GOD DETHRONED launches video for new single, “Spirit of Beelzebub”, MIDNIGHT launches new single, “Fucking Speed and Darkness”, BLAZE OF PERDITION launches new single “With Madman’s Faith”, IGORRR reveals details for new album, ‘Spirituality And Distortion’; launches video for new single, “Very Noise”.
On February 7th, God Dethroned will release their new full-length, Illuminati, via Metal Blade Records.
For a preview of Illuminati, a video for the new single “Spirit of Beelzebub” (the second of three interconnected short movies) can be viewed HERE.
God Dethroned comments: “‘Spirit of Beelzebub’ is the second single and video from the ‘Illuminati’ album. This song will appeal to our fans who like the faster and more aggressive tunes of God Dethroned. The video is actually the prequel to ‘Illuminati’ and definitely worth checking out!”
The immutable power of the Netherlands’ greatest blackened death metal band, God Dethroned, rings true on new album, Illuminati – their most varied material to date. With a cover by Polish master Michał ‘Xaay’ Loranc (Nile, Evocation), Illuminati is conversant in the tenets of death metal – experimental where it needs to be, and indomitable in spirit. It’s the kind of album that will bestow the Dutch heroes with accolades and push them across Europe (first with Obscura – see dates below) and then the rest of the globe (planning for North and South America is under way) throughout 2020.
God Dethroned’s Henri Sattler checked in with the following comment about Illuminati: “Freemasons, occultists and conspiracy theory enthusiasts pay attention! God Dethroned is back to smack you in the face with our new album called ‘Illuminati’. After finishing the World War One trilogy, it was about time to go back to dark side with songs about religion, freemasonry and the occult. Song titles like ‘Spirit of Beelzebub’, ‘Broken Halo’, ‘Book of Lies’ and ‘Satan Spawn’ leave very little to the imagination as to what to expect from us from a lyrical point of view.
But those of you who expected us to go back into a raging frenzy of endless blastbeats and buzzsaw blade guitar sounds better beware. ‘Illuminati’ is our most varied album to date with a heavy, yet in-your-face type of production. We managed to make our sound bigger and more orchestral than ever before with the use of both atmospheric keyboard parts and many additional vocal parts such as choirs and grunt-on-tone type of vocals. There is a lot to be discovered in the songs of this album because of the many details hidden in the music that will only reveal itself after many listens, and at the same time the tunes on ‘Illuminati’ are catchier than ever before.
Lovers of Rhandy Roads-meets-Marty Friedman type of melodic guitar solos should definitely give Dave Meester’s spectacular leads a listen. Dave was welcomed to the band’s line-up during the European tour with Belphegor and Suffocation and stayed within our ranks ever since. Former guitar player Mike Ferguson however contributed greatly to ‘Illuminati’ by writing several stunning songs and riffs as well as recording half of all the rhythm tracks on the album. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
Pre orders available now!
metalblade.com/goddethroned
On January 24th, Midnight will release their new album, Rebirth by Blasphemy, via Metal Blade Records.
“‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’ is a rebirth,” states Midnight’s sole driving force, Athenar. “It’s a change in life and it’s a rebirth of doing whatever the fuck you want and seeing what happens after that. It’s about saying yes, taking opportunities, taking a fucking chance.” These sentiments are backed up by the notorious – and prolific – underground band’s trademark blend of speed metal, black metal and punk rock, sounding both fuller and more raucous than ever before.
For a preview of Rebirth by Blasphemy, the new single “Fucking Speed and Darkness” can be heard HERE.
Dating back to the band’s inception in 2002, vocalist/guitarist/bassist/drummer Athenar has always known exactly what he wanted Midnight to be, and over the course of countless demos, EPs, compilations, splits and three full-lengths he has stayed true to his roots. There is no denying that, like its predecessors, Rebirth By Blasphemy is a ruthlessly catchy collection, every song, vicious as they are, wielding the kind of hooks that sink deep and don’t let go.
Handling every instrument himself and being quite unfussy when it comes to production typically means that the recording process is a straightforward one for Midnight, and this time was no different. Staying in his home town of Cleveland, he opted to record at Mercenary Studios with the assistance of Noah Buchanan, laying the drums down in a day, the guitars in a little more than that, bass in a few hours, and then tracking the vocals to two or three songs a day. “I think there’s really no production value on the album, it’s really just get in there, press record and see what happens. Maybe you can tell that the sessions went pretty quickly when you listen to it. There are so-called mistakes, of course, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He also wouldn’t have it any other way when it comes to touring this latest collection hard, with a lot of dates with a variety of bands already locked down. “It’s the rebirth, it’s saying fuck it and getting out there and doing what you’re supposed to do, and we’re supposed to play music. If people want to damage their ears by listening to it, that’s welcomed.”
