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05/21/2005: "Extremely METALLIC News (3rd weekend in May 2005)"
Without further ado...
~ VENOM: New Demo Song Available Online ~
A streaming audio sample of a brand-new VENOM demo, entitled "Antichrist", is available at the band's official website: http://www.venomslegions.com/media2/musyk1.htm
VENOM's current incarnation consists of mainman Conrad "Cronos" Lant alongside drummer Antton and latest addition, guitarist Mykus.
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~ DARK FUNERAL Prepare To Enter Studio ~
DARK FUNERAL guitarist Lord Ahriman has issued the following update on the band's current activities:
"Monday is the day we've all been waiting for! Hell yeah, Monday we will finally enter Dug-Out Studios [in Uppsala, Sweden] with producer Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, IN FLAMES, BEHEMOTH) to begin the work and recording of our new, yet untitled Satanic symphony. We are scheduled to be located at the dungeons of Dug-Out Studios between May 23 to July 1st.
"Since we will be continuing to write material and work on arrangements in the studio, I can unfortunately not say much about the actual new songs. And even tough WE have an exclusive insight on the new material, I can assure you that we, the band, are as curious as all of you to find out and hear what the final result will sound alike.
"To at least give you some kind of information on the new stuff, I can tell you as much as with THIS album we have been, and still are, specifically working to make improvements on the drum-side (to get a more complex and rhythmic drumming then before) as well as the guitar side of the music, of course. Many of the melodies I've written so far for this album are the fastest I've ever written, which in a way give them a more atmospheric and 'classical' touch than ever before, while others are perhaps abit slower but with a darker and more depressive feeling.
"My plan is to keep our fans registred to our 'official forum' exclusively updated once a week during the whole recording session (feel free to spread the word). So, if you're not already registered, do it here at: http://www.statikmajik.com/gd/forums/
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~ AETERNUS Close To Signing With DARK ESSENCE RECORDS ~
Norwegian "dark metallers" AETERNUS are on the verge of signing in a new deal with the Bergen, Norway-based Dark Essence Records. The group recently spent time at Grieghallen Studios in Norway recording their new album, "Hexaeon", for a tentative fall release. "We still gotta mix it and master it so we're not even done yet in the studio," mainman Ares writes on the group's web site. "It happens!"
The follow-up to 2003's "A Darker Monument" is once again being produced by Eirik "Pytten" Hundvin, who has previously worked with ENSLAVED and MÖRK GRYNING, among others.
AETERNUS recently acquired a new session guitarist by the name of Dreggen. According to Ares, "Dreggen . . . is doing great, learning our songs so he'll be ready for live gigs and so forth in the near future."
With regards to possible touring, Ares writes, "Nothing is planned just yet as we can't make a priority on this at this stage. AETERNUS has just gotten themselves a place to practice so we need time in any case to get our shit together. We're pretty rusty...as a band... so..!!!"
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~ BOLT THROWER: 'K-Machine' Featuring Vocalist KARL WILLETTS Posted Online ~
A previously unreleased version of the BOLT THROWER track "K-Machine", featuring vocals by the band's original (and current) singer Karl Willetts, has been posted online at the group's official web site. Download it at http://www.boltthrower.com/music/downloads/BoltThrower_K-Machine.mp3
"K-Machine" was originally included on the band's 2001 release "Honor, Valour, Pride", which featured Dave Ingram (ex-BENEDICTION) on vocals.
In a recent interview with BoltThrower.com, Willetts explained how he ended up laying down his vocals on the entire "Honor, Valour, Pride" album shortly after rejoining the group late last year.
"The first thing I did with the band was to re-record my vocals onto 'Honour, Valour, Pride'... which sound fantastic... I enjoyed doing this as it was a perfect re-introduction to the studio. And as we will be performing a number of these songs live, it was a great opportunity to learn them properly and still see if my voice was up to the job... gladly I think it is! No disrespect to Dave, but the album now sounds like the BOLT THROWER we all know and love!! Not sure if these recordings will ever see the light of day, we'll have to see how it goes..."
BOLT THROWER recently entered Andy Faulkner's Sable Rose studios to record their eighth, as-yet-untitled album. The band expect to spend the next three months recording the CD for a tentative October/November release via Metal Blade Records.
Willetts rejoined the group as the replacement for Ingram, who left the band in August 2004 due to long-standing "health and personal problems."
(Thanks: Suela / www.kissthis.com)
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~ It's Official: OPETH Sign With ROADRUNNER RECORDS ~
OPETH mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt has now officially confirmed that the band have finalized a deal with New York's Roadrunner Records, bolstering an imposing roster that already includes KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, SLIPKNOT, OBITUARY and CRADLE OF FILTH.
