Today sees the release of IX, the debut album from burgeoning dark wave duo HOST. To celebrate the release, the band have revealed the AI generated video for ‘Divine Emotion’. The video, directed by Pär Lundkvist, pairs the oldest portrait photographs ever taken with the newest technology to bring them to life.
Greg Mackintosh comments: “Finally our debut album IX has been released. The culmination of 2 years of poignant reflection.”
IX Tracklist 1. Wretched Soul 2. Tomorrow’s Sky 3. Divine Emotion 4. Hiding From Tomorrow 5. A Troubled Mind 6. My Only Escape 7. Years of Suspicion 8. Inquistion 9. Instinct
IX Digipack Tracklist 1. Wretched Soul 2. Tomorrow’s Sky 3. Divine Emotion 4. Hiding From Tomorrow 5. A Troubled Mind 6. My Only Escape 7. Years of Suspicion 8. Inquistion 9. Instinct 10. I Ran (A Flock Of Seagulls cover) 11. Hiding From Tomorrow (Lustmord Remix) 12. Tomorrow’s Sky (GosT Remix)
The origins of HOST do not trace back to the 1999 PARADISE LOST album bearing the same name but instead to the West Yorkshire music clubs of the mid-to-late 1980s. While Holmes and Mackintosh were already certified heavy metal fanatics (“metal thrashing mad” as Holmes equates), they were equally drawn to the New Wave and Goth music scenes. The pounding rhythms, sublime melodies and undercurrent of darkness drew them in, creating immediate earworms and a desire to delve further.
Mackintosh finally put plans into motion during the pandemic for a venture that would merge his penchant for sound design with the moods and atmosphere of 1980s dance-pop and Goth. The project was originally a solo pursuit until he asked Holmes, his longtime PARADISE LOST songwriting partner, to join. HOST was selected as the name as a tip of the hat to the aforementioned album that found PARADISE LOST in an unprecedented period of experimentation that eschewed their metal roots and also challenged their fanbase in ways like never before.
“We always stood by Host as an album,” says Mackintosh. “This project is not totally connected to that album, but some of the ideas are extrapolated. We’re taking the basic premise and trying it out now. And, really, it was something fun and interesting for us to do. We’ve been doing PARADISE LOST for a long time and got an itch to try something different from where PL is now. I could take PL down this route again. Who knows? It may happen if we live long enough, but I thought, ‘Why not now?’ I had the time to do it.”
HOST is: Nick Holmes – Vocals Greg Mackintosh – Guitars, Synths & Programming
Italian rockers HANGARVAIN have released today, February 24th, their fifth record, “Soul Desire”. The album is out through Volcano Records/The Orchard/Sony, and is available both in digital and physical.
“Soul Desire” was produced between Italy and Los Angeles by Fabrizio “Fab” Grossi (Billy Gibbons, Supersonic Blues Machine, Steve Vai), and mixes the original alternative and southern rock influences of the band, with bluesy and melancholic moods.
HANGARVAIN anticipated the album with three singles in the past weeks. ‘The Sinner’ is the opener track with a strong attitude and a perfect balance between power and groove, while the song ‘Soul Desire’ ends the record in the most epic way. Big names of international rock scene collaborated to the production of the album featuring Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Jorn Lande, Edge Of Forever) and Mark Basile (DGM).
Hangarvain will play the new songs on an Italian tour between March and May, and after that they will hit England in the summer and Central Europe in Autumn.
“Soul Desire” is a sonic journey through voodoo sensations and psychedelic vibes.
SOUL DESIRE – Tracklist
The Sinner
Red Zone
Bad Intentions
Life
Mother’s Blues
Way Back Home
Out Of The Shadow
Soul Desire
HANGARVAIN – Born in 2013, Hangarvain is an Italian alternative rock band with heavy southern and rootsy rock influences. Between 2014 and 2020 the band released several albums and played hundreds of shows all around Europe, opening and extensively touring with legendary international artists such as L.A. Guns, The Darkness, Y&T, Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses), Hardcore Superstar, Skillet, Niterain, DGM, and many others. At the end of 2019, the band joined Danish rock veterans D.A.D. (Disneyland After Dark) on their entire European tour, treading legendary stages such as the Academy (Manchester), the Z7 (Pratteln), the Hard Club (Porto) and the Docks (Hamburg), while in 2022 Hangarvain played at Hills Of Rock Fest in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) together with Testament, Sabaton, Mercyful Faith, Behemoth and Slipknot.
In 2023, German genre-fusing visionaries LORD OF THE LOST are jumping from one highlight to the next! The year began with the band’s first-ever #1 debut on the Official German Album Charts with their new album, Blood & Glitter, followed by a nomination for Germany’s Eurovision Song Contest preliminaries. LORD OF THE LOST can be voted to enter the ESC with “Blood & Glitter”HERE! The voting is geo-targeted from Germany and is limited to one vote per device (Mobile Phone, Tablet, Laptop, etc). They played a completely sold-out club tour throughout Germany, and will continue on to support Iron Maiden again on their upcoming European tour. LORD OF THE LOST will also appear at several major festivals throughout Europe through the rest of the year and recently announced further shows.
