Sweden's masters of melancholic metal Katatonia sign worldwide record deal with Napalm Records26/6/2022 Napalm Records is beyond proud to announce the worldwide signing of legendary Swedish masters of melancholy Katatonia. The band has inked a worldwide record deal with the leading Austrian rock and metal label. Piercing through the core in 1991 when Katatonia was brought to life by the inimitable Jonas Renkse (now vocalist) and renowned guitarist Anders Nyström, the unit has taken a fascinating journey from their heavy atmospheric extreme metal beginnings in the early 90s underground metal scene to their current status as a unique, free-spirited progressive rock amalgamation that stretches beyond the boundaries of standard music. Each stunning work of Katatonia is tantamount to a cathartic experience – from their seminal debut, the legendary Dance Of December Souls (1993), to their most recent haunting masterpiece, the critically acclaimed City Burials (2020) – the latter marking their most successful release to date (debuting at #6 GER, #5 FI, etc). The five-piece has never failed in evolving its sound and unique identity into something that is known as one of Sweden's top-notch musical forces today. Stay tuned for more exciting news coming soon! Kataonia on the signing: "As Katatonia is just about to enter a brand new chapter in its own book of history, we’re passionate the band's journey will continue onward and upward together with our new label Napalm Records.” Thomas Caser (Napalm Records) about the signing: "Katatonia has been one of the most impactful metal acts, always progressing throughout their career. Teaming up with such an iconic act is a dream of every music fan. We are beyond excited to work with the band and their team!” Katatonia are:
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Art Gates Records is proud to announce that contemporary metal band Her Anxiety have joined their family of talents! Her Anxiety is a contemporary metal act formed back in Vigo in 2020 by wide-experienced musicians from the Galician scene (Spain). Blending electronic passages & neck-breaking guitar riffs with the tormented growls by Aida, getting the perfect balance between the most recognizable metal ingredients with memorable choruses that will drag you to hell. The lyrics talk about personal and close experiences as well as present matters such as environmentalism and world class societies. The new album will be released late 2022 via Art Gates Records. More news coming soon! Czech symphonic metal discovery After Evolution have signed a licensing deal with Wormholedeath for their album "War Of The Worlds", which is due for release on June 17th, 2022. The band have released this statement, history of the band and video (as below):- "You may ask, "who are they? where did they come from?" and the answer is simple, we came here to the earth from far away, to tell you the story about our world and how we have been born in this one. Each of us have been reborn in different year, different time, under the different star, moon and sun to connect our destinies in one. We are the storytellers, ancestors, wanderers of the universe and time, the artists carrying bond between the melodies of the dark and light, death and life, hope and despair and fire and ice... We are the After Evolution. The way of finding each other was not easy at all. Everything started one day, when Nikolette met Michael. They knew their meeting meant much more but for the whole reveal of the truth they needed to find the remaining two reborn. It was the year of 2013 when Nikolette and Michael started with collecting the shards of memories before the big reborn. Piece by piece and part by part of single memory has been written into melody and poetry connected in one. Nikolette and Michael met a lot of souls astray but neither one was the one of the reborn. So after some time they just went by their own path of life. When the year of 2016 appeared, Michael and Nikolette decided to reveal the part of their threnodies to the world. People loved their melodies accompanied with ancient stories of the other world so they continued with writing more and more of their story. Also by the end of the same year Nikolette with Michael found the third reborn named Adam, so they continued they journey side by side. The melodies of past have been spread really fast so a lot of big and well known collectors of great ancient stories, art and melodies wanted to help to the After Evolution on their path and spread their stories to whole the world. So Nikolette, Michael and Adam with another soul astray agreed and decided to travel to the great Italy to imprint their story connected with dark melodies and ancient power into memory of the world forever. It was the year of 2018, the hot summer days, when After Evolution finished the big reveal of the truth and with last drop of the ink on the paper they finished the last note in the big part of their story and their past. Unfortunately that soul astray was not ready for the journey of the After Evolution, so he left when he saw the path and went his own way. The path got really complicated. But they didn't give up and continued on their way even if it was full of thorns and pain. They followed their destiny. On their journey to imprint their story written in melodies to eternity of the world, they met a brave traveller named Ilya, who helped them to finish the rest of their journey and fight the monsters along the way. At the end of