New Prog Sensations TEMIC Release Drum Video for Latest Single ‘Count Your Losses’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 29, 2023
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . 1 Comment

New prog metal sensation TEMIC, with members of DEVIN TOWNSEND, THE NEAL MORSE BAND, SHINING and MARATON, are releasing a drum playthrough of their freshly released first track ‘Count Your Losses’. Watch how Drummer Simen Sandnes (Shining, Arkentype) crushes the drumkit and shows what’s up! The video can now be viewed via the Season of Mist YouTube channel HERE. 

The track is taken from the band’s upcoming debut album “Terror Management Theory”, which will be released on November 17, 2023 via Season of Mist.

Pre-orders are available HERE. Pre-save the album HERE. 

TEMIC Simen comments on the playthrough: “I am incredibly thrilled to announce the release of the drum play-through video for TEMIC’s debut single, “Count Your Losses.” This particular song holds a special significance for me as it was the very first demo that Diego sent my way three years ago. Witnessing the overwhelming reception it has garnered since then has been truly gratifying.
When I recorded drums for this track, it served as my “audition” for the band. Consequently, I was determined to showcase the full range of my drumming abilities. In doing so, I incorporated intricate rhythms, plenty of ghost-notes, double pedal techniques, and groovy sections layered with poly-rhythms. The drum solo presented an opportunity to elevate the performance even further. In pursuit of excellence, I enlisted the assistance of my dear friend and esteemed drumming virtuoso, Carsten Omholt, to help craft an impressive drum solo. I can assure you that the collaborative process proved to be an immensely enjoyable challenge.
I sincerely hope that you all relish this play-through video as much as I enjoyed creating it. Your support means the world to me, and I am eager to share this musical journey with each and every one of you.
You can download the drum transcription at my webpage:  www.simensandnes.com“

TEMIC are:
Fredrik Bergersen (Maraton, 22) – Vocals
Eric Gillette (The Neal Morse Band, Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress) – Guitars and Backing Vocals
Simen Sandnes (Shining, Arkentype)  – Drums and Percussion
Diego Tejeida (Devin Townsend, Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress, ex-Haken) – Keyboards and Sound Design

Guest musicians:
Jacob Umansky (USA) – Bass guitar on the whole album
Mosaic Gospel Choir (Norway) – Mothallah
Garden State Threshold Choir (USA) – Mothallah

Cover artwork: Hicham Hamzi

Track list:
1. TMT (2:02)
2. Through the Sands of Time (7:00)
3. Falling Away (4:58)
4. Count Your Losses (6:13) [WATCH VIDEO]
5. Skeletons (7:00)
6. Acts of Violence (5:52)
7. Friendly Fire (5:57)
8. Paradigm (6:33)
9. Once More (5:45)
10. Mothallah (7:27)
Total: 58:54

Recording Studio: Drums and vocals recorded at Top Floor Studios (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Producer: Produced by TEMIC. Drums and vocals engineered by Jakob Herrmann Gothenburg, Sweden)
Mix/Mastering: Mixed and mastered by Rich Mouser at The Mouse House (Los Angeles, USA)

Introducing TEMIC—prog’s newest, most ambitious, and most adrenaline-fueled act. TEMIC melds the creative minds of keyboardist and sound designer Diego Tejeida (Devin Townsend, Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress, ex-Haken), guitarist Eric Gillette (The Neal Morse Band, Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress), drummer Simen Sandnes (SHINING, Arkentype), and vocalist Fredrik Klemp (Maraton, 22).

The origins of TEMIC date back to 2017, when Tejeida and Gillette toured the world as band members of Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress. From the very first chords they exchanged, their musical chemistry both on and off stage was undeniable, leading them to discuss the prospect of starting a new band together. Unfortunately, conflicting tour and recording commitments forced them to turn their attention elsewhere for years—that is, until the world came to a standstill in 2020, and Tejeida called Gillette to ask a fateful question:
“Remember how we said we should make music together? Well, how about now?”

Thus, the first demos for what would later become TEMIC’s 2023 debut album, Terror Management Theory, began to emerge. Within a few weeks after that initial phone call, the musical vision of TEMIC had become clear: Let’s create progressive music that is heavily influenced by high-energy electronic music, but arranged and orchestrated for a 5-piece modern prog rock/metal band—where, at last, the pulse can be the focus, and the vocal melody can be king.

Eager to join forces with the very best bandmates, Tejeida and Gillette first summoned the rhythmic power of their friend and drummer Sandnes. With characteristic enthusiasm, Sandnes seized the opportunity, prepared to contribute his percussive prowess as the heartbeat of TEMIC. When it came time to find the singer that would carry TEMIC’s melodies to new heights, Sandnes recommended vocal powerhouse Klemp, whose emotive delivery and unmatched intensity left no doubt that he was destined to be the voice of TEMIC. Finally, to round out the rhythm section of Terror Management Theory, dynamic bassist Jacob Umansky (Intervals) was invited on board as a guest player, gracing the album with an unrivaled groove and a signature low-end sound.

