ALUSTRIUM Announce Album; Unique Leader Signing; Stream Track

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 21, 2021
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Progressive death metal quintet ALUSTRIUM have announced signing to esteemed death metal label Unique Leader and the release of their new album A Monument To Silence, out 18th June. The band have also unveiled their first single from the record, ‘This Hollow Ache’.

Watch the lyric video to ‘This Hollow Ache’ here:

Emerging from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Alustrium are introducing the world to their unique form of progressive death metal. With intense, technical riffs and soulful ear-bending solos, Alustrium create a unique blend between melody and fierce brutality that sets them apart from the norm. Following up their 2020 EP Insurmountable, their forthcoming concept record A Monument to Silence further pushes the boundaries of contemporary heavy music.

The band comment: “We’re extremely excited to partner with Unique Leader Records for the release of A Monument to Silence. After flirting with deeper, more conceptual song ideas on our previous full-length, we became really inspired to attempt a full concept record. A Monument to Silence is the culmination of several years exploring that idea. In setting out to make this record, we challenged ourselves to distil the elements which make Alustrium unique, while carefully constructing recurring lyrical and musical themes, to be woven throughout. We’re so proud to finally share the fruits of our labor with the world and can’t wait to hear where the record’s story takes its listeners.”

Pre-order / pre-save the album here: https://orcd.co/amonumenttosilence
Pre-order bundles available here: https://www.indiemerchstore.com

Track-listing:

01 This Hollow Ache
02 Join the Dead
03 Hunted
04The Accuser
05 The Plea
06 Dreamless Sleep
07 Blood for Blood
08 Deliverance for the Damned
09 Worthless Offers
10 A Monument to Silence

DRAKKAR Release First Official Video For Title Track Of New Album “Chaos Lord”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 20, 2021
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Italian Legendary Power Metallers DRAKKAR have released the first official video for the title track of the band’s new full length album “Chaos Lord“, set to be released this Spring by Punishment 18 Records.

Watch the video here:

Just recently DRAKKAR released three “The Coming of the Chaos Lord” episodes, covering their new album “Chaos Lord”, in case you missed them, watch below.

Pt 1 – https://youtu.be/HG1G-AIbK6M
Pt 2 – https://youtu.be/BK2Z0uqVa-c
Pt 3 – https://youtu.be/TXwrVa4W1hE

Stream “Lord of a Dying Race”, the first taste of the upcoming album, here: https://youtu.be/ddJ0K-VhLcE

The band spent most of 2019 writing and recording the album, which was supposed to be released in 2020, when… a world pandemic happened! Now it is finally ready for release, and it will be out before end of March! Recordings were held at Elnor Studio under sound engineer and producer supervisor, Mattia Stancioiu (Crimson Dawn, Labÿrinth, Sunstorm, Madhour). That’s metal for you all… Stay power!

Born in 1995, Drakkar is one of the prime movers of the Italian Power Metal scene, together with bands like Rhapsody Of Fire, Labÿrinth and Domine.

More information at http://www.facebook.com/drakkarmetal

HAMMERFALL Announce ‘United Forces Tour 2022’ With Heavy Metal Legends HELLOWEEN

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 20, 2021
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Swedish saviors of Heavy Metal, HAMMERFALL, will join German Heavy Metal legends HELLOWEEN on their postponed European tour in 2022. Swedish and German Steel unites to the United Forces Tour 2022!

We all have to stick together to stand and endure this agonizing live music gap and because extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures, Helloween invited their friends from HAMMERFALL to join them on their European tour in order to create a tremendous metal-package together. Both bands will have brand-new albums in their luggage and the European fans will be able to listen to the new songs live for the very first time on the United Forces Tour 2022. The long–awaited end of the dry spell is in sight – coming with a double dose in March, April and May 2022 as we have to catch up two years of metalparty to get cured from a lot of withdrawal symptoms!

HAMMERFALL singer Joacim Cans:
“Helloween is probably the band that influenced me the most growing up and I am extremely psyched about touring together with the guys. For the true metal fan, United Forces 2022 will be the ultimate metal experience. An experience that no one should miss for anything in the world. If there is one tour to experience in 2022, this is the one! Next year the Hammer will fall harder than ever before and every day will be Helloween!”
 
Helloween’s Andi Deris:
“We are `hammered´ to have our friends from HAMMERFALL with us on tour! Back in 2002 the band produced their album “Crimson Thunder” in my studio in Tenerife and we had a lot of fun back then. This mega package is delivering the appropriate metal-spectacle to enter the stage with full power!”

