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NEWS NOVEMBER 2012
WATAIN SIGNS WORLDWIDE DEAL WITH CENTURY MEDIA
Century Media Records is proud to welcome Swedish black metal extremists WATAIN to its worldwide family. Legitimately labeled as genre leaders, deservedly awarded with a Swedish Grammy, playing the world's biggest stages and touring the globe constantly while reaching numerous top positions in the annual reader's polls, WATAIN have worked hard and achieved a lot over the past years despite successfully ignoring any kind of conformity and concession to the metal mainstream. Unrivalled in their unwillingness to compromise and clear artistic vision, WATAIN are most befittingly described with the title of Bathory's third opus - "Blood Fire Death", a fact they never fail to underline with their infamous live shows: The stench of rotting animal cadavers, the inferno of candelabras and torches, chalices of blood, darkness and death - WATAIN are a full scale attack on all sensory organs. In days of toothless, sterile, family-friendly metal they embody danger and dread and are rewarded with a maximum of support and appreciation.
WATAIN comments:
"We are writing this from a magical place of desolation and desert-like vastness, where wondrous things are at this very moment taking place. Things that will come to colour our world as well as yours in the strangest hues for many years to come. We are entering this new chapter of Watain with a will and confidence to make it the most diverse and rememberable so far. And with the things that we have in mind for the future, it looks like it will be just so. Just wait and see, f***ers! Loud and terrible shall the trumpets of Devils sound."
"Century Media is massively excited to work with Watain. This band has it all: charisma, the firm will to conquer the world, and an authenticity you rarely find these days. Mixed with their creativity and musical impact - this band will make it to the top. They are a healthy slap in the face for any Metal Bourgeois. We are ready to kill for them!" says Antje Lange, General Manager Century Media Europe.
"I am very proud and excited to welcome Watain to the Century Media family. There are few bands that remind me of when I first discovered metal as a teenager that could give me the same feeling of extreme release and evil such as Slayer, Venom and Mercyful Fate did. Watain is one of those rare bands and I look forward to being a part of their growing career and helping today's future metalhead find their way!" adds Don Robertson, President Century Media USA..
Formed back in 1998, the first two albums "Rabid Death's Curse" (2000) and "Casus Luciferi" (2003) established the band firmly within the underground scene whereas "Sworn To The Dark" (2007) and especially "Lawless Darkness" (2010) helped them conquer a wider audience making them one of the most talked about acts in recent years. Musically rooted in classic black metal inspired by the likes of Venom, Hellhammer, Bathory, Mayhem, Dissection as well as the grandeur of old Iron Maiden, Metallica, Rainbow it is the larger-than-life aesthetics and total dedication to their art that elevates WATAIN beyond almost any other extreme metal band out there. WATAIN is satanic metal at its most frightening and fascinating.
After celebrating their 13th anniversary with the release of the DVD/double live album "Opus Diaboli" (2012) under the band's own imprint His Master's Noise, followed by an US tour with Behemoth, The Devil's Blood and In Solitude earlier this year plus celebrated shows at Wacken and Bloodstock Open Air, 2013 will see the release of WATAIN's much anticipated fifth studio album via His Master's Noise in collaboration with Century Media Records. Beware!
WATAIN online:
http://www.templeofwatain.com
THRESHOLD - Definitive Editions of "Hypothetical", “Critical Mass” & "Subsurface" OUT NOW!
After the phenomenal reactions to THRESHOLD’s new amazing progressive metal masterpiece “March Of Progress” (out since the 24th of August), Nuclear Blast is now happy to offer you the “Definitive Editions” – a series of reissue of the entire THRESHOLD discography (except for the band’s 2007 Nuclear Blast debut “Dead Reckoning”), including extensive bonus material! Guitarist and founding member Karl Groom states:“It is exciting to see Nuclear Blast releasing the Definitive Editions of each album now. This is where it all began and where THRESHOLD set its style!”
