Tonight, the folks from MetalMad will present another heavy music event in Funchal, Madeira island, the Heresy Meeting II, with two acts performing at DTOX bar once again, the locals Heaven Can Wait, and coming over from capital Lisbon, Cronaxia.
Just like Heresy Meeting I back in November 2018, Heaven Can Wait will be in charge of warming up the crowd on this second edition, but the Madeirian death metal band had some line-up changes since then. So far their discography is made of a demo: "Heaven Can Wait", launched in 2013, and an EP released in 2017 entitled "Draw me a Dream", from which the track bellow "Fairy Tale"was taken.
After this it's time for Cronaxia to take the stage, the death metal trio has been around since 1997, but several line-up changes among some personal issues along the way, allowed them to produce only two releases during this time, but as they say it's better less and good, than too many and bad, and indeed Cronaxia presented us in 2018 with a fine full-length album debut: "Collapsing the Outer Structure, which surely will be in great evidence tonight in Funchal. The track bellow, "Embryonic Reanimation", comes precisely from this work.
Ten years before this, the band launched the 3-track EP: "The Solution Above Continuity".
A death metal band from Madeira island, Portugal, the project of Altar of Pain started in the summer of 2010 by a group of friends who wanted to play extreme metal in the line of Death, Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Vader... The line-up consisted then of Elder Abreu (vocals), Guilherme Abreu (guitars), Zé Rodrigues (guitars) and Marcelo Rodrigues (bass).
Their first demo: "Splattered Remains" was already released in the founding year, and by August 2011 the debut full-length album: "The Ritual Has Begun" came out.
In May 2012, Altar of Pain presented the EP: "Severe Scourge", this before the departure of Elder Abreu from the band.
But in the begining of 2013, the band launched a new track: "Sentient Hive Mind", which is presented bellow, featuring Brandon "Voidspawn" Leigh on vocals, and Daniel Ibarcena as guest on the guitar solo.
They are one of the oldest, and undoubtedly one of the most resilient Metal bands from Madeira island, Requiem Laus, a Latin name meaning praised rest in English.
Too well they haven't give up to that praised rest yet, knowing all the adversities that a Metal project can encounter in this small island in the middle of the Atlantic, as they are still producing nowadays.
Altough the name Requiem Laus only came in the mid 90's, the band as been around with their frontman Miguel Freitas since 1989, at the time known as Morbidatory. Later it changed just to Requiem, and then in 1994 to the present name.
With their first line-up: Miguel (vocals & guitars), Bruno Sousa (guitars), Tony Figueira (bass) and Marcelo Freitas (drums), they've released their first material in 1994, the demo "Life Fading Existence", while making some gigs around Portugal to promote their work.
In the years that followed, the band launched a few more demos, "Promo 94" still in 1994, "For the Ones Who Died" in 1996, and "Through Aeons" in 2000. But before this last one, in 1998, when Dani Pereira came in for guitars replacing Bruno Sousa, Ricardo Fernandes for bass and Jorge Castro, the author of the band's lyrics, was added to play keyboards, they re-released on CD, the demo "For the Ones Who Died".
In the beggining of the new millennium, the band stuggles with the loss of members, and Requiem Laus at this phase enters on a hiatus, returning in 2005, launching in the following year already a new demo: "Promo 2006", here with Jorge Abreu on drums.
Also in 2006, they take part in the IX edition of the Portuguese renowned SWR Barroselas Metal Fest, performing with bands like Bolt Thrower, God Dethroned, Hate and Carpathian Forest.
Finally, in 2007, they begin the recording and mixing of their first full-length album: "The Eternal Plague", at the Studio Underground in Sweden, after another change positions on the drums, featuring now Gabrielle on that spot. In that same year, Requiem Laus has the privilege to be one of the opening acts of an Akercocke show, along with Paranormal Waltz and Disaffected.
In 2008, the studio album "The Eternal Plague" is then released under the label of 666 Productions, and also the band is invited to perform at Grândola Metal Fest in Portugal, sharing the stage with Krisiun, Lay Down Rotten, Devildriver, and others...
Three years later, Requiem Laus presents us with their second full-length: "As Long as Darkness Bleeds", the first production recorded at Blackart Studios, and mixed/mastered at the Soundlodge Studio in Germany, by Jörg Uken. Already in the following year, the band launches an EP: "Impulse".
In the meantime, a four year gap happens until Requiem Laus' next release, but in the Summer of 2014, they had the opportunity to perform at Vagos Open Air, in northern Portugal, with other big names such as Gojira, Kreator, Paradise Lost and Behemoth.
