A true spectacle to be witnessed, Lords Of The Trident is a daring adventure metal quintet that has been delighting their audiences and fans all over the world for ten years. To continue on their epic quest of bringing spectacular and entertaining metal to global fans these power metal warriors will be unleashing their 7th album Shadows From The Past on August 24th. In celebration of this new beast from their discography, Lords Of The Trident are premiering via BraveWords their third single and new music video "Reaper's Hourglass".
Vocalist Fang VonWrathenstein comments:
"‘Reaper's Hourglass’ is one of the most technically challenging songs on the new album, so we thought this would be a perfect candidate for a full-band playthrough video. Of course, since it's a Lords Of The Trident playthrough, we had to make it interesting..."
Shadows From The Past was supported by a Kickstarter campaign that went live on June 1st and ending on June 29th. During that month, the band's fans helped them surpass their goals to raise over $11,000 for the release. The band offered multiple packages and rewards that included merch, lessons from band members, festival tickets, private concerts and a copy of the video game Coffee Crisis that the band has partnered with to feature one of their songs for one of the levels along with band members as NPCs (non-playable characters).
Lords Of The Trident are offering fans a FREE track download of their first single "Death Dealer", a song influenced by the game Diablo and lyrics written based on the storyline of Diablo 1 and 2. Download the song at this location and stream the song below.
Fang VonWrathenstein: “This album is our most ambitious musical work to date, and the first album with our new members Baron Helleshaar and Master Herc. Fans who have been with us for a while will notice that our new songs are a bit more complex, and our songwriting continues to mature. The new songs are definitely still Lords songs, but explore some new musical themes. I believe the new album will be our strongest offering yet, and contain some songs that are sure to be fan favourites going forward.”
North American tracklisting:
"Death Dealer"
"Zero Hour"
"Tormentor"
"Burn It Down (With Fire)" Feat. Brittney Slayes (Unleash The Archers)
"Figaro"
"The Party Has Arrived"
"Brothers Of Cain"
"Reaper's Hourglass"
"Chasing Shadows"
"The Nameless Tomb"
"The Gatekeeper"
Japanese bonus tracks:
"Cross The Line"
"Desolation (Haze Of The Battlefield Pt. 2)"
Earlier this year, Global Music Award-winning nomadic folk metal group Tengger Cavalry turned heads with the release of their sixth album, Cian Bi, via Napalm Records. Now, the band announce their upcoming return to Carnegie Hall's stunning Weill Recital Hall in New York City (154 W 57th St.) for a special performance on Thursday, September 20th.
The performance will begin at 8 PM and tickets start at $30. The performance will feature traditional nomadic musical techniques and instruments such as throat singing, Mongolian long song, and Morin Khuur. Head here for more information.
In celebration of this performance announcement, Tengger Cavalry have revealed a brand new music video for their track "Redefine", cut from Cian Bi. The video acts as an artistic interpretation of the message that Tengger Cavalry's music often represents - raising awareness for the preservation of Mongolian culture in the face of modernization and overall culture conflict. Watch the video below.
Frontman Nature G explains in description of the video, "As core members of Tengger Cavalry and traditionally trained Mongolian folk musicians, both Wulijimuren and I immigrated from China to New York City several years ago. Being stripped away from the Nomadic Grassland and stepping into the very industrial and multi-cultural world of the Big Apple, we've both faced challenges of progressing and preserving the traditional Nomadic culture in our lives and in modern day.
"Unlike Viking trends, Nomadic culture still exists upon the Grasslands and horse riding landscapes in Northern China and is facing great danger in the face of modernization and industrialization from the South. This video represents the mixed challenge we, as Tengger Cavalry, are facing every day. It's a video about cultural conflict, homeland, modern culture, progression and inner strength."
"Psychic Playground", the new video from Dutch death thrash metallers Radiathor from their album Decay By Greed, can be seen below. The clip was again directed by Andy Pilkington of Very Metal Art, who has previously worked with Flotsam & Jetsam, Dee Snider, De Profundis, Orden Ogan, among others.
Decay By Greed is the full-length debut by Radiathor and was released by No Dust Record this past March.
"365", the new video from Swedish melodic metallers AMARANTHE, can be seen below. The clip was once again directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES and KAMELOT, among others.
"365" is the first single from AMARANTHE's fifth album, which will be released later in the year. The disc was recorded at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, EPICA, DELAIN). The follow-up to 2016's "Maximalism" marks the band's first release with DYNAZTY's Nils Molin, who officially joined AMARANTHE in July 2017 as the replacement for Jake E.
Commented guitarist Olof Mörck: "With a newborn album, it is easy for an artist to fall into hyperbole and rants of how it is the best thing you have ever done — but for the first time, I can confidently say that this album very certainly the best and strongest of our entire career."
Added vocalist Elize Ryd: "I have loved every second to write, create and making this album. I can't wait to reveal the name of our fifth baby, let it loose into the world to live its own life and spread the message all by itself. It feels to me already like the most strong and confident child of ours. The support has been important, and I'm so grateful to everyone involved."
