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Photo: M. Lankila
PRESS RELEASE August 6th 2020 For immediate release | ||
Helsinki-based Finnish gothic metal band DOL has released a new single and music video to their track "My Juliet".
Watch the music video: https://youtu.be/cenZq9jA5xE
Listen to the single:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2DeGiOR Apple Music: https://apple.co/3i76wBm Amazon: https://amzn.to/3i4tclY Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/ Tidal: https://listen.tidal.com/
"My Juliet" is a first-bite from the upcoming "Between Love and Death" EP that shall be released in September 2020. DOL was founded in 2018.
DOL:
Eero “MC” Veri: Vocals and Guitar
Hades: Guitar Jykä: Bass Lauri.M: Keyboards Catsy: Drums |
METAL DIGITAL MAGAZINE
Friday, August 7, 2020
Finnish gothic metal band DOL released a new music video My Juliet
SHED THE SKIN — “THE FORBIDDEN ARTS”
Regardless of how completely awful the current situation may be on almost too many levels to count, any year that includes a new album by Shed the Skin is a good year, and any day that gives us another chance to premiere their music is going to be a devilishly joyful one regardless of how miserable it might have been otherwise. It should also be a joy for all fans of evil but electrifying death metal.
We’ve been helping to spread the word about Shed the Skin for many years, but hopefully by now they don’t really need any more help. With a veteran line-up drawn from a host of well-known bands, they were able to hit the ground running with their 2014 EP Rebirth Through Brimstone and powered through to even greater acclaim with their first two albums, 2016’s Harrowing Faith and 2018’s We of Scorn. And now their steadfast label Hells Headbangers is poised to release their third album, The Forbidden Arts, on June 26th, and that’s what we’re giving you the chance to hear in full right now.
We’ve told the tale of this band’s origins before, but for those who aren’t familiar with it, the genesis of Shed the Skin happened when drummer Kyle Severn (Incantation, Acheron) and guitarist Matt Sorg (Ringworm, Blood of Christ) played together in a tribute to Cleveland’s Blood of Christ at a memorial show for their deceased friend Tom Rojack (notably, Blood of Christ’s 1993 promo EP included the song “Shed the Skin”), and that led them to forge ahead by eventually recruiting the rest of the band’s impressive line-up, vocalist/guitarist Ash Thomas (Vladimirs, Faithxtractor) and bassist Ed Stephens (Ringworm), all of them dedicated to creating Satanic old-school death metal.
There have been other constants in the band’s activity besides the alliance with Hells HEadbangers. Since their first 7″, the records (including the new one) have been recorded in Cleveland and mastered by the great Dan Swanö at Unisound. And they’ve turned again to James Bulloch for the cover art of the new record and to Incantation’s Chuck Sherwood for the blasphemous lyrics.
The Forbidden Arts is a new testament to the collective talent of all these people. It delivers 11 new tracks plus a hidden cover from Matt Sorg’s 1990s band From the Depths, a tribute to that band’s original vocalist, Jim Konya (RIP).
Shed the Skin kick off their new record with the eerie, shivering synths that open “Skeletal Firestorm”, but that song soon becomes a juggernaut battering ram, racing and ravaging in a flurry of cutting riffs and clobbering drums, segmented by start-stop bursts and slowing into a gut-slugging, neck-ruining chug-fest followed by slitherings of bleak, diseased melody. Ash Thomas‘s vocals are equally ferocious, a frightening cavalcade of belly-deep barbaric growls, ghastly gurgling, and demented snarls and shrieks. And when the band burst into a final surge, it’s embellished by a swirling, fret-burning solo that turns the dial even further up on the song’s voltage levels.
That opening track displays many of the hallmarks of the album as a whole — the absolute ferocity of the vocals; the skull-plundering, spine-shaking force of the rhythm section; the scathing savagery of the riffs (and the occasional integration of Bolt Thrower-ish chugging); off-the-hook soloing that puts on one fireworks display after another; and the dynamism of the pacing and the drum- and bass-work.
