The guys of Suidakra/Graveworm Melodic Death Metal mixup DRAGONBREED have finished work on their debut longplayer. The stylistic and also personal journey back in time to the early days of the genre will be titled “Necrohedron” and will be released on 22 April via MDD Records!
Raw, wild and inspired by the spirit of the early years, the quintet around Graveworm singer Stefano Fiori and Suidakra’s Arkadius Antonik will play 8 songs with a playing time of 38 minutes. Also on board: cover artist Kris Verwimp, who is not only responsible for the artwork, but also for the lyrical content, which is a concept story that has been lying untold in his drawer for a long time and now fits Dragonbreed like a glove.
A first sample and further information will be available soon!
Iranian Protest Metal band ARTAMENE have released a new video for “Infinite Escape”, third single taken from the album “Ziggurat”, out via Wormholedeath worldwide. Watch the video below.
Artamene stated,“Through a childhood passion for Metal, the 2 brothers honed their talents by jamming and covering their different influences through childhood. This only fueled their passion and solidified the need for a formal band. Today Pedram and Pouya along with Soheil Avakh (Vocals) and Ali Karimi brave through and risk it all for a fuel-driven passionate band called ARTAMENE! Iran is one of the last frontiers where Metal Music and its fans have to break down barriers of prejudice and legal persecution under the false pretenses of Satanic Worship and other paganistic rituals, Artamene has set out on a difficult path of breaking barriers and scaling the cliffs of prejudice. Since its inception, Artamene has, in only a couple of years, quickly risen to perform in front of crowds of 500+ people.”
The Orange County, California-based melodic death metal quintet VOICES OF RUIN have unveiled the music video for “Reach Toward The Sky,” the latest single from their 2020 full-length and M-Theory Audio debut, “Path to Immortality.” The video clip – shot and edited by Vintersea bassist Karl Whinnery while both bands were on tour together during the Fall of 2021 – can be viewed below.
CD, digital, and limited-edition splatter vinyl editions of “Path to Immortality” are available for purchase at www.smarturl.com/vor
“We’re very excited to release our new music video featuring live footage from the latest Darker Western Skies tour with Vintersea and Dawn of Ouroboros! It was pretty special to get back on the road and perform nightly after close to two years of not playing shows,” states singer Dave Barrett. “Being together with the boys and raging the stage was magical! ‘Reach Toward The Sky’ is one of the more dynamic songs we’ve ever released and this tour was our first time playing it live. Karl from Vintersea is a magician behind the camera and he did an excellent job capturing the debauchery and wild times out there on the road! From slamming beers and taking shots to shredding alongside Vintersea and Dawn of Ouroboros, the Darker Western Skies tour was a blast!”
Fans that missed VOICES OF RUIN’s Fall 2021 tour with Vintersea and Dawn of Ouroboros – as well as those that want to return for another round – will have more opportunities to witness the band live very soon. VOICES OF RUIN will be participating in Metal Assault’s 12-Year Anniversary Fest on Saturday, February 12th at Transplants Brewing Company in Palmdale, CA, as well as opening for Swedish melodic death metal legends Dark Tranquillity and Montreal death masters Kataklysm on Sunday, February 20th at 1720 Warehouse in Los Angeles, CA. The band will also be returning to the Wacken Metal Battle USA stage that they conquered with their victory in 2018, this time as headliners at the 2022 edition of Wacken Metal Battle USA: Orange County on Saturday, March 5th at Stages Bar in Santa Ana, CA, alongside fellow co-headliners and Southern California pagan metal greats, Helsott.
