Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST to Release 9th Studio Album “Darkness Invisible” on September 26th

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 23, 2025

Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: Mors Principium Est. Leave a comment

Finnish melodic death stalwarts MORS PRINCIPIUM EST announce their long-awaited ninth studio album “Darkness Invisible.” Officially signed to PERCEPTION, the latest imprint of fast-growing label Reigning Phoenix Music, the band will once again embrace listeners with razor-sharp riffing, sweeping orchestration, melancholic harmonies, and relentless rhythmic precision – topped by Ville Viljanen’s unmistakable vocals.

Viljanen comments: “Joining PERCEPTION marks a powerful new chapter for us. We’re proud to be part of a label family that houses so many legendary titans. With their support, we’re ready to unleash our most furious, blistering and ambitious work yet. The future burns bright, shrouded in “Darkness Invisible.””

“Throughout their career, MORS PRINCIPIUM EST have kept impressing me and the rest of the metal world with solid melodic death of the faster kind. Although they’ve never been the most active live band, they succeed in growing their following with each of their releases what underlines the masterfulness of their craft additionally…and in this case, ‘[Of] Death’ is really just the beginning. Welcome to PERCEPTION!” states label strategist Nils Wasko.

MPE are also not stingy with details above all: “Darkness Invisible” will finally be unleashed upon the world on September 26, 2025, and was once again self-recorded at Ansa Studio (Ulvila, Finland); Jens Bogren mixed and Tony Lindgren mastered the ten new tracks (plus CD / digital bonus song) at Örebro, Sweden’s Fascination Street Studios (AMORPHIS, SEPULTURA, KREATOR etc.). Alvaro Valverde Fernandez was hired to create artwork and layout.

Despite delivering MPE’s much-loved trademark elements, “Darkness Invisible” is not content to simply revisit old formulas, but it expands upon them: the arrangements are more cinematic than ever, layered with subtle electronic textures, ambient passages, and dynamic shifts that mirror the emotional weight carried within the lyrics – and the result is a work that feels both cathartic and devastating.

First single ‘Of Death,’ also the opening track of their new record, a bone-shattering yet enormously melodic piece with a darkly majestic chorus, can be streamed here: https://mpe.rpm.link/ofdeathPR

“Darkness Invisible” – Track Listing:

Of Death
Venator
Monuments
Tenebrae Latebra
Summoning The Dark
Beyond The Horizon
The Rivers Of Avernus
In Sleep There Is Peace
An Aria Of The Damned
All Life Is Evil
Bonus Track (digipak / digital only):
Makso Mitä Makso [ISAC ELLIOT Cover]

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST live:
22 – 24.08.2025 PT Pindelo dos Milagres – Milagre Metaleiro
05.10.2025 TR Istanbul – IF Performance Hall Beşiktaş

About MORS PRINCIPIUM EST

Over the course of seven original studio albums, MORS PRICIPIUM EST refined their modern approach to melodic death metal again and again. Members came and gone, but their music remained untouched: razor-sharp riffing, sweeping orchestration, melancholic harmonies, and relentless rhythmic precision – topped by Ville Viljanen’s unmistakable vocals.

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST were founded in Pori in 1999 and are one of the longest serving Finnish melodic death metal bands. With frontman Viljanen being the most stable members, the present quintet survived several line-up changes before original members and guitarists Jori Haukio and Jarkko Kokko returned to MPE and already took part in recording their latest offering “Liberate The Unborn Inhumanity” [2022]. Also contributing to these refreshing re-recordings from their early years were former bassist Teemu Heinola and drummer Marko Tommila. A statement to honour the group’s history and to celebrate the freshly motivated line-up, which is now set to blast out their ninth album titled “Darkness Invisible” on September 26, 2025 through new label home PERCEPTION.

(Hed) P.E. to Tour with Powerman 5000, Ill Niño + Priest, Release New Single ‘To Make You Melt’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 23, 2025

Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: (Hed) P.E.. Leave a comment

Huntington Beach G-punk pioneers (Hed) P.E. have already unleashed several singles from their upcoming New and Improved covers collection, including brand new recordings of their own classics “Bartender” and “Raise Hell,” and last month’s stunning take on The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.”

