Danish death metallers SHADOWSPAWN have teamed up with Metal Shock Finland to premiere, for Finnish territory, their new official video “Dark Dawn Take Me”, a little horror story in the form of a stop-motion animation short movie. The video is taken from their “The Biology of Disbelief” album, released on April 16th, 2021, on Emanzipation Productions.
For the video, Danish deathsters teamed up with the American stop-motion animation company Workshed Animation to bring to life one of the darkest songs in the record: “Dark Dawn Take Me”. With a concert based on the song lyrics, the video is a work of sombre art itself, providing images to already disturbing words and making a perfect fit for “Dark Dawn Take Me”
Watch “Dark Dawn Take Me” here:
With powerful riffs in an old school death metal and groovy cocktail, Danish death metallers SHADOWSPAWN returned in 2021 with their third release, “The Biology of Disbelief”.
Since the release of the former album “Hope Lies Dormant”, Shadowspawn has worked tirelessly to bring more depth, more dynamics, more groove and even more aggression into their sound. “The Biology of Disbelief” consists of ten groovy death metal tracks, set in a abstract lyrical world of steampunk and religious criticism. A story told in abstract yet precise and critical terms, concerning religion, misinformation and disbelief.
The drums are recorded and produced by Tue Madsen at renowned Antfarm Studios. Otherwise mixed and produced by the band itself. Recorded during the fall of 2020 at both Antfarm and our own studio. Tue Madsen ponders about the sound of the youngsters: “Good quality old school death metal, which is always good for the soul”.
The band returns the compliment: “Working with Tue Madsen has been a great experience, and helped us a lot in our goal to achieve the dynamic yet tight sound of this record. Growing up with bands like Illdisposed, Carcass, Benediction and Asphyx, sets the tone and of course some musical inspiration as to where we are going and what influences us”, bassist Kelvin Dam states.
On September 24th, RIVERS OF NIHIL will release their fourth full-length, The Work, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of the album, a video for the new single “Focus” (directed by David Brodsky // mgenyc.com) can be viewed here:
Brody Uttley (lead guitar, keyboards) comments: “For the ‘Focus’ video, we once again recruited Mr. David Brodsky, Allie Woest and the team at MyGoodEye. This video tells the story of an individual in a fractured state of mind confronting the darkest parts of his inner self and battling with a physical manifestation of his deepest fears and concerns; the worst parts of himself. This manifestation represents the presence in all of our heads that tries to pull us down into the throes of self-destructive behavior and patterns of thinking. The creature that he is interacting with becomes more apparent as the video progresses (with the main character slipping deeper into psychosis) until the end when he loses his battle and is plunged down into the blackness once and for all; existing permanently in the prison that his delusions have constructed for him…Perhaps finally at peace, or just as likely: never again at peace. See you guys on tour next month with The Black Dahlia Murder.”
The previously released track, “Clean”, can be heard at: metalblade.com/riversofnihil – where The Work can also be pre-ordered in various formats.