With no time to rest, the band has just released a fourth video from their successful new album for the song “Absolute Attitude”. This time the band explores new genres and delivers a short film showing them in the Finnish underworld between drugs and glitter.
LORD OF THE LOST on “Absolute Attitude”: “As big advocates of the importance of self-irony and as fans of mockumentary or improv formats like The Office, it was time to produce a musical short film in this genre ourselves. Especially for a band like us, with a visually special album like “Blood & Glitter”, in an Instagram filter world, we feel it is important to consciously show courage for ugliness and to put humor above cramped realness. And Gas Lipstick in the role of a drug dealer should be nominated for an Oscar!”
LORD OF THE LOST have been nominated to compete to present Germany in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the title track of their recent surprise album release, “Blood & Glitter”, which hit #1 on Official German Album Charts.
Chris Harms on the nomination: “We are a band that has never consciously adapted to anyone or anything. No trend, no scene, no expectation. We have always done what we like ourselves – at all times. That we are now being considered for the biggest music show in the world with our weird genre mix, as authentic and unbowed as we are, is a great honor and we are extremely looking forward to being able to make the ESC pre-selection a little more colorful in many ways. A song like “Blood & Glitter” is very hard for the German TV and radio landscape – it will polarize. And since we love contrasts, it makes it all the more exciting for us. Friends, it’s going to get loud on German television on March 3!”
When conjuring the concept of Blood & Glitter, the band was inspired by the eponymous work of legendary music photographer Mick Rock, known for taking a large majority of the most famous photos of musicians in the 70s glam rock era. LORD OF THE LOST visually immerse themselves in the lifestyle of that era and combine it with the new wave and pop sound of the 80s, building on their own familiar dark metal foundation. The result: a glamorous party with critical and direct messages.
Contrasts run like a thread throughout the album, once again proving different in comparison to their previous work. In addition to Chameleon Studios in Hamburg, Blood & Glitter was produced and recorded at the Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki. The album goes all the way from start to finish – thus completely bypassing ballads. The hard-hitting dancefloor track “Leave Your Hate In The Comments” makes a strong statement by addressing the increasing hate culture in social media. Furthermore, the eighth studio album features a variety of very special guests such as Heaven Shall Burn singer Marcus Bischoff on “The Future Of A Past Life”, Andy LaPlegua of Combichrist on “Reset The Preset” and Subway To Sally‘s Ally Storch on violin for “Save Our Souls”. Wrapping up the record with “One Last Song”, Chris Harms states on the track: “I was wondering what song I would want to sing last before I die and realized that song didn’t exist yet. So here it is. Probably the most important song I’ve ever written.” A bonus track, a remarkable cover of Roxette’s “The Look”, features none other than German 90s popstar Blümchen as a duet partner. The band once again goes its own way and releases, without much advance, an album that defies all clichés, prejudices, genre norms and conventions, and makes strong statements in terms of content! So to say: Blood & Glitter is 100% LORD OF THE LOST.
LORD OF THE LOST live 2023: After a full year of touring, including a support tour for Iron Maiden, a headline tour, an acoustic tour, several festival appearances and the band’s own Lordfest, LORD OF THE LOST were once again invited by the legendary Iron Maiden to be direct support on their European tour in 2023, beyond major festival and club appearances.
03.03.23 DE – Eurovision Song Contest Preliminaries – Live on German National TV
BLOOD & GLITTER SHOWS 2023: 25.04.23 AR – Buenos Aires 27.04.23 CL – Santiago 01.06.23 SE – Stockholm 09.06.23 DE – Zwickau 17.06.23 DE – Saarbrücken 31.07.23 DE – Aschaffenburg 02.08.23 DE – Karlsruhe 23.09.23 UK – London 24.09.23 UK – Bristol 26.09.23 UK – Southampton 27.09.23 UK – Nottingham 28.09.23 UK – Wolverhampton 29.09.23 UK – Manchester 11.10.23 FR – Lille 12.10.23 FR – Savigny-le-Temple 13.10.23 FR – La Roche-sur-Yon
The Future Past Tour 2023 with IRON MAIDEN: 03.06.23 FI – Tampere 24.06.23 IE – Dublin 26.06.23 UK – Glasgow 28.06.23 UK – Leeds 30.06.23 UK – Manchester 03.07.23 UK – Nottingham 04.07.23 UK – Birmingham 07.07.23 UK – London 26.07.23 DE – Dortmund 01.08.23 DE – Munich
Festivals 2023: 29.-30.04.23 BR – Sao Paulo / Summer Breeze Brazil 07.-10.06.23 PL – Gdansk / Mystic Festival 07.-10.06.23 AT – Nickelsdorf / Nova Rock 15.-18.06.23 FR – Clisson / Hellfest 05.-08.07.23 DE – Ballenstedt / Rockharz 13.-16.07.23 CZ – Zlin / Masters Of Rock 20.-22.07.23 FI – Laukaa / John Smith Rock Festival 29.-30.07.23 DE – Cologne / Amphi Festival 02.-05.08.23 DE – Wacken / Wacken Open Air 29.-30.09.23 UK – Sheffield / HRH Goth 2 14.10.23 DE – Cologne / Unter Schwarzer Flagge 17.-18.11.23 DE – Leipzig / Gothic Meets Classic
LORD OF THE LOST are: Chris Harms – Vocals, Guitar Pi Stoffers – Guitar Class Grenayde – Bass Gared Dirge – Piano, Synths, Percussion, Guitar Niklas Kahl – Drums
Toronto-based all-original Heavy Metal/Hard Rockers PURVEYOR OF CHAOS are proud to announce the release of their self-titled album “Purveyor of Chaos” on March 24, 2023, via WormholeDeath Records.