Since brothers Dave (vocals) and Tom Barrett (guitars) founded the group more than a decade ago, VOICES OF RUIN performed extensively in support of their two self-released albums, 2010’s “Into Oblivion” and 2015’s “Born From The Dark.” In 2019, the band returned to the studio to record “Path To Immortality” with former Soulfly/Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader (Gojira, SepticFlesh). The final product was unleashed to the metal masses in April 2020, and was praised by HeaviestofArt.com for being “a modern melodic death metal standard to strive for” and by DeadRhetoric.com for its “numerous standout moments” and “earworm propensities.” The music video for “Reach Toward The Sky” is the fourth video from “Path to Immortality” to be unveiled, following the lyric video for “I Am God,” which can be viewed at https://youtu.be/DOEPyH3WxA4; the concept video for “Carved Out,” which can be viewed at https://youtu.be/H2jsOgQPFaU; and the live performance video – filmed during the band’s triumphant appearance at Wacken Open Air 2018 – for “The Undoing,” which can be viewed at https://youtu.be/7wB_wiw9GX0.
VOICES OF RUIN describe their sound as an epically-crafted blend of classic heavy metal and modern death metal that also pays homage to the traditional Scandinavian melodic death metal sound. In addition to winning Wacken Metal Battle USA in 2018, the group has supported Vader in North America and Japan, toured Europe with Internal Bleeding and Sacrificial Slaughter, and performed extensively in Southern California alongside a number of notable acts, including Morbid Angel, Trivium, Devildriver, Amorphis, Cattle Decapitation, Dying Fetus and Origin. The band has also organized the annual Ruinfest festival, a celebration of California’s extreme metal scene that in the past has featured the likes of Fallujah, Exmortus, Pessimist, Skeletal Remains, Helsott and Letum Ascensus, and returned most recently in November 2021 with guest headliners Internal Bleeding.
More information on VOICES OF RUIN and their additional plans for 2022 will be revealed in the weeks to come by M-Theory Audio and www.facebook.com/voicesofruin.
VOICES OF RUIN Live Performances: 02/12 Transplants Brewing Company – Palmdale, CA (Metal Assault’s 12-Year Anniversary Fest) 02/20 1720 Warehouse – Los Angeles, CA (w/Dark Tranquillity, Kataklysm, Nailed Into Obscurity, and Thrown Into Exile) 03/05 Stages Bar – Santa Ana, CA (Wacken Metal Battle USA 2022: Orange County w/Helsott)
To continue where Dark Wanderer EP left of last year, PROGENY OF SUN will release two new singles in the beginning half of 2022. Things are heating up as the new material will sound even more brutal than ever before. First single Worthless is released today and a stunning music video, directed by Doni Bacox, can be seen below.
The band comments: “The other day while jamming together, Juha and Joni suddenly came up with a frame of a new song. Jaakko listened the demo and had to impose his own vision in order to take the credit of the whole song. During composing Jaakko managed to combine two separate ideas that weren’t originally meant to go together. These ideas merged as one, forming what came out to be perhaps the juiciest track so far. Eventually, after “slight” pressuring, Niko made the vocals and struck gold with them. Even Tuomo was given an opportunity to recompose one part of the bass lines.”
Single’s drums were recorded by Vesa Viitanen from Napalm to thy Face Prod. The track is mixed by Anton Sizikov (Empire Studios). Mastering is handled by Sebastian Has (Behemoth) from Sound Division Studio Poland.
Composed by Jaakko Hautamäki & Joni Kiviniemi Lyrics by Niko Aromaa
The undisputed kings of the dark, MOONSPELL, are currently gearing up for a UK tour with PARADISE LOST, kicking off this Friday in Glasgow!
Ever since their formation 30 years ago, the Portuguese took the international heavy music scene by storm, followed by a monumental journey through an impressive, enthralling yet various back catalogue of thirteen records earning their places as one of the most distinctive dark metal classics of all time. But playing live has always been the motor of the band. Especially after the world went into shutdown the more MOONSPELL showed the hunger of a wolve. Now, celebrating their 30th band anniversary and alongside many more release highlights, and previously announced live dates to hopefully happen in 2022, the band fronted by charismatic singer Fernando Ribeiro is on its way to the United Kingdom, appearing as very special guests on the upcoming tour with PARADISE LOST!
