A roundup of the latest news from Metal Blade Records including updates from Entrails, Hamferd, Fates Warning, Mother Feather, Good Tiger plus Metal Blade launches Chrismassacre.
To celebrate the holiday season, Metal Blade Records has now launched a new line of Christmas and winter items, as part of the label’s “Chrismassacre” promotion.
Featuring artwork/merchandise designed by Costin Chioreanu / http://twilight13media.com.
Purchase your gifts now and get your Christmas shopping done early:
https://www.indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords/search/?q=MBR-Xmas-2017
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Swedish death metallers Entrails have just released a digital single entitled Death Is The Right Path! The single features two exclusive tracks that are only digitally available!
Death Is The Right Path track-listing:
1. Death Is The Right Path
2. Blood Burst
Entrails comments: “If ‘World Inferno’ wasn’t enough and your necks haven’t turned loose after massive headbanging, Entrails will now fulfill that with two new songs to make the ‘World Inferno’ complete!”
Entrails released their latest album, World Inferno, this past June via Metal Blade Records.
www.nervegas.com.au/entrails-world-inferno-cd
www.nervegas.com.au/entrails-world-inferno-lp
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Doomsters Hamferð from the Faroe Islands will release their new album, Tamsins likam. On January 12th via Metal Blade Records!
Hamferð comments: “‘Tamsins likam’ is a natural progression of the Hamferð sound, and we feel that it is our most special and cohesive work yet. Even more so than on previous albums, we have sought to create a full musical epic; inspired among other things by classical symphonies and progressive concept albums. It should be obvious that we are extremely excited to start performing this new material on the road.”
As of today, you can watch the lyric video for the first single, “Hon syndrast”.
Comments Hamferð on the lyric video for “Hon Syndrast”: “Costin Chioreanu has created an amazing lyric video for ‘Hon syndrast’ based on his artwork for the album. It might be the most aggressive song we have ever released, signifying the violently dramatic peak of the album’s story, and Costin has succeeded beautifully in illustrating its theme of dreadful realization and the merciless surroundings in which it occurs.”
Roughly translated as “Body of the mist”, Tamsins likam is an attempt to create the most intriguing, honest and unique Hamferð experience yet. It is nothing less than a pinnacle; a culmination of many years of refining both sound and songwriting, spearheaded by a strong desire to keep progressing and expanding. This has resulted in an album bustling with elements ancient and familiar, violent and strange, earthen and spectral – all the while fiercely seeking to surprise and move the listener.
Once again recorded in Studio Bloch in the Faroe Islands, but this time mixed by the legendary Swedish sound wizard Daniel Bergstrand in his Dugout Productions studio, Tamsins likam exhibits a rawer and more mature version of the known Hamferð sound. The somewhat harsh and bare soundscape deliberately contrasts with the refined compositions, while at the same time aligning with the increasingly honest and violent lyrical content.
“Faroese doom metal” is a powerful sound. Exclusive to this self-styled tag is Hamferð. For a near decade, the funeral dressed sextet has been casting a unique expression rooted in conceptual tragedy and intense, narrative doom metal.
Faroese history and folklore are mixed together with grand atmospheres, a trademark that has earned worldwide attraction. Stages at festivals such as Inferno, Midgardsblot, Tuska, Summer Breeze, Wacken and many more have been turned into funerary ceremonies. Touring with bands like Amorphis and Moonsorrow has further garnered the band a respected reputation due to strong yet solemn live performances.
The lyrical and conceptual approach is ambitious in scope. People are drawn to it, even though the band sings in their native tongue, Faroese. With a highly engaging idea concerning lyrics and songwriting, the hour has arrived to close a conceptual trilogy which commenced with the 2010 EP Vilst er siðsta fet, continued with the internationally acclaimed 2013 full-length album Evst, and is now concluded with Tamsins likam.
Pre orders at: metalblade.com/hamferd
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On January 12th, Metal Blade Records will re-issue two of Fates Warning‘s fan-favorite albums, Perfect Symmetry (1989) and Parallels (1991), as part of the label’s “Originals series”.
Featuring new vinyl mastering by Patrick W. Engel, both Perfect Symmetry and Parallels will be released on vinyl with 400g heavy cardboard spine sleeves (inside out print), 60x60cm two-sided artwork posters and 250g inserts. The digipak CDs include poster booklets with five bonus tracks each!
See below for an overview of all vinyl versions, plus CD track-listings.
