November 13, 2020, saw former DARK TRANQUILLITY guitarist, Niklas Sundin, release his sophomore solo-album under the flag of MITOCHONDRIAL SUN, Sundin’s first public foray into different musical realms.
Following his critically acclaimed, self-titled debut album, which was released not even a year ago, the core of the music is still electronic and instrumental but “Sju Pulsarer”displays a different and probably more “black metal” aspect of the project. If the first album mainly consisted of quiet meditations on space and time, “Sju Pulsarer” (Swedish for “Seven pulsars”) throws the listener into the eye of a relentless cosmic storm, where layers of sound are shattered and rebuilt to the rhythm of ferocious percussion. As opposed to the first album, where every track had its own instrumentation and sonic signature, these songs are very uniform in style: Fast, urgent and chaotic, but still full of emotionally charged melodies and atmospheric soundscapes lurking beneath the surface.
Says the multi-instrumentalist about his new record: “The debut album was meticulously crafted, with a lot of time spent working on the instrumentation to make sure that each song would have its own distinct style and unique set of sounds. This time, I wanted to create something from the completely opposite vantage point. All songs – apart from the ambient outro – are all in a similar vein, performed with the same instruments, and read more like chapters in a book than separate entities. The intensity of the music and the repetitive and monotonous nature of the arrangements are meant to invoke a trance-like experience; all in all it’s a short and focused album that’s best suited for concentrated listening from the beginning to the end.”
Only a few days since the digital release of “Sju Pulsarer”, MITOCHONDRIAL SUN is following up with a brand new video, designed and created by Sundin himself. Dive into the cold grasp of MITOCHONDRIAL SUN and watch the vibrant, epic new clip for “Pulsar 3” here:
“Sju Pulsarer” was mixed and mastered in the renowned Nacksving studio in Gothenburg with Anders Lagerfors at the helm, and was released digitally on November 13, 2020HERE. Vinyl and CD editions will follow in February 2021 via MITOCHONDRIAL SUN‘s label Argonauta Records with a pre-sale available at THIS LOCATION!
Australia Desert Rockers FULL TONE GENERATOR have signed to Golden Robot / Coffin & Bolt Records and have teamed up with OG Californian Desert Legend Nick Oliveri (QOTSA, Kyuss, Mondo Generator) for a double A side single that has enough attitude to rip the balls of a low flying bald eagle.
Without A Sound features Nick Oliveri on lead vocals and was jointly recorded in Melbourne Australia and Joshua Tree California, strap yourself in for a ride that will take you right back to 90’s Desert Rock. Without A Soundis backed by the equally as viciousIf You Want Meand will be released on 8th December.
Full Tone Generator started as an idea hatched on the beaches of Australia by Andy Fernando and bought to fruition in the Californian Desert by Andy Fernando, Brant Bjork and Brad Young.
While Don Fernando (band) were on a break in early 2018 Andy was looking for another outlet for his new songs and took it upon himself to contact the one and only Brant Bjork (Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punks). Andy had met Brant while touring together in Australia in 2017 and the guys had developed a friendship over their mutual love of Gin, Rock n Roll and the Ramones. After some late-night text messages and emails Andy sent Brant some of his new demos and asked if he would be interested in working together on a new project.
Andy’s vision was to take his new songs into the spiritual home of stoner rock and record them with one of the forefathers of the genre, Andy needed a drummer and producer, luckily Brant is both. Brant proposed that they head out into the desert and setup a mobile studio in a remote location to record an LP with Brant playing drums and producing the record with the assistance of Bubba Dupree. Andy could not have hoped for a better outcome for this new project, he enlisted local muso and bandmate Brad Young on guitars and bass and Full Tone Generator was born.
In late 2018 their debut album Valley Of The Universe was released worldwide to rave reviews, Andy then enlisted the services of Ben Hall and Mat Evans to fill out the live line-up of the band and went out on the road to promote the release. The band that started as a recording project has now developed into a fully fledged band and have just finished an ISO collaboration with none other than Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of the Stoneage) and are working on their next full length release.
