Finnish industrial/gothic metallers ELECTRIC DEATHBEAT were on the co-headlining “The Singularity” tour with RAUNCHY last April. The band has released the first five tour video blog footage, check them out below.
PART I:
PART II:
PART III:
PART IV:
PART V:
“The Singularity Tour” – shows were:
21.04 Pitstop – Kolding (DK)
22.04 Blackland – Berlin (GER)
23.04 Cafe Central – Weinheim (GER)
24.04 Fabrika – Ceske Budejovice (CZ)
25.04 Viper Room – Vienna (A)
26.04 PMK – Innsbruck (A)
27.04 Hall Of Fame – Wetzikon (CH)
28.04 From Hell – Erfurt (GER)
29.04 Bambi Galore – Hamburg (GER)
30.04 High Voltage – Copenhagen (DK)
ELECTRIC DEATHBEAT are hailing from Northern Finland and was formed in 2011 by the vocalist J.V., born as a one-man project, but when few years had passed by, it was time to unleash the machine with full force, having today 4 versatile band components. Their debut album “Dead Echo Paranoia” was released worldwide in July 2015. The band is currently working on their new effort. Check out “Boogie Woogie (Dancin’ Shoes)”: https://youtu.be/9-Xb34IJjgg and “Coal Dust Tears”: https://youtu.be/1ElyWomsj40
Copenhagen based modern prog rockers VOLA have teamed up with Metal Shock Finland to premiere for Finland the band’s Official New Video “Stray The Skies”, taken from the band’s debut album “Inmazes”, set to be released on September 16th via Mascot Records.
Comments Tarja Virmakari, Metal Shock Finland‘s CEO/Founder/President: “What a joy to premiere this refined and innovative video of these versatile young rockers in VOLA, who mix in perfect harmony the sounds of 70’s progressive rock with a touch of the present, flavoured by industrial and extreme metal and topped off with clear, beautiful vocal lines! This musical journey is a pleasant experience even for discerning ears! Check out!”
Watch and enjoy “Stray The Skies” here:
After the official release of Inmazes on Mascot Records in September 2016, VOLA will tour the UK and mainland Europe.
“Inmazes” tracklisting:
01. The Same War
02. Stray The Skies
03. Starburn
04. Owls
05. Your Mind Is A Helpless Dreamer
06. Emily
07. Gutter Moon
08. A Stare Without Eyes
09. Feed The Creatures
10. Inmazes
Vinyl / digital bonus tracks:
11. Gutter Moon (October Session)
12. Stray The Skies (October Session)
Mascot Records proudly presents Inmazes, an album that will appeal to all those who love music that is adventurous and compelling. After three years of writing, recording and perfecting their craft, VOLA self-released InMazes digitally in 2015. Prior to this album the band had already released two EP’s. Guitar player and singer Asger Mygind sees a steady development from 2011’s Monsters towards Inmazes: “On Monsters we started experimenting with 7-string guitars and a lot of polymetrics – odd-time signatures over a straight 4/4 beat in our case. And it worked so well on the EP that we wanted to elaborate on this for a full album. But I think we have gotten better at producing our music as a band, which has given way to a tighter and more in-your-face vibe on Inmazes. We are also one person less than on Monsters (guitarist and singer Niels Dreijer Madsen quit the band in 2012), so in my case I’ve had to fill out more space as guitarist and singer, as Niels also played guitar and sang a lot of vocal harmonies.”
All in all, creating Inmazes after the two EP’s was a liberating experience for Mygind and his bandmates. “The album format of course also allows for a more voluminous story to be told in music and lyrics, which can lead to an overall more rewarding creative experience – and by that – a more rewarding listening experience.”
When Mygind was in highschool he started writing songs and jamming with his friends in a rehearsal room in the basement of his parents’ house in Copenhagen. “The collaboration grew out of a common interest in melodic rock and weird time signatures. We’d listen to stuff like Dream Theater, Freak Kitchen, Opeth and Porcupine Tree and tried to play their songs in order to explore what kind of sound we could create as a unit. And also because it was just a lot of fun!”
After recording a couple of demos the band recorded their EP, Homesick Machinery, in 2008. But that was a different VOLA than it is today. Besides Mygind only keyboard player Martin Werner can be heard on the EP. In the following years the band found its form, with bass player Nicolai Mogensen and drummer Felix Ewert joining in 2011, before the recording of Monsters.
At times futuristic, the music of VOLA has references to tech-prog and pop as well. Further touching on the band’s influences, Mygind states: “I’ve always been a big fan of bands like Opeth and Porcupine Tree, and they write very dynamic songs, so I think the influence to explore dynamics and moods came from that place initially.” Then again, he admits, he is influenced just as much by just the opposite: groove-based, monotonous music. “Some big influences of heavier music are Devin Townsend, Soilwork and Meshuggah. But it doesn’t have to be metal at all as long as it has a spectacular beat, groovy odd-time groupings, an interesting mood or something else along those lines. Massive Attack‘s 100th Window is a big influence. It’s monotonous but it still feels like it’s constantly evolving. Steven Wilson‘s Insurgentes and Ulver’s Shadows Of The Sun both have a darkness that we find very fascinating.”
