A roundup of the latest news from Metal Blade Records including updates on Gwar, Cattle Decapitation, Sorcerer, Ensiferum, Redemption, Cripper, Good Tiger and more.
The countdown is on as GWAR gets ready to release their bone-crushing, corpse-grinding new opus The Blood of Gods out October 20th via Metal Blade Records.
As the world continues hurtling through space towards a great conflagration of death and destruction, your alien overlords have dropped “El Presidente,” the second single from the album. Hopefully this will speed things along!
Head over to metalblade.com/gwar to listen to the track and pre-order your copy of The Blood Of Gods.
Digital pre-orders come with instant downloads of both “Fuck This Place” and “El Presidente.”
Additionally Beefcake the Mighty, has issued a brief “State Of The GWAR Union” address.
Watch it here:
Concerning the album: The Blood of Gods chronicles the rise of humanity against their makers, and the massive battle between GWAR and the forces of all that oppose them. Along the way, the band challenges the sins of humanity from politics, pollution, and organized religion, to fast food, and factory farming. Humans are shown as what they are; a parasitic disease that must be eradicated before they suck the planet dry!
Pre oders for The Blood of Gods are available now
www.nervegas.com.au/gwar
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Act Of Defiance – the heavy metal group featuring the veteran talents of Chris Broderick on guitar, Henry Derek on vocals, Shawn Drover on drums and Matt Bachand on bass – will return with their new album, Old Scars, New Wounds, on September 29th via Metal Blade Records. After slamming back into the metalscape with their first video/single “M.I.A.”, Act Of Defiance is back today with a second new music video/track, “Overexposure”.
Directed by Vince Edwards, the melodic scorcher is backed with fast-paced imagery of the band members in their finest form – churning out a precise metal assault!
On Old Scars, New Wounds, Act Of Defiance has upped the ante. Each of the 11 new tracks sound fresh and urgent while wielding a timeless quality that will connect powerfully with metal fans new and old – and there aren’t many contemporary bands who can make such a claim. Naturally blending a plethora of metallic styles and never recycling ideas, Old Scars, New Wounds is an even more dynamic and diverse collection than its predecessor. The title – plucked from the blistering track “Conspiracy Of The Gods” – stands as a metaphor for life in general, and the breadth of lyrical matter covered is as broad as the styles of heavy music found on the record.
Old Scars, New Wounds track-listing:
1. M.I.A.
2. Molten Core
3. Overexposure
4. The Talisman
5. Lullaby of Vengeance
6. Circle of Ashes
7. Reborn
8. Conspiracy of the Gods
9. Another Killing Spree
10. Broken Dialect
11. Rise of Rebellion
Going into writing the record, the quartet had no grand plan, and spread across the continental US, the individual members worked separately, bouncing demos back and forth and building on each others’ ideas. Like many contemporary bands, through taking advantage of available technologies they made a record that is very much a collaborative effort, despite the distances lying between the members’ home bases. Recruiting producer Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Allegaeon) they tracked the record likewise, with Broderick laying down guitars in his own Ill-Fated Studios in LA, Derek and Broderick’s vocals tracked at Red Light Studios also in LA, with Bachand tracking his contributions at Manshark in South Hampton, MA and Drover’s drums were laid down at Atlanta’s Glow In The Dark Studios.
Pre order now
www.nervegas.com.au/?rf=kw&kw=act+of+defiance
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On October 6th, Cattle Decapitation will release The Flesh Is Of No Use snuff-DVD, featuring three Mitch Massie music videos: Monolith of Inhumanity’s “Forced Gender Reassignment”, plus The Anthropocene Extinction’s “Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot) – Censored” and “Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot) – Uncensored”. Included in a plastic evidence bag, this NSFW DVD is strictly limited to 1000 copies.
To pre-order yours now, please visit:
metalblade.com/cattledecapitation
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Swedish epic heavy doom metal warlords Sorcerer will release their new album, The Crowning Of The Fire King, on October 20th via Metal Blade Records!
