Metal Blade Records has launched a new edition of the “6 Bands in 60 Seconds” campaign, where CEO Brian Slagel spotlights six artists from the label’s roster. 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 Harm’s Way, The Crown, Rivers of Nihil, Gozu, Lik, and Hamferð;
Having grown with each subsequent release, Harm’s Way‘s new album – Posthuman – is a devastating addition to their catalog. “We’ve always stayed true to who we are and allowed the songwriting process to take shape organically from record to record, and as the band has progressed, our sound has become more refined with metal and industrial influences,” states drummer Chris Mills, while guitarist Bo Lueders succinctly sums up what people can expect when they first spin the record: “To a Harm’s Way fan, I would describe ‘Posthuman’ as a blend of ‘Isolation'(2011) and ‘Rust’ (2015), but it’s sonically way more insane. To anyone else, I would simply say it’s full on heavy and full on aggression.”
With their motivation at an all-time high, The Crown spent most of 2017 intensely rehearsing 13 new songs. They eventually entered the classic Studio Fredman with Fredrik Nordstrom to record what would become their new album, Cobra Speed Venom. The sound is massive, brutal and a real punch in the face. Extreme speed and aggression mixed with classic heavy metal and rock n’ roll, which really shows that The Crown has no boundaries. After 27 years, the band is still motivated to create a classic piece of art – and together with Metal Blade Records once again, the vision is real.
Rivers of Nihil‘s latest album, Where Owls Know My Name, reunites the band with Monarchy (2015) producer Carson Slovak (August Burns Red, The Last Ten Seconds of Life) and Dan Seagrave, the storied artist behind such celebrated album covers as Entombed’s Left Hand Path and Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten. The result is the Reading, PA quintet’s most visceral, accomplished, and satisfying offering to-date.
With roots in 70s fuzzy stoner rock, the grit of 90s grunge and the winning dirty rock n’ roll that has in recent years made a resurgence, Gozu has been churning out killer records since 2009. With 2016’s Revival they took their sound in a somewhat new and more aggressive direction, and in doing so, dropped the most compulsive, exciting and downright badass release of their career – and their new album, Equilibrium, has only raised the stakes. “We wanted these songs to hit a nerve, make people shake their ass and enjoy simply being alive,” says vocalist/guitarist Marc “Gaff” Gaffney, who founded the band with lead guitarist Doug Sherman. Much of the record’s strength stems from the unit growing since Revival, the first full-length featuring drummer Mike Hubbard and bassist Joseph Grotto. Having also reunited with Revival producer Dean Baltulonis (Hatebreed/Goes Cube/The Hold Steady) at Wild Arctic Studio in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the record is certainly the catchiest and most instant music dropped by the quartet, embracing their love of pop music but without compromising on any of the other vital elements of their sound. For more information, please visit:
In the dirt where fallen idols lay to rest, the maggots and seeds in 2014 spawned a new creation. This took the ugly form of Lik, which fittingly means corpse in Swedish. An un-dead creation which offers a plate of savory old school death metal. Walking the earth for three cold winters, and with the first offer named Mass Funeral Evocation in 2015, it’ll have a sister released in May of 2018. Through iconic Metal Blade Records, Carnage will reach even further in the quest to spread the beauty of imperfection. Check oput the new video ‘Celebration Of The Twisted’ HERE.
Roughly translated as “Body of the mist”, Tamsins likam – the latest album from the Faroe Islands’ Hamferð – is an attempt to create the most intriguing, honest and unique 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.
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