Together, this mammoth lineup is TEMIC, a high-energy, electronic-inspired, modern melodic prog metal band for the next generation.

CONQUER DIVIDE Release New Video ‘N E W H E A V E N’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 29, 2023
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Photo credit: Jim Louvau

CONQUER DIVIDE have released a new video for ‘N E W H E A V E N’. Listen to the new song here: https://lnk.to/ConquerDivide

“N E W H E A V E N was born out of the idea that you’ll never be satisfied with what you have if you don’t define your expectations,” the band offers. “We got together in Atlanta with Johnny Andrews for this one, and he’s a musical mad scientist. We played with religious metaphors, although the song is not about religion. You throw your whole life into something, and then you finally reach the pinnacle and get to pull the proverbial curtain back, but it’s not what you expected at all. So now you need a new high to chase. We did crowd-sourced gang vocals on this one, and it was fun to make that come together.”

As for the accompanying video, the band shares, “This video was sort of a continuation from last music video where in the opening scene you see the Grim Reaper take his hood off to reveal he is now the priest overseeing the funeral. Kia figuratively ‘went to heaven’ and came back after realizing heaven wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.”

Watch the videos for Atonement | Paralyzed | welcome2paradise

CONQUER DIVIDE — vocalist Kiarely Taylor, bassist/vocalist Janel Duarte, guitarist Isabel Johnson, drummer Samantha Landa, and guitarist Kristen Sturgis hail from the U.S., U.K., and Canada and have generated support from BBC Radio 1, Metal Hammer, Rock Sound,  SXM Octane, Revolver, Alternative Press, Loudwire, and more. The band will release Slow Burn on September 8 via Mascot Records, pre-order it here, and have now released fifth single “N E W H E A V E N”. The visual is rife with religious imagery but it’s hardly about religion, watch it here.

Conquer Divide will spend the rest of 2023 on the road — supporting Electric Callboy in late August through mid-September and with Icon For Hire in September and through late October.

Slow Burn continues to, well, burn at a fever pitch. Previous single “Atonement” has grabbed nearly 5 million streams, while “Paralyzed ” is over 3 million streams. “welcome2paradise” has surpassed 1.2 million streams.

Slow Burn ushers in a new era for CONQUER DIVIDE, one defined by breathtaking sonic refinement, intensely personal lyrical storytelling, and a seamless balance between hard-hitting modern metal and irresistible melody. Slow Burn is stacked with confessional expressions of vulnerability, frustration, and, ultimately, hope. Each song on Slow Burn summons forth brand new levels of catharsis. There are anthemic hooks throughout the energized songs, addressing social unrest (“system_failure”) and environmental destruction (“welcome2paradise”), with Biblical references (“N E W H E A V E N”), and intensely personal revelations of abuse (“the INVISIBLE,”  “Playing w/ Fire”).

They’ve highlighted frustrations and struggles they’ve come across in the music industry on the album closer “gAtEkEePer.” “It’s a giant F U to all the industry gatekeepers who minimize women’s participation in rock and metal spaces,” they say. “Keep your damn gate. We’ll take the throne.” 

Described by Rock Sound as a “monster” track “designed for arenas,” “Paralyzed” offered the first taste of CONQUER DIVIDE’s long-awaited album. Inspired by guitarist Kristen Sturgis’ “harrowing experiences as a nurse amid the pandemic” (Revolver Magazine), the emotional and vulnerable “Paralyzed” was nominated by Metal Hammer for Best Metal Song of 2022. Hammer said, “Shimmering notes of electronica mix with heavy metalcore beatdowns, but the true MVP of Paralyzed is the absolutely enormous chorus, an emotional call-to-arms with an explosive crescendo that calls to mind the instant anthem qualities of Spiritbox.”

Tracklist
1. Atonement
2. N E W H E A V E N
3. Paralyzed
4. welcome2paradise
5. PRESSURE
6. system_failure
7. playing w/ fire
8. Over It.
9. Afterthought.wav
10. the INVISIBLE
11. wide awake
12. OnlyGirl
12. gAtEkEePeR

Conquer Divide Online:
conquerdivideofficial.com/
https://www.instagram.com/conquerdivide
https://www.facebook.com/conquerdivide
https://www.twitter.com/conquerdivide
https://www.tiktok.com/@conquerdivide

Stoner Rockers WOLF PRAYER Return with New Album “Spell Of The Crimson Eye”, First Single & Video Revealed

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 29, 2023
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
[photo: Kevin Sutter]

With new single “Luna”, German fuzz rockers WOLF PRAYER celebrate their comeback and at the same time announce their second studio album “Spell Of The Crimson Eye” for a release on October 6, 2023 via Barhill Records. The pre-sale is now available at THIS LOCATION!