The full details of AMARANTHE's fifth album will be unveiled tomorrow (Friday, August 10).
Having previously used Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye from the band SMASH INTO PIECES as a stand-in for Jake on some of the shows in 2016 and in early 2017, AMARANTHE recruited Molin for three Swedish concerts in March 2017 and he has been part of the group's live appearances ever since.
Jake E announced his departure from AMARANTHE in February 2017, explaining at the time that he began to feel that "my place both on the albums and live was reduced; I felt like I was superfluous… I started to feel more like a backing singer." He has since launched a new band called CYHRA with former IN FLAMES guitarist Jesper Strömblad and LUCA TURILLI'S RHAPSODY drummer Alex Landenburg.
The "censored" version of BEHEMOTH's music video for "God = Dog" can be seen below. The clip was directed by Polish extreme metal band's longtime visual collaborators Grupa 13.
"God = Dog" is taken from BEHEMOTH's new album, "I Loved You At Your Darkest", which will be released on October 5 via Nuclear Blast.
While it certainly seems an unlikely title for a black metal band, its origin might surprise fans even more than the words themselves. "It's a verse from the Bible," frontman Nergal reveals. "It's actually a quote from Jesus Christ himself. For BEHEMOTH to use it as the basis of our record, it's sacrilege to the extreme."
Of course, BEHEMOTH is no stranger to blasphemy. Over the course of the last 27 years, they've pushed the boundaries of black metal and heresy alike. While anti-Christian sentiment might seem like stale bread where most metal bands are concerned, for BEHEMOTH such ideas represent a very real threat to their physical freedom. Time and again, the government of their native Poland has charged them with various "crimes" such as tearing up a bible onstage in 2007 and using the Polish coat of arms on a BEHEMOTH t-shirt in 2017. "Obviously, stuff like that can piss you off. But I think it's good to be pissed off," Nergal says with a laugh. "Anger can be a massive driving force, especially when you make extreme music. But politically and socially, Poland is a very disparate country. You can never feel totally safe here. That makes it easier for me to get inspiration. If I lived in Holland or Australia, I don't think I'd be doing what I do now. You can do or be anything you want there. I'm a huge fan of that kind of freedom, but I don't really have it here. Struggling with that on a daily basis makes me who I am, and fuels my passion for this music."
Nergal and his bandmates — Orion (bass) and Inferno (drums) — have channeled that passion into "I Loved You At Your Darkest". A crushing salvo of black metal majesty replete with hellish riffs, thundering drum cannonades and soaring liturgical choirs reminiscent of classic horror cinema, the album is also bejeweled with nimble-fingered rock guitar solos on songs like "God = Dog", "Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica" and "Sabbath Mater".
"I really wanted to redefine ourselves with this record," Nergal explains. "'I Loved You At Your Darkest' is a more dynamic record. It's extreme and radical on one hand, but it's also more rock-oriented than any other BEHEMOTH record."
Nergal doesn't view the heightened rock influence as a conscious creative decision so much as a renewed interest in the historical origins of the music he makes. "We don't give consideration to musical direction, we simply create what naturally comes to us," he says. "But 15 years ago, if you had asked me who I thought was the best band on the planet, I probably would have said MAYHEM or MORBID ANGEL. Today if you asked me, I'd say AC/DC. That should give you a clear indication of why this album is more rock-based. It all comes down to the songwriting."
Lyrically, "I Loved You At Your Darkest" revels in the kind of religious provocation that BEHEMOTH do best. "It's very religion-driven, maybe more than anything we've done before," Nergal offers. "But it's not just cheap goading. I believe this is some deeper metal language. It's art."
Unlike "The Satanist", which was primarily recorded in one studio, "I Loved You At Your Darkest" saw its production spread across Poland and the United States. It was produced by the bandmembers themselves, with drum co-production by Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES), mixing by Matt Hyde (SLAYER, CHILDREN OF BODOM) and mastering by Tom Baker (NINE INCH NAILS, MARILYN MANSON). Which is to say nothing of the 17-piece Polish orchestra arranged by Jan Stoklosa and engineered by Tomasz Budkiewicz. Or as Nergal sums it up: "Pretty much every instrument was recorded in a different studio, and a lot of amazing people were involved."
German epic melodic death metallers NOTHGARD will release their new album, "Malady X", on October 26 via Metal Blade Records. The official music video for the disc's title track can now be seen below.
Bandleader Dom R. Crey states: "With 'Malady X', we have created an album that is both dark and serious, but on the other hand rife with catchy melodies — while not compromising our individual sound at all. On the contrary, I am sure we have defined the NOTHGARD style more clearly than ever on this album. This is why we are really happy to present our first new material to you in the shape of a music video!"
The clip for "Malady X" was recorded in one take, meaning without interruptions and based on a specific choreography to make an authentic impression. The result is nothing less than breathtaking.
Dom R. Crey adds: "Of course, 'Malady X' takes on an important role because it's the title track. It represents everything that we, deep inside, find disturbing about society and current ways of thinking. We consciously address it in the lyrics — no-go's and issues in daily life which should actually be perceived as such, but instead, we have lost awareness of them. Rather than standing in for our convictions, we choose to live according to false values."
