Ukranian metalcore force SPACE OF VARIATIONS is unstoppable – while living through the horrors of war in their home country, the band still manages to express themselves through their creative, emotional and hard-hitting music and videos. Today, SPACE OF VARIATIONS reveals a new, mesmerizing music video for the powerful album title track “IMAGO”!
SPACE OF VARIATIONS have also announced that the album release of IMAGO is being delayed once more to September 23, 2022, given the current circumstances.
SPACE OF VARIATIONS about the release of IMAGO: “Hello world! The war in our country has changed everything. New reality is ruthless. Although it’s hard, we keep trying to be SOV – the band you’ve always known. Therefore, as much as it’s possible, we’ll be seeking balance in this chaos and sharing what we created before this terrible war began.”
The band has also announced the launch of their Patreon, which gives fans a chance to support SPACE OF VARIATIONS directly. Watch SPACE OF VARIATIONS’s statement and support them through their Patreon here:
Pre-orders for IMAGO continue to be available HERE
IMAGO track listing: 1 – SOMEONE ELSE 2 – vein.mp3 3 – NON-HUMAN CLUB 2.0 4 – DNA molecule in a million of dimensions 5 – Slaughterhouse (ぬ死) 6 – OUTER SPACE 7 – 1M followers (feat. Denis Stoff) 8 – OCEAN OF MADNESS 9 – FACE TO FACE 10 – IMAGO 11 – Brahmastra 12 – serial killer 13 – ULTRABEAT (feat. alyona alyona) 14 – ellipsis…
BLACK STONE CHERRY Reveal Live Video for “Again (Live from the Royal Albert Hall)” Taken From Live From The Royal Albert Hall… Y’All, coming out on June 24th via Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group.
On Wednesday 29 September 2021 – the year of the band’s 20th Anniversary – Kentucky’s favourite sons, BLACK STONE CHERRY, realised their childhood dream of playing at the legendary Royal Albert Hall, London. Sat on the stage at the iconic Victorian building, singer-guitarist Chris Robertson pauses, looks around and says, “When you’re a kid, and you see your heroes’ playing places, and then all of a sudden you find yourself sitting on the stage, it’s pretty emotional. But we’re gonna royally rock it this evening. You better believe that.”
Watch “Again (Live from the Royal Albert Hall)” here:
The song is taken from their 2020 album The Human Condition and talking about it they say, “When we wrote “Again” at the twelfth hour in the studio, we never imagined hearing that first chorus being sung by so many voices inside the hallowed RAH. It’s one of our favorite songs to play live, and this is a memory that will last a lifetime.”
Throughout the set they tear through an impressive back catalogue, playing songs from their most recent studio album ‘The Human Condition – “In Love with the Pain,” “Again”, and the previously released live track “Ringin’ in My Head” – through to their biggest hits and fan favourites. “Blind Man,” “Hell and High Water,” “Blame it on the Boom Boom,” and “White Trash Millionaire” rock the building alongside moments of tenderness such as the touching rendition and emotional performance of “Things My Father Said.”
Talking about playing the Royal Albert Hall, drummer John-Fred Young said, “To be honest, I was terrified. It was heavy walking in there. You think about how many great acts have played this place. The prestige behind it. We’ve wanted to play the Royal Albert Hall since the first UK tour in 2007.” He continues, “Dudes from the middle of the country in Kentucky to go out here and have built an amazing group of people that we care about and come to our shows and support us. To know that with all that hard work and dedication we have put into Black Stone Cherry, we’ve accomplished something here. Walking in that place, it’s just breath-taking. You walk on that stage, and you say, we did it, and it’s a feeling that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
On the Blu-Ray, the live footage is dotted with behind-the-scenes interviews, fly on the wall footage and archival insights into the band as kids first starting out, snippets of their first ever UK tour and heartfelt moments of reflection. But ultimately Live From The Royal Albert Hall… Y’All was about bringing rock ‘n’ roll to London, Kentucky style, and they tore the roof off that mother.
