Modern metal quintet The Oklahoma Kid have released their new EP Featherminded, out now via Arising Empire. To celebrate the release, the band have revealed their new single ‘Nostalgic Love’.
Featherminded showcases The Oklahoma Kid‘s ability to blend intricate guitar work with soaring melodies and compelling lyrical narratives.
‘Nostalgic Love’ combines aggressive instrumentation with melodic hooks, creating a dynamic tension that reflects the song’s thematic depth. This single further establishes The Oklahoma Kid’s penchant for pushing musical and thematic boundaries, solidifying their reputation as innovators in the genre.
The Oklahoma Kid deliver breathtaking modern metal that bridges the gap between technical intricacy and energising rhythms. Since forming in 2012 the band – consisting of David J. Burtscher, Fred Stölzel, Robert Elfenbein, Tomm Brümmer and Andreas Reinhard – have consistently pushed boundaries and have established their foundation in the German metal scene.
After their successful debut album Solarray (2019) and struck by the global pandemic, The Oklahoma Kid set their focus on writing new music with one simple goal in mind, to better themselves and give every fan something to crave for – their 2022 album Tangerine Tragic.
Tangerine Tragicis built on the strengths of their debut Solarray. It plays with new ideas and concepts, comes gentle as a breeze and strikes hard as a wrecking ball. The album was recorded and produced by Jan Kerscher (Ghost City Recordings) and mixed and mastered by Lance Prenc (Alpha Wolf, Polaris, Dealer), which gives the production its full-blown punch.
The Oklahoma Kid toured the country with renowned acts such as Stick To Your Guns, Carnifex, EvergreenTerrace and Hatebreed, electrifying crowds with their passionate, relentless performance.
The Oklahoma Kid are no longer an insider tip and a force to be reckoned with. Whether you experience them live at a festival or on record in your living room, The Oklahoma Kid will change your perception of what metal is capable of.
Today, on August 23, 2024, black metal act SPECTRAL WOUND unveil their highly-anticipated fourth studio album, “Songs Of Blood and Mire”, as a follow-up to the critically acclaimed “A Diabolic Thirst” (2021).
The band has made the album available for streaming in its entirety on the Profound Lore YouTube channel.
Montreal, Québec -based SPECTRAL WOUND play black metal. Furious and visceral, untrammelled by esoteric posture or grasping idealism. It is music for the poisoned, the futile, the debauched and profane. The blooming of a flower of corruption, torn by cold winds.
Following the raw early offering of “Terra Nullius” (Arcane Angels/Out of Season 2015) SPECTRAL WOUND continued their path of creeping, opulent decay and searing melody, weaving strands of Métal noir Québécois with the weft of the Scandinavian canon. Refining its sound over “Infernal Decadence” (Vendetta, 2018) and the towering, exultant melancholy of “A Diabolic Thirst” (Profound Lore, 2021), with “Songs Of Blood and Mire” (Profound Lore 2024) the band delivers an elegy of the void, seething with the venom and clamour of an ever-emptying world.
Track listing:
Fevers and Suffering
At Wine-Dark Midnight in Mouldering Halls
Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal
The Horn Marauding
Less and Less Human, O Savage Spirit
A Coin Upon the Tongue
Twelve Moons in Hell
“Songs Of Blood and Mire” was recorded and mixed by Patrick McDowall (Guitarist in Spectral Wound) at his studio Black Gate and mastered by James Plotkin. The album is out now via Profound Lore Records.
European album release shows: October 24th – London, UK October 25th – Copenhagen, DK October 26th – Leipzig, DE October 27th – Maastricht, NL @Samhain Festival – SOLD OUT
SPECTRAL WOUND are: Jonah – vocals Illusory – drums Patrick – guitars Sam – bass A.A. – guitars
Swedish metalcore act Awake The Dreamer have announced their new album Holocene, due for release on 27th September via Arising Empire. The band have also released their new single ‘Take My Hand’.
‘Take My Hand’ blends haunting melodies and powerful riffs, complemented by dynamic vocals that weave through a narrative of internal struggle and emotional turmoil. This track not only sets the tone but also highlights the band’s evolved sound, seamlessly integrating raw post-hardcore energy with melodic elements.
‘Take My Hand’ is available now on all major streaming platforms and serves as a compelling introduction to what fans can expect from Holocene. The upcoming album promises to explore deeper themes and showcase Awake the Dreamer‘s firm hold on the metal scene, with their innovative sound and powerful storytelling.
Formed through childhood and high school friendships in 2015, Stockholm-based quartet Awake The Dreamer released their Grow EP the following year, leading to tours in Europe and Asia alongside bands including Ice Nine Kills, Northlane, Adept and Crystal Lake.
In 2019, Awake The Dreamer released their debut album Damaged Souls via Arising Empire. The 10-track release featured guest appearances from Adept‘s Robert Ljung (‘Vigilant’) and Crystal Lake’sRyo Kinoshita in (‘Atmosphere’).
