Norwegian extreme metal powerhouse Vredehammer is gearing up to ignite the metal scene once again with a new single, “The Dragons Burn,” released on March 21st.
With three critically acclaimed full-length albums under their belt and a Norwegian Grammy nomination to their name, Vredehammer stands as a testament to the uncompromising spirit of Norwegian extreme metal.
“The Dragons Burn” emerges as an impassioned tribute to the Viking era, channeling the raw intensity of ancient battles through its thunderous rhythms and searing guitar melodies. Crafted by Per Valla, the track aims to awaken a primal instinct, urging listeners to hoist their horns high and immerse themselves in a relentless torrent of crushing riffs and dynamic drums.
“‘The Dragons Burn’ is an ode to the Viking era,” says Valla. “It was written with the intent to make the listener want to raise their horns and bang their heads. If you are into heavy guitar riffs and groovy drum parts, this track is for you!”
With their upcoming album “God Slayer” poised to deliver nothing short of blackening excellence, Vredehammer continues to push the boundaries of extreme metal, seamlessly blending elements of blackened death metal, thrash, and melodic death metal to create a sound that is both relentless and captivating.
With one of Scandinavia’s finest BM drummers, Nils ‘Dominator’ Fjellström, on drums, combined with the unparalleled musical songwriting and guitar skills of Per Valla, ‘The Dragons Burn’ is set to be an explosive track. For fans of heavy guitar riffs and unbridled intensity, this track is not to be missed.
Vredehammer is: Per Valla: Guitars, vocals, keyboards, bass guitar Nils “Dominator” Fjellström: Session drums
JUST HEROES have released their new single and video ‘Horsepower’, watch below, taken from their upcoming debut album.
With influences from classic Heavy Metal bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Metallica, Just Heroes brings in their compositions lyrics that tackle themes of struggle, perseverance, and overcoming. Their music combines elements of traditional Heavy Metal with a more modern touch, creating a unique and captivating sound.
The band’s lineup consists of experienced and talented musicians, each bringing their own influence and style to the compositions. Flavio Souza is responsible for the powerful guitar riffs that guarantee a heavy and distinctive sound. Mr. Machine takes charge of the vocals, bringing his powerful and captivating voice to the songs. Marcus Castellani (Manowar former) takes on the drums, adding rhythm and intensity to the tracks. Fabio Cavalcante Gomes is responsible for the bass, providing a solid and powerful foundation and Renato Mattar completes the lineup with his guitar-playing skills.
With only one year of formation, Just Heroes have already released an EP titled “HEROES”. The work has received great reviews and has been well-received by Heavy Metal fans. The band continues to work on new compositions and prepares to release their first full-length album.
With their contagious energy and passion for music, Just Heroes is ready to conquer the World Heavy Metal audience. Their authentic and powerful sound will certainly make them stand out in the scene, becoming a reference in the genre. Heavy Metal fans can expect great things from the band in the future, with catchy songs and energetic and memorable live performances.
They have just released their new single and video clip “Horsepower” that will be included on their upcoming debut album!
Morten Veland (SIRENIA, MORTEMIA and founder of TRISTANIA) is releasing a videoclip for his latest single Samurai (feat. Marina La Torraca). The latest single Samurai was released 2 weeks ago and now follows the official videoclip.
The video premieres at Mortemia’s official youtube channel today at 18:00 hours CET.
“I’m proud and honoured to welcome Marina La Torraca from Exit Eden and Phantom Elite as my special guest for ‘The Covid Aftermath Sessions’. The song that we have done together is a cover version of one of my favourite producers outside the metal genre; Michael Cretu. The song we have chosen is called ‘Samurai’, and this is also the first time I release a song in the German language. Marina did an amazing performance on our version of Samurai, and I found it awesome that we could do this song in German. There is an English version of the song as well, but Marina and me both preferred to do the German version for our collaboration. I feel truly privileged and thankful to have Marina on board this project, the song is now available on all digital platforms.”