Extreme metal legends PENTAGRAM CHILE have confirmed a special livestream event. Set to take place on Saturday, November 28th at 3:00pm EST/12:00pm PST/5:00pm CHL/9:00pm CET, the Virtual Human Sacrifice performance will be filmed at an undisclosed location in Santiago with support provided by Chilean thrash metallers Cabrío.
Comments the band, “Times of plague… When our patience and perseverance are put through the ultimate test. We know what it means to not use your time to its fullest extent. That’s why we want to do this for all of you. No one knows how long we’re going to be around. Let’s celebrate the darkness of life together.”
Tickets for the PENTAGRAM CHILE livestream are on sale now at THIS LOCATION.
PENTAGRAM CHILE was founded in 1985. Influenced by bands such as Exodus, Venom, and Celtic Frost, PENTAGRAM CHILE‘s harsh sound gained underground recognition through the then-burgeoning tape-trading and fanzine circuit. By 1987, they were drawing increasingly large crowds at shows in Santiago, sharing bills with the likes of Necrosis and Warpath.
A seven-inch was released in Switzerland, featuring the now-legendary track “Demoniac Possession,” but the band’s failure to secure a record deal, along with an increasingly tense atmosphere at gigs, led to the demise of the band in 1988, a split which, paradoxically, ensured the band’s near-mythical status among metal fans. PENTAGRAM CHILE reformed in 2001 for a one-off show. A full-time reunion that included Chilean and European tours in 2009 followed. Their debut album The Malefice was finally released in 2013, twenty-eight years after the band was formed.
The band released the limited-edition Past, Present And Future compilation last year pulling together the disparate strands of PENTAGRAM CHILE‘s history, cultural influences, and future musical direction.
Something old: “Evil Incarnate” – This is a “new song” pieced together, like Frankenstein’s monster, from parts of two old ones, the original “Evil Incarnate” and “Summoned From The Grave,” which the band managed to salvage from a 1985 rehearsal tape. All of PENTAGRAM CHILE‘s early trademarks can be found here, most notably the “evil scale” (tone – semitone – tone – semitone – etc.) and the “spider riff,” a fast three-note legato which got (anti-)christened by one of the band’s most ardent fans, Napalm Death’s Mitch Harris.
Something new: “The Antrum” – The group’s latest original composition is a six-and-a-half-minute epic which starts with a doom riff of heavy Trouble worship before descending into a maelstrom of Slayer, Death, and Possessed-inspired old-school death/thrash metal riffing. Lyrically, the band takes on the Hispanic legend of Salamanca, a secret cave where disciples sold their soul to the devil in exchange for exceptional skills and knowledge of various artistic disciplines.
Something borrowed: “Anticueca #2” – An unusual instrumental cover of a piece by the woman who is probably Chile’s most revered folk musician, the late Violeta Parra (who wrote the universally famous “Gracias A La Vida”), recorded for the one-hundredth anniversary of her birth. In tackling this complex piece of music, originally written for guitar alone, the band highlights the obvious parallels between Chilean folk and their own music, such as the 3/4-time signatures and the minor progressions.
Something black: “Ritual Human Sacrifice” – This is arguably the band’s heaviest, darkest creation, which up to now has only been available on a split seven-inch with up-and-coming Chilean death metal monks Unaussprechlichen Kulten, and sold out shortly after release. The intro riff was sanctified by underground authority Fenriz of Darkthrone fame in his Radio Fenriz podcast, and the dark lyrical subject of human offerings in Aztec culture adds to the pitch black vibe.
The B-side of Past, Present And Future comprises four songs, taken from two “live in the studio” radio sessions, in the tradition of the BBC’s Peel Sessions. Among them are two covers: Death’s “Evil Dead” and Celtic Frost’s “Dethroned Emperor.” Here, we can admire the band in its rawest, purest form, reinterpreting canonical works by some of the gods of extreme metal – and if those bands form part of extreme metal’s pantheon, surely PENTAGRAM CHILE is its fallen angel.
The Artisan Era is extremely proud to announce the signing of acclaimed melodic black metal/death metal outfit STORTREGN.
Active since 2006, the Geneva-Switzerland-based act has released four albums and an EP to date which has garnered them worldwide praise from sites and writers as a standout group worth paying attention to. All the while accumulating a dedicated following over the years that only grows with each new release.