Building on their robust musical journey, Awake The Dreamer are set to elevate their artistic expression with the release of their upcoming album Holocene. This new record promises to deepen their exploration of intense emotions and complex themes, setting a new benchmark for their signature sound in the metal scene.
Awake The Dreamer are:
Max Andrén | Vocals Victor Sandberg | Guitar Johan Norsander | Guitar
Though they formed during the most uncertain time in recent history, Gaerea emerged from pandemic limbo with a new strand of black metal. Instead of pagan beliefs or lo-fi fidelity, the masked visionaries were guided by a purging of raw emotions. The world has quickly come to share their vision, following them from the gates of Hellfest to tours across China and the U.S.
But on their upcoming fourth album, Gaerea are proving that they’re no longer just a black metal band. While it still packs plenty of bloodied emotion, with Coma, the Portuguese sensations are poised to surface to the top of extreme metal. On “Unknown”, they unveil both the beauty and brutality of their new identity.
When Coma was secretly introduced back in May, Gaerea set the world ablaze. The album’s first official single raised everyone’s hopes by delivering an anthem for our dying era. “Unknown” heightens the anticipation to an unbearable degree. Like an out-of-body experience, the opening guitar solo hovers as if suspended from a ghostly height, grounded by a warm but numbing bass line.
The maze-like existence that Gaerea speak of on Coma becomes hazier on “Unknown”. Even when the song opens into soft post-rock passages, the melodies are haunted by a familiar dread. “A mere observer, detached creature“, the band’s tortured vocalist cries out, as if forced to watch some other masked deviant write his life story.
But Gaerea know who they are. Within its many twists and turns, “Unknown” springs with more deadly hooks than a booby trap. The riff slithers and shakes with minor key tremolo picking before the chorus worms into your ear canals with sharp pangs of melodic distortion. Once the blast beats have sucked you into their vortex, the band’s sheer artistic force is blinding, like looking upon the face of god. “This is who I am, sublime”.
With “Unknown”, Gaerea make their presence felt on the world of extreme metal.
The video for “Unknown” was directed by Claudio Marino and produced by Artax Film.
Artwork by Nathan Lorenzana
Tracklist1. The Poet’s Ballet (7:39) 2. Hope Shatters (4:05) [WATCH] 3. Suspended (5:02) 4. World Ablaze (3:29) [WATCH] 5. Coma (5:19) 6. Wilted Flower (5:50) 7. Reborn (3:51) 8. Shapeshifter (6:24) 9. Unknown (4:24) [WATCH] 10. Kingdom of Thorns (4:45) Total running time: 50:54
To usher in this new era, Gaerea are touring behind Coma later this year. The masked sensations will return to North America in November with Zeal & Ardor and ZETRA.
Gaerea North American Tour 2024 with Zeal & Ardorand ZETRA
November 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer [TICKETS] November 24 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge [TICKETS] November 25 – Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall [TICKETS] November 27 – Montreal, QC @ Le Studio TD [TICKETS] November 28 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House [TICKETS] November 29 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic [TICKETS] November 30 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre [TICKETS] December 2 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue [TICKETS] December 3 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall [TICKETS] December 4 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre [TICKETS] December 6 – Engelwood, CO @ Gothic Theatre [TICKETS] December 7 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge [TICKETS] December 9 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox [TICKETS] December 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre [TICKETS] December 11 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom [TICKETS] December 13 – Berkeley, CA @ UC Theatre [TICKETS] December 14 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory [TICKETS] December 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom [TICKETS] December 17 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk [TICKETS] December 18 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory [TICKETS]
Behind black shrouds of obscurity and desolation, the performers of GAEREA deliver their odes in cascading maelstroms of aggression and beauty. Emerging from the age of pandemic to whatever awaits humanity next, the dark horde remains on the frontlines of the next generation of extreme metal. With an EP and three albums to their name, Gaerea has rapidly distinguished themselves from the thousands of bands toiling away in the underground. Brewing their cauldron of sound from a recipe of pounding black-metal blast mixed with a touch of harrowed, reflective longing, many devotees of the darkened arts have flocked to their banner. With the emergence of third full-length album Mirage, those numbers certainly grew.
Gaerea met a challenge when releasing their second album during the pandemic, the aptly titled Limbo, to excellent world reception. In the meantime, they found the total suspension of interactive life as it was previously known to be the perfect breeding ground for further creation and making.
Sizzling with ambition from day one, Gaerea may present one unique face to their audience, masked and enshrouded, but the truth is they have not remained changeless.
As their previous album name Mirage suggests, the inability to trust what our senses are telling us could be construed as one of the album’s central themes. Rather than constrict their art to mythological references or anti-religious tropes, Gaerea instead plumb the depths of the human experiences of isolation and suffering.
Just two years since Mirage was released, Gaerea is here, erupting with intensity, casting forth black ashes over the world yet again.
Their latest release, Coma, has finally surfaced, marking a pivotal shift. From this point forward, everything changes. It’s time for Gaerea to bridge the gap between underground metal and the elevated realm they’ve attained. With Coma, Gaerea emerges from the underground scene, ascending towards a permanently lasting position at the head of the table.
