 photo by Michael Mahne Lamb New Zealand's speed metal overlords Stälker are returning with yet another lesson in raw and in-your-face heavy metal, breathing the spirit and danger of the glorious 80s. Following 2019's globally acclaimed Powermad EP, the band's impatiently awaited second full-length album, Black Majik Terror, will be released on October 30, 2020 via Napalm Records. As Stälker weaves through tales of darkness and the ever present evil in the world, they close Black Majik Terror with the monumental "Intruder". This track employs everything the band does well - from their exaggerated vocal style to rapidly executed riffs and is an exquisite culmination of Stälker's work leading to this point. Everything you want from Speed Metal can be found here. "Intruder" is the second single being released off Black Majik Terror, following the anthemic "Of Steel And Fire". The song is accompanied by a raw tale of rabid outlaws tearing through a post apocalyptic hellscape - viewers are in for a real treat! Watch the music video for "Intruder" HERE Black Majik Terror will available in various formats/editions (see below) - pre-order your copy HERE. Stälker are: Daif: Vocals + Bass Chris: Guitars Nick: Drums Stälker online: Napalm Records
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 Icelandic black metal formation Auðn are now premiering the second new track of their upcoming record 'Vökudraumsins Fangi'. The track "Ljóstýra" is streaming via the official Season Of Mist Youtube channel HERE. The video was created by Aimed and Framed. The band's third full length will be released on October 30th. Pre-orders are now live in the Season Of Mist shop HERE. Auðn comment on the track:- "'Ljóstýra', meaning 'Faint light' is a metaphor for loneliness and the never ending jaded grind our world is spiralling towards, we hope for brighter days that never seem to materialize. Set in a frozen waste (Auðn) a shimmer of light flickers in the distance in an old house This faint light represents the hope of change, that the seasons will return and this perpetual darkness and cold will cease. As the years go by you grow bitter and cold like the world you are forced to inhabit, the feeling that the world will get brighter ever fading into memory. When darkness falls and all hope seems gone the faint candle light brings solace and for a brief moment the world feels bright again.This is 'Ljóstýra'" As the country's vibrant black metal scene has proven, Iceland can be a beautiful and sinister place where furious elements rage teaching fear but also inspiring human creativity. Emphasizing melodies rather than dissonance and approaching their music from a dramatic, classical black metal angle, Auðn deliver another mesmerizing piece of art with ‘Vökudraumsins Fangi’. Hailing from the village of Hveragerði in the south of Iceland, Auðn deliver haunting melodies and beautifully frozen atmospheres – as opposed to the jarring and caustic blunt force trauma that has brought this remote place in the Northern Atlantic to the black metal forefront. Founded in 2010, Auðn's talent was quick to be recognized. After the release of the self-titled debut, the band got invited to Iceland’s main metal event, the Eistnaflug Festival. They participated and won the local Wacken Metal Battle contest in 2016, while making it to the top three during the infamous Wacken Open Air festival itself. Shows at the prestigious Inferno and Roadburn festivals followed in 2017. The second full-length, 'Farvegir Fyrndar' was released in November 2017, continuing the band’s fast ascent. Highly praised by the international metal press, the second record reached back to a more classic second-generation black metal approach combined with a sense of elegance and melancholy that one can feel while dwelling among the bleak, extraordinary landscapes of the island. The Icelanders embarked on European tours with label mates Gaahl’s Wyrd in 2017 and The Great Old Ones (2017 and 2018) and captivated festival audiences at the biggest European fests, such as Copenhell, Summer Breeze Open Air, Eurosonic Noorderslag, Roskilde, Eindhoven Metal Meeting and more. Returning with ‘Vökudraumsins fangi’, Auðn explore new soundscapes and push their music to new heights, thereby setting themselves further apart from their Icelandic contemporaries. The six piece draws inspirations from their natural surroundings, but also chart the territory of the mind. The album title literally translates to ‘prisoner of the daydream’, but rather refers to a perpetual state of delusion of a life that never took place. Join Auðn while traversing the blurred lines between reality and the supernatural and the otherworldly sceneries of their native Iceland.