Album artwork by: Dan Seagrave
Next week, Rivers of Nihil will head out on the road with The Black Dahlia Murder, After The Burial, Carnifex, and Undeath for an extensive North American tour. Dates are already selling out (noted below), so be sure to get your ticket now at: nightshiftmerch.com
“Up From The Sewer Tour 2021” w/ The Black Dahlia Murder, After The Burial, Carnifex, Rivers of Nihil, Undeath Sept. 3 – Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall Sept. 4 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Sept. 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave Sept. 7 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection Sept. 8 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s Sept. 9 – Sauget, IL @ Pop’s Sept. 10 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater Sept. 11 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall *SOLD OUT! Sept. 12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex Sept. 14 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon *SOLD OUT! Sept. 15 – Portland, OR @ Bossanova Ballroom *SOLD OUT! Sept. 17 – Berkley, CA @ UC Theater Sept. 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco *SOLD OUT! Sept. 19 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues Sept. 21 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues Sept. 22 – Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater Sept. 24 – Dallas, TX @ GMBG Sept. 25 – Austin, TX @ Come And Take It Live *SOLD OUT! Sept. 26 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live Sept. 28 – Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage Sept. 29 – Greensboro, NC @ Arizona Pete’s Sept. 30 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage Oct. 1 – Columbus, OH @ King of Clubs Oct. 2 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theater Oct. 3 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Oct. 5 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall Oct. 6 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Hall Oct. 7 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda Oct. 8 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium Oct. 9 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom Oct. 10 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Reading, Pennsylvania’s Rivers Of Nihil have never fit neatly into a box, but with 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name, they transcended all labels applied to them. Returning in 2021 with The Work, they have forged further into new territory, delivering an album that is as cerebral as it is visceral, and that covers a staggering sonic range, definitively placing them in a category of their own. Inarguably a very dense, heavy collection, The Work is far too dynamic to be considered a solely metal record, and there is a genuine warmth that shows through, particularly on “Wait” and the gorgeous “Maybe One Day,” and the band have included far more clean vocals alongside the screaming that tears through many of the heavier tracks. Courtesy of their friend Zach Strouse, saxophone once again adds extra layers of atmosphere to the collection, utilizing baritone, soprano and alto saxes to great affect.
With guitars and synths/keys tracked at Uttley’s home studio, the band then we went back for the third album in a row to Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Atrium Audio to do drums, vocals, bass, sax, and mixing. “We’ve done so many sessions with those guys that they’re basically an extension of our band at this point. They usually know what we like, and we always encourage them to roast us to make stuff better,” says guitarist Brody Uttley. Alongside the band, James Dorton from Black Crown Initiate provided some vocals on “Episode,” Grant McFarland played cello on “The Void From Which No Sound Escapes”, and Uttley’s friend Stephan Lopez helped out with all of the field recordings, an integral part of the sonic textures of the record.
The Work track-listing 1. The Tower (Theme from “The Work”) 2. Dreaming Black Clockwork 3. Wait 4. Focus 5. Clean 6. The Void from Which No Sound Escapes 7. MORE? 8. Tower 2 9. Episode 10. Maybe One Day 11. Terrestria IV: Work
Juno Award-nominated symphonic death metal band EX DEO will unleash their epic new full-length album, The Thirteen Years Of Nero, this Friday, August 27, 2021 via Napalm Records! On The Thirteen Years Of Nero, the collective transports the listener back to Ancient Rome with 10 cinematic masterpieces that tell the conceptual story of the reign of Emperor Nero.
Today, following the release of their merciless new singles “Imperator”and “Boudicca (Queen Of The Iceni)” – featuring the powerful pipes of Unleash The Archers frontwoman Brittney Slayes – the band offers a third new single, the sinister “The Head Of The Snake”. The track showcases an ominous, unrelenting battery of symphonic swirls amid orchestrally accented riffage and choral passages.
Frontman Maurizio Iacono says: “The centerpiece of all things NERO was his mother, Agrippina. She manipulated the strings of the senate and conspiracies to make sure her beloved son NERO would rule the world, she was the head of the snake with her deadly fangs of deceit. The song travels through her calculated sadistic mind.”
Watch the new lyric video for “The Head Of The Snake”HERE:
EX DEO returns with more massive, brutal soundscapes than ever on The Thirteen Years Of Nero! The Canadian unit is led by founding frontman Maurizio Iacono (Kataklysm) and producer/guitarist Jean-François Dagenais (Kataklysm, Misery Index, Despised Icon), with the stylings of Stephane Barbe (Kataklysm) on lead guitar, Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc.) on drums, Dano Apekian (Ashes of Eden) on bass and Clemens Wijers (Carach Angren, Lindemann) manning the intense orchestral score.