"Malady X" was recorded at Def-Creation and Southern Deathcult studios and was mastered by Jens Bogren (AMON AMARTH, ARCH ENEMY, KREATOR, OPETH).
"Malady X" track listing:
01. Voyage To Decay (intro)
02. Malady X
03. Shades Of War
04. Guardians Of Sanity
05. Epitaph
06. Deamonium I
07. Serpent Hollow
08. Devil Will Know
09. Fall Of An Empire
10. Herald Of Death
11. Black Horizon
12. Eye For An Eye (limited digi-CD bonus)
13. Ninja (limited digi-CD bonus)
NOTHGARD will join forces with Finnish epic melodic death metallers OMNIUM GATHERUM and WOLFHEART for the "Burning Cold Over Europe 2018" tour this November.
NOTHGARD is:
Dom R. Crey - Vocals, Lead Guitar, Studio Keyboards
Finnish melodic death metal masters Omnium Gatherum have released their new single “Refining Fire”, taken off their upcoming album The Burning Cold, which will be released on August 31st.
Frontman Jukka Pelkonen comments, "The new video song ‘Refining Fire’ is a story about not giving up and the power of staying clear-headed inside oneself, as well as in the outside world too within all the chaotic turbulence. It is the never-ending stream, the river that carries us and it is the fire that refines us. Stay strong and hold your head up high. You deserve it! ...Musically speaking, this is maybe the most OG old schoolish song on the new album!"
“Refining Fire” is available as a digital single on all streaming and download platforms and as an Instant Grat Track on Amazon and iTunes. All physical formats of the new album The Burning Cold can be pre-ordered. Head here for all physical and digital formats.
The cover artwork for the album was once again created by Olli-Pekka Lappalainen, who has been responsible for every single artwork for the band since the very first demo. The Burning Cold was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö and produced and engineered by Teemu Aalto.
The Burning Cold tracklisting:
"The Burning"
"Gods Go First"
"Refining Fire"
"Rest In Your Heart"
"Over The Battlefield"
"The Fearless Entity"
"Be The Sky"
"Driven By Conflict"
"The Frontline"
"Planet Scale"
"Cold"
"Gods Go First" video:
Lineup:
Jukka Pelkonen - Vocals
Markus Vanhala - Guitar
Tuomo Latvala - Drums
Aapo Koivisto - Keyboards
Joonas Koto - Guitar
Erkki Silvennoinen - Bass
Classical guitar virtuoso Thomas Zwijsen will release his seventh solo album, Nylon Metal, on September 3rd. The double CD contains 26 acoustic arrangements of metal and rock songs by Iron Maiden, KISS, Metallica, Deep Purple, Helloween, Led Zeppelin, Dream Theater, and many more. A new preview video featuring Thomas and Blaze Bayley performing an acoustic rendition of the Iron Maiden song "Lightning Strikes Twice" can be found below.
Zwijsen states: “My mission is to bring heavy metal to the classical guitar world and vice versa, combining the greatness of heavy metal compositions with the beautiful tone of the classical guitar. I can’t wait to present this album to guitar fans around the world.”
Guest musicians on the album are (ex)members of KISS and Iron Maiden, respectively Bruce Kulick and Blaze Bayley.
Tracklisting:
CD 1:
"The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" (Ennio Moricone)
"Future World" (Helloween)
"2 Minutes To Midnight" (Iron Maiden)
"Forever" (KISS) ft. Bruce Kulick
"Eye Of The Tiger" (Survivor)
"Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" (Iron Maiden)
"Hollow Years" (Dream Theater)
"Renegade" (Hammerfall)
"The Unforgiven II" (Metallica)
"Four Lanes Of Chaos" (Original)
"Twisted Mind" (Avantasia)
"Soldier Of Fortune" (Deep Purple)
"The Final Countdown" (Europe)
CD 2:
"Where Eagles Dare" (Iron Maiden)
"Temple Of The King" (Rainbow)
"Lightning Strikes Twice" (Iron Maiden) ft.Blaze Bayley
"Enter Sandman" (Metallica)
"The Wickerman" (Iron Maiden)
"All My Love" (Led Zeppelin)
"Want You Bad" (The Offspring)
"Space Oddity" (David Bowie)
"Living After Midnight" (Judas Priest)
"Definitely Doable" (Original)
"Smoke On The Water" (Deep Purple)
"Eagle Fly Free" (Helloween)
"Detroit Rock City" (KISS)
"Lightning Strikes Twice" video:
Preview:
Trailer:
All songs are arranged by Thomas Zwijsen in his characteristic style, playing all essential melodies simultaneously on his Ortega signature guitar.
With his arrangements Zwijsen obtained over 20 million YouTube views and is now close to reaching 100,000 subscribers. He has played over 500 concerts in Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East.
The release of the Nylon Metal album will be followed by a European tour in September with Anne Bakker, a European tour in November with Blaze Bayley, and three shows in Israel in 2019 followed by an extensive South American solo tour.
