On May 7th, KARDASHEV will release a digital and vinyl re-issue of their critically acclaimed 2020 EP, The Baring of Shadows – featuring instrumental versions of all tracks! In anticipation of this re-issue, a new video for the EP’s single, “Snow-Sleep”, can be viewed now at: metalblade.com/kardashev – where The Baring of Shadows can be pre-ordered on vinyl in various versions.
The Baring of Shadows track-listing 1. A Frame. A Light 2. Snow-Sleep 3. Torchpassing 4. Heartache 5. A Frame. A Light (Instrumental) 6. Snow-Sleep (Instrumental) 7. Torchpassing (Instrumental) 8. Heartache (Instrumental)
Album artwork by Karl Elnas
A self-described “deathgaze” group, Kardashev is for fans of The Contortionist, Rivers of Nihil, Devin Townsend, Alcest – among others. Their mission statement could be described as: “Attempting to create the most beautiful, heavy music through themes of love, loss and altruism in the metal spectrum.” Much of the band’s lyrical content – found on their numerous EPs, singles, plus debut album (2015’s Peripety) – is written about science, space and the human condition.
Kardashev is currently hard at work writing their sophomore album – and Metal Blade Records debut – set to be released in 2022. Stay tuned for more Kardashev news coming soon!
In 2021, the Greek/Swedish melodic death metal stars NIGHTRAGE return with the final part in their trilogy of albums (‘The Venomous‘, ‘Wolf to Man‘) and now complete with their upcoming album ‘Abyss Rising‘. An album that is the band’s vision of mankind living in its own hell – a hell it has created through the destruction of the planet. Inspired in part by Dante’s ‘inferno’, the album explores man’s continual destruction of the world we live in until the abyss opens up to consume all before it. The abyss has risen from the depths, and hell has now turned outside in to be able to rise to earth to claim us. The album captures Nightrage in a spectacular form; incisive, brutal, uncompromising, and unforgettable. Musically the band have embraced a harder, faster, and brutal approach, still rich in melodic intent but characteristically heavy and aggressive. Mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordstrom at Studio Fredman (Architects, In Flames, Opeth, etc.) ‘Abyss Rising‘ is a formidable sonic masterpiece. The album will be released in fall 2021.
First out is the single and title track of the album; ‘Abyss Rising‘ is all about how we as humans already are living in our own hell and expresses Nightrage’s visionwhere mankind has finally reached their own hell on Earth.The abyss has risen from the depths, and hell has now turned outside in to be able to rise to earth to claim us.The single will be released March 26th via Despotz Records.
Marios about the new single; “Abyss Rising is one of the last songs that we have written for the new album me and Magnus, and we wanted to create a fast song with really strong melodies and catchy riffs. I feel we have really great chemistry when we sit down and write new songs together, plus with the addition of Ronnie he did some really great vocals that lifted the song a lot, especially on the chorus he added a lot of layers of clean vox harmonies that gives the song another dimension! We are blown away from the amazing art that Jon Tousas did from Graphic No Jutsu, you see 7 arrows that symbolizes the 7 deadly sins that is killing the 3 birds of innocence, so that shows us clearly the downfall of the humankind and the rising of the unfortunate Abyss. Beware Of The Abyss!” // Marios Iliopoulos
Almost five years after the release of their long-player Sovran, DRACONIAN unveiled their highly acclaimed epos and seventh full-length, Under A Godless Veil, in October 2020 via Napalm Records. Entering the charts in several countries, this 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. Now, this intoxicating piece of art will be released as an atmosphericly conceptualized picture vinyl, out April 23rd 2021.
DRACONIAN on Under A Godless Veil: “To DRACONIAN, Under a Godless Veil is by far the most diverse album we have created. Inspired by some of the music closest to Johan’s heart; everything from traditional Doom to scaled-down, Gothic rock-inspired pieces and more. Some will perhaps describe the songs as more refined and meditative. Some ambient elements have been added to the mix without overshadowing the traditional characteristics that are DRACONIAN.