The Thirteen Years Of Nero pierces through the silence with its first auditory spear, “The Fall Of Claudius”, immediately drawing the listener in with a savagely heavy, grooving riff, ground-shaking swells and warning strings and horns. Discordant harmonies collide as a mosh-worthy battle riff chugs and pinches through the center of the song, showcasing the ruthlessness to come. “The Head Of The Snake” and unforgivingly immense “Britannia: The 9th At Camulodonum” balance sinister, spectral-like channels with up-tempo elements, racing like a chariot of symphonic death metal influences that careen the listener back to a sonic dimension of time forgotten. Standout opus “Boudicca (Queen Of The Iceni)” features the deft vocal stylings of Unleash The Archers frontwoman Brittney Slayes, the album’s weightiest thunderous percussion work and a glistening guitar solo, while the embers of pulsing “The Fiddle & The Fire” spark as the track traverses methodically yet steadfastly, like an iron striking a blade. “Son Of The Deified” and “What Artist Dies In Me…” bestow some of the album’s most strikingly dynamic guitar work, as well as ominous instrumentals, orchestral and choral pathways, before closing with the superb epic “The Revolt of Galba”. The track ebbs and flows between grooving, eerie piano-laden riffs and crystal-clear flourishes bestrewn with soaring strings.
With The Thirteen Years Of Nero, EX DEO have released their finest work yet while telling a timeless story of political intrigue, suspicion, evil and tyranny!
Maurizio Iacono says about The Thirteen Years Of Nero: “When it comes to Ancient Rome, the content is long, rich and extensive, the personalities reflect every society imaginable from just, fair and generous to greed, evil and merciless. The world we live in today was shaped by Rome – it doesn’t take much see it all around you in the simplest things. For this record, it was the proper time to fallow the timeline of one Rome’s most controversial figures, Nero. On this album, we follow him through his thirteen-year journey as emperor of Rome and unveil the true face of one of the world’s most worshiped villains.”
The Thirteen Years Of Nero tracklisting: 1. The Fall of Claudius 2. Imperator 3. The Head of the Snake 4. Boudicca (Queen of the Iceni) Feat. Brittney Slayes 5. Britannia: The 9th at Camulodonum 6. Trial of the Gods (Intermezzo) 7. The Fiddle & the Fire 8. Son of the Deified 9. What Artist Dies in Me… 10. The Revolt of Galba
Metal vets TRAUMA have announced that the band has welcomed a new singer, Brian Allen, into their line-up, and are currently at work on a new album. “We welcome Brian Allen to the Trauma camp,” says the band in a statement. “We are very happy to have Brian as our new vocalist and look forward to recording and playing on stages around the globe soon. He came highly recommended by our producer Juan Urteaga after the unfortunate passing of Trauma’s original vocalist Donny Hillier. We cannot wait to hit the stage.”
“Trauma’s new album was being written during the pandemic of 2020. We decided to include songs that had faster heavier riffs, blast beats, perhaps just a more modern approach. September 2020, vocalist Donny Hillier passed away. We were shocked by this tragedy, Don, wanted the band to go on. We almost didn’t. However through management and friends, we decided to move forward and even come up with heavier sounding material. Also the addition of vocalist Brian Allen has added a different dimension within the band that we are very excited about. We have many things in the works and are looking forward once again to the future, keeping the torch lit!!! We are hopeful the fans will like what will be available to them soon. Along with some live dates.” The new Trauma line-up consists of Brian Allen – lead vocals, Kris Gustofson – drums, Greg Christian – bass guitar, Joe Fraulob – guitars and Steve Robello – guitars.
Kris also had the following to add about the addition of Brian. “We are delighted to have Brian Allen as our new vocalist. Our beloved brother, Donny Hillier, was not easy to replace, if not impossible. Brian is a veteran musician who has been on the scene for many years and was a member of Vicious Rumors, Dark Star Choir and others, and will be a new driving force within the band. Besides being a killer vocalist, He is a great guy and the perfect fit. We are looking forward to giving people a listen to what the new Trauma will sound like soon, along with live dates.”
And Brian himself had the following to add. “I am very honored and excited for this new journey as the vocalist for the legendary Bay Area metal band Trauma! I am surrounded by a great group of guys and seasoned veterans. We can’t wait to share the exciting things we have in the works with you all! Special thanks to the Trauma camp and organization for this new endeavor.”
Originally formed in 1981 in San Francisco, Trauma was part of the same scene that gave the world such thrash notables as Exodus, Metallica, and Testament. And the band’s original bassist was none other than the late/legendary Cliff Burton (who would later join Metallica). 1984 saw the release of the group’s debut album, ‘Scratch and Scream,’ before the band parted in 1985. But in 2013, Trauma reunited, and have been back in business ever since.
And according to the band, fans will not be disappointed with what they will hear from their new music. “Trauma’s new album along with new vocalist Brian Allen is going to melt your face off!!”
Texan black metal battalion NECROFIER will be unleashing their debut full-length record, ‘Prophecies of Eternal Darkness,’ onto the masses on October 22 via Season of Mist Underground Activists! The band is now unveiling the ominous new single, “Madness Descends,” along with an official music video. The video, which was created by Dwayne Cathey, can be found via Black Metal Promotion at THIS LOCATION.
‘Prophecies of Eternal Darkness’ is available for pre-orders HERE.
The cover artwork for ‘Prophecies of Eternal Darkness’ was created by Burney.
Tracklist: 1. The Black Flame Burns [WATCH] 2. Darker than the night 3. Madness Descends [WATCH] 4. Return to Chaos 5. Death Comes to Us All 6. Unholy Hunger 7. Betrayal of the Queen 8. Plaque Requiem Total Running Time: 34:32
Scottish punks BABY STRANGE visited Evil Art Sessions and recorded two raw songs; More! More! More! and a cover of Nicky William’s song Pathetic Fuck. Released August 24th on Icons Creating Evil Art
Watch the two live videos on Youtube ▶ Listen on all major streaming services here
Fronted by the magnetic & alluring Johnny Madden and rounded out by brothers Connaire & Aidan McCann, BABY STRANGE have re-established themselves as one of the most innovative and uncompromising outfits in the UK. Since the release of their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album ‘Want It Need It’, Baby Strange have toured tirelessly, building an enthusiastic and dedicated live audience, selling out venues across the UK & sharing stages with the likes of Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, Slaves, Jamie T & Wavves.
Far from being just satisfied with focusing on their own journey, Baby Strange took a step further to solidifying themselves within the heart of the music community by launching their own club night ‘Club Sabbath’ back in 2015 at The Priory in Glasgow & The Old Blue Last in London. Since its inception, Club Sabbath has played an active role in building a thriving music community, providing a platform for the likes of Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C, DMA’s, The Chats, Gang Of Four, The Magic Gang, Nick Allbrook (POND) and Marsicans. Bands such as The Dunts, The Spyres, Dead Pony, Rascalton & Pleasure Heads all cite Baby Strange & Club Sabbath as a direct influence on their musical journeys.
The previous singles from the new EP ‘Land of Nothing‘ has been tremendously well received over at Spotify, with New Music Friday UK, All New Rock, New Punk Tracks, Punk Unleashed, The Rock List and two cover placements; The Punk List and Scotify, and a getting listed on the hugely popular ‘Walk Like a Badass’ playlist with almost 2 million followers. They also had nice support from other DSPs like Apple Music, Deezer and Amazon. Something the band has been gladly sharing on their social media. On radio the singles have started to build nicely with the UK seeing support from the likes of BBC Radio, Beats1, Total Rock, Radio X and Amazing Radio.
Evil Art Sessions is a series of in-house live sessions recorded at the Icons Creating Evil Art headquarters. Always including a cover version from the ICEA catalogue. The Baby Strange Evil Art Sessions 010 follows the brand new EP ‘Land of Nothing’ released on Icons Creating Evil Art, and the band has a full length album planned for Q1 2022 which follows the ‘Land of Nothing Tour’ (dates below).
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Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 