A roundup of the latest news from ZMetal Blade Records including updates from Bloodclot, Entrails and Byzantine.
On July 14th, Bloodclot – featuring true hardcore pioneers John Joseph (Cro-Mags), Todd Youth (Warzone, Murphy’s Law), Joey Castillo (ex-Queens of the Stone Age, Blast!), Nick Oliveri (ex-Queens of the Stone Age, Dwarves)
will release their new album, Up In Arms, via Metal Blade Records.
Listen to their new single, Kali here
soundcloud.com/bloodclotofficial/kali
At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As front-man of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it’s clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullshit music at its most passionate. “In this band we’re doing what each of us have always done: give it our all,” John Joseph states plainly. “We work hard, and we have a lot to say. Look around the planet – people are fed up with the corrupt ruling class. They destroy the planet and kill millions for profit, and the formula for our response is simple: Anger + applied knowledge = results. Don’t just bitch. Change it.”
Up In Arms track-listing
1. Up in Arms
2. Fire
3. Manic
4. Kill the Beast
5. Prayer
6. Siva / Rudra
7. Soldiers of the New Babylon
8. Kali
9. Slow Kill Genocide
10. Slipping into Darkness
11. Life As One
12. You’ll Be the Death of Me
Bloodclot line-up:
John Joseph (Cro-Mags) – Vocals
Todd Youth (Warzone, Murphy’s Law) – Guitars
Nick Oliveri (ex-Queens of the Stone Age, Dwarves) – Bass
Joey Castillo (ex-Queens of the Stone Age, Blast!) – Drums
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On June 16th, Swedish death metallers Entrails will release their new album, World Inferno, worldwide via Metal Blade Records!
To hear the new single, “Serial Murder (Death Squad)”, head over to InvisibleOranges.com for the exclusive stream: http://www.invisibleoranges.com/entrails-serial-murder-death-squad/
https://soundcloud.com/metalbladerecords/entrails-serial-murder-death-squad
Entrails guitarist Jimmy Lundqvist comments: “It’s about time to unleash our next beast called ‘Serial Murder (Death Squad)’ – that means you should roll up your sleeves, loosen up your ponytail and get in the mood with a proper beer and prepare yourself for a trip among serial murders. The Death Squad awaits you!”
The recordings for World Inferno started in December 2016 in Lundqvist’s Bloodshed Studio. Dan Swano once again handled the mixing and mastering for the album. Dan Swano comments: “I don’t know if I had said this before, but I say it again. Every time I start thinking about putting together some new SweDeath project, Entrails show up at my doorstep with a new album to mix, and every time I think ‘Fuck!! – What’s the point in making my own project when this is so fucking good, and exactly what I wanted to do…’ And if I felt there were some details to improve upon from our previous work together, they fix that and then some, and return with an album even stronger than the previous one. What the fuck is going on in Linneryd!? Is Jimmy cloning death metal warriors in some barn over there or what!? To sum it up. Yet another amazing slab of SweDeath coming your way from Entrails! Beyond. Blown. Away!”
World Inferno track-listing:
- World Inferno
- Condemned to the Grave
- Serial Murder (Death Squad)
- The Soul Collector
- Dead and Buried
- Insane Slaughter
- Into Eternal Fire
- Suffer
- The Hour of the Casket
- The Blood Breed
www.nervegas.com.au/entrails-world-inferno-cd
www.nervegas.com.au/entrails-world-inferno-vinyl-lp
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On July 28th, Byzantine will release their new album, The Cicada Tree, via Metal Blade Records.
To watch “New Ways to Bear Witness”, go here
https://youtu.be/qpdNtOjFifw?list=PLy8LfIp6j3aIIAPLb9eGzpP50mgZMgdH0
Heralded as the most underrated band from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal Movement, Byzantine has slowly gained a cult-like following after releasing 5 genre-bending albums. 16 years underground, it’s finally time for the world to hear Byzantine! For a first preview of The Cicada Tree, a new video for the single “New Ways to Bear Witness” (featuring a cameo by Skeletonwitch‘s Dustin Boltjes, as well as ex-Byzantine drummer Matt Wolfe) has been launched online. Directed/edited by Holly Siders, the filming of “New Ways to Bear Witness” resulted in Chris “OJ” Ojeda (vocals, rhythm guitar) suffering a concussion. OJ comments about the experience:
“So, we came up with an idea of having our old drummer do a cameo appearance in the music video. Matt Wolfe left the band right before we signed with Metal Blade and had occupied the drum seat for the last 12 years. We felt it was a perfect opportunity to let fans know that we still love Matt and he;s still welcome and important to our band. What’s the best way to have an ousted band member make a cameo? To hit me with a vehicle, of course!
We set up the scene and did about 5 or 6 takes of Wolfe hitting me with the vehicle and me rolling off the vehicle. I didn’t know until we wrapped shooting the next day that something was wrong and had a very hard time driving home. I contacted an ER doctor friend of mine who told me I needed to come see him ASAP. After a CT Scan and an EKG, he let me know I had a standard sports type concussion from repeatedly hitting my head during the video shoot. I got 3 days off work and a cool story out of it! Rock!“
To state that The Cicada Tree is “classic Byzantine” in no way implies that this is an album solely rooted in the band’s past. Certainly, all of the hallmarks that have made their sound so compelling for close to two decades are present and correct: muscular yet lithe riffs and fluid leads play against gripping, dynamic and at times unpredictable rhythms, while rich melodies and lyrics that are both involved and intelligent wind their way through every track. But, once more, the groove metal unit has continued their steady evolution – the interplay between their members organic and natural, imbuing the record’s sixty-two-minute running time with a freshness and urgency. Founding member Chris “OJ” Ojeda states, “The first few albums, you’re trying to find your sound, and sometimes you tend to not see the forest for the trees. Now, on album number six, it seems a calmness took hold during the songwriting process, possibly from just having more confidence in our sound. At this point, our fans expect us to experiment and push our boundaries, which is an extremely liberating feeling.”