Now they dip back into the golden age of eighties pop, to take on Modern English’s 1982 MTV/Valley Girl smash “I Melt With You.”

Frontman Jahred Gomes says, “I freaking love 80s new wave. Modern English, Depeche Mode, the Cure, it was a great time for music. Getting the opportunity to put my spin on the track was welcome.

“I Melt With You is a track i’ve loved forever and I think my people will dig my bare bones, hardcore, clash approach to the joint”

SINGLE: https://orcd.co/hedpe_imeltwithyou

They will! We all know what the eighties sounded like – a pulsating potpourri of synthipop, stadium rock, a ska revival and power balladeering, indelibly tattooed upon our brain pans for ever.

But they didn’t sound like this. From AC/DC to UB40, and onto Cyndi Lauper and A Flock of Seagulls, New and Improved lives up to its title by giving everything that unmistakable (Hed) P.E. twist. With Gomes adding, ““I think this record will generate tons of smiles. And I can’t wait for people to hear my take on Willie Nelson‘s track!”

Every Breath You Take
Just Can’t Get Enough
Always On My Mind
Red Red Wine
I Melt With You
You Shook Me All Night Long
I Ran (So Far Away)
Just A Friend
Time After Time
Back In Black
Bartender
Raise Hell
Raise Hell (Remix)

CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=%28hed%29+p.e.
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/hedpe_newandimprovedalbum

In addition to the new album, (Hed) P.E.’s sixteenth (and a successor of sorts to 2023’s 70’s Hits From the Pit), the band are also heading out on the month-long Taste Of Armageddon 2025 US tour this summer, sharing the bill with Cleopatra labelmates Powerman 5000 and the ex-Ghost supergroup Priest.

Opening in Colorado Springs on July 1, the 25 date outing wraps up in Brentwood CA on August 2. See below for the full itinerary.

BARRENS Announce New Album “Corpse Lights” + Reveal New Single ‘Sorrowed’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 23, 2025

Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: BARRENS. Leave a comment

Dark post-rock trio BARRENS have announced their forthcoming new album, Corpse Lights, due 12th September via Pelagic Records.

In celebration of the news, the band have unveiled their second single from the record, ‘Sorrowed’.

Stream here: https://orcd.co/barrens

The band comment: “Amongst other things, ‘Sorrowed’ is about dealing with grief, failure and personal demons. The inner and outer chaos of interacting with both yourself and others, and about fighting the impulse to take the easy way out. To not run away and hide but instead deal with it, and to channel these things into something creative and positive.”

Five years in the making, Corpse Lights sees BARRENS strike a breathtaking balance between light and dark; beauty and brutality; the calm and the chaos as the three fast friends refine their formidable command of composition and dynamic even further.

One listen to BARRENS and the revelation that Markku Hildén, Johan G. Winther and Kenta Jansson had already been playing and touring together before forming the band suddenly makes sense. In 2018 Markku joined Scraps of Tape, Johan and Kenta’s other project, as a live drummer for two tours of Europe and a tour of China. Recognising an immediate chemistry, the outlines for what would become BARRENS were sketched out in countless vans, trains, planes and bars as they travelled together across the world.

Back home, the trio wasted no time and quickly turned their collection of notes and motifs into demos; drawing unique inspiration from the experiences they shared as well as exploring new and unknown territories. The result was debut album Penumbra, a dense, elegant and passionate collection of instrumental, synth-driven post rock pieces that sounded in no way like the debut album from a brand new band.

Corpse Lights, BARRENS’ sophomore album, is somehow deeper, richer and headier; imbued with an alluring compositional patience that serves as unspoken testament to the combined creativity of the trio in their element, as something so much greater than the sum of its parts. Recorded and produced by Kristofer Jönson, who also helmed Penumbra, and mixed and mastered once again by Cult of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg, shimmering synthesizers and sprawling guitars lead the charge propelled by exhilarating drums and percussion but Corpse Lights also finds BARRENS using space, silence and atmosphere as another instrument if not as another band member entirely.

