 Xalpen inks a record deal with Black Lodge Records. The Chilean black metallers are working on new material to be released in a not too distant future. But first up is the remastered album ’Sawken Xo´on‘ set for release on the 30th of July 2021 on both vinyl, CD and digital. Xalpen comments: “We are sincerely honored and very motivated about this alliance, it is and we know, much more to unveil in our path to approach the respectful listeners, hungry daemons, thirsty witches, psychotic entities and all the spiritual voyagers of this black trip, to the mysteries of the ancient era of pan-dimensional shamans and Dark Gods, building the strong bridges that transgressive music and chaotic forces creates, to fulfill the secret and obscure essence of Xalpen. We also, with no doubts, will support expectations and goals the band and Label will have for the upcoming time. For now, It´s a good start for more concrete plans, to set some live performances, possible further shows and / or even organize some tours dates for the uncertain future of this world”.
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 Finland are looking to repeat history as they eye up their second Eurovision Song Contest victory. Their entrant this year is Blind Channel, a band that have been sprinting past milestones and crushing their rival’s records with their enormous anthemic entry ‘Dark Side’. ‘Dark Side’ has become a #1 smash hit on the Finnish singles chart and has remained in the top 10 airplay charts for over 10 weeks, with the song now reaching platinum. Is metal going to bring Finland the gold yet again? Listen to the song here and watch the official lyric video here. It was written as a reaction to the global pandemic that forced the music industry to a grinding halt, synonymously crushing all the band’s 2020 touring plans. Frustration, isolation and depression gave birth to an anthem for the people, and the Eurovision Song Contest has proved to be the perfect vessel to spread their message. Niko Vilheim, one of the band's two vocalists shares his thoughts:- “What we really needed at that low point was an anthem for ourselves, a song that gives the finger to life itself. That’s how ‘Dark Side’ came into life. It really was an instant anthem. ’Dark Side’ is a song that’s meant to be performed together with an audience, as a kind of communal experience. Now we needed to find that audience, and we knew that there were lots of people out there who felt exactly like we did.”  After entering the track into the UMK (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu = New Music Competition), the Finnish qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest itself, the sextet came away annihilating all their fellow competitors by achieving the highest score in the competition’s history and becoming the first UMK entry to hit the top of the charts. Now with their sights firmly set on the finish line, the band will be the 14th act to perform at the second semi-final on May 20th, and if successful on the night, will perform again at the finals on May 22nd. The competition finale will also feature performances from past winners of the competition, including Finland’s previous winning act and hard rock heroes Lordi who dominated the 2006 event with ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’. Finland has long been known for its love of heavy music, with international superstar acts such as Hanoi Rocks, HIM, Nightwish, Children of Bodum, Apocalyptica and The Rasmus all enjoying major global success. Now the world will be adding Blind Channel to that list. Blind Channel were formed in 2013 in the city of Oulu, way up in the North of Finland, by a group of five talented, determined and ambitious friends – vocalists Joel Hokka and Niko Vilhelm, drummer Tommi Lalli, guitarist Joonas Porko and bass player Olli Matela. This fivesome has stuck together to this day, in the spirit of the 2018 sophomore album Blood Brothers, each of them collectively responsible for the songwriting. Last year saw the addition of a new member, as long time friend Alex Mattson joined to play keyboard, samples and percussion and completes the current line up. Following the release of their 2020 album Violent Pop, ‘Dark Side’ is the band’s first taste of music from an upcoming album due for release early next year, working with renowned UK producer Dan Lancaster (Blink 182, Bring Me The Horizon, Don Broco). CONNECT WITH BLIND CHANNEL WEBSITE / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER  From Yogyakarta in Indonesia, a country known throughout the metal world for its array of bands addicted to the rush of savagery and brutish violence, comes Anthropophagus Depravity – a band whose music is steeped in blood and terror beyond all hope of redemption. Their debut album is a gory tale of human sacrifice and mutilation delivered with fearsome musical prowess and ruthless, relentless force. Spawned from nightmares, Apocalypto is upon us... Since forming in 2016 Anthropophagus Depravity have made rapid progress through the ranks of the Indonesian underground, establishing themselves as one of the most potent forces in the scene’s many heavy artillery battalions – and with Apocalypto they have delivered an album that will secure their place at the top table of brutal death metal. This record radiates fear and panic, it reeks of the cold sweat of bad dreams and each track seethes with wicked cruelty and ignites into lung-burning explosions of vehement ferocity. The combination of terrifying atmosphere and merciless musical muscle borders on the suffocating and panic-inducing. All consuming tracks like ‘Escape From The Dead Lands’ and ‘Temple Of Sacrifice’ make Apocalypto one of the most effective and exciting brutal death metal releases you’ll hear this year.  