A roundup of the latest news from the underground metal scene rom around the world. Updates include War Curse, Lord, Rapheumets Well, Ashes Of Moon, Kings, Pyreship, Deity, Nuclear Oath, Wells Valley and Divinity.
Ohio thrashers WAR CURSE are pleased to announce that bassist Jason Viebrooks (Heathen/Grip Inc) and vocalist Blaine Goron have joined the band as permanent members. The group has already started to record new music and have revealed a short trailer video for the song “Serpent.”
View the trailer for “Serpent” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLSUWsvJDUo&feature=youtu.be
Guitarist Justin Roth commented “We are damn proud of the way the new album is shaping up. We’ve taken our musicianship and song writing to another level since the release of “Final Days”, and really pushed ourselves and each other to step outside of our comfort zones. It finally feels like we’re firing on all cylinders with the current line up and we hope the fans agree when they get their hands on this stuff.”
In further news the band has also announced that they have been confirmed to play Full Terror Assault Fest and will be touring Europe later this year with Solstice.
To listen to more War Curse or to purchase their EP Final Days visit warcurse.com
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Virginia’s LORD have teamed up with The Sludgelord to stream “Not Your Problem”, a new track that is taken from their forthcoming album Blacklisted. The song confronts the idea of a global resource crisis coupled with a global refugee crisis.
Stream “Not Your Problem” here: http://thesludgelord.blogspot.ca/2017/05/track-premiere-virginias-lord-unleash.html
Pre-order Blacklisted here: https://lordisbadass.bandcamp.com/album/blacklisted
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FBT Booking has announced the lineup for this year’s Sophomore Slump Fest, taking place on August 5th at The Blind Tiger in Greensboro, NC. The day long festival will feature 16 bands including To Speak of Wolves (Solid State Records), Keep Flying, a special reunion set from Kid Liberty, and one surprise headliner that will be announced on May 28th.
Kid Liberty vocalist Trey Sexton says “We did a reunion show at So What! In TX at the end of March. We decided that the 30 minute set was not enough to quench our thirst… so we’re headed to NC for some East Coast love in August! This could very well be the last time this happens!”
The festival is in its second year and is sponsored by Babetalk, Existential Clothing Company, and Lucid Life Apparel. Pre-sale tickets are available here for $27.
“Working on this music festival has truly been a unique experience,” says FBT co-founder Liz Mercer. “Sometimes we want to tear out our hair, and other times we are walking around with stupid grins on our faces because we’re so happy. This year’s fest has truly shown how far we’ve come as a company, and I’m so excited to be a part of it.”
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One of France’s and Tunisia’s most exciting and innovative instrumentalists Anas Ibn
Malek Abid has just released his eagerly anticipated 4th EP Golden Sand Of The Blue
Eyed Princess Suite (Movements I-IV) on June 1 via his bandcamp webstore .
Digital copies are available from today! May 3.
Anas has just released a sonically intelligent mix of turkish and tunisian rythms
blended into heavy and crushing metal riffs as well as jazzy chords to create great
tensions,with enchanting vocals that act as the main character inner voice. The
Golden Sand Suite narrates the journey of a man, who was sent to a Castle lost in
the desert and where reigns a Queen known for her beauty.
The aim was to create a unique musical concept, and go beyond every boundaries
without questionning his quest for originality.
Stream it here/Purchase it for the price you want :
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Hickory, N.C. sci-fi metal band RAPHEUMETS WELL (Ra-few-mets) will be releasing their next full length ‘Enders Door’ via Test Your Metal Records on May 26th. Once again they will being bring forth a voyage enriched with lore and a sound that is a complex mix of classical orchestrations, cosmic synths, and extreme metal to portray the epics of parallel worlds.
To check out the 360 degree video ‘Ghost Walkers Exodus’, please visit the following link on NoCleanSinging.com: http://www.nocleansinging.com/2017/05/03/an-ncs-premiere-rapheumets-well-ghost-walkers-exodus/
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Austrian Melodic Death/Post Metal band ASHES OF MOON reveal physical release date of their new EP „Melting Away”!
The four track EP is going to be exclusively available at the band’s bandcamp-site from 12th of May 2017 and comes as very limited digipak, with artwork descended from Austrian artist’s Georg Brandner early painting named “Lifetime” (1984), perfectly matching the dark, ambient and emotional music. Fans of Melodic Death / Post / Progressive Metal should better check out this rare collector’s item!
https://ashesofmoon.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/ashesofmoon
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Situated in the Okanagan Valley with the beautiful backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, ARMSTRONG METALFEST, now in its ninth year, is British Columbia’s largest gathering of metalheads from across Western Canada and beyond. The fest has put together a free digital sampler to give fans a taste of this year’s 2017 line up being held on July 14th and 15th at the Hassen Arena in Armstrong, BC. This year’s headliners include Boston’s tech death / thrash titans REVOCATION, Vancouver’s reggae-metal fusion NINJASPY, Canadian 80’s thrash legends AGGRESSION and Vancouver Whammy Award Best Local Metal Artist winner GOLERS among many more from across the country. (Full list of bands and set times below.)
