Indian heavy metallers Against Evil release their first single & video 'The Sound Of Violence' from their upcoming album "End Of The Line". The album will be out May 14th via Germany-Switzerland based record label Doc Gator Records in Europe and independently for the rest of the world. The sound of Against Evil is best described as heavy metal with power and speed ​​metal influences.


Shasank (Rhythm, Lead Guitar) explains about the song:

     “This is the first song we wrote for the new album. The song is about a gladiator’s fight for survival and freedom. Songwriting wise, we picked up where we left off with our previous release 'All Hail the King' while making slight changes to the overall sound. We think it sounds a lot heavier and in-your-face compared to our previous releases and we hope you like it as much as we do.”

     Against Evil is a heavy metal band from the city of Visakhapatnam (India), formed in 2014. Combining traditional heavy metal, power metal and speed metal with a modern sound, the band’s music can be described as adrenaline inducing, fist pumping, bone crushing, anthemic metal!

     The band released two albums – 'Fatal Assault' in 2015 and 'All Hail the King' in 2018 which were met with great critical acclaim. After the release of their album 'All Hail the King', the band started to gain a solid fan base worldwide, especially in Europe among fans of traditional heavy metal, power metal and thrash metal which led to the collaboration with German/Swiss based record label Doc Gator Records who later released the album in Europe.

     With the help of Doc Gator Records and Facebook metal group “Heavy Metal Fans”, the band set off on a crowdfunded European tour in the summer of 2019, performing club and festival shows in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland and sharing stages with legendary bands such as Queensryche, Riot V, Hardline and many others.

Line-up:

• Siri - Vocals, Bass Guitar
  
• Sravan - Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
• Shasank - Rhythm, Lead Guitar
• Noble John - Drums

Worldwide: https://againstevil.bandcamp.com
Europe: https://www.docgatorshop.com/cat/index/sCategory/22
India: https://www.instamojo.com/AgainstEvil/

     Indian metal artist Demonstealer collaborates with jazz / fusion drummer Gino Banks and bass prodigy Mohini Dey for new single 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' 

     After dropping a well received EP 'And This Too Shall Pass' in December 2020 Indian metal veteran, Demonstealer is back with a new single. The song titled 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' which means 'And thus always to tyrants' sees an unusual collaboration with jazz / fusion drummer Gino Banks and bass prodigy Mohini Dey. The track itself is an old school death metal song and both guest musicians given it a unique twist bringing in their own flair and style. 

     The artwork for the song has been done by well known artist and drummer of Indian metal band Gutslit, Aaron Pinto aka The Art of Kidsquidy. While ex-Demonic Resurrection guitar player Daniel Kenneth Rego has mixed and mastered the song. 

An official play-through style video has been released for the song as well here: https://youtu.be/49nsECqqbOQ

Demonstealer comments:

     'I've known Gino for years through my old day job as artist relations manager for Furtados Music and I've always wanted to jam or work with him so when he posted a tweet saying he was accepting songs to drum to I knew I had to send him something, I asked if he was up to play on a metal song and he said yes. He really smashed it on the track and I knew I wanted Mohini to play on it because they do a lot of gigs together but I didn't know how to ask her, thankfully Gino played her the song and she agreed to play on it. I couldn't be happier with the end result it's been a blast working with these stellar musicians'. 

The song is out now on all digital platforms and can be purchased and streamed at:-  https://demonstealer.bandcamp.com/track/sic-semper-tyrannis 

Mumbai-based death metal multi-instrumentalist, Sahil Makhija aka Demonstealer, is all set to release his next solo EP titled ‘And This Too Shall Pass’ on the 11th December, 2020. The 4-song EP is being self-released with the help of a crowd-funding campaign that Makhija personally set up in July earlier this year. Three years after The Last Reptilian Warrior, it was the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown in the country that provided Makhija with a new perspective and the inspiration to write new music. 

And This Too Shall Pass sees Makhija return to his absolute roots. He adds:-

     “I guess this is me at my most vulnerable. It’s just me, no incredible musicians to back me up, just me putting my expression and feelings and thoughts into songs for the world to listen to”.

