 [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:
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 Swedish black metal powerhouse Burning Darkness has joined the Dutch extreme metal label Non Serviam Records and will release their sophomore full-length album, “Dödens Makt” in July. The band states: “We are very happy to announce that we've signed to Non Serviam Records who will be releasing our new album Dödens Makt. The collaboration of NSR and Burning Darkness have the makings of becoming a mutually advantageous one. The label has proved to have an eye for digging up great upcoming bands and putting them in their spotlight. We have been making our relentless Swedish black metal for a long time and we think our new album is our absolutely strongest work yet. It is with great confidence we release it via NSR. Our old supporters are sure to be pleased and we're certain we'll gain many new fans with this new release. NSR's prior work with other bands tells us the album will get the exposure it deserves. Furthermore, the integrity of picking bands for their roster should ensure metal fans of the quality of our music”. Ricardo Gelok, Non Serviam Records owner, adds: “I have known Burning Darkness for years. The drummer and me were talking a while ago, and he told me that the band was recording a new album. So I asked him to send me a promo when all was recorded. After receiving the new songs the label offered the band a deal. It’s a real pleasure to work with a band like Burning Darkness, they are eager to get their fans hear this new opus”. Founded in late 1999, Burning Darkness released several demos and played in their country, becoming a tenacious live act. They recorded the debut album “The Angel of Light” in 2014, which was released 3 years later, getting amazing reviews worldwide. Recently they finished their sophomore album “Dödens Makt” (The Power of Death) which will be released in July via Non Serviam Records. More details will follow soon. Burning Darkness are:
Burning Darkness online:
 Czech post-doom metallers Indrid Cold have signed with Sliptrick Records. The band formed during the fall of 2015 from ex members of the band Born Again. All the members of Indrid Cold were active in various other bands from the local metal and punk scene. The band’s name comes from the movie The Mothman Prophecies, based on the 1975 book of the same name. In the first years of their existence, the band recorded several singles and played many successful concerts in the Czech Republic. At the end of 2019, the original singer left the band and so 2020 was a new beginning for Indrid Cold. With new found force, the band continues in a four-member line-up and wrote songs for their debut album Monument Prázdnoty. In autumn of 2020, Monument Prázdnoty was recorded and produced by the band and masterd by Cult Of Lunas’s Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios in Stockholm. The album will be released worldwide via Sliptrick Records. Indrid Cold are:
Band links:  Rising Texan death metal force Cathexis has signed with Willowtip Records! The band will release debut album Untethered Abyss June 25 on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. The album's first single, "Mortuus In Perpetuum," has been released and is streaming now on YouTube and Bandcamp. Untethered Abyss is the culmination of six years of painstaking songwriting and a carefully selected cast of international talent amassed to bring forward a finely tuned and unrelenting piece of modern death metal. Untethered Abyss is eight tracks of tightly focused death metal with a production that captures the humanity and unfiltered energy each musician displays in every performance. The band’s focus on holistic songwriting seeks to create naturally flowing and memorable tracks where every riff’s place within the song is carefully considered to maintain internal consistency and create meaningful arcs within the music, rather than meander through detached ideas. Cathexis strives to make unique and forward thinking death metal that pays tribute to the genres basest and most satisfying elements.
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Pre-order: cathexistx.bandcamp.com/album/untethered-abyss Line-Up:
 Swedish melodic death metal combo Silent Verdict have signed a deal with Wormholedeath for the release of their debut album "Condemned", out on the 30th of April, 2021 on all digital platforms worldwide Band statement: "Silent Verdict are a melodic death metal band from Sweden. After releasing our first EP “Azrael” and playing some gigs, we felt the next step was to start writing materials for our debut full-length album. Just at the very beginning of this writing process we were lucky to be discovered by producer Jonathan Mazzeo who connected us with record label WormholeDeath. After having done approximately five songs both parts felt it was the right time to sign a record deal. We proceeded to record the album with Jonathan Mazzeo (The Grid Europe) in Pistoia, Italy and the final product is the album “Condemned”. The final release date is 30 04 2021 and soon two singles will be released."