Says Ribeiro: “We couldn’t think of a more perfect way of getting back to touring than to join forces with the mighty Paradise Lost, a group we always looked up to and that helped ignite our very own existence as a band!”
Get yourself into the mood of the ultimate wolfpack experience, and don’t miss MOONSPELL and PARADISE LOST live on tour – Grab your ticket HERE!
Feb 11th 2022 – Glasgow, UK @ The Garage Feb 12th 2022 – Newcastle, UK @ Riverside Feb 13th 2022 – Wolverhampton, UK @ KK’s Steel Mill Feb 14th 2022 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms Feb 16th 2022 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy Feb 17th 2022 – Bristol, UK @ SWX Feb 18th 2022 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
On March 4th, Midnight will release their fifth full-length, Let There Be Witchery, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of the album, the new single, “Nocturnal Molestation”, can be heard below.
The previously released track, “Szex Witchery”, can also be streamed at: metalblade.com/midnight – where Let There Be Witchery can be pre-ordered in various formats.
Filthy, belligerent and obnoxious, Midnight make music to start fights to. Since 2003, one-man-band Athenar has been churning out an ungodly racket, dropping countless demos, splits and EPs – and in 2022 he returns, delivering a catchy mixture of black metal, speed metal, and dirty punk rock. “I always want it to be loud and nasty,” he asserts. “That kinda thing never gets old with me. How funny will that look to see me at age 77 – if I reach that point – sitting on the porch blasting Hellhammer?“
The title is a combination of the song titles “Let There Be Sodomy” and “Szex Witchery”, Athenar wanting to maintain the tradition of using six syllables. Lyrically, the record is “unfiltered savage animalisticness“, and the deeper the listener delves, the dirtier they get, which is just the way it should be. When it came to tracking the record, Athenar returned to Mercenary Studios in Cleveland, OH and producer Noah Buchanan, who makes it very easy for him to cut loose and make noise, choosing to once again record all the instruments himself despite having a live band that could step in and help out. “It’s still just me and my science project gone awry. I realize I’m musically handicapped, but there’s a charm to it.“
Mulling over the question as to why anyone should actually give a shit about Midnight, he once again comes up with a typically Athenar answer: “If I were to give actual good advice, I would say stay clear of anything to do with Midnight. But I’m not a rational thinker, so as usual, I will give terrible advice and say punish your earholes and play this album as loud as your stereo goes, go out to a gig and mingle with others that you don’t know, lick their faces and rub upon each other’s sweaty torsos to the hellish, neanderthalish noise of a band called Midnight! You gotta release your demons somehow! That’s why you should give a shit, or two.“
Let There Be Witchery track-listing 01. Telepathic Nightmare 02. Frothing Foulness 03. In Sinful Secrecy 04. Nocturnal Molestation 05. More Torment 06. Let There Be Sodomy 07. Devil Virgin 08. Snake Obsession 09. Villainy Wretched Villainy 10. Szex Witchery
Shortly after record release, Midnight will head out on the road with Mayhem and Watain for the “Sanguine Sodomy of North America” tour. See below for all dates!
“Sanguine Sodomy of North America” tour dates w/ Mayhem, Watain, Midnight March 7, 2022 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom March 8, 2022 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern March 9, 2022 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Nile Theater March 11, 2022 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot March 12, 2022 – Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall March 14, 2022 – Dallas, TX @ Amplified Live March 15, 2022 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk March 16, 2022 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall March 18, 2022 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade March 19, 2022 – Tampa, FL @ Orpheum March 20, 2022 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground March 22, 2022 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda March 23, 2022 – Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix March 25, 2022 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium March 26, 2022 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza March 27, 2022 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza March 29, 2022 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage March 30, 2022 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Roxian March 31, 2022 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic April 1, 2022 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic April 2, 2022 – Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre April 3, 2022 – Joliet, IL @ The Forge
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
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 