Like a predator sniffing blood, Comatose Music homed in on Anthropophagus Depravity last year and secured their collective signature – truly a marriage made in the deepest caverns of Xibalba! July 2nd is the date decreed for the release of Apocalyto, so prepare yourself for hymns of sacrificial slaughter, visions of death and pulverising death metal power. Terror such as you have never known awaits! For more information on Anthropophagus Depravity click here Visit Anthropophagus Depravity on Facebook Visit Comatose Music here  Singaporean melodic death metallers Assault are back! After releasing their debut full-length "The Fallen Reich" in 2017, they are ready to unleash In Aevum Et IIustrata. The new album title translates into "In the Age of the Enlightened" will be released on June 30th 2021 via Eastbreath Records. Now the band have announced the artwork and the tracklist. Vocalist Clarence provides some insights what the album is about: “The whole album revolves around the theme of the Bavarian Illuminati era - a complex and short history of the Bavarian Illuminati which was founded on 1 May 1776 and ended in 1788 by Adam Weishaupt. We hope to transpire our listeners with our interpretation of the Bavarian Illuminati on this album. In terms of songwriting, this is another step forward for us as a band as we are continuously trying to push our musical boundaries beyond our comfort zone”. The album also featured a guest appearance by Mr Andy Gillion from Mors Principium Est on the track 1788. Line-up:
The album is mixed and mastered by Wong Jian Liang from Aeonix Production and Verta Collective. Artwork by Mr Arif Rot, Vocalist of Wormrot. Assault was formed in June 2006 by vocalist Clarence and later joined by guitarist Hanesh and bassist Syaz. After several lineup changes, rhythm guitarist Noh joined the band in March 2010. Newest member Mitch (drums) joined the band on January 2019. The group debut 4-track EP, titled 'The Exceptions of the Rebellions' was released in 2011. The EP recorded and mixed by Cedric Chew, Inversion Studio. The EP garnered many positive reviews from reputable heavy metal website & magazine worldwide like Heavy Metal Tribune and Decibel Magazine. The same year, Assault toured heavily to support their EP release in South East Asia. The band first full-length album 'The Fallen Reich' was released in 2017 worldwide by Transcending Obscurity Asia, again with mixing/mastering by Cedric Chew, Inversion Studio. The album garnered attention worldwide and received critical acclaims and recognition such as the “Best Release of the Year – Singapore” awarded by Global Metal Apocalypse in December 2017. In January 2018, its debut album 'The Fallen Reich' made it onto Bandwagon top 45 standout Singapore music release. The released followed another tour through South-East Asia and Mongolia. The band was the first South-East Asia band to perform in the annual “Noise Metal Festival” held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  Italians Inner Code were born in the alleys of the ancient city of Florence, Italy, between the shadows of the monuments and the din of the locals. The band are united with just one purpose, to translate our repressed emotions into music, the most angry and unspeakable ones; to fulfil the desire to tell those little-told stories, cruel but full of teachings. Each of them come from different musical genres, with metal uniting us all. They have risen from the ashes of past bands, which have taken them to the darkest stages in Italy and now they return like a ‘new nightmare’. Those who grew up with electronics and those with hip-hop, each express his obscurity by putting it at the service of the band with the idea of creating something unique, drawing from their souls, from their Inner Code. They’ve chosen to sing in Italian (a genre that’s not sung in Italian), because they don’t want to leave anything unspoken and every chord must sound devastating together with every concept, without compromise. There’s no pandemic that can stifle such universal anger. Are you ready for something new and deadly? Inner Code are:
Band links: Official Website | Facebook | Youtube | Instagram | VK | On Sliptrick  British Lion, the ‘up close and personal’ side project band of Iron Maiden bassist & founder Steve Harris, have released a brand new video, ‘Land Of The Perfect People’. Watch here. Taken from their 2020 album The Burning, the song’s lyrics were written by vocalist Richard Taylor who comments, “It's about abandonment and issues from being brought up in a children's home." Although a summer European tour in support of The Burning couldn’t go ahead last year as planned, British Lion have now been confirmed for the 2022 UK Download Festival and are very much hoping to also reschedule some other European club and festival dates. All updates will be posted on www.britishlionuk.com  Power metal masters Wings of Destiny are proud to release their 2nd single "Playing With Fire", taken from their 6th album "Memento Mori" due for release via Wormholedeath. "Playing With Fire" is available on all digital platforms HERE Watch the video here:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSG-9eKanXs Wings of Destiny is a Power Metal band originally from Costa Rica, founded at the end of the year 2013, influenced by such bands as Helloween, Rhapsody of Fire, Angra and Symphony X; nevertheless through the time the band managed to develop a very particular and recognizable sound creating a cult following among fans all around the world. Wings of Destiny was originally called only "Destiny", but due to the existence of another band of the same name [band from Sweden], decided to change its name to Wings of Destiny [known, also, as WOD] in the year 2014.  