The band from Nässjö had its start back in 2011 when later that year they also proceeded to record their debut EP "A Taste of Insanity". They performed live at a couple gigs with the EP until early 2013, where the band came to a halt due to some members leaving. Fast forward to 2017, two of the original members Ricky Magnusson and Johan Schill felt it was time to reboot the band to find an outlet for their Death Metal ideas - based on influences from bands like Arch Enemy, Lamb of God and Kreator to name a few. As early as spring 2017, they found their new addition to bass guitar; Mattias Gunnarsson. Ricky and Mattias were at this point already well acquainted with each other since they had been playing together in another band. During this period, they had developed a good chemistry in their playing and writing. For this reason, Mattias became a most welcome addition to Silent Verdict. While the band continued working on the musical parts to the upcoming EP "Azrael", they now needed a vocalist to fill in the ranks. After checking out a handful of applicants for the spot as a vocalist, the band eventually found Mattias Kulas, who fit in perfectly with the kind of vocalist the band had in mind. Mattias Kulas has a background as a vocalist in the Swedish metal band Eroded. With the new constellation now being complete and the new songs being thoroughly polished and pre-produced, the band decided it was time to hit the studio. They proceeded to book an appointment with HoboRec in Lund, Sweden, to record the EP "Azrael". At the end of September 2017 and recorded it which was released in November that same year. During the summer of 2018, the band was contacted by the record label Wormholedeath and was presented with a record deal, which they later signed in March 2019. They proceeded record their first full length album ”Condemned” with Jonathan Mazzeo (The Grid Europe) as producer in Pistoia, Italy. The album is scheduled to release in spring 2021. Silent Verdict are:
 Sliptrick Records are pleased to announce the signing of Japanese Christian metal band Imari Tones. Imari Tones are a Christian heavy metal band from Japan, where majority of people believe in Buddhism and Christianity is very scarce. The band was formed in 2004 but the real start was in 2008, when they declared themselves as “The first Christian metal band from Japan”. Since then, Imari Tones toured in and out of Japan, while making many albums independently. The band play old school metal music inspired by bands from 1980’s, such as Van Halen, Judas Priest, and Japanese bands like Loudness. But their music is fairy diverse and sometimes wanders into progressive territory, making it inevitable for listeners to compare them to prog bands such as Rush and YES. One of their goals is to combine Christianity and Bushido, the Samurai spirit, because they believe they can believe in Jesus Christ without losing their identity as Japanese. That’s why they play Christian music with Japanese traditional taste, which puts them in a very unique position both musically and culturally. Imari Tones always say their “roll” is that of a bridge. A spiritual and cultural bridge between Japan and the world. A lot of people in the world are interested in Japanese pop culture. On the other hand there are so many people in Japan who have never heard of Jesus. Imari Tones are trying to reach both groups of people. They show the world what the Japanese spirit is like, while introducing Christianity to Japanese audience. Imari Tones are:
Band links: Official Website | Facebook | Youtube | Instagram | On Sliptrick  Belarusian Symphonic Metal duo Belle Morte have signed a deal with Wormholedeath for the release of their debut album "Crime Of Passion". Bella Morte shares their feelings: "We are extremely proud to share that we have signed with WormHoleDeath label, and our first full length album “Crime of Passion” will be released soon. This is a big step for us, as we’ve spent over 2 years crafting it track by track. Compared with our debut EP, “Crime of Passion” has a way darker sound and vibes and more complicated arrangements with multiple influences. We believe we’ve advanced musically, and signing with WormHoleDeath will help us reach more people. We are thrilled to become a part of the family and can’t wait to see how it goes!" And about the album: "The album is called “Crime of Passion’ and it’s inspired by John Fowles’s novel “The Collector”. It tells a coherent story which started as an unhealthy obsession and stalking and resulted in murder, both from the side of the murderer and his victim. The idea of having a full-length album appeared when we were working on the EP. We had enough material for it at that moment, but at the same time didn’t want to rush and really wanted it to be well-thought and professional, so it took us 2 years to complete it. In general “Crime of Passion” has a way darker sound and vibes, compared to our first EP “Game on”. The story we tell here doesn’t have a happy ending, so you are witnessing how the situation unfolds, getting more and more intense and having a tragic finale. Musically “Crime of Passion” has more complicated arrangements, a lot of djent/progressive and even some black metal elements and a very diverse material. For example, “Beauty meant to kill” doesn’t have guitars at all, relying heavily on powerful symphonic parts with electronic instruments and percussion. “If only you knew” has a lot of prog metal and some djent elements. Guitars became heavier and more sophisticated, especially in “My Little Demon” and “Beauty and the Beast”. We are using a lot of different elements on the “Crime of passion” and we made it all sound consistent and not trivial at the same time. Each element used reveals different nuances, making it all sound like a mono rock-opera, with leitmotivs and instrumental parts, which are there not for the sake of being there, but for the sake of strengthening presence effect, shedding more light on the emotions of the characters."
