[0:36-6:55] Show Introduction/Axe Rash – Gig Life
Good evening everybody, be welcomed once again to Soldier Of Hell Podcast, Episode 007 (main show).It's been so long since the last episode, specifically almost a whole year. 
Episode 006 was recorded in december 2021, so as you can see, I'm not the most constant person, I get involved in a thousand proyects and then I have no time for any of them. But well, let's do anything we can, so this hour/hour and a half, (which is how long my shows usually get), is fun and entertaining.
Maybe the most flagrant thing that you might notice in this beginning of the show is, if you have been following the podcast, is that I'm currently recording everything in Spanish, in contrast with the former episodes, that were recorded in English for their entirety. The only reason I've been doing that (recording in English), is for the sole reason that most of the following of Soldier Of Hell Designs (the core page of this podcast) are foreign (non-Spanish speakers). Let’s say Germany, Sweden, Finland, USA, Japan, France… So I decided to do it in English, so my message could reach as much people as posible. 
BUT, the reason why I’m doing this episode like this (in Spanish) is something that has been bugging me for a while, as I posted on my social media, and basically after posting episode 006, is that, at the moment of describing a band, reviewing their music, giving it value, I ended, since it’s something I do spontaneously (I don’t script it, other than what music is going to play next, from which country are the bands from, etc). I really like that way of doing things, so it feels fresher… well yeah, the word really is “spontaneous”. 
So yea, at the momento of doing it in English, I consider myself that I can handle it just fine, not extraordinarily, just fine. Just enough so I can be understood by everyone. The thing is, since I was doing it that way (spontaneously and swift), I would end up repeating myself using the same phrases, catchphrases, not even synonyms (at that very moment I couldn’t think of a single one, so since all I wanted is to release the episode as fast as posible, I just went with it). So, I ended up not very happy with the result.
So, I ended doing some kind of poll on Social Media, to see what people thought about this matter. These were the 2 outcomes I was offering. The first one was to just keep recording it in English. If there was truly a big group of foreign people that really listens to this show, I would really make the effort to keep recording it English, if there’s truly an interest behind that. 
Or, the second option would be, recording it in Spanish and adding an English transcription on the side. I would do it manually. In the end, I don’t speak as much (*lies*), most of the show are just the songs. In the end, what I’m trying to do is that everybody can understand as much as someone who is a Spanish native. I personally don’t believe that what I’m saying is any important, but if there’s interest into it, the least I could do is trying to make it easy for everyone.
So, as said, this episode is an experiment. I’ll see the impact of this. If I see that everything went alright, I will keep it this way (in the end, it’s the way where I feel more comfortable), but if on the other hand I notice that this is not accepted at all, I will return the show to its original format (Spoken English). I would need to struggle a bit more, trying to be swift, more descriptive, using more synonyms… all in all, just not repeating myself as much. 
 

So, after this wall of speech, let’s start with the show. The structure is still the same as former episodes: Lots of Metal, some chunks of Punk/Hardcore Punk… on former shows, there was quite the feature on Ambient/Dungeon Synth, but since it’s a genre that I’ve been slightly disconnected from, this episode will be quite lacking in that department. Anyway, I’ve done a selection of old stuff, new stuff, more extreme, more classic, which I believe that will be of everybody’s taste. So let’s start!
The first band that is featured is called Axe Rash (Sarpullido de Hacha in Spanish), quite the punk name. So, as I’m saying, they play Hardcore Punk. Quite americanized. Made me think of the NYHC kind of sound, kinda like Cro Mags. They’re not really similar to the “Käng Punk sound” that people were used to hear in Sweden way back in the 80s, but it’s really nice regardless. They’re relatively young, I don’t know when they actually started, maybe 2018? I can see that their first single was released in 2017. They got a 7”, a 12”, they have an EP as well, (which is the one I’m going to play a song from), released this year, which is named “Contemporary Ass”, released through the label named “Adult Crash”.
So, let’s get started with the show, they are Axe Rash and this is GIG LIFE!