Finnish Prog Metallers FIREPROVEN will release their farewell album “Epilogue” on May 27th. Today the band tells more about the songs, their songwriting, topics and inspirations. Read below the in-depth track-by-track:
THE MAZE Nuutti: The lyrics of the song are based on my experiences of school bullying. I have unraveled the feelings I experienced as a teenager and what insights those experiences ultimately led me to. All bad events may not be bad, although at that moment they may be incomprehensible painful. Some things are never forgotten and carried through life. However, there is a perspective on them in constant motion. It is important to note that every human being is capable of the extreme cruelty but also goodness.
Nuutti about the composition of the song: In The Maze’s composition, I combined elements familiar from video games with progressive metal, and a shark also influenced by the direction of melodic death metal. I created contrasts between the different parts in order to the listener’s ears would not become numb to repeating the same mood for too long. I feel that music needs to address the widest possible spectrum of emotions. These influences are born with strong musical experiences from my life all the way to elementary school from songs of Nintendo games.
THE ADDICT Nuutti: The idea for the lyrics came to me after analyzing my daily activities. Where do we draw the line between everyday habits and addiction? Many things have the potential to improve your life, but alternatively might lead you in the wrong direction. It’s always about the perspective and whether you’re working consciously or are driven by impulses. Addiction is often seen as a negative phenomenon, but underneath you might find what your subconscious is trying to tell you. Is there something in the shadows that wants to be seen or heard? The Addict was originally a fully electronic song. We pulled the whole package through a prog metal filter and found ourselves creating something completely new. The song combines synth wave, djent and shamanistic atmosphere which eventually transports the listener to a trance-like state. It feels like the song itself had told us which form it wanted to take.
KING Janne: There is, in fact, quite a number of different approaches when it comes to the story behind this song. So, it’s kind of a survival story, but I won’t reveal more because I want the listener to be able to understand it the way they hear it. Sanna and Nuutti assisted with the songwriting, and Ilari’s tense keyboard parts brought the distinctive Fireproven sound to the song. In addition, there’s an awesome guitar solo, which was super fun to play.
HAUNTED Janne: Needless to say which band influenced the main riff of the song. So, I’m a huge fan of Metallica but I was actually listening to Cirice by Ghost when the songwriting process started. However, I wanted to bring in a new perspective with elements of some groovy djent in the bridge. In the verse you can hear some influences of Slayer’s riffs, but I added ambient guitars to create a more atmospheric sound, and Ilari added some pretty great synth tracks in it. The vocal harmonies of this song might remind you of Alice in Chains songs. As for the lyrics, there are many angles on how they can be understood. Together with Sanna, we got to create these amazingly visual lyrics, the atmosphere which emphasizes the name of the song, ‘Haunted’.
TIME TO HEAL Janne: I wanted to write a thrash metal song in an odd time signature. Time to Heal is a pretty funny song as its main riff is a Slayer type guitar riff which goes to nine and the drums go to four, so the first beat of the bar always changes its place. The lyrics take a strong stand on the current situation of the world, that is, wars and the climate crisis. Pressing pause and giving our home planet some time to breathe would be the only deliverance of mankind.
DREAM CATCHER Nuutti: Dream Catcher is a combination of groovy, even blues-like soundscape with pop nuances that are joined together with a Gothenburg metal style arrangement. The lyrics cover an immigration crisis by way of a fictional story. It’s been a while since it was written but from one point of view you can see how it portrays the crisis in Ukraine, and the people forced to leave their homes.
GRACE Nuutti: The first version of Grace was very different from its final form. We edited the song quite a bit and in the end it became a collaborative composition of me, Janne, Juha and Sanna. In the song there are elements from melodic death metal to a more progressive expression. You can even hear a hint of classical minimalism in the verses. The lyrics tell a story about an inevitable death and the fragility of life, as well as the urge to avoid thinking about these subjects.