Recording line-up: Andri Björn Birgisson - Guitars Aðalsteinn Magnússon - Guitars and vocals Hjalti Sveinsson - Vocals Hjálmar Gylfason - Guitars Matthías Hlifar Mogensen - Bass and guitars Sigurður Kjartan Pálsson – Drums Guest musicians: Arnaldur Ingi Jónsson - Hammond organ on “Næðir um “and “Horfin mér” Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson - Grand piano & Mellotron on “Næðir um” and “Vökudraumsins fangi” Cover artwork: Mýrmann https://www.facebook.com/audnofficial/ https://audnofficial.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/audnofficial/ 
Australian Progressive Metal Band Ironstone releases Hollow. They state: “We’re thrilled to present 'Hollow’, the third single from our debut EP, Prophecy. The song addresses one of the largest challenges facing our generation today... the state of the Earth’s ecology. This topic evokes a range of emotions, from anger and despair through to disbelief and sadness. Despite this, Hollow is about hope and the part we need to play in affecting our future for the better." Hollow’s lyrics caution against a path of ongoing greed and excess and cynically invite the listener to ‘gorge upon the bounty’ without considering anyone else or the consequences of their actions, giving a healthy dose of clarity in a reverse psychology package. Hollow has a sound that is as nuanced as the message it delivers. The guitars while conveying frustration and rage are offset by carefully placed ambient elements. The whole song fluctuates between bursts of percussive, aggressive guitar, technical drumming and beautiful melodies that overflow with emotional tension. All of this culminates in a big build-up and pay-off to help drive the message home! The video for Hollow features orange and blue lighting, giving it a jarring, dramatic theme. Individual shots are complemented by graphics, glitches, and symbols, giving the clip a frantic atmosphere that helps to convey a feeling of urgency. Hollow was mixed and mastered by Chris Themelco of Monolith Studios, Melbourne. IRONSTONE are: Dan Charlton - Lead Vocals Edward Warren - Lead Guitar, Vocals Aidan Kalms - Rhythm Guitar Oliver Hosking - Bass Guitar Jackson Whyte - Drums, Vocals Ironstone is a progressive metal band from Bendigo, Australia. With influences coming from a range of modern metal genres, their music features the duality of clean and distorted vocals, djent driven riffs and breakdowns, atmospheric layers and catchy choruses. The result is a contemporary metal sound that is sophisticated, melodic and hard-hitting.  Israeli progressive metal wizards Scardust have released a music video for ‘Addicted‘ , the track is taken from their new album ‘Strangers‘, which will be released on October 30th, 2020 via M-Theory Audio. The YouTube video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/lxJsPhHHntQ "In Tantibus II we met the one who decided to disconnect from reality into her own mind, and now in Addicted we find that there is someone who cares about her. She tries to show her the meaning of addiction, and explain to her that she is running away instead of facing reality. This video shows us the passage between the worlds of reality and addiction. The character in Addicted can walk freely between those worlds, she is neither stuck nor fighting to get out. The choir represents the way out, and the string quartet represents the way in."
