FUATH, the atmospheric black metal offshoot of SAOR’s Andy Marshall, is now revealing the cover artwork and tracklist of the upcoming record. The album, titled ‘II’, will be released via Season of Mist Underground Activists on March 19, 2021.
The artwork was made by Luciana Nedelea and can be found below, together with the tracklist. FUATH has furthermore released an album teaser, which can be viewed at the Season of Mist YouTube ChannelHERE.
The tracklist and cover artwork of ‘II’ can be found below. The artwork was designed by Luciana Nedelea.
Tracklist 1. Prophecies (09:28) 2. The Pyre (06:51) 3. Into the Forest of Shadows (06:23) 4. Essence (09:26) 5. Endless Winter (09:23) Total: 0:41:31
Translated as “hatred” in Gaelic, FUATH is the atmospheric black metal offshoot of SAOR’s Andy Marshall. Taking inspiration from arguably black metal’s most fertile and explosive period — the early to mid-1990s — the music channels the unrelenting tenor and iciness of forebears BURZUM, DARKTHRONE and MAYHEM.
Originally slated as a one-off project after the release of 2016’s I, Marshall has decided to turn FUATH into a serious project. Early 2021 will see the release of the band’s second album, II, via Season of Mist’s Underground Activists sub-label.
Marshall’s Scottish roots seemingly belie a Scandinavian black metal influence. While SAOR leans heavily on Scottish themes and melodies that he has classified as “Caledonian” metal, FUATH is a through-and-through purveyor of the black arts, firmly heralding a time when there was mystery and intrigue within extreme metal. BURZUM and DARKTHRONE were Marshall’s initial black metal discoveries and DRUDKH and WINDIR provided balance due to their unyielding ability to convey atmosphere. It adds up to an array of influences dedicated solely to recapturing black metal’s storied spirit and atmosphere.
The rugged landscapes, harsh climates and foreboding darkness make winter the perfect backdrop to ’90s black metal. There is perhaps no climate greater celebrated within a subgenre of metal — winter and black metal are permanently entwined. Therefore, it is no surprise that it is the favored season of many battle-tested black metaller — including Marshall, who has always been attracted to darkness in nature as well as pagan mysticism. He cites his ritual of walking through the forest in the frost and snow as “spiritual,” and the primary source of inspiration for FUATH’s new studio album.
Written during the winter of 2019 and then recorded in August and September 2020 at Fortriu Studios in Scotland, ‘II’ features Marshall handling vocals and all instrumentation except for drums, which were performed by Carlos Vivas in Spain. Whereas ‘I’ dutifully remained within the boundaries of conventional black metal, ‘II’ finds the songs going further into the frozen plains with elaborate doses of melody, ominous riffing and hypnotic blast-beat sections. ‘II’ marks a huge progression for Fuath from ‘I’. When writing the debut album, Marshall was treading FUATH as a side-project and didn’t have a formalized idea of how he wanted it to sound. In contrast, ‘II’ is an improvement across the board with better-crafted songs, sharper black metal vocals from Marshall and enhanced production values.
In contrast to SAOR’s lyrics about Scottish heritage and history, Marshall has decided to keep FUATH’s lyrics behind a veil of secrecy and will not be released along with the album. It’s another throwback to black metal of the 1990s when its core constituents were dark and evasive in both presentation and their lyrics. However, song titles such as “The Pyre,” “Into the Forest of Shadows” and “Endless Winter” do, at least, give a glimpse into Marshall’s headspace — they leave plenty to the imagination, especially in the context of the cold and wintry landscape depicted on the album’s cover art.
After the release of ‘I’ in 2016, Marshall often stated in interviews that FUATH would be a “one-off” project with no chance for future recordings. But, the never-ending desire to travel into the dark the wilderness of black metal’s most chaotic — and beloved — period was too much to resist. FUATH is now a serious band and has shed its side-project status, ensuring that Marshall will be venturing back into the heart of winter for future releases.
Recording studio: Fortriu Studios Producer / sound engineer: Andy Marshall Mixing: The Amplogia Studio, Vitold Buznaev Mastering: Turan Studio, Tim Turan
Recording line-up: all songs composed and performed by Andy Marshall Session drums by Carlos Vivas
FUATH live: 30/05/21 – Metal East (Nove Kolo), Ukraine 25/07/21 – Metal Over Russia, Russia
It would seem like every nook and cranny in rock ‘n’ roll history has been explored ad infinitum by this point. Countless books and magazine articles have been written, painstakingly excavating the lives and careers of everyone from Chuck Berry to Aerosmith, Wanda Jackson to Arcade Fire. But what if there was a band with deep roots whose story had barely been broached?