For a preview of The Crowning Of The Fire King, a video for the first single, “Sirens”, can be viewed at: metalblade.com/sorcerer
Sorcerer comments: “We have aimed to write an album with diversity and intensity, an album that we want to listen to ourselves. ‘The Crowning Of The Fire King’ is by far our best recording ever with songs that are strong, powerful and doomy. We have captured what Sorcerer is about and taken the songs to the next level for the band. With the first single, ‘Sirens’, we really want to show everyone that Sorcerer is a force to count on! The video was made by our dear friend Daniel Nyqvist who did the videos for ‘The Dark Tower of the Sorcerer’ and ‘Prayers For a King’. We all feel that he succeeded to capture the essence of Sorcerer with his videos and are proud of what he has done for the band.”
The Crowning Of The Fire King track-listing:
1. Sirens
2. Ship Of Doom
3. Abandoned By The Gods
4. The Devils Incubus
5. Nattvaka
6. Crimson Cross
7. The Crowning Of The Fire King
8. Unbearable Sorrow
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Ensiferum have just released their seventh full-length, Two Paths, worldwide via Metal Blade Records!
Produced by Anssi Kippo, the master was recorded on tape, for a true analog experience.
The band has now launched a “making of” documentary video for the album, which can be viewed HERE.
You can’t talk about the true greats of folk-inspired melodic death metal without reverent mention of Ensiferum, and with Two Paths they once more affirm their place in the pantheons of the genre. Further building upon the thrilling metallic hybrid honed across six full-lengths, Two Paths is simultaneously the Finnish quintet’s most epic and far-reaching collection and their most organic, which definitely sets it apart from the pack. Additionally, the album literally takes the concept of Two Paths to heart, with two different versions of standout tracks “Don’t You Say” and “God Is Dead”. “Even though Ensiferum has always had clean vocals and choirs, harsh vocals have been the main style, and those songs worked so well with both styles that we decided to include both versions,” explains bassist/vocalist Sami Hinkka. With Mikko P. Mustonen again handling orchestral arrangements and Lassi Logren returning to play nyckelharpa and violin on a few songs, Hinkka is also more than happy that they brought “more bombastic orchestral and down to earth folk aspects” to the record, further fleshing out their vision. This also applies to the contribution of Gyula Havancsak, who provided the artwork for both Two Paths and its predecessor, One Man Army. “It was really nice to work with him again because he always wants to hear our ideas and then he adds his own magic and improvements to them, and the result is always astonishing.”
Two Paths track-listing
1. Ajattomasta Unesta
2. For Those About to Fight for Metal
3. Way of the Warrior
4. Two Paths
5. King of Storms
6. Feast with Valkyries
7. Don’t You Say
8. I Will Never Kneel
9. God Is Dead
10. Hail to the Victor
11. Unettomaan Aikaan
12. God Is Dead (Alternative Version)
13. Don’t You Say (Alternative Version)
Two Paths is out now
www.nervegas.com.au/?rf=kw&kw=ensiferum
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As just announced at ProgPower USA 2017 on September 8th, Redemption is confirmed to headline next year’s edition of the festival, with new vocalist Tom Englund (Evergrey)!
This new line-up including Englund, Nick van Dyk (guitars and keyboards), Sean Andrews (bass) and Chris Quirarte (drums) has finished recording Redemption’s seventh full-length album, Long Night’s Journey into Day – the first to be produced with Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Primal Fear, Amaranthe, Doro, etc.). Guitarists Chris Poland (Megadeth, OHM) and Simone Mularoni (DGM) return as guest musicians. Fans can anticipate this upcoming album in early 2018.
“We are delighted to welcome Tom as the voice of Redemption”, said van Dyk. “He has an incredibly powerful, soulful and emotional voice that our music really demands and we are quite confident that people will be blown away by what we have created together.”
Stay tuned for more Redemption news coming soon!
Redemption’s most recent release, The Art of Loss, contains over 70 minutes of the band’s unique blend of passion, melody, aggression and complexity, with an array of songs ranging from hard-hitting melodic metal to the 23-minute epic “At Day’s End”– plus, special guest appearances from Chris Broderick, John Bush, Marty Friedman, Simone Mularoni and Chris Poland. To preview and purchase The Art of Loss, please visit metalblade.com/redemption
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On February 9th, Good Tiger will release their second full-length, We Will All Be Gone, via Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records.
