Canada’s thrash metal machine Wreck-Defy has released their second single Freedomless Speech as a lyric video. Watch the videoon the SubLevel Records’ YouTube Channel. The album will be released digitally on October 9th and as vinyl via Doc Gator Records in Switzerland. Physical copies will be released on November 27th via Italian record label Punishment 18. Pre-order the album in digital format at the SubLevel Bandcamp site or where digital music is sold.
The upcoming album is titled Powers That Be. The album has been mixed and mastered byJuan Urteaga at Trident Studio, Pacheco, CA.
Balrog & Roll is the 2nd album from British Fantasy Black Metal trio Orcrypt. After becoming dormant in 2010, following the release of Mercenaries of Mordor, founding member Ugluk reactivated the band in 2018, recruiting new members Sammael on guitars, and J.R.R. Martin on vocals. Within the next year, this new line up recorded and released the demo Dice & Damnation, marking the move away from Tolkien and drone towards a new focus on riffs and fantasy role-playing games. But, even before the demo was released, Orcrypt was working on writing and recording what would become Balrog & Roll.
Recorded and then re-recorded over the course of a year, Balrog & Roll continues Orcrypt ’s exploration of deep, dark and primal Black Metal, but incorporates influences from classic rock & heavy metal. Lyrically the album explores the darkest aspects of Gary Gygax’s Dungeons & Dragons, J.R.R. Martin explains: “Dungeons & Dragons is filled with darkness, corruption and evil. Ultimately for a lot of people, the appeal of either Dungeons & Dragons or Black Metal is that it gives the opportunity for power fantasies, cathartic release and getting in touch with something deep, dark and primal. We have just merged the two.”
Orcrypt formed in 2010. Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the early demos of the Norwegian Black Metal masters, they recorded and released their first demo The Mirkwood Massacre that same year. In 2015, Orcrypt unleashed their debut album. Influenced as much by Ralph Bakshi as J.R.R. Tolkien, and mastered to cassette, Mercenaries of Mordor was an unrelenting lo-fi assault of droning underground Black Metal. But then, they vanished… and resurrected.
Australia’s savage thrash/death veterans In Malice’s Wake proudly announce the first single/video fortheir upcoming album, The Blindness of Faith. The Blindness of Faith is scheduled for worldwide release on Friday the 13th of November. Presale is now available (see links below).
The video is the title track and opener of the album. Utilizing intense and intimate footage from the band’s rehearsal room, this track showcases the bludgeoning darkness that is a prominent hallmark of the album in its entirety. The song is “a sinister and relentlessly pummelling epic of modern yet true thrash metal” says Lochlan Watt from Triple J’s The Racket.
The album The Blindness of Faith is a journey into the dark side of religion, narrated by the harrowing In Malice’s Wake sound – haunting melodies, an onslaught of classic riffs and drumming and vocals that resonate from the depths of hell. The album is a further push along the extreme path of darkness and brutality set upon by the previous album, Light Upon the Wicked. Recorded & mixed by Chris Themelco at Monolith Studios, and mastered at Panic Room studios – The Blindness of Faith screams with the sonic fire that In Malice’s Wake are renowned for. In Malice’s Wake are proud of all that has been achieved on the path so far and are ravenous to break new ground slaying a legion of new listeners in the next chapter with The Blindness of Faith – the strongest album yet. Truly thrash metal as it should be – unholy, destroying sonic fire…
The cover art, painted in oil by guitarist/vocalist Shaun Farrugia, is a reflection of the atmosphere and destruction contained within the 10 tracks on offer.
The Blindness of Faith is available via CD digipak and digital stream. An extensive range of pre-order bundles including a large range of new apparel are available now via:
Australian heavy metal bands Acrolysis and Reaver release their collaborative sophomore EP, The Nobody Crowd. The record is a ferocious experience featuring expressive, riff driven guitars, blistering speed harsh, vocals and its socially conscious message. It is centred around illustrating both bands’ uniqueness and especial characteristics in not only sound but in composition as well. The EP also features two songs which were composed together by members of both bands, creating music that excitingly blends their styles together and presents musical ideas that may have not been considered if not for their willingness to experiment and be out of their comfort zones. Acrolysis and Reaver utilise their similar influences and distinct differences to create a record that is sonically a ‘kick in the teeth’ but thematically explores corruption, temptation, cruelty and unity.
Today Acrolysis release the first single/video A Message To You from the upcoming EP. Acrolysis vocalist and guitarist/Reaver bassist Konstantine Ana says about the song: “A Message to You is a sonic assault on all senses. It epitomises anger and aggression, discussing themes of corruption and manipulation. Portrayed in a more rudimentary way with its basic and common musical structure, it attempts to encapsulate the anger felt towards political and social institutions, their seemingly never ending corruption and the disappointment and upset that goes with it. Taking elements of thrash metal and punk akin to Dead Kennedys, the Saints, Motörhead and Metallica, A Message to You really embodies what Acrolysis is about.”
Being from the same scene and city, Acrolysis and Reaver took a liking to each other’s sound and over the years a friendship developed which lead to Konstantine Ana joining Reaver as their bassist in 2020 whilst maintaining his role in Acrolysis. Interestingly, the idea of a joint recording was suggested between the band members in 2018 and two years later, now culminates into the ravenous four track EP titled The Nobody Crowd.
