LILLASYSTER are once more in the competition to represent Sweden in Eurovision.
2021 Lillasyster entered the Swedish take outs for Eurovision and since then their contribution “Pretender” has risen on the charts, peaking on the “Swedish Top 50” chart for over a month and soon streamed Platinum in Sweden. The bands contribution this year is the new “Till Our Days Are Over” and is written by Palle Hammarlund and Jimmy Jansson which have had several previous successes in the competition.
“The song has a higher tempo than Pretender and is more straight on, and more Arena” says singer Martin Westerstrand.
Italian post-hardcore rock ‘n’ rollers, IF I DIE TODAY, have announced their worldwide signing with Argonauta Records, the underground powerhouse label and home for an eclectic roster of bands such as Los Natas, Mitochondrial Sun by Niklas Sundin (formely in Dark Tranquility), Mammoth Storm, High Fighter, Suma, Ancient Vvisdom or Spiral Grave to name just a few. If I Die Today will release their fourth studio album, entitled The Abyss In Silence, during 2022, but today they already revealed a first album sneak peak! Check out this first album teaser here:
“Bands as IF I DIE TODAY are an instant ‘go with’ when you have been offered the chance of a collaboration.“ Argonauta Records owner Gero Lucisano comments. “Already well established in the Italian territory thanks to killer albums and live activity, I thought it was time to spread their blackened post-hardcore blast through the worldwide key-channels of the label. Their upcoming new album is abrasive, wild and high-volumed the way it has to be!”
If I Die Today was formed in 2007 in the North of Italy. The four-piece released three full-length albums and two EPs to date, played countless shows in Europe and Russia alongside festival appearances at such as Groezrock, and gained high praise by both fans and critics for their high energy, intense live shows, while they have shared the stages with bands alike Everytime I Die, While She Sleeps, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Dillinger Escape Plan, Dead Kennedy’s or No Use For A Name.
“ We are beyond stocked to have signed a deal with Argonauta Records for the worldwide release, distribution and promotion of our upcoming album “The Abyss In Silence”,“ says the band.
We all at IIDT would like to thank Gero, Michele and everyone at the Argonauta Records team for the great opportunity and looking forward to get together to the next level!
Dark Essence Records have welcomed Norwegian Black Metallers TILINTETGJORT to their roster, and will release the band’s debut full-length album later this year.
TILINTETGJORT, which translated means “Destroyed”, was formed in the early summer of 2020 by three Oslo-based musicians: Den Gamle and Hazzlegard on guitars, and Sturt: on bass. By the end of the summer the trio was joined by Tybalt on drums and Svik on vocals, cementing their place in the now five-piece lineup.
The newly formed TILINTETGJORT set out to create Avantgarde Black Metal that finds its inspiration not only in the ’90’s Black Metal, in which the band is strongly rooted, but also in ’70’s Prog Rock along, with a variety of other experimental genres.
2021 saw TILINTETGJORT dedicate themselves to the creative process, with the band releasing the digital single ” Vinter og Høst” in September of that year, and as well as making their live debut alongside VED BUENS ENDE and MORTEM in Oslo.
By the time 2022 came along, TILINTETGJORT was ready to begin recording the band’s debut album, entering the Chaka Khan Studio in January. The resulting material was enough to pique the interest of Dark Essence Records, who signed the band a month later.
“TILINTETGJORT is extremely happy to have signed with Dark Essence Records” commented the band, and are “looking forward to a long and productive partnership. Busy times ahead!”
Ever since 2014, JUNKYARD DRIVE have been across half the world. With more than 100 concerts played, over five million streams and two records to this day, they’ve solidly planted their flag on the international rock scene, playing the big stages as the one in Sweden Rock Festival and doing the big tours with, for instance, Eclipse. After the success of their most recent album “Black Coffee” with new faces and ten new razor sharp songs, the band is now ready with their next record “Electric Love”.
“Electric Love” marks a newfound maturity in the group’s universe. Armed with solid and ferocious riffs, the album exposes a hitherto unseen sincerity in the lyrical themes. The teenage days are over in favour of stories about self development, inner tensions and love.
