 With two albums on their back (the first one, “Designed To Dislike”, being considered “the debut album of the year 2007” at MTV’s Danish Metal Awards), Pitchblack is undisputedly on the top of the Danish death metal scene. Their attraction to the Swedish typical brutality is obvious, but their soft spot for aggressive catchiness and surprising, rapid-fire hooks is what makes their approach to the style so special. 2020 is the year Copenhagen quartet return to full-length albums, with “Death & Disbelief”, an effort granted to make Scandinavia shake in its foundations. Eleven tracks of sheers brutality, fast hooks, and that sense of metal-no-frills that makes Denmark’s metal so appealing. “Death & Disbelief" will be released in digital and LP by Emanzipation Productions, on October 23rd, 2020 and can be pre-ordered here.  Pitchblack was formed in 2002 and, five years later, their “Designed To Dislike” debut album made quite an impact in the Danish and European extreme metal scenes. Fast forward to 2010, and “The Devilty”, their second effort, continued the same path, even featuring Mercyful Fate’s Hank Sherman as guest in one of the solos of the album. The reactions to this record were of extremes: the cover artwork was banned in Germany for being too gore, but the festival promoters did take notice too, and soon Pitchblack was stepping in stages of events such as Download Festival (UK) or Copenhell (DK). “Death & Disbelief” is, now, the third chapter of the quartet’s history. Where will it lead them? Line up:
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 photo by Yalon Schori New Jersey-based progressive metal source Sensory Records has signed Israel's long-running troupe Subterranean Masquerade. The band has recently completed their fourth LP, Mountain Fever, which is being prepared for release in the months ahead. Subterranean Masquerade, which until recently was considered a cult studio project for fine taste followers, has transformed over the last two years into an exciting, colourful live act, mixing the traditions of heavy metal together with the aesthetics of world music performance, spiritual punk and pure rock 'n' roll. Praised by music journalists all over Europe and beyond, the band has taken over the stages, showcasing a distinctly audacious execution of their complex songwriting while maintaining an almost magical grip on their audience, reviewed as rave parties for metalheads. Led by guitarist Tomer Pink, Subterranean Masquerade was previously fronted by Green Carnation vocalist Kjetle Nordhus and Novembers Doom's Paul Khur. The band officially announces its new line-up - a fully Israeli collective of musicians hand-picked from the top of Israel's prog scene - under which the band has been touring with and recording since 2018. Now, the band is heading towards new ground; the spearheads of Israeli progressive oriental metal are back with their most diverse album yet. With their fourth LP, and sixth overall release, Mountain Fever was recorded between Golan Heights to Fascination Street Studio (engineered by David Castillo) and mixed by Jens Bogren (Leprous, Katatonia, Opeth). Here, Subterranean Masquerade continues pushing the balance between pioneering experimentalism to their own take on modern pop culture and its manifestation in the Middle East. Revealing an album comprised of African and Balkan brass sections, Arabic violins, extended vocal techniques, and several special guest appearances, the band explores radio friendly hooks that emerge out of heavy riffs and polychromatic arrangements. See a brief teaser for Subterranean Masquerade's Mountain Fever RIGHT HERE. Watch for an official release date for Mountain Fever to be announced alongside full audio samples and much more over the coming months. Subterranean Masquerade: Davidavi (Vidi) Dolev - vocals Tomer Pink - guitars Shai Yallin - keys Golan Farhi - bass Or Shalev - guitars Omer Fishbein - guitars Jonathan Amar - drums https://www.submasq.net https://www.facebook.com/Submasq https://www.instagram.com/subterranean_masquerade https://submasq.bandcamp.com http://www.lasersedgegroup.com https://lasersedge.bandcamp.com http://www.facebook.com/TheLasersEdge http://www.twitter.com/thelasersedge Napalm Death release "Backlash Just Because" single & lyric video; new album pre-orders available25/7/2020  Photo credit: Gobinder Jhitta; left to right: Shane Embury, Mark “Barney” Greenway, Danny Herrera U.K. grindcore pioneers Napalm Death, who recently announced the release of their first album in five years, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (Sept. 18, Century Media Records), have released the first single and lyric video from the highly-anticipated album: “Backlash Just Because” (https://youtu.be/FFDHuCeaM_Y). Napalm Death vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway said of the track, which debuted yesterday on Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal with Jose Mangin: “This song in particular really spurred me on when I was writing lyrics for the album overall. It’s raucous and traditional, but also quirky and discordant and ultimately catchy-as-anything in the context of rampaging noise. Lyrically it was directed at the spiteful art of creating easy targets and fomenting paranoia and revulsion, which is something that I feel has become de rigueur in very recent times. I really let loose on the more sporadic vocals at the end of the song – it’s a real barkfest at that point. Lovely.” Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism is the eagerly-awaited follow-up to the band’s critically-acclaimed 2015 album, Apex Predator – Easy Meat, and is the sixteenth studio album effort by Napalm Death. It was again recorded with long time producer Russ Russell and features artwork by Frode Sylthe. From the pinnacle of confrontational instrumental extremity and steadfast lyrical humanity, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism warps musical landscapes all over again. The 12-song release is seething with caustic evolution and unrelenting scope.