Åkerfeldt disclosed several details about the band's forthcoming, self-produced opus. The follow-up to 2003's acoustic masterpiece, "Damnation", and OPETH's first disc in years without producer Steve Wilson, the album will include "Ghost of Tradition", "The Baying of the Hounds" and "Isolation Years".
"Musically, 'Damnation' was an experiment for us," Åkerfeldt told MTV.com. "It also helped us to develop our sound. So this time around, you can say the overall record is going to be heavy-sounding. There's also a couple of songs that are more in the style of 'Damnation', so to speak. We also have a new member in the band, our keyboard player, Per Wiberg. So we have some vintage keyboards this time around on the heavy material as well. Overall, this one is heavy."
Åkerfeldt said OPETH will finish the record before month's end and expect to release it as early as late August. He also said they'll play some new material this summer as part of the inaugural Sounds of the Underground tour.
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~ CRADLE OF FILTH: Hard At Work On Live DVD ~
British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH have posted the following message at their official web site:
"CRADLE OF FILTH are currently putting together the as-yet-untitled live DVD, which was filmed over two sold out shows in Paris on April 2nd-3rd, 2005. This will be with extra behind-the-scene's footage spanning the last 3 years of the bands ghoulish whereabouts. It will also feature promotional videos's and exclusive band interviews and other extras. It scheduled for an October release date.
"We will be running a new competition with a very rare one-off prize.You can win the actual lyric sheet Dani [Filth, vocals] used during the recording of the track 'Nymphetamine'!!! It will be signed and framed, making this one of the most exclusive one-off prizes CRADLE OF FILTH have ever offered. Watch this space for the question soon!
"Over the next month or so we will be offering a special on-line fan club service where fans can pay a small fee to receive all the latest news, tours, video shoots, secret warm-up shows, exclusive competition prizes and much more via personal monthly text message and/or email. You will also receive a special password to a 'members-only' part of the website. More news has this happens."
CRADLE OF FILTH's most recent release was "Nymphetamine: Special Edition", available now on Roadrunner Records. The collection features two all-new tracks ("Prey" and "Soft White Throat"), covers of OZZY OSBOURNE's "Mr. Crowley", BATHORY's "Bestial Lust" and "Devil Woman", two previously unreleased tracks, all-new and expanded artwork, and the video for "Nymphetamine".
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~ SUIDAKRA Explain Split With CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS ~
Metal Temple magazine recently conducted an interview with SUIDAKRA vocalist / guitarist Arkadius. An excerpt from the interview follows:
Metal Temple: Can you tell us what happened with Century Media [Records]?
Arkadius: "Yes, of course. As I have mentioned before there were several problems with the promotion the label did for us. Our first album for them back in 2001, 'Emprise to Avalon', was actually not promoted at all. Still, the press sent a very positive feedback. At that time period we thought that this had something to do with the fact that this was actually our first album with them. So when the release of 'Signs of the Fallen' took place we expected their support 100 percent. The press was satisfied with this album but still there was almost no promotion at all.
"To make a long story short, when we started recording the new album, we met with the company and they told us that they don't really like our new sound. They wanted us to play exactly like our previous albums. Why do that? To get no promotion at all, again? There was no reason to continue with the label."
Read the entire interview at Metal-Temple.com
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~ CHILDREN OF BODOM Frontman Talks About Upcoming Album 'Are You Dead Yet?' ~
CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho recently gave an exclusive interview to the COB fan site Scythes-Of-Bodom.com. Several excerpts from the interview follow:
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: Where exactly was the [new] album recorded?
Alexi: "It's recorded in a house in Helsinki with (Mikko) Karmila which is actually in Eastern Helsinki, this part of the town which is like in the middle of the woods and right by the beach. It's a nice place definitely. It's just this house or it's actually a cabin or whatever and it's a nice place. That's where we recorded and we're gonna mix at Finnvox."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: So the producer was Mikko Karmila. Why did you choose him?
Alexi: "There's no reason except that when it comes to the mixing. We knew that he was gonna mix the album eventually anyway so we might just as well try to record with the same guy. And we wanted to try something different and not going to Astia every single time. So we wanted to try something different."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: How many songs will be on the album?
Alexi: "Nine."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: Was "Trashed, Lost & Strungout" re-recorded?
Alexi: "I will do the vocals and leads again."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: How will be the rest of the songs? Are they gonna be brutal and more melodic than "Hate Crew Deathroll"? How is the speed? Do you have fast songs and slow ones, like the usual "ballad"?
