"Preachers Of Death", the new video from Swedish thrashers THE HAUNTED, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's ninth studio album, "Strength In Numbers", which will be released on August 25 via Century Media. The disc was recorded at Parlour Studios in the U.K. with producer Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR, THE EXPLOITED).
THE HAUNTED stated about the clip, which was produced by Oscar Dziedziela of OD Visual: "'Preachers Of Death' is the third video from the new album 'Strength In Numbers'. It's a stomping number with all the elements of a true THE HAUNTED song. Turn it up and stretch your neck, cause this is a banger."
The artwork for "Strength In Numbers" was once again created by THE HAUNTED's longtime designer Andreas Pettersson.
"Strength In Numbers" track listing:
01. Fill The Darkness With Black02. Brute Force03. Spark04. Preachers Of Death05. Strength In Numbers06. Tighten The Noose07. This Is The End08. The Fall09. Means To An End10. Monuments
The album's limited-edition Mediabook CD version will include the bonus tracks "Illusions" and "Sinister", expanded layouts as well as three stickers. "Strength In Numbers" will also be available on 180-gram vinyl in various editions:
And last but not least, a strictly limited Deluxe LP package will be available from CM Distro / CM Webshop in Europe. This very special edition is limited to 500 copies on transparent red colored vinyl and comes with a printed guitar tablature book, a poster, a set of three guitar picks and the entire album on CD as bonus.
British rockers THE DARKNESS have released their expletive-drenched new single, "Solid Gold", via Cooking Vinyl, accompanied by a video of the self-proclaimed rock legends performing in a huge aircraft hanger amongst a mass of glam-rock lighting and Marshall speaker stacks. Frontman Justin Hawkins announces: "We have written this song to reassure you all that having now released more music in the period after our well-publicized hiatus than in the period before it, we have no intention whatsoever of stopping. Hence the lyric 'We're never gonna stop... Shitting out solid gold.' Barring any unforeseen circumstances, THE DARKNESS will always be here to delight and beguile. You're welcome." An absolute monster of a rock song, "Solid Gold" takes no prisoners whatsoever, taking direct aim at the music industry and addressing record companies, egos and the insincerity that comes with it. It will make uncomfortable listening for A&R men everywhere… "There's a guy coming down from Sony / Artist and RepertoireIf he likes what he hears in those stupid ears / I can buy myself a faster carBlowing smoke up our arses / Everything we do is aceHe wants to wine and dine us / He's desperate to sign us 'Cause we melted his fucking face" "Solid Gold" is the latest single from THE DARKNESS's forthcoming album, "Pinewood Smile", due out on October 6 through Cooking Vinyl. The disc finds THE DARKNESS on electrifying form, delivering some of the most sharp-witted, infectious, humorous and downright brilliant songs of their career. The album is also the first to feature the drumming and vocal talents of new band member Rufus Tiger Taylor, son of QUEEN legend Roger Taylor, who shares vocal duties with Justin on two of the tracks. To celebrate the release of "Pinewood Smile", THE DARKNESS will tour extensively at the end of this year, playing seventeen dates in the U.K. throughout November and December, including a headline show at London's Hammersmith Eventim Apollo on December 10. The shows are part of a wider European tour.
Swedish metallers SABATON and the massively popular MMO game World Of Tanks have collided to forge a new genre: tank metal. The band's love of history, which blasts through in their music, reviving dramatic, historical events made them a perfect match for the historical tank warfare game developed by Wargaming. Both communities have a love of history and are proud that their players are bursting with musical creativity and passion.
SABATON collaborated with World Of Tanks to put a new spin on the band's awesome song "Primo Victoria". The tune is an iconic song from the studio album released in 2005, which is loved by the fans all over the world.
Watch the video below.
When Wargaming discovered that SABATON were players of the game, they couldn't wait to collaborate with the band and ultimately created a music video that encapsulates World Of Tanks' drive and style. Directed by famous German music video and commercial director Zoran Bihac, the creative genius behind videos including "Mein Herz Brennt" (RAMMSTEIN), "Eat You Alive" (EMIGRATE) and "Praise Abort" (LINDEMANN), the video features the song "Primo Victoria" and focuses on all the emotions felt during a heroic tank battle.
"Understanding the setting of World of Tanks, I can easily say that this game is about history and its importance, but to be honest: also about fun," said Zoran Bihac. "It awakens the inner child in you; it's how I feel about my work, and it resonates with SABATON's style. I wanted to keep the feeling of the game, and especially of their trailers, which look like real, historically accurate movies. This had to be combined with the song and our performance. To create a story, I came up with the setting of a normal performance video, where the tanks come alive, and start to hunt and shoot each other."
