As Spring approaches, Desertfest Berlin has announced new band confirmations for their 2023-edition; and added Mantar, Crowbar, Mono, Greenleaf, Messa, Fatso Jetson, The Great Machine, High Desert Queen, Plainride and Mr. Bison to this years eclectic line-up!
Taking place between May 19 – 21, 2023 at new Desertfest Berlin venues, Columbiahalle and Columbia Theater, with additional outdoor space & stage, tickets are available at: www.desertfest-tickets.de
Finnish symphonic doom/death metal band DEPRESSED MODE released a new single Dead & Living. This single was suppose to be part of Words of Death EP which was already recorded but was unfortunately destroyed bacause of hardware failure. So, this brand new single and earlier released re-recorded version of Suffer in Darkness are the only tracks survived from the planned EP.
Listen Dead & Living single: https://push.fm/fl/dm-dead-and-living
Otto Salonen comments:
“This is a new song which was composed right after our Decade of Silence album. It was quite different from our previous songs, so I was a bit insecure about how it’s going to sound, but after drum recordings by Marko Tommila, I was sure it’s going to be loved by fans worldwide!
Due to hardware failure, this is it for our Words of Death EP. In other words, all the remaining songs were destroyed, and won’t be released.”
Listen to Suffer in Darkness single featuring Gogo Melone (Aeonian Sorrow, Clouds) on streaming services: https://push.fm/fl/dm-suffer-in-darkness
Depressed Mode was established in 2005 by composer Otto Salonen. Signed a contract with Firebox Records for two albums in 2006. First album “Ghosts Of Devotion” was released in 2007, and received really good reviews throughout the media. The second album “..For Death” released in 2009, was a success, and a step towards more symphonic death/doom metal, with great reviews as well.
Otto Salonen begun composing DM’s third album in January 2020. The lineup for the new album consists of Otto Salonen, Teemu Heinola, Henri Hakala and Iiro Aittokoski. Veronica Bordacchini from Fleshgod Apocalypse took over the female vocals for the third album.
The album was recorded and mixed at Ansa Studio by Teemu Heinola and Otto Salonen during 2021.
In autumn 2021 Depressed Mode signed a deal with Inverse Records for the third album titled “Decade Of Silence”. The album was mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios Helsinki. Long-awaited album was released on May 6th 2022.
Order Decade of Silence CD on Bandcamp: https://depressedmodedoom.bandcamp.com
Listen to Decade of Silence album on streaming services: https://push.fm/fl/6ozmhgh7
Watch
Line-up:
Otto Salonen – Vocals and orchestrations
Gogo Melone – Vocals
Teemu Heinola – Guitars
Henri Hakala – Bass
Marko Tommila – Drums
The French kings of Heavy Metallers SORTILÈGE are now releasing the brand new single, “Derrière les Portes de Babylone,” which is taken from the band’s upcoming album, ‘Apocalypso!’ The album will be released via Season of Mist worldwide (excluding France) on March 3! The new single can be streamed at THIS LOCATION.
SORTILÈGE made a comeback in 2021, with a renewed line-up around lead singer Christian « Zouille » Augustin. This album was created with the idea of keeping the band’s DNA while adding contemporary elements along with a powerful and outstanding hypnotic vibe. Long Live Apocalypso!
Pre-orders for the album are now available HERE.
Track-list
1. Poseidon (3:32)
2. Attila (feat. Stéphane Buriez) (4:06)
3. Derrière les portes de Babylone (feat. Myrath) (6:33) [LISTEN]
4. Le sacre du sorcier (5:08)
5. La parade des centaures (feat. Stéphane Buriez) (2:59)
6. Walkyrie (4:20)
7. Encore un jour (4:45)
8. Trahison (3:40)
9. Vampire (4:02)
10. Apocalypso (feat. Kevin Codfert) (7:53)
Total: 46:58
Line-up
Christian « Zouille » Augustin: Vocals
Bruno Ramos: Guitars
Olivier Spitzer: Guitar
Sébastien « Shag » Bonnet: Bass
Clément Rouxel: Drums
“The Garden” is the eighth studio album from Finland’s melodic, multi-metal outfit with female and male vocals, HANGING GARDEN. The album is set to be released on March 24th via Agonia Records.
