Italian heavy metal veterans Crying Steel have released a re-recorded version of their iconic track “No One’s Crying”, originally released on their 1987 debut album “On The Prowl”. The new version features Ralf Scheepers of Primal Fear and ex-Gamma Ray on vocals.
The video was created by Natalia Śmiechowicz / @n.station (Motörhead, Dokken, Uriah Heep)
The release of the video follows the news of the band’s new permanent live and recording vocalist Tiziano HammerHead Sbaragli. Crying Steel will be performing with the new vocalist at Italian Metal Heroes festival on Saturday 31 August.
Earlier this year the band released “Live And Thunder”, a brand new live album recorded at the band’s 40th anniversary festival in their hometown of Bologna in Italy. Grab the album via Bandcamp, listen via Spotify and other digital platforms.
Crying Steel was formed in 1982 and is considered to be one of the very first heavy metal acts to come out of Italy. The band’s discography includes: Crying Steel (1985), On the Prowl (1987), The Steel is Back! (2007), Time Stands Steel (2013), Crying Steel Deluxe Edition (Crying Steel and On the Prowl remastered + Wacken DVD – 2016), Stay Steel (2018) and Steel Alive (2019).
“It offers captivating, driving anthems with immense dynamism—on one hand, monumental and monolithic, on the other, brilliant and varied!” (Legacy)
Shortly before the official release of MODERN RITES‘ second album, “Endless“, artistic duo Berg (AARA) and Jonny Warren (KUYASHII) present the full album stream.
Building upon acclaimed 2021 debut “Monuments“, new album “Endless” drives powerful slabs of dark ’90s Industrial music through a low-slung framework of churning and guttural melodic Black Metal. “Endless” takes the band’s monolithic sound to the next level: with crushing advancements in riff-quality, vocal weight, rhythmic intricacy, textural range, dynamics and songcraft.
Jonny Warren describes the creation of “Endless“:
“For this album, Berg and I were already chatting about ideas and inspirations shortly before our first album was released. From there we recorded snippets of riffs to figure out the progressions of songs, sometimes just creating piano melodies to find the themes we wanted to come through the music. I would then create the foundation of bass and programmed drums and send that to Berg to layer guitars. Next we would chat about edits, find elements we want to pull out more, etc. After all the instrumentals were done, I began writing lyrics to tie themes together and recorded vocals. Lastly, we worked with The Empty Hall Studio to bring the album to life through mixing and mastering.
One thing we were very intentional about when starting the project was that we wanted the lyrics to be a true reflection of the human condition. This is definitely a driving force behind the sound as well, where the dance between poignancy and aggression take centre stage.
With Art in general, my approach is to speak to the diverse backgrounds we all have and allow the listener or viewer to create their own personal connections to the work. While I have my own meanings, I try not to force them upon others, but rather challenge them to find their own pathways of understanding. In the end, I want the takeaway to be that all of our experiences, while vastly different, are ultimately connected in some way or another and to be mindful of how we move through this journey of life together.“
‘Endless” will be released on CD, vinyl and digital on August 30th. Pre-orders are possible via the label’s EU, US and Bandcamp shops.
MODERN RITES is an Industrial-rooted, melodic Black Metal duo founded in Autumn 2020 by guitarist Berg of Swiss Atmospheric Black Metal band AARA and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/visual artist Jonny Warren of US Experimental Metal band KUYASHII.
Born out of experimentation and a mutual respect for each other’s craft, the pair began trading tracks across borders with the goal of creating a unique sound which would transcend cultural barriers. At the core of MODERN RITES is Jonny‘s heavily distorted bass sound inspired by dark Industrial music of the ’90s. The diverging, stereo bass paths create a desolate landscape in which Berg’s guitars are free to open portals into dark atmospheres.
Exploring the bleaker aspects of the human condition, lyrical themes dive into psychology, isolation, conflict, and the ever-evolving shadow self.
Impressed by MODERN RITES‘ quality and originality, Debemur Morti Productions released “Monuments“, a debut album which sets a vast, winding aural path for further experimentation to come, in 2021.
