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THE DAMN TRUTH Announce Summer 2023 UK Tour

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 28, 2023

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Prior to their upcoming guest slot with Glenn Hughes in the UK this October, celebrated Montreal rock’n’roll band THE DAMN TRUTH are pleased to announce they will embark on an 8-date UK Tour in July and August 2023, including a special performance at Steelhouse Festival on Saturday 29th July.

Tickets are on sale now via TheGigcartel.com.

The band consisting of Lee-La Baum (vocals, guitar), Tom Shemer (guitar), PY Letellier (bass) and Dave Traina (drums) will play London O2 Islington Academy (July 21), Shoreham Ropetackle (July 22), Leicester Musician (July 25), Buckley Tivoli (July 27), Leek Foxlowe Arts (July 28), Steelhouse Festival (July 29), Sheffield Greystones (July 30), and Milton Keynes Stables (August 1).

“The Damn Truth’s ‘This Is Who We Are Now’ single is a powerful statement with a chorus bigger than a bus and a guitar solo that absolutely soars.” – Classic Rock

In 2021, the band released their critically acclaimed album “Now or Nowhere.” Produced by legendary Grammy Award winning Bob Rock (who will also be at the helm of their next release), the album is available from www.thedamntruth.com.

The Damn Truth have experienced considerable success at radio airplay in the UK including ten weeks of high rotation for their previous single “This Is Who We Are Now” on Planet Rock and a spot play on BBC Radio 2’s Rock Show with Johnnie Walker. On several occasions, the band won Tracks of the Week on Classic Rock’s Louder Sound.

The band have been championed by the British music press with extensive magazine coverage in Classic Rock, Blues Matters, Guitarist, Powerplay, Guitar Techniques, Record Collector, Fireworks, Blues in Britain, Hard Rock Hell, MNPR, Rolling Stone (France), and R’N’R Magazine.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s an honour to open for rock and roll royalty but the magic of The Damn Truth is best experienced uncut, in our full set,” says TDT’s lead singer and guitarist, Lee-La Baum. “Our connection with our audiences is the most important thing so don’t miss us in these intimate headline settings!”

“The Damn Truth are a fresh revivalism of the psyche music scene from the mid 60’s,” says Jeff Laufer, editor of the Californian website, Rock Bands of LA. “Critics and fans alike praise their regeneration of the hard rock sound and values.”

“Bob Rock found a spirit within the band that he hadn’t experienced for many years,” continues Jeff. “He saw something special… an artist with burning talent that needed the right direction to break wide open…like lightning in a bottle.”

“The production by the legendary Bob Rock capturing the essence of what the band have without damaging the humanness at its core. The drums thunder, the bass throbs, the guitar alone could wreak havoc to the solar system and the vocals of Lee-La Baum control the storm, a commanding presence over the hurricane.” – Metal Planet Music

Six tracks on the new album “Now or Nowhere” were produced by legendary Grammy Award winning Bob Rock (Metallica, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, The Cult, The Offspring) at Bryan Adams’ recording studio “The Warehouse” in Vancouver.

“Now or Nowhere” chronicles the band as they navigate life, love, and everything else in a world gone seemingly upside down and sideways during the past year they were unable to finish the album with Bob because of COVID-19 restrictions, the band recorded the remaining three songs with help from Juno Award-winning producer Jean Massicotte who mixed “Everything Fades”; and the rest of the mixing was done by Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton), Nick DiDia (Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against The Machine), and Mike Plotnikoff (Van Halen, Cranberries).

The Damn Truth have extensively toured Europe and North America and opened tours for Z.Z.Top (and partied with Billy Gibbons in his pyjamas), the Sheepdogs, Styx, and Rival Sons, and were also special guests on Joe Bonamassa’s worldwide 2021 Keeping The Blues Alive Stream-A-Thon.

They sold out the legendary Whisky a Go-Go in Los Angeles, sold out the Corona Theatre in their hometown of Montreal, and had one of their videos featured on the official Janis Joplin Facebook page. It’s a culmination of a lot of blood, sweat and tears that’s come fruition with “Now or Nowhere”.