An extreme music old-timer Makhija has long been a crucial part of the Indian metal scene; be it founding the country’s biggest extreme metal band (Demonic Resurrection), or starting up an independent record label (with releases by Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir) or setting up a premium recording studio dedicated to extreme metal – Makhija has had an enormous role in shaping the country’s heavy music landscape. After a successful third album, which saw collaborations with Kévin Paradis (Benighted, Svart Crown), Romain Goulon (Necrophagist), Kerim Lechner (Septic Flesh, Decapitated) and David Diepold (Obscura) amongst others, Makhija has resurfaced with a brand new Demonstealer release.

The release was mixed and mastered at the esteemed Hertz Studio (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader), a first for Makhija who is otherwise known to mix all the Demonstealer releases. The glorious artwork for the EP was provided by Indonesian artist Adi Dechristianize (Embalmer, Disgorge). All music on And This Too Shall Pass has been written, played and recorded by Makhija — making it truly a solo effort — a feat he hasn’t performed since his debut album released in 2008.

Tracklist

01. This Crumbling Earth (06:26)
02. A Festering Wound (04:06)
03. Systemic Failure (04:30)
04. From Flesh To Ashes (06:09)

Total runtime – 21:11

Credits

All music written, played & arranged by Demonstealer
All music recorded by Demonstealer at Demonic Studios, India
All music mixed & mastered by Hertz Studio, Poland
Album artwork & layout by Adi Dechristianize

And This Too Shall Pass releases on 11th December, 2020. Pre-orders for the digital release are now available on the band’s Bandcamp (World) and Redwolf (India). The EP will also be available on all streaming services including YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.

Listen to and share ‘And This Too Shall Pass’ EP sampler

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/demonstealer/and-this-too-shall-pass-ep-sampler
YouTube: https://youtu.be/XshobyYLyeo 

After building a large online fan base with multiple viral videos, New Delhi based Indian Metal Band Bloodywood decided to take to the road in the summer of 2019 with their "Raj Against The Machine Tour", not only the band's first ever tour, but the first time they played live as a band. Bloodywood had no idea what to expect on their first ever tour but the response was far greater than they ever imagined selling out 12 shows on the 3 week tour, culminating in the band's set at WACKEN OPEN AIR.

Bloodywood further documented the tour through footage shot across a GoPro strapped to guitarist / flautist Karan Katiyar's chest, frenzied mobile phone footage shot by the audience and the band themselves, as well as world class footage shot at Wacken Open Air.

The documentary tells the story of how the band formed and their surreal Raj against the Machine tour. After an action packed opening sequence that captures the essence of the film within the span of a minute and a half, you witness the birth of Punjabi / dhol metal, its fusion with lyrically focused rap music, the natural progression into original compositions from covers and the solidification of a musical agenda that's hell bent on creating a positive impact on the planet.

After receiving an invitation to perform at the Mecca of heavy metal: The Wacken Open Air, the band sets out to answer a burning question: can an Indian folk metal band, an online sensation that's never performed live before cut it on the biggest stage of them all? You have to see it to believe it.

In preparation for the tour, the first time that two of the seven members had ever travelled abroad, Bloodywood spent around 200 hours preparing. Fans flew from Zurich, drove from Belgium, and biked from the Czech Republic to watch them perform in Germany and England; at one show, an Indian fan proposed to his German girlfriend with the help of the band in the middle of their set. In Germany, their midday set at the Wacken Open Air was packed to full capacity.; the audience was 15000 strong! Bloodywood also became only the second band in 2 years and the only non-headliner to be asked to play an encore at the Dong Open Air.

The tour, however, wasn't all smooth sailing though, with 2 members of the band falling sick after the first show of the tour and playing through the illness for the next 7 shows. Bloodywood also got stuck in a hurricane on their last day of the tour, their only day off. They were drunk when it hit and carried $1000s of dollars worth of equipment on their backs to escape.