‘Corpse Lights’ is the name given to the folk belief that small coloured lights often appear near the home of someone about to die, leading them along the path to their eventual resting place. Often considered to be evidence of the soul leaving the body, the concept of corpse lights embodies BARRENS’ approach to creating music as a cathartic release; not just writing music because they want to but because they have to. Their writing process is one of joy, light and release as much as it is dark, heavy and tense.

Corpse Lights tracklisting:

1. Memory Eraser
2. The Derelict
3. Sorrowed
4. Periastron
5. Apastron
6. No Light
7. Collapsar
8. Remnants
9. A Nothing Expands

In their time, BARRENS have supported the legendary Mogwai, God Is An Astronaut, signed with the famed Pelagic Records and opening ArcTanGent‘s main stage for the 2023 edition.

BARRENS are:

Johan G. Winther (Guitar, Synths)
Markku Hildén (Drums, Percussion)
Kenta Jansson (Bass, Synths)

https://www.instagram.com/barrens_official
https://www.facebook.com/BARRENStheband
https://pelagic-records.com/artist/barrens

AIRI’S Release New Single ‘Son’, Feat. Sami Kuoppamäki on Drums

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 23, 2025

Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: AIRI'S. Leave a comment

AIRI’S’ new single ”Son” is both a cry for help and a triumphant declaration of letting go. The song represents the band’s formative years and lyrically reflects pivotal themes to the band such as anxiety and depression. “Son” is a liberating listening experience and a perfect example of what Airi’s’ music is all about. Kingston Wall-legend Sami Kuoppamäki featuring on drums!

Listen to the single on music services

Airi’s – Son
Music & lyrics by Joni Hartikainen, Tuomas Hokkanen
Recorded by Joel Kinnunen, V.R. Studio & Konsta Silander, Isolla Music, Helsinki
Mixed by Konsta Silander, Isolla Music, Helsinki
Mastered by Jarno Alho, Alho Audio Mastering
Catalog number: VRDIG340
ISRC: FIV2U2500024
Distributor: Playground Music Scandinavia

Joni Hartikainen: Lead & Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Tuomas Hokkanen: Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Silja Silander: Keyboards & Backing Vocals
Felicia Wadenström: Bass
Sami Kuoppamäki: Drums

The band’s first album, “Kind Little One”, released in August 2022, was praised by critics and the public. The album is a story about the human life cycle, from birth to death. The second album, “Sea of Your Thoughts”, released in September 2024, brings out even more of the band’s brilliant playing chops and organic live sound. The album’s single “Marigolds” even received radio airplay in the United States, and the album’s release was celebrated with a sold out show at Semifinal in Helsinki.

Airi’s has played over 120 shows, including Ruisrock 2024 and as an opening act for Erja Lyytinen at her Finnish shows. Outside Finland, the band has already performed in the Baltics, Sweden and the UK. In spring 2024 the band performed at London’s legendary The Dublin Castle club to a full house. The band has cited The Police, Pearl Jam and the Von Hertzen Brothers as influences.

Find out more: weareairis.com, Facebook and Instagram.

KURT FROHLICH to Release New Single ‘Worry’ on May 30th

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 23, 2025

Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: Kurt Frohlich. Leave a comment

Golden Robot Records is proud to announce the release of ‘Worry‘, the powerful new single from Kurt Frohlich, available worldwide on May 30. The track marks the first release from Frohlich’s upcoming full-length album ‘1987′, the highly anticipated follow-up to his debut EP 1977.

‘Worry’ introduces listeners to the evocative world of ‘1987′, a record that blends the brooding synth textures of ‘80s UK new wave with cutting-edge modern rock. Frohlich’s signature style – drenched in emotional urgency, driving guitar hooks, and cinematic synth layers – is on full display in this compelling new single.

