Italian doom metal group (EchO) has released the first single from their upcoming album “Witnesses”, which will be out November 4 on Black Lion Records. The track is called “My Covenant” and features none other than Heike Langhans (REMINA, Light Field Reverie, ex Draconian) on guest vocals.
Listen to “My Covenant” via your favorite streaming platform or right here:
Vocalist Fabio Urietti comments: “My covenant, my own legacy. One of the lyrics with more explicit references to some personal struggles. When I am not surrounded by friends or people, I’m always a brooding, boring dude. A bit pathetic, but this is how it is. I spent three months alone during the first lockdown, which certainly didn’t make me more outgoing and social. These words speak for themselves, no further comment is needed, and paired with the amazing music written by Simone, everything takes another turn. Ruthlessness and bitterness are cradled by sweet guitars and synths, except for some moments, where sadness and rage get the better of them. Lastly, Heike’s voice shifts the balance of emotions. It’s a play between light and darkness, an occasion to trace my memories and inheritance.“
Originally called Vildvittra, based on the characters created by Astrid Lindgren as part of Ronja Rövardotter, the band’s name later evolved into VITTRA, inspired by the mythical creatures appearing in Swedish folk stories. And while Swedish folk is a recurring theme weaving in and out of their music, the band is firmly rooted in Melodic Death and Thrash Metal in the veins of Dissection, early In Flames, Megadeth, and At The Gates.
Founded in 2017 by David Döragrip (vocals) and Johan Murmester (guitar), the lineup was completed in 2018 with Alex Smith (drums) and Gustav Svensson (bass) joining the band. In the studio and on stage Vittra has also been joined by Lars Elofsson on lead guitar since 2021. This was also the year they released their debut EP Wardens, recorded at SolnaSound Production, Sweden, with the support of Simon Johansson (Soilwork, Wolf). Only a few months later, they entered SolnaSound again – this time supported by both Simon and Mike Wead (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate) – and in April 2022 Blasphemy Blues was finalized. Lawrence Mackrory (Bloodbath, Lik, Firespawn) handled the mixing and mastering. Hjules created the cover artwork.
On September 2nd, 2022, Satmara, the first single off the upcoming album, was released as a most auspicious foretaste of the album – together with an impressive accompanying music video. Musically, Satmara showcases one of the Vittra trademarks, being their signature combination of Death/Thrash with strong songwriting and catchy hooks. In the veins of Megadeth meets 80’s Ozzy, it comes with a Heavy Metal-ish twist to it, having that “chugging” on the A-string, but surprises with an overall upbeat pop feel.
VITTRA’s new album Blasphemy Blues will be out everywhere on November 11th, 2022 via SAOL and can be pre-ordered here
Japanese alt-rockers XANVALA dropped the digital single “joke” on August 31, 2022. Locked and loaded, the band brings a rebellious spirit with this new work. “joke” is a riff-driven fierce track with a catchy modern sound that showcases the colors of XANVALA.
Speaking about the single “joke”, the band comments:
“The concept for the lyrics is a counterattack. The idea came to me from a movie and I envisioned a scene of oppressed people collectively rising up in revolt.”— Vocalist Tatsumi
We didn’t skimp on time, work, or expenses to deliver the best we could and didn’t let anything compromise the quality at all. The only way to express oneself is from the inside out. You put it out to the world, as it is, and people will either love it or hate it. That’s the true form of art.”— Guitarist Yuhma
“The theme for this work is a graceful villain. I wanted to create a trap music atmosphere, so I researched many evil-looking game soundtracks.”— Guitarist Souma
“So far, this is the song that best synchronizes the concept with the visuals and the music. It’s kind of a new season of a non-Japanese series with an antihero. Please enjoy it.”— Bassist 70.
The antihero of this new era has been born. Check out the badass side of XANVALA.”— Drummer Tomoya
The five-piece band successfully completed their 20-city Japanese tour “ASK”, and they announced a new one starting this December and ending in August 2023. With several sold-out dates during this year, the upcoming tour is a new challenge to break into bigger venues and reach more areas in Japan.
With the future looking brighter than ever, XANVALA has risen to become one of the most promising acts in the current Visual Kei scene.
Two years on from their 2020 full-length Let There Be Nothing, JUDICATOR have today returned and announced their forthcoming sixth studio album, The Majesty of Decay, set for release via Prosthetic Records on November 25. Refreshed and revitalized the US power metal group are now primed and proud to share the lead single and accompanying music video, The High Priestess, which premiered via Metal Injection.
