‘Call Me’ is the debut single for UK rockers THE LILAC HOUR under the Bread & Butter umbrella. This track is a steady but powerful rock ballad that paints a picture of nostalgia and melancholy that fully immerses the listener.
The Lilac Hour are a London-based Alt rock band. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Jake McCollum, bassist James Katz and drummer Matt Volpato combine to produce the kind of energetic riffs and intricate melodies which pay homage to artists as diverse as Muse, Nothing But Thieves, Royal Blood and Sam Fender.
The Lilac Hour formed at Uni where Jake, James and Matt discovered that the melodic supremacy of ABBA and Fleetwood Mac kept creeping into their grungy riffs. The band’s early demo tracks racked up several thousand streams on Spotify and the trio are delighted to have teamed up with Bread and Butter records to produce their upcoming EP, coming in 2023.
Germany’s DOWNFALL OF GAIA will return to the stage this April on a short run of European live dates celebrating the release of their upcoming sixth studio album, Silhouettes Of Disgust. The tour kicks off on April 11th in Munich Germany and runs through April 23rd in Berlin, Germany. Silhouettes Of Disgust will see its official unveiling on March 17th via Metal Blade Records.
Comments vocalist/guitarist Dominik Goncalves dos Reis “We are excited to be back on tour in April to present our new album, Silhouettes Of Disgust! We haven’t been on the road for three years, so this should be an exciting thing for all of us!“
DOWNFALL OF GAIA will be joined by Implore and Deathrite on select shows. See all confirmed dates below.
DOWNFALL OF GAIA w/ Implore: 4/11/2023 Backstage – Munich, DE 4/12/2023 Jugendhaus – West Stuttgart, DE 4/13/2023 Bandhaus – Leipzig, DE 4/14/2023 Underdogs – Prague, CZ 4/15/2023 TBA w/ Deathrite: 4/19/2023 Pul – Uden, NL 4/20/2023 Rockpalast – Bochum, DE 4/21/2023 Bastard Club – Osnabrück, DE 4/22/2023 Headcrash – Hamburg, DE 4/23/2023 Cassiopeia – Berlin, DE
With Silhouettes Of Disgust, DOWNFALL OF GAIA progresses in part by looking backwards and returning to familiar territory. The result is best described as a textured, dynamic blend of crust punk and post-black metal with a lot of atmospheric elements, taking everything that ever made the band compelling and pushing it in new and gripping directions.
In advance of the record’s release, today the band presents a drum-playthrough for “Bodies As Driftwood,” the most recent single from Silhouettes Of Disgust.
Offers drummer Michael Kadnar, “I had a blast recording and doing a video for ‘Bodies As Driftwood.’ It’s definitely one of my favorite songs from the album and the drum parts are a little different than some of my previous work. It was a lot of fun writing something unique for this and I am really looking forward to finally playing it live in April.“
Watch DOWNFALL OF GAIA‘s “Bodies As Driftwood” drum playthrough below.
View the band’s previously released video for the track at THIS LOCATION.
Italian rockers HANGARVAIN have released today the video of ‘Life’, a brand new single to anticipate the new album entitled “Soul Desire”, coming out next February 24th via Volcano Records/The Orchard/Sony.
‘Life’ is an intense mid-tempo ballad between Zeppelin-ish echoes and Seventies attitude. The video is full of symbolism and reflects on life and death with a solid direction, a single sequence plan in black and white. ‘Life’ has been produced between Italy and Los Angeles by Fabrizio ‘Fab’ Grossi, a music producer widely known in the rock-blues scene for his collaborations with Billy Gibbons, Eric Gales, Ana Popovic to name a few.
Hangarvain will start the promotional tour on Feb 24th, see the confirmed shows in the tour poster, below.
Watch the video of ‘Life’ below.
“Soul Desire” is a sonic journey through voodoo sensations and psychedelic vibes. It’s the fifth official album of HANGARVAIN and it’s been produced between Italy and Los Angeles by Fabrizio “Fab” Grossi (Billy Gibbons, Supersonic Blues Machine, Steve Vai). “Soul Desire” includes eight tracks that mix southern rock with alternative influences preserving a solid blues background.
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.
After much anticipation, modern heavy symphonic titans KAMELOT announced the upcoming release of their most introspective, uplifting, vital release to date – their first full-length in five years, The Awakening, out March 17, 2023 via Napalm Records. The Awakening enters the KAMELOT legacy as their most massive and diverse offering yet – mixing symphonic, gothic, melodic, progressive and power metal styles while yielding some of the heaviest tracks in the band’s history.