The album is recorded in the legendary Medley Studios, produced by Soren Andersen (Glenn Hughes, Jesper Binzer, Electric Guitars) and mixed/mastered by Erik Martensson (Eclipse).
The teenage days might be over, but they remain to be the greatest Danish rock band (below 40).
“Electric Love” will be released in digital, CD and LP (two colours, each limited to 300 units) by Mighty Music on May 13th, 2022. Pre-orders are available here.
1. Let It Burn 2. Electric Love 3. Mr. Rock N’ Roll 4. Home 5. Let Me Love You 6. Tomorrow I Will Be Gone 7. Mind Eraser 8. The Wonderland Of Temptations 9. Mama 10. Free Your Mind
Florentine alternative metal band VIOLET BLEND have just revealed another new music video and single entitled “Need“. This is the third single from the band’s upcoming full-length album Demons, which is set to drop worldwide on April 1, 2022 via Eclipse Records. The music video was directed by Angelo Mura and filmed on location at Biblioteca Riccardiana. Watch it right now at this location.
“When I wrote the song, I had dreamed of a tattooed snake tangled on my arm,” says lead vocalist & composer Giada Celeste Chelli. “The song is in fact represented by Medusa on the album cover art. A gorgon from Greek mythology with snakes instead of hair, she has the power to petrify anyone who meets her gaze. The song and the video describe and speak about stalking, about the petrifying fear one feels in being constantly kept under control. They convey the impossibility of living freely, being relegated to a cage from which one cannot escape, and about the suffocating pressure and dread one is chained to by another.”
Bassist Ferruccio Baroni adds, “We filmed this video at Biblioteca Riccardiana, one of the oldest and the greatest library in Florence, Italy. It was founded in the XVII century by Riccardo Riccardi, patrimony of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities of Italy. It is a place full of history, culture and wisdom, synonymous and therefore a symbol of knowledge, capable of annihilating discrimination, stalking and violence, result of ineducation and poverty of knowledge. We wanted to highlight this contrast. The patrimony of the Biblioteca Riccardiana is very extensive and partly unpublished, as it houses thousands of manuscripts including Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch and Pliny the Younger.”
Biblioteca Riccardiana is one the official partners of the band’s upcoming social awareness campaign against gender discrimination and violence, “La Donna Mobile”, founded by the band in collaboration with AIDOS (The Italian Association of Women for Development), and the support of the Municipality of Florence and the Department of Equal Opportunities”. The campaign will begin in April, after the release of the band’s fourth music video “La Donna Mobile”, which will take place the week after the bands full length album Demons is released via Eclipse Records on April 1st.
Demons contains thirteen hard-rocking tracks that personify discontent, passion, beauty, and rage. The lyrical subject matter of the album explores the human soul by investigating its contradictions and ambitions. The album was produced by Alessandro Del Vecchio (Quiet Riot, LA Guns, Nanowar of Steel). Demons will be released worldwide via Eclipse Records on April 1, 2022. Singles from the album include the powerful debut “Rock DJ” which describes the primordial sense of joy and freedom that music transmits. The second single entitled “Among All These Fools”, is about asking the music to guide you through some wicked people that try to surround you and prevent you from reaching your goals. The third single “Need” is about a situation of great uncertainty, where you must decide if you should abandon the old life for a new one. The last single “La Donna Mobile” is part of a prominent social campaign to raise awareness against discrimination and gender-based violence, featuring AIDOS (Italian Association of Women for Development) and the Municipality of Florence, Italy. Altogether, Demons is an exciting record with something for everyone, from the superlative vocal to the rhythm-chops which seem to echo the true pulse of the world. Get ready to rock!
HILLTOPS ARE FOR DREAMERS will be releasing their debut album “In Disbelief” via Rockshots Records on March 25th. The album itself is a world of extremes and vastly different from the band’s musical past. It blends influences from post-hardcore with acoustic blues melodies, progressive structuring, heavy riffing, a dash of black metal along with exploring electronic and cinematic paths. The record is meant to be a journey from a gloomy emotional state to a possible healing point through the process of realization. It is divided into three parts, Shadows, which is the dark unfolding of the path, Overturn, where the growing consciousness leads to the hope of a better self, and Awakening, which depicts a moment of revival and prospective remedy. For the album’s mixing and mastering, they teamed up once again with Steve Lado at SL Studios.
