Italian Thrash Metallers XENOS have recently announced their new name, XENOS A.D. The band is in the midst of recording their third album, the follow-up to their successful “The Dawn Of Ares” released in 2021 by Iron Shield Records.
The band’s fans can expect an even stronger and more powerful thrash metal assault with XENOS A.D.’s upcoming album. The band is dedicated to giving their fans the best experience possible and they are hard at work making sure their new album will not disappoint.
On June 11th, XENOS A.D. will be performing at the Into the Grave festival in the Netherlands.
In a statement from the band, they shared their excitement about the name change and their commitment to their fans: “Hi guys!!! We are thrilled and happy to inform you that we changed our moniker into XENOS A.D. From this day forward our band will be known as XENOS A.D. and we actually hope you will enjoy this change as we are doing. We are hardly working on the new album to be able to give you the best XENOS A.D. album ever, a huge, strong, powerful Thrash Metal assault from beginning to end. Thanks for your precious support, see you on the road.”
On March 17th, Ventura, California’s heavy metal institution NIGHT DEMON return with their third full-length, OUTSIDER. For a preview of OUTSIDER, the video for the new single, “Escape From Beyond” (filmed by Julian Weigand and edited by Dave Minall), can be viewed HERE
Jarvis Leatherby (Vocals / Bass) comments: “Our second single, ‘Escape From Beyond’, is a rip-roaring journey that continues the movement from the title track ‘Outsider’. It’s an ode to finding your place in the universe and trusting that your intuition will guide you. Like many of the songs on this forthcoming album, it has peaks and valleys and it represents major growth from the heavy metal standards. We want to take the listener on an unforgettable ride, while staying true to our signature Night Demon sound. This is a new chapter that we’re beyond excited for.”
The video for the album’s title track can also be seen HERE
For more than a decade, Night Demon have defiantly flown the flag of traditional heavy metal, unwavering in the face of shifting industry trends and unscarred by global calamities. With new album OUTSIDER, the band have challenged themselves musically and lyrically, pushing creative boundaries and evolving their sound far beyond their NWOBHM-worshipping origins into something truly singular.
From a lyrical standpoint, OUTSIDER marks Night Demon‘s first full-blown concept album. To be sure, the band have always experimented with embedding thematic linkages between songs on each release, dating back to their 2015 debut album, Curse of the Damned. On OUTSIDER, however, lyricist Jarvis Leatherby has dialed into a fully cohesive tale of alternate realities, mysterious portals, and the supernatural, intertwined with universal human feelings of alienation, loss, regret and revenge. Inspired by Leatherby’s lifelong affinity for horror movies as well as his pandemic-induced exile in the countryside of Northern Ireland, OUTSIDER weaves a compelling yarn from its pastoral beginnings to its heart-pounding finale.
Of course, this kind of epic storytelling demands an equally expansive musical backdrop that ebbs and flows to convey the full emotional range of OUTSIDER. To achieve that result, Night Demon have reimagined the band’s songwriting and arrangements by embracing progressive elements and a newfound sense of dynamics that lend the music a decidedly cinematic quality. Longtime fans should not be alarmed: OUTSIDERsounds like Night Demon through and through, but the songwriting is perhaps the catchiest in the band’s discography, boasting massive hooks such as those found on the earworm title track, which is also the lead single. Simply put, Night Demon take the listener on a journey with OUTSIDER. It’s a heavy and intense ride, so buckle up. You may never be the same again.
On April 21st, Finnish post-punk outfit GRAVE PLEASURES will release their third full-length, Plagueboys, via Century Media Records. For a preview of Plagueboys , the video for the new single, “Heart Like A Slaughterhouse” (directed by David Fitt), can be viewed HERE
Guitarist and songwriter Aleksi Kiiskilä comments as follows:
“’Heart Like a Slaughterhouse’, the go-to midnight hour dance track for crooked minds. Hooks you dive into head-first psycho-hypnotic frenzy and Buffalo Bill – influenced disco moves.
After playing at Wave Gotik Treffen a few years back, I was impressed by all those creative costumes and their uncanny, sinister details. It felt like being in some apocalyptic, gothic steampunk city where everything’s messed up, with that being all normal. So, the morning after our show, basically out of nowhere popped up this riff and the driving beat for ‘Heart Like a Slaugherhouse’, where the confidence of Eliminator meets Virus-like psychotic hooks. Something that feels wrong and right at the same time, something addictive and macabre which makes you move around your room like some broken manikin.”