Building upon acclaimed debut, forthcoming album “Endless” unifies, elevates and perfects the band’s vision, ebbing and flowing between oppressive isolation and furious optimism in an anthemically intense exploration of the human condition. “Endless” is set to release on August 30th, 2024.
Swedish death metal icons THE CROWN will unleash their Crown Of Thorns full-length on October 11th through Metal Blade Records.
Crown Of Thorns serves as the band’s twelfth studio album as THE CROWN and is the dynamic, groundbreaking follow-up to 2021’s Royal Destroyer. The band made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s ten songs would stand as a unique collection. “For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,” says guitarist Marko Tervonen. “[We wanted] to make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of our comfort zone on Crown Of Thorns. We really wanted this to sound like a new, fresh album and I believe we did it.”
The approach was full circle and inventive. “I had the idea that we should work a bit backwards. I pushed to create the artwork very early in the process. We wanted the album cover to include a bridge from our hometown Trollhättan called Strömkarlsbron. It has this cool statue on it named ‘Strömkarlen’ [a water spirit]. It made sense to loop it all back to the town where everything started; as most people know, we were called Crown Of Thorns for a few years before we had to shorten the name.”
Giannis Nakos’ final cover proved inspirational, as THE CROWN focused on the music that most complimented the piece. “I wanted something really fast, melodic, heavy, epic, punky,” explains Tervonen, “areas we’ve touched before, but step it up to a new level. And to throw in a few surprises was also part of the process.“
Musical dynamics are also on a new level with the 2022 addition of drummer Mikael Norén and bassist Mattias Rasmussen as well as the return of lead guitarist Marcus Sunesson, rejoining longtime members Tervonen and vocalist Johan Lindstrand. “With Mikael, we managed to bring back a bit more of that crazy ‘Janne Saarenpää’ feel to the drumming, so that was a really cool energy boost. Mattias comes more from a punk/crust background, and he wrote ‘I Hunt With The Devil’ and ‘Mind Collapse,’ which turned out great. This is definitely a step up in many ways, changing the way we worked on the CSV and RD albums.”
Another change is the guitar tuning: “We decided to tune up to D from C,” Tervonen points out. “We played standard E tuning on our four first albums, then we slowly went over to D and from Possessed 13 and forward we tuned down to C. So now we have reversed the course and are climbing slowly back to E! But the lighter D tuning added so much better chugs and tones that we felt might be missing a bit on some of the latest records.”
The outcome of the revitalized process and personnel is evident on the first single, “Churchburner.” “‘Churchburner’ starts out with a nod to ‘Postmortem’ [Slayer] but then explodes into quite a different type of monster,” notes Tervonen. “It has a great groove to it, and it basically has a tempo/beat that we don’t use that often. It’s mostly in triplets. It’s a very strong song with Johan being on fire here and Marcus adds a killer solo as well.”
Crown Of Thorns was recorded by Marko Tervonen (Studio-MT), mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios).
Crown Of Thorns Track Listing: 01. I Hunt with the Devil 02. Churchburner 03. Martyrian 04. Gone to Hell 05. Howling at the Warfield 06. The Night Is Now 07. God-King 08. The Agitator 09. Where Nightmares Belong 10. The Storm That Comes 11. Eternally Infernal (Bonus Track) 12. No Fuel for God (Bonus Track) 13. Mind Collapse (Bonus Track)
THE CROWN Live: 11/23/2024 Gothenburg Hall Of Metal – Gothenburg, SE 3/15/2025 Heidelberg Deathfest 25 – Heidelberg, DE
THE CROWN: Johan Lindstrand – vocals Marko Tervonen – guitar Marcus Sunesson – lead guitar Mattias Rasmussen – bass Mikael Norén – drums
This month marks one year since Horrendous brought the metal realm to its knees in worship of Ontological Mysterium. After exploding from the underground in 2018 with the cultishly beloved Idol, last year, the Philadelphia death metal band were the toast of the genre’s critics.