The Book Of Tabs - Together with the album, Zwijsen will release his second tab book, The Book Of Tabs. The book includes tabs & standard notation of 11 Iron Maiden songs and includes online video lessons for each song.
Table of contents:
"If Eternity Should Fail"
"The Wickerman"
"Afraid To Shoot Strangers"
"2 Minutes To Midnight"
"Iron Maiden"
"Lightning Strikes Twice"
"Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son"
"Hallowed Be Thy Name"
"Children Of The Damned"
"Where Eagles Dare"
"Alexander The Great"
As Beyond The Sky - the forthcoming full-length from La Chinga - draws ever closer to its September 7th release via Small Stone, the band has unveiled a visual companion to "Wings Of Fire".
Notes director R. D. Cane, "La Chinga.... When they asked me to shoot a video, I had to really think about how to pay all due respect to their guitar heavy forefathers and still visually knock the socks off of a whole new generation of young rockers. We knew we wanted to make it colorful and exciting but simple enough to not get in the way. 'Wings Of Fire' just rocks. La Chinga knows their thing and they do it so well. This was a blast to shoot and hanging out was very cool, I really can't wait to do more..."
A hard rock power trio with psychedelic powers based in Vancouver, British Columbia, La Chinga draws from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, MC5, and their own bad habits to conjure the 45 minutes of sublimely confident freedom rock that comprises Beyond The Sky. Sometimes meaty and beaty ("Mama Boogie", "Death Rider"), sometimes glam-handed ("Killer Wizard"), and occasionally even dirtbag pretty ("Keep On Rollin'"), when it all melts into a puddle of phased goo in the final bars of "Warlords," the listener has been rolled, boogied, and otherwise supernaturally conveyed well beyond the sky.
The follow-up to La Chinga's 2016 Freewheelin' full-length was captured at Vancouver's fabled Warehouse Studio with no-less-fabled producer Jamey Koch (DOA, Copyright, The Tragically Hip).
Tracklisting:
“Nothin’ That I Can’t Do”
“Wings Of Fire”
“Mama Boogie”
“Black River”
“Beyond The Sky”
“Keep On Rollin’”
“Killer Wizard”
“Death Rider”
“Feel It In My Bones”
“H.O.W.”
“Warlords”
With only a month remaining before their album release, German doom band Owl has issued a video for their latest single “Anamnesis”. The video was directed by Costin Chioreanu and the track is featured on the forthcoming record, Nights In Distortion, that’s due out on September 7th from Temple of Torturous Records.
Owl’s founder and primary songwriter Christian Kolf, who’s also a member of the metal band Valborg (Prophecy Productions) and founder of the label Zeitgeister, created the band in the mid-2000’s as a necessity to further explore and challenge his musical creativity. What began as a death metal project has evolved over the years, incorporating Kolf’s eclectic tastes and influences that’s resulted in an amalgam of death and doom that conjures memories of Type O Negative, Jesu, Neurosis, Anathema and Meshuggah among others.
Nights In Distortion tracklisting:
"We Are Made For Twilight"
"Transparent Monument"
"Anamnesis"
"Inanna In Isolation"
"Abortion Of Empathy"
"Madness Is The Glory Of This Life"
Groundbreaker, featuring singer Steve Overland of FM and Robert Säll of Work Of Art and W.E.T., will release their self-titled debut album on September 14th. A video for the album track "Something Worth Fighting For" can be found below. Pre-order Groundbreaker here.
The album is simply everything that a melodic rock fan could hope for: soaring hooklines, magnificent melodies, amazing musical performances, and in Overland, a stunning vocalist. Mixing the British and Swedish melodic rock/AOR styles, Groundbreaker is truly the best of both worlds and surely destined to be one of the highlights of the year in an already stellar year for melodic rock.
Groundbreaker came about when a conversation between Frontiers’ President Serafino Perugino and Overland revealed that the latter was eager to collaborate with new and exciting musicians from the European melodic rock scene. The idea was immediately brought up to involve Robert Sall of Work of Art and use Alessandro Del Vecchio’s production abilities. Overland loved the initial material that was submitted and consequently, they all started to work on songs. The process was very smooth and the final result was so good that everyone thought that the name “Groundbreaker” was the right way to describe the power and the vibe of the music.
"I’m the main composer for about half of the songs, but Ale and Steve wrote a lot as well,” tells Robert Sall. “I had to write songs with Steve's voice in mind and that was new, but very inspiring to me. But for any fan of FM or Work of Art, I think they will be very familiar with the sound of this record!"
“The idea for the album was to make a classic AOR album and I think between Robert, Alessandro, Pete Alpenborg and myself, we came up with a great collection of songs,” adds Overland. "I think this is some of the best material I've worked on in a while and all of the musicians on the record are fantastic, not only as players, but to work with. I knew of Robert's writing talents on the Work of Art records, but it really turned out to be a great collaboration and I'm so proud of the results! My personal favourite song on the record is "Will It Make You Love Me”. We’ve shot a video for it and I think it's truly a future classic!"