“What weI’ve always liked from artists like Steven Wilson and Devin Townsend is that the music can change the physical state you’re in. It’s not just sound reaching your ears. It’s a force of a larger scale. There is nothing like a big chorus that suddenly opens up and elevates your body to the point where it almost feels like you levitate from the floor. That’s one of the feelings we want to evoke with our music.”
Lyrically, Inmazes deals with entrapment. Mygind: “The album tries to capture this feeling of being trapped in mental mazes and not being able to fully experience happiness, basically. How is this struggle visualized in your own mind and how do your surroundings react to the behaviour caused by it. Where the EP Monsters deals with strategies on how to escape the negative thought patterns, Inmazes is more about the distance these thoughts can create between people.”
Inmazes was mixed by Asger Mygind himself and mastered by Jens Bogren of Fascination Street Studio. Bogren worked with Opeth, Katatonia, Soilwork, Amon Amarth, Symphony X, Paradise Lost, Devin Townsend, Fates Warning and Arch Enemy, amongst others. Mygind: “I’ve been a fan of Jens Bogren ever since I heard The Great Cold Distance by Katatonia, which I think is an amazing record with a fantastic production and mix. I like the way he keeps the elements very punchy but still maintains a sort of softness to the overall sonics. He mastered our EP Monsters and we were so fond of the result that we really also wanted him to do Inmazes too. Jens has a signature sound which works great if you want a fat and dynamic mix or master, that is pleasing to the ear.”
Inmazes was received very well by a large number of metal and progrock blogs throughout the world. In the same time VOLA impressed with the cleverly animated videos for the quite positive-sounding rock track Gutter Moon and dreamy Emily, the quietest song on the album. The videos are created by bassist Nicolai Mogensen and his girlfriend, and are clearly in line with the album’s artwork, which is based on a watercolour/acrylic drawing by Danish artist Anders Thrane.
Before the end of 2015, the band played high-profile gigs like Euroblast in Germany and ProgPower Europe in the Netherlands. Says Mygind: “We felt very proud. We haven’t played that many shows in total, so to step upon a big stage in a foreign country and experience the incredibly positive energy coming from the crowd, was amazing. We didn’t know what to expect, so it blew us all away.”
DIMMI ARGUS– formed in 2007 by the Bulgarian artist (singer, composer and producer) Dimitar Argirov – is set to release their second album “Masquerade” by the end of Spring 2017. The exact release date will be announced at the end of this year. To give a taste of what’s coming up, DIMMI ARGUS has released their first single “I know your secrets” from the upcoming album. Check it out below.
Dimitar Argirov tells more details: “The album is recorded with the collaborations of different musicians – Bulgarian and Italian, I played with over the years. In November, I am preparing also an EP with radio, live and acoustic edits of 5 songs. The guitarist in the single is Plamen Uzunov from Lellers and Project Arcadia (band that recorded its second album with the singer Urban Breed from Serious Black and more). Behind the drums I have Stoian Petrov – my bandmate from Epizod (Year 1988-1990), currently playing with Eridan – a Bulgarian band which supports Joe Lynn Turner in Est Europe and which has as a singer the winner of the Bulgarian X-Factor’2015 Slavin Slavchev.
I wrote all the music and lyrics, but the arrangements are in cooperation with the different guitarists. One of them is Graziano “Il Conte” Demurtas (Ex Wine Spirit) – significant name from the Italian rock scene.”
Viral Internet sensation, the Finnish five-man bluegrass band STEVE’N’SEAGULLS will release their second album “Brothers In Farms”, on September 9th via Spinefarm. The band has released the official video for the first single, covering the IRON MAIDEN‘s “Aces High”, watch it below.
The band comments on the video:
“Sometimes, in order to make things happen, all you need is a bunch of crazy ideas, mash ’em together, and wait for the results,” the band said about the video. “This is basically how we started with our first video from the upcoming album. We were lucky to get some enthusiastic, creative, and hard-working people around to get it done. You can imagine that mixing miniature aircrafts, cows, pyrotechnics, and belly dancers with the band doesn’t necessarily come together naturally. But it did. And we’re happy about it.”
“Brothers In Farms” track listing:
01. Aces High
02. Sad But True
03. Wishmaster
04. It’s A Long Way To The Top
05. You Could Be Mine
06. November Rain
07. In Bloom
08. Symphony Of Destruction
09. Fill Up The Tank
10. Burn
11. The Pretender
12. Self Esteem
13. Out In The Fields
14. Born To Be Wild
For the uninitiated, Finland’s S’N’S shot to fame thanks to their bluegrass covers of metal classics, such as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Their unique take on beloved tracks garnered S’N’S fans, who cropped up all over the world, and their videos racked up millions of views.