Belle Morte is a musical project from Belarus, Minsk, playing dark symphonic metal with gothic / progressive flavour and melancholic vibe. The first single “Mercy” was released on Dec 9, 2017, accompanied by a music video later on. Debut band’s EP “Game On” was released in 2018. 4 tracks listed on the EP have asymmetric songwriting structure and jarring dynamic jumps from balladry to metallic symphonic bluster. Later on, Belle Morte collaborated with Norwegian melodic death metal band “Addendum” and released “Mistakable Monster” single together. The song is about trying to find back to the ones you have loved and lost. A tale about two sisters, locked in different worlds. After EP the band focused on producing a full-length conceptual album inspired by John Fowles’s “The Collector”. During this period “My Legacy”, “To Get Her” and “Lace” singles were released. The second Belle Morte’s music video was shot for the “Lace” single. Album named “Crime of Passion” tells a coherent story which started as an unhealthy obsession and stalking and resulted in murder, both from the side of the murderer and his victim. The idea behind Belle Morte is playing on contrasts – in music, lyrics and visual imaginary. It’s about seeing its own beauty in disturbing things, ugly things, and, vice versa, seeing the bad side in nice things which might not be that obvious at the first sight. https://www.facebook.com/bellemortemusic  Season of Mist are pleased to announce the signing of Icelandic Tech Death outfit Ophidian I. The band, containing members of Icelandic label mates Helfró, will release their brand new album 'Desolate' via Season of Mist in the summer of 2021. Ophidian I comment on the signing: "We are ecstatic to announce that we’ve partnered with Season of Mist for the release of our album 'Desolate' in 2021. The new album is a product of relentless dedication and we could not imagine a more fitting home than with the incredible team at Season of Mist. Through the years we have been inspired by many artists from their roster and now we humbly take our place amongst them." Season of Mist CEO Michael Berberian comments on the signing: "It all started by a mail from an old partner in crime, known to many in the industry; Ula Gehret. I quote : “Am I nuts, or is this really good?” Two emails later: “I’ve really fallen for this album (it’s my new “Unquestionable Presence”)”. And my god, was he right. It’s my most played album of the last two months. There is something extra to this one, in my mind there is no doubt that this is a future classic. So a few weeks later, we signed the band, and he’s managing them. Two music industry veterans falling for an album like we were teens. We, at SOM were lucky to release with Archspire and Beyond Creation the two cornerstones of the last decade in the “Tech Death” world. Here is the first one of 2021." For a glimpse of things to come and updates, follow the band on Faceook. With a clear goal of reaching the apex of technical metal in terms of proficiency, arrangements and sound, Ophidian I has produced the destructive full-length album 'Desolate'. Emerging from Iceland; the barren island in the north, home to apocalyptic weather, eruptions and storms. The breeding intensity, blazing speed and ferocity of Ophidian I reflects the chaos it hails from as well as the inherent beauty and complex harmony. With various influences ranging from all styles, the unique melt of technical death metal - with immersive melody and hooks at every corner - 'Desolate' will appeal to all those who seek peak militant musicianship on all fronts. Line Up:
https://ophidiani.bandcamp.com www.facebook.com/OphidianI www.instagram.com/ophidiani Cuban black metallers Mephisto sign with Wormholedeath Records & unveil 'Pentafixion' artwork11/1/2021  Cuban black metal pioneers, Mephisto, are about to release their newest album Pentafixion via Wormholedeath Records. Mephisto have been active since 1997 and left their mark on the Cuban metal scene with their unique sound and style. The band will unleash their first single soon. Mephisto states about signing with Wormholedeath Records:- "On behalf of all members of Mephisto we wish to announce that we have been offered a contract with the long established and well respected Italian label WormHoleDeath Records.It is our pleasure to announce that after some discussion, Mephisto have accepted the offer and now enthusiastically join the label. We can’t wait to start working with the team at WormHoleDeath after following their label and their artists for many years. To now be considered part of this family is a long awaited dream come true. We are excited to be bringing our style of Cuban Black Metal to the world thanks to the relationships WormHoleDeath has with its partners including Warner / Chappell Music Holland BV and The Orchard Inc. (Sony Music Ent). We look forward to our first release with Worm Hole Death which is our full length album “Pentafixion”, an album that we have been working on for the best part of 2 years. Who knows, maybe the back catalogue will be released sometime on WHD too! We’d like to officially thank Carlo from WHD for being so passionate about securing us to the label. The work and dedication shown by him is incredible! From finding us in Subtle Death Magazine, to reaching out to its editor (Omar Vega) to contact us, to the late night calls to our management (in Australia), all the way through to walking us through the deal. We couldn’t be happier knowing that our music and our career are in great hands with WHD. So what can you expect from us now? Well just because you can see the mountain doesn’t mean the climb has finished. Now the hard work begins to reward our fans for their patience waiting on our new album and to show WHD that the new kids on the block came to kick heads and take names." Look out world…. Mephisto, the pioneers of Black Metal in Cuba have just been unleashed on the world and it’s all thanks to WormHoleDeath Records!