Pre orders available now!
metalblade.com/midnight
On February 14th, Blaze of Perdition will release their new album, The Harrowing of Hearts, via Metal Blade Records.
For a preview of The Harrowing of Hearts, the new single, “With Madman’s Faith”, can be streamed HERE.
Existing at the forefront of the Polish black metal movement, Blaze Of Perdition return with their fifth full-length, The Harrowing Of Hearts – their most urgent, refined, dynamic and accomplished work to date. Richly layered, it is also their most textured release, and they dive ever deeper into the themes they have been exploring since dropping their debut full-length in 2010, Towards The Blaze Of Perdition. “I would say the new record is to 2017’s ‘Conscious Darkness’ what [2011’s] ‘The Hierophant’ was for ‘Towards The Blaze Of Perdition’ – a continuation of the initial idea, but in more energetic and catchy form. Perhaps more approachable and listener-friendly, but it’s not up to me to decide,” states vocalist Sonneillon. “Although some gothic rock influences could be heard on ‘Conscious Darkness’, here we took them out of the shadows and let them shine in the spotlight. It’s also our most collectively written effort so far, with every band member throwing something meaningful to the whole.”
Working with the same producer they’ve been teaming with since 2013 and with artwork designed by Izabela Grabda, every aspect of The Harrowing Of Hearts has come together as intended, and with Metal Blade now behind them, the band are now ready to work their asses off to spread their name ever further. It’s also safe to say the members of Blaze Of Perdition don’t feel like they have anything to prove going into 2020. “To me, art isn’t about proving anything to anyone, it’s about the expression of whatever one wants to express and channeling emotions and/or abstract concepts into something perceptible, something that might turn out to be just as precious for others. Focusing on proving anything to anyone usually doesn’t do any good for artistic endeavors.”
Pre order the album and check out the first single and watch the video clip for “Transmutation Of Sins” at: metalblade.com/blazeofperdition
On March 27th, Igorrr will release their new album, Spirituality And Distortion, via Metal Blade Records.
Watch the bizarre video for Very Noise here
With 2017’s Savage Sinusoid, Igorrr more than proved to be a truly unique musical force – and 2020’s Spirituality And Distortion cements that well-earned reputation. Slamming together disparate musical styles ranging from death and black metal to breakcore, Balkan, baroque and classical music in a manner that is as unconventional and unpredictable as it is thrilling, Igorrr are unlike any other act, and Spirituality And Distortion displays just as broad a range of emotions as sounds. “Getting stuck in only one emotion is very boring to me; life is a wide range of emotions – sometimes you’re happy, sometimes you’re sad, angry, pissed off, nostalgic or blown away,” states mastermind Gautier Serre. “Life is not only one color. These 14 tracks are a journey through different states of mind I’ve been through.”
At no stage was there any plan, embracing the freedom offered in the wake of achieving Savage Sinusoid and going wherever ideas took him, embracing a small army of specialist musicians to help him attain his vision. Importantly, like its predecessor, this is not a predominantly electronic record. “The organization part has been more complicated as we had to fly traditional instrumentalists to our studio, so, lots of planes, trains and cars were involved to make it happen, but all the acoustic instruments have been recorded traditionally, with no help of the computer.” These included violinist Timba Harris, bassist Mike Leon, pianist Matt Lebofsky, Oud player Mehdi Haddab, accordion player Pierre Mussi, Kanoun player Fotini Kokkala and harpsichordist Benjamin Bardiaux, among others. Vocally, the most prominent performer is Laure Le Prunenec, whose operatic strains are a longtime part of the Igorrr mix, while regular collaborator Laurent Lunoir also appears on a few tracks. Serre also invited Pierre Lacasa and Jasmine Barra back to the studio (known from their appearance on previous tracks like “Vegetable Soup” and “Cheval”) to appear on “Kung-Fu Chèvre” and got to realize a dream with one guest performer. “We had the honor to welcome my personal favorite musical hero on this album: George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher of Cannibal Corpse. He screams on the track ‘Parpaing’, and his legendary voice brings the heaviness this track deserved. George is like the final boss of death metal. Like on a video game you have the final boss who is the strongest, George is the best in death metal singing. Due to the extreme heaviness and violence of his voice, I found it very much coherent to contrast it with a cheap tune of 8bit music which is the least heavy music on earth. The contrast is beautiful to my ears.” However, lyrics are less important when he is creating, and often these are delivered in languages he does not even speak. “As with the previous albums, I’m entirely focused on the sound itself and how the sonorities of the voice speaks to the heart, not the intellectual meaning of the words.”
Pre orders available now!
metalblade.com/Igorrr
