German metallers PARADOX will release their new album, “Tales Of The Weird”, on December 14 via AFM Records.
The track listing for the CD is as follows:
01. Tales Of The Weird
02. Day Of Judgement
03. Brutalized
04. Fragile Alliance
05. Slashdead
06. Drowning In Lies
07. Zeitgeist
08. Escalation
09. Brainwashed
10. The Downward Spiral
11. A Light In The Black (RAINBOW cover) (Japanese bonus track)
The new PARADOX lineup is as follows:
Charly Steinhauer (vocals, guitar) Christian Muenzner (guitar) Olly Keller (bass guitar) Daniel “Evil Ewald” Buld (drums)
Commented new PARADOX guitarist Christian Muenzner (also of OBSCURA): “I already applied for PARADOX 10 years ago, even before I was in the band NECROPHAGIST. Logisitically this is even the closest band to where I live; we’re not even 45 minutes apart, so this makes a lot of sense. Been a fan of that band for years and always wanted to play thrash, so here we go. The new songs sound fucking amazing, I’m stoked to be a part of this!”
German power metallers GRAVE DIGGER will release their new album on August 24 in Europe and September 4 in North America via Napalm Records. A six-song mini-CD, “Home At Last”, will precede the full-length effort on July 27 in Europe and August 7 in North America.
“Home At Last” track listing:
01. Home At Last
02. Rage Of The Savage Beast (non-album track)
03. Metal Will Never Die (non-album track)
04. Ballad Of A Hangman (live in Wacken 2010)
05. Excalibur (live in Wacken 2010)
06. Heavy Metal Breakdown (live in Wacken 2010)
Check out the cover artwork below.
GRAVE DIGGER‘s new CD was recorded at Principal Studios in Münster, Germany. The band laid down at least 10 new original compositions as well as “a cover version of a male, ‘not-heavy-metal’ artist,” which the group said “won’t be another German ‘Schlager’ song… it will be 150 percent pure GRAVE DIGGER metal. Again we transferred the spirit of the ’80s into the sound of 2012.”
GRAVE DIGGER last fall extended its contract with Napalm Records. The band said in a statement, “Napalm is a small and hard-working team that is as effective and productive as a company of 70 people. Always reachable and competent, they work with their artists individually. These are the strengths of Napalm, and that is why we have signed a deal for three more records under the Napalm banner.”
“The Clans Are Still Marching”, the latest DVD from GRAVE DIGGER, entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 56 (German chart rules allow music DVDs to enter album charts).
GRAVE DIGGER‘s latest album, “The Clans Will Rise Again”, was released in Europe on October 1, 2010 via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded between mid-May 2010 and mid-July 2010 at the Meadow Studios, which is owned by GRAVE DIGGER‘s new guitarist Axel Ritt, and Principal Studios, where all of GRAVE DIGGER albums since 1995’s “Heart Of Darkness” have been tracked. It was produced by Chris Boltendahl and mixed by Jörg Umbreit.
The official lyric video for “The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased”, a brand new song from South Carolina-based extreme technical death metallers NILE, can be seen below. The track comes off the band’s seventh full-length album, “At The Gate Of Sethu”, which will be released in Europe on June 29 and in the U.S. on July 3 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to 2009’s “Those Whom The Gods Detest” was once again produced and mixed by Neil Kernon, who has previously worked with NEVERMORE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, QUEENSRŸCHE and DEICIDE, among many others. The CD artwork was handled by a true genius of darkened visuals, Seth Siro Anton (SOILWORK, PARADISE LOST, SEPTICFLESH).
Commented NILE mastermind Karl Sanders: “Seth Siro Anton has designed the cover. I have been a fan of SEPTICFLESH a long time, and as Seth expressed interest, I knew that he would deliver a great job. I would say his work is easily the best we’ve ever had. He has captured the darker side of the sound of NILE and reflected the music and ideas, the heart and soul of NILE are forming. Seth is a very talented man and understands exactly who we are.”
Added Seth Siro Anton: “It is no secret that I admire the powerful stylistic lines of the magical symbols that still transmit the aura of ancient Egypt, preserving in time the ancient mysteries. Also, I am fascinated from the final frozen moment of the flesh captured in an eternal sleeping stasis, at the completion of the mummification process. So, with a great pleasure I accepted the challenge, to visualize the new masterpiece of NILE, ‘At The Gate Of Sethu’.”
In a recent interview with CobraMetal.net, Sanders stated about “At The Gate Of Sethu”, “Well, we started [working on it] in May of last year (2011) after we finished our European tour. We worked on that fucking record for 10 months straight, to the exclusion of all else. (Laughs) Long hours, every day.”
