Finnish/Greek Doom Metal band AEONIAN SORROW announcing the release of their new EP entitled “From The Shadows”.
The interesting and melancholic group of musicians from Finland and Greece, after releasing their second full length album “Katara”, are now back with freshly new materials. “From The Shadows” is an EP inspired from cold nights in the forest, isolation, despair and the haunting memories that linger in the shadows of our minds. Every song is a unique journey of emotions as the darkness envelopes in our life.
Tracklist: 01. Mist of Oblivion 02. Harbinger of Ruin 03. Whispers in the Dark 04. Your Blackened Forest
“From The Shadows” EP will be out on January 3rd, 2025 and the band has prepared for their fans some really cool merch items to celebrate it.
Kurt Deimer announced that he has been added to Sebastian Bach‘s “Child Within the Man” North American tour through November! See above the tour dates.
Kurt’s newest single, “Dance,” released on March 1, 2024, is a testament to resilience and the ability to find inspiration in challenging circumstances. The single is a precursor to his highly anticipated debut album, And So It Begins.., slated for release later this year.
Kurt unveiled the eagerly awaited music video, a visual masterpiece captured against the stunning backdrop of a Los Angeles rooftop. Directed by the visionary Kurt Deimer himself, the video seamlessly weaves together captivating imagery and dynamic visuals.
Stay tuned for further updates and announcements regarding ticket sales, additional tour dates, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content by following Kurt Deimer’s official social media channels.
Post-death metal outfit DEATH DESCENDING has inked a deal with Wormholedeath to release their self-titled debut EP, which will arrive on November 22nd, 2024.
Rising from the ashes of a failed band project, Death Descending is the singular vision of a dedicated musician. This one-man wrecking crew unleashes a monstrous sonic assault that blends the fury of blackened death metal with the atmospheric expanse of post-metal and the bone-crushing brutality of slam. Death Descending’s self-titled EP promises a pulverizing experience!
Dive into the abyss with the Death Descending teaser:
“Death Descending” tracklist:
Permanence
Death Descending
Death Dealer
Where No Light Treads
For more information on Death Descending, visit their social media channels:
Genre bending, Alternative Outlaw, Southern Rock artist Cage Willis released “Wonderin’ Why” along with an official visualizer to all major platforms. In addition, the single will be available on TouchTunes and AMI jukeboxes across the country.
Cage shared, “’Wonderin’ Why’ is about losing the one you love due to your own flaws. It’s about not being able to own up to your problems and ‘Wonderin’ Why’ they ain’t ever comin’ back.”
Cage Willis hails from Mt. Carmel, IL (population 7,200) but has found a way to reach the masses. His independently released debut album has over 690,000 streams on Spotify alone and was produced by Chris Robertson (Black Stone Cherry.)
Cage Willis took to the road in 2023 with 2 national tours supporting Foreigner and Jared James Nichols. When Cage Willis isn’t headlining, he is playing shows with John 5, Brother Cane, Black Stone Cherry, Plush, Larry McCray, Creed Fisher, Justin Moore, Hairball, Demun Jones, Blacktop Mojo, Framing The Red, Josey Scott’s Saliva, Jocelyn & Chris and more.
Follow Cage Willis on social media for updates on new music, tour dates, and more!
In follow up to 2023’s “Triade III: Nyx” – the climatic instalment of the ‘Melmoth‘ trilogy based on Charles Robert Maturin‘s classic Gothic novel – AARA now break away from the literary and apply their stunning musicality to real-world events.
“Eiger” is conceptually focused on the 3967 metre mountain of the same name in the Bernese Alps. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting to conquer the Eiger’s sheer, ice-covered north face which has earned it the nickname of ‘Mordwand‘ (‘murder wall‘). The album specifically examines an attempt to climb the Mordwand in July 1936 which ended in tragedy, as four young mountaineers succumbed to treacherous conditions and disappeared, presumed caught in an avalanche.
