Following their critically acclaimed debut, Belgium’s OFF THE CROSS have announced the release of their sophomore studio album, slated for a release on April 29, 2021. On “Enjoy It While It Lasts”, the heavy yet melodic metal act hailing from Antwerp presents a new sound that is both colourful and modern. Backed up by pianos, organs, choirs and synths, OFF THE CROSS creates a profane wall of sound, with a blistering and high- voltage performance by a young band who is thirsty for energy: With “Enjoy It While It Lasts”, OFF THE CROSS has not only taken a great leap forward but they are ready for a new chapter.
Vocalist Daan Swinnen states:
“I’m extremely excited that Off The Cross is finally releasing ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’.We have been spending a lot of time, energy and love into this album and I can’t be more proud of the result.
After a long wait and a beyond crappy year for everybody in music world, this feels like a new start and a commencement of better times.”
To share a first sneak peak, the band has just premiered a brand new video for the song “The Dance”. Another brilliant example how OFF THE CROSS‘ music embodies the dualistic society we live in. Watch their epic new video here:
“Enjoy It While It Lasts” was recorded at multiple studios across Belgium and The Netherlands, and was mixed by Joost Van Den Broek (Powerwolf, Epica & many more).
The record features a variety of special guests and takes you on a 45-minute journey through the darkest depths and brightest lights. The album will be coming out as LP Gatefold, CD digipack and Digital formats on April 29th, the pre-sale just went up at THIS LOCATION!
Album Tracklisting: 01. Masks 02. Mute.Deaf.Blind 03. Exist 04. The Dance 05. This Too Shall Pass 06. A Broken Narrative 07. Strife 08. Dharma 09. Cease And Desist 10. Blackbox 11. A Life Lived To Die
When one finds themselves at the proverbial crossroads – face to face with the Devil himself – who wouldn’t choose the left hand path? Honestly, evil is too enticing, too strong, and Hell has the best music anyway. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, heavy metal mongrels BEWITCHER made their pact with Lucifer years ago, and have been walking the dark path ever since.
Today marks the release of “Satanic Magick Attack”, the 1st song taken from their upcoming 3rd studio album, “Cursed Be Thy Kingdom”, that is set for a release on April 16th, 2021. Click here for a “Satanic Magick Attack”!
M. von Bewitcher (vox & guitars) comments: “The devil’s rock n’ roll is alive and well, its flames kept burning bright by its devoted legions. The battle lines are drawn, the declarations have been made. When the shock troops of hell finally charge over the top, there will be no escaping the attack!”
Recorded at The Captain’s Quarters in Ventura, California by Armand John Anthony (Night Demon), and mixed by Cameron Webb (Motörhead, Megadeth), “Cursed Be Thy Kingdom” is a powerhouse, heavy-metal-rock-’n’-roll record forged in the white hot fires of Hell. The front cover was done by Paolo Girardi (Power Trip and many more).
Rock ’n’ roll is the Devil’s music, and through “Cursed Be Thy Kingdom”, BEWITCHER invites you to join them at the crossroads, drink from the chalice of rock ’n’ roll, then ritualistically sell your soul to the dark lord himself. M. von Bewitcher puts it best, “The Devil is always ready to make the deal…”
Today, Norwegian eclectic hard rock band WHITE VOID are proud to present This Apocalypse Is For You, the second single from their upcoming debut album, Anti, which is scheduled to be released on March 12th, 2021.
Like its predecessor this catchy uptempo tune is accompanied by a stylish music video, but now the imagery is a lot more surreal and symbol-laden.
Front man Lars Nedland comments on the song: “The absurd can never be permanently accepted. It requires constant confrontation, unbroken revolt.
If you fail revolting, This apocalypse is for you!
This is a song about crises. Also, it’s a song to put some boogie in your life. Because everyone needs boogie!
The video was beautifully created by animation wizard Joakim Storsve and editor Daniel Øverland, and draws inspiration from the oil painting “Adrift” by Jeremy Geddes, which incidentally serves as the cover for our debut album. Enjoy the uproar, the cosmonauts and the boogie.”