A band with direct ties to Little Richard, The Kinks, The Mamas & the Papas, The Electric Prunes, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Iggy Pop, The Runaways, The Flamin’ Groovies, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Steppenwolf, Meat Loaf, and Blue Cheer.
Such a band does exist. They are THE HOLLYWOOD STARS. And now, after more than 40 years apart, they are performing together again and making new music.
THE HOLLYWOOD STARS have now released their version of Kiss’ King Of The Night Time World via Golden Robot Records, taken from their upcoming live album.
“The original version of the song that was later done by Kiss. It is a more straight ahead, rock and roll version with all of the energy and excitement of a live performance combined with a near studio-quality sound. The lyrics bring back the vibe of the Sunset Strip in the mid-1970s and the street scene in Hollywood at that time.” – THE HOLLYWOOD STARS
Stream/buy King of the Night Time World (Live)HERE
ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD STARS
“I didn’t used to like The Hollywood Stars, I used to like The New York Dolls. Then I heard The Hollywood Stars play Satisfaction. Now I wanna fuck ‘em.” – Iggy Pop
The Hollywood Stars – First line-up (1973-1974):
Mark Anthony – Guitar, vocals Ruben De Fuentes – Lead guitar Scott Phares –Vocals Terry Rae – Drums, vocals Gary Van Dyke – Bass guitar (1973) / Kevin Barnhill – Bass guitar (1974)
“Probably the most legendary act I opened for was The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck,” recalls Rae. “Beck had a couple of songs back then that were just mindblowers. He would stand in the shadows with his back to the audience, but the sound coming out of his amps was something no one had been able to do up to that point. At least not in Hollywood, maybe Britain. Musicians on the L.A. scene were asking him “What are you playing through? How do you get that sound?” and he would just say (adopts British accent) “Hey man, it’s all in my fingers.”
The group made its public concert debut headlining The Whisky A Go Go on December 17 & 18 1973. The Hollywood Stars would go on to become one of the top-drawing acts at The Whisky for the next 12 months.
In January 1974, Columbia Records A&R man Ted Feigin signed the band. Fowley had his heart set on producing the band’s debut album, but Feigin shut him down fast. As a result, Fowley handed over the management reins to Donahower and Bruce, and only became a peripheral figure in the band’s future trajectory.
Studio time was booked at The Record Plant in Hollywood to cut a dozen tracks for a debut album. Bill Szymczyk (The Eagles, The J. Geils Band) was hired to produce with Allan Blazek (The Eagles, The Who) as engineer. Among Anthony’s five song-writing credits during the sessions were two co-writes with Kim Fowley that would go on to have major success after the Stars’ breakup, King of the Night Time World(recorded by Kiss on both 1976’s Destroyer and 1977’s Alive II) and Escape (recorded by Alice Cooper on 1975’s Welcome to My Nightmare). Fowley had an additional two co-writes; Fowley associate (and writer of Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild) Mars Bonfire had three; the band covered Danny Hutton’s 1965 single Roses and Rainbows; and the remaining tracks were co-writes featuring Phares, De Fuentes, Rae, and outside songwriter Peter Lyons.
Despite 34 days of intense session work, the album was ultimately scrapped and the band was dropped. Through no fault of the band. “A whole new East Coast A&R team came in at Columbia,” remembers Phares. “Not only did they fire Feigin and another west coast A&R guy, I also later learned that they systematically dropped every band or artist that Feigin had signed.” “It was a really depressing time,” recalls De Fuentes. “The sessions were going great and we were so close to finishing the record. Then it all just went away.”
A bomb had dropped on The Hollywood Stars. After a quick ascent which had seen John Lennon, Angie Bowie, and Iggy Pop applauding their live shows at The Whisky, the first line-up of the band was quickly grinding to a halt.
In October 1974, the Stars played one of their last gigs at The Hollywood Palladium as support for another soon-to-flame-out glitter rock combo, The New York Dolls. Iggy Pop, Flo&Eddie, The GTO’s, Michael Des Barres, and Zolar X provided additional support. “I remember at that gig I had a crowdsurfing moment before anybody had invented the term ‘crowdsurfing‘” says Phares.
The following month, in November, the group would break up after one final show at The Whisky — at which they were memorialized by their former Svengali, Kim Fowley. Anthony, who had been bumping heads with Phares, was a no show purportedly because of the flu.
