Renowned Swedish black metal band MARDUK is back with a new release entitled Memento Mori. Today, MARDUK release the video for their latest single “Shovel Beats Sceptre”. Watch the video below.
As anticipation continues to build for Memento Mori, the PRE-ORDER has begun and the LP is available in various formats.
Commenting on the album, MARDUK frontman Daniel Rostén shares: “Memento Mori is, all at once, a bold leap forward, a calculated sidestep, and a wistful backward glance. Meaning, we have broken new ground without forgetting our legacy or the journey that brought us to this point.”
Since their inception in the early ’90s, MARDUK has become one of the most influential and revered bands in the black metal genre. With a discography that spans over three decades, the band has consistently delivered uncompromising and aggressive music that resonates with metal fans worldwide. Memento Mori promises to be another groundbreaking chapter in their storied career, cementing their status as true legends of the genre.
MARDUK is: Daniel Rostén (Vocals) Morgan Hakansson (Guitar) Devo Andersson (Bass) Simon Schilling (Drums)
Having released their self-titled debut album in March this year to an unexpected success in the heavy metal scene, Danish epic power thrashers EXELERATE now release the official video for the opening track of the album, “Arrival”. A track that shows the band’s take on power/thrash metal in all its glory: melodic, classic and with balls!
Today Metal Shock Finland has a pleasure to premiere for Finland EXELERATE’s official video “Arrival”, enjoy it below.
EXELERATE is a power thrash metal band from Denmark. They play fast and aggressive riffs combined virtuose guitar solos and high-pitched vocals to create a new, yet familiar brand of metal. They quickly found strength in combining their individual music influences to create a mix of thrash, power and prog metal. It set the stage for the aggressive, but still approachable sound and the complexity of the compositions that all of their songs are made of.
They are inspired by bands like Megadeth, Anthrax, DIO and Dream Theater and make heavy use of both the traditional and the new in metal. They have a great focus on how their music is perceived in a live situation. “It’s in a live environment you get the chance to grab new listeners by the collar and show them how it’s done”, the lead singer Stefan Jensen comments. “They need to be enticed, inspired and spoiled until they can’t get enough. It is therefore important for us to give them something to latch on to, like a catchy melody, a fantastic solo or just a massive breakdown. It’s all a part of capturing the audience’s attention and keeping it”.
Exelerate is now in full swing and ready to release their debut album under the Danish label From The Vaults. The record consists of new and original material, designed to showcase just how metal should sound in 2023. It’s a concept work where every track tells a story about humankind’s tendencies towards both dominance and submission. The themes go from old religions to contemporary ideology worship and even further into the ultimate submission to our own mortality.
“To date, these are the most ambitious compositions I have ever been a part of writing, and I am incredibly proud of the end result”, Jensen says. “It has taken up many hours, days, weeks, years in the rehearsing studio, and the entire effort is realized in full on the album, I think”.
“Exelerate” was recorded with the help of, among others, Casper Augustenborg as the drum recording engineer and Io Brix Klarstrup, who pulls double duty as both the band’s bass player and recording engineer. The skilled hands of Marco Angioni (Angioni Studios) have made sure that Exelerate sounds better than ever, with a new massive sound that the listener easily can let their face melt away to.
The album’s artwork was made by the danish artist Steen Jensen who, with his airbrush and proclivities towards the dark and strange, has made a surreal visual universe inspired by the opening track on the album “Arrival”.
In case you need any introduction, the riff barrage at the beginning of “Bonesong” tells it all: Danish death metallers SHADOWSPAWN are back, and their first digital single and video from the upcoming studio album is a flawless example of the band’s firepower. Punishing, heavy, and brutal, but never losing the sense of groove of musicality, “Bonesong” foreshows another step forward for the Scandinavian five-piece when their new full-length drops this Fall.
SHADOWSPAWN have teamed up with Metal Shock Finland to premiere “It’s On You” official video for Finnish territory, enjoy it here:
SHADOWSPAWN is back with their highly anticipated fourth release, “Blasphemica – Absolution Carved From Flesh”. The new album from the Danes demonstrates the band’s growth and evolution, while still retaining their signature no-frills-death-metal sound. However, “Blasphemica” walks the extra mile for the band and pushes the boundaries of their musicality, incorporating elements of groove, darkness, and brutality into a cohesive whole. The album showcases the band’s maturity as songwriters and their ability to craft intricate, yet headbanging-worthy compositions.