The video for the previously released album track, “Society of Spectres”, can be seen HERE
Formed in 2015, after the dissolution of singer Mat McNerney and bassist Valtteri Arino’s short-lived sensation Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures have defiantly expanded on what has been described as their “war-cry for the eternally doomed,” with each album seeing their song-craft reach new heights. Their raw atomic punk of their major label debut album Dreamcrash(2015)was revamped and contorted into the uplifting nihilism of distinctly more frenetic sophomore smash-hit album Motherblood(2017), ultimatelyamped up and finessed into the heady Plagueboys(2023), their most mature yet dangerous album to-date. With the electrifying contradiction of light and darkness, the duality of the funereal Grave and euphoric Pleasure in their moniker, Plagueboys is an exhilarating, tear-filled, grinning dance of death, undoubtedly their most pleasurable yet.
With music written by McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Me & That Man) and guitarists Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu) and Aleksi Kiiskilä, and then arranged together with Arino and drummer Rainer Tuomikanto,Plagueboyssees the lineup, who frantically hacked out Motherblood together, come of age and find their superpowers. Recorded in Finland and produced by Vanhanen and his Oranssi Pazuzu comrade Niko Lehdontieat the controls,the sound onPlagueboysis a blistering wash of reverb and neon warehouse dancefloor; unabashed lone drum and bass carrion call give way to synth and guitar interplay that brings to mind British grandmasters Wire, The Sound and Echo & The Bunnymen through a contemporary lens.
Earlier this week, MENTAL CRUELTY dropped a surprise teaser for fans, hinting at upcoming music plus the identity of their new vocalist. Now, the band is releasing two new tracks – “Symphony of a Dying Star” and “Zwielicht” – to coincide with their news today, revealing their singer: Lukas Nicolai [of Sun Eater (formerly known as Impale)]. Stream “Symphony of a Dying Star” and “Zwielicht” here; watch the video (directed by Marvin Kessler and produced by AMP) for both singles HERE
Mental Cruelty comments: “The first song ‘Zwielicht’ (old German for twilight), which serves as the intro, is a poem written by Marvin (guitars) and it’s about the demon called depression that slowly creeps into your body to a point where it takes full control over your life. The poem comes from a very personal place and serves as a way of letting go and processing hard and dark stages of life in the past. Musically, the song is heavily inspired by classic Nordic folk songs and was recorded with ancient instruments that you wouldn’t quite expect in this kind of music. ‘Symphony Of A Dying Star’ serves as the continuation of ‘Zwielicht’ musically as well as lyrically. We accompany a wanderer on his journey through a winter landscape. All life around him seems to be trapped in hibernation and eternal ice while a surreal feeling of deafness creeps up on him. The winter itself serves as a metaphor for loneliness, the end of all things and the transience of life. At some point, all things start to fade away and it is the fate that will overtake us all once when standing on the threshold between life and death. The whole concept of this 2-track song is about letting things go and die to make place for a new start and a new beginning. We couldn’t quite play shows and work on new music as we wanted to the last two years due to the pandemic and having to find a new vocalist, so we wanted to make a cut and a new beginning.”
Across four releases, beginning with 2016’s Pereat Mundus EP, Mental Cruelty has woven together a violent tapestry of black metal, death metal, deathcore, and a madness of their very own. With 2021’s landmark LP, A Hill To Die Upon (Unique Leader), the German quintet not only set a new standard for themselves, but also the genre as a whole.
Rising from the ashes of personal and professional chaos, Mental Cruelty spent the first half of 2022 seeking out a voice to continue to cement them as an uncompromising force in the German metal scene. After locking in Lukas Nicolai, the band (rounded out by guitarists Nahuel Lozano and Marvin Kessler, bassist Viktor Dick and drummer Danny Straßer) reemerged bloodied but unbowed, ready to continue on their path to becoming an international force.
Armed with new vocalist Lukas, Mental Cruelty usher in a new epoch of unlight and grim determination that’s at the heart of their upcoming album – which will be announced soon. Mental Cruelty‘s reign of darkness is just getting started…
On March 24th, blackened deathcore outfit OV SULFUR will release their debut full-length, The Burden Ov Faith, via Century Media Records. For a preview of The Burden Ov Faith, the video for the new single, “Befouler” – directed/animated by Anastasia Solti with additional effects by Dylan Gould, and featuring Alex Terrible! – can be viewed HERE
Vocalist Ricky Hoover comments: “Breaking away from our constant blasphemy, ‘Befouler’ focuses on real-life heretics who say one thing to your face but believe another. They use this false front as a pathetic defense to slowly plot your demise. This type of life became foreign to me in my years away from the music industry, but it seems the more you’re in the public eye, the more you face dissenters and weaklings. I’ve made so many great friends through the industry, but this one is a middle finger to those who are too cowardly to even spit in your face because they only open their mouth while hiding theirs.”