Next to the jewel case CD edition of the album, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism is also available digitally and as a limited mediabook CD (+ patch) with 3 bonus tracks: “Feral Carve-up,” “White Kross” (Sonic Youth cover) and “Blissful Myth” (Rudimentary Peni cover). The vinyl version of the album includes a double-sided A2 poster and the bonus track “Air’s Turned Foul in Here” in the following 180g. Variations and limitations: Black LP - unlimited “Germicidal yellow swirled vinyl” – 250 copies from Century Media Records webshop “Stressed sanguine blood smear vinyl” – 500 copies from indie stores “Mucus with envy swirled vinyl” – 250 copies from Revolver “De-weaponised steel and black swirled vinyl” – 200 copies from Decibel Magazine The pre-order for Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism in its various formats is starting today here: https://NapalmDeath.lnk.to/ThroesofJoyintheJawsofDefeatism. Earlier this year, Napalm Death released a quickly sold-out 7”/digital EP entitled “Logic Ravaged By Brute Force” to enhance their latest and extremely successful European touring run and to begin the campaign for the upcoming Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism studio album. Check out “Logic Ravaged By Brute Force”: https://youtu.be/AeYoQAhyArM Or stream the EP via Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/57fFOIV2veGlPlQuZNNJnZ Stay tuned for further details on Napalm Death’s upcoming studio album and touring plans coming soon. http://www.napalmdeath.org http://www.facebook.com/officialnapalmdeath https://twitter.com/officialND https://www.instagram.com/theofficialnapalmdeath http://www.centurymedia.com http://www.youtube.com/centurymedia http://www.twitter.com/centurymediaeu http://www.facebook.com/centurymedia http://www.cmdistro.com  After finishing the recordings of its debut album, Brazilian heavy metal band Ignited signed a deal with Voice Music for the release. The full-length, entitled "Steelbound", was recorded in Estúdio Fusão and produced by Thiago Bianchi (Noturnall, ex-Shaman) with artwork made by Gustavo Sazes, a Brazilian artist who previously worked with names like Manowar, Arch Enemy, Morbid Angel and Dream Evil. In its lyrics, "Steelbound" addresses different subjects and experiences that are brought to the listener through metaphors, seeking an authentic connection with the fans, giving them the opportunity to make their own personal interpretations of each song. The physical copy of the album can be ordered outside of Brazil through the band's website - ignitedmetal.com - and the digital version is already live on Spotify and other major streaming platforms.