Regarding the new album’s concept, Karl said, “It’s in similar territory to other NILE records in that a lot of it stems from Ancient Egyptology and sort of has underlying modern themes tied in. We haven’t abandoned our identity and I don’t believe you should fuck over your fans. If your fans like what you do, and you change too much of what you do, fans don’t like it. What matters to me is when I’m out on tour and I meet the actual fans and they share their thoughts…those are the people that I listen to. There’s a lot of new ideas within the realm of what we do that we tried to incorporate. We studied real hard on the guitar and have lots of new riffs and musical ideas. There are a lot of surprises on the record.”
When asked if fans can expect any guest appearances on the new NILE CD, Karl said, “Jon Vesano is all over this record. (Our former singer and bass guitarist who we’re still good friends with.) Jon did some guest vocals on “Those Whom The Gods Detest” and it made us realize all over again all the things we really liked about Jon‘s vocals. We wanted to incorporate some of his insanity. [laughs] He’s wicked, man. He knows how to channel that inner possession. He finds a way to summon it. It’s great stuff.”
“At The Gate Of Sethu” track listing (North American/European digipack):
01. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame
02. The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased
03. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh
04. When My Wrath Is Done
05. Slaves Of Xul
06. The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate Of Sethu
07. Natural Liberation Of Fear Through The Ritual Deception Of Death
08. Ethno-Musicological Cannibalisms
09. Tribunal Of The Dead
10. Supreme Humanism Of Megalomania
11. The Chaining Of The Iniquitous
Bonus:
12. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame (instrumental)
13. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh (instrumental)
“At The Gate Of Sethu” track listing (European jewel case):
01. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame
02. The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased
03. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh
04. When My Wrath Is Done
05. Slaves Of Xul
06. The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate Of Sethu
07. Natural Liberation Of Fear Through The Ritual Deception Of Death
08. Ethno-Musicological Cannibalisms
09. Tribunal Of The Dead
10. Supreme Humanism Of Megalomania
11. The Chaining Of The Iniquitous
In a recent interview with RockOverdose.gr, Sanders revealed that NILE will film a video for the song “Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame” this August in Greece.
Although it has not yet been confirmed, it is likely that the clip will be shot in Meteora, which is said to be the largest and most important complex of monasteries in all of Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The monasteries are built on spectacular natural sandstone rock pillars at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly, near the Peneios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. Meteora is home to six monasteries and is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
RISING WEST, the new band featuring Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren of QUEENSRŸCHE, along with powerhouse vocalist Todd La Torre of CRIMSON GLORY, has posted the following message on its official Facebook page:
“We are being denied access to our own Facebook page and website (meaning QUEENSRŸCHE) so please spread the word for about RISING WEST. . . Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at our shows!”
RISING WEST will be interviewed on this coming Thursday’s (June 7) edition of “The Men’s Room”, which airs on the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM. You can listen to the program live via the Internet at link text beginning at 4:30 p.m. PST.
RISING WEST will make its live debut on Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 at the Hard Rock Café in Seattle, Washington. The band will perform rare and classic hits from the first five QUEENSRŸCHEalbums — from the 1983 EP through 1990’s “Empire” — and plans on hitting the studio sometime early summer to begin recording its first release.
A seven-minute YouTube clip containing samples of Todd La Torre performing a number of QUEENSRŸCHE classics can be found below. Also available is Todd‘s full-length performance of the song “Queen Of The Reich”.
La Torre, who says that QUEENSRŸCHE has been his favorite band since he was 15 years old, first met Wilton at this year’s NAMM convention in January in Anaheim, California.
“Just for the record and for those asking about CRIMSON GLORY, I am NOT leaving CRIMSON GLORY, I am embarking on another musical endeavor with the members of QUEENSRŸCHE,” Todd wrote in an online posting last week. “I am proud and honored to be a part of this! CRIMSON GLORY is still writing new material for our record, DO NOT WORRY This is going to be an amazing new chapter.”
He added, “The media and ‘fans’ can be quite brutal, but I would like to say thank you for all of your amazing support.
“I have nothing but respect for what Geoff Tate has done to the genre. His voice is still amazing. The only thing that is constant is change. I hope the fans of QUEENSRŸCHE, and I’m one of them, will continue to show respect for him and all he has accomplished.”
QUEENSRŸCHEsingerGeoff Tate entered the studio on February 29 to begin recording his second solo album.
Tate released his first solo CD in 2002 on Sanctuary Records. Self-titled, the LP was a huge departure from the work he had previously done with QUEENSRŸCHE.
A three-and-a-half-minute video clip in which vocalist Alissa White-Gluz of Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based melodic death metallers THE AGONIST talks about the band’s just-released third studio album, “Prisoners”, can be seen below.
