A roundup of the latest news from Metal Blade Records. Updates include Goatwhore, Igorr, Entrails and Downfall Of Gaia.
Goatwhore will release their anticipated Vengeful Ascension full-length worldwide on June 23rd via Metal Blade Records.
Listen to the albums title track Vengeful Ascension here
http://metalblade.com/goatwhore
The band’s seventh full-length and second recorded reel-to-reel, Vengeful Ascension was captured at Earth Analog in Tolono, Illinois near Champaign, Illinois with longtime soundman and comrade Jarrett Pritchard (1349, Gruesome), breaking a four-album tradition of working with Erik Rutan.
“Working with Rutan was awesome,” says Goatwhore front-man Ben Falgoust. “We did some great records with him. But you come to a point where you’re like, ‘All right. Let’s try something new.’ It was part of trying to remove ourselves from a comfort zone and a risk thing we needed to take. Plus, we really wanted to hit the essence of where we are live and what better way to harness that than by having our live sound guy involved. Jarrett is knowledgeable with the studio stuff. He also knows how we sound coming out of a PA and we really wanted to get closer to that.”
The resulting ten-track, forty-one-minute production – mixed by Chris Common (Tribulation, Pelican) and mastered by Maor Applebaum (Faith No More, Halford, Today Is The Day) – marches in, clutches its listeners by the throat and refuses to loosen its grip until the abrupt conclusion of “Those Who Denied God’s Will.” A sonic manifestation of war, chaos, desolation, and emotional conflict, seamlessly bridging twenty years of the band’s signature brand of audio venom, it’s a record that finds its members at their most accomplished both individually and as a cohesive unit. Guitarist Sammy Duet’s dense, sub nuclear riff work and possessed solo blitzes are at their most devastating, spiraling flawlessly and instinctually around drummer Zack Simmons’ and bassist James Harvey’s hammering rhythms, while Falgoust’s distinctly commanding roar, his acidic prose, more enunciated than ever before, complimenting the apocalyptic proceedings.
“Each song is a representation of Goatwhore. From day one until now. It really shows our evolution as a band,” the front-man reflects.
“I don’t think that this band has reached its peak yet. I mean, I think we’re closer now than ever but we’re still growing; we’re still evolving.”
While hardly a concept record in the traditional sense, Vengeful Ascension loosely revolves itself around Luciferian notions in title and spirit where the symbol of Lucifer serves not as a fiendish, all-destroying demon but rather an emancipator or guiding light. It’s a theme of struggle and transcendence derived from John Milton’s Paradise Lost epic, and one that has appeared, whether directly or indirectly, within Goatwhore works of the past.
“There’s that whole idea of Lucifer being the anti-hero,” elaborates Falgoust. “He’s cast out from this place in Heaven to the depths of nothing. He keeps trying to ascend to the top again but no matter what, there’s always this significant force trying to destroy him at any point and banish him back to Hell. If you look at it from an everyday aspect in life, it’s the idea of people, hitting the bottom of the barrel or you know, things just aren’t going right in life… emotion plays a huge part in how people react. Whether it’s based on love or hatred or sadness or whatever, there’s always an aspect of emotion that drives people to an extent. So the whole idea of a ‘Vengeful Ascension’ is built on being at the bottom, working your way to the top, and realizing along the way that there are other facets to the journey aside from just pure retribution. Within negativity there can exist a positive angle as well.”
Vengeful Ascension serves as the soundtrack to that luciferious rise straight off with the combative, ritualistic drum onslaught of opening hymn, “Forsaken.” Wholly immersive, each track is alarmingly palpable in subject and corresponding execution. The tense, clandestine battery of “Chaos Arcane,” based on HP Lovecraft’s book Nyarlathotep – a story which attempts to recount the inexplicable sense of fear in expectancy of an unknown evil – conveys that sensation of impending doom through sound in a way only Goatwhore can. “Mankind Will Have No Mercy,” a pseudo tribute to Bolt Thrower, seethes under the weight of its own wartime sentiment, while the rapid-fire, punkish urgency of “Under The Flesh, Into The Soul,” a first person account of irrepressible resentment, sounds utterly enraged. And with an average runtime of just four minutes, no one song ever overstays its welcome.