Preorder here: https://orcd.co/kurt-frohlich-worry

1987 explores themes of mental health, mortality, love, and human fragility through a retro-modern sonic lens. Across 10 tracks, Frohlich delves deep into personal struggles and cathartic realizations, creating music that feels both timeless and immediate. ‘Worry’ sets the tone – a darkly melodic anthem with heart-on-sleeve lyrics and a pulse that beats with both nostalgia and urgency.

For fans of Depeche Mode, The Cure, and modern rock acts that push genre boundaries, ‘Worry’ is a perfect bridge between past and present – a haunting yet hopeful opening chapter in the 1987 story.

‘Worry’ is available on all major streaming platforms May 30 via Golden Robot Records. Stay tuned for more details on the full 1987 album release coming soon.

Kurt Frohlich online:
https://www.facebook.com/KurtFrohlichOfficial/
https://www.kurtfrohlich.net/
https://www.instagram.com/frohlichkurt
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqW8KAezUlZBhtZR8bNXU9A

LYCANTHRO Celebrate New Album Release with ‘Far Beyond The Walls’ Video

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 23, 2025

Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: LYCANTHRO. Leave a comment

Canadian power metal band Lycanthro release their second album Remnants of Rapture today, on May 23rd! Accompanying the release is the brand-new video for Lycanthro’s true metal anthem Far Beyond The Walls, the third single from the new album. Following the previous singles IRIS and The Great Masquerade ft. Laura Guldemond (Burning Witches), Far Beyond The Walls is a rallying cry for the heavy metal faithful and for those fighting their demons inside and out. It’s a unifying force for metalheads from all walks of life, which is sure to become a Lycanthro live classic! The new video gives a glimpse into Lycanthro’s live energy with footage from the band’s performance at Power Metal Quest Fest 2024 in Brimingham, UK.

About the album:

Lycanthro’s new album delivers a unique fusion of power, thrash, and traditional heavy metal, and will be available on CD as well as on all digital platforms. Featuring guest performances from Laura Guldemond (Burning Witches) and Stu Block (Into Eternity, ex-Iced Earth), Remnants of Rapture is a statement of purpose for Lycanthro, marking their territory as a force to be reckoned with. Shredding guitars, memorable hooks, and soaring vocals highlight an album which will surely put Lycanthro on the metal map.

Proudly hunting in the world of true metal, the lyrical and musical imagery of Lycanthro calls out to the realms of classic horror, pop culture, and mythology in a journey through tales of personal struggle and howling victory. With every note, the band proves that the howl never dies, the hunt never ends, and the night is never quiet.

Order the album at https://psychoshop.net/collections/lycanthro

Tracklist for Remnants of Rapture:
Iris
Far Beyond The Walls
Remnants of Rapture
Cry Silver
Prison Eyes
In Demon Light
The Great Masquerade
Night of the Parasite
Rain Queen
Lost Jerusalem (Instrumental)
Solaris (Memories in Time)

About Lycanthro:

Lycanthro is an enigmatic power metal band hailing from Ottawa, Canada. Their unique fusion of power, thrash, and traditional metal delivers an epic soundscape that’s as bold as it is unforgettable. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Savatage, W.A.S.P., Blind Guardian and more, Lycanthro proudly hunt in the world of true metal. Calling out to the realms of classic horror, pop culture, and mythology, their music is a journey through the imagination via tales of personal struggle and howling victory.

After an early demo and EP, Lycanthro’s critically acclaimed full-length album Mark of the Wolf (2021), showcased powerful storytelling, dynamic arrangements, and even collaborations with a chamber choir. Lycanthro have hunted on stages such as ‘Power Metal Quest Fest’ in the UK, and ‘Legions of Metal’ in Chicago, inviting a worldwide audience to join their pack.

Now, after joining US-based metal label Psychomanteum Records, the wolven-metal outlanders are set to release their anticipated second album Remnants of Rapture in May 2025. With every note, Lycanthro prove that the howl never dies, the hunt never ends, and the night is never quiet.

IN METAL WE TRUST!

Visit Lycanthro online:
lycanthrometal.com
https://www.facebook.com/Lycanthrokills/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1gu6xNtakT2XfJr76o4AsN
https://www.instagram.com/lycanthro_metal/