HANGING GARDEN formed in 2004, starting out as a heavy, doom-oriented project. Roughly two decades, seven albums and a couple of line-up shuffles later, the band shifted to a more melodic, contemporary sound, surrounded by a veil of melancholy.
The compositions are dark, atmospheric & emotional, and concomitantly lean towards open-minded and playful musicality. While entrenched in metal’s doom, gothic and melodeath branches, HANGING GARDEN displays a versatile, many-layered style of playing, packs female & male vocals, and draws influence & inspiration from music and art, far and wide.
The new album – “The Garden” – dives deep into atmospheres both “tender and harsh, devilish and serene” and “embarks upon a journey to mankind’s spiritual roots, contemplating the fragility of our technological society” – as poetically described by the band. “There is a kind of energy in the songs that there wasn’t before,” introspects Toni Hatakka of HANGING GARDEN. “A feel of hope to contrast our old friend the despair, a strong notion of action against the familiar melancholy, or maybe a light amidst the comfortable gloom…” Read Toni‘s full comment below.
“After almost two decades of dwelling in the musical and lyrical thematics of despair, loss and melancholy, I had the feeling that our next release could have some room for hope and light as well – of course not forgetting our trademark-ish somber aesthetic. The approach we decided to take was to weave a story of how humanity would still thrive, still find meaning, after the world as we know it has finally met its end.”
“Exploring the rituals, belief systems, connection to nature, finding purpose in just being and surviving were the cornerstones of how The Garden came to be. Another strong theme is that of dreams; since childhood, I’ve had this recurring dream world with a silent feel of stagnation, colossal constructs of rust, the action of journeying to the unknown, and lush nature. This is where I also draw a lot of what ended up on the album. The lyrics written by Riikka also amalgamated into this aesthetic perfectly. Even the name was given to me in a dream. Back in spring, I had a dream where our keyboardist Nino and I had a talk about this being our Magnum Opus and that we should call it The Garden. Such a powerful notion could not be left unheeded, and so the album had its name. The Garden is at the same time familiar and atypical for us. There is a kind of energy in the songs that there wasn’t before, a feel of hope to contrast our old friend the despair, a strong notion of action against the familiar melancholy, or maybe a light amidst the comfortable gloom. But in the end, this is us.”
“The Garden”, the follow-up to “Skeleton Lake” (2021), was produced by Jussi Hämäläinen (vocals, guitars) and Jarno Hänninen. The album was mixed and mastered by the latter at D-studio (Beherit, Shape of Despair). Cover artwork and new band photos are by Finnish artist Kalle Pyyhtinen. “The Garden” marks the return of new-old drummer Antti Ruokola, last seen in HANGING GARDEN seven years ago.
HANGING GARDEN may appeal to fans of Swallow the Sun, Ghost Brigade, October Tide, Katatonia and Type 0 Negative.
Tracklisting:
1. The Garden
2. The Four Winds
3. The Construct
4. The Song of Spring
5. The Fire at First Dawn
6. The Nightfall
7. The Stolen Fire
8. The Journey
9. The Derelict Bay
10. The Fireside
11. The Resolute
Pre-orders: https://hanging-garden.org/
More information at:
ENTROPIA is a multifaceted, extreme metal band originating from Poland (Oleśnica in Lower Silesia), whose members perform under a joint moniker ULTRA. They combine a number of genres, from krautrock and electronic music, to sludge and black metal, filtered through a prism of metallic extremity.
Through three studio albums – “Vesper” (2013), “Ufonaut” (2016) and “Vacuum” (2018) – ENTROPIA pushed and evolved its base sound to develop a unique sonic perspective, drenched in psychedelia. The latter plays a major part in the band’s image and conceptual approach, and constitutes the new album, “Total”. The album is set to be released on March 17th via Agonia Records.
“Total” encapsulates all previous installments of ENTROPIA. Pushing aside the temptation to follow along the same lines as “Vacuum”, new ideas have sprout in favor of further musical growth. In this sense, “Total” stands as a brand new opening, and rests upon the sound of self-designed amplifiers and multi-layered electric guitar compositions.
“Total attempts to capture a glimpse of our ongoing and unending search,” comments ENTROPIA. “It consolidates the experiences and skills we’ve amassed throughout the years, and constitutes a standalone, complete and utter creation; a totality, which reflects of the band’s chaotic spirit.”