Neo-Pagan/Death Metal Act HEATHEN FORAY Share New Single ‘Ahnenreih’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 28, 2023

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On April 7, 2023, HEATHEN FORAY will release their new album Oathbreaker via Massacre Records. Following a previously-shared album single “Leben”, today, the neo-pagan death metal band revealed a second song taken of their forthcoming offering!

The band comments:

“The third track on our album “Ahnenreih” (Eng.: Line of ancestors) might be the most personal track the band has ever recorded. We collected stories and quotes from passed away relatives and combined them into a heart-wrenching song that shows us that we all stand on the shoulders of giants. We have used our native local dialect of Styrian-German to express our emotions as undiluted as possible. Musically we also look back at our roots and deliver the folkiest song on the whole album.”

HEATHEN FORAY began their journey with the ambition to blend the heaviness of death metal with lighthearted and catchy melodies that will stay in your mind long after you heard them. This authentic mix, seasoned with folk music elements, paid off as the band’s sing-along themes and skull splitting riffs earned them a following of underground metal fans and media taste-makers.

Whereas other bands in the general vicinity of this genre mix tend to dress up in medieval clothing or play Vikings on stage, HEATHEN FORAY made a clear statement that their kinship with the Pagan ways is a modern interpretation of them. What else is a modern Pagan than an activist for a cleaner environment, sustainable living, and social solidarity? This led to their music often being described as “neo pagan metal” and their songs being advocates against climate-change and oppression.

The band’s new album Oathbreaker embraces these ideas both lyrically and musically. The album sees the band return to their melodic and uplifting musical roots that will remind fans much more of earlier albums like “The Passage” and “Armored Bards” rather than the much darker “Weltenwandel” from 2020. Oathbreaker was produced by Jürgen Brüder & Adam Train, and was mixed/mastered by Adam Train. Slated for a release on April 7, 2023, the album pre-sale is available via Massacre Records at THIS LOCATION!

Oathbreaker track listing:

Oathbreaker
Leben
Ahnenreih
Heimdalls Spross
Allvoll
1000 Years Of Human Flesh
Raiment
Covenant Of Swords

HEATHEN FORAY Live:
18.-19.05.2023 AT Wien – Viper Room (Heathen Gathering)
23.-24.06.2023 SI Trbovlje – Cahn Fest

HEATHEN FORAY is:
Robert Schroll – Vocals
Jürgen Brüder – Guitars
Alex Wildinger – Guitars
Max Wildinger – Bass
Markus “Puma” Kügerl – Drums

Xenos Turn into XENOS A.D. + Recording Third Album

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 28, 2023

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Italian Thrash Metallers XENOS have recently announced their new name, XENOS A.D. The band is in the midst of recording their third album, the follow-up to their successful “The Dawn Of Ares” released in 2021 by Iron Shield Records.

The band’s fans can expect an even stronger and more powerful thrash metal assault with XENOS A.D.’s upcoming album. The band is dedicated to giving their fans the best experience possible and they are hard at work making sure their new album will not disappoint.

On June 11th, XENOS A.D. will be performing at the Into the Grave festival in the Netherlands.

In a statement from the band, they shared their excitement about the name change and their commitment to their fans: “Hi guys!!! We are thrilled and happy to inform you that we changed our moniker into XENOS A.D. From this day forward our band will be known as XENOS A.D. and we actually hope you will enjoy this change as we are doing. We are hardly working on the new album to be able to give you the best XENOS A.D. album ever, a huge, strong, powerful Thrash Metal assault from beginning to end. Thanks for your precious support, see you on the road.”

More information at:

NIGHT DEMON Release New Single + Video ‘Escape From Beyond’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 28, 2023

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On March 17th, Ventura, California’s heavy metal institution NIGHT DEMON return with their third full-length, OUTSIDER. For a preview of OUTSIDER , the video for the new single, “Escape From Beyond” (filmed by Julian Weigand and edited by Dave Minall), can be viewed HERE

Jarvis Leatherby (Vocals / Bass) comments: “Our second single, ‘Escape From Beyond’, is a rip-roaring journey that continues the movement from the title track ‘Outsider’. It’s an ode to finding your place in the universe and trusting that your intuition will guide you. Like many of the songs on this forthcoming album, it has peaks and valleys and it represents major growth from the heavy metal standards. We want to take the listener on an unforgettable ride, while staying true to our signature Night Demon sound. This is a new chapter that we’re beyond excited for.”