Scardust has also launched the “Mist Cover Challenge”, an invitation for fans to play or sing along with the final minute of the new song “Mist”, the closing track of “Strangers”, with the chance of winning a deluxe package of signed CD and vinyl copies of “Strangers”, a new design Scardust t-shirt and guitar picks. Join the challenge here: https://scardust.co/mist-cover-challenge Vocalist Noa Gruman explains:- "Strangers deals with the concept of being estranged. Written from multiple perspectives, it explores the ways in which people can be estranged from one another, from themselves, from society, from their loved ones and even from their own subconscious. After the overture, which introduces musical themes, the album separates into two parts. Every song from the second part is a mirror image of a parallel song in the first. Each pair of songs tells the story of a pair of strangers. They can be played together as a stand-alone piece, as individual songs or as part of the album, whatever the listener’s heart desires.” The album was mixed by Yonatan Kossov and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Arch Enemy). Pre-order link https://smarturl.com/scardust2020 SCARDUST is: Noa Gruman – Vocals Yanai Avnet – Bass Yadin Moyal – Guitar Itai Portugali – Keyboards Yoav Weinberg – Drums www.scardust.co www.facebook.com/ScardustOfficial www.instagram.com/scardust_official  England thrash metal unit Evile has signed a worldwide contract with Napalm Records! Since their formation in 2004, Evile has been turning heads and taking names – delivering four pure thrash offerings blended with an uncompromising death metal attack. Evile are known for explosive and captivating live shows, having performed at Wacken Open Air, Bloodstock Festival and Hellfest and with bands like Megadeth, Kreator and Amon Amarth. With their current discography, the four-piece have been tearing up the scene with a raucous new take on the classic thrash metal sound. Since recently announcing some exciting new line-up changes with the talented Ol Drake on vocals/guitar and new member Adam Smith of RipTide as rhythm guitarist, they are now more than ready to drop some new material. Evile are currently in the studio recording the long awaited follow up to their 2013 release Skull. More exciting news to come in early 2021 ... Ol Drake, Evile, on the signing: "We're extremely excited to announce our signing to Napalm Records! We'd heard a lot of great things about Napalm over the years and it's an honour to join the ranks of some excellent bands. Evile haven't released any music since 2013 so we promise to deliver a crushing thrash metal classic which I believe will surprise everyone; even the die-hard "Grave" fans. As previously announced, Matt is unfortunately no longer a part of the band, so I've taken over on vocal duties while remaining on lead guitar too. Also, please welcome our newest member, Adam Smith of RipTide, on rhythm guitar. We begin recording with producer and engineer Chris Clancy on September 17 at Andy Sneap's Backstage Studios. We can't wait for you to hear what we have in store!" Sebastian Münch, A&R and Product Manager Napalm Records: "I am super excited to work with Ol Drake and my favourite British Thrash Metal band Evile. I've been a fan since "Enter The Grave”, and the new demos I've already listened to sound simply amazing! Expect a monster of an album in 2021! Welcome to the Napalm family!" Evile are: OL Drake - Vocals & Lead Guitar Ben Carter – Drums Joel Graham – Bass Adam Smith - Rhythm Guitar Evile online:  Avandra has signed a deal with Layered Reality Productions! Avandra is a Puerto Rican progressive metal band that made waves in the progressive metal scene in 2019 with the release of their critically acclaimed album Descender. This album was positively received by progressive metal fans worldwide. The band was searching for a new label to release their third upcoming album and found LRP to be a great fit for them. Bandleader Christian Ayala had the following to when asked about the signing: “Avandra is very proud to sign to such a great up-an-coming and hard working label like LRP! We can’t wait to start this journey together!” The band is now working on their third release and more information about that will be revealed in the coming months! https://www.facebook.com/avandraPR/ https://www.instagram.com/avandrapr/ https://avandra.bandcamp.com/  [Photo Credit: Piotr Kwasnik] New Zealand metal band Alien Weaponry join Los Angeles based management company, The RSE Group, home to high profile artists including Slayer, Gojira, Mastodon and Ghost. Henry de Jong, drummer of the powerhouse trio had this to say about the deal:- “We couldn’t be