Decibel, Metal Injection, BangerTV and Metal Hammer all listed Ontological Mysterium high atop their 2023 best-of lists, often right alongside the band’s recent tour mates Tomb Mold. The album also cracked the Billboard charts, climbing well inside the Top 10 of the Current Hard Music Albums.
Today, Horrendous are celebrating the first anniversary of Ontological Mysterium with their first-ever music video. The album’s slow-burning triump “Preterition Hymn” now comes with a glorious film treatment that’s worthy of a Viking funeral.
“Our long awaited video debut is a symbolic journey through the lyrical themes of ‘Preterition Hymn'”, the band says. “It’s a psalm for the lowly and the damned, the Preterite and the passed over, sitting beneath the feet of the elect. Our downtrodden heroes are driven in chains by a mournful god to their final trial in this realm, sounding their last desperate cries in defiance of the fate bestowed upon them–and upon all of us. Is their sacrifice enough to win salvation? To rise in glorious flames? In communion with the spirit of the song, we endured the pain of icy November waters, risking life and limb to capture and offer up an authentic sacrifice in the name of the Preterite ones. Lift your voices along with our heroes that you may ascend before the tides rise again…”
Ontological Mysterium is available now through Season of Mist.
Later this year, Horrendous are celebrating another anniversary when their second album celebrates its 10-year anniversary. In honor of Ecdysis, the band will play the entire album during a special set in front of their hometown faithful at Decibel‘s upcoming 20th Anniversary Show.
Horrendous 10th Anniversary Set of Ecdysis Live @ Decibel‘s 20th Anniversary Show w/ Autopsy + Immolation
August 31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl [TICKETS]
“This will be a special day for us,” the band says. “Ecdysis was a significant milestone in our musical journey. Three of the album’s songs have never been performed live, and many others have not been played in years. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate – long live the Vermillion!”
Tracklist: 1. The Blaze (02:00) 2. Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) (07:16) 3. Neon Leviathan (03:30) 4. Aurora Neoterica (01:56) 4. Preterition Hymn (03:58) [WATCH] 5. Cult of Shaad’oah (05:24) [WATCH] 6. Exeg(en)esis, (03:38) 7. Ontological Mysterium (04:44) [WATCH] 8. The Death Knell Ringeth (05:20) Total run time: 37:44
“Surprises always come up during writing — spontaneous ideas pull you into new territory and enable the realization of novel possibilities that previously were inaccessible.”
Such are the words from Horrendous drummer Jamie Knox when discussing the creation of the band’s fifth full-length, the highly anticipated ‘Ontological Mysterium’. Knox’s quote also encapsulates Horrendous’s approach to extreme metal. Since 2009, the band has capably tapped into the inaccessible by providing a fresh, unconventional take on death metal that harnesses technical brilliance with elaborate, mind-melding melodies, frothy, spewing vocals and labyrinthine song structures. This combination has made each Horrendous long play a clinic in the gratifyingly unorthodox. The trend continues on Ontological Mysterium.
The follow-up to 2018’s Idol was recorded, mixed and mastered at Subterranean Watchtower Studios in Virginia, which doubles as the homestead of guitarist/vocalist Damian Herring. While the band (completed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Knox and bassist Alex Kulick) finished much of the songwriting for Ontological Mysterium in 2019, its recording was delayed by the 2020 global pandemic and various life events. Horrendous eventually finished recording in early 2022 and mastered the album before the start of 2023.
The album upholds Horrendous’s position as one of the underground’s best outside-of-the-box extreme metal bands. Having long abandoned concern whether people would appreciate their “uniqueness,” Horrendous has embraced its role as a band willing to veer far from death metal conventions, intentionally stretching and breaking norms. To wit, the band primarily views its music as filtered through a death metal lens. This may be Horrendous’s defining trait: By not accepting parameters, nothing is off-limits.