Marina La Torraca:
„When Morten reached out to me about it, I was stoked. Many of my talented colleagues have collaborated with him on his super cool project called Mortemia, and I know he means business! But the choice of song is what caught me right away: Morten wanted to cover the German version of “Samurai”, which I found super unusual – and I looove unusual! He also had no idea, that despite of being Brazilian, He also had no idea that I actually live in Germany. So that was a pretty funny coincidence! A couple of months later, here we are: we both put quite some workinto this track, so I hope everyone enjoys this metalized tribute to this 80’s masterpiece.“
After 11 years of silence Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, producer and artist Morten Veland activated his solo project Mortemia during the early stages of the Covid 19 pandemic, this time with a brand new concept consisting of collaborations with multiple guest singers. ‘The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions’ was a series of singles released on a monthly basis, each song featuring a well known and highly profiled guest singer from the metal scene. Now he is ready to endeavor on the next project entitled ‘The Covid Aftermath Sessions’, once more the project will feature multiple amazing guest singers.
So far the following singers has contributed for his collaborations:
Madeleine Liljestam (Eleine) Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion, Ayreon, MaYaN, Dark Horse White Horse) Alessia Scolletti (Temperance, ERA) Liv Kristine (Liv Kristine, ex-Theatre of Tragedy, ex-Leaves Eyes) Melissa Bonny (Ad Infinitum, The Dark Side of the Moon) Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Archers) Maja Shining (Forever Still) Erica Ohlsson (Metalite) Heidi Parviainen (Dark Sarah, ex Amberian Dawn) Zora Cock (Blackbriar) Linda Toni Grahn (Anima Veil, ex Follow the Cipher) Caterina Nix (Chaos Magic) Federica Lanna (Volturian) Ulli Perhonen (ex-Snow White Blood) Ambre Vourvahis (Xandria) Fabienne Erni (Eluveitie, Illumishade) Lindy-Fay Hella (Wardruna) Margarita Monet (Edge of Paradise) Marina La Torraca (Exit Eden, Phantom Elite)
Today Italian female fronted metal band SOULS OF DIOTIMA returns with a surprise single released today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their artistic career. The song is a cover of the well-known international artist, Phil Collins.
The band comments: “This single is a kind of bonus and will not be included on our next album, so it is a stand-alone release just to celebrate our 20th anniversary and surprise our fans when we are working on our fifth album.” “This is actually the first time we are releasing a cover song, in our twenty-year career it had never happened, so in that sense, too, we are very curious to see the reaction of our audience. But why did we choose this track? First of all, it is a tribute to that great songwriter, composer and musician Phil Collins, and then it is a tribute to the ‘last ones’. In our career, in fact, we have always paid much attention, not only with our music but with concrete actions, precisely to the ‘last ones’, to those who live on the margins of society, to those who cannot. In our opinion, in fact, those who make art but in general those who have a ‘voice’ that can be heard have a duty to call consciences to those people who are often ‘invisible’.”
The single is accompanied by a stunning official video directed by Daniele Diana.
The single “Another Day in Paradise” released via Diotima Records Music Management Ltd and distributed by Blood Blast Distribution, was produced at Crehate Studios in Gothenburg by Oscar Nilsson in collaboration with Simon Eliasson.
SOULS OF DIOTIMA were formed by Giorgio Pinna and his brother in Sassari, Italy in 2004 and have released four studio albums and a single under three different labels worldwide.
SOULS OF DIOTIMA is a band with a unique style, characterized by recognizable elements of traditional, progressive and symphonic metal, as well as unconventional elements, woven musically in a new and highly expressive way. The band’s music engages all the senses and conveys a feeling like watching an epic film, creating strong visual scenes and almost tangible mental images. The defining characteristic of SOULS OF DIOTIMA is their style, which recalls Mediterranean atmospheres and traditions. In fact, the band hails from Sardinia, an island in the center of the Mediterranean Sea. This makes its sound and style unique and recognizable.
The band has participated in tours and festivals abroad, headlining and sharing the stage with bands such as Obituary, Hatebreed, Vision Divine, Dgm, Folkstone, Saurom and others. Souls of Diotima have also worked with many of Europe’s top producers, including Jens Bögren and Oscar Nilsson, who is their current producer. In 2017, SOULS OF DIOTIMA founded a record label in London: Diotima Records Music Management LTD, and the following year the band with the new label created and participated as headliners in the first edition of the Diotima Metal Fest held in downtown Paris in order to raise funds for Parkinson’s research. Soon the band will announce new dates and a new tour, while waiting to re-enter the studio for the production of their fifth album.