The soundtrack for the documentary consists of only Indian independent music, including everything from metal to acoustic. The different kinds of footage will tell fans a lot about the documentary itself, with the GoPro footage showing the story from the band's side, the audience footage capturing the energy of the moment, and the professional footage at the end showing the evolution of the band over the course of the tour in all its cinematic glory.

Indian metal band Demonic Resurrection completes 20 years! The band was formed in 2000 by main man Demonstealer when he was just 16 and has released 6 albums and one EP over their 2 decade long career. The band first received some global recognition in 2007 after appearing on Sam Dunn's acclaimed documentary 'Global Metal' before going on to signing with Candlelight Records in 2010 and starting to make appearances at some of the biggest metal festivals in Europe like Inferno, Brutal Assault, Metaldays, Wacken and Bloodstock. 

The band shared this update on Facebook and also released a new lyric video for the song 'Buddha - The Teacher' from their last album 'Dashavatar' which was released independently in 2017.

FB Post: https://www.facebook.com/DemonicResurrection/photos/a.1857354451201730/2676274255976408/?type=3&theater

Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvOxz73IZ-M

Buddha artwork by: Manish Tongbram (@manish_d3mon)
Bodhi Tree artwork by: Debopria Kar (@kaguya_arts)
Additional artwork & designs: Abhishek Goswami (@depthbeyonddarkness)

Animation and Typography by Abhishek Goswami of Sonicspawn Studios: https://www.youtube.com/sonicspawnstudios

After one month of voting, nearly 6,000 votes cast and countless sharing across all social media platforms by us and nominees alike, the time has come to announce the winners of the GMA Awards 2019.

But before that happens, there will be a change to how the nominees are cast. For 10 months of the year we will be running a series of rounds from which the 10 finalists will be recognised for the annual event.

The system will work as thus: nominees elected in the month of January are voted for in February... February nominees voted in March, etc and finishes with nominees in October being voted for in November - the finalists will then be voted for across the month of December and into early January 2021; finishing 8th January 2021.

Now that's put out into the open, we can finally reveal the winners of the GMA Awards 2019.

Global Metal Ambassador 2019

1. Gojira (France) - (28.1%)
   
2. Freddy Lim (Taiwan) - (21.4%)
3. Jake Shuker & Monzer Darwish (Syria) - (9.7%)
4. Sahil Makhija (India) - (8%)
5. Slaves To Sirens (The Lebanon) - (6.9%)
6. Underside (Nepal) - (6.4%)
7. Rock Arka'n (Togo) - (4.9%)
8. Roy Dipankar (India -'Extreme Nation' director) - (4.6%)
9. Overthrust (Botswana) - (4.1%)
10. Zarraza (Kazakhstan) - (3.5%)
11. World Metal Congress (International) - (2.2%)*
    

  * Later withdrawn by request of nominee.

Bloodstock is delighted to share that New Delhi’s BLOODYWOOD will headline the Sophie Lancaster stage on Friday, in a UK festival exclusive. Blending Indian folk instruments and heavy metal, this is sure to be a unique set you won’t want to miss! Check out their most recent single (closing on 1.4 million views), ‘Machi Bhasad (Expect A Riot)’ at https://youtu.be/Gsy5sJy5_34. 

Saturday’s Sophie Lancaster stage headliners are none other than extreme metal miscreants CATTLE DECAPITATION. Hailing from California, the Metal Blade signed group release their crushing new album ‘Death Atlas’ this Friday, November 29th! Not familiar? Listen to ‘Bring Back The Plague’ from the new LP at https://youtu.be/BBy4gn8VBMo. Head here to pre-order all manner of cool formats.

Birmingham death metal brutes MEMORIAM will be Saturday’s special guests on the Sophie Lancaster stage. The band’s third album, ‘Requiem For Mankind’ was released by Nuclear Blast in June. Watch the video for ‘The Veteran’, taken from that album, at https://youtu.be/_uTsdsc3cys. 

