation now again. Therefore we are looking for a guitarist, who makes the line up complete. The live activities depend on that situation.

The last words are yours!

Thanks for the fan support and their patience, especially for "Darkness Falls Upon Mankind"!

Thanks a lot for the interview!

2000 was definitely a very big year for the guys in Shadows Fall and 2001 is shaping up to be an even bigger one. After the release and surprising success of their breakthrough album "Of One Blood", the band has been touring nonstop and has been gaining more and more recognition within the struggling American metal market. Shadows Fall is the work of five extremely talented musicians, Brian Fair on Vocals, Matthew Bachand on Guitar/Vocals, Jonathan Donais on Lead Guitar/Vocals, Paul Romano on Bass, and David Germain on Drums, who create a sound all there own, while borrowing from such styles as hardcore, death, and thrash. To bring us up to date on what the band has been up to lately, I got in touch with the bands guitarist and vocalist, Matthew Bachand, and this was what he had to tell us...

Adam Block


First off I would like to congratulate you your continuing success with the album "Of One Blood". How does it feel to have your debut getting so much attention within the metal community?

It's amazing… The album has done much better than we could have hoped. We did have the first album on LIFELESS records that was self released, "Somber Eyes To The Sky"… And it did very well but the feedback we have been getting for "Of One Blood" has been great!

Ever since its release you have been touring basically nonstop with a wide array of bands. Tell us a little bit about your experiences. How was the crowd response to your material live?

Well it has been about a full year of touring now and were just winding down… Both good times and bad times but any bad day on tour is better than a bad day at home so that keeps it in perspective. The responses have been quite good as well even though we play with so many different types of bands that don't really sound anything like us.

Now that you are done touring, does this mean you guys are writing new material for a follow-up to "Of One Blood"?

Yes, we have begun the writing process and well just have to wait and see how that goes.

Was there anything that went wrong on your debut album that you are going to try and change with the upcoming album? How would you describe the new music you are writing?

There is always something that could be different but were not thinking too hard about a direction or anything like that… We are just going to start writing and see how it goes. We definitely plan on making more use of the melodic vocals.

What sort of bands have you been listening to lately?

In my CD player right now would be… Goatwhore, Billy Joel, Upheavel, and Diecast.

What's some band or artist out there right now that you absolutely despise? What do you think of all the current nu-metal bands that are getting mainstream acceptance in America nowadays?

I can say that Creed is one of those bands that I just can't stand… Not for any other reason than that I'm just not a fan. Everything comes and goes with American music… it was just a matter of time for that style to get big… and it will be time that will make it go away.

Going back to the band, how do you think being in Shadow's Fall has changed you if it has done so at all?

Well it is definitely making me work harder and a have very little free time… that's about it though.

What are you feelings about Madball breaking up because I know at one point you were set to tour with those guys?

It's too bad because I really enjoy Madball… Hopefully they will stay together but what can ya do.

So all in all, what would you like to accomplish as a band in the long run?

To do this for a living… that's really about it… If I was looking to get rich quick I wouldn't be playing metal that's for sure.

Is there anything you would like to say to all the Shadow's Fall fans out there?

Thanks for the support… visit www.shadowsfall.com and we'll see you out on the road!!!

Malacoda will release their next EP "Crawling Chaos" in April (4/2/21, independently). "Crawling Chaos" is the band's first new release since 2018's "Restless Dreams" and is a return to the band's more cinematic and gothic roots as heard on "Ritualis Aeterna" (2016) as well as a deeper exploration of melodic vocal hooks as heard on their self-titled debut (2014). MetalBite talked to Lucas Di Mascio (vocals) about the new EP and things around it.

Tomek

Thanks for taking time to do this, how are things in Malacoda camp right before the release of the new EP?

My pleasure. Things in the Malacoda camp are okay, it's a bit tough to get together due to the circumstances we're all in and it sucks not being able to play live to support the release, but at least we're all safe and healthy.

Here's a question that is going to be your worst nightmare for the years to come, what is the story behind the name of the band, what is Malacoda, what inspired the name of the band?

Name of the band came from Dante's Inferno, which is one of my favourite books and it's always been a constant source of inspiration for me. I think I wanted something that spoke more to the "dark yet majestic" vision I had for the band. Having a name inspired from a literary epic from Italian classic literature does that vision justice I'd say.

Let's talk about your newest EP, how long did you work on it and how was the whole process?

It took a long time if I'm being honest. I had written most of this material before the release of our previous album, Restless Dreams, was even done being mixed. So, I've been sitting on these songs since 2017-ish probably. Had a lineup change since that point and I wanted to have some of the new blood take part in it, so a lot of stuff we reworked and retracted in some cases. It wasn't exactly a fun process all the time, but I think it was worth it.

Can you tell us about the recording itself, and how satisfied are you with the outcome?

We worked a long time on it. Years on and off. It was just a big pain in the ass. We technically worked on 3 EP's at the same time. I still feel like we aren't done working on it in some ways. I'm relatively happy with the outcome. There's a lot I would have changed on how we worked on it, but I think it's a good sounding release.

What can head bangers expect from the new album?

A lot of big, melodic choruses and some meaty riffs. We really tried to work on a wall of sound with simpler song structures instead of overcomplicated riffs and sections like in our previous release.