Tracklist:
01. Die das wilde Wetter fängt 02. Senkrechte Welten 03. Felsensang 04. Todesbiwak 05. Der Wahnsinn dort im Abgrund 06. Zurück zur roten Fluh 07. Grausig ist der Blick 08. Alptraum
“Eiger” was composed between 2022 and 2023. The album intro was provided by Jonny Warren (MODERN RITES), with acoustic guitars recorded by Urizen. Drums were recorded by J at Chäuer Studios in Bern. Mixing and mastering were handled by Markus Stock (EMPYRIUM, THE VISION BLEAK) at Klangschmiede Studio E.
The cover artwork, as with the last three albums, was created by Swiss painter Michael Handt, with design courtesy of Yurii Kazarian/Into The Abyss Design.
Composer Berg shares insights into the concept behind “Eiger“:
“After the Melmoth trilogy, it was exciting to tackle something new, to delve into a different topic and imagine how to realise it musically. Since “Eiger“ tells a certain sequence of events and ‘Felsensang‘ is one of the first tracks, it was important to create a more relaxed mood that fits the setting and the narrative. So the song begins rather atypically for Black Metal, which was actually the first riff I wrote for “Eiger“, and is in general characterised by a hopeful optimism. In contrast to previous AARA releases, the “Eiger” album and thus also ‘Felsensang‘ is more strongly interspersed with calmer phases, which somewhat softens the constant emotional chaos of previous AARA releases and gives the individual moods more space.“
“Eiger” will be released on CD, vinyl and digital on December 6th. Pre-orders are available via the label’s EU, US, and Bandcamp shops, bundle options are available.
Listen to ‘Felsensang‘, a first track from the upcoming album, below:
Switzerland’s AARA was founded in 2018 by vocalist Fluss and multi-instrumentalist Berg to create art highly influenced by atmospheric Black Metal. Sporting an epic, classical feel, their sweeping compositions aim to take the listener through the darkest alleys of human existence.
Soon after releasing their debut record “So fallen alle Tempel” in early 2019, AARA joined forces with Debemur Morti Productions, releasing their mosaic EP “Anthropozän” that same year.
Barely a year after their debut, AARA unveiled a new full-length record in April of 2020. A conceptual look into Europe’s Age of Enlightenment, “En Ergô Einai” sees AARA take their accomplished sound to new heights of mature artistic expression. Opened with a haunting acoustic intro courtesy of Vindsval (BLUT AUS NORD), “En Ergô Einai” is a triumph of fluid melodic euphoria and classical elegance, setting an even higher watermark in a bright, young discography. The third album and beginning of a trilogy, namely “Triade I: Eos“, was released in March 2021. In this epic and dramatic new work of art, AARA are interpreting the Gothic novel “Melmoth The Wanderer” (1820) of Irish writer Charles Robert Maturin.
Venturing forth into the next chapters of Maturin‘s work, AARA crafted the second part of their trilogy, “Triade II: Hemera“. The six tracks of brutally melodic, top-tier Black Metal was released in May 2022. The third and final album of the Melmoth trilogy saw see the light of day on March 31st, 2023.
In follow up to 2023’s “Triade III: Nyx“, the band now breaks away from the literary and apply their stunning musicality to real-world events. AARA‘s new album, “Eiger“, will be released on December 6th.
amás Kátai never dreamt that THY CATAFALQUE would ever go beyond the recording studio. But over the past two decades, Kátai and his frequent band of collaborators have expanded far beyond not only Hungary’s borders but also the prickly boundaries of extreme metal. With each album, they’ve brought the world’s most vile art form into further conversation with the avant-garde.
Thy Catafalque’s upcoming twelfth album is the most sprawling release yet. The latest single off A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek does signal a surreal change in direction, as far as the actual production goes. And yet -“Piros kocsi, fekete éj” hauls Kátai back into the distant past, where he’s greeted by many familiar sights and sounds.
Thy Catafalque’s new album XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek comes out November 15, 2024 on Season of Mist.
Having won two consecutive Fonogram awards, Thy Catafalque is now recognized as Hungary’s leading thinker in the field of progressive metal. In true prolific fashion, Tamás Kátai didn’t dwell over his upcoming twelfth album for too long. XII arrives just one year after the heavy and haunting Alföld. It isn’t a concept album, but A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek does take you on a serious head trip.
