SONATA ARCTICA release ‘Who Failed The Most’ music video, EPICA release digital Single ‘Kingdom Of Heaven’, BLIND GUARDIAN TWILIGHT ORCHESTRA present lyric video for first “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” single, DESPISED ICON announce new album “Purgatory.
Today, melodic metal titans SONATA ARCTICA herald the start of the cold season as the group releases their 10th studio album »Talviyö« (“Winter Night”), through Nuclear Blast. To mark the occasion, the Finns have launched a brand new music video for ‘Who Failed The Most,’ which was produced by renowned director Patric Ullaeus (rEvolver Film Company; DIMMU BORGIR, ENSLAVED, IN FLAMES etc.).
Watch it over on YouTube here.
Keyboardist Henrik “Henkka” Klingenberg states, “The wait is finally over, now all of you will hear what we’ve been working on for the past year or so as we present our latest album »Talviyö.« It was quite an experience getting this album ready for you guys and for the first time ever, we had some outside help from our very own Mikko Tegelman who produced the album. We focused on playing live this time and I think the album really captures how SONATA ARCTICA sounds like today. It will be a blast to go out and perform this new music alongside selected cuts from our catalogue. See you soon and meanwhile we hope you enjoy the album as much as we did making it.
“It’s also time for the second video of »Talviyö.« ‘Who Failed The Most’ is one of the more approachable songs on the album and we worked with Patric Ullaeus once again to create the video. We took advantage of the nice Finnish summer and shot our performance outside for a change, which turned out quite cool. You’ll probably hear this song throughout the »Talviyö World Tour« that’s starting right now in North America and from there we’ll continue to Europe and the rest of the world. Cheers!”
Recently, Dutch metal titans EPICA have launched a lyric video for ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ which is taken from the band’s upcoming re-release of »Design Your Universe« – Gold Edition. ‘Kingdom Of Heaven’ is now available as digital single via the following link: https://nblast.de/Epica-KingdomOfHeaven
Also, watch the lyric video for ‘Kingdom Of Heaven’ on the band’s YouTube channel here.
Mark Jansen comments: “’Kingdom of Heaven’ is very dear to me. This song was dedicated to my grandmother after she passed away. The lyrics are dealing with near-death experiences and the bridge between spirituality and science. Up until today it’s the EPICA song I’m most proud of and even though we cannot perform it that often live due to its length, we will perform it soon during the »Design Your Universe« 10th Anniversary shows. Enjoy this lyric video!”
»Design Your Universe«- Gold edition contains a remastered and remixed version of the album and a newly recorded acoustic bonus disc and will be released October 4th. The album and exclusive merchandise bundles are now available for pre-order now from: http://smarturl.it/epica
Promising to be one of the most ambitious projects in metal history, BLIND GUARDIAN’s upcoming release will be well worth the wait. The idea of recording an orchestral album originally formed in the minds of the two leading lights of the BLIND GUARDIAN universe – guitarist André Olbrich and singer Hansi Kürsch – during the 1990’s when BLIND GUARDIAN started to use orchestral elements to enhance their opulent sound. The monumental project started to take shape over recent years, and mirroring its epic sound cascades, the lyrical concept was developed. To create the concept, André and Hansi worked alongside German bestselling author Markus Heitz, whose latest novel »Die dunklen Lande« was released on March 1st, 2019. The book is set in 1629 and contains the prequel to BLIND GUARDIAN TWILIGHT ORCHESTRA’s opus »Legacy Of The Dark Lands,« which will be out on November 8th, 2019.
To give their fans a first taster of the upcoming record, the band is happy to present the first single, ‘Point Of No Return,’ in the form of a lyric video today. Watch now here.
Hansi states, “Finally, after ages of talking about it, it is time to unleash the beast. We have heard your pleas and here it is, a first glimpse of what »Legacy Of The Dark Lands« is about. We have reached the ‘Point Of No Return’ and there for sure will be no taking back. »Legacy Of The Dark Lands« will be released on November 8, 2019. Enjoy listening to the first single of this wonderful album. ‘Point Of No Return’ is a very vivid song and already gives you a very good insight of what to expect from the upcoming release. The song has it all, it is intense, very melodious and epic at the same time. Don’t forget to check out the lyric video for ‘Point Of No Return.’ But now enjoy this first short trip to the »Dark Lands.« Still, this is just the beginning.”
In addition, BLIND GUARDIAN TWILIGHT ORCHESTRA have announced the release of a 7″ vinyl single titled »This Storm,« for October 4th, 2019, which can also be pre-ordered in various colours (clear, gold, red/black splattered) here: https://nblast.de/BG-ThisStorm
Canadian deathcore pioneers DESPISED ICON are back to reveal their 6th full length album, »Purgatory,« which will be released on November 15th via Nuclear Blast. Today, the band releases the first single and title track for the album, ‘Purgatory.’ Directed and produced by Jessy Fuchs of Les Films 37 Superkick, the video can be seen here.
DESPISED ICON comments, “At long last, we finally have new music for you! This is the most time we’ve ever spent writing and recording. We could go on and on about how this is our heaviest, fastest and most diverse album yet but we’ll let the music do the talking. We’ve been a band for 17 years and are thankful to have such a loyal and supportive fan base. Prepare for »Purgatory.«”
»Purgatory« was produced by Yannick St-Amand, Eric Jarrin and Alex Erian. The music was recorded by DESPISED ICON’s former guitar player, now current front of house engineer Yannick St-Amand while the vocals were recorded by close friend Antoine Lussier of ION DISSONANCE. Mixing and mastering were completed by CRYPTOPSY’s very own Christian Donaldson at The Grid in Montréal. For the album artwork, the band selected Eliran Kantor to create a piece that echoed the themes and concepts of »Purgatory.«
Without a doubt their most dynamic venture to date, DESPISED ICON have a fresh and energy filled arrangement just waiting to see the light of day in the form of »Purgatory.« For many years, they have laid the foundation of deathcore and spearheaded different sounds and movements within the genre.