The final three “Definitive Editions” of “Hypothetical” (2001),“Critical Mass” (2002) and “Subsurface” (2004) are OUT NOW! Order your copies at the Nuclear Blast web shop:http://bit.ly/UFycRf
HYPOTHETICAL
01. Light And Space
02. Turn On Tune In
03. The Ravages Of Time
04. Sheltering Sky
05. Oceanbound
06. Long Way Home
07. Keep My Head
08. Narcissus
Bonus tracks:
09. Light And Space (Live In Paris)
10. Turn On Tune In (Live In Paris)
11. The Ravages Of Time (Live In Paris)
CRITICAL MASS
01. Phenomenon
02. Choices
03. Falling Away
04. Fragmentation
05. Echoes Of Life
06. Round And Round
07. Avalon
08. Critical Mass
I. “Fission”
II. “Fusion”
III. “Lucky”
Bonus tracks:
09. Do Unto Them
10. New Beginning
11. Echoes Of Life (Live In Switzerland)
SUBSURFACE
01. Mission Profile
02. Ground Control
03. Opium
04. Stop Dead
05. The Art Of Reason
06. Pressure
07. Flags And Footprints
08. Static
09. The Destruction Of Words
Bonus tracks:
10. What About Me
11. Mission Profile (Live In Switzerland)
12. Ground Control (Live In Switzerland)
ROTTING CHRIST NEWS _ NEW ALBUM IN MARCH 2013
Last month, we announced that Greek metallers ROTTING CHRIST were putting the finishing touches to their upcoming album. The time has now come to disclose the release date and title of the band’s eleventh studio full-length.
Rotting Christ’s forthcoming opus is entitled ‘Do What Thou Wilt’ and will hit the stores on next March 1st. Brace yourselves, for this new album encompasses everything Sakis Tolis’ gang has been renowned for over its 25 year history!
HIGHLY RECOMMANDED KUOLEMANLAAKSO DEBUT ON SVART RECORDS
Today, KUOLEMANLAAKSO stream the entirety of their forthcoming Uljas uusi maailma, set for international release on November 23rd through SVART RECORDS, on leading Finnish magazine Inferno's website. Featuring members of Chaosweaver, Swallow the Sun, and Barren Earth and propuced by a Triptykon/Dark Fortress member, KUOLEMANLAAKSO's Uljas uusi maailma ("Brave New World") is the band's highly anticipated debut album. The entirety KUOLEMANLAAKSO's Uljas uusi maailma can be streamed here, along with a track-by-track commentary by guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter Laasko: http://www.inferno.fi/uutiset/inferno-tarjoaa-kuuntele-kuolemanlaakson-debyyttilevy
An English translation of the Finnish text is as follows:
1. "Minä elän"
This is where it all began in the Spring of 2010. "Minä elän" is the first song I wrote for Kuolemanlaakso. The song starts out mellow but ominous, and it ends in an ultra-brutal guitar guitar rampage, which was obviously a concious dramaturgic decicion. V. Santura (Triptykon, Dark Fortress, ex- Celtic Frost) - who co-produced, mixed, mastered, and engineered the album - sent me an email while mixing the album saying that the opening riff is the best riff he's heard in years, and he keeps hearing it in his head everywhere: while cooking, while driving, while doing dishes....everywhere. The vocal timing of the chorus has influences from French hip-hop.
2. "Kuun lapset"
This is sort of my own interpretation of Eino Leino's poem by the same name. When I was demoing the song, I tried out the vocals with that very poem. Because some of the lyrics fit rhythmically and thematically very well with the music, I decided to leave severel lines of Leino's original poem in the lyrics. The chorus of this song is probably my favorite from the album. It is dark, rugged, majestetic, and beautiful at the same time. I wrote the outro originally for Chaosweaver, but it fit this song better than anything else. The middle part of the track also features a guest spoken-word performance by my two-year-old son.
3. "Nostos & Algos"
The intro melody is possibly the closest thing this band has or will be to Amorphis. Usva (bass) modified it from the melody of the last chorus. This track is more or less a live-spirited jamming session without showing off technically. The lyrics deal with yearning for the past and the pain of losing the battle against time.
4. "Roihusydän"
"Roihusydän" is based on a shamanic chant, which appeals to the primitive instincts. It is inspired by a Finnish band called Sielun Veljet and "My Wild Love" by The Doors. I heard the witch drum-beat in my head a couple of years ago in an amusement park in Helsinki,Finland. At the same time, I remembered a poem I had written more than a decade ago. I combined those two elements on the spot and hummed a demo of the song on my iPhone right there and then. Later, I recorded the song by myself in my home studio. The track only features vocals, witch drum, and my son's Moomin maracass. It doesn't need anything else. It is a spontaneous but functional chant, which ends the A side of the vinyl and prepares for the forthcoming swarm.
5. "Etsin"
This is probably the most Celtic Frost- and Triptykon-influenced track on the album. The intro is super-cool to play live because of its crushing heaviness and the feeling of sheer power. A lot of people that have heard the album have picked "Etsin" as the best track on it, including Santura. The song pretty much recaps what this band is all about: heaviness,despair, juicy melodies, different styles of singing and crushing soundscapes.