The video for the album’s title track can also be seen HERE

For more than a decade, Night Demon have defiantly flown the flag of traditional heavy metal, unwavering in the face of shifting industry trends and unscarred by global calamities. With new album OUTSIDER, the band have challenged themselves musically and lyrically, pushing creative boundaries and evolving their sound far beyond their NWOBHM-worshipping origins into something truly singular.

From a lyrical standpoint, OUTSIDER marks Night Demon‘s first full-blown concept album. To be sure, the band have always experimented with embedding thematic linkages between songs on each release, dating back to their 2015 debut album, Curse of the Damned. On OUTSIDER , however, lyricist Jarvis Leatherby has dialed into a fully cohesive tale of alternate realities, mysterious portals, and the supernatural, intertwined with universal human feelings of alienation, loss, regret and revenge. Inspired by Leatherby’s lifelong affinity for horror movies as well as his pandemic-induced exile in the countryside of Northern Ireland, OUTSIDER weaves a compelling yarn from its pastoral beginnings to its heart-pounding finale.

Of course, this kind of epic storytelling demands an equally expansive musical backdrop that ebbs and flows to convey the full emotional range of OUTSIDER. To achieve that result, Night Demon have reimagined the band’s songwriting and arrangements by embracing progressive elements and a newfound sense of dynamics that lend the music a decidedly cinematic quality. Longtime fans should not be alarmed: OUTSIDER sounds like Night Demon through and through, but the songwriting is perhaps the catchiest in the band’s discography, boasting massive hooks such as those found on the earworm title track, which is also the lead single. Simply put, Night Demon take the listener on a journey with OUTSIDER. It’s a heavy and intense ride, so buckle up. You may never be the same again.

Pre-order the album HERE.

OUTSIDER track-listing

Prelude
Outsider
Obsidian
Beyond The Grave
Rebirth
Escape From Beyond
A Wake
The Wrath

Night Demon line-up:
Jarvis Leatherby – Vocals / Bass
Dusty Squires – Drums
Armand John Anthony – Guitars

GRAVE PLEASURES Release New Single/Video ‘Heart Like A Slaughterhouse’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 28, 2023

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On April 21st, Finnish post-punk outfit GRAVE PLEASURES will release their third full-length, Plagueboys, via Century Media Records. For a preview of Plagueboys , the video for the new single, “Heart Like A Slaughterhouse” (directed by David Fitt), can be viewed HERE

Guitarist and songwriter Aleksi Kiiskilä comments as follows:

“’Heart Like a Slaughterhouse’, the go-to midnight hour dance track for crooked minds. Hooks you dive into head-first psycho-hypnotic frenzy and Buffalo Bill – influenced disco moves.

After playing at Wave Gotik Treffen a few years back, I was impressed by all those creative costumes and their uncanny, sinister details. It felt like being in some apocalyptic, gothic steampunk city where everything’s messed up, with that being all normal. So, the morning after our show, basically out of nowhere popped up this riff and the driving beat for ‘Heart Like a Slaugherhouse’, where the confidence of Eliminator meets Virus-like psychotic hooks. Something that feels wrong and right at the same time, something addictive and macabre which makes you move around your room like some broken manikin.”

The video for the previously released album track, “Society of Spectres”, can be seen HERE

Formed in 2015, after the dissolution of singer Mat McNerney and bassist Valtteri Arino’s short-lived sensation Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures have defiantly expanded on what has been described as their “war-cry for the eternally doomed,” with each album seeing their song-craft reach new heights. Their raw atomic punk of their major label debut album Dreamcrash (2015)was revamped and contorted into the uplifting nihilism of distinctly more frenetic sophomore smash-hit album Motherblood (2017), ultimatelyamped up and finessed into the heady Plagueboys (2023), their most mature yet dangerous album to-date. With the electrifying contradiction of light and darkness, the duality of the funereal Grave and euphoric Pleasure in their moniker, Plagueboys is an exhilarating, tear-filled, grinning dance of death, undoubtedly their most pleasurable yet.

