The Metal Advisor Interviews Espen and Torstein of Chton

As most of you probably remember, I took a shot at interviewing Cleaver earlier this year, and they turned out to be some of the funniest guys I've had a chance to converse with. Funnily enough, the death metal band, Chton, shares close ties with Cleaver and are, again, great musicians and composers that bring something refreshing to the Norwegian metal scene. Let's get acquainted with them. 

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So let’s get down to business early in this interview—did Chton ever find a label willing to release the Screaming for Death split with Cleaver on vinyl? As we all know, I’d love to get my hands on that.

The intention behind the split was to get our name out there before the album's release, which was the intention for Cleaver as well, and to give people a taste of the coming venom. So that isn't something we actively sought to get done, at least not yet. I think all we did was post a Twat on Twitter asking if anyone knew of some underground label that could just print it and push it. It is, however, officially released on Morningstar Music and distributed via loads of download and/or streaming platforms like Spotify, iTunes, 7digital, Amazon, WiMP, etc.

Still, I would really like to see that split on vinyl myself, so it isn't out of the question. It's more that we've decided to use our time on the preparing the actual music and doing some promo for now since we've been swamped with work to get The Devil Builds ready to be unleashed.

Caves of Steel - Troposphere/Magnetosphere (2012)

For ages, indie rock was a tiny, tiny speck on my ship's radar, the approaching "enemy" certainly a threat, but not one to be taken seriously. I'm typically not a huge fan of the style, mostly because I don't know where to start exploring, but these Norwegians have thrusted my interest in the music to the forefront. Previous rummaging through the genre left me with an all time favorite, The Koxx, but Caves of Steel seem to have one-upped those guys in terms of instrumental skill and by mishmashing different influences from the collective rock palette. Their second EP, Troposphere/Magnetosphere, fuses both post and indie rock to form a sensation I'm not too well-versed with, but find fascinating and addictive enough to keep spinning over and over. The band likes to claim sound waves as post-rock, but these ears hear an energetic culmination of indie rock that takes center stage and spotlight.

Despite my heavy indie rock labeling, the post-rock element of Caves of Steel's music is quite clear, and from the first track you feel like you're floating atop an airwave across the ocean. I recommend closing your eyes at that point because "Last Citizen of the USSR" and "Lisa Nowak Love Story" give off a nasty, oceanic post-rock vibe and suggest a sharp contrast to what is seen later on the album. The following three are where the band starts to dip into indie rock territory, creating almost danceable grooving with "Gemini XII" and a metallic riff structure with "Honey Trap."

Legionary - Arcane Divisions (2012)

Emblematic of traditional death metal, though only in style, Legionary introduces melody into the field on their debut album, Arcane Divisions. Contrasting the usual players like Morbid Angel, the band inject a dosage of instant memorability and hookage into their music that I positively adore--"Absolute Supremacy" was crowned as a favorite from my first listen of the band's debut full-length and remains so after nearly a dozen spins. Melody may be what makes Legionary special, but an arsenal of magnificent musicians is what makes it possible.
 
Although Legionary leans toward the death metal side of the metallic world--growled vocals, tremolo picked/chugged riffs constructed in usual DM fashion, and blast beats freely flowing on each track--the thrash influences are all too apparent and occasionally reminiscent of late '80s and early '90s dinosaurs Demolition Hammer and Morbid Saint. But when the melodious beast comes into play, the band changes attitude entirely. Not only limited to melodic tremolo picking, guitarists Tony Barhoum and Alonso Maguiño lend a creamy, smooth lead tone to the cause and decimate any doubts of death metal's inability to be aggressive. The culmination of melodic intricacies and strong song writing are indeed what makes Legionary's music so appealing. Without either of those, they might as well be another generic death metal act.

Nekrofeist's Self-Titled EP (2010)

Most groove metal is an absolute snoozefest in terms of listener interaction and riff innovation, but these Australians strut their stuff when giving their all and throwing a catchy song together. For years, I have shrugged off countless groove metal bands due to utterly comical vocals, which sound like, for lack of a better description, a self-proclaimed tough guy being angry for the sake of being angry. If we look back to yesteryear, we only have one band to blame for the trend: Pantera.

Nearly all of Pantera's collective material has constantly haunted metal (and not in a good way) since Cowboys from Hell and unfortunately spawned a depressing amount of bands I simply do not care for. Watered-down guitar riffs are not something I want in my daily metal regimen, and these bands remain the biggest offenders with their half-thrash trending and pulsating string shredding. Despite having a few of the characteristics I dislike, Nekrofeist proves at least fun because they have a vocalist who actually sings and hits the notes.

Skagos - Ást (2009)

For quite some time I have been wanting to dig deeper into black metal, but the right act never popped up at the right time. Bands appropriate for adhering one to a genre exist for nearly every subgenre of metal --Iron Maiden, Vader, Skeletonwitch (pick your poison)--but I still never hit it off with grim and frosty style of music. Back in high school, Ceremonial Castings almost had me there with their excellent Barbaric is the Beast, but somehow my interest dropped off as other types of metal took priority, namely heavy, thrash, and death metal--all of which remain my favorites today.

Enter Skagos' Ást. The production makes the music feel increasingly distant. The drumming is sloppy. The songs are overly drawn out. Fact of the matter is, it is still enjoyable, even addicting, though not in the sense where a song is impossible to turn off. Skagos' brand of black metal is very Agalloch-esque at times, not to mention airy, so you generally feel as if you are floating on a thin cloud as a lonely surveyor of an avant-garde beast hard at work. Malleable but always familiar, black metal remains susceptible to dramatic changes in what constitutes its core sound. Skagos is a fine example of the evolution because, while you might hear commonplace riff patterns and picking styles, there is always something new to discover.

Metal Round-Up: Stuff that Doesn't Fit into a Full Post

Aside from a "different" band name, Decreation does nothing to separate their music from the worldwide assortment of melodic death metal bands. Subpar clean vocals, tired and chugged guitar riffs, and uninspired melodies keep the group's first demo (The Pandemonium Light) from being enjoyable and, most importantly, memorable. Ideally, a few spins should give a listener an overall impression of a band's music; however, I still feel empty when thinking back on what came through my headphones. It doesn't help that the production is an exemplary nod to fakeness and lifelessness. Normally, I would do a full review on a demo like this, but I can't bring myself to listen to it anymore. Avoid at all costs, unless you like being bored to tears.

Find them here.