A number of the shots for the tanks were filmed in Arsenalen Tank Museum, Strängnäs, Sweden. The action scenes were shot on a military base in Belarus, where the band got a totally new experience of riding in actual WW2 tanks. The wall destruction scene was shot on the first take with a Panzer III actually crashing through the wall, with Pär Sundström on board.
"Working closely with talented musicians like SABATON was an awesome experience for us," said Maxim Chuvalov, World Of Tanks marketing director. "One of the challenges we faced was that the band was constantly on tour, preforming shows all over the world almost every day. We had to find a slot in their tight schedule to bring the idea to life. Thankfully, the guys were very energetic and flexible, as well as really hardworking, so the project took shape. We're really proud to have such talented musicians in our community and super excited to present the tank metal video to our fans."
Fans can expect more tank metal coming to World Of Tanks. On August 17, the first-ever music tank, the Strv 81 Primo Victoria, will be available in the game with some cool camo and unique features like a SABATON crew with the captain's VO, Band Of Brothers perk, and more.
Iris Divine has announced the new song and video "Taking Back The Fall" as the lead single from the upcoming album, The Static And The Noise out October 6th. The video was filmed and edited by Chris Ratterree and Jamie Rose of Absolute Future Studios.
Kris Combs states "‘Taking Back The Fall’ is the first official video Iris Divine has made, and we couldn't be more pleased with the turnout. We filmed it in a warehouse that was about to be destroyed, and just knowing the fate of the place added to the overall vibe of the shoot. We wanted to showcase the live energy of Iris Divine with a performance clip, and the intensity of us jamming together. The song itself is a stellar example of what Iris is about; equal parts heavy, melodic and emotional, with a few rhythmic twists and a memorable chorus hook. We had a blast making it and hope you enjoy it!”
Tracklisting:
“Catalyst”
“Taking Back The Fall”
“Echoes / Effigies”
“Fractures”
“The Static And The Noise”
“Like Glass”
“The Acolyte”
“We All Dissolve”
Texas thrash legion Warbeast has released the new video for “Hitchhiker”. The tune, delivered as an 18-minute horror movie, comes by way of the band's recently issued Enter The Arena full-length and is based on Edwin Neal's character in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Elaborates vocalist Bruce Corbitt, "I've actually had this idea of using Ed Neal for a music video for a long time. So after we knew for sure that we were going to include a song called 'Hitchhiker' on the new Warbeast album, the timing was right to make this old idea become a new reality. The lyrics for the song are based on Ed's character from the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. But this short film/music video is not related to that movie plot in any way. This is really just a silly script and a band having fun working on our final project together. Ed was a complete professional and great to work with and we are excited to have him starring in this. But like I said, this film isn't to be taken serious I hope you have as much fun watching it as we had making it. Thanks to Michael Huebner and 12 Pound Productions for doing a great job filming and editing this video. I also got to give a shout-out to Lee Russell and Gas Monkey Live for allowing us to film the music portion of this film there."
Enter The Arena - which was captured at Philip H. Anselmo's famed Nodferatu's Lair, mixed by Mike Thompson at the Riff Factory and mastered by Lee Russell - features newest Warbeast recruits, guitarist Drew Shoup and bassist Lyric Ferchaud, and stands among band's most potent, volatile, and unrepentantly powerful offering yet.
Enter The Arena bundles are currently available at Housecore Records.
Tracklisting:
“Centuries Of Poisoned Soil”
“Punishment For Gluttony”
“Orchestration Of Violence”
“Maze Of The Minotaur”
“Hitchhiker”
“Chemicals Consuming”
“Enter The Arena”
“The Scalping”
“Conjuration With The Devil”
“Ancient Hate”
Album stream:
The release of Warbeast's Enter The Arena follows Corbitt's recent esophageal cancer diagnosis. A treatable though rarely curable disease, Corbitt faces the likelihood that he will never be able to sing again. The singer, who is currently undergoing an intensive schedule of radiation treatments, played his final show on Saturday, May 27th at the Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas. View the farewell footage below:
PAPA ROACH pulls no punches when it comes to politics. Earlier this year, the California rockers made headlines for taking on Paul Ryan in defense of the Affordable Care Act, but it's "American Dreams", the latest single off the band's ninth LP, "Crooked Teeth", where PAPA ROACH goes all in on the current state of America's political affairs. "America is struggling, America is divided, America is hurting right now," explains PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix. "We're at a fever pitch of confusion, smoke and mirrors, blatant lies. The American Dream is on the chopping block." "Have you ever thought that war was a sickness?" asks the lifelong pacifist in the lyrics for the track. "My father is a Vietnam veteran. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the disintegration of the American family are things I've dealt with personally. I know other people relate." The official video for "American Dreams" can be seen below. Shot in Shaddix's rural Northern California hometown of Sacramento, the clip was produced and directed by Bryson Roatch, and features a cast of real-life Americans fighting to create their own version of the elusive American Dream and addresses many of the issues preventing them from attaining that dream.