SOULS OF DIOTIMA are: Claudia Barsi – vocals Giorgio Pinna – drums Antonio Doro – bass and screaming vocals Fabio”The Black Mask” Puddu – guitars
For a band that’s so closely associated with The Dark Ages, Brodequin sure carried the torch for underground metal during the early 2000s. Brothers Jamie and Mike Bailey carved their names into the rusty annals of death metal lore on just the brute strength of their debut. But after feasting amidst a festival of death, gluttons for punishment were left spinning in agony when the band disappeared without a bloody trace.
Now, at long last, aural masochists don’t have to wait and bleed for more merciless methods of execution. The Bailey brothers are back with a new drummer and the first new Brodequin album in 20 years.
Harbinger of Woe comes out today, March 22 and you can stream it on Season of Mist’s YouTube channel.
Harbinger of Woe is classic Brodequin. The opening song pauses for a beat or two just to relish the cries from its captive audience. Otherwise, the album never relents in bludgeoning you with brutal death metal. There is nothing gentle about “The Fall of the Leaf”, which whips by harsh enough to tear flesh from bone.
Like all of Brodequin’s harrowed discography, Harbinger of Woe finds inspiration in the most torturous inventions known to man. “Suffocation in Ash” leads us inside an ancient Persian torture chamber, where new drummer Brennan Shackelford mercilessly buries the sorriest of sinners under a fine hail of blast beats and pinging cymbals.
But Brodequin brandish fresh instruments of torture on Harbinger of Woe. The vocals are still as dank and guttural as a dungeon, but Jamie mixes in ghostly screams that fade like blood splatter. And while Mike’s palm-muted riffs still churn like severed limbs through a meat grinder, lead single “Of Pillars and Trees” branches out into tendrils of reverb that slowly tighten like a noose.
As torturous as it sounds, Harbinger of Woe isn’t inhumane. With a breakdown that drops with the decisive force of a guillotine, the title track cracks open the tormented psychology of a clinically trained executioner. “He is despised and rejected / feared by most members of society”, Jamie gurgles as if bound and gagged by his own microphone.
“This album is a journey into a lost period of history where brutality and beauty coexist”, he says. “Beauty, in the arts that were created, but also the beautiful brutality that was needed to engineer deadly devices like the brodequin”.
Look away if you must, but amongst true sickos, Harbinger of Woe is bound to be regarded as a truly vile work of art.
Tracklist 1. Diabolical Edict (3:29) 2. Fall Of The Leaf (2:33) 3. Theresiana (3:03) 4. Of Pillars and Trees (4:03) [WATCH] 5. Tenaillement (2:53) 6. Maleficium (3:09) 7. VII Nails (2:17) 8. Vredens Dag (3:20) 9. Suffocation in Ash (3:05) [LISTEN] 10. Harbinger of Woe (4:04) [LISTEN]
After signing with Season of Mist in 2022, Brodequin re-issued their entire discography on LP and CD.
The Middle Ages might’ve brought the world out of The Dark Ages. But for every compass or printing press, those enlightened thinkers were also responsible for inventing the most torturous devices in human history. None were more brutal than the brodequin. Not only did the French use this instrument to cripple their victims, but to squeeze their legs to the point where bone marrow would spill out of their wounds.
You could say the same about Brodequin. The band come with their own long and sordid history. Brothers Jamie and Mike Bailey have been playing brutal death metal since 1998. Putting his history degree to good use, Jamie’s lyrics are inspired by real historical events, staying true to death metal’s core thematic pillars of dismemberment, torture, abuse and murder. But their artwork broke from genre’s generic splatter illustrations by digging into intricate period woodcuts and beautifully grotesque oil paintings.
“There simply was no point in history that was more brutal than the medieval period,” says Jamie. “At the same time that such barbarity was deployed, there was also an explosion in fine art, architecture and music. It all comes to feed our identity as a band”.
Brodequin’s first album catapulted them far beyond their kingdom of Knoxville. “This band has stuck out in the underground with relentless, barbaric intensity”, says Dying Fetus’ vocalist and guitarist John Gallagher, who named Instruments of Torture one of the most brutal death metal albums ever. Festival of Death put another flesh-tearing arrow in their quiver (“Some of the fastest, most brutalizing death metal ever recorded” – Sputnik Music). But after sieging festival stages across Europe with Methods of Execution, the band had to be put on ice.
