DRACONIAN Announce New Line Up

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 6, 2022
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[photo credit: Chad Michael Ward]

After introducing their new guitarist, Niklas Nord (Myteri, DeathTrap, The Random Victims) a few days ago, Swedish gothic doom entity DRACONIAN is thrilled to have more exciting news to share that will warm the hearts of every fan!
 
The inimitable Lisa Johansson, vocalist on the band’s first five albums, will now re-join as a permanent member, sharing singing duties with incredible Anders Jacobsson for more enigmatic music to come. After the release of their fifth studio album, A Rose for the Apocalypse, in November 2011, Lisa Johansson had to leave DRACONIAN due to personal reasons. In September 2012, the group officially announced Heike Langhans as new vocalist, who will now leave the band with a focus on family and her own musical projects.

To honor this special occasion and heating the fire of a bright future to come, DRACONIAN is delighted to announce that they’ll play French Hellfest festival on June 25th as a seven-piece special arrangement, with both Lisa and Heike on stage. This will be Heike’s final show and the perfect opportunity to pass back the torch to Lisa. The full show will be streamed live and will also be available for viewing at a later date.
 
Heike Langhans comments:
“10 years with any band is no small thing and I thank DRACONIAN for the wonderful opportunities and challenges that made me confident in my path forward. The time has come for me to start a new chapter in music and life that requires my undivided focus.
 
I’m so grateful to Lisa for being here to step in and seeing the old songs performed in the way they should be, will be as much of a treat for me as the rest of our listeners!
Thank you for all the friends and supportive fans I met along the way. I have much more in store for you all this year, so please no sadness.

I wish the band great success in 2022 and beyond! “

Lisa Johansson adds:
With great excitement and with a humble heart, I rejoin DRACONIAN. I’m still a bit surprised that Johan called to ask me if I could consider touring with DRACONIAN again. Also that I said, without any hesitation, “Sure, I will!”
 
I wish my newfound friend Heike Langhans – who has the most beautiful voice – all the best of luck and prosperity in her future. I’ll try my best to do her songs justice. See you on the road!”

[cover artwork by Natalia Drepina]

Get your copy of Under A Godless Veil HERE

(2020), entered the charts in several countries. The prodigious album marks the unit’s most successful record to date and delivers a captivating mélange of dreary doom and contrasting vocals, and mixes Heike Langhans’ angelic voice with Anders Jakobsson’s death growls. Under A Godless Veil ’s last full-length, DRACONIAN

Under A Godless Veil tracklisting:
1. Sorrow of Sophia
2. The Sacrificial Flame
3. Lustrous Heart
4. Sleepwalkers
5. Moon Over Sabaoth
6. Burial Fields
7. The Sethian
8. Claw Marks On The Throne
9. Night Visitor
10. Ascend Into Darkness

In December 2021, DRACONIAN released atmospheric re-issues of their guiding full-lengths Where Lovers Mourn (2003) and Arcane Rain Fell (2005) on vinyl via Napalm Records.

DRACONIAN live 2022:
07.05.22 NO – Kopervik / Karmøygeddon Metal Festival
25.06.22 FR – Clisson / Hellfest
14.07.22 SE – Gävle / Gefle Metal Festival
22.07.22 SK – Revistske Podzamcie / Gothoom Festival
29.09.22 RO – Bucharest / Quantic Club
30.09.22 GR – Athens / Demons Gate Festival
01.10.22 BG – Sofia / Music Jam Club

BACK TO ROCK PARTY, Volcano Records Strikes Back in Naples

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 6, 2022
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Italian independent label Volcano Records & Promotion is pleased to announce ‘Back To Rock Party‘, a great rock show that will take place in the sunny Naples on May 21st.

After two years of pandemic and the struggle that artists and their fanbase suffered being away from shows, live events are coming back also in the south of Italy where Volcano started the journey in 2013 before hitting the international market during the years with several Volcano Rock Fests in both Europe and US. ‘Back To Rock Party’ will be animated by two very good young bands, WaterCrisis and Furious Jane that will both present new releases there, while the main event of the night will be Italian rock stallion Hangarvain as part of their Sin & Desire Tour that will bring them all around Europe within the end of the year.