Mephisto are:
The band Mephisto was founded in September 1997 in the city of Holguín, Cuba. Mephisto was the first Cuban metal group to combine a multitude of organic and orchestral sounds to emerge as the pioneers of the Black Metal genre in Cuba. Building on their unique sound, the band continued to push contemporary boundaries by appearing on stage in full make-up and costumes, another pioneering first, which caused a great movement within the national scene. With momentum building, 2018/2019 saw Mephisto welcome international representation with a view of developing a larger global following. Immediately Mephisto rebranded their image, logo and on stage style whilst simultaneously moving towards a more digital platform to facilitate the advancements in technology being felt throughout the music industry. With a grittier live performance harkening back to a more traditional hard edged Mephisto appearance, old fans and new ones alike, resonate with the Pioneers of Cuban Black Metal. Accepting invitations to appear at "The Beast in the Undercity”, Pinar del Rio, Bayamo Musicfest and Romerias de Mayo festivals, Mephisto quickly expanded these shows to encompass the entire nation; kicking off their “Haciendo Metal Cuba” tour in mid March 2019. Completing the run of dates in early May 2019, Mephisto once again returned to the studio to continue the development of their highly anticipated 2020 album “Pentafixion”. The band’s first single from this album titled “Pentafixion” was completed with filming for the complementing video clip also undertaken. The video was shot on location in Havana by renowned Producer and Film Maker Victor Vinuesa (Vitiko) and demonstrates perfectly Mephisto’s professionalism, dedication and passion to their craft. Following up on this single, Mephisto under took it’s first tour of Nicaragua in late 2019 selling out venues and building a new fan base in the heart of Managua. A national tour of Cuba is now slated for mid 2021 before returning to Nicaragua for a run of dates later in 2021.  It’s been 17 years since Ainur thought to transform Tolkien’s masterpiece “The Silmarillion” into music. Each member of the band was lost in his own musical themes inspired by Tolkienian mythology. As if hypnotized, they outrageously composed themes for the main characters and started to imagine this huge concept work to which they still work on today. Ainur has signed with Rockshots Records to release the highly anticipated “War of The Jewels”, which sees the band take an interesting evolution in sound from previous releases. Ainur will completely immerse fans in J.R.R.Tolkien’s war atmospheres. They have imagined every story and every battle and recreate them through unique and deep music. The band explains in further detail: “We always follow the path that Tolkien himself has outlined in his tales, so we tried to create a concept that embraces the Wars of Beleriand throughout the album. Since the topic is a little bit complex this time, we thought to divide the concept into two albums: then, side by side with “Children of Hurin” and “Lay of Leithian”, they will flow into a big opera that will unite the third chapter of Wars of Beleriand and Lays of Beleriand.” The band further comments on releasing with Rockshots Records: “This is the first album without our historical label Electromantic. We owe a lot to Beppe and his staff, but we felt that we needed something new for our project. There were some labels interested in having us on their roster but when we talked with Roberto and Valerio from Rockshots Records we realized that that was the right way. And now that we are releasing the album we can say that we made the right choice.” The compositional process of “War of The Jewels” has been very long. It started in 2009 (or maybe before) and it ended more or less last year. Ainur sees it as their “rebirth” album. They have been working hard composing and arranging their music to create the best tribute to Tolkien’s histories that they can. Fans of Tolkien’s work along with fans of Ayreon, Queen, and John Williams will be surprised by the majesty and the energy of this work. The 2021 release date for “War of the Jewels” through Rockshots Records will be announced at a later date. Rockshots.eu Ainur.it Facebook.com/ainurprogrockorchestra Instagram.com/ainurprogrockorchestra |
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Global Metal Apocalypse Archives
May 2021
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