Chthonic has revealed a second clip, “Oceanquake,” from symphonic extreme metal masters’ upcoming live album and video, Chthonic Megaport 2021, scheduled for release on May 19. Watch “Oceanquake” today, exclusively via Consequence of Sound at https://consequence.net/2021/05/heavy-culture-chthonic-freddy-lim-oceanquake-video-premiere/. “Oceanquake” features an appearance by Audrey Tang, a long-time Chthonic fan who currently holds the seat of Digital Minister in Taiwan's cabinet. “Audrey’s voice has been added with Machine Effect,” explains frontman Freddy Lim. “I’ve never known anybody’s voice that fit in so well with this kind of effect. It makes this Chthonic DrumNBass remix so unique!” Chthonic Megaport 2021 documents Chthonic’s return to the stage to headline Taiwan’s massive Megaport Festival. The release will be available digitally and as a special limited “anti-epidemic bundle” including a physical CD, Chthonic medical-quality mask, a Chthonic mask lanyard, large and small Chthonic mask containers and a small Chthonic spray can for sanitizer will be available. Pre-orders are available at https://ciongzo.com/en/product_detail.php?id=602. After making history by successfully managing the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan was able to move forward with the Megaport Festival, the first large-scale rock festival since the unprecedented global lockdown. Taking place March 27-28 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the festival featured more than 100 artists on 10 stages. Founded in 2006 by Chthonic’s Freddy Lim, who left the organizing team after being elected as a member of Taiwanese Parliament in 2016, Megaport Festival attracts tens of thousands of people every year, with this year’s festival selling out its 20,000 tickets within five minutes. While Taiwan is considered home of Austronesian peoples and a mystic island nation in the Orient, advanced technologies, modern cities, and upholding human rights and progressive values are also part of the image of Taiwan, and Chthonic gives the best interpretation of the contrasting images of the country. Chthonic's lyrics are inspired by Taiwanese mythology, folk stories and history, and the music incorporates elements of traditional Taiwanese folk music, enka and sorrowful melody from Taiwanese opera, accompanied by traditional Taiwanese musical instruments, such as hena, zheng - also known as "box zither"- and pgaku flute. Contemporary symphonic black metal, melodic death metal, blood-boiling riffs and solos are also integral parts of Chthonic's music. Several of Chthonic's albums have entered the In Taiwanese pop-music charts, and the band has been awarded the Golden Melody Award, the Taiwanese version of the Grammy Award. With exception of its earlier works, Chthonic's albums include Seediq Bale (2007), Mirror of Retribution (2009), Takasago Army (2011) and Bú-Tik (2013) were all released worldwide, with positive feedback from music critics. The band took on a lower profile with a reduced number of performances after Lim’s election into the Parliament in 2016, but they still released the album Battlefields of Asura in 2018, which won the Golden Melody Award for Best Band, as well as a number of other nominations. In 2019, Chthonic held a concert with a symphony orchestra in the square in front of Taiwan’s Presidential Office. It attracted 50,000 people, and its live video and audio was digitally released in 2020. From Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic in Japan to Ozzfest in the US, Bloodstock in the UK and WOA in Germany, Chthonic has performed at major music festivals around the world, and has had toured hundreds of shows in Europe, North America and Asia. The group has also worked with many internationally renowned artists, including Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe, Trivium’s Matt Heafy, guitarist Marty Friedman, Japanese folk singer Hajime Chitose, and Hong Kong diva Dennise Ho. Chthonic online:-
 Finnish metal band Solution 13 have signed a deal with Wormholedeath for the release of their second album “Chapters From Private Hell" worldwide. Band statement: “Chapters from Private Hell is a metal album, that has quite a lot of rock influences. We tried to mix big riffs with big hooks, it’s up to listener to decide how we succeeded. Late 2020 we got in contact with Wormholedeath, and pretty soon we signed a deal with them.”
Solution 13 is a band hailing from Oulu, Finland and operating between rock and metal including the best of both worlds in their music. The band features former and recent members from bands like Poisonblack, Afterworld, Liverbox, Wengele, National Napalm Syndicate and Bleeding Utopia (Swe) etc. Originally the band was already formed back in 2000 and it released its debut album simply called Solution 13 (2003) through a small Finnish indie label Low frequency records, but split up soon after that, while all the members were busy with other musical projects. New album was recorded at Oulu during summer 2020 and it was mixed by Kari Vähäkuopus (Catamenia, Burning Point, Poisonblack etc.) and mastered at Finnvox studios by legendary Mika Jussila (Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Stratovarius, Amorphis etc.). Solution 13 line-up:
https://www.facebook.com/solution13band  [Photo Credit: Krisztina Mate] Ever since bursting onto the scene in 2000, Budapest’s Bornholm has been an unstoppable force in the black and pagan metal scene. Touring with household names like Ex Deo, Varg, Arkona and many more, the Hungarian four-piece powerhouse has made a name for themselves with spectacular live shows and four tremendous studio albums. Now, Bornholm are ready to take their career to another level with leading Austrian metal label Napalm Records as a strong partner by their side! Listen to Bornholm’s Primaeval Pantheons in full HERE Bornholm singer and guitarist Sahsnot about signing to Napalm Records: “The time has come to bring you some great news. We spent the last two years working harder than ever. In the meantime, the world changed completely, but it had no influence on us at all. We began to work on our next record - we have the toughest, longest and most unforgettable work period behind us. As a result, we have signed with Napalm Records, currently one of the best and strongest record labels. It means huge progress for us and we hope the new record will live up to its hopes. We are really grateful for them as they put their trust in the record and the band. A new era begins in our lives and I think we’ve found our place.” New music from Bornholm’s upcoming fifth studio album via Napalm Records will be announced soon! Bornholm are:
Bornholm online: |
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