For a preview of the album, the first single, “The Devil Thinks I’m Sinking”, can be heard at: metalblade.com/goodtiger – where the record can be pre-ordered in the following formats:
–Digipak CD
–180g Black Vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 500 copies)
–Flesh Pink Clear Vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 200 copies)
–Opaque Pale Pink Vinyl (USA exclusive – limited to 500 copies)
With music instantly accessed at the touch of a button, it seems that the urge to pigeonhole bands as quickly and neatly as possible has been driven to ever more extremes in recent years. Good Tiger, however, forge their own path. Blending their influences in a manner that defies lazy classification sets them apart from their contemporaries, imbuing everything they do with a distinctive sound and feel, and with We Will All Be Gone, Good Tiger have dramatically built upon their stunning debut, 2015’s A Head Full Of Moonlight. Comprised of guitarists Derya “Dez” Nagle and Joaquin Ardiles, bassist Morgan Sinclair, drummer Alex Rudinger and vocalist Elliot Coleman, Good Tiger has raised the stakes across the board – every track on We Will All Be Gone has a definitive character of its own, and none stay in a single gear, all of them dynamic and textured as they evoke various tones and moods. Tracking at Middle Farm Studios in southwest England, the band also recruited producer Forrester Savell (Karnivool/Dead Letter Circus), and engineer/mixer Adam “Nolly” Getgood (Periphery/Animals As Leaders). “We worked with Nolly on the last album, we had a great working relationship, and wanted to explore that further in a more developed situation,” Dez explains. “Forrester has made some of our favorite albums, and is someone we could trust steering the ship. Having self-produced for so long it can be at times quite difficult to let go, so it was important we found people we could fully entrust to help create the album we wanted to make.”
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Germany’s Cripper have just released their new album, Follow Me: Kill!, worldwide via Metal Blade Records!
The band has now launched the 3rd and final single taken from that album: “Mother”! “Mother” is being premiered as a full production video
Cripper comments: “Choosing the 3rd single from ‘Follow Me: Kill!’ was very easy for us. ‘Mother’ marks one of the album’s backbones but can also stand on its own. The song speaks its own distinct, gloomy and heavy language, which we transported into the video. The result is a dark and very personal piece that visually translates ‘Mother’. Within the context of the previous singles, ‘Pressure’ and ‘Into The Fire’, this one gives you a hint at the full spectrum of ‘Follow Me; Kill!’.”
Follow Me: Kill! is Cripper’s fifth album, and it adds fresh, exciting elements into their music. Still, the band never forgets where they come from and stay true to themselves within the frames of musical progression. The result is an effort that maintains the heaviness and groove the band is known for, while also containing atmospheric parts, capably realized and granting diversity.
Follow Me: Kill! track-listing:
1. Pressure
2. Into The Fire
3. World Coming Down (limited Digipak CD only)
4. Mother
5. Shoot or Get Shot
6. Bleeding Red
7. Comatose
8. Pretty Young Thing
9. Running High
10. Menetekel
Follow Me: Kill is out now!
www.nervegas.com.au/cripper-follow-me-kill-cd
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Halloween and Dia de los Muertos artwork designed by Anthony Clarkson (Devin Townsend Project, Fear Factory, etc.) / http://anthonyclarksonart.net
To celebrate this year’s Halloween, Metal Blade Records has now launched a new line of merchandise, music, and toys – including:
–Halloween and Dia de los Muertos shirts
–23-inch tall, 9-inch wide Metal Blade logo-axe
–Black-and-white “corpse paint” makeup kit
–Cattle Decapitation snuff-DVD, The Flesh Is Of No Use, featuring three Mitch Massie music videos: Monolith of Inhumanity’s “Forced Gender Reassignment”, plus The Anthropocene Extinction’s “Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot) – Censored” and “Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot) – Uncensored” – included in a plastic evidence bag (limited to 1000 copies)
–King Diamond “Halloween (live)” die-cut-pumpkin-shaped 7″ vinyl (limited to 1000 copies):
SIDE A
1. Halloween (Live from Deadly Lullabyes Live)
SIDE B
2. Sleepless Nights (Live from Deadly Lullabyes Live)
To purchase your Halloween merch and collectibles now, please visit:
www.indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords/search/?q=MBR-Halloween-2017