It would take 39 years for the scrapped Columbia album to finally see the light of day. Musician and producer Robin Wills (The Barracudas, Fortunate Sons) happened to connect with Rae on a power pop blog thread in 2013. Wills was elated to learn that Phares was in possession of a 1⁄4- inch tape of the sessions. Studio time was booked to finesse the sound quality and Shine Like a Radio: The Great Lost 1974 Album was released on gatefold vinyl by Last Summer/Light in the Attic in 2013.
Record Collector Magazine bestowed the album five stars and called it “one of the most vital reissues of the year”. A stirring, evocative encapsulation of the Hollywood glitter rock scene, the album crackles with the power pop drive of The Sweet and The Move, and the glam swagger of Cockney Rebel and Hunky Dory-era David Bowie.
The Hollywood Stars – Second line-up (1976-1977): Mark Anthony – Lead vocals, 2nd lead guitar, Ruben De Fuentes – Lead guitar Bobby Drier – Drums, percussion Terry Rae – Drums, vocals Michael Rummans – Bass guitar
The relaunched Hollywood Stars were soon in Sound City Recording Studios in Hollywood cutting new tracks with Canadian musician/producer Neil Merryweather. De Fuentes remembers that Merryweather was brought into the fold via Fowley’s recommendation, and that the studio time was comped by Sound City’s co-owner Joe Gottfried. “While we were at Sound City, Fleetwood Mac was in a room down the hall recording their first record with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks,” remembers De Fuentes.
The sessions were quick and productive, with everybody feeling that Merryweather had done a great job capturing the band’s current blend of power pop and radio-friendly AOR. It wasn’t long after returning to live performance that the Stars were approached by Clive Davis with an offer to sign the band to Arista. The Stars’ manager at the time, Michael Lippman, jumped at the chance. “We were hoping to find a label to release the Merryweather album, which was completed and mastered,” says De Fuentes. “Then Clive signed us and he had his own production ideas. He wanted to recut the whole album with his producer and his string arranger. The consensus in the group was ‘Man, we just made this great record. Why do we have to do it all over again?’”
“It turned into the exact same scenario we had with Columbia, with the label having to provide jobs to ‘in crowd’ people,” picks up Rae. “So overnight all of these people we didn’t know were now involved with the band, and we naturally ended up losing control and having other people making decisions for us. We ran into that scenario repeatedly with the Stars.”
Despite their problems in the studio, the Stars remained a popular live draw in Hollywood and were eager to get out and start performing the new material in front of a live audience. In addition to playing in front of packed houses at The Whisky and The Starwood, the Stars were also booked to go on the road supporting Arista label mates The Kinks for 1977’s Sleepwalker. The original incarnation of the band had only played outside Southern California on one occasion, but the new Stars managed to play Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, among other cities, with The Kinks.
Shortly after wrapping the tour it was obvious that fissures within the band had begun to widen. De Fuentes remembers that during the band’s time on Arista, Anthony had received a windfall of $84,000 in royalties for his song-writing credits on Kiss’ King of the Night Time World and Alice Cooper’s Escape. But outside of buying a motorhome to curtail the chance of his ending up homeless again, Anthony was soon broke. He also wanted to go solo. The band was summoned to the Beverly Hills offices of their latest manager, Jack Nelson, who also managed Queen. De Fuentes, Rae and Rummans were told that Anthony was leaving to go solo and that the Stars were over for a second time.
Despite the departure of Anthony, and a disillusioned Rae, the now label-less Hollywood Stars continued for another year with De Fuentes, Rummans, Drier, and new singer Al Austin. Between 1976 and ‘78, The Hollywood Stars opened for such diverse legends as rock pioneer Bo Diddley, disco star Sylvester, and punk royalty Ramones. They also had a star-studded array of homegrown talent provide opening support for the Stars, including Van Halen, The Runaways, The Knack, and Quiet Riot. “By the time we called it quits, punk and New Wave were what was happening in Hollywood,” says De Fuentes. “The Stars were considered the old guard.”
Forty years after the dissolution of the 1978 line-up, The Hollywood Stars reconvened for a one- night- only benefit concert on November 11, 2018 at The Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles. The time-defying line-up included founding members Phares, De Fuentes and Rae, alongside Arista- era bassist Michael Rummans and new guitarist Chezz Monroe. The audience was enraptured at the sight of this legendary band springing back to full-blown rock ‘n’ roll glory. The band themselves enjoyed the experience and have pledged to keep it going and have played several shows in the LA area, including a sold-out show at their old haunt, The Whisky A Go Go in July, 2019.
In 2019, Rummans left the band for personal reasons. The new bassist is John Schayer. John had played with Terry and Ruben before The Hollywood Stars in a band called The Living Flame – a name given to them by Little Richard. He is an accomplished bass player, singer and songwriter – a five-time Grammy contender. After a stint with Burger records – the band is now at home with Golden Robot Records.