“I like to think of XII as a dark night of the soul”, Kátai says.
This introspective journey begins with “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”. In English, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek‘s opening track and final advanced single means “Red Carriage, Black Night”, though you don’t need a translator to enjoy the ride. The song shows off this album’s slick new paint job, gliding off through a fresh mist of piping keys.
“I felt like the production had had largely been the same since Geometria“, Kátai admits.
He does play every instrument on “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”, including the twin engine guitars that rev with enough reverb to carve through the Hungarian mountainside. But for the first time in the project’s long and varied history, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek had Kátai seeking some help from an outside producer. Granted, Gábor Vári is no stranger to Thy Catafalque. Banging heads on stage during the live album Mezolit gavehim first-hand knowledge as to how its mastermind turns the gears.
“Gábor was the perfect co-producer”, Kátai says. “He helped me give this album a somewhat different, more modern sound while still making it feel familiar”.
A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek can be a rocky road. Just as those keys are about to lift off into deep space, “Piros kocsi, fekete éj” breaks down into skull-crushing death metal that recalls Kátai’s more devilish early recordings. In the song’s picturesque animated video, symbols from Thy Catafalque’s discography flash behind the towering cover art that graced Sublinary Tragedies.
But of course, Kátai is not alone on this journey. No Thy Catafalque album would be complete if he weren’t accompanied by many familiar faces from in and outside of the Hungarian metal scene. Martina Veronika Horváth – whose band The Answers Lies in the Black Void joined for Thy Catafalque’s first-ever European tour earlier this year – positively glows on “Piros kocsi, fekete éj”. Her wordless chorus is as enchanting as all the soothing comforts of home.
“Time clatters on the rails“, a familiar voice answers her beck and call. Attila Bakos beams over the airwaves with the same clean force as 15 years ago, when he helped lift Thy Catafalque out of the Hungarian underground on Róka hasa rádió.
“Attila also sang on Rengeteg”, Kátai remembers. “‘Piros kocsi, fekete éj’ has the same sense for melody. It opens the album with a feeling of nostalgia that I’ve always associated with Thy Catafalque”.
Tamás Kátai has a vision that extends far beyond his native Hungary, but Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album is tied to both its mastermind’s past and the history of his home country.
Uncover the many hidden meanings behind A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek during Thy Catafalque’s upcoming Reddit Ama. You can ask Kátai about anything – his favorite black metal album, climbing through the Scottish Highlands, his dream collaborator, childhood memories of Hungary or even his plans for the next album (which is already well in the works!)
Thy Catafalque Reddit AMA on r/Metal Thursday, 14 November 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. Eastern Time (15 – 16 Central European Time)
Metalheads all over the world associate Thy Catafalque with Hungary, but Kátai just set the scene for Red Bull TV’s new feature-length film.
ANYTIME follows a daring new generation of mountain bikers as they set out to conquer the world’s most extreme terrains. Bikers Brage Vestavik and Kade Edwards took on the daunting challenge of Chile’s “The Megadolon”, a 5,542 foot descent down a steep and snowy mountainside. This tense scene is set by “Köszöntsd a hajnalt”, the heavy yet serene third single off Thy Catafalque’s tenth album Vadak.
For two decades, Tamás Kátai was content on sticking to the studio. That changed in 2021, when he and a cast of heavy hitters performed at the Fekete Zaj Festival. This milestone was later committed to memory on Mezolit, but Thy Catafalque has continued to grow into a steady and spectacular live act.
Over the weekend, Thy Catafalque performed in Greece on the principal stage during Mammoth Fest. Now, to celebrate the project’s upcoming twelfth album, Kátai and his ever-growing list of collaborators will perform three more concerts across Europe. This includes a newly added date at Spain’s BIME Live Festival, plus two very special sold-out shows at one of Hungary’s most influential underground venues, where they’ll perform songs off XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek, along with all ten tracks on the recently reissued fifth album Rengeteg.