The group will be releasing their fifth album in early 2021 via The Artisan Era.
Stortregn comment on signing with The Artisan Era “We are extremely thrilled to join the Artisan Era family. After following their activities for years now, it’s an absolute blast to release our new album with such a brutal label. It’s been a long road so far, and we can’t wait to share our newborn beast with you all! Expect pandemonium!”
Stortregn is: Romain Negro (vocals) Johan Smith (Guitars) Duran Bathija (Guitars) Manuel Barrios (Bass Guitar) Samuel Jakubec (Drums)
Swedish metal band SIX FOOT SIX have released a video for the song ‘Welcome To Your Nightmare’, taken from the band’s new album ‘End Of All’.
‘End Of All’ is a a powerful collection of songs that showcases all the various faces of the band: the melodic side, the epic side, even the dark side. Leaded by Kristoffer Göbel’s amazing, pristine and charismatic voice, the Swedish quartet will take you to a breathtaking metal journey based on the pillars of this genre, but with a modern sound and a very contemporary feeling.
‘End Of All’ features artwork by Stan W. Decker (DragonForce, Rage, Primal Fear) and will be released on December 11th, 2020.
TRANSATLANTIC – the Prog Supergroup of Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt & Pete Trewavas – are pleased to announce their fifth studio album ‘The Absolute Universe’, set for release on the 5th February 2021. Representing the band’s first new music since 2014’s ‘Kaleidoscope’, with ‘The Absolute Universe’ the band have done something unique and created two versions of the record: ‘The Absolute Universe: The Breath Of Life (Abridged Version)’ & ‘The Absolute Universe: Forevermore (Extended Version)’.
Today they have launched the video for ‘Overture / Reaching For The Sky’, taken from ‘The Absolute Universe: The Breath Of Life (Abridged Version)’. Watch it now here:
Mike Portnoy comments: “’Reaching For The Sky’ is the first single off Transatlantic’s latest Magnum opus ‘The Absolute Universe’. It’s a great introduction to this epic album as it sets the tone in traditional TA style: proceeded on the album by an extended Instrumental Overture and then launching into this upbeat first song. I love that it features one of my favorite qualities of the band in the sharing of the lead vocals…in this case: Neal singing lead on Verse 1, myself singing lead on Verse 2, Pete & Neal sharing the Chorus with myself and Roine on backups and Neal taking the glorious Bridge…all leading to Roine’s distinctive guitar solo. Also interesting is that this version exclusively appears on the Abridged 1CD Version of TA5 (“The Breath Of Life”) while the Extended 2CD Version of TA5 (“Forevermore”) opens with the alternate version ‘Heart Like A Whirlwind’ which has different lead vocals and lyrics.”
Each album will be available on CD, LP & Digitally. But there will also be what has been called ‘The Absolute Universe: The Ultimate Edition’, which collects both versions together in one lavish package that includes 5LP’s, 3CD’s & a Blu-ray that includes a special mix that combines both versions into a third unique version in 5.1 surround sound with visuals and a behind the scenes documentary.All editions have artwork created by Thomas Ewerhard featuring the airship by Pavel Zhovba.
As Mike Portnoy explains: “We’ve got two versions of this album. There is a two CD presentation, which is 90 minutes long, and a single one – that’s 60 minutes. However, the single CD is NOT merely an edited version of the double CD. They each contain alternate versions and even in some cases, new recordings. We wrote fresh lyrics and have different people singing on the single CD version tracks as compared to those on the double CD. Some of the song titles have also been changed, while others might remain the same, but compositionally what you’ll hear has been altered. You must appreciate that what we have done is unique. We revamped the songs to make the two versions different.”Pete Trewavas adds: “We did write some new music for the single CD, what’s more, there are also differences in the instruments used on some of the tracks across the two records.”
