WOLVES LIKE US Releases New Single Stay Cold, THE SHAKING SENSATIONS Share Cinematic New Video For ‘In Dead Silence Hang Your Ghosts’, ASTROSAUR Release Playthough Videos For Two Album Tracks.
Norway’s WOLVES LIKE US will unleash their fourth album, Brittle Bones, on October 25th via Pelagic Records.
Stream First Single “Stay Cold,” here
The long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s Black Soul Choir, Brittle Bones — demoed by Kvelertak’s Bjarte Lund Rolland and mixed by Kowloon Walled City’s Scott Evans — displays a more refined and dynamic wolf pack. “There was less tension this time; we almost didn’t argue at all which is rare for us,” relays drummer Jonas Thire. “A lot has happened to us at a personal level. Positives, like we all have kids now. But dark shit, too. There’s been a divorce. [Vocalist/guitarist] Lars [Kristensen] has been really sick. He wrote the lyrics as a kind of diary to deal with issues like abuse, literally and figuratively.”
Lyrically, the thread that runs through Brittle Bones is the topic of honesty. “It’s about dealing with demons in a real way, facing them and giving them the middle finger so to speak,” notes Kristensen. “Brittle Bones is a juxtaposition of the calm and the raspy; comfort and disturbance; beauty and repulsion… for the essence of art can only be understood as equally disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed.”
In advance of its release, today Heavy Blog Is Heavy is pleased to unveil first Brittle Bones single, “Stay Cold.” Issues the band of the track, “This song is about finding that last drop of hope in yourself. When you’re down and out, there’s blood on your hands and you think you’ve lost it all. There’s still a choice.”
WOLVES LIKE US’ Brittle Bones includes a guest vocal appearance with longtime comrade Gared O’Donnell of Planes Mistaken For Stars and will be available on CD, LP, and digital format. See preordering options here.
Copenhagen-based instrumental 5-piece The Shaking Sensations who return with ‘How Are We To Fight The Blight? on 4th October through Pelagic Records have revealed the 3rd single from the album.
‘In Dead Silence, Hang Your Ghosts’ is a mind crushing, 8 minute long, mastodon of a track that both showcases the bands heavier sides, as well as classic post-rock crescendos
The track slowly unfolds around a simple guitar figure being repeated, while gloomy drones of tremolo, overdriven bass and synthesizers are gradually introduced. When the drums kick in after a few minutes, the vessel in which the listener will travel through the rest of song has finally emerged. An ever-present sense of a band constantly hovering around an ominously close climax takes over – a climax that is postponed to the very last second. With ‘In Dead Silence, Hang Your Ghosts’, The Shaking Sensations both emphasize their obvious inspiration from the heavier and darker post-metal scene with acts such as Cult of Luna and Isis, but still maintain those sparkling and vibrant textures of modern and classic post-rock, ie. Explosions In The Sky, Mono and This Will Destroy You.
Watch the cinematic video now for ‘In Dead Silence, Hang Your Ghosts’ now.
‘How Are We To Fight The Blight?’ is the follow up to their critically acclaimed 2013 album ‘Start Stop Worrying’ and sees the band returning from a 6 year hiatus.
The tracking of the album took place in Copenhagen at two different studios. Main tracks were recorded ‘live’ in a room that could accommodate two fully mic’ed drumkits and their individual characteristics, reverb and sound – in the same room, at the same time. Anders Haaning, an up- and coming Copenhagen-based producer with a background in indie-pop/garage-rock, has co-produced the album, which was then mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg of Cult of Luna. The lightness and more ‘positive’ feel of Anders’ production needed a counterpart and some focus on the heavier and more uncompromising elements in The Shaking Sensations’ sound.
Pre-order the album
ASTROSAUR‘s virtuous necro-nautic universe consists of equal parts instrumental rock and post-metal, studded with lavish prog-, jazz-math-rock and black metal ornaments. “The general public perceives academia and heavy metal as rivals, but ASTROSAUR, whose members studied at the Conservatory of Music in Kristiansand, lean toward the intellectual without sacrificing any authenticity“, Invisible Oranges said about the Oslo 3-piece.
Virtuous guitarist and main song writer Eirik Kråkenes has filled in as a session musician for Norwegian acts Leprous and Ihsahn, among many others… he is one of those people you meet at literally every European metal festival, but always with a different band.
ASTROSAUR is his own band and brainchild, and Obscuroscope is only their sophomore album – hard to believe, considering the musical scope and the maturity of songwriting on display here.
“Obscuroscope“ is in many ways a record about curiosity“, Kråkenes explains. “Thematically, each song relates to stories of exploration, of unveiling that which is obscured and of discovering the unknown. This theme is also a parallel to how Astrosaur try to work as a band, letting curiosity lead the way in the continuous exploration of our own musical universe“.
Although heavier and more energetic, Obscuroscope feels slightly brighter in vibe overall, than the bands debut offering Fade In // Space Out. The songs have more riffs and written parts while maintaining some of the space, ambience and room for improvisation from the previous record: „Whereas on ‘Fade In // Space Out’ we kind of made a point of basically recording the album live, we were not afraid of
overdubbing or tracking instrument by instrument for the parts that demanded that, while still recording other parts live. This, ironically, resulted in a sound more true to how Astrosaur sounds live“, says Kråkenes.
Part of the album was conceived on the road, due to the member’s heavy touring schedules with Astrosaur, as well as commitments to other bands. They had only six days to try out and finalize the ideas.
Instrumental band of Eirik Kråkenes. Erik is a Norwegian session musician that I meet at literally every festival I go to, he’s always playing with another band… He has been filling for Leprous, Ihsahn and a ton of others.
“We’re very excited to release Poyekhali as the first song off our next album. In line with the album’s theme of curiosity and exploration, each title comes with a set of dates and coordinates that gives clues about the story that inspired the song. This particular track is inspired by the soviet space program and their pioneering accomplishments in space flight.” Eirik Kråkenes
Obscuroscope will be releases on September 27
Pre Orders Available Now