Resonating with the compositions, Anders’s lyrical direction is ambiguous and a progression of the first two-three albums, yet more subtle while embracing the Gnostic philosophy more directly. One could say Under a Godless Veil is an act of contemplation; About living and dying and remembering who we are in a strange, abrasive world far from home.”
Pre-Order Under A Godless Veil on picture vinyl HERE
[cover artwork by Natalia Drepina]
The one-hour long album, graced with a haunting cover artwork by Natalia Drepina, carries the legacy of gothic doom metal à la My Dying Bride or Trees Of Eternity into the new decade and will drag the listener into a sorrowful cosmos with the very first notes of spellbinding opener “Sorrow Of Sophia“, interweaving beauty with crippling depression.
After crushing slow rhythms and the fragile “Sleepwalkers” that leads through barren soundscapes, the band – founded in Säffle / Sweden in 1994 – rises up to their best in the nine-minute long “Ascend Into Darkness“, which will echo in the listener’s ears long after the final chord has died away.
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
June 18th 2021 will see UK metallers NEONFLY release their hotly anticipated album, titled “The Future, Tonight”, via Germany’s up and coming metal institution, Noble Demon.
Neonfly, formed in 2008 as the brainchild of guitarist and composer Frederick Thunder, took the heavy music scene by storm, releasing two highly acclaimed full-length records and an unforgettable debut EP to date. The four-piece have played countless tours with acts such as Sonata Arctica, Dragonforce, Epica and Alice Cooper to name just a few, and appeared at a raft of prestigious festivals notably Download, Bloodstock and Masters Of Rock. On their upcoming third album, Neonfly shows no signs of slowing down: “The Future, Tonight” not only features 10 modern rock anthems, heavy yet catchy allied with hard-hitting riffs, big metal grooves and decidedly socially conscious lyrics, but also signposts a new musical direction and a new creative era for the band, as guitarist Frederick Thunder states:
“We’ve evolved a lot since our last album, and it was extremely important for us to move forward both musically and artistically, and to create something unique and contemporary that would define Neonfly’s sound and stand out from everything else out there.”
To follow up these words with actions, today Neonfly unleash a brand new video clip for the album title track! With a guest appearance by none other than legendary Björn Strid of the mighty SOILWORK, who has nothing but praise for the band: “I really enjoyed recording vocals for this song. Great players with tons of hooks and melancholic melodies. The song has some pretty unexpected turns as well and is just as epic as it rocks“.
“The Future, Tonight” is a deeply powerful piece of music with a compelling message, dealing with the serious issues of mental health, depression, and addiction – Issues the band care deeply about.
Watch the video for “The Future, Tonight (feat. Björn Strid)” here:
“In the video we wanted to show this metaphorically by having the 4 band members blindfolded and tied to chairs in front of an interrogator who is abusing them psychologically and threatening them with physical violence” the band explains and continues: The interrogator represents mental health and depression issues, while the band members struggling and trying to stand up to him, represent the inner struggle that people have against those demons. In the video, we wanted to include this as part of a wider narrative, shot cinematically like a short movie. Towards the end of the video, there is a plot twist, as we see the interrogator blindfolded sitting on a chair on his own, and replaying the previous sequence entirely on his own, implying that he’d been the one sitting alone all this time struggling with his inner demons.“
Furthermore Frederick Thunder adds: “‘The Future, Tonight’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album. I think it really showcases where we are at today. The song is a perfect example of that, and we are truly honoured to have Björn “Speed” Strid -an artist that I deeply respect and admire- as a guest singer on the track. It’s also a testament to our commitment to keep moving forward and finding new and exciting forms of artistic expression.”
“The Future, Tonight” was produced by Grammy award nominated producer Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me The Horizon, Motörhead), with keyboards and orchestra arranged by Miro Rodenberg (Avantasia, Kamelot). The stunning album artwork has been painted by Korean artist Gyeong Hwan Noh “Noma”.