The dynamic character of the music is persistent, as is the interweaving of mood-moving melodies. But although almost none of the songs stays in the same speed zone from beginning to end, some are more riotous overall and some more gloomy and ghastly. Among the generally faster songs, “Archons of the Final Creation” is brazen and exultant, laced with freakish, queasy arpeggios (though it devolves into a dragging crawl whose melody sounds crushingly hopeless), and “Master of Thralls” blends together jagged, skittering, fast-jabbing riffage and moaning melodic misery, while “Glorified In Bloodsmoke” is a turbocharged barrage of piston-driven momentum, rabid guitar swarming, and berserker soloing (though it also drops into a soul-sucking crawl).
On the other hand, some of the tracks are more dominantly mid-paced, including the gruesome, sadistic ravages of “The Moors, The Madness” (which becomes a full-bore romp), the bleak yet exotic grandeur and pile-driving grooves of “Trow of Tragedy”, and the horrifying wretchedness and jolting assaults of “Necromantic Wellspring” (which briefly explodes into Grade A mosh-pit fuel).
The band don’t run out of gas as the album goes deeper into the track list. Indeed, the latter half of the album is home to some of the record’s highlights, including “The Laundress”, a choking blanket of gloom and pestilence segmented by bursts of percussive explosiveness and scintillating flashes of lead-guitar melody (and it’s home to a mesmerizing guitar solo), as well as its immediate follower, “Black Bile of Ceres”, whose momentous grooves, sorcerous, darting riffs, and menacing yet ecstatic crescendo create sensations of infernal eminence and esoteric spellcasting, and the terrible and tragic yet defiant majesty of “Veins of Perdition”, the album’s longest and most enthralling song, which sounds like the march of a rebel king to the gallows, bowed but not broken.
Closing with the scampering mayhem and fiery intensity of “Speculum In Blood”, which amalgamates nail-gunning riffs and sweeping chords, eye-popping soloing and bullet-spitting drums, Shed the Skin finish off yet another triumph in a discography that was already uniformly impressive.
To repeat, The Forbidden Arts will be released on June 26th, in a variety of formats, by Hells Headbangers. It’s available for pre-order now.
SHED THE SKIN:
https://www.facebook.com/shedtheskin
https://www.facebook.com/shedtheskin
MONGREL'S CROSS reveal first track from new HELLS HEADBANGERS album
Today, Aussie metal vanguard Mongrel's Cross reveal the new track "Suffer the Witch to Live." The track is the first to be revealed from the band's highly anticipated third album, Arcana, Scrying and Revelation, which will be released this November by Hells Headbangers on CD and vinyl LP formats. The album also marks the arrival of Absu's Proscriptor as their vocalist. Hear Mongrel's Cross' "Suffer the Witch to Live" in its entirety HERE at Hells Headbangers' official YouTube channel.
Hailing from the extreme metal hotbed of Australia, Mongrel's Cross were once of the best-kept secrets Down Under. The band's debut album, The Sins of Aquarius, was released in 2012 via Hells Headbangers, and presented an unselfconsciously unique twist on paradigmatic Oz black/death. Grimily gratifying, Mongrel's Cross unleashed a widescreen span of filthy thrashing, down-tempo war-marches, and epic metal grandeur alike, and diehards dutifully took note. Unfortunately, lineup struggles would hamper momentum, and it would take six long years before another recording reared its head.
However, when Mongrel's Cross at last emerged from their hiatus, now pared down to a duo, the dividends paid off handsomely. Released in 2018 to widespread international acclaim, Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court soon became something of a modern classic to any and all who heard it. Mongrel's Cross didn't so much as change during the interim as simply intensify and fine-tune their iron-fisted attack, here conveying an altogether more terrifying and triumphant aspect. It was the age-old axis of form meeting content, and rarely had a metal record this cleanly produced sounded so threatening, which simply underlined the powerful panache to the band's strong songwriting. Mongrel's Cross had truly arrived with Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court - and thankfully, people were now paying attention.