Also joining the Sophie bill on Saturday, are Edinburgh-based prog experimentalists RAMAGE INC. With five albums under their belt now, they’ve plenty of songs to choose from! You can explore their latest record, ‘Under The Skin’, in its entirety over on their Bandcamp page at: https://ramageinc.bandcamp.com/. 

Have you discovered London’s psych-doom crew GREEN LUNG yet? Appearing on the Sophie stage on Sunday, Metal Hammer described them as, “a fantastic mix of stoner rock, hard rock, and psychedelic rock laden with harmonies,” with further praise heaped on them by Kerrang!, The Guardian, and BBC Radio 1 Rock Show host Daniel P. Carter. Play their latest album, ‘Woodland Rites’ on Bandcamp at https://greenlung.bandcamp.com/. 

BLOODSTOCK is pleased to welcome back post-metal squad BOSSK, joining the Sophie stage line-up on Friday. Following on from 2016’s well received ‘Audio Noir’ album, the band’s Facebook page was recently teasing new music is coming in 2020. Here’s hoping it’s out in time for BLOODSTOCK! Watch the full set of their 2017 performance at https://youtu.be/PLNpbvyUzQw. 

Filled with questions about BLOODSTOCK? Put them to festival directors ADAM GREGORY and VICKY HUNGERFORD in a Facebook Live Q&A tonight! Head over to BLOODSTOCK’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bloodstock/ for a 7pm start! Can’t make it? Don’t worry, you’ll be able to replay it later on the page too.

In other BLOODSTOCK fun, as 2020 marks 20 years of BLOODSTOCK, instead of ‘12 Days Of Christmas’ competitions, BLOODSTOCK is going to have 20! Be sure to check  Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bloodstock/ every morning from December 5th for details of each one-day-only competition, and be in with a chance to win all sorts of prizes from BLOODSTOCK bands past and present, festival sponsors, and of course BLOODSTOCK!

BLOODSTOCK’s 2020 main stage headliners are DEVIN TOWNSEND (Friday), BEHEMOTH (Saturday), and JUDAS PRIEST (Sunday). The festival also welcomes PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, SKINDRED, PARADISE LOST, LIFE OF AGONY, BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, DIAMOND HEAD, JINJER, VIO-LENCE, SACRED REICH, GLORYHAMMER, DARK TRANQUILITY, and BUTCHER BABIES so far. Many more bands performing over the weekend will be announced in due course. 

Discounted Early Bird tickets, VIP tickets, child tickets, and car parking tickets for 2020’s event are available now at the ticket store.  Be quick though, the early bird discount ends on December 15th (or sooner if the early bird allocation sells out) and weekend tickets then revert to the standard price of £145 (+ fees)! Campervan tickets for 2020 are already sold out. 

BLOODSTOCK 2020 takes place at Catton Park, Derbyshire from 6th-9th August 2020.  For more info, click to www.bloodstock.uk.com.  

Indian Progressive / Experimental Metal quartet Dymbur are now officially releasing their much-anticipated debut full length - ‘The Legend of Thraat’ has officially released worldwide on November 5th, 2019.

'The Legend of Thraat' is a fine record that explores the Heavy side of Metal with Modern, Progressive Elements that appeal to fans of bands such as Monuments, Twelve Foot Ninja, Aliases, Allegaeon.  Consisting of 10 tracks the album traces the evolutionary journey of DYMBUR stretching from the band's roots to the future direction being taken.

This album has been recorded by Cornelius Kharsyntiew, at Legato Recording Studios in Shillong and mixed and mastered by Brandon Scurlark at Eltar Studios in North Carolina, United States of America. The Music Video of the same was shot & edited by Embor Sayo of Fishy Photography, Shillong.
 
The band released two brand new videos from the album.

• Capital Vices:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1eGEQqFnZs

• Diablo Illumination:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivsWAl1oLaw

Purchase the new album here:

Bandcamp- https://dymbur.bandcamp.com/album/the-legend-of-thraat
Instamojo- https://www.instamojo.com/dymburofficial
 
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