‘Anti’ Tracklist:
1. Do. Not. Sleep. 2. There is No Freedom but the End 3. Where You Go, You’ll Bring Nothing 4. The Shovel and the Cross 5. This Apocalypse is for You 6. All Chains Rust, all Men Die 7. The Fucking Violence of Love 8. The Air was Thick with Smoke
WHITE VOID is absence of direction and sense in life. It’s a description of the fundamental disharmony between the individual’s search for meaning and the meaninglessness of the universe.Eclectic hard rockers WHITE VOID are a curious bunch. Forged in the space between the occult rock of the seventies, the no-excuses-hard rock of the eighties and the British New Wave movement, they balance on the event horizon that separates old from new. Aggression from melody. Dream from drive.
Add to that the fact that the bandmembers of WHITE VOID have their backgrounds in Norwegian black metal, chiptune electronica, pop music and blues, and you’ll see why Anti is an album that’s hard to pin down. It’s darkly melodic, it’s driven, and it’s infused with earworms, hooks and licks. Boasting a shameless attitude, though, it comes forth as deeply true to the core of our shared hard rock heritage.
In the center of WHITE VOID stands Lars Are Nedland, long time member of BORKNAGAR and SOLEFALD. Leading a team of musicians including Tobias Solbakk of IHSAHN fame, electronica staple Vegard Kummen and blues rock virtuoso Eivind Marum, he navigates the waters of hard rock riffs, new wave harmonies and blues rock solos with determination and elegance.
Still, Anti probably doesn’t sound like you think. It’s an album riddled with contrasts and references, musically as well as philosophically. The concept is based on Albert Camus’ Absurdism and deals with how you cope with an existence that is in its core absurd. Musically it draws on the past while forging towards the future. And the result? Well, enter the Void to find out!
ACCEPT could have hardly chosen a more fitting title for their new upcoming masterpiece – “Too Mean To Die”. First a virus interrupted the recording process of their 16th studio album back in spring 2020, and now the same rotten thing has caused the release to be postponed by two weeks, to 29.01.21.
However, ACCEPT will not be knocked down by these setbacks. As a consolation for fans and to shorten the waiting time for the complete album, the band will release a very special treat on Jan 15th: their third single ‘Zombie Apocalypse’.
Hard-hitting melodies – a 5-minute classic ACCEPT treat: dynamic, unshakeable, mega loud! There’s no doubt about it: ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ makes you want MORE and provides a perfect taster of the new album.
The single contains a special hint about a widespread disease of our time – and rest assured it’s not Corona…
Singer Mark Tornillo explains: “They’re everywhere, they can’t put them (mobile phones) down. They can’t keep them charged; they can’t take their eyes off the screen! It’s a zombie apocalypse!”
Watch the visualizer for ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ here:
Most of the limited vinyl formats of the album “Too Mean To Die”, which will be released on 29.1.2021, are already sold out! Therefore, Nuclear Blast has decided to release another version in cooperation with ACCEPT‘s partner Spotify: Double vinyl in white strictly limited to 300 copies.
Just recently Scars And Guitars‘ Andrew McKaysmith conducted a long and far-reaching conversation with KIMMO KUUSNIEMI, talking about the end of SARCOFAGUS and his future plans. The video interview starts with a short history of Sarcofagus and Kimmo Kuusniemi with music video clips.
Conversation topics: 1) The thinking behind ending Sarcofagus 2) Kimmo provides a comprehensive summary of Sarcofagus’ albums and other releases 3) His plans for the future and projects he’s working on 4) The impact of COVID-19 on the music business 5) Film and TV work, especially ‘The Promised Land of Heavy Metal’ 6) Observations on social issues
At the end of 2020 Kimmo Kuusniemi declared that SARCOFAGUS has returned to the Valley Of The Kings.
Kimmo stated: “Sarcofagus has been great balance of fun and pain. My albums have always had social commentary as many of my films have. I had come to the conclusions on the CORE VALUES re-release video long before the Covid19 pandemic arrived, that I am fed up with writing songs about social problems. Technology is progressing with ever increasing speed but us as humans we seem to be doomed to repeat our mistakes.
Since Covid started I have been working on a new audio visual project. This combines my need to create something new both in music and in film. There is already several songs finished with collaboration with great musicians from Siberia to Los Angeles.
This project will be released as album, videos and a world tour. Without going yet into too much detail this project is designed to work in the post Covid world. When we get over this virus I do not think the music business will ever be the same. So it is time to re-invent the wheel 😉
Ending Sarcofagus has been in my mind quite long time but this year it became very clear that there is no space for Sarcofagus in my mind anymore. Time for a reset.