With ten groovy death metal tracks, set in an abstract lyrical world of steampunk and religious criticism in the pocket, the band visited Tue Madsen at the renowned Antfarm Studios, for drum recording and, later, for mix and mastering, ensuring the best possible sound for their new opus. This will be also Shadowspawn first album with their new drummer Lukas Meier, known from The Petulant and Sacrificial.
Known for their unique blend of groovy and intense soundscapes, Shadowspawn was formed in 2013 by experienced men from the early Danish death metal scene, including well-known forces from, among others, Sacrificial, The Petulant and Cinerator. With their distinct approach to the genre, they have carved a path for themselves in the extreme music scene. From the bands emerging, and with three highly praised releases already, Shadowspawn is a well known act in the domestic metal scene, as well as abroad.
“Blasphemica – Absolution Carved From Flesh” will be released on LP (black vinyl, limited to 300) and digital formats via Emanzipation Productions on October 27th, 2023.
Lineup: Bue T. Jensen – vocals Nicolai Cheung – guitars Oliver Ragnar – guitars Kelvin Dam – bass Lukas Meier – drums
For more than 20 years, vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulsen has been spearheading Danish rock and roll machine Volbeat, releasing eight full lengths, selling millions of albums, and filling stadiums worldwide. Before fronting Volbeat, however, Poulsen formed death metal band Dominus, which recorded four fast, brutal albums in the mid ’90s. When Poulsen was putting together songs for Volbeat‘s 2021 album, Servant of the Mind, he wrote a bunch of death metal riffs and saved them on his phone. Then, when he was done with the Volbeat record, he reopened the rusty gates to Armageddon and started putting together songs for his new death metal band Asinhell, whose debut album Impii Hora (Latin for “Ungodly Hour”), is a tribute to Poulsen’s favorite old-school groups.
Impii Hora will be released September 29 via Metal Blade. Pre-order it here.
Today, the band has shared “Island of Dead Men” – Watch + listen below.
“‘Island of Dead Men’ was the second song I wrote for the album,” says Poulsen. “It’s one of the faster and more aggressive songs on the record, but with a groovy Death chorus and a solid middle piece that hails the mighty Autopsy. Enjoy… or don’t!“
Poulsen has rekindled the death metal fire that fueled his first band Dominus. He began jamming on riffs with longtime friend and neighbor, drummer Morten Toft Hansen (Raunchy). The two started playing in Morten’s tiny garage: no mics, no P.A. – just a drum kit and a combo amp turned all the way up like they used when they were teenagers. Soon, the pair were completing a new song every time they got together. When it came time to add vocals, Poulsen turned to his good friend, who also happened to be one of his all-time favorite death metal growlers: Marc Grewe (Insidious Disease, ex-Morgoth).
“I had known Michael quite a long time and he always mentioned that we should do a death metal project one day, but I never took him too seriously because he was so busy with Volbeat,” Grewe says. “Then he called for real and said, ‘Yeah, I want to do it now. Are you up for it?’ Immediately, I was like, ‘Yes, of course!’“
With Asinhell fully formed, the three convened with Volbeat producer Jacob Hansen to produce, mix, and play bass on their debut album. When it was time to add lead guitar to the album, Michael looked no further than friend and The Arcane Order axeman Flemming C. Lund.
IMPII HORA TRACK LISTING: 01. Fall of the Loyal Warrior 02. Inner Sancticide 03. Island of Dead Men 04. Trophies 05. The Ultimate Sin 06. Wolfpack Laws 07. Desert of Doom 08. Pyromantic Scryer 09. Impii Hora 10. Føj for Helvede
ASINHELL ARE: Michael Poulsen: Guitar Marc Grewe: Vocals Morten Toft Hansen: Drums
Queensrÿche singer Todd La Torre and Rock/metal long time producer Zeuss join The Metal Voice and ‘Weigh in’ on entertainment topics such as: sitting or standing during metal shows; filming at concerts and should bands self produce or hire a real producer?
Zeuss is best known in the worlds of hard rock, heavy metal music, hardcore punk, and metalcore. He has engineered, produced, mixed, and mastered albums by a number of high-profile acts, including Rob Zombie, Queensrÿche, Demon Hunter,Suicide Silence, Suffocation,Municipal Waste, Soulfly, Chimaira, Throwdown, Whitechapel, Bleeding Through, Kataklysm, and God Forbid.