“We had a series of deaths in our family”, Jamie explains. “Mike and I knew we had to step away until we had the time and were at a place mentally to give Brodequin the attention it deserved.”
Now, after 20 years of peaceful silence, Brodequin have returned with fresh instruments of torture. The Brothers Bailey are back with a new drummer, a new label and their long-awaited fourth album.
“Brodequin had been away for so long that I was stunned by the level of interest from fans and record labels”, Jamie says. “Before playing Hellfest, the band was approached backstage by a metalhead rocking a Brodequin t-shirt who happened to work for Season of Mist. Soon enough, they were hitting it off with Michael Berberian. The rest, as they say, is history.
“We all hung out for hours”, recalls Jamie. “The extraordinary level of enthusiasm shown toward our music made Season of Mist the obvious choice”.
As has been the case with this band for their entire career, Harbinger of Woe lives up to its name. Lead single “Of Pillars and Trees” is classic Brodequin. Mike’s distorted guitar chords churn like limbs through a meat grinder. The way Brennan Shackelford pings, blasts and flays his snare through “Suffocation in Ash” with the all encompassing speed of a sandstorm. Jamie’s growls are so phlegmy, so rotted, that to drag them out from whatever dark bowel movement spawned them would make an executioner sick to their stomach. And yet — somewhere deep inside all that carnage hides a terrifying beauty. The title track leaves you deaf, dumb and blind, begging on your knees in the face of a punishing, almighty riff.
“This album is a journey into this lost period of history where brutality and beauty coexist. Beauty, in the arts that were created, but also the beautiful brutality that was needed to engineer deadly devices like the brodequin”.
With Harbinger of Woe, Brodequin reclaim their throne as the most brutal band in all of death metal.
Line up: Jamie Bailey: Bass/Vocals Mike Bailey: Guitar Brennan Shackelford: Drums
Recording Drums recorded at Brennan’s Drum Room in Dallas, Texas. Guitar, bass and vocals recorded at Navarre 24 in Harriman, Tennessee
Producer and sound engineer Mike Bailey
Mastering studio and engineer Brad Boatwright
Mixing studio and engineer Josh Welshman
Artwork Original artwork done by Jose de Brito. Additional elements by Jamie Bailey.
Platinum-selling rock juggernaut P.O.D. — Sonny Sandoval [vocals], Marcos Curiel [guitar], and Traa Daniels [bass] — will release their 11th album VERITAS, on May 3 via Mascot Records. Pre-order it here.
Today, the band has shared the video for “LIES WE TELL OURSELVES.” Watch it here.
Sandoval states, “Everybody lies to themselves! Just don’t believe it.”
“As hate is to love, death is to life, lies is to VERITAS (truth). This song resonates the struggle and hope which keeps us from truly believing that the ‘lies within ourselves’ become a reality. Our struggle. Our truth,” says Curiel.
Last fall, the band debuted the video for “DROP,” which features a vicious vocal cameo from Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe. It earned quick press accolades from Metal Injection, Consequence, Revolver, Idioteq, The Pit, Yahoo!, and Knotfest. They followed with the video for equally eruptive single “AFRAID TO DIE,” featuring Jinjer vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk. Last month the band also shared the video for “I WON’T BOW DOWN,” another banger that further introduced VERITAS. The tracks combined have garnered twelve million streams!
Over the upcoming summer they have several appearances booked at the European festivals including Nova Rock (AT), Dissonance Festival (IT), Summerside (CH), Graspop (BE), Topfest (SK) and Fajtfest (CZ).
Next month, the band will embark on a North American tour. Bad Wolves, Norma Jean, and Blind Channel will serve as support. The “I Got That Tour” itinerary includes several festival stops along the way. Get tickets here.
Track Listing “DROP” (Feat. Randy Blythe) “I GOT THAT” “AFRAID TO DIE” (Feat. Tatiana Shmayluk) “DEAD RIGHT” “BREAKING” “LAY ME DOWN” (Roo’s Song) “I WON’T BOW DOWN” “THIS IS MY LIFE” (Feat. Cove Reber) “LIES WE TELL OURSELVES” “WE ARE ONE (OUR STRUGGLE)” “FEELING STRANGE”
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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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