HAMMERFALL’s Oscar Dronjak can hardly wait:
“We are so ridiculously excited about this! Not only do we get to go out on tour again after two looooooooong years of stage draught, but we get to do it with a band that we love and was a great inspiration to us in forming HAMMERFALL in the first place. The United Forces Tour will be something truly special, you can count on that!“
 
For the dry run up front, Helloween is releasing their fantastic new album and with the unification of their three vocalists Kiske, Deris & Hansen the album reminiscences to all eras of the band’s history. This already is a sensation in itself, but also HAMMERFALL is ready to release a brand-new record before the tour starts. A great forerunner to get warmed up for the double load of live power with the ultimate United Forces Tour 2022. And whoever misses the just announced dates was probably never infected by the metal virus … 

UNITED FORCES TOUR 2022
25.03.22 NO – Oslo / Sentrum Scene
26.03.22 SE – Gothenburg / Partille Arena          
28.03.22 FI – Helsinki / Black Box
29.03.22 EE – Talinn / Noblessneri Valukoda                                       
01.04.22 DE – Bamberg / Brose Arena
02.04.22 DE – Hamburg / Sporthalle
03.04.22 DE – Berlin / Verti Music Hall
04.04.22 DE – Regensburg / Donau Arena  
08.04.22 ES – Madrid / Wizink Center
09.04.22 ES – Barcelona / St. Jordi Club
11.04.22 IT – Milan / Lorenzini District
12.04.22 DE – Kempten / Black Box
13.04.22 CH – Zurich / Samsung Hall
15.04.22 LU – Luxemburg / Rockhal
16.04.22 NL – Tilburg / 013
18.04.22 PL – Katovice / MCK
20.04.22 BG – Sofia / Arena Armeec
22.04.22 AT – Vienna / Gasometer
23.04.22 CZ – Prague  / O2
24.04.22 SK – Zvolen / Ice Stadium
26.04.22 HU – Budapest / Papp Laszlo Sportarena
29.04.22 DE – Bochum / Ruhrcongress
30.04.22 DE – Stuttgart / Schleyerhalle
01.05.22 DE – Frankfurt / Jahrhunderthalle
04.05.22 UK – Manchester / Manchester Academy
05.05.22 UK – London / Brixton Academy

Do you remember huge arenas, impressive live productions and overwhelming pyrotechnics? Get yourself back to 2019/2020 when HAMMERFALL, the Swedish saviors of Heavy Metal, took over the world in with their World Dominion tour, captured on the terrific live album Live! Against The World.

Watch the live video for “Keep The Flame Burning” HERE:

Get your copy of Live! Against The World NOW!

LEVARA Release New Single & Video ‘Ever Enough’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 20, 2021
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LEVARA and Mascot Records present “Ever Enough” from the band’s upcoming self titled debut studio album, coming out May 14th.

Drummer Josh Devine reveals, “’Ever Enough’ was the first song we tracked and finished in the studio. It really set the bar and the tone for the whole album of what we wanted to achieve.” 
Singer Jules Galli shares, ”Loving someone isn’t always romance and beauty. It can be messy, and painfully imperfect. ‘Ever Enough’ is about a plead to understand what’s missing, what needs fixing for things to feel good again. Is it ever enough for you? My favorite part of this song is the call and response chorus and I can’t wait to perform it live, with the audience singing back to us “is it ever enough?!”. Hopefully sooner than later.”  Guitarist Trev Lukather reflects, “The song was written during some tension within the band. Tension is inevitable in any band and especially when you feel the pressures of writing your debut album. I believe tension is a good thing at times of creativity. This song poured out of us and it was like a rebirth. One of my faves on the album and no doubt my favorite guitar solo.”

View “Ever Enough” Video Here:

Pre-Order Here: https://smarturl.it/LEVARA

Late last year, “Heaven Knows” was the first reveal of the band’s upcoming debut album. The accompanying video can be screened here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca0yQq05QOE.  Second, “Chameleon” followed:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5FDlJLt85c in front of the lead single, “Automatic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgDt4rUZ0BM. Automatic has found strong support at radio in the U.K., France, Germany, and other territories across the globe, and continues to build in to the album release.  Combined views of the music videos above are approaching 200,000 views.  All four of these clips were produced and directed by Jake Hays and Olivia DeLaurentis. 