The Hollywood Stars — Current line-up: Ruben De Fuentes — Lead guitar Scott Phares — Lead vocals Terry Rae — Drums, vocals Chezz Monroe — Second guitar John Schayer — Bass guitar, vocals
Metal mainstays, recording artists BUTCHER BABIES have released their new single “Sleeping With The Enemy” which showcases the musical diversity that Butcher Babies has developed over the years.
American Songwriter in a feature on the band, lauded the new single, saying, “‘Sleeping With The Enemy’ is the best of both old and new Butcher Babies. The turn to melodic vocals is seen executed by Heidi Shepherd and co-vocalist Carla Harvey with just enough intermittent screams to give texture and peaks to a song already hardened by chunky, power riffs.”
Carla says, “‘Sleeping With The Enemy’ is one of the most vulnerable songs we’ve ever written. The song is the ultimate “own your own bullshit” song…because the first step in change is always admitting there’s a problem, right?”
Heidi adds, “When face to face with what you presume as your enemy; who is it? Is it you? In ‘Sleeping with the Enemy’ the devil and angel on my shoulders met. This song is about hypocrisy and self realization. We can get so caught up in the rat race of life, as humans we tend to lose track of ourselves and our core values along the way. There comes a point where you look at the perceived problems in your life and realize there is one common denominator; yourself! Whether it’s in the lens you look at life through or an overall attitude, there comes a point where we must turn a negative into a positive. This song is that for me.”
Guitarist Henry Flury adds, “And just when you thought we weren’t going to be heavy anymore… BOOM! This is definitely a song for the stage. Can you sing and circle pit at the same time?”
As the holidays approach, Butcher Babies also announces a live-streamed concert called the “1st Annual Office Christmas Party” a live show on December 18th at 8pm Et / 5pm PT. The show will be streamed on the Butcher Babies website and easily accessed by fans at www.butcherbabies.com.
The band will perform fan favorites, as well as their two new singles, “Bottom Of A Bottle” and “Sleeping With The Enemy” to name a few.
Earlier in the year, Butcher Babies released “Bottom of A Bottle” and celebrated 10 years as a band by creating and releasing their own signature wine called “Butcher Burgundy”. The new wine is available for purchase at butcherbabiesmerch.com.
“Sleeping With The Enemy” marks the second release from Butcher Babies’ forthcoming EP, which is set for release in mid-2021.
They’re back. Norway’s most unique and anarchic Psychedelic Folk Rock Proggers TUSMØRKE are back with a brand new album. And not just any album because “Nordisk Krim” is the fulfilment of a dream as old as TUSMØRKE itself.
As the band explains:
When we formed in 1994, there was a plan to record a concept album about Danish bog bodies. As children, we visited the museums of Moesgaard and Silkeborg, transfixed by the sight of the black bodies with orange hair. Shortly after, we discovered heavy metal. Funny how you can love a genre from the age of 7 and still never learn how to play it.
Or, to quote Philip K. Dick’s “The Man in the High Castle”:
“Metal is from the earth, he thought as he scrutinized. From below: from that realm which is the lowest, the most dense. Land of trolls and caves, dank, always dark. Yin world, in its most melancholy aspect. World of corpses, decay and collapse. Of faeces. All that has died, slipping and disintegrating back down layer by layer. The daemonic world of the immutable; the time-that-was.”
The title Nordisk Krim (Nordic Crime) refers to the fact that the bog bodies were first thought to be a police matter. In reality, the true crime was disturbing the gifts to the gods in their slumber. Nordisk Krim celebrates the willing victims of ancient rites, those whose bodies are in the bog but whose souls are among the stars in the heavens.
So get ready for a taste of this epic double album because today Karisma Records have released “Age of Iron Man” a single and video taken from the album.
Age of Iron Man celebrates ancient rites of pagan Denmark. Elite members of society would travel to the world of the gods beyond the bog, never to return. Or would they? Killed thrice by knife, blunt instrument and rope, submerged in sacred ponds, the bog bodies slept through the centuries, skin tanned black, hair dyed orange. When they were dug up, police sought their killers, only to realize they were 1500 years too late.
For Norwegians, Denmark has always been the promised land; a place of plenty, of freedom, of rock’n’roll and red hot dogs. Denmark manages to be the smaller country and yet the older brother; hip, cool and always closer to Germany than, say Sweden. The sacrificial cult of the goddess Nerthus was documented by the travelling historian Gaius Tacitus in 98 and has had a strong pull on Norwegian minds ever since. To go to Denmark and lose your worries, your inhibitions and your head is a trip that never gets old.