Tracklisting:
"Over My Shoulder"
"Will It Make You Love Me"
"Eighteen Til I Die"
"Only Time Will Tell"
"Tonight"
"Standing Up For Love"
"Something Worth Fighting For"
"The Sound Of A Broken Heart"
"The First Time"
"The Days Of Our Life"
"The Way It Goes"
"Something Worth Fighting For" video:
"Over My Shoulder" video:
"Making of" video:
Lineup:
Steve Overland - Vocals
Robert Sall - Guitars
Nalley Pahlsson - Bass
Herman Furin - Drums
With Alessandro Del Vecchio - Keyboards
Danish death metallers Baest, whose moniker translates to ‘beast’ or ‘brute’ in the band’s native language, have released "Ego Te Absolvo", the third single from their forthcoming debut album Danse Macabre.
Set for release on August 17th via Century Media Records, Danse Macabre offers an intense Messe Macabre uniting influences from the likes of Bloodbath, Dismember, Bolt Thrower, Entombed and 90’s Morbid Angel with uttermost savagery.
Baest comments: "'Ego Te Absolvo' - I absolve you. (Mortui Vivos Docent. Learn from the dead.) The last track of Danse Macabre frees the human shell from its shackles, and condemns its pathetic remains to eternal solstice. Prophecies and promises crushed by thundering truth. Heresy is forever.”
Filmed by Jens Karlsson and Lasse Rønne at several shows and also edited by Lasse Rønne, the "Ego Te Absolvo" video throws you right into the explosive live shows of Baest, bringing their ferocious Messe Macabre straight to your home. Watch the video below.
Danse Macabre will be released as 180 gram vinyl plus CD, as jewelcase CD, and on all digital platforms. Apart from regular black vinyl, the following limited colours are available:
- 200x transparent green - BAEST exclusive-
- 100x gold - CMDistro.de exclusive-
- 200x silver - also available through CMDistro.de-
- 100x transparent red - Headbangr Edition, available alongside an exclusive t-shirt bundle via Headbangr.dk
Danse Macabre, recorded with Andreas Linnemann at Output Lydstudio and mastered by Lawrence Mackrory at Obey Mastering (Firespawn, Decapitated, LIK), offers extremely focused (de)compositions perfectly blending Boss HM-2 pedal abusing buzz saw guitars, vicious blasts, deep growls and infectious hooks.
Formed in 2015, Baest played over 40 shows within the quintet’s first year of existence, quickly turning heads due to their windmill headbanging skills and ferocious frontman Simon Olsen. Previously, Baest performed at Copenhell, Roskilde, Royal Metal Fest, Eurosonic and supported bands like Hatebreed, Dying Fetus, Entombed A.D. and Illdisposed, in 2018 they will play at Summer Breeze, do a Denmark headlining tour and selected shows supporting Abbath in Germany.
Tour dates:
August
10 - Dirty Days Of Summer - Copenhagen, Denmark
11 - Smukfest - Skanderborg, Denmark
16 - Summer Breeze - Dinkelsbühl, Germany
September (with Abbath)
5 - Leiden, Netherlands - Gebr. De Nobel
6 - Essen, Germany - Turock
7 - Mannheim, Germany - MS Connexion Complex
Japanese metalcore titans CRYSTAL LAKE have released their new single, "The Circle". The track, which features a guest appearance by COLDRAIN's Masato, continues the East Asian band's impressive rise following a mammoth European tour.
The quintet is having a stellar 2018. In February they toured their home country with ATTILA before attending Pulp Summer Slam festival in the Philippines. This was then followed by CRYSTAL LAKE's European headline run.
In October 2017, CRYSTAL LAKE launched its own festival — True North Festival — which included the likes of FIT FOR A KING and COLDRAIN. In 2016, they released their most recent album, "True North", through Cube Records, Artery Recordings (U.S.), and JPU Records (Europe). "True North" debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly indie chart, No. 6 on the iTunes Metal chart (USA), and No. 35 on the Billboard Top New Artist chart.
Guitarist Yudai Miyamoto told Ian Hates about the making of "True North": "We made clear what we really want to express and what kind of music we can be really proud of before we actually start writing songs. As a result, we realized what we wanted to play was what we've been listening and various kinds of music related to the culture around us. This realization made us free to write what we really like."
Hailing from Boston Massachusetts, regressive metal quartet Chuggernaut puts a modern twist on classic riff-driven metal songwriting, blending elements of doom, thrash, groove and post-hardcore into a massive, organic sound all their own. The band are now ready to unleash their Kodiak EP on August 24th. A video for the track "Stranglehold" can be found below.
Kodiak is available for pre-order in multiple formats:
Formed in 2013 by guitarist Dave Cohen and vocalist Jeff Gard, Chuggernaut was born out of a mutual need for raw, irreverent and fundamentally heavy music. With the addition of Blaize Collard on drums and Eric Alper (Replacire) on bass, Chuggernaut began playing basements and stages across Massachusetts, and quickly became entrenched in the underground New England metal scene.