The guitarist Dalton Castro comments: "This deal with Voice Music is a big achievement for us and we are very excited for what comes next! We will work with the support of one of the best rock/metal labels in Brazil, which is managed by Silvio Golfetti, who carries the metal flag since the 80’s and is one of the biggest supporters of the Brazilian metal scene.” - Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/3l6irgxUJFBJNzEoO8e7T1 - Site - www.ignitedmetal.com - Facebook: www.facebook.com/ignitedofficialband - Instagram: www.instagram.com/ignited_official  Icelandic black metal formation Auðn have revealed the cover artwork and details of their upcoming new album 'Vökudraumsins Fangi'. The band's third full length will be released on October 30th via Season of Mist. The cover artwork of 'Vökudraumsins Fangi' was created by Mýrmann and can be viewed below, together with the track list. Auðn comment: "We are thrilled to announce our new album 'Vökudraumsins fangi' which will be released through Season Of Mist this autumn. After the release of Farvegir fyrndar we found ourselves wanting to expand our horizons and try new directions with our music. Adding a new member to the fold we entered uncharted territory for Auðn. We further explored themes we have wanted to chart for some time. More aggression, more melody and with the help of Jens Bogren we achieved soundscapes that echo the vast desolation that is Auðn today."
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:
Guest musicians:
https://www.facebook.com/audnofficial/ https://audnofficial.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/audnofficial/  Without further ado, Norwegian Black / Death Metallers Brotthogg announce their new album "The Die Is Cast". The album is the follow-up to last year album "Echoes Of The Past". "The Die Is Cast" will be released on August 1st. With this second full-length album following their critically acclaimed debut Echoes of the Past (2019), Brotthogg presents a new hyper charged melodic blackened thrashing beast. The album is filled with high-speed staccato riffing, massive and intense harmonies, as well as slower parts with a gloomy, heavy atmosphere. The band has now released the first track of the new album, Nokturne, to give you an taste of what to come. Check it out here:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLXAA1dyamo Brotthogg says: "With our new album we continue to improve our witches' brew of everything we consider to be the best attributes of extreme metal. We aim to offer our listeners the duality of the melodic and the aggressive, the heroic and the chaotic, the moderate and the technical, all in one fine mixture. This is black metal influenced by melodic death metal, and strongly laced with elements of thrash, and I hope we have created an ambitious and intriguing release well worth exploring.”
Brotthogg deals in Melodic Black / Death / Thrash Metal that owes its allegiance to bands like Emperor, Old Man's Child, Symphony X and Dissection. The members are known from bands like Subliritum and Chton. The name Brotthogg is derived from an old forgotten Norwegian word in dialect meaning ”The one who has to take care of the job, the unpleasant one” Brotthogg's album The Die is Cast is now available for pre-order on their Bandcamp page.  Art Gates Records are proud to announce Thai symphonic & progressive power metal act Melodius Deite as the new artist to join their international roster. The five pieced combo is formed back in 2007 and is characterized by their advanced skills and the unique combination of Heavy Metal subgenres, such as symphonic metal, power metal, progressive metal and even the most extreme genres. In words of the band:- "We feel more than happy to work with Art Gates Records. They’re really professional and dedicated, definitely a great record label. We’re so excited and can’t wait to show you what we got with the new album" After releasing 3 albums: "Episode 1: Dream On", "Episode II: Voyage Through the World of Fantasy", "Episode III: The Archangels of the Olympians", the band is ready to release their fourth and brand new album "Elysium" in October 2020 through Art Gates Records worldwide.
The album has been recorded at Melodius Deite Studio, mixed and mastered by Pawel Karlinski at Karlin Studio in Poland and produced by Biggie Phanrath. More info at www.artgatesrecords.com  Everyone agrees, Arcana XXII was not just another metal band. They were musicians writing highly original material and performing in a country where the odds were firmly against this style of music. This collection of songs stems from a time when almost no one in Africa gave a damn about heavy metal. They were the first songs of this genre ever to be released in a country like Namibia. They were, in fact, one of the very first metallic rumblings on the entire African continent. For the band there were no local musical footsteps to follow, no high end musical equipment to be had and certainly no industry to support the endeavour. This is unfiltered home-grown stuff, love it or hate it. The songs on this compilation were recorded between 1997 and 2002 - the vast majority of them live and on analogue equipment. The story may be largely untold, but the music not entirely unheard. The fans in Namibia and South Africa eventually took notice, some European media took interest and the band had fun recording and performing these songs over a time of almost seven years. Today, metal bands in Africa are no longer novelties - the style has come to stay. But it had to start somewhere and Arcana XXII from the Namibian capital Windhoek were right there at the very beginning. In collaborative effort over three continents, “Return to the Darkland“ was compiled by the band members themselves to showcase the legacy of a band that was truly one of the pioneers of heavy metal music on the African continent.