6. "Ikiuni"
I worked on the arrangement of "Ikiuni" for a long time. I believe there were about ten versions of it before ending up with the best one. The other tracks are quite airy, but this is tighter than a long-distance runner's ass. We didn't use autotune or other gimmicks on the album, but this track needed drum triggers because of its fast tempo on double-bass drum-fire. The lyrics have a lot of inter-textuality in different directions, but they essentially deal with one particular modern-day phenomenon.
7. "Uljas uusi maailma"
"Uljas uusi maailma" went through a facelift in the studio. Santura modified the arrangement with a hefty hand, and made the wholeness more complete. In my opinion, the track has a lot of cool keyboard parts, which spice up the guitar riffs. The all-male chorus features guest shouting by Jules Näveri (Profane Omen, Enemy of the Sun), Ville Sorvali (Moonsorrow), Aki Heikinheimo (Ahma, ex- Misery Inc.), and Sami Helle(Dauntless).
8. "Aurinko"
Before we flew to the studio, Santura said that in his opinion the album needed one more track, because it would have been too short otherwise. He also mentioned that if we can't come up with a song, we could compose one together. Well, of course, we didn't complete "Aurinko" after a comment like that, haha... The intro and first two verses and the outro were written at the last or second-to-last rehearsal before flying to Germany. We left the arrangement wide open on purpose. The chorus was written in the studio. The other songs are pretty much written by me, but "Aurinko" was more of a band effort, where Santura's share was grand. He wrote and played all the leads on it and sowed all the elements together. I'm glad he did, because "Aurinko" is probably my favorite track on the album, and Kotamäki had the opportunity the get all sensitive on the verses, and release the beast on the chorus.
***
Named after one of the lowest, driest, and hottest places on Earth, KUOLEMANLAAKSO (”Death Valley”) took its first breath in the Spring of 2010. The band originally started out as a one-man project of guitarist Laakso (Chaosweaver). Much influenced by Eparistera Daimones of Triptykon, Laakso’s mission was to create an utterly dark and heavy album, full of catchy hooks and originality: a tragically beautiful world all its own.
It was clear from the start that the lyrics would be recited in Finnish. They were inspired by Eino Leino’s (1878–1926) poem collection Helkavirsiä, the mystique of the Finnish forests, and the morbidity of the modern world.
The feedback from an unreleased four-song demo recording was so overwhelmingly positive from fellow musicians that Laakso decided to recruit some of them and thus make KUOLEMANLAAKSO a fully operating five-head outfit. And not just anybody, but some of his favourite bandsmen: vocalist Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun, Barren Earth), guitarist Kouta (Chaosweaver, ex-Verjnuarmu), bassist Usva (Elenium, The Nibiruan), and drummer Tiera (Discard, Cult of Endtime).
The band packed their bags in February 2012 and flew to Woodshed Studio, Germany, which is operated by none other than V. Santura of Triptykon and Dark Fortress fame. Santura not only co-produced, mixed, mastered and engineered the crushing Uljas uusi maailma, but he also provided guest guitars on five tracks on it – upon his own request, as he liked the material so much.
So, here it is, KUOLEMANLAAKSO's first step into darkness, Uljas uusi maailma. Life has definitely found its way...a very, very dark and heavy way.
Tracklisting for KUOLEMANLAAKSO's Uljas uusi maailma 1. Minä elän (”I live”) 2. Kuun lapset (”Children of the Moon”) 3. Nostos & Algos 4. Roihusydän (”Blaze Heart”) 5. Etsin (”Searching”) 6. Ikiuni (”The Eternal Sleep”) 7. Uljas uusi maailma (”Brave New World”) 8. Aurinko (”The Sun”) Kuolemanlaakso are: Vocals – Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun, Barren Earth) Guitar & keys – Laakso (Chaosweaver) Guitar – Kouta (Chaosweaver, ex-Verjnuarmu) Bass – Usva (Elenium, The Nibiruan) Drums – Tiera (Discard, Cult of Endtime) Place of origin: Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland Style: dark, doomy, and gloomy metal Language: Finnish Uljas uusi maailma was co-produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by V. Santura (Triptykon, Dark Fortress) at Woodshed Studio, Furth, Germany. ***KUOLEMANLAAKSO's Uljas uusi maailma will be released on November 23rd, 2012 through SVART RECORDS on CD, LP and digital format*** www.svartrecords.comwww.kuolemanlaakso.net www.facebook.com/kuolemanlaakso www.facebook.com/svartrecords
Geplaatst door Vera op vrijdag 16 november 2012 - 21:49:17
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