During these two special shows at Dürer Kert, Thy Catafalque will be joined by the noisy experimentalists in Shum, labelmate Saor and Kátai’s old band, Gire.
Thy Catafalque 2024 Concerts: October 30 – Bilbao, Spain @ BIME Live Festival [INFO] November 22 – Budapest, Hungary @ Dürer Kert w/ Saor [SOLD OUT] November 23 – Budapest, Hungary @ Dürer Kert w/ Gire, Shum [SOLD OUT]
New fans and long-time appreciators can now rediscover just how much Thy Catafalque has grown since their humble beginnings as a duo. This year, Season of Mist re-issued Thy Catafalque’s first seven albums.
Artwork
Front cover by Dániel Szécsényi and Tamás Kátai – Illustrations by Orsolya Pintér.
Tracklist: 1. Piros Kocsi, Fekete Éj (4:12) [WATCH] 2. Mindenevö (6:35) [WATCH] 3. Vasgyár (6:18) 4. Világnak Világa (6:28) 5. Nyárfa, Nyírfa (2:53) 6. Lydiához (3:05) 7. Vakond (4:29) 8. Ködkiraly (7:58) 9. Aláhullás (3:48) 10. A Gyönyörü Álmok Ezután Jönnek (3:14) [WATCH] 11. Babylon (Bonus Track – Omega Cover) (3:42)* Total runtime:49:02 *Digital only
Tamás Kátai has a vision that extends beyond borders and boundaries. Even during its infancy, Thy Catafalque had already outgrown the rather rigid guidelines of black metal. Though only intended for the studio, over the past 20 years, his recording project has evolved into a lively collaboration. With each album, Thy Catafalque has pushed the envelope of extreme metal a step further, bringing the world’s most vile art form into conversation with the avant-garde.
Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album is even more expansive, but XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek ties both to its mastermind’s past and the history of his native Hungary. “For this album, I felt it was time to move in a different direction, whatever that direction might be”, Kátai says, “but XII still possesses the dreaminess that I’ve always associated with Thy Catafalque”.
Of course, Kátai hasn’t been mulling over this album for too long. Keeping in line with his prolific pace, XII arrives just one year after his previous album. Named after the stretch of land where the producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was born in southeast Hungary, Alföld returned to the heaviness from which Thy Catafalque took root during the late ’90s. Once again, Kátai set out to make a straightforward metal record, but while there’s plenty of cause for chest-pounding, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek ended up taking him on another surreal headtrip.
“I think of this album as an introspective journey through the night”, Kátai says. Opener “Piros kocsi, fekete éj” (which in English means “Red Carriage, Black Night”) glides off through a warm mist of piping keys, led by twin engine guitars that crest with reverb. “Time clatters on the rails”. Attila Bakos sings in Hungarian. His voice beams over the airwaves with the same clean force as 15 years ago, when he helped lift Thy Catafalque out of the Hungarian underground on the recently reissued Róka hasa rádió.
“Attila also sang on Rengeteg“, Kátai remembers about the first Thy Catafalque album that he wrote and recorded by himself. “‘Piros kocsi, fekete éj’ has the same sense for melody. It opens the album with a feeling of nostalgia”.
Of course, many other familiar faces join Kátai on his journey. After all, Thy Catafalque started as a duo with János Juhász. A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek features the biggest guest list in the project’s long discography. More than 20 guest musicians appear on this album, including old friends from inside and outside the Hungarian metal scene. Martina Veronika Horváth — whose band The Answer Lies in the Black Void toured Europe with Thy Catafalque earlier in 2024 — duets with the tender brooding Gábor Dudás for a faithful rendition of “Lydiához”, a 1980 Sebő ensemble classic that sowed the seeds for Hungary’s roots revival.
“That is a song that’s been with me and the rest of my generation ever since we were children”, Kátai says. Violins, cello, clarinet and other classical instruments add to the comforts of home. Before it drifts off high beyond the clouds, “Vakond” strings along like a whistling stroll across The Great Plains. “Alföld was very bleak”, he continues. “Adding classical and acoustic instruments helped add a spring of color and an air of adventure to these new songs”.