In late 2014, Chuggernaut entered the now defunct Mortal Music studio in Charlestown, MA to begin pre-production for their debut EP, First Batch, which would be recorded in installments over the course of the following year. Prior to the record's release, however, Alper left the band to focus on other projects and in winter of 2015 was replaced with Berklee College of Music professor and former Ice Nine Kills bassist David Marvuglio. First Batch was released in May of 2016, followed by an east coast tour.
Once the summer touring had ended, Chuggernaut traveled down to Providence, RI and tracked a reinterpretation of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" in the old Columbus Theater and adjacent studio, Eyeland - produced, mixed and mastered by Andrew Nault (Arms & Sleepers / Lesser Glow / Long Time.) The band loved the vibe of the studio and working with Nault such that they returned to Eyeland in April 2017 to record their sophomore EP. However, due to mounting tensions between Gard and the rest of the band leading up to the studio session, Jeff and Chuggernaut parted ways shortly afterward. In the months that followed; Cohen, Collard and Marvuglio held vocal auditions and by July, they welcomed pyrotechnic vocalist and performer David Benites into the fold. In November 2017, Cohen, Collard and Marvuglio re-entered Eyeland studio with Benites to record vocals and finish what they started back in April.
Now with their new EP Kodiak available everywhere on August 24th, and an electrifying stage show Chuggernaut is primed and excited to share the next chapter with fans everywhere.
In support of the release, Chuggernaut will be hitting the road starting in August on a short record release tour. A complete list of dates can be found below.
August
23 - Cambridge, MA - Hardcore Stadium
25 - Philadelphia, PA - The Nail
29 - Chicago, IL - Underground Lounge
31 - Lafayette, IN - North End Pub**
September
1 - Nashville, TN - Spring Water Lounge
2 - Greensboro, NC - New York Pizza
5 - Baltimore, MD - The Depot
8 - Connecticut - TBA
Author & Punisher delivers his sixth full-length recording and Relapse debut Beastland on October 5th. Watch the official performance video for “Nihil Strength” below.
Author & Punisher's mastermind Tristan Shone comments: “I built new machines for this album to make more aggressive and dynamic music. These devices are compact and powerful, made from robotic components, intended for high energy repetition. I, as do many others, feel rage against the Beasts of our era: those who horde, who poison, or who discriminate. We need aggressive music to make an aggressive statement. Beastland is an introspection of who we are as a human race. At a time when we have the tools, the intellect, and the history to remind us how to treat each other and the earth, we go far out of our way to feast on the less fortunate and vulnerable, disregarding the atrocities and lessons of the past.”
Additionally, Author & Punisher returns to Europe in October after the release of Beastland, including select concerts with Godflesh, Conan and more. Also, he recently announced the first leg of fall US tour dates with the Uniform & The Body collaboration. Finally, Author & Punisher will perform at Cold Waves Festival throughout September in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. All confirmed tour dates are available below and more announcements to come in the near future.
Author & Punisher’s sixth studio album Beastland is due out on CD/LP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical packages are available for pre-order here and Digital Downloads / Streaming here.
Beastland was recorded at K Street in San Diego, CA and engineered by Tristan Shone & John Cota (Death Eyes). Additional recording was done in Las Cruces, NM with Jason Begin (vytear). The album was co-produced with Braden Diotte (Faust, EXO//ENDO, Neurosis, Pinback, Tarantula Hawk), mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.
Drawing inspiration from his career as a mechanical engineer, Tristan Shone (the creator and sole artist behind Author & Punisher) forged a relationship with design, sound, and fabrication that ultimately yielded his hand-built “Drone Machines” which mapped the journey away from traditional instrumentation towards custom made "precision machinery." A robotic experimentation in industrial metal, noise, doom and drone, Author & Punisher recalls Nine Inch Nails channeling Godflesh, traversing through dark, uncompromising, and often disturbing soundscapes with occasional detours into rich melodies and splinters of light. Armed with newly built “Drone Machines” and a new label, Beastland is Author & Punisher’s career-defining statement and a powerful listening experience that further blurs the line between man and machine.
Beastland tracklisting:
"Pharmacide"
"Nihil Strength"
"Ode To Bedlam"
"The Speaker Is Systematically Blown"
"Nazarene"
"Apparition"
"Night Terror"
"Beastland"
"Nihil Strength" video:
Tour dates:
September
14 - New York, NY - Cold Waves NY @ Irving Plaza
22 - Chicago, IL - Cold Waves VII @ Metro
27 - Los Angeles, CA - Cold Waves LA @ 1720
October
12 - Rotterdam, Netherlands - RVLT Festival
13 - Helsinki, Finland - Blowup Vol. 4
14 - Tallinn, Estonia - Sveta Baar
15 - St. Petersburg, Russia - LES
16 - Moscow, Russia - Model T
17 - Malmo, Sweden - Plan B (w/ Conan)
18 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset (w/ Godflesh)
19 - Oslo, Norway - Bla
20 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Sticky Fingers (w/ Godflesh)
24 - Lisbon, Portugal - MusicBox
25 - Porto, Portugal - Maus Habitos
November (with The Body, Uniform)
8 - Cambridge, MA - Sonia
9 - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
10 - Toronto, ON - Baby G
11 - Detroit, MI - El Club
12 - Oberlin, OH - Dionysus Disco
13 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
15 - Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit Hall
16 - Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA
17 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel
Viking metal veterans EINHERJER have carried out their vision for more than two decades. The band was there when Norwegian extreme metal grew forth and took shape as an enormous cultural export.