As the band comments, “Luna” is a tribute to NASA’s Apollo programme (1969-1972), the associated moon landings and to our mystical partner: the moon. Space travel supports, shapes and secures our lives and ranges from new space stations to manned missions to the moon, Mars or asteroids. Mankind strives to discover new places, countries or planets.”

Following their much acclaimed 2019-debut album “Echoes Of The Second Sun”, on “Spell Of The Crimson Eye”, WOLF PRAYER deal with a wide variety of topics in their seven new songs: the longing for a new love, the loss of personality of a loved one due to oblivion caused by illness, the mindless following and carrying out of socially “respected, correct” teachings and losing oneself in an everyday routine, the eternal game between good and evil, a homage to the moon and space travel, and the inner urge that results in a conscious personality change that one accepts and thereby wrongs loved ones.

Like its predecessor, “Spell Of The Crimson Eye” was mastered by Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios. WOLF PRAYER see “Spell Of The Crimson Eye” as a further refinement of their style, a mixture of atmospheric fuzz/desert/stoner and heavy rock, which had its origins on “Echoes Of The Second Sun”. This time it was important for them to capture the “power, consistency and force” of their live set. Not least due to the long recording phase with producer Christian Hack, the understanding and ear of Christian Schmid, who was able to wonderfully empathise with the sound they were looking for, and the mastering by Sidney Claire Meyer in the internationally renowned Emil Berliner Studios, an optimal, powerful symbiosis of live and studio sound was achieved.

Since the release of their debut, WOLF PRAYER have played several small tours with genre-similar bands such as Elara Sun Streak Band, Kosmodrom or Have Blue, and in support of Motorowl and J. Mascis’ band Witch. Fans of Nebula, All Them Witches, Kyuss and beyond should definitely keep an eye and ear on WOLF PRAYER‘s upcoming “Spell Of The Crimson Eye”!

Tracklist:

  1. Interludium Nebulae
  2. Desire
  3. Oblivion
  4. Doctrine
  5. Cards Of Evil
  6. Luna
  7. The Devil Told Me So

WOLF PRAYER is:
Jan Sprengard: vocals, guitar
Tim Hansen: bass
Matthias Schorr: drums

For More Info Visit:
https://www.wolfprayer.de
https://www.facebook.com/WolfPrayer
https://www.instagram.com/wolfprayer_band/
https://barhillrecords.de
https://www.facebook.com/barhillrecords
https://www.instagram.com/barhillrecords/

DISGUISED MALIGNANCE Share New Single + Music Video ‘Confined’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 29, 2023
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Photographer credit: Eero Palmu

Finnish death metal band DISGUISED MALIGNANCE has today shared a new single and music video, Confined, from their forthcoming debut album, Entering the Gateways. The video clip for Confined captures the Helsinki group’s live intensity, alongside foreboding churchyard footage, in a nod to classic death metal music videos of the 90s. Entering the Gateways is due to be released on September 29 via Prosthetic Records.

Stream Confined via Apple Music | TIDAL | Deezer | Bandcamp and Spotify
Pre-order Entering the Gateways here.

Speaking on the single release, Felix Pennanen (vocals) comments: “Confined  is one of the most aggressive tracks on the album while maintaining an infectious sense of groove. The combination of sick riffage, ontological lyrics and overall pulverizing aggression result in a prime example of the gloomy and unearthly yet catchy style of death metal that is Entering The Gateways.”

Aatos Palmu (bass) continues: “Confined displays the more fast-paced and vividly aggressive side of the album. We chose to pair it up with a music video to further enhance the experience with the grimy and disorienting visuals in the old school death metal spirit.”

DISGUISED MALIGNANCE’s formative years up until this point has seen the group operate primarily as a duo, with vocalist Felix Pennanen and bassist Aatos Palmu forming the band in 2021, and carefully constructing the band’s foundational sound of old school death metal sensibilities with a calculatedly modern view of technical songwriting embellishments. The young band’s dichotomous approach to the genre was evidenced in their early demo and 2023 promo tapes respectively, before Pennanen and Palmu found themselves with growing ambitions for the band.

Commencing writing and recording in 2022 with their core pairing, DISGUISED MALGINANCE display a musical chemistry far beyond their years on Entering the Gateways. Frenzied passages careen and jolt forward with a menacing intent, whilst swarming tremolos and an dexterous rhythmic backbone bring to mind greats such as Demilich and Crytopsy. Written specifically with a solidified quintet in mind, Entering the Gateways ushers DISGUISED MALIGNANCE’s more textured passages into the fold – look no further than Disengagement into Eternity or Remnants of Serenity – that invoke more modern death metal acts such as Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation.