What is the meaning behind the title?

Crawling Chaos was inspired by the HP Lovecraft story "Nyarlathotep". I had always wanted to do a Lovecraft themed song before. The main driving force in that story is known by many other names, one of which is the crawling chaos, and I just really liked the imagery that comes with that name.

What was your frame of mind when composing, what was your main inspiration?

I was honestly just really inspired to write at that point in time. I didn't really have a main inspiration at the time, just stuff was happening in my life and it just made me want to come up with cool music.

Was there anything that influenced you differently while composing; were there any non-metal influences that surprised even yourself?

I don't actually listen to as much metal as most people would think. At least, not as much as I used to when I was younger. I listen to a lot of instrumental music like jazz fusion, ambient, etc. I'm really into goth rock and musical theater too. I think this time around I was really leaning into simple song structures, so it was a lot of rock and vocal focused music that I was trying to base my direction on.

Some guys out there like to put tags on bands and so you ended up with 'Gothic Metal'. What do you think about all this categorizing and putting tags on music?

We've been labeled as everything under the sun at this point. I think the most accurate representation of who we are is probably gothic metal- definitely symphonic metal depending on the album/song. I think categorizing music is okay, it's kind of helps to create umbrellas or hubs that similar bands can be put into so it's easy for people who are looking for a certain sound to find. But I also find that it can also turn people off from stuff that they might like because it's labelled as something they don't usually like. I think some tags are ridiculous too, there's a new subgenre made up every week it seems. For example, we've been labelled as Vampire Metal before and I have no idea what that is.

What would you call it yourself?

I'd consider us gothic metal, or gothic symphonic metal.

What does it mean to you?

To me, gothic has always meant it's dark, but not necessarily "evil" sounding, it has a bit of beauty to it. It's got melody, but not necessarily happy melodies. It's about the atmosphere as well.

Do you create for yourself or for others?

A bit of both. I'm always working on music as a producer and recording engineer, and I often get hired because of what I do as a musician. I find that if I'm not happy with a song, and if I have to make too many compromises, I'd rather scrap it and start over. I do want people to like my music however, so there are certain things I do- guidelines maybe, that help keep me on a focused path. I think song structure is key - a lot of metal bands just come up with a riff salad and it's just boring and sloppy sounding music at times. You can have interesting riffs, but if the song sucks and goes nowhere who cares? Give me a good melody and an interesting song - don't bore me with a 3-minute guitar wankfest.

What do you expect from the listener?

I expect them to listen with an open mind and be honest about what they are listening to and the reasons why. If you're a thrash head, you'll most likely hate Malacoda. We aren't a thrash band. We've got maybe two songs that can be classified as thrash or death metal. Listen to us if you want to indulge escapism.

Do you play to build or to destroy?

I think we play to build; we want to build relationships, grow our vision of the band and reach as many people as possible. I don't want to do something that would be detrimental to the hard work I've put into this.

Which emotions do you have plenty and which not enough?

I think I have plenty of ambition, maybe too much anxiety haha!

What would you do without music?

I don't know, maybe do something else in art? I like photography, I've been meaning to get better at that.

Where do you see yourself and the band in the next 5-7 years, is there a plan in motion?

Depending on how things go, I'd like us to be touring with some bigger acts, maybe open up for some bands we've looked up to for a bit. We had plans, but with what's been going on since 2020 a lot of shit hit the fan and we've had to recalibrate our trajectory so to speak.

Ok, we covered past and present. What are the plans for the future?

We've got a few more EP's we'd like to release this year, I'm remixing, remastering - even rewriting in some cases, some older material to prepare for a re-release down the line. I'd like to get a cover song out this year too if we can, it's something we've never done before. We've always played around with covers in this band but never committed. I think we've finally found a song we'd really like to put out.

Nowadays most of the labels and bands release their new material on CD, vinyl and cassette. Vinyl is coming back some say but for me it never went away just like cassettes. What is your opinion about the physical media, which one do you prefer?

I think physical media is useless for music. The only thing I collect "physicals" of are Blu-Rays or DVD's just because my internet connection is crap and you have to get like 10 streaming services just to be able watch whatever you want, and even then it's not on there forever. I like a lot of B-Horror films and just artsy films, so they are hard to find digitally anyways. I have a TON of CD's and the last car I bought a few years ago didn't have a CD player, so I haven't listened to a CD since then. None of my computers even have a disc drive in them so I literally would have to see if I can dig up an old discman or something from when I was a kid to play a CD. It's all about streaming music these days. Everybody puts their shit up on Spotify or Apple Music anyways. We didn't do a physical release for this release, and we won't for the next few EP's because without shows I'm just sitting on a bunch of merch. We rarely get sales unless we play shows, and honestly, the last shows we did we barely sold CD's. It was all about the shirts, coffee we make, and whatever other item that wasn't a CD. I might want to do a limited-edition version of these EP's as a box set or something, but I don't know. There hasn't been much demand for CD's.

Thanks a lot for taking time to answer all the questions, the last word is yours.

Thanks for having me, you can check us out at malacodametal.com and get our new music on our Bandcamp at malacoda.bandcamp.com - have a good day!