more excited to work with Rick Sales and be a part of the company that manages some of our favourite artist. Rick Sales is a legend, and an influential figure in the metal scene worldwide.” Lewis de Jong, singer/guitarist adds:- “We’re pretty humbled to be welcomed into this exclusive family of artists”. The New Zealanders have been making headlines across the world with their unique fusion of thrash metal and their native language, Te Reo Maori. They occupied the no. 1 slot for 13 weeks on the ‘Devil’s Dozen’ countdown on SiriusXM Liquid Metal, their debut album Tū was voted album of the decade by Finnish metal magazine Tuonela, in Denmark they were welcomed to the Copenhell festival by a crowd of 10,000 doing a haka in their honour, and opened up for Slayer in Stuttgart, Germany on their final European show last year. While the world has been in lockdown due to Covid-19, the band has been back at home in New Zealand, writing and recording their second album. The album was due for release in 2020, but has been delayed until 2021 because of the pandemic. While Alien Weaponry has had to cancel all overseas touring in 2020, they will soon be announcing dates and locations for a New Zealand tour later this year. ALIEN WEAPONRY online: WEBSITE  Israeli progressive wizards Sscardust have released a music video for 'Tantibus II' , the track is taken from their new album 'Strangers', which will be released on October 30th, 2020 via M-Theory Audio. The YouTube video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/C7uOQPjjiqM Tantibus is a word with Latin roots, meaning “Nightmare”. Some say it is an evil spirit that puts the sleeper into a state of Paralysis. It has the monstrous character of a nightmare and produces a feeling of anxiety or terror. Tantibus II continues the story of the song Tantibus (the first ever single and video the band officially released, back in 2015) in which the protagonist is stuck within a Sleep Paralysis and is looking for a way out. In Tantibus II the protagonist becomes addicted to this feeling, describing it as “taming her demon”, disconnecting from reality into her own mind in which she can now feel safe. The EXIT sign represents the way out of the nightmare, as seen in Tantibus when the protagonist chases it without ever reaching it. Tantibus II’s opening shot is an EXIT sign broken into pieces at the feet of the protagonist who is holding a hammer. This is when she decided to destroy her way out and sink into her nightmare. Soon we will find out that in reality there is someone who cares about our protagonist, and they will get to show their side of this story in the very next song to be released. Can you guess what it’s called? Check our YouTube channel on Tuesday September 15th to see if you’re right. Vocalist Noa Gruman explains:- “Strangers deals with the concept of being estranged. Written from multiple perspectives, it explores the ways in which people can be estranged from one another, from themselves, from society, from their loved ones and even from their own subconscious. After the overture, which introduces musical themes, the album separates into two parts. Every song from the second part is a mirror image of a parallel song in the first. Each pair of songs tells the story of a pair of strangers. They can be played together as a stand alone piece, as individual songs or as part of the album, whatever the listener’s heart desires.”
“Strangers” was written and composed jointly by singer and band leader Noa Gruman and Orr Didi, who also collaborated with Gruman on “Sands of Time” – which was hailed by Prog Magazine as “extraordinary” – and Scardust’s debut EP “Shadow.” The album was mixed by Yonatan Kossov and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Arch Enemy). The recording sessions for “Strangers” began in the winter of 2020. From there, the band was faced with the outbreak of COVID-19, which brutally destroyed their recording plans, ironically forcing them to continue the process in isolation, estranged from one another, in their individual home studios. The album’s guest of honour is Patty Gurdy, a fantastic German folk musician and a dear friend of the band. The band’s relationship with Patty began two years ago after mutual admiration led to a guest appearance at a Berlin concert by the band. Friendship blossomed into a combined Scardust/Patty Gurdy UK tour in 2019 and now culminates in the track “Concrete Cages” on this album. Inspired by Patty’s unique playing, singing and character, this song was tailored by the band especially for her. They planned to record, perform a show and shoot a video together in Tel Aviv, but unfortunately, just days before Gurdy was due to travel, all