Inspired heavily by Lovecraftian horror and armed with an esoterically eldritch unease at the simultaneously unknown and unknowable, Entering the Gateways oscillates between the physical and the otherworldly throughout its 34 minute runtime. DISGUISED MALIGNANCE’s ambitions to take death metal’s elemental parts and impart their own verve and voice into the genre are plain to see on their first full-length, and it’s a testament to their natural talents that Entering the Gateways stands as a bold introduction to the band.

Entering the Gateways tracklist:
1. Gates to Nihil
2. Confined
3. Unearthly Extinction
4. The Fading Path of Existence
5. Malignant Visions
6. Remanants of Serenity
7. Disengagement into Eternity
8. Beyond (Entering the Gateways)

DISGUISED MALIGNANCE is:
Felix Pennanen – vocals
Aatos Palmu – bass
Daniel Gamache – guitar
Tuure Suomalainen – guitar
Juuso Hämäläinen – drums

SKULL & CROSSBONES Premiere New Album Single ‘Nature’s Legacy’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 29, 2023
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
[photo: Michael Vetter]

German heavy metal act SKULL & CROSSBONES, the new band featuring former members of Stormwitch, have shared a new track taken off their upcoming debut Sungazer! The band’s first full-length studio album will be released as CD Digipak, Ltd. Vinyl LP and Digital formats on September 8, 2023 through Massacre Records, the pre-sale is available at THIS LOCATION!


As the band reveals, the song “is about the occult, pagan nature religions. The attentive view of the beauty of nature should be sharpened, but from a dark point of view. One should leave a legacy of which one should be proud. Inspired by “The Witches’ Almanac.”

It’s a classic, driving metal song with a short, calm and hypnotic interlude that culminates in a power metal solo.”

With SKULL & CROSSBONES, the four ex-Stormwitch members Volker Schmietow, Tobi Kipp, Jürgen “Wanschi” Wannenwetsch and Marc Oppold, completed by vocalist Tobi Hübner, pick up where they left off: Dedicating themselves to traditional heavy metal.

Sungazer was mixed and mastered by Marc Ayerle at KlangManufaktur, with a cover artwork created by Michael Vetter.

Sungazer track listing:

  1. Midnight Fyre
  2. Sungazer
  3. Manhunter
  4. The Invisible Man
  5. Tyrant’s Rule
  6. Nature’s Legacy
  7. Inner Self
  8. Live Your Dreams
  9. The Drowned
  10. The Traveller

SKULL & CROSSBONES Live:
09.09.2023 DE Bisingen – Umsonst & Draußen Zollernalb
16.09.2023 DE Gerstetten – Schlicker
09.12.2023 DE Horb am Neckar – Marmorwerk

SKULL & CROSSBONES are:
Tobi Hübner – Vocals
Volker Schmietow – Guitar
Tobi Kipp – Guitar
Jürgen “Wanschi” Wannenwetsch – Bass
Marc Oppold – Drums

For More Info Visit:
http://skullandcrossbones.de
https://www.facebook.com/skullandcrossbones.Band
https://www.instagram.com/skullandcrossbones_official

GRYMHEART Release Video for First Single ‘To Die by the Succubus’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 29, 2023
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Photo Credit: Krisztina Mate

Budapest-based melodic death metallers GRYMHEART have released a video for ‘To Die by the Succubus’, first single taken from the debut album ‘Hellish Hunt’ to be released on September 22nd via Scarlet Records.

Grymheart combines the energy of power metal, the harmonies of folk metal, the epicness of symphonic metal and the screaming vocals of death metal. 

The most important elements of their sound are the catchy melodies: every track contains memorable parts which get stuck in your head; the songs are mostly fast and uplifting with lots of double kick drums, but there are some slow parts with a darker mood too. 

The overall concept and image of Grymheart come from iconic monsters & demons hunter characters like The Witcher, Solomon Kane, Van Helsing etc.; each song tells about mystical creatures such as ghosts, Succubus, the living dead, Ignis Fatuus, or harpies. The hunt is open!

  • Grymheart is leaded by Gábor Kovács (Gabriel Blacksmith), founder of Hungarian power metal legends Wisdom
  • engineered, produced and mastered by Gábor Kovács; recorded and mixed at Blacksmith Studio
  • cover & artwork by Gyula Havancsák (Accept, Burning Witches, Stratovarius)

GRYMHEART:
Gabriel Blacksmith – guitar, vocals
Dargor Rivgahr – guitar 
V’arhel – bass 
Sorin Nalaar – drums