WAVES OF EXTINCTION Nuutti: The writing of the song started with a mainriff, where I was interested in combining a video-like atmosphere with a cadence in odd meters. I managed to make many versions of the song before as it turned out which direction I want the atmosphere and structure to carry. The song is very story-like in structure. After the initial explosion, one travels through the electronical parts towards darker moods and eventually the tension is released in the chorus. The key to the song is the power of collaboration. Sanna rewrote most of the melodies and Janne also put his spoon in the soup, after which we all made the song look Fireproven together.
Nuutti about the lyrics: Climate change and its effects serve as a strong inspiration for the lyrics of the song. The recitation takes place in two timelines, in the first of which the great destruction has already taken place and is lived in a post-apocalyptic world. In another timeline, we are in a moment where we idealistically want to save the planet, but action for great change is insufficient. The song is not intended to entice the listener into gloom or to lose faith in change. It is only a review of the current topic in a storytelling form.
Sanna: The variation in the moods and dynamics of Waves of Extinction, combined with odd meters, seemed to be heard at first glance. The topic of the song is also very important to me. Nuutti composed a masterpiece that made it easy for me to compose vocal melodies for the song. I’ve certainly never used my voice in this way in a single song before. At times in the recordings, we laughed at this banging from the delicate mood through the low growls to the high clean vocals and from there to the even higher screams, but the end result is definitely worth it. The song sounds 100% to us.
UNITY Nuutti: Unity is a story about whales’ journey around the ocean. Whales are unique beings that have their own diverse language. Sanna wrote some of the lyrics. Whales are close to her heart, too, so our co-operation worked seamlessly. The journey of the whales is a metaphor for the chance of freedom we all should have no matter the circumstances.
Just recently FIREPROVEN teamed up with BraveWords to premiere exclusively worldwide their new lyric video ‘King’, taken from “Epilogue”.
Watch ‘King’ via BraveWords at THIS LOCATION or via YouTube:
In January 2022, FIREPROVEN announced that after this album they will be disbanded, thanking their loyal fans releasing “Epilogue” which will remain their last effort, as a band.
“Hello everyone! We hope that 2022 has started well for you guys. Sadly, we have to announce that Fireproven will no longer continue. There are number of reasons that led us to this decision but we’re all still good friends, and will continue to keep it that way. We’re going to release our last album later this spring but all shows will be cancelled. We want to thank you all for your love and support during these years. None of this would have been possible without you guys listening to our tracks and showing us your love. Peace and love! Stay healthy!”
Check out the earlier released singles from the album: ‘Waves of Extinction’ (2021)
“Epilogue” Album line-up is: Sanna Solanterä – lead singer Janne Väätämöinen – guitar and backing vocals Juha Väätämöinen – bass and vocals Ilari Hannula – keyboards Nuutti Hannula – drums
FIREPROVEN is a progressive metal band from Finland. The band is known for their long, imagery songs, as well as their energetic live shows. Their first album ‘Future Diary’ got great scores in multiple reviews, and International Music Video Contest rewarded their music video Shine for the best director of photography. The band’s unique sound has already inspired people in Europe and overseas. The band decided to take things to the next level by hiring a new lead vocalist Sanna Sola back in December 2019. Fireproven pride themselves on their technical abilities and musical versatility, breaking boundaries with their uniqueness.
Irish Viking Metal/Norse Pagan Rockers REN MARABOU AND THE BERSERKERS will release their new single ‘Let’s Drink Mead’ on May 27th, today the band has revealed a teaser video and coverart of the single. ‘Let’s Drink Mead’ is taken from the band’s upcoming album “Tales Of Rune“, coming out this Summer through United Music Mafia.
Watch Ren Marabou talking ‘Let’s Drink Mead’ while he was followed by a stalking sheep…
Ren shared: ‘Let’s Drink Mead’ is the new single by Ren Marabou and the Berserkers. Release date is May 27th through United Music Mafia. Taken from the upcoming album ‘Tales of Rune’, ‘Let’s Drink Mead’ is a jovial song about the fallen Viking Warriors who now reside, feast and fight in Valhalla’. It will be available in all stores including Spotify, United Music Streaming, iTunes, Amazon Music and Google Music.