Trev Lukather, Jules Galli and Josh Devine forged their musical union in Los Angeles, one of The World’s epicenters of musical creativity. Singer Galli had relocated to California from France, while drummer Devine chose L.A. as home versus his native United Kingdom following success behind the kit with One Direction. There they found common vision with guitarist Trev Lukather.  On some level these three players believe the universe brought them together.

Prior to recording their debut, the band toured the United States several times alongside staging a run that brought them across Europe.  In Early 2020, they began their collaboration with Producer Ethan Kaufmann at Elephant In The Room Studios in East Hollywood. The album unequivocally captured the magic they sought to see take life.

The band’s e-commerce store has opened, with initial t-shirt designs now available here: https://www.levaramusic.com/shop.

Track List

  1. Heaven Knows
  2. Automatic
  3. Ever Enough
  4. On For The Night
  5. Allow
  6. Can’t Get Over
  7. Chameleon
  8. Ordinary
  9. Just A Man
  10. No One Above Me

Iranian AKVAN To Release Latest EP “Two Centuries of Silence / دو قرن سکوت ” Worldwide On Vinyl

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 20, 2021
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AKVAN, the one man Black Metal act from Iran, has announced the worldwide release of his latest, 2020- EP, titled “Two Centuries of Silence / دو قرن سکوت “.

Since metal and Western music are technically banned, one of the least likely places for black metal to appear would probably be the Middle East. Akvan, who mixes raw black metal guitars and blasting drums with traditional Persian instruments like the tar and setar, has released nine EPs since 2015, deeply considered meditations on his own culture and how it is misinterpreted – not only by outsiders, but by his own country’s leadership.

Set for release on March 19th via Subsound Records, “Two Centuries of Silence / دو قرن سکوت ” will be available worldwide and for the first time in strictly limited red vinyl (100 copies) and black vinyl editions (200 copies).

Says Akvan:

“Thank you to Davide at Subsound Records for his professionalism, reliability, and for believing in my project. My new EP, ‘Two Centuries of Silence’, will be released on limited edition red and black 12″ vinyl on March 19, 2021. I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has ever supported Akvan. It really means a lot, considering I never expected this to be anything more than an experiment I’d share with a few close musician friends. I stand truly humbled. Thank you all!“

The EP title is taken from Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub’s eponymous book, which provides a historical account of the Iranian people’s bold resistance against the Islamic Conquest of Persia. Akvan brings Zoroastrian poetry and Iranian mythology and history to black metal.

The multi-instrumentalist, whose parents both immigrated from Iran before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, was born and raised in the States before he moved to the Middle East. He had his musical vision of a project like Akvan since he first started getting into metal. While he has always been a fan of traditional Iranian music and had plenty of exposure due to his background, he realized that perhaps one of the reasons he loves metal is because it shares similar characteristics with Sonati (traditional Iranian) music, especially black metal. An overall dark and melancholy sound, drones, treble picking, emphasis on atmosphere, and unconventional song structures. By including riffs and melodies containing the Koron/Sori (a note in Iranian music that is defined as a half flat or a half sharp), it would help Akvan to create a more sinister sound.

If you’re looking for some black metal over the edge of your plate, make sure to check out Akvan’s sound at THIS LOCATION

“Two Centuries of Silence / دو قرن سکوت ” will be coming out March 19th on Subsound Records and is available for pre-order here:
https://subsoundrecords.bandcamp.com/album/two-centuries-of-silence
https://subsoundrecords.bigcartel.com/artist/akvan

ALMANAC Release Previously Unreleased Version Of “Kingdom Of The Blind”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 20, 2021
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Victor Smolski’s ALMANAC present a previously unreleased version of ‘Kingdom Of The Blind’, which originally was part of 2017’s “Kingslayer” album featuring vocalist Frank Beck (GAMMA RAY) as well as new arrangements.

Victor Smolski comments: “On our European Tour 2020, Frank Beck became the main singer of ALMANAC. ‘Kingdom Of The Blind’ was his favourite song from ALMANAC. So, we decided to do a new version of this song with great support from Belarus Symphony Orchestra, which brings the song to a new level.”

A lyric video for the track can be viewed here:

The track is available as digital single on all platforms now: https://almanac.bfan.link/kingdom-of-the-blind

Furthermore, a demo version of the song is part of PowerMetal.de’s “Metal Alliance vol. 4” compilation that’s available on CD at https://shop-powermetal.de/

Get »Rush Of Death« in various formats, here: https://nblast.de/AlmanacRushOfDeath