Month: June 2017

French Death Metal Duo SKELETHAL premier new track

Today, death metal diehards Skelethal premiere the new track “Scaly Smelly Flesh”. The track hails from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Of the Depths…, set for international release on June 23rd via Hells Headbangers. Hear Skelethal’s “Scaly Smelly Flesh” in its entirety below.

Hailing from the now-fertile French death metal scene, Skelethal comprise two diehard death metal addicts, Gui Haunting and Jon Whiplash, who decided in early 2012 to form a band mainly influenced by the genre’s classics: Entombed, Carnage, Morbid Angel, Pestilence, Autopsy, and Death among others. With that foundation firmly in place, Skelethal unleashed the Morbid Ovation demo in 2012 and then two critically acclaimed EPs in 2014, Deathmanicvs Revelation and Interstellar Knowledge of the Purple Entity, which were later compiled onto CD in 2015 as Morbid Revelations.

Having played many gigs and spread their name in several countries, Skelethal are now about to reveal their first full-length, Of the Depths…, for new label home Hells Headbangers. The duo’s aim is plainly stated – absolute DEATH WORSHIP – and once again, they will wield the Metal of Death like a scythe, an axe, and blunt hammer simultaneously, all in obeisance to occult forces beyond the mien of man. Being diehard death metal addicts themselves, Hells Headbangers couldn’t be more pleased to have Skelethal among its roster, and are anxiously anticipating unleashing the band’s rumbling, roiling tank-tread of a sound.

Indeed, the immediately tangible heft and just utterly CRUSHING weight of Skelethal is felt upon the first few seconds into Of the Depths…. It is familiar, for sure, for the duo proudly wear the aforementioned influences, but just like their opening clutch of EPs, Skelethal manage to authentically extract the essence of said influences rather than ripping them off wholesale (or worse). In that sense, Of the Depths… verily becomes a proud ‘n’ potent entry into the classic death metal canon, being no more but certainly no less than actual DEATH fucking METAL done by two diehards who live (and die) for this form of filth. And yet, with nine tracks spanning a total of 40 minutes, Skelethal here display some subtle twists to their timeless sound, branching out but barely, never betraying themselves or their chosen metal; it simply becomes a longer, stronger display of all that made the band tick and kick before, a deeper and darker plunge into cosmic horrors and boundless morbidity. Will you join them and become Of the Depths…?

Cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Skelethal’s Of the Depths…
1. Sons of Zann
2. Spectral Cemetery
3. Chaotic Deviance
4. Glimpse of the Great Purpose
5. Catharsis
6. Pantheon of the Abyss
7. Scaly Smelly Flesh
8. Outer Conviction
9. Morbid Ovation
10. Soon to be Dead (CD bonus)
11. Macabre Oblivion (CD bonus)

www.skelethal.com
www.facebook.com/skelethal

Canadian Doom Meisters Seer premier “They Used Dark Forces” from their new album

Today, Canadian earth-movers Seer premiere the new track “They Used Dark Forces” below. The track hails from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void, set for international release on July 7th via Art of Propaganda.

Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Seer was formed in the fall of 2014 as the days drew short and a chill set in the air. Very much a product of their environment, the band draws inspiration from the natural power of the Pacific Northwest and harnesses it into epic, expansive doom-sludge. Amid the region’s awe-inspiring mountains, serene temperate rainforests, and immense Pacific Ocean, Seer’s backyard is occupied by lakes, rivers, evergreens and abundant wildlife. Such a proximity and affinity to the local natural world has kindled a deep and ever-present connection to nature for Seer, resonating in an authentic and organic approach to their music. This combined with a true rock ‘n’ roll spirit and inclination toward fantasy, science fiction, and the occult make up the foundation on which Seer lays its colossal riffs and Cascadian atmospherics, all of which overflowed across the vast vistas of their debut album, Vol. 1 & 2 – released early last year by Art of Propaganda to widespread critical acclaim – and which overflow even further across the even vaster follow-up, Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void.

Whereas Vol. 1 & 2 patiently built its walls of tectonic, sludge-strewn doom, right from the very beginning, Seer explode into Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void with an immediacy that’s startling to behold. In fact, with its preponderance of harmonic, instantly hummable riffage and more pronounced usage of clean vocals, one could be mistaken that this is almost a different band. But alas, it’s somewhere between the proverbial red herring and deceptive calling card, as Seer here brim with an infectious confidence that allows them to incorporate – anywhere, anytime, at will – more diverse (and more accessible) elements into their still-moltenly-overflowing sound. There’s more peaks and more valleys – and tons more rolling hills, whereby the band can charge forward with straight-up stoner and even grunge tropes – across Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void, and the manner in which Seer sew them altogether suggests an entity at the height of its powers. No one-dimensional, endlessly tedious chugging here: the paths are long and winding across this album, and the listener never quite knows where they’ll go next. And yet, Seer still put emphasis on the thematic and conceptual, and after the addicting rabble-rousing of its first half, the latter half of Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void goes into more spacious ‘n’ desolate territory, with a grandiose, almost gothic Americana aesthetic completing the album’s arc. It’s a fitting, fearless end for a young band who are just now becoming cognizant of their poignant power: this is Canada’s Seer anno 2017.

