A roundup of the latest news from Metal Blade Records including 6 Bands in 60 Seconds, Evocation and Necromancing The Stone.
METAL BLADE RECORDS
Launches New Edition Of 6 Bands in 60 Seconds
Metal Blade Records have launched a new edition of the “6 Bands in 60 Seconds” campaign, where CEO Brian Slagel spotlights six artists from the label’s roster every three months.
The goal of the promotion is to help fans discover new music from some of the most promising acts in the scene. The latest installment of the series features Anaal Nathrakh, Ravencult, Wovenwar, Oni, Evocation and Nova Collective
Check out the episode here
http://metalblade.com/6bands
Anaal Nathrakh was created for one purpose – to be the soundtrack for Armageddon, the audial essence of evil, hatred and violence, the true spirit of necro taken to its musical extremes. Since 1999, they have gained a reputation for embodying precisely these things – and now, with their new record, The Whole of the Law, Anaal Nathrakh has reached the very height of their twisted powers. Marrying their trademark ferocity and against-all-reason-catchiness with a reinvigorated sense of focus and insane hatred, The Whole of the Law “is one of the best things the band turned out in its entire career” (9/10, MetalInjection.net).
www.nervegas.com.au/anaal-nathrakh-whole-of-the-law-cd
Originating from Athens, Greece, Ravencult was spawned to revive the relentless side of black/thrash metal, bringing forth an unpolished, organic sound to manifest their morbid darkness. With their latest album, Force Of Profanation, they dive even deeper into the abyss of metal obscurity, delivering a merciless barrage of metallic death that continues the tradition of their trademark conceptual axis: revenge, horror and mocking of all that is holy.
www.nervegas.com.au/ravencult-force-of-profanation-cd
With their sophomore effort, Honor Is Dead, Wovenwar has expanded upon the ruthlessly catchy melodies and hooks of their self-titled debut, making for a listening experience with real depth, and a broad emotional range. Driven by a darker lyrical theme, the album’s 11 tracks hit with devastating force, capturing a group that sounds truly unified, and hungry.
www.nervegas.com.au/wovenwar-honor-is-dead-cd
With their influences rooted in progressive metal, Oni‘s sound can be compared to the genre’s heavy hitters – The Human Abstract, Protest The Hero and Between The Buried And Me – yet they remain truly unique. With Jake Oni handling vocal duties, Martin Andres and Brandon White on guitar, Chase Bryant on bass and Joe Greulich on drums, they are also perhaps the first metal band to feature a xylosynth player, Johnny D, which adds an intriguing dynamic to the nine songs found on Ironshore. On the album track “The Only Cure”, Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe also contributes his inimitable style – resulting in one of the record’s heaviest moments.
www.nervegas.com.au/oni-ironshore-cd
On March 10th, Evocation will celebrate their return to death metal with the stunning new album, The Shadow Archetype. While honoring their Swedish death metal roots, The Shadow Archetype also adds thrash metal elements to their addictive, heavy sound.
www.nervegas.com.au/evocation-shadow-archetype-cd
Featuring members of Between the Buried and Me, Haken, Trioscapes, and Cynic, Nova Collective will release their debut album, The Further Side, on March 10th. Nova Collective‘s music can be described as fusion, weaving progressive rock influences with world music, jazz and classical, to create something entirely new that is pure aural candy for prog/jazz fans.
www.nervegas.com.au/nova-collective-further-side-cd
To view the previous installments of “6 Bands in 60 Seconds”, be sure to check out the following videos:
–Part 1 (Act of Defiance, Rivers of Nihil, Twitching Tongues, Culture Killer, Visigoth, Harlott): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07bXkEq4Mtg
–Part 2 (Brimstone Coven, Ketzer, Gehennah, Accuser, Artillery, Sourvein): https://youtu.be/bp2iJ7hmh80
–Part 3 (Abnormality, Exumer, Redemption, Native Construct, Good Tiger, Mother Feather): https://youtu.be/krKMjCq0N8I
–Part 4 (Serpentine Dominion, Allegaeon, Destrage, Necromancing The Stone, If These Trees Could Talk, Hammers Of Misfortune): https://youtu.be/1x6xioKGspk
EVOCATION
Launch New Single, The Coroner
On March 10th, Evocation will celebrate their return to death metal with the stunning new full-length, The Shadow Archetype!