the path, he went his own way and After Evolution went on the expedition to find the last lost reborn. The missing piece of the After Evolution. Later that year of 2018 the fourth lost reborn, Vitek has been found and continued his journey along with the rest of the reborn, After Evolution and their destiny have been fulfilled. They were able to connect all the shards of their memories and finish the story of the ancient world they came from. They found out who they truly are and about their true abilities. With the time going by, there were a lot of thieves of ancient art who wanted to steal some of their magic and treasures they had, but it never really happened, the things got just a little bit complicated during the protection of their secrets. After Evolution finished their whole story and they have collected and connected with their ancient power all shards of memories together. All that creation was so exhausting for them that After Evolution fell into the deep rest and recovery to gain the energy again and summon all the power and inspiration back to them. When the dark times disappeared, After Evolution, with clear mind and full of energy were ready to accept their destiny and share their story with the world and spread the enchanting melodies again. With year of 2022 they shared with the world the story about the big war from the ancient world and the war of the worlds chants floated by the world." Music inspiration : "My inspiration is in epic orchestral music like movie or game soundtracks for example - Two steps from hell, Audiomachine, Hans Zimmer, Ivan Torrent etc. I was fascinated by Evanescence, Nightwish, Within Temptation and Epica because they connected the orchestras and the metal elements and I really liked that. So I knew I wanted to play symphonic metal but more symphonic, more like epic orchestral metal, so every instrument like guitars, drums and also vocals are composed on the orchestral base not the opposite." Concept : "Everyone was asking us "what does AFTER EVOLUTION means?" and I didn't know why they are asking me that to be honest because I have never saw asking someone Nightwish what their name means. But I told myself „okay, I will give my band the meaning“ and I created a whole story about who we are and what is our music about. I love fantasy stories and most of my time I am in clouds with my head so why not. So I started to creating a storyboard and slowly connecting the story with the music." Development : "I created whole the story in about 2 weeks and then the music work was next on the list, so I have separated the parts of the story to 11 sections to create 11 music parts for the album. I stopped at each section and imagined the feelings of the main character, the environment and what is happening and I tried to feel everything as if I was there to match the music and orchestras with that feeling of the story. When I have created the orchestras I had already in my head the melody of the vocals and some idea how the guitars and drums should sound. When that was ready I came back to the paper sheet where I have written what is this part about and I’ve started with writing the lyrics. It is really my favourite part because I love writing in contrasts if it is possible and some poetic riddles to think about for example : „red roses are falling down on the cold white snow“ means in my style of writing : falling blood on the ground – I really love making that kind of texts if I have a space for that. Some texts are just describing what is happening and the story and some are more poetic, it really depends on the mood of the song. So that is how I am developing and making the music and its concept etc." Line up:
Finnish extreme metal phenoms Anzillu – whose sound is punctuated by buzz-saw guitar riffs delivered with equal amounts of dexterous shredding and pummelling brute force – have signed with M-Theory Audio. The group's as-yet-untitled debut full-length is currently set to be unleashed at the beginning of 2023. In the meantime, Anzillu's first single “Needles (On My Nerves)” is available for streaming now, and the music video for the song is available to view at https://youtu.be/AVY2HntvZR8. Additional music from the band's debut album will be unveiled throughout the remainder of 2022. Says the band:- “Having worked hard and kept a tight lid on this band during the COVID-pandemic, it’s great to finally see that our patience paid off. We are thrilled to start working with M-Theory on this upcoming release and can’t wait for people to hear the album. You can expect a couple of tunes to drop throughout the year before the January release.” Though the band itself is new, the musicians comprising Anzillu are not inexperienced. The new group – whose name is inspired by the ancient Sumerian word for “abomination” - was formed in 2019 by guitarist Jesse Kämäräinen after the dissolution of his previous group Inkvisitor, which released two records of thrash-influenced extreme metal between 2015 and 2018. Kämäräinen had already demoed an album's worth of new material at the time of that development, and went on to bring in a battery of fellow notables that had also been making their names within Finnish metal circles to form Anzillu. The searing vocal talents of Teemu Kemppainen (Argent Void), the thunderous bass of Rasmus Kantonen, and the death metal crunch of fellow guitarist Sami Katajainen (GAF) join Kämäräinen's six-string powers to deliver a blistering assault of aural senses. Anzillu – now armed with a full album's worth of material and their collective metallic powers – honed the existing demos into their final form throughout the first half of last year, and entered Sonic Pump Studios in August 2021 with Nino Laurenne (Wintersun, Lost Society, Amorphis, Apocalyptica) behind the soundboard handling recording/mixing duties. The music video for “Needles (On My Nerves)” is just a small taste of the metallic mayhem set to be delivered in full by ANZILLU. The group is also set to perform live June 3rd at Tiivistamö – Helsinki, Finland, as well as at the the John Smith Rock Festival in Laukaa, Finland headlined this year by Airbourne, Dark Tranquillity, Powerwolf, and more - during the weekend of July 21st through July 23rd. More information on ANZILLU, their debut album, and their plans for additional live shows will be revealed in the weeks to come by M-Theory Audio and at www.facebook.com/anzillufi. ANZILLU is:
In Mexico there is a command of the dead called Aztlan. The band formed in 2018 and mixes Mexican folk music with the sound of metal. The concept of Aztlan is to expose the Mexican culture from ancient times like Aztecs and Mayan to the present day with the sound of Mariachi and Prehispanic Music through a world full of mysticism. The image of the band evokes the traditional ‘Day of the Dead’. The group released their first album, Mexico Inmortal (2019), and it explored for the first time the mix of acoustic and electric sounds, evoking the old Aztec dances with an aggressive sound. The following album, Legion Mexica (2020), showed the mix of mariachi becoming more and more noticeable in each of the songs with ancestral stories such as the Mictlan forming the themes. The Mictlan is the Aztec underworld, the City of the Dead, it is the place where they have to go through nine levels until they reach eternal life in the presence of Mictlantecuhtli The Lord of Death. Aztlan completed their 3rd album, Revolución, in 2021 and will be released via Sliptrick Records this year. Aztlan are:
Band links: Official Website | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | On Sliptrick Hailing from the eerie part of Helsinki / Finland, HEXING are glad to announce that they have signed a deal with Wormholedeath for their album "Welcome to Salem" out via Wormholedeath worldwide. Band statement: "We are super excited to finally be able to release our debut album and to begin working with Wormholedeath records. We have tried to blend the energy and rawness of many old school thrash metal bands such as Exodus, Stone and Megadeth, with influences from various metal subgenres, such as death metal. Many of the songs on this album feature fast riffs, heavy breakdowns and plenty of guitar solos." Hexing was formed in East Helsinki at the beginning of 2021 under the name Salem by Riku Siisiäinen, Ossi Kylliäinen and Mio Asimont. Ben Kejonen and Daniel Gamache joined shortly after and the band began working on new material right away. The name Salem was later changed to Hexing before the band's first concert. After playing multiple concerts in the fall Daniel Gamache decided to leave the band before the album was recorded and he was replaced by Tuure Suomalainen, who recorded many of the guitar solos featured on Welcome to Salem. In spring and summer, Hexing performs in Finland. Sometime later, Hexing also heads to other parts of Europe. Have a nice summer! Line up:
Joining the ranks at Sliptrick Records is the Italian melodic death metal band Steel Cage. The southern Italian lands of 1996, saw the creation, growth and establishment of the melodic death metal act Steel Cage. The group was spawned by an idea of guitarists / brothers Gianluca and Giuseppe Rungetti with drummer Genny Eneghes. That same year they produced the demo-tape Abyss Of Steel. In 1997, the band saw changes in their line up, but nothing could stop the trio from keep working on new ideas for future productions, concentrating on mixing death, gothic and some progressive elements with their primary roots based on thrash metal. They infused this with their anger and the pain of living in a sick society. Over the next years, the group released two EP’s, Visions Of Dark Millennium (1999) and Red Blood Planet (2002) and in 2011, their hard work culminated with the album Obsidian which was the first time Steel Cage featured a female singer. After further changes, Steel Cage finally returned with a new permanent female singer in the form of Silvia Nardoni and the return of former bassist Marco Campassi. Now the band is ready with their latest album Syndrome, which will be released via Sliptrick Records later in the year. Steel Cage are:
Band links: Official Website | Facebook | Youtube | Instagram | On Sliptrick Imagine a prime-time talent show on a major national TV channel. Pop starlet after pop starlet are giving their best to lull the audience with their favourite tearjerker. And then there is this innocent girly voice, performing Taylor Swift’s "Look what you made me do". Both audience and jury feel safe and sound. Until the song reaches the first chorus. What happened then, shocked and electrified the studio audience and a whole country in front of their TVs. With her brutal and angst-inducing death metal growls she seems to be ripping apart the original US pop star and spitting her left-overs all over the studio interior. Shock and joy, curiosity and fear melt into ecstatic cheering and a hurricane of applause. That girl’s name is Victoria Stoichkova and her