Alexi: "Well, we got both, you know? As far as the tempo goes, we have stuff where the tempo is like something we maybe haven't used before. For me it's always hard to put the music into words, you know. It's something you should hear. But I can tell you that the objective of the band is we just wanna make it more extreme and just more aggressive and push it as far as we can. And mostly definitely not going to any softer direction."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: Any song names ready?
Alexi: "Well, the title track, 'Are You Dead Yet?', is one of them, then 'In Your Face' and we got this slower song called 'Punch Me I Bleed'."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: What will the songs be about? The typical "fuck you" and "leave me be" stuff?
Alexi: "That kind of stuff but also for example like 'Are You Dead Yet?', which is more about self-destruction in a way which tells about the feeling when you're six weeks in row on fucking tour with drinking and partying and wrecking yourself and when you get back home you're like looking in the mirror and just asking yourself, 'Are you dead yet?' I actually came up with that song when I trashed my arm. I was feeling like shit because that was the time when I was supposed to write new stuff but I couldn't play and I was like, 'Oh man, this fucking sucks.' But I figured that I could write some lyrics or whatever and that was actually the first thing I came up with. I was looking at myself and I had a fucking black eye, I had stitches, scratches all over my face and a fucking cast on my arm and I was like, 'Dude, you gotta do something about yourself.' (laughs)."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: So the name of the new album will be "Are You Dead Yet?" and…
Alexi (interrupts): "I know what the next question is gonna be about that. The Swedish band [CARNAL FORGE, who released an album called 'Aren't You Dead Yet?' in 2004], right?
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: Yeah!
Alexi: "I don't know what to tell you, dude! I mean I have never heard about that band before so it's pretty obvious that we didn't rip it off. But we're not gonna change it, though. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. That's the kind of title that really fits the whole thing right now. I didn't think about it but right now there's so many bands that have the same song titles or even album titles, which is not the end of the world, you know? It's almost the same but it's not the same, though."
Scythes-Of-Bodom.com: About 90 percent of the people at message boards said that they don't like this name very much and expected something more creative and were a bit disappointed. And I have so say this album name has nothing unique in my opinion. Every band could name their album like that. "Hate Crew Deathroll", for example, can only be used by you, you know?
Alexi: "Yeah, that's true. Well, whenever we come up with something new there are a lot of fans who act like this when we have a new album. It's like their thing saying that even though it is not true. It's a matter of taste but some of them will always say that the last album was better the new one, you know? I'm not saying all fans, only some of then, you know? If they don't like the album title then it's too bad but I mean that's what we're doing right now. But I mean I gonna just say don't judge the whole motherfucking thing based on the album title."
Read Alexi Laiho's entire interview with Scythes-Of-Bodom.com at
http://www.scythes-of-bodom.com
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~ PLACE OF SKULLS Sign With EXILE ON MAINSTREAM RECORDS ~
PLACE OF SKULLS, the Knoxville, Tennessee-based band featuring former PENTAGRAM guitarist Victor Griffin, have posted the following message on their official web site:
"After all the speculation, uncertainty, and instability in the early weeks of 2005, we're pleased to announce that things have settled on a positive note since our recent return from Europe. We're back and stronger than ever with a greater outlook towards the future.
"While in Germany, several meetings with Exile On Mainstream Records has produced exciting results in the form of signing with them for the release of our new CD in early 2006!
"Cheers to Andreas & Exile! Thanks for believing!"
PLACE OF SKULLS, whose current lineup includes Griffin alongside Dennis Cornelius of REVELATION and OVERSOUL fame and drummer extraordinaire Tim Tomaselli, are currently working on a new album to be recorded throughout this summer. Touring plans include a European tour in early 2006 with a possible limited U.S. tour.
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~ THE CHASM To Release Split 10-Inch With CIANIDE ~
Chicago's THE CHASM have posted the following message on their official web site:
"We have finally confirmed the long-planned split 10" with Chicago's own deathsters CIANIDE. Both bands have agreed to release this unique piece of molten metal before the year ends. It is very possible that THE CHASM will re-record an old song, and maybe a new one exclusive for this release. Nothing is 100 percent sure songwise yet, but no matter what, the split is definitely gonna happen. The preparation for the recording of this project will start to take shape after the May 28th show. More info as it becomes available."
THE CHASM's latest album, "The Spell of Retribution", was released in November via Earache Records. Comprising 10 tracks with a running time of over 66 minutes, "The Spell of Retribution" was recorded at Soto Sound Studios in Illinois and mixed by frontman Daniel Corchado at Lux Inframundis.
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