PAPA ROACH has spent the last few months touring in support of "Crooked Teeth", which was released on May 19 via Eleven Seven Music.
The official "live" video for the song "Selfish Age" from AS LIONS, the British rock outfit fronted by Austin Dickinson — the son of IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson — can be seen below. The track is the title cut of the band's debut full-length album, which was released on January 20 via Better Noise Records.
"Selfish Age" is the follow-up to AS LIONS' debut EP, "Aftermath", released last year. Helmed by award-winning producer David Bendeth (OF MICE & MEN, PARAMORE, BRING ME THE HORIZON) and Kane Churko (FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, DISTURBED, IN THIS MOMENT), "Selfish Age" is an illustration of the band's mission to create "the biggest, baddest hard rock we could, and on an almost cinematic scale." The album's eleven dynamic tracks are a study in contrasts, with the epic and evocative "Aftermath", the crushing "Deathless", which targets the Internet culture's obsession with image, "Bury My Dead", a hard-hitting personal statement complemented by stately piano tinklings, and the electro-tinged title track, "Selfish Age".
Comprised of Dickinson, guitarist and keyboardist Conor O'Keefe, guitarist Will Homer, bassist Stefan Whiting and drummer Dave Fee, AS LIONS is the evolution of British rock.
"Selfish Age" track listing:
01. Aftermath02. The Suffering03. Bury My Dead04. Deathless 05. Selfish Age06. White Flags07. Pieces08. World On Fire09. One By One10. The Fall11. The Great Escape
AS LIONS was formed after the breakup of Austin's previous band, RISE TO REMAIN, which released one album, "City Of Vultures", in 2011.
Northwest Indiana’s Cloakroom have released a video for “Concrete Gallery”, a track from their upcoming second album, Time Well. The new clip is available for streaming below.
Grandiose and deeply insular, Time Well is a work that transcends simple genre descriptors as the trio prove dually capable of conjuring lumbering walls of sound as well as forlorn Americana (as predicted by a recent Songs: Ohia cover the band posted to Bandcamp). Cloakroom occupies a space between worlds, crafting its unique brand of thoughtfully heavy music, something Relapse has long specialized in.
Time Well will be released worldwide August 18th on CD/2xLP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical pre-orders and exclusive bundles are currently available via Relapse.com at this location and digital pre-orders are available via Bandcamp here.
For the new album, the trio (consisting of vocalist-guitarist Doyle Martin, bassist Robert Markos, and drummer Brian Busch) opted to explore their shared creative space by building their own studio, transforming their practice space into a sonic laboratory in which they could immerse themselves in every aspect of the creative process. Once the studio had completed its transition it became a workspace that was essential to the creation of Time Well, sheltering the band from the outside world as they immersed themselves in the songs and pushed sounds to their furthest limits.
“We could work at all hours of the night and pick up where we left off days later,“ said Doyle Martin. “We vaulted the ceiling, amassed some gear with a little help from Relapse, and, after laying a rat's nest of cables through the place, we started to record.”
Cloakroom first materialized back in 2012 with a couple songs that appeared on a Bandcamp page with the succinct description: “Cloakroom consists of three factory workers from the Region.” As far as biographies go it’s about as terse as they come, but it conveys simple facts that speak to greater truths. Cloakroom is still a trio and still resides in the Region, a unique amalgam of cities and towns in Northwest Indiana that’s equal parts industrial and rural, a sense of space that leaves a distinctive sonic imprint across all the band’s recorded works. With Time Well, Cloakroom shows itself untethered from the present moment. It’s a record that’s flanked by contradictory ideas that are always running parallel; growth begets destruction begets death. It’s an unending cycle, and Time Well is the soundtrack to that unending, awe-inspiring momentum.