Lineup: Damian Herring – Guitar, Vocals Matt Knox – Guitar, Vocals Alex Kulick – Bass Jamie Knox – Drums
Producer / Sound Engineer / Mixing / Mastering: Damian Herring at Subterranean Watchtower Studio,Arlington, VA, USA
Polish Blackend Death newcomers EPHIALTES have launched their first single ‘Homo Deus’, taken from the band’s debut album ‘Melas Oneiros’, coming out November 1st.
The name of the band derives from the Ancient Greek word “ephiáltēs (ἐφιάλτης)”, meaning “nightmare”, which in turn derives from the “ephàllomai (ἐφάλλομαι)”, composed of two elements: “epí (επί)” (upon, on) plus “állomai (ἅλλομαι)” (assault, climb, uphill, jumping, jump) because, in reference to a popular belief, the nightmares were nicknamed “one who climbed over the body of the dormant”. Ephialtes. One who leaps upon.
The nightmare. The history of Ephialtes started over the course of the global pandemic. During that period the band’s driving force Przemysław Tomasz Olbryt alias Quazarre (also known from Devilish Impressions, Asgaard, ex-Crionics) had been hard at work on what would later turn out to be their debut album, ‘Melas Oneiros’.
band states Lyrical content of “Melas Oneiros” deals with certain archetypes – characters and events which iconic and significant for humanity.
“Homo Deus” indirectly references a story akin the one we saw im Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – a creature created from body parts coming from numerous corpses, sewn back together and artificialy brought to life. Frankenstein Monster was powerful being and while being physically repulsive, he possessed remarkable sensibillity, intelligence and depth. He wanted to be loved and live with humans in peace but he was cast out as a freak, an outsider. Here we have a story not only about well know human desire to be as powerful as God himself and create anything on his image but also – or first and foremost – a warning tale about lack od acceptance for otherness, about reasons that drive societies all over the world to reject anything “different” and ostracize such units. No wonder that in the end, the creature unleashes his vengeful rampage on mankind. After all, isn’t it what we deserve?
The history of Ephialtes started over the course of the global pandemic. During that period the band’s driving force Przemysław Tomasz Olbryt alias Quazarre (also known from Devilish Impressions, Asgaard, ex-Crionics) had been hard at work on what would later turn to be their debut album, ‘Melas Oneiros.
Track list 1. Ad Patres (intro) 2. To The Victims Of Sirens 3. In Her Embrace Again 4. The Void 5. Children Of Arachne 6. Homo Deus 7. The Blood Of The Gods 8. Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus
Line up Przemysław Tomasz Olbryt (Quazarre) – vocals / guitars Adam Niekrasz (Avernatus) – drums Marek Tuskowski (Tzar) – bass Marcus Edvardsson – synthesizers (guest studio appearance)
Finnish band Scars of Solitude have released the final single from their forthcoming album Under Disheartening Skies, set to be released on October 11th. The slightly progressive title track features catchy melodies, tasteful drumming, and even a jazzy guitar solo. The lyrics address the current state of the world and the loss of hope for a better tomorrow.
The band’s vocalist and guitarist Tuomo Laulainen shares some thoughts on the single and the upcoming album:
“How are we supposed to dream and have hope when the news outlets, social media, and even our dreams are filled with nightmares? We wrote the Under Disheartening Skies album during 2021-2023. We all know the horrors the world has witnessed during this time, and it doesn’t really seem to be getting much better, does it? Well, I won’t need to use much imagination to come up with depressive topics when writing lyrics for the next album—if we ever get to release one.”
Under Disheartening Skies will be released as a limited edition 12” vinyl (200 copies) and a limited edition digipak CD (300 copies). The vinyl edition is made in Finland and will be pressed by the Finnish vinyl pressing company Helsingin Levypuristamo. The album will also be available on all major digital platforms upon its release.
Tracklist: 1 Stone 2 The Arsonist 3 FOMO 4 Luna 5 Under Disheartening Skies 6 Game of Thrones 7 Doors 8 Phantom Pain 9 Even Angels Will Fall 10 Void of Hope
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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