More on “Tales Of Rune” album: The Irish Heathens say this will be their most riff filled, head banging, anthemic and energetic album to date. This cranked up Norse Mythology themed album will have you filling your mead drinking horns, and readying yourself for battle. 🛡⚔️
The band Recorded, Mixed and Mastered the album in Meadowbank Studios Donegal.
Just previously, Ren Marabou announced his entry to Iron Age Guitar Accessories -roster!
Ren stated: “I am a proud Iron Age Endorsed Artist and I’m absolutely loving our Berserker picks made from Ebony. If you want you own Berserker picks head over to Iron Age Guitar Accessories. I also highly recommend the Ragnarök range, incredible craftsmanship fit for any Viking ready for battle 🛡⚔️ 🔥 ᛒᛖᚱᛋᛖᚱᚲᛖᚱ🔥 #brandofsacrifice 🔥”
Hailing from the Emerald Isle and based in the hills of Co.Donegal these Irish Viking Metal/Norse Pagan Rockers, REN MARABOU AND THE BERSERKERS, deliver their own take on this powerful genre with a high energy stage show and anthemic, contemporary stylings. Endorsed by Cassidy Guitars, Skull Strings, Fishsticks drum sticks and Iron Age Guitar Accessories. Signed to United Music Mafia and Managed by Split Screen Management.
There have been hints at a new rock band, UMBILICUS, floating around for months but it seems to be materializing now, in the signing of a digital deal with Blood Blast Distribution. The quartet, which features Paul Mazurkiewicz (CANNIBAL CORPSE) on drums, Taylor Nordberg (DEICIDE, INHUMAN CONDITION) on guitar, Vernon Blake (ANARCHUS, NAPALM DEATH-live) on bass, and Brian Stephenson (FORE, OLD JAMES) on vocals, has put their love of 60s and 70s rock into their debut full-length album, which will arrive later this year.
“We are all so excited to finally start releasing some music from this band! I have worked with Blood Blast Distribution with several other bands, and they are absolutely killer to work with. Pro, great communication, and they care about the artists. Our first single should be out this month, so stay tuned!” Nordberg said.
UMBILICUS are: Brian Stephenson – vocals Paul Mazurkiewicz – drums Vernon Blake – bass Taylor Nordberg – guitar
ИORAM is a band born in 2018 in Naples by Alfredo Juliano (lead guitar) and Marco Maresca (drums), composed by Victor Rodriguez (vocals) Lorenzo Massa (bass) and Pasquale Fedele (rhythm guitar).
They already have to their credit an EP “Anthropocene”, produced by Wanikiya Record, consisting of five songs, released in November 2020, with clear old school and hardcore metal influences, combined with the tradition of songwriting in Italian, enjoying success they are not in Italy but also abroad with excellent reviews in the media and sector publications.
Some words about “LEMMING”….
Out now on all major digital music platforms “LEMMING”, the new single by the Neapolitan metal band ИORAM, recorded by the producer and bassist Sebastiano Di Martino, also accompanied by a lyric video on Youtube and available on the Wanikiya Record store in Italy and Japan .
Even this new single, like all the band’s production, is in Italian and is a clear reference to popular culture that wants small Arctic rodents (lemmings, in fact) to commit suicide en masse, a clear metaphor for the man devoid of critical sense and individual opinion following the mass pays the only possible destination… DEATH!
A clear reference also to the period we are living through, because as ИORAM sing: “It is a society of lemmings – Who follow whoever stands in front of them – And jump – Unaware of the consequences – And run – Ending their dreams”.
A single that has an excellent riff of guitars and drums, very contemporary that mixes classic metal with flashes of hardcore, with a frenzied rhythm even in the singing.
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
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )