DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED Finnish Black/Epic Metal Pioneers Featuring Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish), CRYPTA Releases Third Single “Dark Night Of The Soul”, VAN CANTO Drops Lyric Video for “Dead By The Night”, POWERWOLF Releases New Single + Music Video “Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend” ft. Alissa White-Gluz, SOJOURNER Releases Vocal Singthrough Video for New Song “Relics Of The Natural Realm”, FEUERSCHWANZ Announces New Live BluRay/DVD/CD Die letzte Schlacht.
After more than two decades of silence, Finnish cult black/epic metallers and pioneers of the scene DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED carve their long-awaited comeback in stone by signing a worldwide record deal with Napalm Records!
In 2020, the old horde from the original line-up rejoined forces, now augmented by former session keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen as a full member of the band, bringing a significant contribution to the creative process, and Kai Hahto (both Nightwish) as session drummer.
Founded in 1993 in Kitee, Finland, DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED quickly gained a cult status in the black metal underground. In 1995, they released their debut album, Heirs of the Northstar, followed by sophomore album, Autumn Roars Thunder (1996), and Witch-Hunts (1998). Shortly after, the pagan flame of DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED became but a fleeting glimpse in the nocturnal darkness of Eastern Finland. But it never faded away completely.
Be prepared for an onslaught of melodic black metal and epic majesty!
Brazilian / Dutch death metal powerhouse CRYPTA is ready to re-open the portals of hell by presenting the third single, “Dark Night Of The Soul”, off their upcoming debut album, along with an official full band playthrough video. The new single delivers a bold message of pure hardness, perilous atmosphere and underlines the heightened level of potency and experience from their successful past and current projects, enhancing influences from both classic and modern death metal genres.
CRYPTA’s debut album will be out this Friday – descending upon the earth like an apocalyptic meteor! Echoes of the Soul was recorded in January 2021 at the Family Mob Studio (Brazil), mixed by Arthur Rizk (Code Orange, Powertrip etc.) and mastered by the famed Jens Bogren (Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Sepultura etc.). The cover artwork was created by Wes Benscoter, who is internationally famous for his stunning covers for bands such as Slayer, Kreator, Black Sabbath and many more.
Watch/Listen to “Dark Night Of The Soul”
Germany’s most thundering voices VAN CANTO recently set free their eighth studio album, To The Power Of Eight. Now the world’s most exciting acapella metal masters follow up directly and release the snappy anthem, “Dead By The Night”, along with a rousing and atmospheric lyric video.
VAN CANTO on “Dead By The Night”: “After the rather soundtrack-like intro ‘To the Power of Eight’, ‘Dead by the Night’ is the actual opener of the album. We wanted to show everything that is possible with three lead singers right at the beginning. The result is an uptempo power metal song with Rakkatakka-riffs, big melodies and a huge background choir. All this comes along with a very positive message that points out how important it is to enjoy the moment. In the end, we all can be dead by tomorrow (or by the night!).”
Watch the lyric video for “Dead By The Night”
2021 is once again completely under the spell of the wolves: With the announcement of their new studio album, Call Of The Wild, POWERWOLF, the high priests of heavy metal, have turned the heads of fans and critics internationally and hereby seamlessly continue on their unique success story!
Along with a powerful video starring Alissa White-Gluz of ARCH ENEMY and Falk Maria Schlegel, they are more than ready to present a brand new version of their hit single “Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend”. If the original version of the thrilling track already managed to reach over 50 million streams across platforms, the exciting new version will set the international heavy metal world on fire!
“Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend” feat. Alissa White-Gluz will be part of the bonus album Missa Cantorem, that various special formats of Call Of The Wild include.
Alissa White-Gluz on the new single: “I enjoyed putting a woman’s spin on “Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend”; altering the lyrics to fit a strong message of female empowerment and delivering them with a mighty roar! Thanks to POWERWOLF for being open to having their song reconstructed like this!”
Falk Maria Schlegel on the video and the collaboration with Alissa White-Gluz:
“It was a pleasure to work and perform together with Alissa for the very first time on our joint video shoot for “Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend”. Immediately, there was a great energetic atmosphere on set! Alissa is such a wonderful artist and interacting with her during this shoot as well as re-interpreting this video together was an amazing experience.”
Watch the new video for “Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend” ft. Alissa White-Gluz
Melancholic black metal symbiosis SOJOURNER paves the way for another undeniably impressive next chapter with their outstanding new offering, the special LP, Perennial, to be released digitally and as a strictly limited ivory vinyl edition today!
With two songs in total, it features new vocalist Lucia Amelia Emmanueli for the first time. Like no other, SOJOURNER captivates the listener by combining harsh black metal influences and instrumental folk interludes with atmospheric soundscapes, while painting a picture of unexplored nature alongside an endless journey towards the horizon.
Songwriter and musician Mike Lamb says: “When I approached the songwriting for this mini EP I wanted to do something special that encompassed both where we began and where we are today, because while we’ve grown and changed over the last 6 years we still have the same passion and vision for the band that brought us together initially. I approached both the songwriting and recording for this EP in the same way that I did on Empires of Ash and The Shadowed Road, even down to recording all of the instruments back in New Zealand again for the first time since we began, in the same room where I wrote ‘Heritage of the Natural Realm’ in 2015.
It also seemed like a fitting time to do something that sat somewhere between a reinterpretation of ‘Heritage…’ and a sequel of sorts for the second EP track, ‘Relics of the Natural Realm’, bringing our 2015 beginnings full circle back to where we are now and the band that we’ve evolved into in 2021. This is reflected in the cover art, again by our good friend Jordan Grimmer who did the original Empires of Ash cover, showing the meeting of SOJOURNER both past and present. We couldn’t be happier with our incredibly talented new members, both of who turned in absolutely beautiful vocal performances, and we’re so excited about the bright future ahead for the band.”
Watch the new vocal singthrough video for “Relics of the Natural Realm”
Germany’s hottest and most entertaining medieval folk rockers, FEUERSCHWANZ, have prevailed against pandemic paralysis and are set to release two recent virtual live highlights under the banner Die letzte Schlacht (engl. The Final Battle), via BluRay/DVD/CD on August 6 via Napalm Records.
The bundled live offering, including extras like a special FEUERSCHWANZ-branded game of “Bingo” and a tour diary, will be available in limited Wooden Box, Mediabook, LP Gatefold and digital formats.
FEUERSCHWANZ on Die letzte Schlacht: “We are very happy and proud to see all the live power of FEUERSCHWANZ, as well as our creative work of the pandemic period, collected as this piece of art for eternity. ”
Despite the yawn-worthy barrenness of festival fields and stages, the Franconian formation has inimitably managed to capture the magic of a live concert, twice – gifting fans an entertaining adventure full of hits and a huge dose of humor.
The virtual concert, Die letzte Schlacht, was originally released in January this year, and presents an adventurous ride through the discography of FEUERSCHWANZ as well as a lovingly prepared visual framework story with the band itself as grandiose protagonists and storytellers. Topped by some great guest appearances, including Angus McFife (GLORYHAMMER), members of Saltatio Mortis and Patty Gurdy, this night to remember can now be experienced over and over again from the comfort of your own home. Secondly, Hauptmann Feuerschwanz and his entourage revisit their virtually released open air (11:O:A) from their last album, the chartbreaking Das Elfte Gebot (The eleventh commandment, 2020, GER #3), and deliver more than two hours of hits.
Join the final battle and watch the exciting trailer
Featuring high quality footage, electrifying pyro, lighting effects, and above all, the unique, charismatic, tongue-in-cheek talents of the band, Die letzte Schlacht is an absolute must-have.
May your drinking horns never be empty and the mead flow forever!
Pre-Order your copy now: https://smarturl.it/DieLetzteSchlachtNPR