Time Well tracklisting:
“Gone But Not Entirely”
“Big World”
“Concrete Gallery”
“Seedless Star”
“Sickle Moon Blues”
“Hymnal”
“The Sun Won’t Let Us Go”
“Time Well”
“52Hz Whale”
“The Passenger”
“Concrete Gallery” video:
“The Sun Won’t Let Us Go” video:
“Seedless Star” video:
Additionally, Cloakroom have announced a run of fall tour dates throughout North America. The band will kick off the fall with a record release show in Chicago before venturing east in October.
September
1 - Chicago, IL - Schuba’s *Record Release Show*
29 - Kalamazoo, MI - Bell’s Brewery
30 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison
October
1 - Montreal, QC - La Vitrola
3 - Boston, MA - Middle East
4 - Brooklyn, NY - St. Vitus
6 - Philadelphia, PA - Philamoca
7 - Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong
8 - Cleveland, OH - Mahall’s
Sweden’s The Quill will release their new album, Born From Fire, on August 25th via Metalville. A video for the album’s opening track, “Stone Believer”, is available for streaming below.
The classic lineup who created the albums Silver Haze, Voodoo Caravan and Hooray! It's A Deathtrip has reunited. Lead singer Magnus Ekwall (Ayreon) is back behind the mic, together with the dynamic power of drummer Jolle Atlagic (Hanoi Rocks, Electric Boys, Firebird), guitarist Christian Carlsson and bassist Roger Nilsson (Spiritual Beggars, Firebird).
The new album will be released on digital, CD and double vinyl in gatefold sleeve.
Tracklisting:
“Stone Believer”
“Snake Charmer Woman”
“Ghosthorse”
“Keep It Together”
“The Spirit And The Spark”
“Skull & Bones”
“Set Free Black Crow”
“Electrical Sons”
“Hollow Of Your Hand”
“Unchain Yourself”
“Revelation”
“Metamorphosis”
Poland-based epic black/death metallers, Devilish Impressions, will release their new album, The I, on September 22nd via Lifeforce Records. Check out a music video for the album’s title track, available for streaming below.
Recorded at various studios, including Dobra12 (drums) and Icaros Studio (guitars) the disc was mixed and mastered at Impressive Art Studio by Przemyslaw Nowak who also handled vocals recording sessions and guitars’ re-amping. The album’s artwork, design and layout were created by Infected Minds.
The album features special guest appearances by Mercyful Fate/King Diamond guitarist Mike Wead and by vocalist / guitarist Ares of Norway’s dark metal masters Aeternus. Other artists who also contributed to the record are shamanic ritual meditative experimental act Bon and Impressive Art Studio’s owner Przemyslaw Nowak, who came up with interludes, additional background tunes and effects.
“It’s been a really long way to be finally able to wrap it all up, countless nights spent on writing the music and lyrics first, then working on the album’s pre-production, followed by what seemed to be never-ending, proper recording sessions, and tones of work that had to be done for the band afterwards. We really wanted this new album to become something really special and therefore, to avoid any haphazard decisions, we let them come out of us smoothly, without putting ourselves under any external tension and stuff. Did it pay off? Well, we’ll see… We surely worked our asses off, pushed things back and forth to get the best out of it. As a result we’ve got something we are damn proud of, something that we believe surpasses on all possible levels everything we’ve done in the past. I simply believe we’d outdone ourselves and recorded something that will cause your hearts beat faster…,” comments Quazarre, the band’s composer, vocalist and guitarist.
The title chosen, The I, for the record is not only a phonetic acronym of the band’s name, but above all it reflects the manifesto they stand for since the Horde’s inception in the year 2000 - the notion of freedom of choice and will. A supremacy of an individual over any external factors being imposed on us by others, with special emphasis on religion and its convictions, dogmas and paradigms. The I is a rebellious manifesto targeted against all those who stand opposed to anything that drives us towards individual perfection.
The album will be available as CD digipak, limited vinyl LP and digital download.
CD digipak tracklisting:
“The I”
“The Dove And The Serpent”
“Eosphoros”
“Blood Imprinted Stigma”
“Ipse philosophvs, daemon, Devs et omnia”
“Czern i Biel”
“The Fatal Messiah”
Vinyl tracklisting:
“The I”
“The Dove And The Serpent”
“Blood Imprinted Stigma”
“Eosphoros”
“Ipse philosophvs, daemon, Devs et omnia”
“The Fatal Messiah”
"Call Broken Arrow", the new video from AT THE DRIVE IN, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's first album in seven years, "Inter Alia" (Latin for "among other things"), which was released on May 5 via Rise Records.