He’s made over a half dozen records each with Shadows Fall (including the band’s most commercially successful album, The War Within) and Hatebreed. His relationship with Hatebreed extends to affiliated projects, including Kingdom of Sorrow,[Jasta, and numerous artists signed to singer Jamey Jasta’s Stillborn Records.
Rob Zombie, Joey Jordison, and Max Cavalera are among the musicians who have complimented Zeuss in the press. Wikipedia
Todd La Torre is the lead singer for band Queensrÿche, and a former lead vocalist of the bands Crimson Glory and Rising West.
As the world continues hanging on by a thread through pandemics, wildfires, climate change, social-political chaos and social media-fueled conspiracy theories, at least there’s MINISTRY to get us through. Industrial provocateur Al Jourgensen is ready to unleash his latest missives with MINISTRY’s groundbreaking 16th album, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES, slated for release March 1, 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Today, the six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated multiplatinum act gives the first taste of the new material with the official release of ‘Goddamn White Trash’, featuring Pepper Keenan, a song that made its debut on MINISTRY’s headline tour earlier this year.
See the video for ‘Goddamn White Trash,’ directed by Dean Karr, here:
Over the course of 9 tracks, Jourgensen is righteously cantankerous as ever about a f***ed up world ripe for a boot up its ass. Like always, he’s merely looking around at the same dumpster fire we all are, but he’s got a microphone and uses it well to rage on about the state of the world.
“Just like you or anybody else, I’m simply a passenger in this lifetime,” says Jourgensen. “I’m watching social changes, political changes, and economic changes, and I comment on them because I do have a First Amendment right. A lot of people say artists and athletes should shut up and play ball. No, I’m on this trip too. If I see something, I say something. That reflects on where each album goes. Instead of staying sedentary and singing about broken relationships, inner turmoil, or whatever is hurting this week, I comment on what’s going on from the perspective of a fellow passenger.”
Joined by MINISTRY´s current frontline of musicians – John Bechdel (keyboards), Monte Pittman and Cesar Soto (guitars), Roy Mayorga (drums) and Paul D’Amour (bass) – HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES also has a slew of special guest contributors including Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz, long-time collaborator and Lard companion Jello Biafra and Corrosion of Conformity frontman Pepper Keenan.
Tracklist for HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES: B.D.E. Goddamn White Trash* Just Stop Oil Aryan Embarrassment TV Song 1/6 Edition New Religion It’s Not Pretty Cult of Suffering* Ricky’s Hand
HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES will be available in three vinyl variants, a CD jewelcase and digital/streaming platforms. The vinyl variants include: green with yellow splatter (in stores everywhere); blue with pink splatter (nuclear blast exclusive); red with white splatter (band/tour exclusive).
The release of HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES follows MINISTRY’s acclaimed 2021 album Moral Hygiene that kickstarted another era for the band. The critically acclaimed LP wound up on year-end lists from the likes of Consequence of Sound and Loudwire, as the band continued to sell out venues coast-to-coast on the Industrial Strength tour.
ABOUT MINISTRY Born in 1981 in Chicago, MINISTRY has been the lifetime passion project of founder Al Jourgensen, considered to be the pioneer of industrial music. In its early days, MINISTRYwas identifiable by its heavy synth-pop material in line with the new sounds and technology that were being developed in the ‘80s. MINISTRY´s output began with four 12” singles on Wax Trax! Records in 1981 before the first LP With Sympathyin 1983 via Arista Records. As time progressed however, so did MINISTRY, quickly developing a harsher, and more stylized sound that the band soon became infamous for on seminal albums Twitch(1986), The Land of Rape and Honey(1988), and The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (1989). With the release of Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and The Way to Suck Eggs (1992), MINISTRY hit an all-time high in the mainstream musical realm and received its first Grammy nomination. In total, MINISTRY has been nominated for a Grammy award six times. Eight more albums would follow before an indefinite break in 2013, only to be unearthed again in 2018 with AmeriKKKant, continuing to reflect Jourgensen’s views on the frightening state of society and politics. The 2021 album Moral Hygiene marked a new creative era of Jourgensen and the band. MINISTRY´s 16th studio album, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES, will be released in early 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records.
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