September 21, 2015 was eventually christened Steve ‘N’ Seagulls Day for the entire state of Colorado, while the band also covered The Beastie Boys’ hit “Sabotage” for The AV Club, toured the U.S., bringing their folk metal madrigrals to the masses, and appeared at the annual SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, last Spring.
This time out, the brothers-in-farms tackle legendary tunes from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Megadeth, and more.
Photo selection from the tour, here with SHINING’s Niklas Kvarforth \m/
Photo selection from the tour
Just recently the US black metal underground legends WORMREICH concluded their intensive minitour (see above the selected photos, featuring also Niklas Kvarforth from Shining) with the Melodic Occult Metallers KHAOTIKA. Fan-filmed video footage has been posted online, check them out below:
The tour dates were:
7/21 – VIRGINIA – Khaotika / Wormreich / Death Shroud / Voarm @ Riffhouse
7/22 – NEW YORK Wendigo Prod presents: Khaotika, Wormreich, Teloch Vovin Grave Gnosis Mehenet
7/23 – RHODE ISLAND – Anticosmic Music Fest
7/24 – MARYLAND – Khaotika and WormReich at cafe 611
Other upcoming WORMREICH rituals:
11/11 – 11/12/16, Chicago, IL: Wrath of the Goat VI
More rituals to be announced shortly.
WORMREICH was formed in 2009 by guitarist/vocalist Vulk and joined by current and former members of Blood Stained Dusk, Ancient (Nor), and Hallows Eve, and despite tragedy and death, WORMREICH has returned to unleash Satan’s will upon the Earth. WORMREICH is an established touring band, currently signed to Moribund Records, and they have a reputation for putting on air-tight and intense live performances, gaining them great respect and admiration within the extreme metal underground. Currently WORMREICH are working on their next full-length album, to be titled “Vril: Elixir of Death and the Void”.
CAGE9 announces their first tour in support of their new album, ‘Illuminator,’ will be as direct support for Lacey Sturm as she continues her ‘Life Screams’ U.S. tour. Cage9 released ‘Illuminator’ in June 2016 in North America (to be released in August in Europe) with David Ellefson’s EMP Label Group, and in Japan via Triple Vision Entertainment (making this the sixth album the band has released in Japan under that label).
The two bands have a unique relationship in that CAGE9‘s lead vocalist and guitarist, Evan Rodaniche also produced Lacey’s current solo album LIFE SCREAMS.
CAGE9 first performed with Lacey at her February 2016 CD release show at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles, and this August stretch of her tour unites them once again.
Rodaniche says, “I was lucky enough to spend some time working with Lacey last year, producing and mixing her new solo album Life Screams, and can’t wait to see her and the guys bring it to the stage every night.”
Lacey made the announcement on her social media sites saying, “Lacey is excited to announce her Life Screams Tour will continue this August with special guest, Cage9!”
Lacey was first known as the original lead singer of the platinum selling band, Flyleaf. In 2014 she announced the creation of her solo band and when her debut album was released in February 2016, Billboard announced that for the first time in its nearly nine-year history, that Sturm did what no other solo female in Hard Rock has ever done – topping their Hard Rock Albums chart at the No. 1 spot with her first solo release.
Cage9’s first single from ‘Illuminator’ is the track that caught the attention of David Ellefson (Megadeth).
Says Ellefson, “Cage9 is definitely the real deal. When I first heard ‘Everything You Love Will Someday Die,’ it instantly struck me as the closest I’ve heard to a song with a true Metallica/Megadeth core, with the radio accessibility to really connect with a modern Rock audience.”
The single can be heard throughout the U.S. on Active Rock outlets nationwide, as well as featured on nationally syndicated radio shows such as Cranked Up Live. 106.3 The Buzz in Idaho Falls, ID played the song and had this to say, “We ran Cage9 on ‘Crank It Or Yank It’ and the track was 100% cranked by listeners, quite a rare occurrence.”
Lacey Sturm with Cage9 tour dates:
08/06/16 Akron OH – Musica
08/07/16 Lansing MI – The Loft
08/08/16 Cincinnati OH – Bogart’s
08/09/16 Battle Creek MI – The Music Factory
08/11/16 St. Louis MO – The Firebird
08/12/16 Berwyn IL – Wire
08/13/16 Cudahy WI – City Lounge
08/14/16 St. Paul MN – Amsterdam Bar & Hall
08/18/16 Omaha NE – Slowdown
08/19/16 Lawrence KS – Jackpot Music Hall
08/21/16 Dallas TX – The Prophet Bar
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
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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 ) 