Track-listing: 1. Overture 2. Reaching For The Sky 3. Higher Than The Morning 4. The Darkness In The Light 5. Take Now My Soul 6. Looking For The Light 7. Love Made A Way (Prelude) 8. Owl Howl 9. Solitude 10. Belong 11. Can You Feel It 12. Looking For The Light (Reprise) 13. The Greatest Story Never Ends 14. Love Made A Way
Track-listing: Disc 1: 1. Overture 2. Heart Like A Whirlwind 3. Higher Than The Morning 4. The Darkness In The Light 5. Swing High, Swing Low 6. Bully 7. Rainbow Sky 8. Looking For The Light 9. The World We Used To Know
Disc 2: 1. The Sun Comes Up Today 2. Love Made A Way (Prelude) 3. Owl Howl 4. Solitude 5. Belong 6. Lonesome Rebel 7. Looking For The Light (Reprise) 8. The Greatest Story Never Ends 9. Love Made A Way
Blu-Ray Track-listing: 1. Overture (5.1 Surround Mix) 2. Reaching For The Sky (5.1 Surround Mix) 3. Higher Than The Morning (5.1 Surround Mix) 4. The Darkness In The Light (5.1 Surround Mix) 5. Take Now My Soul (5.1 Surround Mix) 6. Bully (5.1 Surround Mix) 7. Rainbow Sky (5.1 Surround Mix) 8. Looking For The Light (5.1 Surround Mix) 9. The World We Used To Know (5.1 Surround Mix) 10. The Sun Comes Up Today (5.1 Surround Mix) 11. Love Made A Way (Prelude) (5.1 Surround Mix) 12. Owl Howl (5.1 Surround Mix) 13. Solitude (5.1 Surround Mix) 14. Belong (5.1 Surround Mix) 15. Lonesome Rebel (5.1 Surround Mix) 16. Can You Feel It (5.1 Surround Mix) 17. Looking For The Light (Reprise) (5.1 Surround Mix) 18. The Greatest Story Never Ends (5.1 Surround Mix) 19. Love Made A Way (5.1 Surround Mix) 20. The Making of The Absolute Universe (Documentary)
Initial tracking began in September 2019 when the band met up in Sweden to write and arrange the new material. As Portnoy explains: “Over a period of 10-14 days, we mapped out the songs. Then we all went back to our home studios and did the recording. That’s the way we always do it. At one point, though, it was suggested that instead of doing what was by that time going to be a double album, we should just be content to do a single CD.”
“What happened was that everything kept expanding and expanding,” recalls Stolt. “Therefore we decided it made sense to make it a double album. It was Pete and Neal who then came out and said they felt this would be too long, and we should reduce it to one…But we were already recording, and it didn’t seem feasible to cut it back. There were so many pieces that each of us loved in what we were planning and didn’t want to lose. That’s when we ended up in discussions over the best way forward.”
This album also marks a return to the concept album for Transatlantic. “Well, the idea of Transatlantic deciding to do a concept record this time around won’t shock anyone, right?” laughs Portnoy. “What we have is essentially one giant composition, split into chapters. The storyline is about the struggles facing everyone in society today.” “We didn’t start out with the idea of this being conceptual,” admits Stolt. “The way things work with us is that we have a load of ideas, and these are developed spontaneously when we meet up. Everything happens in the moment.”
So, how does this new ground-breaking album compare to Transatlantic’s previous four albums?
“I always try not to compare albums as much as possible,” insists Morse. “It’s very difficult when you’re trying to be creative, because your natural instinct is to constantly compare. But in order to create you have to kind of step away from that. Having said that, I would say this would have more in common with ‘The Whirlwind’ album (the band’s third, from 2009) than others that we’ve created.”
For Trewavas, ‘The Absolute Universe’ is a momentous project.“I think it is right up there with the very finest albums we’ve done. As the others have said, it compares very well to ‘The Whirlwind’, which I believe represents Transatlantic at our best. As on that album, we took our time to write and arrange everything, and that shines through. I am very excited for people to hear it.”
Transatlantic were originally formed in 1999, releasing their debut album ‘SMTPe’ the following year as well as its follow-up ‘Bridge Across Forever’ in 2001. Following a 7-year hiatus, the band reconvened to record and release the much-acclaimed epic 77-minute, single-track album ‘The Whirlwind’ followed by a world tour in 2010 which included an appearance at High Voltage Festival in London where they were joined by legendary Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. The band’s fourth album ‘Kaleidoscope’ arrived in 2014, going on to win ‘Album Of The Year’ at the Progressive Music Awards.
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 