Then in 2016, and keeping the same cooperation of recording at Blackart Studio and mixing/mastering at Soundlodge, another EP is released: "A Higher Claim", now with Jörg Uken also recording the drum parts in Germany, besides his mixing/mastering duties. Still in this year, the 1996 demo: "For the Ones Who Died", is re-edited with some bonus studio tracks, a live track and a Sepultura cover.
In 2017, Requiem Laus releases two more EP's: "The Last Winter" plus "Hate & Despair", and finally their most recent EP: "The Future", was launched earlier this year, in April.
For sure this won't be the last time we hear of Requiem Laus, as the band will keep fighting all the constraints that an islander death metal band like them has to endure, and we will continue listening to their fine work! The current line-up consists of Miguel Freitas (the only original member still on), Dani Pereira, Ricardo Fernandes, Pedro Pereira (on keyboards), and still Jörg Uken recording the drums in Germany.
Here's "Black Decay", one of my favourites from Requiem Laus, taken from the album: "The Eternal Plague":
One of my favourites of melodic death metal band Karnak Seti, from my island Madeira, "Psicótica" is this track taken from their 2004 demo, equally called: "Karnak Seti".
The project started in 2001, with the first and original line-up being: Nelson Nascimento (vocals), Renato Ramos and António Jesus (guitars), Cláudio Aguiar (bass) and Nino Frazão (drums). Their first release came out in 2003, a 7-track demo named "Cosmic Fate", and up until 2008 they made three other demos, before launching their first full-length album in 2009: "Scars of Your Decay".
Afterwards they have released two other studio albums: "In Harmonic Entropy" in 2011, and "The Distance That Made Us Cold" in 2016.
You can check their albums on the YouTube, Spotify and Bandcamp links bellows.
Their last known line-up as of 2016, had Luís Erre on vocals, and Emanuel Freitas on the drums, with the remaining members still being the same from their early days.
Karnak Seti will return to the live shows this Friday, at MetalMad's Oath Circle Meeting II, being the first act to perform on the Main Stage, and also the only Madeirian band of the event, which to many of the crowd that will be present that night, will bring back memories of the many amazing gigs that Karnak Seti did in the island, one of the most influential Metal projects we had, and still have!
This week I will not follow the schedule as normal, and instead I will highlight the bands/projects that will perform at the event Oath Circle Meeting II, taking place next Friday in my hometown Funchal. This big show is being promoted by local fanzine MetalMad, who have been presenting the Madeirian metal heads with some cool and interesting gigs since last year, this way giving the chance for the local projects to perform live, which unfortunately doesn't happen much often, and at the same time stimulating the Metal culture among the audience, especially on the younger generation, undoubtedly something very positive on their behalf.
So after inviting to the island last year, two Metal projects from the mainland, first was funeral doom metal band Oak, and secondly the black/death sound of Congruity, this time we will have not one or two, but four projects from the mainland!
Oak are back again from last year, and they will perform on the free stage of the show, along with the counterparts from Porto, Greengo. On the main stage, we will have melodic death metal band Karnak Seti from Madeira, the stoner metal sound of Basalto from Viseu, and black metal band Gaerea from Porto.
Every single of these bands/projects, will have more emphasis on the following posts this week, in the meantime be sure to know more about MetalMad in the links bellow, and if you're in Madeira and still you don't know about this event, don't waste anymore time and buy your ticket.
For more about Oath Circle Meeting II click here.
I couldn't think of a better way to start the hostilities here at Insula Tenebris, and kick off with a Madeirian band by choosing none other than Incognita!
More than deserved, since in late 2018 they announced their reunion after 25 years of absence, with the promise of releasing new material the following year (this one). The first single came out in March: "Say My Name", which was also the first track of the upcoming EP "Polarization", inicially scheduled for release in May.
The release was eventually postponed for this month, and the EP now renamed "Three" will come out in less than 3 weeks, on 29th November, being as fair to its name will feature 3 tracks, one of them named (of course) "Say My Name", which I present bellow, a song aimed at those anonymous internet users, who take advantage of fake profiles to attack others and say all kinds of crap, while hiding as cowards behind a screen, says the singer Carlos Ferraz.
As you will tell immediatly, the track is powerful, thanks to its strong and groovy riffs, a reminiscence of what Incognita did in the mid 90's, in the EP "Life's a Bitch" and the full-length album "Madeirus Sarcasticus".
Up until 1998, before the band split up, they performed live in several shows and festivals in Portugal, sharing the same stage with big names such as Cradle of Filth. In 1994, they were also invited by Zé Pedro, of iconic Portuguese rock band Xutos & Pontapés, to play at his bar Johnny Guitar in Lisbon, where they recorded a live demo.
Nowadays Incognita consist of former members Carlos Ferraz, on vocals, Márcio Ferreira, on bass, Jorge Gonçalves and Isaac Marques on the drums, and the newcomer Jukka Haapakoski from Finland, on guitars.