Tracklist:
This World Is Burning
Last Of Our Kind
Flesh And Blood
The Future, Tonight (feat. Björn Strid)
Beating Hearts
More Than A Lifetime
Another Eden (feat. Kaan Tasan)
Steal The World (feat. Kaan Tasan)
Final Warning
The Things We Left Behind (And The Things That Slipped Away)
“The Future, Tonight” will be out on June 18th via Noble Demon and is now available for pre-order HERE Pre-save the new single to the library of your preferred streaming service or add it to your favorite playlist HERE
Canadian melodic death metal heavyweights KATAKLYSM unleashed their 14th full-length studio album, UNCONQUERED, on September 25, 2020, via Nuclear Blast Records. Today. marks the 6 month anniversary of the release which garnered the band a Juno nomination. With the world still in a state of chaos 6 months later, the message they would like to convey to fans is to Become “Defiant” via the music video directed by Scott Hansen / Digital Thunderdome.
Maurizio Iacono comments, “March 25th, marks six months since the release of what we call our quarantine album, UNCONQUERED. There were many songs to pick from but after consulting with our label we both came to the conclusion and agreed that ‘Defiant’ was the song to pick for this video. The reason is that it’s what we need to be at the moment as we face a chaotic and unstable world. It’s an intense song that screams out strength in the face of the unknown. ‘Defiant’ was filmed by acclaimed director Scott Hansen in the Atlanta area and the storyline deals with a soldier dealing with PTSD after experiencing the horror of war. Unfortunately, due to Canada’s strict COVID-19 travel rules, bassist Stephane Barbe couldn’t make it to the video shoot so we decided to still shoot some parts with myself and J-F so we could still have some sort of band presence in it. The song is dedicated to the ones who sacrificed everything in order for us to have the freedoms today that so many take for granted “
UNCONQUERED was recorded andengineered bythe band’s long-time producer and guitarist JF Dagenais at JFD Studio in Dallas, TX. KATAKLYSM enlisted legendary Colin Richardson, post-retirement, to aid in the mixing of UNCONQUERED’s weightier and modernized sound with additional help from Chris Clancy’s technicality and precision.UNCONQUERED stands among the best produced albums in the band’s career. The infamous heart beast, which also appeared on In The Arms Of Devastation (2006), Prevail (2008), and Heaven’s Venom (2010), makes its return with a cover image created by artist Blake Armstrong.
Emerging from the ashes of CHURCH OF VOID, there is a new force rising up to pursue a path in the name of doom: FIMIR have inked a worldwide deal with Argonauta Records, who will proudly release the band’s upcoming debut album during 2021!
FIMIR was founded in 2019 by former CHURCH OF VOID members G. Funeral, Magus Corvus, H. Warlock, A.D. and Septic Apes’ drummer H. Wizzard. From a mere spark in the dark and a distant echo of forgotten riffs haunting in emptiness from a collapsed doomstar of their former band, FIMIR got rid of their ghosts and started to work on their first album right away, until the world shut down. Ultimately, the five-piece collective hailing from the frozen wastelands of Finland, used their time and creativity wisely and managed to put the final touches on their upcoming debut, which will be seeing the light of day through Argonauta Records soon! Tomb Of God will contain six tracks of heavy cosmic doom with a mix of hard riffing, traditional, classic yet occult doom metal served with an ambient soundsphere. To see its release with the Italian label was a clear choice for the band, as band mastermind G. Funeral states:
“We know the label boss Gero from our past and the good reputation and enormous growth of Argonauta Records easily convinced us to sign with them. We are proud to join their ranks.”
Label owner, Gero Lucisano adds:
“I’ve been a big fan of Church of Void since their early period, their unique sound made of doom metal and deathrock which made them something standing up in the current metal and rock scene. I was very surprised of their sudden split-up months ago, the same way now Im totally excited to found again the guys with the new band FIMIR. A completely renewed attitude, enthusiasm and strength, traditional finnish doom at its very best, welcome back guys!”
Watch out for many more news and album details to follow in the not so distant future.
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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
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 