Still, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek can be a hard road — especially during its crushing middle section. Despite the gentle opening plucks, “Mindenevő” crashes down like a boulder, hurtling ahead at terrifying speed behind doomy operatic backing vocals, mechanized blast beats and the eerie fires of tremolo picking that forged Thy Catafalque’s debut Sublunary Tragedies. “This album still has plenty of metal”, Kátai assures.
The heaviest moments are often grounded in Hungary’s history. While colored by nostalgia, XII is also shadowed by the ticking hands of time, a theme that ripples back to 2021’s Vadak. Blackened chugger “Vasgyár” shares a namesake with the rusted-out ironworks that once fueled the country’s economy. It’s not a political statement, but the song does reflect how the landscape has changed to the eye of the now 48-year-old Kátai.
“Even the album’s visuals are from a bygone era”, he says. In the video for its title track, closing song and lead single, Kátai doesn’t just run through the streets of his hometown. Surreal scenes from the past and present linger along his winding path through the placid countryside. Watching his doppelgänger dig his own grave feels like a living nightmare. “‘This song comes from a place of desperation”, he says. “Within the afterglow of nostalgia, there’s also the chill of disappointment”.
Ultimately, the progressive flair that has come to define Thy Catafalque shines through the darkness on album twelve. Only this time around, in order to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, Kátai needed some guidance. “I felt like the production had largely been the same since Geometria“, he admits. XII marks the first time in the project’s history that he worked with an outside producer. Granted, Gábor Vári is no stranger to how his mind works. When he’s not holed away in the studio with other prominent Hungarian metal bands, Gábor could be seen hammering away at his guitar on stage with Thy Catafalque on the live album Mezolit. “He was the perfect person to help give this album a somewhat different sound that is still familiar”.
As a result, “A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek” stands out as one of Thy Catafalque’s biggest crowd pleasers, uplifted by hand claps and catchy, fist-pumping riffs. Even the dark waves of synth glow with the reassurance of the dawn. “At the end, there’s still hope for a future that might offer warmer days after the darkness has ceded”.
Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album looks back longingly at the past, Tamás Kátai isn’t stopping to smell the roses. With A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek, he shows that the beautiful dreams are yet to come.
Recording Lineup: Tamás Kátai – guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards, programming
Guest Musicians: Martina Veronika Horváth – vocals on Track 1, 6 Ivett Dudás – vocals on Track 8 Helga Kreiter – vocals on Track 4, 10 Gábor Dudás – vocals on Track 2, 5, 6, 10 Bálint Bokodi – vocals on Track 2, 4, 9 Gábor Veres – vocals on Track 3, 8 Attila Bakos – vocals on Track 1 Zoltán Kónya – vocals on Track 3 András Vörös – vocals on Track 4 Breno Machado – lead guitar on Track 2 Zoltán Vigh – lead guitar on Track 3 Krisztián Varga – lead guitar on Track 4 Daniele Belli – acoustic guitar on Track 2 Miguel Velasquez Matija – fretless bass on Track 2, 6 Edu Giró – oud, bouzouki, baglama on Track 2,7 Grigoris Mitropoulos – bouzouki, mpaglamas on Track 7 Sanja Smileska – violin on Track 3 Jo Quail – electric cello on Track 8 Issar Shulman – contrabass on Track 2 Cal Rustad – French horn on Track 2, 8 Manuel Domenech – cor anglais on Track 8 Khachatrian Lernik – clarinet on Track 2 Gergő Bille – flugelhorn, trumpet on Track 7 Joakim Toftgaard – trombone, trumpet on Track 7 Fabian Hernandez – saxophone on Track 5 Viktória Varga – narration on Track 3 Annamari Sánta – narration on Track 7, 8
Recording: Recorded in various countries: Hungary, United Kingdom, Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Greece, North Macedonia, Israel, U.S.A., Colombia, Brazil.
Producer & Sound Engineer: Tamás Kátai, Gábor Vári
Mixing & Mastering: Miracle Sound Szeged, Hungary. Mixed and mastered by Gábor Vári.
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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