Keeping that shit-hot momentum going, Mongrel's Cross scored quite the coup in acquiring the legendary vocal skills of Absu's incomparable Proscriptor for their third full-length. Bearing the appropriately magickal title of Arcana, Scrying and Revelation, these Aussie hooligans-turned-heroes are set to deliver yet another decisive and undeniable album. Mongrel's Cross are on the march, ready to take the throne that's rightfully theirs.
If its no-less-considerable predecessor saw Mongrel's Cross step deeper into territory that's entirely their own, here with Arcana, Scrying and Revelation do the bolstered quartet solidify that rarefied ground. Not for them the over-generalization of "Australia = war metal" nor the simplistic connotations associated with such; still peaking at the height of their compositional powers, Mongrel's Cross remain a great extreme METAL entity. All the drama and danger, legendry and lawlessness, power and poison, and essential OTT abandon of this artform otherwise known as heavy metal - everything that Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court so effortlessly played out with a palpably physical poetry - here on Arcana do they render in more manic and narrative form, no doubt informed by Proscriptor's pioneering work with the singular Absu. In fact, it's a match so perfect (and poignant), it's a small wonder it never happened sooner... Regardless, each of these seven screeds artfully canvasses a wide territory of heavy metal magick - the playing deft and nuanced, the songwriting itself direct yet richly detailed - and once again does the clean 'n' gleaming production fit like a gauntlet lined with velvet. In a word, Arcana is EPIC, in every sense.
Suitably adorned with majestic cover artwork courtesy of the masterful Kris Verwimp, hereby do Mongrel's Cross enter the halls of confirmed greatness with Arcana, Scrying and Revelation!
Begin witnessing that greatness with the brand-new track "Suffer the Witch to Live" HERE at Hells Headbangers' official YouTube channel. A release date in November is expected, but will be confirmed shortly. Preorder info to also follow. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mongrel's Cross' Arcana, Scrying and Revelation
1. Suffer the Witch to Live [6:07]
2. Fate of the Grail PT. I [4:53]
3. A Magician's Prayer [5:22]
4. Fate of the Grail PT. II [6:02]
5. As a Being Undead [5:21]
6. What the Cards May Tell [6:09]
7. The Whispering Void [4:45]
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/MongrelsCross
Hiidenhauta released a second single & music video from their upcoming third album!
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IDOLATRIA premiere new track at NoCleanSinging.com
Today, esoteric black metallers Idolatria premiere the new track "Noctule: The Emperor of Scourge" at heavily trafficked web-portal NoCleanSinging.com. The track hails from the band's highly anticipated second album, Tetrabestiarchy, set for international release on September 4th via Signal Rex. Hear Idolatria's "Noctule: The Emperor of Scourge" in its entirety exclusively HERE.
Idolatria hail from Italy, and are one of the black metal scene's best-kept secrets. With absolutely no warning whatsoever, the quartet released their debut album, Breviarium Daemonicus Idolatrorum, in early 2015. This bolt-from-the-blue work portrayed a dazzling(ly dark) artistry, a gnarled 'n' gnarling physicality that proved mature beyond its years. More so, perhaps, it underlined the fact that Idolatria are not ones for half-measures: each and every aesthetic choice is decisive and deadly, every thread sewn together with austere intent.
Such proves the case again - and, it must be said, to an even fuller degree - with Idolatria's long-awaited second album, Tetrabestiarchy. Right from the very first ominous notes, one is immediately presented with a world towering in its immensity, black metal that's as martial as it is mesmerizing, drawing that listener in and devouring him whole. Orthodox but by no means short on vision, Idolatria's songwriting sears the senses and also the spirit; their violence is surely made by humans - ones playing together, unlike so much cut 'n' paste creations in nowadays "black metal" - but Tetrabestiarchy equally transcends the earthly realm. Its lurking dread knows no bounds, and the corridors of the consciousness it opens up are many and malignant...