Following the release of the album’s widely-lauded debut single, “One More Flag in the Ground”– which fans can already hear on rock radio stations across the United States – today, the band have released their operatic second single, “Opus of the Night (Ghost Requiem)”, featuring Grammy nominated, soundtrack-featured cellist Tina Guo. Presented with a new lyric video, the track is an exciting thematic continuation of a story born on 2007’s Ghost Opera album, celebrating the healing impact music has on the human heart and mind.
KAMELOT vocalist Tommy Karevik offers: “The music of KAMELOThas always carried the message of hope, light and a feeling of resolution. This story is a prime example of that. ‘Opus of the Night’ honors the traditional dark and melodic sound of the band while bringing some new and exciting elements to the table.”
Having reigned supreme with the release of internationally top-charting melodic metal pinnacles such as The Fourth Legacy (1999), The Black Halo (2005), Silverthorn (2012), Haven (2015, #1 US Hard Rock Albums), and most recently 2018’s acclaimed The Shadow Theory (#2 US Hard Music Albums), KAMELOT’s intense brand of ultramodern gothic and symphonic theatricality is amplified further and with more emotionality than ever on The Awakening.
The Awakening embraces enlivening themes that every listener can relate to. Inspiring, engaging lyrics of determination, strength, overcoming personal battles and growth are abound on The Awakening, provoked by extreme societal shifts and the overwhelming realization that we have such a brief time to be true to ourselves and live life to its fullest.
Showcasing the incomparable, stage-seasoned vocal acrobatics of Tommy Karevik and increasingly airtight, renowned technical teamwork of guitarist Thomas Youngblood, drummer Alex Landenburg, keyboardist Oliver Palotai and bassist Sean Tibbetts, KAMELOT’s score-like 13th studio album is accented by guest contributions from the likes of Melissa Bonny (Ad Infinitum) and renowned instrumentalists like violinist Florian Janoske and aforementioned cellist Tina Guo.
KAMELOT guitarist Thomas Youngblood says: “With The Awakening, we have one of our most diverse albums in years. We’ve fused elements from progressive, power and gothic metal to symphonic and melodic metal on this one. Working with incredible guest artists from around the music industry and having producer Sascha Paeth and Jacob Hansen mixing gave us another step up on overall sound. This album offers everything to KAMELOT fans and also reaches beyond borders to new metal and hard rock legions.”
Tracks honoring KAMELOT trademarks like cinematic “The Great Divide” and darkly hopeful eternal farewell to a loved one, “Eventide”, prove that while The Awakening stays true to the aural foundations fans have embraced for decades, equally-addictive outputs like “One More Flag in the Ground” – a radio-ready anthem about overcoming seemingly unbeatable illness and the mental challenges we all face, featuring additional vocal layers from JUNO Award winning musician and producer Brian Howes – showcase a band devoid of sonic stagnancy. Profound compositions are plentiful, like stage-ready, operatic “Opus of the Night (Ghost Requiem)”, which features a hair-raising dual solo from guitarist Thomas Youngblood and guest cellist Tina Guo, as well as epic, synth-laden “New Babylon”, elevated by the dynamic vocal attack of frontman Tommy Karevik and Ad Infinitum’s Melissa Bonny. Further balancing darkness with light, grooving, heartfelt “NightSky” and ode to conquering one’s adversities “My Pantheon (Forevermore)” boast some of the album’s heaviest moments and most complex guitar solos, while pensive hymns such as Celtic-infused “Midsummer’s Eve” and ebbing-and-flowing hymn of cherished memories “Willow” provide necessary balance to an album fittingly primed for spectacular performances to come.
The Awakening features crystal clear modern production helmed by the band and longtime producer Sascha Paeth, plus mixing and mastering by Jacob Hansen of Hansen Studios.
The Awakening tracklisting: 1. Overture (Intro) 2. The Great Divide 3. Eventide 4. One More Flag in the Ground 5. Opus of the Night (Ghost Requiem) 6. Midsummer’s Eve 7. Bloodmoon 8. NightSky 9. The Looking Glass 10. New Babylon 11. Willow 12. My Pantheon (Forevermore) 13. Ephemera (Outro)
KAMELOT will tour the world in support of The Awakening! See below for their upcoming European Awaken The World Tour dates.