While honoring their Swedish death metal roots, The Shadow Archetype also adds thrash metal elements to their addictive, heavy sound.
Hear the second single, “The Coroner”, here:
Guitarist Marko Palmen comments: “‘The Coroner’ is in my eyes a classic Swedish Death Metal track in the sense that it incorporates a lot of fast 2-beat verses alongside some cool double bass drum parts. What makes this track stand out in comparison with the rest of the album and perhaps also other Death Metal tracks is that it’s tuned down to flat-A (flat-B tuning on the rest of the album). The down tuning of the guitars and the BOSS HM-2 pedal buzzsaw tone makes the riffs on ‘The Coroner’ sound as if they were forged by Lucifer himself in hell… The track also features in my opinion the best guitar solo on the entire album. Simon really managed to capture the tracks feeling with his melancholic guitar solo. This is definitely one of my favourite tracks on ‘The Shadow Archetype’!”
Featuring a cover and layout by Xaay (Behemoth, Nile, etc.), The Shadow Archetype was recorded at three different studios. Backing vocals, mixing and mastering were done at Dugout Productions. Daniel Bergstrand handled the recording of backing vocals and mixing. George Nerantzis handled the mastering. Drums were recorded at Crehate Studios together with studio engineer Oscar Nilsson. The Shadow Archetype also features veteran drummer Per Moller Jensen (ex-The Haunted, ex-Invocator) on session drums. Per sets a new death metal standard on the new Evocation album with his complex, yet groovy drumming, which we know well from his time in The Haunted. Guitars, bass, and lead vocals were recorded by the band in their own studio, Acacia Avenue Recordings. “We started recording the drums in late June 2015 and did the last recordings with vocals in June 2016. So, we spent roughly a year in the studio with ‘The Shadow Archetype‘,” explains Palmen. “In my opinion, the production is our strongest so far. It has all the elements I want in a production; raw brutality with a distinctive punch!”
The Shadow Archetype track-listing:
- Into Ruins
- Condemned To The Grave
- Modus Operandi
- Children Of Stone
- The Coroner
- The Shadow Archetype
- Blind Obedience
- Survival Of The Sickest
- Sulphur And Blood
- Imperium Fall
- Dark Day Sunrise
Pre-orders for The Shadow Archetype are available now
NECROMANCING THE STONE
Release New Video, Bleed for the Night
To celebrate Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14th), Necromancing the Stone – featuring current/former members of Arsis (James Malone, guitars), The Absence (Jeramie Kling, drums), The Black Dahlia Murder (Ryan “Bart” Williams, bass) and Brimstone Coven (guitarist Justin Wood and vocalist “Big” John Williams) – has launched a new video for the track “Bleed for the Night”, taken from their latest album, Jewel Of The Vile.
Filmed last year on tour with Battlecross and Allegaeon, “Bleed for the Night” will surely serenade fans with its epic vocals, gigantic riffs and pulverizing rhythms.
Watch the video (shot and edited by Allegaeon‘s Greg Burgess)
Necromancing the Stone comments: “Everyone, on this Valentine’s Day, please remember that if you love something too much it may die. Then one day you can learn a powerful resurrection spell and bring it back to life, but it might hate you…But that’s a different story altogether. We hope you enjoy the video. Huge thanks to Greg from Allegaeon for putting this video together for us.”
Jewel Of The Vile is out now
www.nervegas.com.au/necromancing-the-stone-jewel-of-the-vile-cd