Only four years after their masterpiece "Av Oss, For Oss" and two years after "Dragons Of The North XX", the band will release its ninth full-length album, titled "Norrøne Spor", on November 9. The disc's first single and music video, "Spre Vingene", can be seen below.
EINHERJER's Norse heritage is a phenomenon that reaches far beyond what one can hear alone. It is an amalgamation of the mystique and sagas of old, of songs and poems, of woodcutting and sword grinding and the vikings merciless way of life. It's a cultural patchwork that fills the consciousness with the brutal majesty of the Nordic nature, the elemental strain, of mighty longships plowing the black seas to reach unknown shores. The wisdom of the gods and their Valhalla. Of cultural encounters and trade. Of violence and brutality. Of tough men in a tough time. Their hometown Haugesund also rings with historic sound, and from their own shores on the west coast of Norway the influence of the Vikings stretched towards the sea and the world beyond. The adventurers, pioneers, poets and craftsmen have inspired EINHERJER to go their own way. The Vikings' courage and boldness have inspired us to never compromise EINHERJER's vision, a vision that is a unique, self-made, original and modern interpretation of our mighty Nordic heritage.
EINHERJER vocalist and bassist Frode Glesnes commented: "Classic EINHERJER meets the future and the past. No, we have not returned to our roots. That's a way overused cliché and it always calls for bullshit. We have simply written and arranged more stuff together.
"On our last few albums we have written songs separately; this time we've looked at what happens when Gerhard and me are in a room together.
"We still have a firm grip on what EINHERJER is all about. That will never change.
"Here is 10 new songs that any heathen metalhead should be able to love and appreciate. No bullshit, just 10 great metal songs."
He added about the single: "New EINHERJER single. It always feels good to release something new, but this time we've fuckin' nailed it! Can't wait to present the whole album."
Two-time-Grammy-nominated blues-rock titan Joe Bonamassa has released the music video for his track "King Bee Shakedown", taken from his upcoming studio album, "Redemption", which is due on September 21 via his own record label J&R Adventures.
According to a press release, "King Bee Shakedown" "is reminiscent of high-energy swing and jump-blues, styles artists like Brian Setzer helped to revive throughout the '80s. The song is a high-tempo boogie complete with booming backbeats from the drums, blaring horn stabs, a red-hot solo from Joe."
If the stylistic exploration wasn't courageous enough, Joe decided to play "King Bee Shakedown" as the opener to the majority of his 2018 live performances. With the fans twisting in their seats and the band having a blast on stage, the decision seemed to pay off as it has quickly become a fan favorite on this leg of Joe's tour.
"Redemption", Bonamassa's 13th solo studio album and third in a row of all-original material, sees him at his most ambitious yet as he continues to redefine and push the barriers of blues-rock. It features a staggering collection of 12 songs that weave effortlessly through an assortment of genres and reflect the artistic rebirth that he is currently experiencing.
"I'm going through some other stuff in my life I didn't expect to be going through," he explains. "It's a rising, it's contrition, it's acceptance, it's everything. It's painful, but knowing that there's a rising coming."
The album reunites Bonamassa with some of Nashville's finest music minds such as Tom Hambridge, James House, Gary Nicholson as well as Richard Page and American rock and roll legend Dion DiMucci (THE WANDERER, RUN-AROUND SUE) who adds his songwriting expertise to the title track. Joe also continues his long creative relationship with Kevin Shirley and together create an album bigger than ever before. "From a producer's perspective, this is far and away the most challenging and diverse album that Joe has ever made, " says Shirley.
The album was recorded at various locations, including Blackbird Studios in Nashville, The Cave Australia in Sydney, Studio At The Palms in Las Vegas, Criteria Hit Factory in Miami and Addiction Sound Studios in Nashville. It was once again recorded with a remarkable collection of musicians, including drummer Anton Fig (DAVID LETTERMAN BAND), bassist Michael Rhodes, keyboardist Reese Wynans, horn players Lee Thornburg and Paulie Cerra, harmony vocalist Gary Pinto, background singers Mahalia Barnes, Jade McRae, Juanita Tippins, and Kevin Shirley introduced two additional guitar players, Kenny Greenberg and Doug Lancio. "It was interesting, because having two extra guitar players involved, allowed me to play a certain way," Bonamassa adds.
The album opens with a tip of the hat to LED ZEPPELIN on "Evil Mama" that burrows into a deep groove before ripping into the rockabilly-tinged boogie blues of "King Bee Shakedown". Next, Bonamassa dips into his BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION influence to tell a tragic tale with timeless hard rock riffs for "Molly-O" and "Deep In The Blues Again" changes the course yet again with a driving rhythm meant for the car stereo.