The next manifestation of that power can be felt exclusively HERE, courtesy of NoCleanSinging.com. Feel that power in visual form with the video for “They Used Dark Forces,” which can be seen/heard exclusively HERE at Art of Propaganda’s official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Seer’s Vol. III & IV: Cult of the Void
1. Ancient Sands (Rot Preacher)
2. Acid Sweat
3. They Used Dark Forces
4. Burnt Offerings
5. I: Tribe of Shuggnyth
6. II: Spirit River
7. III: Passage of Tears
8. संसार

Norwegian Symphonic Black Metal trio Legacy of Emptiness to release their sophomore album “Over The Past”

After a hibernation of half decade, Norwegian Symphonic Black Metal trio Legacy of Emptiness is just a few days away from releasing their sophomore full length “Over The Past”. Black Lion Records is going to release the album in 6 Panel digipak on June 12, 2017

Quote from the band:

This band was originally started by Eddie and Kjell-Ivar as a tongue in cheek BM-project called Permafrost back in 1995. Both skills and ambitions were very limited at the time. Only a couple of demos for our own amusement were made.

A few years later Øyvind joined on keyboards and we realized that we actually had something to bring to the table. We recorded a couple of demos with this lineup and left the project to bleed out in the early 00’s.

In 2010, we came together and decided that the songs we left years ago were too good to be left behind so we decided to record them properly for,once again,our own amusement. One thing led to another and we found ourselves being more creative than ever before. The result was our self titled debut album containing 5 old tracks and one brand new. All splendidly mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö,one of our biggest inspirations back in the day when we first started out. The album was released in 2011.

“Over the Past”, as the title will hint we are now writing a new chapter. This album as been a journey to hell and back for us all. Accidents,cancer and other illnesses has been thrown our way from the day we started writing and recording this beast. Never have an album title been more fitting. Over the past!

There is no real lyrical concept on this album other than the usual suspects like darkness,hopelessness,void and the odd historical moments.

Musically it’s the opposite of what we did on our debut. This time all songs are brand new except for one that we brought along from the 90’s,heavily reworked.

Track – List:

1. Reminisce
2. Despair
3. Angelmaker
4. Into The Eternal Pits Of Nothingness
5. Drawn By Nightmares
6. There -was A Man
7. Four Hundred Years
8. Transition
9. Evening Star

Finnish Doom Lords Hallatar premier the official music video for “Mirrors”

Today, Hallatar release the first music video off the forthcoming album, No Stars Upon The Bridge, for the song “Mirrors.” As all the material on the album, the song is based on the lyrics and poems of Aleah Liane Starbridge. The video is co-directed by renowned Finnish artists Aapo Lahtela and Vesa Ranta. The album No Stars Upon The Bridge will be out on October 13th in various formats, with pre-orders via Svart Records already available HERE.

Although a brand-new name, Hallatar features among its ranks Swallow the Sun and Trees of Eternity guitarist Juha Raivio, Amorphis vocalist Tomi Joutsen, and former HIM drummer Gas Lipstick. In fact, one could see Hallatar as an extension of Trees of Eternity, whose massively acclaimed debut for Svart, Hour of the Nightingale, served as the swansong of vocalist Aleah Starbridge.

Juha Raivio explains the genesis of Hallatar: “After the death of my beloved and my life partner Aleah Starbridge on April 18th a year ago, I have been gathering writings, lyrics, and the poems of Aleah to keep them safe and close to my heart. About one month after the world came down on the blackest day of my life, I knew I needed to pick up the guitar and try to create something or I would be truly destroyed. And something did arrive out of the darkness, and I wrote the music for the Hallatar album in a week’s time. I don’t have much memory of this week, not a memory of a single day of writing the music. But all I remember when going into this abyss of the writing process was a promise to myself that whatever music would come out, I would not touch or change anything of it afterwards. What mattered was that the music would stay forever as an absolute truth of those moments as they came out. I asked my good friends – and amazing musicians – Tomi Joutsen and Gas Lipstick if they would want to record this music with me, and both of them said yes without even hearing a note of it. I am forever grateful to both of them for sharing this road with me; even the weight of the process has not been easy to carry, or will be.”

Adds Gas Lipstick, “I am grateful and very honored to be asked to join this band. Juha is a dear friend of mine since many years ago, and when he told me about his vision for Hallatar and asked me to join, I said yes instantly – I just had to be part of this amazing journey. I had never heard a single note of the music before I gave my ‘yes’ because I didn’t need to. Juha has been one of my favorite songwriters already for years, and I knew that Hallatar will be a very deep, personal, and one-of-a-kind story which I wanted to help him to bring alive.”