Directed by Rob Shaw, "Call Broken Arrow" acts as the prequel to the video for "Hostage Stamps", as it unfolds a story of previously seen prisoner and faceless captors — with an eerie appearance by mechanized spiders. Using the same intricate mix of digital and stop-motion animation, the video for "Call Broken Arrow" gives viewers a closer look behind the man's reason for imprisonment.
Shaw explains: "In 'Hostage Stamps', we have a prisoner being tortured and monitored by some sort of authoritarian organization. The guys wanted to show why he was imprisoned, as well as cast doubt over his innocence. It's funny how in stories, especially film stories, you tend to sympathize with whoever you spend time with. When you watch someone being mistreated, the assumption is that person is the victim. 'Call Broken Arrow' is in part about illustrating the prisoner's culpability, but even that is in doubt as we see the Watcher character who follows him around slipping something in his drink at the end."
The striking animation featured in "Call Broken Arrow" utilized what Shaw describes as an "old film technique approach" — the team used rotating buildings, sliding clouds and in-camera practical effects to create an immersive world for the viewer.
Produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Rich Costey at Hollywood's Sound Factory, "Inter Alia" picks up where 2000's "Relationship Of Command" left off… and rockets off into myriad other trajectories as unpredictable as they are intense. "Inter Alia" track listing:
01. No Wolf Like The Present02. Continuum 03. Tilting At The Univendor04. Governed By Contagions05. Pendulum In A Peasant Dress06. Incurably Innocent 07. Call Broken Arrow 08. Holtzclaw 09. Torrentially Cutshaw10. Ghost-Tape No. 911. Hostage Stamps AT THE DRIVE IN is Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Paul Hinojos, Tony Hajjar and Keeley Davis.
Former The 3rd And The Mortal vocalist Kari Rueslåtten, who is also one-third of The Sirens also featuring Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) and Liv Kristine (ex-Leaves' Eyes), has checked in with the following update:
"Here is the brand new video for 'Spellbound'! It is taken from my upcoming album, Silence Is The Only Sound, out August 25th! Pre-order of CD/LP here.
Kari issued the following update in 2016:
"In 1995 I had just left The 3rd and the Mortal. I was sad about leaving them, but I was also eager to start making songs on my own. I bought a 4-track Portastudio and started to record new music onto the cassette. I decided to send the songs to record companies, but also release the songs on my own on a CD. Soon the CD was sold out, and I had a record deal with Sony Music Norway. I have had a little dream to put the songs on vinyl one day – and now this has become a reality! My very good friend Arild Juul has made a fresh version of the front cover, and I have found two previously un-released songs from another 1995-session and added them as bonus tracks."
Demo Recordings 1995 track-listing:
Side A:
"The Homecoming Song "
"Våkenatt"
"The Gathering"
"Rapunsel"
"Forsaken"
Side B:
"The Shadowchant"
"In Here"
"Dead"
"In a Day"
Vancouver metal act Spell has released a new video for “River Of Sleep”. The song is taken from the band's current album, For None and All, out now on Bad Omen.
For None And All was recorded entirely on analogue tape. No digital editing or computer trickery took place, just many hours of hard live playing.
Spell, a power-trio comprising Cam Mesmer (lead vocals/bass) Graham McVie (guitars/backing vocals) and Lester Spectre (drums/backing vocals) started out life as Stryker (not to be confused with Striker, the other Canadian metal band who released records on Napalm Records), playing ‘80s-inspired and thrash-damaged metal, before they made the decision to change their moniker to better reflect the more oracular style that was evolving in splendid isolation in British Columbia. “I like the mysterious sort of mood that the name 'Spell' sets” explains Cam. “So much of this world is focused on elucidating, deciphering, explaining the world around us. That's too analytical and pedantic for me. I believe there is just as much value in mystifying, shrouding, cyphering. The only real truth is one you arrive at yourself, so it won't help if I tell you what to think. Take what you want from it. I'd like Spell to be a force in that direction.”
Croatian metallers, Rising Dream, have released a music video for the title track of their upcoming album System Corrupt. Directed by Igor Goić (Kreathia Studio Zadar) the video is first of many to be released for the 10 new songs recorded at Sweetspot Studios in Sweden, produced by metal mastermind Rickard Bengtsson (Arch Enemy, Opeth, Spiritual Beggars).