Speaking on the premiere, the band comments: “The High Priestess is daring, it’s catchy, and so refreshing too! It’s our best idea of what it would look like if Tom Jones did heavy metal. We could have chosen any number of safe songs to introduce the new album, but we wanted to throw our fans a curveball. The rest of the album has plenty of speed, riffs, and prog, but only The High Priestess has a full brass section.
“This song embodies the spirit of JUDICATOR these days — fresh and fun, but incredibly sincere. We really hope you enjoy the single and music video! Pre-order The Majesty of Decay and check us out on Patreon!”
As with past releases, The Majesty of Decay is a concept album. But while most JUDICATOR albums have been based on history, this one takes an entirely different direction. The album’s story connects with At the Expense of Humanity, the band’s third album, which recounts singer John Yelland’s experiences watching his older brother die after a long, drawn out battle with cancer.
Whilst the album’s story remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, JUDICATOR utilizes compelling plot devices as a means to encourage fans to piece together the album’s meta-contextual threads. What we do know, however, is that The Majesty of Decay explores the subjects of love, family, and the transformation of suffering into something meaningful. JUDICATOR invites you to step into this world and contemplate how the story might relate to you. The album is a carefully constructed puzzle of mirrors and metaphor that cries out for JUDICATOR fans everywhere to solve it.
What began as a humble homage to their mutual love of Blind Guardian, JUDICATOR have quickly grown into something that has continually had fans begging for more, with JUDICATOR more happy to oblige. With this latest offering, JUDICATOR have delivered yet another thought provoking album that fits nicely into their discography.
With members spread across the United States, recording for The Majesty of Decay was certainly unique. Drums were engineered and recorded by Alex Bosson (Helion Prime, Lunar, Planeswalker). Brass was engineered and recorded by Michael Sasich at Man vs. Music. The album was edited by Will Salazar at Revenant Sound Studios. Reamping and mixing was completed by Carlos Alvarez at Dirty Viking Audio Production. Mastering and sequencing was completed by Brett Caldas-Lima at Tower Studio. In addition, the album features Angel Chatzitheodorou (Angel Wolf-Black, ex-Bare Infinity), whose elegant, powerful voice soars through much of the song Judgment. The beautiful, eerie artwork by Marc Whisnant completes the package.
The ten tracks that comprise The Majesty of Decay are haunting, progressive, and command attention through their adventurous, emotionally cathartic storytelling and pervasive, dynamic atmosphere.
The Majesty of Decay tracklist:
1. Euphoric Parasitism 2. The Majesty of Decay 3. From the Belly of the Whale 4. Daughter of Swords 5. Ursa Minor 6. Ursa Major 7. The High Priestess 8. The Black Elk 9. Judgment 10. Metamorphosis
Allowing a second glimpse into the forthcoming album, THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET unveil the new composition ‘Miserere [Opus III]-Sanctum’. The song is defined by sorrowful instrumentation and the expressive as well as versatile female vocals of Jason Köhnen’s long-time collaborative partner Lilian Tong. By adding eerie and sinister saxophone, noise and ambient elements, the track transforms itself from a neoclassical piece into a Jazz noir mélange. Composer Jason Köhnen narrates on the conceptual background:
“The song opens with a lamentation and gradually progresses to repentance and the penitence of sin. With this composition I tried to transpose religious expressions into a specific musical journey … a confessional journey of a heretic. I composed the classical part and instructed Lilian Tong on the theme and emotion for the song. She is singing a specific part of Psalm 51 which reflects on the concept of the ‘Sanctum’ piece. As a classical trained soprano, Lilian is incredibly fine to work with, she really understands the vocal desperation needed for this song.“
The images used to create the clip stem from the 1928 classic French silent movie, “The Passion Of Joan Of Arc / Le Passion de Jeanne D’Arc“. Jason comments:
“When I was composing this song, I had the images of this film as inspiration. There is an intense lingering sadness, denigration and degradation in this movie that weighs really heavy. It carries this profound load of injustice and suffering … but in the end the relief and the acceptance of death for staying true to one’s convictions. It’s incredibly bittersweet and tells that same story of repentance which is the concept of ‘Miserere’. There is nothing more powerful than someone willing to die for their beliefs and their convictions. The earthly suffering for universal truths.”
“Miserere” will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally via Debemur Morti Productions on October 7th. Pre-orders for the album are possible via the label’s EU, US and Bandcamp stores.
THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET is one of the many projects from multi-instrumentalist Jason Köhnen. Renowned for his previous projects BONG-RA or THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE and THE MOUNT FUJI DOOMJAZZ CORPORATION.