Vengeful Ascension track-listing:
1. Forsaken
2. Under The Flesh, Into The Soul
3. Vengeful Ascension
4. Chaos Arcane
5. Where The Sun Is Silent
6. Drowned In Grim Rebirth
7. Abandon Indoctrination
8. Mankind Will Have No Mercy
9. Decayed Omen Reborn
10. Those Who Denied God’s Will
Pre Orders for Vengeful Ascension are available now
www.nervegas.com.au/goatwhore
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On June 16th, Igorrr – the brainchild of French musician and eclectic composer Gautier Serre – will release their new album, Savage Sinusoid, via Metal Blade Records.
On this record, electronic manipulations, accordion, saxophone, sitar, harpsichord, mandolin and strings sit comfortably alongside ruthless blastbeats, chunky riffs, death grunts and soaring operatic vocals – and as chaotic as this might sometimes seem, there is no lack of heart behind everything thundering from the speakers.
A new video for the track Opus Brain (directed by Garrick J. Lauterbach ) has been released
Watch it here!
TRIGGER WARNING
The album’s first single, “ieuD“, and part 1 of the making of Savage Sinusoid can also be viewed here
To realize Savage Sinusoid as a completely sample-free record, Serre reunited with vocalists Laurent Lunoir and Laure Le Prunenec, along with drummer Sylvain Bouvier, and collaborated with more musicians than on any of his previous releases – one of those guests being Cattle Decapitation’s Travis Ryan, who lends his vocals on “Cheval”, “Apopathodiaphulatophobie” and “Robert”. “Viande” also sees Teloch (Mayhem) contribute some guitar/bass work, while “Houmous” features accordionists Pierre Mussi and Adam Stacey (the latter of whom is in Secret Chiefs 3 – a project by Mr. Bungle’s Trey Spruance). While Savage Sinusoid draws from a plethora of genres, Serre has no intention of baffling or alienating potential listeners. As he explains:”I just want to make the music I love, without asking myself if it’s gonna be too complex or too far from what people like. I want to make the music which has sense to me, with no restrictions, like a big party with metalheads, electronics nerds, classical and baroque-heads and gypsy violinists getting drunk and joining together to bring the best of every genre.”
Pre Orders for Savage Sinusoid are available now
www.nervegas.com.au/igorrr
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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 first single, “The Soul Collector”, please visit: metalblade.com/entrails
Entrails guitarist Jimmy Lundqvist comments: “I am damn proud to finally unleash this nasty beast, a new chapter is written for Entrails to satisfy all old school maniacs out there. Having new blood in the band, Martin and Tommy, helped making this fifth album the rawest and heaviest to date. Prepare yourself to stretch out your neck in full headbanging!”
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 Swanö 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:
1. World Inferno
2. Condemned to the Grave
3. Serial Murder (Death Squad)
4. The Soul Collector
5. Dead and Buried
6. Insane Slaughter
7. Into Eternal Fire
8. Suffer
9. The Hour of the Casket
10. The Blood Breed
Pre Orders for World Inferno are available now
www.nervegas.com.au/entrails
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Last November, Downfall Of Gaia released their fourth full-length, Atrophy, via Metal Blade Records.
Now, the band is ready to launch a new lyric video for the title track of the album (produced by Kdigitalproductions.com), which can be viewed here:
Downfall Of Gaia comments: “We are pleased to present the lyric video for the title track of our recent album ‘Atrophy’,
the grand finale of the story told on our latest record! This song is the end of a journey, the final chapter of a dialogue between life and death.”
Downfall Of Gaia is a dark wall, moving forward relentlessly, enveloping the listener, absorbing one’s spirit to take one into the realm of the band’s potent sound. Although the group’s roots lie within the DIY / crust scene, Downfall Of Gaia has expanded their sound to incorporate elements of black, doom, and sludge metal.
Atrophy is out now
www.nervegas.com.au/downfallofgaia
