SLUG: How do you feel about being part of the metal scene of Utah? If there’s anything you’d like to see change in the local “scene” what would it be?


Jorgenson: Well I have been a part of the SLC scene for about 10 years or so in various metal bands, but I see myself moving on somewhere else in the near future. Moon Of Delirium will be continuing wherever it ends up. Salt Lake just seems to have this strange stagnant energy that I have been fed up with the last few years. Perhaps I have just lived here too long.
I would like to see the SLC metal scene get more recognition because it has some very good potential. Instead it seems we get lumped into the norm of everyone assuming it's just Mormons around here trying to bump up the family numbers. There are followers and leaders in every scene and the ones who strive to do something different and unique seem to appeal a lot more to the music scene. Whatever the rest is trying to do jumping on the latest bandwagon will naturally fade away like whatever is hip at the time seems to do eventually. That's been my observation anyway. 

I think there are a lot of really great bands here in the metal scene, but I think the scene is really bizarre also. Some years it's really dead and then sometimes there is a ton of good bands and supporters everywhere. Nowadays it seems to be a lot stronger with more bands standing out, which is great. The support comes and goes for the bands here, which is probably due to several different reasons, but overall it is not too bad. There certainly is no shortage of shitbag promoters just looking to screw over bands and capitalize on the next big thing around here—that shit needs to be exposed immediately. 




SLUG: What do you think makes your band unique not just to locals, but the metal scene entirely?

Jorgenson: I have noticed what we are doing sounds a lot different than the most of the stuff from Salt Lake. Its still very much heavy music, but it has something different altogether. All of us in the band have a pretty good background with sick music and have at the same time managed to come up with a unique beast with this one. 

We also don't abide by the rules. We have no intention of applying to the scenester kiddies, having limits, or belonging to this or that scene. The main focus is to be putting out sick and weird dark music and hopefully we can encourage people to open their minds more and de-program the brain hard drive a bit.


Better late than never CD review:

Evoken/Beneath the Frozen Soil
Split
I Hate Records
Street: 11.01.10
Evoken/Beneath the Frozen Soil = Grief + Encoffination + Anathema (old)
Pick your doomed death here either by way of Evoken’s buried-alive aesthetic or Beneath the Frozen Soil’s slow incineration method. Evoken are well known for their devastating atrocities over the last 13-years. Sweden’s Beneath Frozen Soil have yet to unleash a full-length but when they do it’s going to be a nasty foul and rotten beast. The depth in sound of Evoken on this split EP is just outright massive. Not many funeral doom/death bands utilize three guitarists, but pump these tracks though a stereo with a decent subwoofer you get your own personal earthquake. Evoken open up the split with four tracks all quite akin to what the band is known for: great quality in the way they mix their harsh, syrupy-slow guitars, bashing drums and rolling death growls with complex and beautiful melodies. Beneath the Frozen Soil’s three songs offer an oppressive feel and three tracks that build off each other well, enough so that the three songs could’ve been their own EP. Extreme doom, funeral doom, and death/doom fans take heed: if you haven’t already snatched this up, by all means bring the black abyss home with this split. –Bryer Wharton

Blog Exclusive CD reviews

Necronoclast
Ashes
Moribund
Street: 02.22
Necronoclast = Xasthur + Krohm + Hypothermia
Necronoclast’s Ashes album isn’t one that you can pop in and play anytime you’d like. It’s definitely mood music in its atmospheres and textures—If you’re feeling rather depraved and pissed, it would make good background music. Its mostly mid-paced tracks have the ability to calm and sedate anger in a nice fashion. If you’re ears are willing, high volume is definitely recommended to get fully immersed in some audio pain. The production lends itself well to what this solo Scottish one man act: it’s fuzzed enough to induce some foggy atmospheres of dreariness but unlike the almost to fuzzed out Xasthur the tremolo riffing and other portions of guitar riffing play out as razor sharp—sharp enough to inflict damage on an emo teen cutting themselves up for attention just at the sound of it. Initially the album may not jive, but a few spins will get you noticing the layered portions be it atmospheric or in small musical nuances. The vocals also save this album from being too mediocre, as the voice screams for attention and yells out in what feels like earnest pain. Ashes is a good choice if you’re looking for some mid-paced madness. –Bryer Wharton