1.A Message to you
2. Visions
3. Broken Smoker
4. The Nobody Crowd
Mixed and Mastered by Matt Clarke
Artwork design by All4band
Acrolysis‘ single is now available for download on their Bandcamp page.
Acrolysis are: Konstantine Ana – Vocals & Guitar Amit Bamay – Drums Mytal Baba – Bass
Black-Roos Entertainment proudly presents Metal United World Wide – The Voice for the Underground: Compilation CDs
Today would have been the big day for the underground Metal communities around the world. 2020 started very much in favour of MUWW. Metal Hammer UK rewarded our efforts of uniting the worldwide metal scene with a nice long feature. Furthermore, over 60 countries would have joined the MUWW movement this year. 24 hours of live music. COVID-19 forced us (like so many others) to cancel. We are looking now towards MUWW 2021.
We still want to celebrate this day. So, we decided to release 3 digital compilation CDs. There is one for each year with an actual show (2018 and 2019) with the bands who played at one of the shows. For 2020, we created a CD as well with potential bands who could have played MUWW shows. There are now 50 songs from 40 different countries and it truly is an amazing range of genres with Sleaze Rock, Heavy Metal, Hardcore, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Progressive and so many more. Moreover, bands from many different countries contributed. Artists from Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, India, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Mozambique, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela are featured. So lean back and enjoy this amazing collection of WORLD METAL! \m/\m/
MUWW or Metal United World Wide includes everyone who wants to join this celebration. There is only one requirement to join, organise a metal show on the date of MUWW. It is a collection of smaller and bigger shows, concerts, festivals, or even band practice. MUWW initiator Michael Lueders says: “The more countries participate, the better. MUWW is meant for virtually all metalheads on this planet.” Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia… some rather remote countries had joined the movement in the last years with a great display of love for metal. Even Syria and Afghanistan became part of the initiative with an unforgettable concert in Damascus Bazar and a pyrotechnic loaded show in Kabul which would have made Rammstein jealous. “It is so great to see even the most hidden-to-the-world metal scenes coming out and celebrating together on MUWW days”, explains Michael passionately.
Join us in looking forward to MUWW in 2021. We’ll be back!
Empyreal Sorrow have released their first single, Quiet Depression. Quiet Depression is a bastard of classical Death Metal aggression and gripping harmonies. With the two vocalists spitting out their guts while descending into the deepest places of a human mind, this song takes you on a journey through frustration, self-hatred and total despair. Empyreal Sorrow are bursting with energy and their single Quiet Depression is branded into your brain.
There is only one goal for Empyreal Sorrow: enjoying the music and the company of those that share the same vision without compromising the own believes. So join the ranks of the „Cult Of Sorrow“ – now!
The debut album PRÆY from the German Melodic Death Metallers will be out on 20 November.
All music was written by Martin Hofbauer
Lyrics are written by Martin Hofbauer & Sebastian Moser
Arranged, recorded, mixed and mastered at Grotesque Studios, Bad Wörishofen
01 – Praey To Sorrow
02 – Thrown Into The Fire
03 – Source Of (In)humanity
04 – The Error Code
05 – Come Down With Me
06 – Quiet Depression
07 – Scars Of Old
08 – Voice Of Violence
09 – Killing Silence
10 – A Night Without Armor
Lineup: Sebastian Moser – Bass & Vocals Markus Winter – Guitars Martin Szeike – Vocals Julian Osterried – Drums Martin Hofbauer – Guitars
Empyreal Sorrow is Melodic Death Metal with well-known trademarks heeling to a new emotional side. The band takes the Death-Metal-wheel, demolishes it completely and puts it back together again in their very own way, creating an individual sound with a lot of interesting facets. Their musical construct is born out of aggression paired with ear-catching melody and a sometimes Black Metal-like atmosphere; the music is punchy, dynamic and drills directly into your head. Raw energy flows through every single song: boosting the urge to bang your head until total escalation. Definitely a band you should consider listening to.
Australian Progressive Metal Band IRONSTONE releases Hollow. They state: “We’re thrilled to present ‘Hollow’, the third single from our debut EP, Prophecy. The song addresses one of the largest challenges facing our generation today… the state of the Earth’s ecology. This topic evokes a range of emotions, from anger and despair through to disbelief and sadness. Despite this, Hollow is about hope and the part we need to play in affecting our future for the better.”
Hollow’s lyrics caution against a path of ongoing greed and excess and cynically invite the listener to ‘gorge upon the bounty’ without considering anyone else or the consequences of their actions, giving a healthy dose of clarity in a reverse psychology package.
Hollow has a sound that is as nuanced as the message it delivers. The guitars while conveying frustration and rage are offset by carefully placed ambient elements. The whole song fluctuates between bursts of percussive, aggressive guitar, technical drumming and beautiful melodies that overflow with emotional tension. All of this culminates in a big build-up and pay-off to help drive the message home!
The video for Hollow features orange and blue lighting, giving it a jarring, dramatic theme. Individual shots are complemented by graphics, glitches, and symbols, giving the clip a frantic atmosphere that helps to convey a feeling of urgency. Hollow was mixed and mastered by Chris Themelco of Monolith Studios, Melbourne.
IRONSTONE are: Dan Charlton – Lead Vocals Edward Warren – Lead Guitar, Vocals Aidan Kalms – Rhythm Guitar Oliver Hosking – Bass Guitar