Frust/New Moon/2024 Full Length Review

 

  Austria's  solo  project  Frust  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  moves  away  from  the  post  black  metal  style  of  previous  releases  and  on  this  release  goes  for  more  of  an  atmospheric  and  experimental  mixture  of  black,  doom  and  horror  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2024  album  "New  Moon"  which  will  be  released  in  November.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls.  Elements  of  doom  metal are  also  added  into  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  all  of t he  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  At  times  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  sounding  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  when  they  are  utilized.  Clean  playing  is  also  added  on  some  of  the  tracks  along  with  few  songs  also  being  instrumentals,  synths  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.    

One  song  also  introduces  raw  tremolo  picking  into  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  a  couple  of   tracks  also  adding  in  in  a  small  amount  of  female  vocals  and  most  of  the  album  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  horror,  nature  and  philosophical  themes.     

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Frust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  atmospheric  and  experimental  black  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Chaos"  "Sumer  Rain"  "Destiny"  and  "I  Was  Nix  Mehr".  8  out  of  10.

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https://frust-at.bandcamp.com
https://www.frust.rocks

Frust/The Advent Of Adhara/2020 Full Length Review

  Austria'solo  project  Frust  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  into a   mixture  of  atmospheric  post  black,  thrash  metal,  experimental  and  folk  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2020  album  "The  Advent  Of  Adhara"  which  will  be  released  in  May.

  Spoken  word  and  movie  samples  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  the  solos  and  leads are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  music  also  having  its  atmospheric  moments  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  recording.

  The  riffs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  semi  clean  style  on  one  of  the  tracks.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  one  track  also  introducing  female  vocals  onto  the  recording  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  stringed  instruments.

  Folk  music elements  can  also  be  heard  at times  along  with  some  tracks  show  the  music  going  into  more  of  an  experimental  direction  and  as  the  album  progresses  an  couple  of  instrumentals  are  also  added onto  the  recording.  some  of  the  heavier  riffing  also  shows an  influence  of  thrash  metal.  The  production  sounds  very  raw  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Frust  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  experimental  and  atmospheric  post  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Frozen  Sun"  "The  Advent  Of  Adhara"  and  "Forever  In  My  Mind".  8  out  of  10. 

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Frust/Recurring Dreams/2019 Full Length Review

  Frust  are  a  solo  project  from Austria  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  a  very  experimental  and  atmospheric  form  of  post  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2019  album  "Recurring  Dreams"  which  will  be  released  in  April.

  An  ambient  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction.  Grim  sounding  black  metal  screams  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  they  also  mix  experimental  elements  into  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  at  times.

  Clean  playing  is  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  also  expand  the  post  rock  influence  that  is  also  a  very  huge  part  of  the  music.When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  all  instrumental  while  one  track  also  introduces  female  vocals  onto  the  recording,  the  music  is  a  lot  less  black  metal  influenced  then  the  previous  release  along  with  some  folk  music  elements  being  used  at  times  and  the  closing  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Frust  which  shows  him  going  into  a  different  musical  direction  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  atmospheric  and  experimental  post  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Recurring  Dreams"  "Earth" "Call  Of  Madness"  and  "Verfall".  8  out  of  10.

https://frust-at.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/frust.at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdfJ05IC4D-YFu1ulCAXqqw 

Frust Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?

Frust was founded just a few months ago as a solo project. I ve been making music for over 20 years now, started as guitar player and co-founder in a punk/grunge band in the mid 90s, we´ve played some gigs and released a demo, till i wasnt able to go along with the band because of some health problems. I ve kept playing music over the years, for me and friends, and started to learn more about playstyles, instruments, programming, mixing and so on. I ve quitted making music from time to time, because i was frustrated by slow progress to be honest sometimes, i had higher expectations and a lot of doubt in myself. In winter 2018, early spring, i ve wrote two song-parts just for fun, and i started to like them more and more, in the past years i ve stopped on most of songs if there were any parts i wasnt satisfied with, but this time i continued working on them, the songs arisen from that sessions are „Air“ and „Earth“. So i decided to make an EP.





2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

I am not sure, it was and is really hard for me to label the music, i don´t like put the burden of a genre on my work,because it just would limit me in many ways. For several reasons, i sure had to put a label on it, and the one with i personally go best is „Post Black Metal“. But to answer the question when it comes to sound, i would say, it´s a mix bewtween Black Metal, Post Black Metal, Black Gaze, some Ambient, specially the new Album, coming in January 2019 will also have some more „Doom Metal“ passages, and some, well, almost „Trip Hop“-like passages…so it´s mabye also „experimental“ in some ways, like it was with the female virtual Instrument vocals from syria and bulgaria i ve used on „Elements“. I am a big fan of The Cure as well, Maybe it has even some of them in it in the slower, more quiet parts, like on „Water“.



3.Both the song themes and ep cover deal with the 4 elements, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this subject?

Well, i am a spirtual person when it comes to nature, i ve lived my first 24 years in the middle of a national park in the austrian alps, so the connection to mother earth was always strong in my beeing. I´ve worked a lot using the four elements in meditations and not at least at some kind of guides, like Earth is very grounding, Water reflects your feelings, Fire your anger or passion. I don´t want to overexpand that topic, but it felt very right for me to give the first record that nature-related background, as i wrote „Air“ it wasnt planned to go on with all the four Elements, but it was clear that that track, can only have this Name.