More info about the show at https://fb.me/e/oNHB2P5cx

HANGARVAIN – https://www.facebook.com/Hangarvain
WATERCRISIS – https://www.facebook.com/WaterCrisis
FURIOUS JANE – https://www.facebook.com/furiousjane

SOULFLY Announce New Album “Totem”, Unleash Lyric Video for First Single ‘Superstition’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 6, 2022
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Underground icon, extreme metal trailblazer, third world warrior, and leader of a diverse and dedicated tribe, Max Cavalera not only survives but thrives, blasting out riff after killer riff. The same voice, body, and spirit which launched SOULFLY in 1997 summons impossibly heavy noise to this day, throwing down ten slabs of monstrous music on the band’s twelfth album, ‘Totem‘ which will be released via Nuclear Blast on August 5th.

Today, the band offers the tribe the first taste of the album with the single, “Superstition“. Check out the lyric video created by Aimed & Framed alongside 3D character artist, Álvar Gómez Padilla, below. 

Listen to “Superstition” on any streaming platform: https://bfan.link/soulfly-superstition

SOULFLY‘s Max Cavalera comments, “Totem is a celebration of the spiritual nature. It was a 2-year journey writing with Zyon. This album is about all the joy, the fun, and the anger in Metal.”

SOULFLY – Totem
Release Date: 06 August 2022 – Pre-order HERE.

  1. Superstition
  2. Scouring The Vile
  3. Filth Upon Filth
  4. Rot In Pain
  5. The Damage Done
  6. Totem
  7. Ancestors
  8. Ecstasy Of Gold
  9. Soulfly XII
  10. Spirit Anima

Totem was recorded at Platinum Underground in Mesa Arizona by John Aquilino and Arthur Rizk with assistance from John Powers. Produced by Max alongside Arthur Rizk (KREATOR, MUNICIPAL WASTE, CODE ORANGE), the album boasts guest appearances from John Powers (ETERNAL CHAMPION), Chris Ulsh (POWER TRIP), and John Tardy (OBITUARY). Arthur Rizk was also responsible for playing lead guitar on the record. The artwork for the album was created by James Bousema.

SOULFLY is:
Max Cavalera | Vocals & Guitar
Zyon Cavalera | Drums
Mike Leon | Bass Guitar

KREATOR Release Video for New Single ‘Midnight Sun’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 6, 2022
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Today, extreme metal titans KREATOR are proud to unveil “Midnight Sun,” the third single from their forthcoming fifteenth studio album, “Hate Über Alles,” which will be released on June 10th, 2022. The eagerly anticipated full-length is a strong album-of-the-year contender as well as a global statement against hate & the division of society. Before its release next month, KREATOR give you another treat in the form of the most unusual song “Hate Über Alles” has to offer. “Midnight Sun” manages to couple heavy guitar shredding and captivating groove metal with a melodramatic, larger-than-life chorus including female backing vocals, impressively showcasing KREATOR’s continued evolution of the genre they helped create.

Mille Petrozza comments:
“Midnight Sun is something a little new for us, our first time collaborating with a female artist. When I was writing the song, I could hear this Oracle type voice over the pre-chorus and chorus and I immediately reached out to my talented friend, Sofia Portanet who is an emerging artist, here in Germany. Sofia added exactly what I was looking for and gives the song a really dark, ethereal vibe.
 
The video is the second production we shot with Tom Schlagkamp and his team. The concept was drawn up from the song’s lyrics which I envisaged to take place during a ritual sacrifice. Director, Tom came back with an idea loosely based on Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’ which has powerful visuals, perfect for a killer metal music video!“

LISTEN TO THE SINGLE “MIDNIGHT SUN“: https://kreator.bfan.link/midnight-sun-single

PRE-ORDER / PRE-SAVE THE ALBUM “HATE ÜBER ALLES“: https://kreator.bfan.link/hate-uber-alles

KREATOR – Hate Über Alles 
Release Date: June 10, 2022

01.    Sergio Corbucci Is Dead
02.    Hate Über Alles
03.    Killer Of Jesus
04.    Crush The Tyrants
05.    Strongest Of The Strong
06.    Become Immortal
07.    Conquer And Destroy
08.    Midnight Sun
09.    Demonic Future
10.    Pride Comes Before The Fall
11.    Dying Planet

Cover artwork by Eliran Kantor

For 37 years, KREATOR has spear-headed a thrash metal crusade, inspiring generations of metal heads and musicians alike. The collision of traditional and contemporary values is a sentiment that Mille Petrozza has breathed in to the soul of this monumental new album; recruiting visionary producer Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Cavalera Conspiracy, Ghostmane and Turnstile) from Philadelphia to work with the band at the legendary Hansa Studio in Berlin. “Hate Über Alles” features gorgeously grim cover artwork painted by renowned artist Eliran Kantor (Testament, Thy Art Is Murder, Helloween), serving a bold statement against hate and division in today’s society.