Continues Tomi Joutsen: “I have known Juha from the year 2007, when we worked together for the first time. A couple years ago, I had the privilege to meet Juha’s life partner, Aleah Starbridge, who was such a beautiful person, inside and outside, and had an angelic voice out of this world. Aleah lent her voice on the latest Amorphis album, and we called her ‘the whispering ghost.’ When I heard about Aleah’s passing last spring, it came as a total shock and heartbreaking news out of the blue. When Juha asked me if I would want to be part of this album and carry Aleah’s flame with him, I didn’t have to think twice. When everything has been taken, all that is left is the music. The sorrow strips us naked and leave us humble – this is how it sounds like.”

Concludes Raivio, “What we recorded was a raw moment in time honoring the memory, lyrics, and poems of Aleah Starbridge with all its pain, beauty and darkness. There are no stars left upon the bridge to light the way anymore, but the music will always be a dim light, even in the darkest of the night.”

Cover art and tracklisting for Hallatar’s No Stars Upon the Bridge to be revealed shortly.

HALLATAR is:
Tomi Joutsen – vocals
Gas Lipstick – drums
Juha Raivio – guitar, bass, keys

Chilean death metal legends UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN to release fourth album, Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X).

IRON BONEHEAD PRODUCTIONS is proud to present UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN’s highly anticipated fourth album, Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X). For nearly 20 years now, this Chilean cult has built a commanding canon of eldritch death metal DARKNESS. From their early demos to later splits and especially their preceding three full-lengths – not least of which, 2014’s critically acclaimed Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath – UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULT have explored the furthest reaches of primordial dread and ancient mysticism, all through pure ‘n’ authentic Metal of Death. But now, they’ve transcended all past accomplishments with the monolithic Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X).

Verily a summation of the UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEB aesthetic to date – songwriting that slithers through the slime with a preternatural grace, execution that’s barbaric and crusted in mud and blood, production that plumbs the foulest ends of the sonic spectrum – Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X) possesses an immediately engaging aura of demonology and witchcraft. In fact, such themes are central to Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X), as explored in the album’s 12-page booklet, with liner notes painstakingly crafted by the band. “This Chapter is inspired by women, the persecution against them by the Holy Office Sacred Congregation (The Inquisition), their essential role in the myth and legend, their place at the witches’ Sabbath, and the profound fear they spread – and still do – in mankind under the concept of Witch.” Further, as the band explains, “The ancient pagan cults awarded a leading role to the woman inside the spiritual. However, in medieval Europe, among other things, the exaggeration of the divinity and chastity of the feminine, the exaltation of virginity and motherhood as unique roles for women – the image of the Virgin Mary – create a shadow, a mirror image, an opposite principle. The repression of sexuality and denial of the Soror Mystica incubated a mysterious, dark, and evil female image.”

Across its taut, eight-song/39-minute duration, Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X) displays an UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN at their most frighteningly feral and also most devilishly nuanced. The songs’ successive slipstreaming surge creates a miasma of blunt-force trauma and hallucinogenic tension; any dynamic and detail the band wish to engage in is delivered with an almost unsettling, paradoxical grace. Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X) takes all the urgency ‘n’ ugliness of classic death metal and upends into the realm of high art. That assertion is further elucidated by the aforementioned booklet gracing the album, as well as its ominously striking cover. As if their bounty wasn’t already overflowing, UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN here deliver a work for the ages.

Dutch black metallers Sator Malus reveal new teaser video from FOREVER PLAGUED debut

Today, Dutch black metallers Sator Malus reveal a teaser video for the new track “Endless Cycles of Life and Death.” The track hails from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Dark Matters, set for international release on June 30th via Forever Plagued Records. See & hear the teaser video for Sator Malus’ “Endless Cycles of Life and Death” exclusively here at Forever Plagued’s official YouTube channel.

Hailing from the Netherlands, Sator Malus play atmospheric black metal with conviction and ideas deriving behind darkness, space, and worlds beyond the eyes of humanity. Sator Malus include (ex-)members of such bands as The Spirit Cabinet, Walpurgisnacht, Grimm, Cirith Gorgor, and Hooded Priest, so they are not by any stretch new to black metal. Also, they’ve brought upon IX of Urfaust as special guest vocalist to one of the tracks for fans who can relate.

Forever Plagued will present Sator Malus’ Dark Matters on CD worldwide on June 30th, and the LP release later in the year. In the meantime, hear & see a special teaser video for that aforementioned track featuring IX of Urfaust – “Endless Cycles of Life and Death” – exclusively HERE at Forever Plagued’s official YouTube channel and also hear it at the label’s Soundcloud here.