Guitarist/vocalist Chase Wilson adds: “This is easily our most energetic song. The technical riffing keeps you banging your head so hard you just might get lightheaded while singing along to the anthemic chorus – shout out to Ricky! By the time you get to the end, you’ve basically given yourself short-term memory loss and forgotten that Alex Terrible comes in to just bludgeon you to death on the final breakdown. For the video, we went with a tale of revenge that ties our early single and EP artworks to ‘The Burden Ov Faith’. Rather than go with the typical animated video, we wanted it to be almost like a moving painting or storybook, complete with hyper-stylized art from the super talented Anastasia Solti. We had our friend Dylan Gould add some extra effects to really make it pulse with the music, and we’re very excited to have a unique visual for one of our collective favorite songs from the album!”
The previously released singles/videos can be viewed below:
Crafted by the band alongside producer Morgoth Beatz (Winds of Plague, Scarlxrd), then mixed/mastered by maestro Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Tallah), The Burden Ov Faith sees the two split engineering of vocals and drums, respectively, with former Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader stepping in to capture the guitars and bass. The resulting album spans the stygian planets of deathcore, black metal, and metalcore, creating something as majestic as it is hook-laden. “It’s the ‘Oblivion‘ EP (2021) on steroids,” says founding guitarist/vocalist Chase Wilson, joking, “I would almost call it ‘Arena Black Metal’ at points!”
The Burden Ov Faith kicks off with the slamming sulfuric firestorm of opener, “Stained In Rot,” which teases Ricky Hoover’s expanding vocal range via singing, in stark contrast to the gnarliest gutturals he’s conjured from his forked tongue. “Befouler” follows with technical death metal riffing and climaxes into an unexpectedly catchy chorus, before crumbling into a brutal breakdown featuring vocalist Alex Terrible. That Hoover keeps up with the likes of that masked madman, plus guests Taylor Barber ( Left To Suffer) and Kyle Medina (Bodysnatcher) is impressive though not entirely surprising. That he holds his own on an album featuring Howard Jones (Light The Torch, ex-Killswitch Engage), however, is. Throughout and on the epic closing title track, his injection of melody is beautified by Lindsay Schoolcraft, formerly of Cradle of Filth.
“I wanted to put something out there that was as blasphemous and heavy as it was thought-provoking; I just had no idea how many people felt the same way,” comments Hoover. Since their formation in 2021, Ov Sulfur has burned as bright as a Norwegian church in the night, and with a reception warmer than hell and a set of principles to guide them along their left-hand path, The Burden Ov Faith promises to be only the beginning for the rising Las Vegas collective.
After releasing their latest full-length, Lifestyles Of The Sick & Dangerous, last year to critical acclaim, selling out shows across Europe on their headline tour, plus supporting Electric Callboy and other massive acts on the road, Finland’s BLIND CHANNEL are kicking off 2023 with a banger; their new standalone single, “FLATLINE“, is streaming now via Century Media RecordsHERE
BLIND CHANNEL comments: “This is the beginning of the next chapter of our career. ‘FLATLINE’ is Blind Channel on steroids. We captured the energy of last year’s 130 shows into one song, and threw it to a Berlin rave full of red lights and hardcore partying. The song was written with songwriter duo Blyne (David Guetta, Robin Schuldz etc.), and at the same time, it’s one of the heaviest tracks we’ve ever made. So this sh*t is pretty unique from the scratch. If you’re sick & tired of ups and downs, this song might help you.”
It took me eight years to become an overnight success” – this line, buried away in BLIND CHANNEL’s fourth album, Lifestyles Of The Sick & Dangerous, is where their uncompromising journey finds its continuation. When forming in 2013 in Oulu, Finland, vocalists Niko and Joel Hokka, drummer Tommi Lalli, guitarist Joonas Porko and bass player Olli Matela (plus the later addition of DJ/percussionist Alex Mattson) knew that it was all about going big or going home. This is exactly what they did when they found their way onto the largest stage in Europe: Eurovision, after competing in the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), Finland’s annual contest to discover their entry. Winning the spot, by the largest landslide the competition has seen, BLIND CHANNEL captivated the continent with their fiery nu-metal charge: “Dark Side”.
However, Eurovision isn’t the crux of BLIND CHANNEL’s story. This stepping-stone that saw them take to that hallowed stage, was just that: a gambit towards the bigger picture. While it did allow them to amass even more followers, they had already been building a fervent fanbase over the years, thanks to their three previous albums: Revolutions (2016), Blood Brothers (2018), Violent Pop (2020).
Lifestyles Of The Sick & Dangerous takes the next step, offering a swagger-filled, sincere depiction of their lives, backed by their trademark unforgiving “violent pop music”. A winking homage to the Good Charlotte track “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous”, it’s most importantly a righteous statement of intent – this is only the beginning.
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