Mille Petrozza comments:
“Hate Über Alles reflects the time we’re living in. Everything is really loud and aggressive. The way we communicate has changed, thanks to social media. It causes a lot of imbalance. The world is in a state of disrepair. Life is not harmonic right now, it’s disharmonic… that’s where I was going with the title.”

Decades into their game-changing career, German metal legends Kreator find themselves more successful and influential than ever. They’ve stuck to their guns, weathered the trends and outlasted their peers – never once wavering from the ferocious noise that excited them as teens. If anything, that thirst for sonic warfare is just as strong, if not stronger, today. Where others have suffered from creative malnourishment and artistic uncertainty, something which even metal’s biggest and best are prone to, Kreator have always charged full steam ahead – thanks to the red-eyed conviction and fearless determination of founding singer and guitarist Miland ‘Mille’ Petrozza. On 1985 debut Endless Pain, the Essen innovators created the template for extreme noise to come, fusing elements of thrash and black metal in ways that had never been heard before. Their sophomore album of the following year, Pleasure To Kill, became one of the landmark albums of 1986 – making metal history alongside key releases from Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth. And onwards they marched, bringing hellish anthems to the masses in every album that followed, with a track record few could ever rival.

The last decade has been a particularly exciting time for the group, with 2012’s Phantom Antichrist proving how they could embrace modern production techniques and move with the times without forsaking the underground spirit and defiance which made them a household name in the first place. Its successor, 2017’s Gods Of Violence, saw them topping the German charts for the very first time in their career, a feat virtually unheard for a band of such thunderous intensity. Returning this year with fifteenth opus Hate Über Alles – which marks their first studio album with Frédéric Leclercq (ex-Dragonforce, Sinsaenum) on bass, joining Mille, guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö and drummer Jürgen ‘Ventor’ Reil – the metal titans are once again channelling an unholy heaviness strong enough to tilt the earth off-axis.

Conquering and destroying in the way only Kreator can, Hate Über Alles will undoubtedly sit proudly as the finest metal of its year. And so onwards they march once more…

KREATOR Live 2022

2nd Jun – Czechia – METALFEST OPEN AIR
18th Jun – Finland – METAL CAPITAL FEST
24th Jun – France – HELLFEST
26th Jun – Italy – ROCK THE CASTLE
30th Jun – Portugal – VOA HEAVY ROCK FESTIVAL
1st Jul – Germany – RUHRPOTT RODEO
03rd Jul – Finland – TUSKA
04th Aug – Spain – LEYENDAS DEL ROCK
19th Aug – France – MOTOCULTOR FESTIVAL
20th Aug – Netherlands – DYNAMO METAL FEST
23rd Sep – Mexico – MEXICO METAL FEST

KREATOR will embark on a European co-headline tour alongside LAMB OF GOD in November & December 2022. 

State Of Unrest Tour 2022
KREATOR | LAMB OF GOD
with guests: Thy Art is Murder & Gatecreeper

18th Nov – Denmark – COPENHAGEN, Forum Black Box
19th Nov – Sweden – STOCKHOLM, Fryshuset Arenan
21st Nov – Finland – OULU, Teatria
22nd Nov – Finland – HELSINKI, Ice Hall Black Box
24th Nov – Poland – WARSAW, Stodola
26th Nov – Germany – MUNICH, Zenith
27th Nov – Germany – BERLIN, Columbiahalle
29th Nov – Netherlands – TILBURG, 013
30th Nov – Belgium – BRUSSELS, AB
02nd Dec – Germany – LUDWIGSBURG, MHP Arena
03rd Dec – Germany – ESSEN, Grugahalle
04th Dec – Germany – SAARBRÜCKEN, Saarlandhalle
06th Dec – Spain – MADRID, Riviera
07th Dec – Spain – BARCELONA, Razzmatazz
09th Dec – Germany – WIESBADEN, Schlachthof
10th Dec – Germany – HAMBURG, Edel Optics Arena
11th Dec – Germany – LEIPZIG, Haus Auensee
13th Dec – UK – LONDON, O2 Academy Brixton
14th Dec – UK – GLASGOW, O2 Academy
15th Dec – UK – BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy
16th Dec – UK – BRISTOL, O2 Academy
18th Dec – UK – MANCHESTER, Academy
20th Dec – France – PARIS, L’Olympia
21st Dec – Switzerland – ZURICH, Samsung Hall

TICKETS: https://www.stateofunresttour.com

MORTEMIA Release New Single ‘Veiled in Despair’ Feat. Heidi Parviainen (Dark Sarah)

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 6, 2022
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Photo credits Morten: Angst Im Wald – Photo credits Heidi: Marko Simonen

Morten Veland (SIRENIA, MORTEMIA and founder of TRISTANIA) released the 9th Mortemia song from ‘The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions’ today. The track features Heidi Parviainen (Dark Sarah) on guest vocals and it is available on all digital platforms as of today the 6th of May 2022. The track is entitled ‘Veiled in Despair’.