“InDisbelief has a loose concept and it’s not a storytelling album from the point of having a main character or hero. However, each of the songs has a lyrical and musical theme that matches with the part where it belongs to.” adds band founder Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos (Guitars / Bass / Keys / Programming).
Today, the band presents their first single “Revival“, a personal favourite of Vasilis’ as he explains further:
“One of the best tracks I have written. In my opinion, it is a very open-minded song. It’s a mix of all my influences, starting from electronic and jazz music (the acoustic parts remind me of ‘Thrice’ jazz moments) and moving to extreme metal respectively. This is why the song is accompanied by an animated music video. Lyrically, this is about realization, where you understand all these messages from the past, your nightmares, and the signs. You might have ignored them and taken some risks, but you understand now. It’s never too late.“
Track Listing: Shadows 1. Silence (5:03) 2. Severe Serenity (3:56) 3. Healing After The Fall (5:19) Overturn 4. The Tide (3:15) 5. Turn Into Oblivion (4:09) Awakening 6. The Sirens Woe (4:10) 7. Revival (3:53) 8. Unsoiled Soul (3:34) Album Length: 31:99
Band Line Up: Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos: Guitars / Bass / Keys / Programming Michael Enger: Vocals Dionysus Maratos: Programming
Album Credits: – Guitars & bass recorded and played by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos – Keys and programming by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos – Vocals performed by Michael Enger – Drums arranged and programmed by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos & Dionysus Maratos – Drums refined and edited by Defkalion Dimos – All music & lyrics by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos, except ‘Unsoiled Soul’ music by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos & Dionysus Maratos; classical guitar lead by Victor Lamprinos – Recorded by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos at Hilltops Recordings & Michael Enger – Produced by Steve Lado at SL Studios (Black Fate’s “Ithaca”, released via Rockshots Records) – Mixed & Mastered by Steve Lado at SL Studios – Co-Produced, edited & engineered by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos – Artwork synthesis & design by Sophia D. – Band Logo by Sophia D. – Artwork photography by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos
Hilltops are for Dreamers (HAFD) is an ambitious project that took shape and form in London around 2018 by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos. However, they pride themselves in being a multinational band, specifically, UK and Greece-based. The band was born through the ashes of the five-piece Greek metalcore act ‘From Zero To Hero, (FO2H)’ that was disbanded in 2012 immediately after the release of their debut album and Dionysus Maratos (ex-FO2H, Celene) was the only one who joined HAFD in their first steps.
Since 2018, the band has managed to self-release their first ‘self-titled’ EP (January 2020) in digital format, receiving a number of positive reviews, including Metal Hammer, Greece (07/10). Mainly focused on a post-hardcore direction, the EP has successfully blended early ‘00s metalcore elements with blues licks and catchy melodies. One lyric and a unique music video have also been produced to support the achievement.
Additionally, during the first Covid-19 lockdown, they wrote and then released the split digital EP ‘A Transition’ (July 2020) with the fellow band ‘Repent For Joy’, pushing their music a step further. That release was accompanied by a music video for the song ‘The Tide’, featuring Michael Enger, who also does vocals on the debut album, ‘In Disbelief’.
What first began as a studio project by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos from the unfulfilled musical restlessness of the past has become a strong collaboration of fellow international musicians to create and record.
In the end, everyone’s goal remains the same; to create influential music following the vision of a no-boundaries-physical or not-world where people connect with sounds and emotions.
Fun Facts:
The artwork photographs were taken over the years by Vasilis in the UK, he never thought that they could be used to synthesize the album inner booklet, but now they are. They challenge fans to find out where some of the pics are from, especially the one in the ‘Awakening’ part of the booklet.
Some of the lyrics were written/conceptualized by Vasilis while he traveled to work by train before the Covid era. Also, some of them are the outcome of just singing while strolling/walking around the streets of London.
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