performance quickly reached more than five million views on You Tube with a bursting comment section full of enthusiasm and cheering. This was the starting point of a career for sure, and what soon should become a full band and Europe’s next up-and-coming, extreme metal hopes GWENDYDD! Formed in 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria, GWENDYDD have now inked a worldwide record deal with Drakkar Entertainment for the release of their upcoming, sophomore studio album entitled Censored! Driven by a modern production, complemented by the mastering fingerprint of Max Morton (Jinjer, Ignea,..), the band‘s vibrant blend of wrecking guitar riffs and adrenalizing drums builds up to an extreme-metal avalanche. The perfect carrier for that brute death metal voice, which cuts deep into the flesh of modern society – not only with words but with a message. Censored is slated for a release on May 6, 2022 via Drakkar Entertainment, and the album pre-sale is now available at THIS LOCATION. But give ear, as today GWENDYDD also shared a new song taken of their upcoming album - see below. The song is now streaming on all digital platforms HERE! "We are so stoked to be working with Drakkar! We truly feel that this is the start of an inspiring symbiosis,“ vocalist Vicky comments. "Our upcoming album CENSORED is going to be even more brutal and energetic than our debut album Human Nature. We are happy. We are proud. And we can’t wait to share CENSORED with the world!" Maximilian Föse, Head Of Drakkar Entertainment adds: "Welcome to the family! We are proud to announce the signing of GWENDYDD! You can hear right away that this is something the metal scene has been waiting for. I was so surprised by how diverse the final product sounded and how GWENDYDD is playing with this style of extreme metal. The new album Censored” is a fantastic record and I'm convinced that there are many, many people out there who will love it too." In support of Censored, GWENDYDD will join DARK TRANQUILITY and ENSIFERUM as special guests on selected dates, and have announced a European headlining tour. Find all upcoming live dates of the band below! Dark Tranquillity & Ensiferum Tour
CENSORED Tour 2022
GWENDYDD is:
Poland's multifaceted, extreme metal band Entropia (originating from Oleśnica in Lower Silesia) has signed a record deal with Agonia Records. Entropia combines a number of genres, from krautrock and electronic music, to sludge and black metal, filtered through a prism of metallic extremity. With three studio albums to its name - "Vesper" (2013), "Ufonaut" (2016) and "Vacuum" (2018) - the five-piece pushed and evolved its base sound to develop a unique sonic perspective, drenched in psychedelia. The latter plays a major part in the band's image and conceptual approach. Entropia's output is met with growing interest from metal and non-metal community, having the group play Roadburn Festival, Primavera Sound, OFF Festival, Mystic Festival and a European tour supporting US black / folk act Wayfarer. The band contributed to the video game Cyberpunk 2077, by having their song "Future Drugs" appear on the official soundtrack. Entropia's members perform under a joint moniker ULTRA. Their sight is set on releasing their fourth album titled "Total" on Agonia Records. "We have the pleasure to announce that our new album 'Total' will be released later this year via Agonia," comments Entropia. "With a hint of irony, the album was announced as the soundtrack to the end of the world. Now it's clear, that our announcement should have been taken literally."
Art Gates Records are proud to introduce Portuguese alternative metal act Vëlla as the new artist to join their ranks. Vëlla was formed in Lisboa (Portugal) and are influenced by all kinds of music styles. The sound of the band resonates in resounding rhythms, neck breaking riffs, graceful drumming, fierce hooks, impressive staging, elegant and furious clean & growling vocals. The crushing Lisbon quintet combine technique, power, and melody, with an unparalleled mastery of making remarkable songs, bringing ruthless energy to their live performances. With a harmonious melting pot of several metal subgenres, blending deep powerful hooks and mesmerizing melodic grandeur, VËLLA’s music is often described as a must-listen, impressive and well-executed fusion of power and melody with memorable hooks. Iván Magdalena (Label's CEO) comments on the signing:- "VËLLA is one of those projects whose members are absolutely committed to give 150% of their energies to the band. This is the one and only way to make it in the music business and I'm sure we will conquer the scene with their upcoming opus". Oz Vilesov, Vëlla's guitarist states:- “It is an honour for us to be part of the Art Gates Records family. We know, especially through our friends Gwydion, the incredible work that Art gates develop and we are convinced that together we will achieve great things. From the first contact, we have been treated with the utmost respect and professionalism. This step for us means evolution and growth towards our goals." After releasing their extraordinary debut full-length “Coma” in 2020, Vëlla are more than ready to lead the way with their upcoming new album that will be released through Art Gates Records in 2022. https://www.facebook.com/vellamusicofficial/ www.artgatesrecords.com |
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Global Metal Apocalypse Archives
March 2022
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