To get your free download of AMF’s Mountain Moshpit Vol. 2 featuring over an hour of headbanging tunes, please visit the following link:
https://armstrongmetalfest.bandcamp.com/album/armstrong-metalfest-2017-mountain-moshpit-vol-2
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Australia’s KINGS are riding high at the moment – album on the way, talked about by Alternative Press, added to the Homegrown & Heavy playlist on Spotify – and now the second cut from their forthcoming album is here.
New single ‘What Flag are you Flying?’ drops online today and their brand new album ‘Never Alone’ will drop May 19th – with pre-orders available now. The album ‘Never Alone’ was recorded at STL Studios where it was mixed and mastered by Sonny Truelove.
The lyrics were written by guitarist Nat Cochran and conveys a message of fighting for your beliefs. He said that “The time will come when people will question who you are and what you stand for, and you have to stand firm in yourself. People can try and bring you down but if you truly believe what you’re speaking, nothing can bring you down. This song is one to inspire people to believe in themselves and reach your potential, no matter the circumstances.”
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Black Bow Records have teamed up with The Sludgelord to reveal “Gravity”, a new track from Houston’s PYRESHIP. The band’s sound will appeal heavily to fans of Kings X, Soundgarden and Isis. “Gravity” is taken from the band’s forthcoming album The Liars Bend Low, which will be released May 26th 2017 on vinyl and digital formats.
Stream “Gravity” here: http://thesludgelord.blogspot.ca/2017/05/track-premiere-houston-tx-sludge-thug.html
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The brainchild of Danny Alessandro (guitars/vocals) and John Massey (guitars/vocals), Toronto death metal duo DEITY has been a long time coming. Inspired by Suffocation, Emperor, Death, Slayer and Immortal and describing their music as ‘relentless, powerful, intriguing, honest and revitalizing’, DEITY has produced a truly special debut self-titled album due out June 2, 2017.
The self-titled debut features eight brutal assaults that include session drums done by Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy) plus session bass by Flo Ravet (ex-Nephelium) along with the album being mixed and mastered by Chris Donaldson (Cryptopsy, The Agonist) and produced by Danny Alessandro and Joey Virgilio.
Teaming up with NoCleanSinging.com, the duo premieres their first single “Sacrificium”. “Sacrificium” can be heard at http://www.nocleansinging.com/2017/05/04/an-ncs-premiere-deity-sacrificium/
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NUCLEAR OATH is a five-member groovy, heavy, sludgy, intense, and interactive metal wrecking crew from Medicine Hat, Alberta. Influenced by such bands as Pantera, Slipknot, Sylosis, Lamb of God, and Avenged Sevenfold, they will be releasing their new album ‘Toxic Playground’ on June 9, 2017 to follow their debut EP ‘Ashes of the Unborn’. The forthcoming album will take the listeners on a journey inspired by the band’s personal experience and struggles combined with intense energy. They hope each individual who listens takes something different from the band.
“We feel it is an aggressive album from start-to-finish, which generates different emotions as the album progresses.” says the band.
Teaming up with TheGauntlet.com, NUCLEAR OATH premiere the second cut and the album’s title track ‘Toxic Playground’.
Check out ‘Toxic Playground’ at the following link: http://thegauntlet.com/article/32806/THE-GAUNTLET-PREMIEREs-NUCLEAR-OATH-2nd-Single-TOXIC-PLAYGROUND-
Album pre-order available at https://nuclearoath.bandcamp.com/album/toxic-playground
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Two years following the release of their critically lauded debut album “Matter As Regent”, Portuguese post-metal trio WELLS VALLEY are back with a new EP titled “The Orphic”.
Produced by drummer Pedro Mau, “The Orphic” features three tracks, including a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun” and will be released on 12” vinyl limited to 300 copies via Bleak Recordings, Raging Planet and Chaosphere Recordings next Friday, May 12th. Pre-orders are now available here.
Listen to “The Orphic” in its entirety here.
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Calgary, AB progressive death metal band DIVINITY have their next offering for the metal gods in their new album “The Immortalist”, a culmination of 5 years of hard work and dedication to their craft. The album features 12 tracks that include their two previous EP releases “The Immortalist, Pt. 1 – Awestruck” and “The Immortalist, Pt. 2 –Momentum” with their 3rd EP “The Immortalist Pt. 3 – Conqueror” now finished completing the trilogy series for one huge full length album. All the tracks on the album are re-mixed and re-mastered by the talented Chris Donaldson (Cryptopsy, The Grid Productions) to make the songs more cohesive and work as a full-length album experience. This album also features Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid of Soilwork on vocals for the song ‘D.M.T.’. DIVINITY is also offering fans an exclusive digipak CD available on their website for those who want to support the band directly.
The bands comments on release:
“Closure is such great thing! We’ve finished our 3rd EP for ‘The Immortalist’ trilogy concept and have decided to take all 3 EP’s and turn it into a full-length album.”
Album Pre-order ‘The Immortalist” promo video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1BURkUm7nM
Music Video – “Manhunt” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW4XelJ6Rzw
“The Immortalist – Pt. 2 Momentum” – Full Stream – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W0kiDxFjtU