Morten Veland:

“I am proud and honoured to introduce Heidi Parviainen from Dark Sarah as my special guest for ‘The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions’. The ninth song is entitled ‘Veiled in Despair’, and is now available on all digital platforms.

I have followed Heidi’s work for a very long time, and I find her voice and vocal capabilities absolutely stunning. Every time Heidi starts singing I get instant goosebumps. The way that she pours emotions into everything she performs and her technical level is absolutely flawless. I feel truly privileged and thankful to have Heidi on board this project, and I am really looking forward to sharing this song with you all. This song is very doomy and melancholic and it has a very soundtrack-like vibe to it.”

Heidi Parviainen:

“I felt honored when Morten asked me to sing on his new song, love his work and this song is very cinematic and atmospheric! I did the recording in the middle of Dark Sarah´s new album ´Attack Of Orym´ recordings and it was a very refreshing change! The song itself is very intimate, etheric, melancholic and I could say very Nordic too! You can almost hear the evergreen forests, misty meadows, fjelds and fjords when you close your eyes.”

Stream ‘Veiled in Despair’ feat. Heidi Parviainen HERE.

After 11 years of silence Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, producer and artist Morten Veland is once more active with his solo project Mortemia, this time with a brand new concept. ‘The Pandemic Pandemonium Sessions’ is a series of singles  released on a monthly basis, each song featuring a well known and highly profiled guest singer from the metal scene, so far the following singers has contributed: 

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)

More information at https://www.facebook.com/mortemianorway

Irish RAUM KINGDOM Sign With Argonauta Records, Working on New Album

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 6, 2022
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Irish atmospheric Post-Metal, Sludge and Doom quartet RAUM KINGDOM has announced its worldwide signing with Argonauta Records. Following their impressive debut album, ‘Everything & Nothing‘ (2016), which has been lauded by both fans and international music press alike, RAUM KINGDOM are currently working on the release of their sophomore full-length album.

“It is with great pleasure that Raum Kingdom can announce it’s teaming up the legendary Argonauta Records for our upcoming release,“ the band states. ” It will take a great deal of the reasonability of some aspects of the release of the record and let Raum Kingdom focus on what they love doing. We look foward to the relationship in the Future! “

Argonauta Records owner, Gero Lucisano, says: “I’ve been lucky enough to know the band thanks to their stellar opus ‘Everything & Nothing’, an album dense of emotion and definitely captivating, thanks to its perfect blend of darkness and hope. When I got the chance to hear the new songs, I told myself their sophomore album would have been the perfect addition to the label catalog. Raum Kingdom’s new effort is something beyond everything: emotive, melodic, atmospheric and hypnotizing. A musical journey for our deep senses.”

RAUM KINGDOM started out in late 2013 on the east coast of Ireland when singer Dave Lee and guitarist Andrew Colohan set out to create a soul crushing experience of sonics. When long time friends; bassist Ronan Connor and drummer Mark Gilchrist joined the line up, the project was ready to express itself. The dark driven RAUM KINGDOM had found the creative force and sound to start producing music that has gained the band an impressive following in Europe, UK, Canada, The States and Japan. Exploring their collective passion for all heavy genres of music, the four-piece began to channel that energy into what would turn out to be RAUM KINGDOM’s first, self-titled five track EP, self-released in April 2014. Taken unawares by the instant and positive critical response, RAUM KINGDOM‘s ability to resound with their audience comes from their heart for turning negativity into positivity and the ethos of having a blast doing what they have a passion for. To date, the band has completed numerous shows on the Euro circuit, and released an EP, a split EP with Belgian group All We Expected, and their much acclaimed debut album ‘Everything & Nothing’, a one hour sonic journey of redemtion and hope.

After the sudden and sad passing of bass player Ronan Connor in March 2021, RAUM KINGDOM wanted to release their last recordings and writings in respect for Ronan’s memory. The band is now gearing up for their second studio album, showcasing the emotional peaks and valleys of a band matrured, and that will see the light of day via Argonauta Records soon.