[9:07 – 15:40] Animalize – Samourai de L’Universe
So, after this Hardcore Punk beating, while you’re playing this show, or probably at the moment you saw the tracklist on social media, it might be possible that you noticed a core line, which is “2022”. 
I wanted to take this break as an opportunity since last december, since we’re at this time of the year (close to New Year’s) to review many of the stuff that has been released, since Christmas is so close and then we’ll get really busy watching Christmas comercials, eating nougat and getting fat. 
So this review, in some sense, is as much for myself as it is for other people that hasn’t been paying much attention to whatever has been released throughout this year. Even though, there are some bands from this tracklist that, while they’re young, their songs aren’t from this year. Maybe 2020, 2021. They’re not extremely recent, but I’m sure some people might be glad of knowing about them, if they missed those released the same way I did. 
So, in the former case (2022), it’s the case of the following band, Animalize, band that focuses on Heavy Metal, from Lyon, Paris. Currently signed to Dying Victims Productions. They’re relatively young as well, they barely have 4 years in existence, which from those, their debut EP got released 2 years ago, and then their LP that got released this current year through DVP. 
About this band, I had this kind of love-hate thing… I mean, not really hate; hate is really not the word. Maybe it could be more like love-indifference, because well… Let me explain what has been my process with Animalize like: 
 

You’re on Youtube, you’re looking at new releases, the cover from their EP, Tapes From The Crypt, shows up. A cover that features a pic that is really reminiscent of all that style from 80s horror/slasher movies, (when they were more “Funky” rather than just straight up gore and body horror, that kind of ridiculous over-the-top violence…). The way the cover is pictured reminds me a lot of movies like Demons, that handled all those of games of lighs, shadows and smoke. If you see the cover artwork, I’m sure you’ll notice what I’m talking about. It’s a cover that it’s truly putting on paper their core line (old school). So, I decided to give it a listen.
To be really honest, the first songs (it’s an EP with 5 songs, so I’m talking about the first 3), didn’t give me a good impression at all. Yeah, ok, objectively, they’re great songs, they’re great, they sound great, it does have energy, feels fresh… But, at the same time, I was having this deja-vu feeling like “I know I heard this before”. And not in the sense of bands that are blatantly paying “tribute” to older bands like “oh, this band nails the Manilla Road vibe” kind of thing. It was more like this general feeling that you get when you listened back then to bands like Enforcer or Skull Fist, when they established the beginning of this whole NWOTHM thing (or at least how I got introduced into it back then). So it’s like, after all these years with that many bands that tried to jump into that bandwagon (which is not a bad thing intrinsecaly), I was this close to just call it a day and play something else. 
But then, I noticed that 2 of their last songs (“Sous l'Oeil du Charognard” and “L'Aigle de la Route”) were written in French, so that caught my attention. So I thought that, if they decided to specifically name those songs in French, maybe it would be that they tried a different vibe or feeling on them. 
In the end, I’m so glad that I decided to give a chance to those 2 songs and to be mistaken, because, trust me, it felt like night and day. So in a sense, Side A of the EP felt reminscent of that general NWOTHM sound (Let’s face it, NWOTHM is just a movement, genre is just “Heavy Metal”), but side B is really something else. These 2 French-sung songs is on a different field. It’s not something you hear everyday. Yeah, ok, it’s still your typical Heavy Metal, but it’s not something you’re used to listen frequently. For starters, singing it in a native tongue is always interesting. Not necessarily a good or bad thing, but surely it’s something that catches your attention more than other things. And it’s not just singing it in French, but what makes it interesting as well it’s how it feels like a revival (in a good sense) of old French bands. Just in the same way as Toca Madera (from Spain) really nails that specific vibe of bands of ours like Barón Rojo or Zarpa, on choruses, riffs, rhythms… so it happens with Animalize. It reminds me a lot of ADX, specially when they started to transition from pure Speed Metal to a more Heavy/Speed approach, like in La Terreur or Suprematie, or even the cheekiness of H-Bomb…
So just with those 2 songs, I decided that Animalize was a band that needed to be on my spotlight, to see how they develop their music. They’ve released their first LP this year, as I said, and it’s really really good. Precisely sticking to the point of singing on a native tongue, the next song I’m playing here will be Samourai de L’Universe (I hope I didn’t butcher the language that much…)
So, this is Animalize – Samourai de L’Universe
 