The lineup on “Nordisk Krim” includes Benediktator (bass & vocals), Krizla (flute & vocals), HlewagastiR (drums), Haugebonden Gode Gullstein (keys) and Åsa Ree (violin), Everything was recorded and produced in Benedikator’s home studio (Det Ytre Rommet), except field recordings and some bubble noises recorded in the bathtub (The Bubble Bath of Blood).
With artwork by Anne Margrete Sjøflot, track listing on “Nordisk Krim”, which is a double concept album coming in at a whopping 82 minutes is as follows:
Ride the Whimbrel
Age of Iron Man
Mumia
Cauldron Bog
Dog’s Flesh
Moss Goddess
Black Incubation
Et Moselik
Heksejakt
(The Marvellous and Murderous) Mysteries of Sacrifice
“Nordisk Krim” is set for release on the 26th February 2021, will be available in Double CD, and Double LP in transparent magenta vinyl (limited to 666 copies) as well as in Digital formats. It can be pre-ordered at:
Neal Schon Performs with Journey on the Journey & Def Leppard 2018 Tour
JOURNEY Founder NEAL SCHON has released his highly anticipated solo album, UNIVERSE, a 15 track mixture of symphonic classical blues, R&B, soul and rock-fusion. It’s the latest release from the iconic virtuoso guitarist and composer who’s soaring melodic and soulful playing will guide you through a journey of your senses and emotions in only the way his mastery of the instrument can, where each listen feels different and fresh every time. Experience the energy, beauty, and the musical healing nature of one of the most important artists of our generation with NEAL SCHON UNIVERSE produced by Narada Michael Walden. Neal Schon joined Santana in 1971 and founded Journey in 1973, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
Track List: 1. Something In The Heart 2. The Eye Of God 3. The Universe 4. Caruso 5. Voodoo Child 6. Third Stone From The Sun 7. Purple Rain 8. She’s For Real 9. What Has Become 10. Lights 11. Silent Voyage 12. Chrome Shuffle 13. Be Happy 14. I Believe 15. Hey Jude
Cleopatra Entertainment has secured the North American, UK, Australian, New Zealand and South African distribution rights to the documentary film MEAN MAN: The Story of Chris Holmes.
Watch the new promotional video:
Written and Directed by French filmmakers Antoine de Montremy and Laurent Hart (whose Music production career includes televised interviews with SCORPIONS, DEEP PURPLE, SLAYER, GUNS N’ ROSES and more), MEAN MAN: The Story of Chris Holmes was a project that was born in 2014 after they had an opportunity to meet and direct Holmes in a music video for the Holmes-penned song “Let It Roar” in Cannes, France. At that time, the former W.A.S.P. guitarist had more or less disappeared from the music scene, leaving his home in the U.S. to seek a new beginning with his wife Sarah in France. Not content with merely directing a music video for the re-born Holmes, de Montremy pursued his bigger dream of writing and directing a documentary film about this iconic metal guitar legend and for the next several years shadowed him throughout Europe while filming everything from band rehearsals, to recording sessions to live performances.
By creatively combining archival footage, interviews with past and present band members and musical peers, family members and childhood friends – interspersed with beautifully filmed concert performances of Holmes’ current solo band – Director de Montremy skillfully portrays the story of an iconic guitar player who has lived a life of extreme highs and lows. After losing the publishing rights of his own songs and combatting dangerous addictions, the legendary W.A.S.P. guitarist is shown starting over from scratch while living at his mother-in-law’s in Cannes, France as he puts together with his wife a brand new band and a brand new musical role as not only the main guitarist, but now as the actual lead singer of this newly-born musical project aptly named MEAN MAN.
Quotes de Montremy “Over the last five years, I’ve had the privilege to establish a true relationship with Chris Holmes and to follow him throughout Europe. I was impressed by his charisma, his approach towards life, his multiple experiences and taste for simplicity which have actually altered my own vision of existence. In fact, he has almost become a spiritual father to me, in the way that he inspired me in many of my own decisions. “
Cleopatra Entertainment’s plans for release include a stand-alone DVD Home Entertainment version and a Blu Ray version chock full of bonus goodies not available on the Digital VOD version which will follow the DVD and Blu Ray Release this November, just in time for the Holidays. A U.S. west coast Theatrical premier is being discussed as well, pending the revision and/or relaxation of the current local State Government’s restrictions on movie theaters operating during the Covid pandemic.
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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 ) 