KAMELOT Awaken The World Tour Europe – Part 1: w/ special guests Myrath, Eleine, League of Distortion Mar 12, 2023 – Pratteln, CH / Z7 Mar 13, 2023 – Lille, FR / Splendid Mar 14, 2023 – Paris, FR / Elysee Montmartre Mar 17, 2023 – Cologne, DE / Essigfabrik Mar 18, 2023 – Den Bosch, NL / Mainstage Mar 19, 2023 – Brussels, BE / La Madeleine Mar 21, 2023 – Hamburg, DE / Gruenspan Mar 22, 2023 – Roskilde, DK / Gimle Mar 24, 2023 – Oslo, NO / Sentrum Scene Mar 25, 2023 – Gothenburg, SE / Trädgårn Mar 26, 2023 – Stockholm, SE / Berns Mar 29, 2023 – Helsinki, FI / Vanha Ylioppilastalo Mar 31, 2023 – Tampere, FI / Pakkahuone Apr 1, 2023 – Oulu, FI / Tapahtumakeskus Tullisali Apr 3, 2023 – Tallinn, EE / Helitehas Apr 4, 2023 – Rīga, LV / Melnā Piektdiena Apr 6, 2023 – Warsaw, PL / Progresja Apr 7, 2023 – Prague, CZ / Meet Factory Apr 8, 2023 – Budapest, HU / Barba Negra
Spring/Summer Festivals: May 4, 2023 – Karmøygeddon Metal Festival, NO – Headlining Sep 8, 2023 – ProgPower USA XXII, USA – Headlining
The UK’s most exciting new heavy band, HERIOT, have released their mighty new single ‘Demure’, the first taste of new music since their globally-acclaimed debut EP Profound Morality (April 2022).
To accompany the single, HERIOT have also announced their highly-anticipated, first ever, headline UK tour across six dates in May.
HERIOT will be touring across the following dates:
May 9: Bournemouth Bear Cave May 10: London The Black Heart May 11: Manchester Star & Garter May 12: Bristol Strange Brew May 13: Birmingham Dead Wax May 14: Glasgow Garage Attic
The news of ‘Demure’ follows HERIOT‘s tour with Rolo Tomassi, their first tour in Europe, closing tomorrow, 15th February, at London’s Electric Ballroom. HERIOT will also be supporting Lamb of God at a one-off show in Norwich on 11th March. Tickets: https://www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/ents/event/23153/
‘Demure’ is the first look at HERIOT‘s next era following their triumphant debut EP, Profound Morality (released April 2022 via Church Road Records). Globally critically-acclaimed, the band immediately performed to packed tents at Download Festival, 2000trees, Bloodstock, ArcTanGent, gathering a legion of fans in the process.
Vocalist/guitarist Debbie Gough comments on ‘Demure’: “‘Demure’ depicts the conflict of remaining integral in a world overwhelmed by scrutiny. It sheds light on the loss of being an individual while attempting the unattainable pursuit of neutrality. This is the first new music released since our debut EP, Profound Morality, and opens a new era for HERIOT which we are very excited to begin!’
HERIOT then went on to tour with Zeal & Ardor and Boston Manor, displaying a range few new bands can emulate. Fully-focused and with a razor-sharp edge, the awe-inspiring double-vocal attack of Jake Packer and Debbie Gough is all-conquering; the titanic support of Erhan Alman (guitar) and Julian Gage (drums) rock-solid.
HERIOT have deservedly been grabbing attention with all four pairs of hands, weaponising metallic sludge and hardcore, unholy levels of distortion, speed and gut-punching talent. Elements of Nails, Knocked Loose, Code Orange, and Vein.fm combine and collide to exhilarating effect, to create a new sound that is truly groundbreaking, fully worthy of the notice the band are achieving.
In their short recent history HERIOT have caught the attention of Metal Hammer, Rock Sound, Brooklyn Vegan, Kerrang!, Revolver, and Knotfest, among many others, “one of the most promising young bands in modern metalcore”, and “probably the best new metal band in Britain”.
Black Tears Label has reached a deal with SCHIZO, legendary black/thrash metal band from Catania, Italy, and Apocalypse Extreme Agency, to release on CD format the live album “Live From Collapse”, released early 2022 on vinyl format. “Live From Collapse” contains the live version of the whole album “Main Frame Collapse”, released by SCHIZO in 1989, and considered as cult album. Many bands mention this italian band as source of inspiration.
This album has been recorded during their live performance at Traffic Club in Roma, on 2020 february 20th, during the “30 Years of Collapse Show”.
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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