4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Frust'?

Thats a small, and funny story. It isn´t a lie, when i tell you, finding a band name took my more nerves and thinking than anything else working with Frust.So i was really thinking much and a long time About a name, but all that came up was very chliché, i would have been ashamed sooner or less, using that names. Some day, i was playing online with some friends, and one of them was really angry that day, and i ve said: „Micha, you´re really in a good mood to tell me a bandname for my project, what are you feeling right now, just shoot“ And he answered: „Frust! Only Frust!“ I ve said:“Thanks a lot, that fits well“ haha, and it was done. Frust is the shortform of „Frustration“ in, at least, german language.





5.With the exception of some female vocals from Bulgaria and Syria you recorded most of the music by yourself, are you open to working with a full band?

The female Voices are Instruments too, at least virtual Instrument, a lot of smaller film-, gaming- and so on projects are using them too, it´s really great, you would be astound how many voice-instruments you can buy today. They´re able to modulate in so many ways, it´s a really great opportunity to get some vocals, if you re living in a small town, not knowing any singer. For the Growls/screams, thats me. I don´t have plans for adding more members in the future to be honest.





6.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I´ve received a few offers, but i am a sceptical person when it comes to business, specially music business. I ve expirenced so many great opportunities, specially for new bands, and i really prefer to grow organic, with the awareness that that´s gonna be a long way, specially without live concerts. That shouldn´t mean i dont´t want to work with a record label at any cause.



7.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of post black metal?

I wasn´t really sure how/if people would like it, specially with the label „Post Black Metal“ on it, like i ve said earlier. I haven´t had any negative review by now, or any negative comment on shared postings in like in Facebook-groups or on YouTube, so the toxic-community may just haven´t found me by now. Promoting the EP has just begun, and i ve got a lot of responses in form of reviews, radio-airplay, and so on, which i honest appreciate every single one of it. You are granting me the first interview of my life by the way, thank you for that.



8.Are you or have you been involved with any other bands or musical projects?

Like i said earlier, i was member of a punk/grunge band, it was called „Orgasmic Control“, and i am very glad, you don´t ask about former bands names haha. I ve also made some ambient/meditation music in the past, but not for the public, it was for learning and also relaxing while composing.





9.You have your first full length coming out at the beginning of 2019, what can we expect musically once it is released?

As the recording process is still going, i can´t speak for the whole album, because i am recording very intuative sometimes, and the same goes for deleting a whole track, i just can speak about what i have recorded, which is like 30% of the album. I think some parts will be a surprise to the listener, specially the ones who already knowing my EP, like the „Trip Hop“-like parts, if they ll stay on the album, and i ve just finished recording a more doomy track, another one has some tribal-like passages a bit like Sepulturas „Roots“, and it will have the ambient, quiet, dreamy parts again as well, for all i ve heared my audience really likes them, on the other hand some  tracks will go in a more „Fire“-like direction, more heavy and brutal.



10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I would call Heretoir as an influence when it comes to have no fear of putting a lot of melodies in dark and heavy songs, i love their Album „Substanz“, also The Cure, i ve always admired they´re way to create different atmospheres, and for me „Bloodflowers“ is close to an perfect Album, i love many bands even from different genres, and for sure a lot more may have influnced me, like the first Rock/Metal bands i ve started listen to, in the late 80s like Guns n Roses, Black Sabbath or Exploited, later on Abigor from my homecountry Austria, i think they´re still very unique, or Siebenbuergen i really loved them like 15 years ago because of their melodic and the use of female voices and that great Cello they had on some tracks.



Nowadays i am trying to NOT listen to Metal in any form, while i am recording, and since about April i am recording like non stop, The only metal-related bands i ve listen a lot this year were Heretoir and Unreqvited to be honest, because i love them. After long recording-sessions,  listening to my own songs over and over till they´re where i want to have them, i´ll really enjoy silence, or some very different Singer/Songwriter like Angus & Julia Stone, Peter Conway or Joseph Arthur.



11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I ve painted a lot in the past years, i am doin it with passion, but the results aren´t that well, so you probably will not see any of my paintings in the near feature. I am a fucking gaming-nerd as well, not very proud of it, but i am and i do Mountainbiking.  Oh and i love my girlfriend and cats 😊



12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Yeah, thank you for giving new bands a place to grow, and thanks for the support to all that giving me a great time with Frust, for all that don´t know me, have a listen, stay tuned for the Album aswell, or just drop a line, i am happy about your Feedback.

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Frust/Elements/2018 EP Review

  Frust  are  a  solo  project  from  Austria  that  plays  post  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2018  ep  "Elements".

  Melodic  chants  along  with  some  nature  orientated  soundscapes  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  musical  direction  while  atmospheric  synths  are  also  added into  some  parts  of  the  music  as  well  as  some  clean  playing  also  being  utilized  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  post  rock  elements while  the  faster  sections  of  the  music  also  utilizing  some  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  as  well  as  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  ep  progresses  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Frust  plays  a  style  of  post  black  metal  that  is  very  raw,  melodic  and  ritualistic  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  song  themes  cover  the  4  earth  elements  with  a  touch  of  alchemy.

  In  my  opinion  Frust  are  a  very  great  sounding  post  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Air"  and  "Fire".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/frust.at/

https://frust-at.bandcamp.com