Naturally for Idolatria, Tetrabestiarchy is built upon a foundation of great thematic significance. Across its six-song/34-minute runtime (which amazingly feels far vaster than that), the album outlines a journey through some interesting animalistic myths, which have been (and some still are) a focus in various cultures. The recurrent themes are the nihilistic vision of a decadent world based on worshiping Satan as the only true god and the interpretations of such myths as tools to annihilate other religions.
The description of these four animals are inspired by a porphyry sculpture, dating from around 300 AD, called The Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs. It depicts the four rulers in charge of the entire Empire, instituted by Emperor Diocletian. The sculptural group has been fixed to a corner of the façade of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy since the Middle Ages. It probably originally formed part of the decorations of the Philadelphion in Constantinople, and was removed to Venice in 1204 or soon after.
Graced with suitably grandiose cover artwork courtesy of Cold Poison, Idolatria's Tetrabestiarchy th
Continue beholding that brilliance with the brand-new track "Noctule: The Emperor of Scourge" exclusively HERE, courtesy of NoCleanSinging.com. Begin beholding that brilliance with the previously revealed "Vulture: The God of Last Rites" both HERE at Idolatria's Bandcamp as well as HERE at Signal Rex's official YouTube channel. Aforementioned cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Idolatria hail from Italy, and are one of the black metal scene's best-kept secrets. With absolutely no warning whatsoever, the quartet released their debut album, Breviarium Daemonicus Idolatrorum, in early 2015. This bolt-from-the-blue work portrayed a dazzling(ly dark) artistry, a gnarled 'n' gnarling physicality that proved mature beyond its years. More so, perhaps, it underlined the fact that Idolatria are not ones for half-measures: each and every aesthetic choice is decisive and deadly, every thread sewn together with austere intent.
Such proves the case again - and, it must be said, to an even fuller degree - with Idolatria's long-awaited second album, Tetrabestiarchy. Right from the very first ominous notes, one is immediately presented with a world towering in its immensity, black metal that's as martial as it is mesmerizing, drawing that listener in and devouring him whole. Orthodox but by no means short on vision, Idolatria's songwriting sears the senses and also the spirit; their violence is surely made by humans - ones playing together, unlike so much cut 'n' paste creations in nowadays "black metal" - but Tetrabestiarchy equally transcends the earthly realm. Its lurking dread knows no bounds, and the corridors of the consciousness it opens up are many and malignant...
Naturally for Idolatria, Tetrabestiarchy is built upon a foundation of great thematic significance. Across its six-song/34-minute runtime (which amazingly feels far vaster than that), the album outlines a journey through some interesting animalistic myths, which have been (and some still are) a focus in various cultures. The recurrent themes are the nihilistic vision of a decadent world based on worshiping Satan as the only true god and the interpretations of such myths as tools to annihilate other religions.
The description of these four animals are inspired by a porphyry sculpture, dating from around 300 AD, called The Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs. It depicts the four rulers in charge of the entire Empire, instituted by Emperor Diocletian. The sculptural group has been fixed to a corner of the façade of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy since the Middle Ages. It probably originally formed part of the decorations of the Philadelphion in Constantinople, and was removed to Venice in 1204 or soon after.
Graced with suitably grandiose cover artwork courtesy of Cold Poison, Idolatria's Tetrabestiarchy th
Continue beholding that brilliance with the brand-new track "Noctule: The Emperor of Scourge" exclusively HERE, courtesy of NoCleanSinging.com. Begin beholding that brilliance with the previously revealed "Vulture: The God of Last Rites" both HERE at Idolatria's Bandcamp as well as HERE at Signal Rex's official YouTube channel. Aforementioned cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Idolatria's Tetrabestiarchy
1. Intro: Glorious Praise To The Tetrarchs
2. Serpent: The Father of Darkness
3. Noctule: The Emperor of Scourge
4. Goat: The Servant of Underworld
5. Vulture: The God of Last Rites
6. Outro: Vibrant Flare of Their Coming
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/idolatria666
www.idolatria.bandcamp.com
(click banner for more info)
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