Rising Dream just returned from their successful performance at the one and the only Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. Live video from Wacken gig will be released soon.
Norwegian progressive black avantgardists ENSLAVED will release their new album, "E", on October 13 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2015's "In Times" was recorded at Duper & Solslottet Studios in Bergen and was once again mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden.
To provide a first taste of what's to come, the band now unveils their debut music video for the ten-minute-long single "Storm Son", which blends mesmerizing prog with jarring extreme metal and a folky atmosphere. The music video was designed by Josh Graham, who previously worked with SOUNDGARDEN and NEUROSIS, among others, and delivered a truly spectacular piece of animated art that you can watch below.
"'Storm Son' deals with the duality of man and nature, how important and basic that relationship is," explains ENSLAVED songwriter and guitarist Ivar Bjørnson. "Everything we do and create are imitations of nature; as we evolved from nature, that is how it must be — yet modern man thinks he and she is independent of nature, that we somehow are so superior that we do not have to take nature into consideration other than as a backdrop for shitty movies. Or festivals. Losing touch with nature is basically to lose touch with being human."
A press release states: "This fourteenth full-length masterpiece sets the musical mind-twisters free from genre boundaries and offers an unprecedented mix of prog, extreme metal and shoegaze on eight tracks with a play time of more than an hour.
"The album was once again written by the unholy alliance of Bjørnson and singer and bassist Grutle Kjellson and marks the introduction of their new keyboard master and clean vocalist Håkon Vinje.
"'E' heralds a new era for ENSLAVED. Its cover artwork was once again hand-painted by the Norwegian artist Truls Espedal.
"As support for their brave sound journey, the quintet brought several guest musicians on board for the songs 'Hiindsiight' and 'Feathers Of Eolh', including WARDRUNA's Einar Kvitrafn Selvik, flutist Daniel Mage and jazz saxophonist Kjetil Møster."
Ivar explains the "E" title: "The concept of the album lies in both its meaning as a letter in the latin alphabet and its runic reference: the rune 'Ehwaz', that is depicted as an 'M' when drawn as rune (just to make sure it gets really confusing) — the runes are drawn to look like what they literally mean. Ehwaz (pronounced and used as what's known as E, but drawn as an 'M') looks like and means 'horse.' Which is closely linked to its esoteric meaning; which is 'trust' and 'co-operation.' One of mankind's oldest and deepest pairings/collaborations with any 'outside' entities is with the horse. When they were first tamed and utilized, there must have arisen the notion of some esoteric link between the two; now we could move swiftly, escape faster and even eat and drink from the animal (both horse milk and horse blood), and of course show off and brag before our enemies and peers with the most spectacular horses.
"So, no, it is not about horses! It is about the symbioses that surrounds us; which are vital to our existence, to our development — on all scales: man and vessel (for instance horse, yes), a person and its significant other, child and parent, musician and instrument, chaos and order, subconscious and conscious, Oden and Sleipnir — wisdom and communication. There are many levels and variations of this concept on the album; the duality of man and nature, present and past personalities within one self, the conscious fear and the subconscious drive. And other symbiosis."
"E" is now available for pre-order through Nuclear Blast's online store in a variety of packages, including green and brown vinyl.
"E" track listing
01. Storm Son02. The River's Mouth03. Sacred Horse04. Axis Of The Worlds05. Feathers Of Eolh06. Hiindsiight07. Djupet (bonus track)08. What Else Is There? (RÖYKSOPP cover; bonus track)
"I'm always psyched and proud when we have finished an album recording, and this is no exception!" states Kjellson. "It was a really exciting process this time, with the lineup change and everything, so although it wasn't a dramatic change, the band dynamics were suddenly different. But, it was like a little re-boot, a fresh start so to speak. The studio sessions were great, and we all feel that we have done something truly amazing. We hope you'll enjoy it. Ugh!"
Bjørnson recently stated about ENSLAVED's new album: "I have never worked this hard to put together music for an album before. We are a tighter unit than ever before, which is obvious sonically. The concept conjured by myself and old war-brother Grutle is the strongest we have worked with. Finally, I am proud that we have taken more risks than ever before, and one in particular — and it is yielding awesome results. What does that mean? Stay tuned to find out!"
Portland doom quartet, Usnea, have released a video for “Pyrrhic Victory”, a track from their upcoming third full-length album, Portals Into Futility. The clip can be found below.