[20:05-26:40] Domine – Midnight Meat Train
So, you noticed what I was talking about, right? I think it rocks. I believe that if they play their cards well, they use that personal identity as a weapon, which I believe is what makes them stand out, in the end, it should go just fine. In this period of time, it’s currently comfortable/safe and awkward at the same time. It’s safe because it’s a movement that is currently heavily supported, but at the same time, we’re looking at a really saturated scene, so you really need to make yourself stand out all over the rest of the bands tsunami. So I believe if they go that way, it should be alright. They’re under the flag of one of the most powerful underground labels from the current era, so I believe that this project should not fail. 
Next featured band is a bit more veteran. They started in 1983, but they didn’t leave their first true mark until 1997. I’m of course talking about the Italian Power Metal act Domine. Until 1997 they were releasing demos, but their debut wasn’t released until then, Champion Eternal, really big reference to the character created by Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melnibone.
This band is, what I personally believe, from what I heard and saw, since in that year, I was an absolut snot of a child, where my only purpose was to shit my pants, just like nowadays) a band that flew under the radar from the big media during those years, since they weren’t supported by a big label. Also, it’s not the same to release an álbum in those years when you already had a career going on than to start on that very same year. 
I would even go as far as saying that releasing an album like Champion Eternal during those years has way more (moral) value, taking into account the following context: 
We’re talking about an era where Metal in general (not completely, as there were some movements that we’re doing fine during those years), was at what could possibly be in their lowest, even the Extreme Scene, for example Death Metal, understanding that their peak was between the late 80s and early 90s, so by the second half of the decade it was decayed. Maybe Black Metal (2nd Wave) had something going on, and some of the biggest European 2nd wave Power Metal Acts were at their highest (Not bands like Blind Guardian or Early Helloween, more like Stratovarius or Rhapsody). 
I think it’s very important to highlight this aforementioned fact, because the bands that keep fighting for a traditional sound released music that was of high value. Cases like Running Wild with “Pile Of Skulls”, “Black Hand Inn”, “Masquerade”, “The Rivalry, Victory”… Bands like Virgin Steele, where you could 2 (actually 3) noticeable eras: their early days with Jack Starr, the Pursino years from “Noble Savage” to “Life Among The Ruins” and then the following 90’s albums with Pursino: “The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell, Pt 1 and 2”, “Invictus”, “The House Of Atreus, Act I and II”… albums with BALLS, in an era where many big bands abandoned their trademark sound to jump on a different bandwagon, or that many bands lost their stars, that went their own way, like Bruce Dickinson with Maiden or Rob Halford with Priest…


 
So releasing albums like that is really valuable, so is the case with Domine. Even though Domine’s career was way closer to the European Power Metal standard (Stratovarius, Rhapsody…), their first album still had traces of that Power Metal that crossed fire with Speed Metal, with anger… In fact, this song in specific, even though most of their songs are focused on the history of Elric Of Melnibone, is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s book, “Midnight Meat Train”, what made me think if there’s a posibility that, since bands like Manilla Road that had a meaningful impact in the Mediterranean scene in the late 90s-early 00s, I’m unaware if they impacted Domine as well, as MR recorded a song with the same name, in an era (late 80s) where Mark Shelton was way more fascinated by pulp and horror, stepping aside from its usual focus on King Arthur stories or Sword and Sorcery themes in general. 
So, this song might be one of my favourites from this band, it’s beefy, straight to the throat… even kind of technical (take that with a pinch of salt). I mean, there are sections that really made me think of Helstar’s Nosferatu, that kind of high pitched angry voice… If you listen to it, I’m sure you’ll notice what I’m talking about. 
SO, I’ll stop being a nuisance (so I can be a nuisance in a bit again), this is Domine – Midnight Meat Train!

[31:17 – 36:33] Espada – Camino de Ilusión
(UPDATED VERSION COMING SOON)