Pre-order your copies now via Metal Blade Records
indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords/search/?q=FW-LPs-2018
Parallels “Originals-Series” LP re-issue
–180g Black Vinyl
–wine-red marbled vinyl (EU exclusive – ltd. 300)
–clear light salmon col. vinyl (EU exclusive – ltd. 200)
–ochre brown marbled vinyl (US exclusive – ltd. 500)
Perfect Symmetry “Originals-Series” LP re-issue
–180g Black Vinyl
–white/black marbled vinyl (EU exclusive – ltd. 300)
–clear lavender marbled vinyl (EU exclusive – ltd. 200)
–violet blue marbled vinyl (US exclusive – ltd. 500)
Parallels CD track-listing
1. Leave the Past Behind
2. Life in Still Water
3. Eye to Eye
4. The Eleventh Hour
5. Point Of View
6. We Only Say Goodbye
7. Don’t Follow Me
8. The Road Goes on Forever
9. Leave the Past Behind (demo)*
10. Eye to Eye (demo)*
11. Eleventh Hour (demo)*
12. Point of View (demo)*
13. Don’t Follow Me (demo)*
* Bonus Tracks (pre-production demos, mastered by Brad Vance)
Perfect Symmetry CD track-listing:
1. Part Of The Machine
2. Through Different Eyes
3. Static Acts
4. A World Apart
5. At Fate’s Hands
6. The Arena
7. Chasing Time
8. Nothing Left To Say
9. Part Of The Machine (Demo)*
10. Through Different Eyes (Demo)*
11. Static Acts (Demo)*
12. The Arena (Demo)*
13. Nothing Left To Say (Demo)*
* Bonus Tracks (pre-production demos recorded Feb 89 at Silver Cloud Recording, Burbank CA)
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Currently finishing work on their sophomore album with Grammy-nominated producer Joshua Valleau (Kanye West, John Legend, Snoop Dogg, Common, Imani Coppola, Alice Smith), Mother Feather has launched a new lyric video for the track “Egyptology” (by Isaiah King / www.ikingdesign.com),
Watch it here!
Mother Feather front-woman Ann Courtney says of the song, “I wrote ‘Egyptology’ after doing an archeological dig of my soul. It’s pure pop myth–if ancient Egypt looked like the Bowery in 1970’s NYC. It’s a story of rebirth into a supremely fabulous rock and roll afterlife.” Of the new lyric video, Courtney says, “Isaiah King has been a trusted collaborator ever since we made the ‘Mother Feather’ video together. We knew he could build upon the amazing work he’d done with the ‘Egyptology’ single cover artwork, and he blew us away with the final result. It didn’t hurt that he’d taken a trip to Egypt a few years before and had sketchbooks full of incredible material to incorporate.”
Mother Feather will release their upcoming album in 2018 via Metal Blade Records. “The newest songs for the album were written last fall and winter in the midst and aftermath of the US presidential election,” Courtney comments. “The political climate and outcome were personally devastating, but it also re-ignited my sense of purpose. I locked myself away to write, face my depression, and stare down some uncomfortable feelings. Truthfully, I went to some very dark and lonely places. So there’s a lot of fever – and intimacy – in the new music. When I emerged from my self-exile, I discovered my band waiting for me on the other side, so there’s exuberance and catharsis there too. It’s good to have friends, ya know?! Together, we worked to develop the songs and shape them into some of Mother Feather’s best, most eclectic work yet. We couldn’t be more excited for this opportunity to continue our work with Metal Blade.”
Mother Feather released their self-titled album last year via Metal Blade Records; for their efforts, the group has garnered massive buzz for their unique brand of rock, vibrant Bowie-esque costumes and makeup, and enthralling live show. Having been featured on IFC.com, TeamCoco.com, and HuffingtonPost.com (who declared them as “a great New York City band in the tradition of Great New York City Bands”), Mother Feather was also named “new band of the week” by Metal Hammer, and has received much play on Daniel P. Carter’s Rock Show on BBC Radio 1.
To preview and purchase Mother Feather, please visit:
metalblade.com/motherfeather
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Good Tiger are thrilled to share their brand new video, “Grip Shoes“, which can be viewed now below:
The track comes from the band’s forthcoming second album, We Will All Be Gone, which is set to be released on February 9th via Metal Blade Records.
Pre-orders are available now at metalblade.com/goodtiger
On the new track, vocalist Elliot Coleman shares: “‘Grip Shoes’ tells the tale of wasted potential; I’m sure we all find times in our life that are trivial, and not spent capitalizing on every moment. I’m very excited to share another track from our album, especially ‘Grip Shoes,’ as it’s one of my favourites.”
Blending their influences in a manner that defies lazy classification sets Good Tiger 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 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.”