Inspired by dystopian science-fiction and the painful intersection of today's crushing reality, Portals Into Futility is five songs and 56 minutes of expertly crafted and elegantly depressive doom/sludge. With an evolved sound of strength and dynamism, Usnea delve more into the worlds of dissonant death metal, varied vocal structures and cinematic composition, all while maintaining the monumental heaviness, brutality, discord, anger, and mournful melodicism of their previous work. Across dark and brooding peaks and valleys, Usnea remind us that no matter how many doors are opened to the human species, our self-aggrandizement and hubris all lead to futility.
Portals Into Futility is due out September 8th on CD/2xLP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical pre-orders and exclusive bundles are currently available via Relapse.com at this location and digital pre-orders are available via Bandcamp here.
Portals Into Futility tracklisting:
“Eidolons And The Increate”
“Lathe Of Heaven”
“Demon Haunted World”
“Pyrrhic Victory”
“A Crown Of Desolation”
“Pyrrhic Victory” video:
“Lathe Of Heaven”:
Usnea will tour throughout Europe dates this fall as direct support for Ufomammut. The tour commences on September 30th in Paris and ends October 22nd in Munich while hitting 19 different cities. The tour includes appearances at multiple festivals including Up In Smoke, Doornroosje Festival and Keep It Doom. The band will also perform an exclusive US set at Psycho Las Vegas on August 18th. A complete listing of dates is available below.
Tour dates:
August
18 - Las Vegas, NV - Psycho Las Vegas
September (with Ufomammut)
30 - Paris, France - La Boule Noire
October (with Ufomammut)
1 - Nantes, France - Le Ferrailleur
3 - London, UK - Borderline
4 - Brussels, Belgium - Magasin 4
5 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
6 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Up In Smoke
7 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Soulcrusher Festival @ Doornroosje Festival
8 - Bielefed, Germany - Forum
10 - Oslo, Norway - Blitz
11 - Stockholm, Sweden - Klub Undergangen
13 - Helsinki, Finland - Korjaamo Blowup VOL 3
14 - Tampere, Finland - Olympia-Kortelli
16 - Copenhagen, Denmark - KB 18
17 - Berlin, Germany - Lido
18 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
19 - Leipzig, Germany - Werk 2
20 - Wroclaw, Poland - Firley
21 - Prag Checkt, Germany - 007
22 - Munich, Germany - Keep It Doom
A lyric video for “Waiting For You To Die”, the lead track from Lord Of The Lost’s upcoming Swan Songs II album, is available for streaming below.
With their Swan Songs-series, Lord Of The Lost showcase their ability to create fascinatingly heavy classical music. This is the second time the Hamburg-based dark rockers have conjured their music with an ensemble album in such grandiose style. Their upcoming masterpiece, Swan Songs II, will be released October 6th via Napalm Records and will feature some of the finest dark rock-sinfonia coated by dramatic arrangements with a chamber orchestra.
"You could say Swan Songs is some kind of a side-project for us, but Swan Songs II is predominated with 10 brand new songs so we would like to emphasize its independence as a main album," vocalist Chris Harms explains. "After our show at Gothic Meets Classic and when we started to re-arrange our songs with a symphonic orchestra in 2014 for the first Swan Songs release back in early 2015, this album turned out as a huge success. Sold out shows, many emotions and tears behind, on and in front of the stage, it's been a very touching record for us and our fans, so that kept motivating us as well as in our creative freedom to release the next chapter of new songs you won't hear as normal rock versions, and what should become Swan Songs II."
Swan Songs II tracklisting:
“Waiting For You To Die”
“Lighthouse”
“The Broken Ones”
“My Better Me”
“Ribcages”
“Wander In Sable”
“The Devil You Know”
“We Were Divine”
“From The Brink Of The Other World”
“Fall Asleep”
“Waiting For You To Die” lyric video:
Teaser:
A true opus featuring ten brand-new songs, which showcase tender strings and charming piano play with a heaviness one has come to expect from the band. Once more Lord Of The Lost manage to deliver their songs with a new beauty and gloss, and prove that they cannot be reduced to their brute site only. Swan Songs II is a touching creation with top arrangements.
Swan Songs II will be available as CD Digi Pack, LP Gatefold or Digital Download. Pre-order here.
In support of their upcoming release, Lord Of The Lost will heavily hit the road this year. Find the band’s live itinerary at this location.