Sarcofagus has been an interesting and complicated 43 year rollercoaster ride, but everything comes to an end. At the end of this press release there is the Sarcofagus story ‘in brief’. The same story with plenty photos, some never published before, are available online at http://www.sarcofagus.com .
On digital platforms (Spotify, iTunes…) you will also find the newest single release “Absence Of Light”, accompanied by a fresh remake of the song “Go To Hell”, featuring an almost original lineup of the band.
We started the band with Hannu Leiden, Juha Kiminki and Esa Kotilainen so like the title of the first album “Cycle Of Life” another Cycle of Life has come to a full circle with the “Absence Of Light” release.
The “Absence Of Light” was meant to be the next Sarcofagus album but in 2019 I decided to stop working on it. There already were few songs made for it.
Now the fantastic artwork for “Absence Of Light” by Toni Hietomaa are available as Sarcofagus T shirt and A3 Poster from the Sarcofagus website: http://www.sarcofagus.com.
These are made to order for awhile. So there is no stock and these are aimed for the fans and collectors to commemorate the 43 years of metal work.
The next project will be introduced soon so stay tuned.
Thank you for all the fans who have been supporting us through these years!”
Sarcofagus is reputed to be one of the most influential & original Scandinavian Progressive Heavy Metal Bands (formed 1977). They have inspired numerous new metal bands.
-Officially the first Finnish Heavy Metal Band
-First Finnish Heavy Metal Band singing in Finnish
-First Scandinavian Heavy Metal Band to have a female vocalist (Muska Babitzin)
-First Scandinavian Band (first in the world?) to release a FULL ALBUM length story/broadcast quality video ever (Moottorilinnut/Motorbirds). This was before MTV, rental or sales videos and before people had VHS players
-1979-1982 Released 1 Single and 3 Albums (Single: Go to Hell/All those Lies 1979, Albums: Cycle of Life 1980, Envoy of Death 1980, Moottorilinnut 1982)
-Kimmo Kuusniemi was the 1st spoke person for Finnish Heavy Metal. He also started the Finnish Heavy Metal Association to bring together all the Finnish metal fans
-Kimmo Kuusniemi brought metal to radio, TV and papers where he was often used as the expert to explain the metal philosophy to reporters
-1996 the albums Cycle of Life and Envoy of Death re released as CDs in Italy by Mellotron
-2004 Kimmo Kuusniemi released a downloadable free web version of 1981 Moottorilinnut (Motorbirds) album with original alternative Sarcofagus cover
-2006 Cycle of Life re released in Finland
-2007 Envoy of Death and Moottorilinnut (Motorbirds) re released in Finland
-2007 the 4th Sarcofagus album “Core Values” came out after 25 years with most of the original band onboard; Kimmo Kuusniemi (guitars/drums), Esa Kotilainen (keyboards), Juha Kiminki (bass) and Tanja Katinka Karttunen (vocals)
-2008 limited edition CD release of an previously unpublished studio tape “Sarcofagus Live in Studio 1979″, and a limited edition DVD release of the 1982 full album length music video “Moottorilinnut”
-2008 Kimmo Kuusniemi produced a feature length HD TV documentary “Promised Land of Heavy Metal” that tells the story of the Finnish Metal Phenomenon (featuring also Sarcofagus) – Finland is the only country in the world where metal is now mainstream. The film is directed by Tanja Katinka Karttunen. It is in worldwide TV and DVD distribution (and also available as an iPhone App)
-2009 Sarcofagus Anthology 1979-1982 double CD by Rocket Records published in Finland, including the first Single and 3 Albums, artwork and booklet with lyrics, history of the band and a foreword by Kimmo Kuusniemi
-2010 First Finnish Metal Band to have an iPhone App
Sensational Swedish 8-piece power metal band BROTHERS OF METAL are back with a new music video, which was filmed for „Chain Breaker“, a song from their latest chart-breaking studio album „Emblas Saga“.
„Mighty Defenders of Valhalla! The music video for our song ‘Chain Breaker’ is OUT! On the day of Ragnarök, Fenrir will break his chains, Gleipner and join the giants in their battle against the gods“, the band comments.
The video was directed by Jonas Helmersson & Sara Gustavsson.
Chief Shock Video
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 ) 