Formed in 2007, Purveyor of Chaos features former members of Full Give and Penetrator, delivering raw heavy metal power fronted by Maxel Black, with driving rhythm from Fast Eddie Coulson and Tenbears, and electrifying guitar riffs from Bulldog Bess Ross. The band’s music is a combination of classic heavy metal and hard rock, inspired by current events and personal experiences, with each tune having its own distinct signature.
Band Statement:
The signing went fantastic. We were in correspondence with some great people at WormHoleDeath who walked us through the process. (Carlo, Jacopo and Naty). We were really happy with the fact that we are able to retain control and the rights to our tunes. We really like this label. We are really happy with our new album. Before we went into the studio we were already super tight with all of the tunes, so the recording went very smoothly and quickly with a minimal amount of takes. That saves money! Of course, we had a couple of parts in the tunes that we had to rewrite on the fly, but it all worked out well. Our recording engineer is a good friend of ours and he came up with some incredible ideas which we incorporated into the tunes which made them sound even better. He has a great ear and really did a bang-up job on the production and recording quality of our album. We believe our tunes are a combination of classic heavy metal and hard rock. I think that’s the best way to describe them. Not to mention, Maxel’s killer voice gives the album a very melodic yet heavy sound. The songs are inspired by everyday things like current events and various experiences that we’ve personally lived through. Each of the tunes on our album seems to have a distinct signature musically, yet they have enough coherence so that the album doesn’t feel like a compilation of various artists and diverse styles. We really couldn’t be happier with the final mix and production of this project. We recorded the album at Phase One Studios in the east end of Toronto. Our sound engineer is a talented dude and friend by the name of Darius Szczepaniak who did a great job in producing us. Kudos brother!
Tracklist
Four Point Harness
Bitter
Man Of The Cloth
Without A Master
Purveyor Of Chaos
12 Pound Sledge
Burning Desire
Fake News
Lies In My Bed
Dead Men Don’t Tour
Juggernaut
Band Members: Bulldog Bess Ross (Lead Guitar) Tenbears (Bass, Keyboards, Vocals) Maxel Black (Lead Vocals, Guitar) Fast Eddie (Drums)
Today, February 24thSCARLET AURA present their new video and digital single “Fire All Weapons” featuring one of the most recognizable voices of power metal – Ralf Scheepers from Primal Fear.
The filming took place at the very special place full of history near Bucharest, Romania and continued for 16 hours, right before rehearsals for the Rock United event made by Scarlet Aura, in which Ralf and Doro Pesch were invited guests to play together with the Romanian power metallers.
Scarlet Aura comments: “ ”Fire All Weapons” is by far one of our greatest songs Mihai Danciulescu wrote for Scarlet Aura and having Ralf with us gives to it an even more importance and charm. It’s a powerful song we made with the intention to show how serious we are on the heavy metal stage and how we’ll continue fighting for our right to be here, to sing, and to make people happy with our music.
Ralf is such an impressive artist, he is also a good friend that we’ve got to cherish, love and respect him very much, one of the few that got our backs and that forever can rely on ours. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the song and the video as much as we do, a video that we’ve made with our talented friends Laurentiu Tomoroga, Roberto Stan and Paul Decu.”
“Dark Mother Rises”, the new album by the female fronted melodic/power metallers LANKESTER MERRIN from Lower Saxony, will be released on 24 March. A first taster of the album, “We Ride The Storm”, is now available! The song, which is also the album’s opener, will be released as a single on all digital platforms, as well as a lyric video on Youtube.
The single and the album are recommended to all fans of melodic metal who, despite the attribute “female fronted”, do not expect symphonic metal, but simply powerful, modern metal of the highest order. The final tracklist of the album, which is already available in many shops as a pre-order, can be found below!
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
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