The second studio release from Phantom 5, entitled Play II Win, will be released on October 13th. A video for the album track “Crossfire” is available for streaming below.
After the success of their self-titled debut album, the brainchild of producer/guitarist (and for this record, bassist) Michael Voss and vocalist Claus Lessmann have returned with yet another incredible outing of impeccable German melodic hard rock. Once again joined by Robert Boebel on guitars and keyboards and Axel Kruse on drums, these fist pumping anthems will tickle the eardrums of any connoisseur of melodic hard rock.
Michael Voss says, "To all the rockers out there, we are more than happy to continue this lab our of love and come back with a bang! Again, guitar wizard Robby Boebel delivered powerful riffs and Claus wrote some magic melodies. The drums were delivered by heart-pounding visual timekeeper Axel Kruse and taped by the famous Rolf Munkes at Empire Studios. 11 well balanced songs, full of emotion and power, right in the vein of our first album. If you like the first one, you will love the new one! Come and get it... and play it loud...we play 2 win!!!"
Tracklisting:
“The Change In You”
“Crossfire”
“Baptised”
“Read Your Mind”
“Play To Win”
“Child Soldiers”
“Do You Believe In Love”
“Phantom Child”
“Had Enuff”
“Shadows Dance”
“Reach Out”
Sweden’s Antarktis, who recently signed a record deal with Agonia Records, have revealed details for their debut album, Ildlaante. Set to be released on October 6th, the record features six tracks with a playing time of 52 minutes. A video for the first single, "Svalbard", is available for streaming below.
Antarktis was co-founded by guitarists Björn Pettersson (In Mourning) and Tobias Netzell (In Mourning, ex-October Tide). Initially a few songs were written, yet laid on ice before they ever saw the light of day. As years passed, the idea of Antarktis was picked up once again, and what first started out as an after work side project, ventured off into a territory uncharted by the duo's mother band, In Mourning. Thanks to vocalist and bassist Daniel Jansson (Ikhon) and drummer Jonas Martinsson (Me The Tiger, Necrosavant), the lineup got completed in 2013, giving Antarktis new life and a personality of its own.
The band comented on the debut album: "We are all extremely proud of this album and we're excited to finally be getting it out. We've really grown together a lot as a band since we formed, into something where we all can contribute and write together very unconditionally. The entire album and the process behind it is very much a group effort which we think makes it stand apart from what we do with our respective other bands and projects. Our hats off to Karl Daniel Lidén for a meaty mix/master and to Emy Rojas for the beautiful art."
Ildlaante was recorded between September 2016 and February 2017 in three different studios in Sweden. Drums were tracked with Alexander Backlund and Sebastian Svalland at Nailvillage Studio. Guitars, bass, vocals and keyboards at Studio Libra, while additional vocals at Ikhon HQ. The record was mixed and mastered by Karl Daniel Lidén (Breach, Terra Tenebrosa, The Old Wind). Artwork was created by Emy Rojas of Arrache-toi Un Oeil (Converge, Sunn O))) and Clutch).
Kings And Liars - the hard rock upstart featuring Nick Bellmore of Toxic Holocaust along with current members of Jasta and Kingdom Of Sorrow have partnered up with BraveWords for the premiere of their first ever music video for the breakout single, “Recently Departed.”
“‘Recently Departed’ was a lifelong goal of combining our love of the infamous ‘blues groove’, sludge-y metal, three part harmonies and a heavy breakdown. For Kings And Liars first video we wanted to avoid a story based video and instead focus on what we do best - play.” - Guitarist Charlie Bellmore.
Pulling from their pure love of early metal and larger doses of ‘90ss grunge rock, Kings And Liars move past the “classic rock” ear tag driving their sound forward with the volume up and the pedal flat. What began as an outlet for guitarist Charlie Bellmore while he wasn’t touring with Jasta and Kingdom Of Sorrow has now become a burgeoning force on the scene. After playing all across Connecticut and the Tri-State area, Kings And Liars orchestrated the soft release of their 4-song EP teaser titled Machines earlier this year. The EP is part one of three to be released later this year.
Supercharging their way into second half of 2017; Kings And Liars will unveil even more details on their forthcoming extended plays and North American tour dates to be announced. Residents of Maine can catch Kings And Liars live at Geno’s rock club on August 12th in Portland, ME alongside Devils Nite Out and Culling The Herd.
Stream Machines on Spotify. Limited edition (100 copies only) handmade hard copies of Machines are also available exclusively at Bandcamp.
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