Köhnen coined the term “Darkjazz” back in 1999 when he composed a track entitled ‘Darkjazz‘ for his 2001 “Darkbreaks” EP. From that point embarking on a long musical journey into dark experimentations with the jazz sound palette in combination with a plethora of genres.
THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET was evoked after a void appeared with the ending of his other Darkjazz outlets, firstly TKDE and TMFDJC and then the short lived THE THING WITH FIVE EYES project which saw Köhnen‘s first flirtations with Arabic scales and instruments, progressively transforming into his MANSUR project together with ex-PHURPA member Dmitry El Demerdashi and avantgarde metal THY CATAFALQUE vocalist Martina Hórvath.
Köhnen‘s approach to his releases with THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET are to open the spectrum of Darkjazz in all its wonderful and mysterious facets. Seeing each release as a script and soundtrack to a different movie, setting a different pace and atmosphere and playing with unorthodox climaxes and atmospheres. The projects hosts a list of dedicated guest musicians, who all participate as the leading actors in these scripts, all playing a crucial role in the soundtracks of these non-existing movies.
THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET releases albums on Denovali Records and Debemur Morti Productions, in a way where the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde part of this project comes to its best and most creative fruition.
Apart from the conceptual audio releases, THE LOVECRAFT SEXTET also navigates through the multi-disciplinary arts. The “In Memoriam” release saw a first in a series of short stories and audiobooks combined with an album. Future releases will see more art disciplines combined as a release.
October 21, 2022 see Norway’s GOTHMINISTER release their new album, entitled “Pandemonium”, through AFM Records. Following a previously-released, first single and music video for the album title track, today the goth and industrial metal ministers present a second track taken of their upcoming magnum opus!
“This Is Your Darkness” once again plays with the deepest primal fears of human beings – persecution, hopelessness and no chance to save oneself. This new album single takes up where “Pandemonium” left off. A drama in three acts. The Gothminister and his monsters are coming to get you!
“The aftermath of Pandemonium – or are we somewhere between place and time?” Band mastermind Bjørn Alexander Brem comments. “«This Is Your Darkness» is the 2nd of in all 3 videos telling the «Pandemonium» tale where the army of the undead keeps marching on looking for new souls to conquer in the evil kingdom, while Gothminister himself this time scouts from the watchtower and preaches from the book of evil. Chris Dead has teamed up with his drums from hell – but be aware, there is still a third story to tell!”
With his captivating debut ‘Gothic Electronic Anthems’ in 2003, Gothminister Bjørn Alexander Brem took the dark music scene by storm, unleashing a thunder of pitch-black magic. Powerful metal riffs march relentlessly arm in arm with huge orchestras and heavenly choirs, while the master himself reveals an astonishing range of vocal art: from the deepest gothic-dungeons up to the higher spheres of steaming rock. It’s the overwhelming combination of catchiness and darkness; a thrilling craft of composing within the marrow of gothic, industrial-metal and electronica, that became Gothminister’s trademarks ever since.
With tracks like “Devil” (Gothic Electronic Anthems 2003), “Monsters” (Empire of Dark Salvation 2005), “Darkside” (Happiness In Darkness 2008), “Liar” (Anima Inferna 2011), “Utopia” (Utopia 2013), the last single from the CD/DVD horror movie concept album which even reached the national finals of the Norwegian Eurovision contest, “Ich will alles” and “We are the ones who rule the world” which both entered the Top 10 of the German Alternative charts and brought thousands of fans together on a tour across Germany together with ASP, Gothminister has gotten a significant following all over the world through the years. Today, the Norwegian industrial metal act has suprised them with an epic music video for a brand new single!
The new Gothminister album, “Pandemonium”, will be released on October 21, 2022 through AFM Records, the pre-sale is now available at THIS LOCATION!
Album Tracklist:
Abgrund (Abyss)
Pandemonium
Demons
Star
Sinister
Kingdoms Rise
Bloodride
Norge
Run Faster
This Is Your Darkness
Mastodon
GOTHMINISTER Artist Line-Up: Bjørn Alexander Brem „Gothminister“ (Vocals) Eirik «Blodøks» Øien (Bass) Glenn «Icarus» Nilsen & Ketil «Turbo Natas» Eggum (Guitars) Christian Svendsen „Chris Dead“ (Drums)
GOTHMINISTER Live: Nov 12th Oslo, Parkteateret (NO)
with many more to follow!
Chief Shock Video
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
Ads
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 )