flights between Germany and Israel were banned, forcing them to change their plans and adapt to the new reality. Eventually, Gurdy recorded in her home studio in Germany with support by Gruman via video chat from Israel, in tune with the times. “Strangers” also continues Scardust’s tradition of featuring lush and expansive vocals by the Hellscore choir. Gruman founded Hellscore for the recordings of the band’s previous album, and they have returned to reprise their role on “Strangers.” Since forming, Hellscore have also recorded and performed with Amorphis, Therion, Ayreon, Orphaned Land and many more. In addition, the album features the vocals of England’s prestigious Westbrook Hay Prep School Chamber Choir, who have performed at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall. Says Gruman:- “Recording the Westbrook Hay Prep School Chamber Choir led by Chris Wagstaff was one of the highlights of the recording process for me, and delivered a magical moment on the album. I flew to the UK especially to conduct and record them with Tony Wilson. The choir, made up of about 40 kids between the ages of 8 and 11, had prepared with great diligence and dedication, and their wonderful voices add magic to the song ‘Huts,’ which speaks about the wish to return to a simpler way of life.” Israel’s leading progressive metal group, Scardust has performed at such major festivals as Ramblin’ Man Fair (UK), Metaldays (Slovenia) and Midi (China). In addition, the band hosts the annual “Scarfest” event in their home country, where they’ve also appeared alongside the likes of Therion, Epica and Symphony X. The album can be pre-ordered here: https://smarturl.com/scardust2020 SCARDUST is: Noa Gruman – Vocals Yanai Avnet – Bass Yadin Moyal – Guitar Itai Portugali – Keyboards Yoav Weinberg – Drums www.scardust.co www.facebook.com/ScardustOfficial www.instagram.com/scardust_official Ukrainian Death Metallers Hell:on will release long-awaited 6th full-length album this Autumn5/9/2020  Ukraine's leading Death Metal band Hell:on will release long-awaited 6th full-length album "Scythian Stamm" on November 1st, 2020 via Hell Serpent Music! Art by Seeming Watcher
Hell:on was formed in early 2005, in Zaporizhzhia, Eastern Ukraine. Hell:on plays death metal with orient and tribal elements. Lyrics of the band generally deals with mysticism, philosophy and anti-religion. During the recordings of previous albums the band had worked with Andreas Kisser, Jeff Waters, Andy LaRocque, Marek Pajak. At 2019, band was nominated as Best Ukrainian Metal Act. Shared a stage with Rotting Christ, Kreator, Marduk, Napalm Death etc. https://www.facebook.com/HellonOfficial/ http://www.hell-on.net/ https://www.instagram.com/hellon_official_band/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/5OYsTSNk4sPWIXYV2vGEyk  Formed in Nicosia, Cyprus in 2012, Harmonize originally started as a thrash metal band until gradually transforming into the Heavy/Power Metal force that they are today, although the band still maintains some thrash and dark elements in their style. Harmonize have so far released two demos and have performed live numerous times (including shows alongside Blaze Bayley, Bonfire, Wotan and others) while working on fine tuning their sound and style. The band’s upcoming debut album, titled “Warrior in the Night” is scheduled for release on October 2nd and will be out on CD and Digital. It is based on an original epic fantasy fiction story that is still under development by guitarist George Constantinou and London-based actor Nicolina Papas. As expected, battles and swords, kings and queens, angels and demons are but a few of the symbolic themes one will come across as the album’s story unfolds!
“Warrior in the Night” includes a couple guest appearances by close friends of the band, one being actor Nicolina Papas on the haunting narrative “Beyond Darkness” outro track of the album and also Andreas Paraschos of death metal act BLYND, who provides the brutal chorus backing vocals on the song “Tonight.” A video for the title track is now available at https://youtu.be/Z2mOojGM-pM For more info visit the band’s website at https://www.harmonizeofficial.com Harmonize line-up: Sozos Michael – Vocals George Constantinou - Rhythm Guitars Lambros Apousianas – Lead Guitars Panagiotis Takkides – Bass Harrys Peratikas – Drums https://www.harmonizeofficial.com https://www.facebook.com/harmonizeofficialpage https://www.instagram.com/harmonize_band https://twitter.com/HarmonizeBand https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1SCa9PmUJrFtafwkFx2rfw/videos |
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September 2023
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