ENTROPIA recorded “Total” in April of 2022 at studio Monochrom, located in the mountains of Kotlina Kłodzka in Poland. Heinrich House Studio engineered, mixed and mastered the album. “Total” is replete with artwork from Zbigniew Bielak (Behemoth, Ghost, Mgła).
Growing interest from metal and non-metal community allowed ENTROPIA to make a mark; the band played a number of key festivals (inc. Roadburn Festival, Primavera Sound, OFF Festival, Mystic Festival) and embarked on a European tour with US black/folk act Wayfarer. ENTROPIA contributed to the video game Cyberpunk 2077, by having their song “Future Drugs” appear on the official soundtrack.
Tracklisting:
1. Retox
2. Mania
3. Orbit
4. Total
5. Final
Pre-orders: https://entropia-total.pl/
More information at:
Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to former lead singer of Thundermother Guernica Mancini. In the interview Guernica talks about her time in Thundermother, being fired, opening for the Scorpions and her new band and new music.
When asked if all the members before quitting were equally paid
“Always. As far as I know, I mean I haven’t really seen any paperwork, so I never looked into it. But as far as I believe we always shared everything equally, the merchandise, I got royalties from that album that I played on. So all that stuff has been completely normal and fair since day one. But we did do a huge thing, when we joined the band we actually paid off a huge debt. It was about 90,000 Krona ($9000 USD) to the previous management because we were loyal and in solidarity. When we are part of a band we didn’t like to think twice about taking care of the baggage from before.”
When asked if she had a vibe that things were not going right in the band prior to being fired
“It’s a tough question to answer, I would say it like this. It’s never been great for me. And it’s been a tough six years but regardless of that I don’t regret anything. I’ve still had amazing experiences with the band and yeah I wouldn’t take anything back because I’ve grown and I’ve become the singer that I am and there’s so many positives to that. So even though it has been a very bumpy ride, I still think that it’s been a beautiful ride.”
When asked after all that Thundermother momentum how come she is no longer in the band
“Our statement said it all, really. I don’t think anyone will ever hear the real story ever. I mean unless I release a biography in 10 years or something. ”
When asked if she was called back to rejoin the band would she?
“I don’t think I could. No. Not now. Emilee said in a previous interview the Betrayal is just beyond, I wouldn’t have never taken it this far. “
When asked who she felt when the other two Thundermother band mates quit to join her
“It does make me feel (great) but I also felt really guilty because I knew the opportunities that they were giving up because of this but they had their own reasons. They did this completely on their own and the problems that we’ve had in the band they they’re not just something that is between her (Felippa Nassil) and I. It’s like something that’s been brewing and been there always. So when when this happened they (other bandmates) also felt that it was very disrespectful towards them being that they believed that we were a democracy and that we had a say in these things. She (Felippa) did more or less tell them I want to do this and I’ve already found a new singer and that’s when Emlee just said I don’t want to play with another singer and if you’re going to go ahead and do this I’m going to leave the band. And that’s what she did and Mona felt the same way. I love them and I’m forever grateful. I also feel like I’m so blessed and honestly I’m so incredibly grateful that they are my new band. They are the two that I enjoy working with and I have so much fun with them and we already had two songwriting days and we had just so much fun and it was drama free. It was a dream and it was just like this is what a band is supposed to be. I’m really grateful that we have something that we get to continue playing together. ”
When asked about her solo career and what’s next in her new band
“Inception is my first single as a solo artist, it’s I guess more commercial Rock. I wrote it with Emlee Johansson (ex Thundermother drummer) and our friend Johan Brandian. It’s about the beginning, so it kind of feels like a fitting song. It’s just a single, I have my next single ready to go but I need to just set a date for it. I wrote this song (next single) before I got fired obviously and I didn’t know this shitstorm was gonna happen but I did write a song called MVP. If you listen to the lyrics it’s just about how you can be the best, it’s just like a motivational pump you know a happy song.
(New band) We’re gonna be playing the songs that we wrote (In Thundermother) so of course we already have a lot of great material from the album ‘Black and Gold’ for example. So yeah I’m excited to to do that. “
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 