With music written by McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Me & That Man) and guitarists Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu) and Aleksi Kiiskilä, and then arranged together with Arino and drummer Rainer Tuomikanto, Plagueboys sees the lineup, who frantically hacked out Motherblood together, come of age and find their superpowers. Recorded in Finland and produced by Vanhanen and his Oranssi Pazuzu comrade Niko Lehdontieat the controls,the sound on Plagueboys is a blistering wash of reverb and neon warehouse dancefloor; unabashed lone drum and bass carrion call give way to synth and guitar interplay that brings to mind British grandmasters Wire, The Sound and Echo & The Bunnymen through a contemporary lens.

Pre-order the album HERE.

Plagueboys track-listing

Disintegration Girl
Heart Like A Slaughterhouse
When The Shooting’s Done
High On Annihilation
Lead Balloons
Imminent Collapse
Society Of Spectres
Conspiracy Of Love
Plagueboys
Tears On The Camera Lens

Grave Pleasures line-up:
Valtteri Arino – Bass
Juho Vanhanen – Guitar
Mat McNerney – Vocals
Aleksi Kiiskilä – Guitar
Rainer Tuomikanto – Drums

MENTAL CRUELTY Release New Singles + Video for ‘Symphony Of A Dying Star’ & ‘Zwielicht’, Unveil New Singer

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 28, 2023

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Photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/MentalCruelty

Earlier this week, MENTAL CRUELTY dropped a surprise teaser for fans, hinting at upcoming music plus the identity of their new vocalist. Now, the band is releasing two new tracks – “Symphony of a Dying Star” and “Zwielicht” – to coincide with their news today, revealing their singer: Lukas Nicolai [of Sun Eater (formerly known as Impale)]. Stream “Symphony of a Dying Star” and “Zwielicht” here; watch the video (directed by Marvin Kessler and produced by AMP) for both singles HERE

Mental Cruelty comments: “The first song ‘Zwielicht’ (old German for twilight), which serves as the intro, is a poem written by Marvin (guitars) and it’s about the demon called depression that slowly creeps into your body to a point where it takes full control over your life. The poem comes from a very personal place and serves as a way of letting go and processing hard and dark stages of life in the past. Musically, the song is heavily inspired by classic Nordic folk songs and was recorded with ancient instruments that you wouldn’t quite expect in this kind of music. ‘Symphony Of A Dying Star’ serves as the continuation of ‘Zwielicht’ musically as well as lyrically. We accompany a wanderer on his journey through a winter landscape. All life around him seems to be trapped in hibernation and eternal ice while a surreal feeling of deafness creeps up on him. The winter itself serves as a metaphor for loneliness, the end of all things and the transience of life. At some point, all things start to fade away and it is the fate that will overtake us all once when standing on the threshold between life and death. The whole concept of this 2-track song is about letting things go and die to make place for a new start and a new beginning. We couldn’t quite play shows and work on new music as we wanted to the last two years due to the pandemic and having to find a new vocalist, so we wanted to make a cut and a new beginning.”

Across four releases, beginning with 2016’s Pereat Mundus EP, Mental Cruelty has woven together a violent tapestry of black metal, death metal, deathcore, and a madness of their very own. With 2021’s landmark LP, A Hill To Die Upon (Unique Leader), the German quintet not only set a new standard for themselves, but also the genre as a whole.

Rising from the ashes of personal and professional chaos, Mental Cruelty spent the first half of 2022 seeking out a voice to continue to cement them as an uncompromising force in the German metal scene. After locking in Lukas Nicolai, the band (rounded out by guitarists Nahuel Lozano and Marvin Kessler, bassist Viktor Dick and drummer Danny Straßer) reemerged bloodied but unbowed, ready to continue on their path to becoming an international force.

Armed with new vocalist Lukas, Mental Cruelty usher in a new epoch of unlight and grim determination that’s at the heart of their upcoming album – which will be announced soon. Mental Cruelty‘s reign of darkness is just getting started…