"Self-Inflicted Wounds" is most telling of Bonamassa's progression as a true singer-songwriter, and Joe claims it as his best songwriting yet. "Pick Up The Pieces" channels Tom Waits for a late night after hours while "The Ghost of Macon Jones" sees Joe trade vocals with Nashville country singer Jamey Johnson as they recount a cautionary tale of a rural renegade. "Just Cos You Can Don't Mean You Should" channels Gary Moore for an upbeat taste of blues-rock euphoria before Bonamassa makes light of his trials and tribulations on "I've Got Some Mind Over What Matters".
Then Joe strips it down to only acoustic guitar and vocals on the heart-breaking tale of "Stronger Now In Broken Places", which promises that things will be better over time and features MIDNIGHT OIL's Jim Moginie providing soundscapes and Kate Stone on the hand pan. After this intense musical journey, Joe wraps it all up with a traditional blues rock tune with "Love is A Gamble".
There is a resounding theme of redemption and salvation on the album, but also very much a sense of strength and empowerment. "We all need to be redeemed at some point in our lives. It's this yearning to redeem yourself after just this tremendous loss and this tremendous feeling of pain," explains Bonamassa.
Bonamassa is at his ultimate creative peak with "Redemption", which follows the recent release of his last live masterpiece, "British Blues Explosion Live", that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart and marked his 20th No. 1 album. Bonamassa's fire is unstoppable both in the studio and live on the road.
After six long, harsh years of absence, the mighty PIG DESTROYER have reassembled to eradicate eardrums and split skulls with their highly anticipated sixth full-length opus, titled "Head Cage" (named after a grisly medieval torture device). "Head Cage" is due out September 7 via Relapse Records.
The official music video for "The Torture Fields", directed and edited by Frank Huang and featuring live footage from Decibel Metal & Beer Fest and Southwest Terror Fest, and live photos by Mark Valentino, can be seen below.
A visceral vortex of animalistic rage and extreme sonic brilliance, "Head Cage" is a true work of extreme metal art, that with the addition of a bass player, is hands down their most dynamic and heaviest recording to date. Across twelve tracks, PIG DESTROYER weave together harrowing tales of philosophical dualities, touching on mortality and depression, fear and violence, and the darkest complexities of the human condition, all told through the distorted lens of delightfully transgressive vocalist/lyricist JR Hayes. Musically, the band continues to push the boundaries of metal, grindcore, noise and punk, ramping up the intensity and leaving you bludgeoned in a state of utter shock, all in less than 33 minutes.
"Head Cage" was recorded by guitarist Scott Hull at Visceral Sound Studios, mixed and mastered by Will Putney (EXHUMED, EVERY TIME I DIE, BODY COUNT) and features striking artwork by Mark McCoy (FULL OF HELL, NOTHING) along with guest vocal appearances by AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED's Richard Johnson and Kat Katz plus FULL OF HELL's Dylan Walker.
The "Head Cage" cover artwork was created by Mark McCoy and can be seen below.
Long-standing New York death metallers PYREXIA have released the music video for the title track of their upcoming album, "Unholy Requiem". The LP, which is arguably the group's most vicious and skull-crushingly heavy offering in a 20-plus-year career full of brutal moments, will see a September 14 release on Unique Leader.
Founding guitarist Chris Basile commented: "The band is super excited to finally release the video for the title track of our new album, 'Unholy Requiem'. The production value is definitely next level for us. Something you might see on the History Channel. The storyline follows a man who loses his wife and then performs a sort of blood ritual out of desperation to get her back. What happens next is nothing short of an abomination."
"Unholy Requiem" was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Subsonic Audio by Chris Basile and shows the band returning to their filthy, pulverizing, classic sound.
Basile said of the album: "This album is definitely the band returning to its roots. It's dirty. It's raw. It's punishing. It's us. It's a hungry Album and we fed it a strict diet of pain, sweat, and blast beats."
Not to be dismissed as a simple throwback album however, "Unholy Requiem" shows that PYREXIA still absolutely dominate the brutal death metal sound that they helped give birth to. These eight slabs of blistering, pulverizing menace show a band that are still still pushing themselves forward, determined to continue raising the bar for extreme music. This album, with all of its pummeling groove and signature riff-laden violence, is nothing less than pure sonic vitriol.
"Unholy Requiem" track listing:
01. Angels Of Gomorrah
02. Blood To Ash
03. Moment Of Violence
04. Path Of Disdain
05. The Annointed
06. The Fall Of Eden
07. Unholy Reqiuem
08. Wrath
This November, PYREXIA will take part in the "Grand Slam" European tour alongside PATHOLOGY, EPICARDIECTOMY, KRAANIUM and SINAYA as well as performing on this year's "Bloodletting North America" tour.
Dallas, Texas-based neo-metal band Phoenix Rising has released an official music video for their single "Do You Know". The track is featured on the band's debut EP, Ignite (out now).
"Ignite is a compilation of songs that delivers our initial message, summing up who we are as a group and what we want to say to the world." - Phoenix Rising
Tracklisting:
"Do You Know"
"Open You Up"
"If I Say No"
"Lights Out"
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