An emotional gateway to a dark black metal scene, a guide to salvation, pain, despair and letting go. Moving up, into the blackness that is above. Gaerea is the answer, the only answer.
Within ‘Coma’s’ ten tracks lies an individual narrative, each with its own tale to unveil. Collectively, they blend nuances of aggression, tranquility, solitude, and fervor.
Boasting a superior production that threads the needle between caustic and clarity, Gaerea yet again admit their loyalty to producer Miguel Tereso of Demigod Recordings for the production of Coma. Together they created the birth of ‘Coma’, the new era for metal mankind. Distinguishing themselves ever more so, the Vortex handpicked their artist Nathan Lorenzana with a clear assignment to create their mesmerizing cover artwork. Months of hand drawing the image with a ballpen lead to this masterpiece which dipped his name into ‘Coma’.
The beauty of Gaerea lies in the directness and simplicity found within their florid tapestry of extremity and aggression. Whether it is in the less-polished aural dynamite of Mirage, or in the lustrous textures of Coma, Gaerea is building a mighty edifice of metal. With talons dipped in the inky blood of black metal and scraped across the flesh of human suffering, Gaerea is leading a charge into the future of darkness, and all those who find beauty and power in the dark side of existence would do well to take heed.
Recording Studio Demigod Studios at Redbox Studios
Production Credits Produced by Gaerea Recorded by Miguel Tereso at Redbox Studios Mixed and Mastered by Miguel Tereso at Demigod Studios
Continuing to expand its territory around the globe, today Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) announces the signing of Greek outfit INNERWISH today, and to celebrate the event the Hellenes launch their brand new single ‘Cult Of The Blind.’
INNERWISH comment, “We think we can say that INNERWISH went thrashy up to a point here! It’s one of our heaviest tracks ever: it features some thrashy riffing and drumming, but it’s yet melodic through the vocals and a combination of influences that actually turned out great…at least for us! The lyrics are about the modern society where social media, ‘influencers’ and the control of media offer a reality far from the actual one. They all create a world where the important has become unimportant and lows of life become number one. As if we were in a cult, deprived of individuality and thought led to destruction.”
Joining the RPM ranks offers the group a wide range of new opportunities and makes them look even more forward to the common future which is up to a promising start with their sixth studio album which is due later this year.
Manolis Tsigos (guitars) states, “Thank you RPM! It’s a new day, it’s a new dawn, the beginning of a very beautiful artistic journey full of tales and music!”
“The stars have aligned and RPM will be the beacon of our new and excting adventures!” adds vocalist Giorgos Eikosipentakis.
RPM managing director Jochen Richert enthuses, “The Eastern European metal scene unlucky flies under radar level every now and then, but it definitely offers some real diamonds, with INNERWISH leading the way. That’s why we’re even more proud to welcome the group to the RPM family – to increase their well-earned recognition outside of Greece and to move this wrongly overseen market into the spotlight. “Ash Of Eternal Flame” is around the corner, and we’re very curious to present this infectiously melodic opus to the worldwide metal community.”
About INNERWISH
INNERWISH stand for melodic and melancholic heavy metal, played in a powerful and dynamic way. Their story began in Athens in 1995, and in their almost 30 years of existence they didn’t only manage to be one of the most important metal bands from Greece, but also to establish themselves as a much-respected band in the European metal scene.
Groove Factory:Unknown is Alf Wold’s (KRAKEN/ASHOWA) studio project. In early 2024 he joined forces with vocalist Nils Ivar Martila (CLAYMORDS/MARTILA) for this single release. The first song out with this cooperation is ‘Trace The Demon’.
All music is composed, recorded all instruments, mixed and mastered by Wold in his studio in Bergen, Norway. Lyrics and vocals are by Nils Ivar Martila.
Wold and Martila has shared stages in Bergen since 2007 with their different bands, but it’s the first time they do a production together, and more songs are in the making.
Song: TRACE THE DEMON Date: Aug.23rd, 2024 Where: All streaming services
Alf Wold has been in rocking the Bergen music scene for a substantial amount of time. He started out with establishing Kraken in 2004 to 2014. In between there he also brought to life Ashowa from 2006 to present date.
After years of playing gigs in and out of Norway, Wold decided to make his studio project his main focus. In 2014 he started up the project called RIPTIDE, that later in 2017 changed name to GROOVE FACTORY : UNKNOWN(GF:U). With GF:U he has invited different vocals from different styles, with the main focus on metal. Wold is self-sufficient in the recording process, he composes, plays all instruments, programming and do the mixing and the mastering himself.
Nils Ivar Martila with his 31 years in CLAYMORDS and 7 years in MARTILA has set a footprint with hundreds of gigs internationally. Martila has been co CEO on the WACKEN METAL BATTLE Norway, and judge on the international battle at Wacken Open Air, Germany(2014-2022). He has been the festival organizer of MARTILA METAL FEST TOUR in different cities as well as organizing the GIGSWAP ROCKFEST.
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
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 