Alissa has also posted the following message on Facebook:
“Here’s a little insider info just to clarify, since a lot of people don’t understand how the industry now works. We would feel bad divulging this kind of info and shattering the dream, but a lot of metal musicians seem to be doing it nowadays so I think we’re ok to do so as well.
“Why are we asking you to buy the album? We don’t see money from album sales. We have never seen a single royalty penny. But, if your band is known to sell a lot of albums, especially in the first week of release, you get more offers for tours, therefore making it more possible to play to more fans.
“Ticket money: As an opener, we do not see any money from ticket sales or have any control over ticket price. As a headliner we rarely see any money from ticket sales as well.
“YouTube: If you think we are making money off of YouTube plays, check out whose channel our videos are on (Hint: It ain’t our channel!) Again, we’ve never seen a penny from YouTube plays.
“Merch/CD sales: To get our albums shipped out to us, we need to pay about $10. We sell them for $15. Venue takes about 15% usually, manager takes 10%. Therefore, we are left with about $1.25 profit per CD. T-shirts, they cost about $10 to create and ship, we sell them for $20; again, you can do the math. So we have a few dollars profit per item sold, but about $200-$300 in gas per show, plus the expense of work visas (about $4000 for the USA), vehicle and trailer leasing, and all the other expenses that go into touring.
“We sleep in the van, don’t eat, don’t get to bathe. We hire no crew. We get maybe $20 or $30 a day to get food or save up to pay rent. We invested years of our lives into this and some had to take time off work to record this album. And this is not just our band. We can safely say that this applies to every opening metal act we have ever toured with.
“Sorry to shatter the rock-star fantasy, but the truth is we all work 9-5 as soon as we get home from tour, if our jobs are gracious enough to allow us to leave and return. Otherwise we scramble to find even the most menial jobs just to cover our bills in between tours.
“So — taking our project without paying for it is STEALING. But if you repay us by spreading the word about the band, getting your friends to come out to our shows, buying our merch, giving us a place to stay or some other form of support, you’ve paid us back. Nobody wants to go to work and not get their salary, but bands do it ALL THE TIME. So, have some respect for the work they do and support in whatever way you can.
“Hope that clarified everything! Enjoy ‘Prisoners’!”
“Prisoners”, was released on June 4 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Christian Donaldson (CRYPTOPSY) and mixed by Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, DARK TRANQUILLITY, SUICIDE SILENCE) and it “picks right up where 2009’s ‘Lullabies For The Dormant Mind’ left off, with soaring melodies over complex metal passages that fans of thinking-man’s metal can appreciate,” according to a press release.
In regards to the album artwork, Alissa White-Gluz states: “We wanted to really include a chaotic visual to reflect the chaotic sound of the band, but we also wanted to show that the lyrics on this album are a lot more introverted…The human face was left non-descript on purpose — it doesn’t belong to any particular person, but we could call him the Lonely Solipsist.”
“Prisoners” track listing:
01. You’re Coming With Me
02. The Escape
03. Predator & Prayer
04. Anxious Darwinians
05. Panophobia
06. Ideomotor
07. Lonely Solipsist
08. Dead Ocean
09. The Mass Of The Earth
10. Everybody Wants You (Dead)
11. Revenge Of The Dadaists
In a recent interview with MetalConcerts.net, Alissa White-Gluz stated about the musical direction of the follow-up to 2009’s “Lullabies For A Dormant Mind”, “I wouldn’t say it’s heavier or more melodic. I think it sounds more mature. It has the same sort of schizophrenic side that ‘Lullabies’ has, but it also has some other I guess what you would call classic influences. Like, there’s some PANTERA influence, there’s some RADIOHEAD influence. I mean, there’s a lot of influences that we didn’t really have before.
In the beginning of June, Arnt “Obsidian C.” Grønbech of Norwegian metallers KEEP OF KALESSIN went to Spain to clear his mind and focus on completing the songwriting process for the band’s new album.
The first in a series of episodes of the “Obsidian C. Boot-Camp 2012” can be seen below.
“Reptilian”, the latest album from KEEP OF KALESSIN, entered the official chart in the band’s home country at position No. 2. The CD was made available in North America on June 8, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.
KEEP OF KALESSIN took third place in last year’s Norwegian national Eurovision Song Contestcompetition“Melodi Grand Prix” which was held on February 6, 2010 at the Spektrum in Oslo. The band performed a song called “The Dragontower”, which was originally written for the group’s new album but had to be shortened from 5:20 minutes to 3:00 minutes for the performance. The full, unedited track appears on the latest KEEP OF KALESSIN CD.
Source: Blabbermouth
Chief Shock Video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
Ads
Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 