Namibia, on the southwestern coast of Africa, is one of the most sparsely populated places on earth. The desert state, which only gained independence from South Africa in 1990, can look back on an eventful history and was a German colony from 1884 to 1915 before it became a vassal state of its southern neighbour . All band members are born and bred Namibians and South Africans with a diverse European heritage. Arcana XXII – “A Return to the Darkland / Untold” Digi-CD+DVD expected to released 25.02.2021. Digital Single “Sweet Immortal” over all channels out 23.10.2020. Biography: https://www.einheit-produktionen.de/einheit-artist-arcana-xxii  Venezuela's death metal legends Sentencia are back, after 25 years and announce the signing with Wormholedeath and their new album "Solve et Coagula". "In this new album Sentencia's lyrics speak about the Death, Anti-Christianity, Society, Chaos and Misanthropy. Showing the life-vision of the band's members" "Solve et Coagula" will be released on 31/07/2020 via Wormholedeath/The Orchard.
Sentencia is a death metal band formed in Caracas Venezuela in 1988. After several presentations at the local scene, the band records their first demo tape at 1991. In 1993 they released the second demo called "Silence" with songs recorded the year before. This demo includes a song well known by the local specialized media named "Racism" within the band made a fusion with afro and Caribbean sounds. In 1994, Sentencia released their third demo, recorded in a live concert at RajaTabla café, Caracas, which eventually turns into a split demo with Extremaunción Band at the end of 1994. In 1995 Sentencia released their fourth demo named "tape 95", which made a preview of the songs that were recorded for their first production named Roots (that later was named as Inner Agression), Sons from the South and a new version of Racism from 1993. In the middle of 1995 the band released the first CD production simply called Sentencia. After some concerts and presentations around the country, the band disbanded definitely in 1996. Sentencia remains as a cult band in the Venezuelan metal culture 25 years after they come back with their second professional studio work called "Solve et Coagula". Line-Up: Ricardo Toscano: Guitar, Piano & keyboards, Tenor Saxophone. Enzo Querci: Guitar, Bass and lead vocals. Guest: Aldo T. : Drums https://www.facebook.com/sentencia.ultimogrito  [photo credit: Marko Simonen] The wait is almost over! Cinematic metal icons Dark Sarah will release their new epos Grim in about two weeks on July 17, 2020 via Napalm Records. To lift some of the suspense, they have just released a third stunning single, “Illuminate”, along with a perfectly fitting music video, drawing the listener even deeper into their fairytale-like storyline of magical orbs and otherworldly magic. Bursting with the tremendous energy of their music, Dark Sarah's cinematic metal hymn, “Illuminate”, quickly expands into a mighty summoning, enfolding its pure power in the spellbinding chorus that will send shivers down the listener's spine. Heidi Parviainen states: ””Illuminate” is the name of the second ’orb’ that the protagonist Luna finds. It is a magical purple orb to summon the powers of wind and the moon. Luna asks the moon to illuminate her and to revive her magic powers to fight against the darkness upon the city of Grim.” Watch the video for “Illuminate!” HERE: Cinematic metal icons Dark Sarah start an astonishing new fairytale-like storyline with their fourth studio album, Grim. The beguiling new dimension, coalescing between crystal-clear vocals and propulsive hardness, draws you into the tempestuous maelstrom of their horror fantasy theme. Introducing the new protagonist, Luna, the band invites you to their mythical world of orbs, ravens, rabbit-headed people and Mörk, that’ll wrap you up in a surreal dreamscape. Pre-Order New Album, Grim, HERE! Find Dark Sarah online: WEBSITE NAPALM RECORDS |
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Global Metal Apocalypse Archives
July 2020
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