WATAIN – THE AGONY & ECSTASY OF WATAIN

 

The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain – the moniker could be seen as pretentious, but unbridled confidence is exactly what the Swedes needed to once again establish themselves as a premier black metal band. With heaps of praise and endless hype sent their way, Erik Danielsson and his legion of rebels have found inspiration with tight songwriting, enchanting melodies, and fiery aggression.

The Agony & Ecstasy could be seen as a way of how Watain meticulously melds the dark, blackened melodies with searing guitars as evidenced by “The Howling” and the chilling “Serimosa” – a truly outstanding effort of haunting instrumentation with a gripping guitar melody that showcases the skills of drummer E. Forcas (his first studio performance with Watain).

Painting landscapes of doomsday, spiritual cleansing, and reflection, the brooding “We Remain” (featuring The Devil’s Blood’s Farida Lemouchi as guest vocalist) is a philosophical hymn with a subtle rhythm and pointed drum hits to accentuate the vocals. On the other side of the spectrum, “Black Cunt” holds stunning, evil, apocalyptic riff work that gives way to the thundering, frenzied bass and guitar of “Leper’s Grace”.

At ten tracks, it’s a fully developed album at 49 minutes which shows just how far the songwriting has come. “Not Sun Nor Man Nor God” is a short, ritualistic instrumental while “Before The Cataclysm” exceeds 7 minutes as mid-paced ride into Armageddon.

While “Funeral Winter” is a bit too standard and mostly forgettable, but closer “Septentrion” hits breathtaking notes that wields a violent triumph that capitalizes on the “Ecstasy” of the album title. Their best effort since Lawless Darkness – Watain proves they are still a creative force and worthy of attention.

ARCH ENEMY RELEASE RECAP VIDEO FROM WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS DATE ON THE NORTH AMERICAN SIEGE 2022

Remaining tour dates:

May
7 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
9 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
10 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
11 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
13 - Berkeley, CA - The UC Theatre
15 - Los Angeles, CA - The Hollywood Palladium

On July 29, Arch Enemy will release their 11th studio album, Deceivers, via Century Media Records. For fans that can't wait for the record's release, the band is now offering a new 7", "Sunset Over The Empire" (due out May 20) - with the title track also appearing on Deceivers.

Arch Enemy's founder and chief songwriter Michael Amott comments: "I am thrilled that we are releasing our next single 'Sunset Over The Empire' not only digitally everywhere as usual, but also as a physical 7" vinyl record. I'm a big fan of the vinyl format myself and I think this killer looking 7" will be a nice collector's item as it's a limited run. The B-side is an instrumental we've never released before on a record, and the A-side is one of my fave tracks off our new upcoming album Deceivers!"

Pre-order "Sunset Over The Empire" here, where the 7" is available in the following versions:

- white vinyl (limited to 1000 copies; available via CM Distro Europe)
- transparent orange vinyl (limited to 500 copies; band exclusive)

VOLBEAT LANÇA VÍDEO AO VIVO DE “TEMPLE OF EKUR”

O Volbeat lançou um vídeo da performance ao vivo da música “Temple Of Ekur”, gravado no Honda Center, em Anaheim, Califórnia, no dia 03 de março de 2022. A versão de estudio da faixa faz parte do oitavo álbum da banda, “Servant Of The Mind”, que foi lançado em 3 de dezembro pela Republic Records.

SUICIDE SILENCE LANÇA O NOVO SINGLE “THINKING IN TONGUES”

 

A banda de Deathcore da Califórnia, Suicide Silence, lançou uma nova música chamada“Thinking In Tongues”. A música já está disponível em todas as plataformas digitais e o videoclipe, que foi dirigido por Vicente Cordero para a Industrialism Films, estreia hoje às 14h00.


A banda comenta:


“Esta música deriva da sensação caótica de perder a cabeça. Sentindo que você está engasgando com cada respiração que você dá até finalmente parar. Uma confusão debilitante se instala e sua mente começa a ‘pensar em línguas’, essencialmente processando pensamentos que nem mesmo você pode entender. De certa forma, essa música evoca a sensação final de desamparo.”

“Thinking In Tongues” marca a última gravação do Suicide Silence com o baterista de longa data Alex Lopez, que saiu da banda no mês passado. Ernie Iniguez, que gravou bateria no álbum “Become The Hunter”, vai tocar bateria para o grupo na próxima turnê “Chaos & Carnage” e em festivais europeus.

Em uma declaração separada, Alex disse:



“Então vou fazer isso o mais curto possível. O Suicide Silence e eu nos separamos. Eu sempre vou amá-los e suas famílias e tudo o que realizamos juntos durante meu tempo. Desejo o melhor para o SS. Com isso dito, estou animado para continuar fazendo música e arte, e pretendo me envolver com qualquer projeto que achar satisfatório. Eu ficaria muito grato se você continuasse a acompanhar e apoiar o que eu faço a seguir. Está longe de acabar para mim. Com amor, muito obrigado a todos os meus fãs, amigos e apoiadores, o próximo capítulo começa.”

Lopez se juntou ao Suicide Silence em 2006 como substituto do baterista original da banda, Josh Goddard. Ele apareceu em todos os seis álbuns de estúdio da banda, incluindo o mais recente do grupo, o já mencionado “Become The Hunter” sendo o mais recente.

BATTLE BEAST ESTREIA O NOVO SINGLE “TEMPEST OF BLADES”

 

O Battle Beast lançou o seu novo single “Tempest Of Blades” da versão bônus de seu mais novo álbum “Circus Of Doom”. A versão bônus apresenta o single recém-lançado “The Lightbringer” e a nova faixa “Tempest of Blades”. Confira abaixo.


O baixista Eero Sipilä comenta:


“‘Tempest of Blades’ é um ataque de Heavy Metal sem frescuras em todos os sentidos, feito sob medida para iniciar um mosh-pit em sua própria sala de estar. Então aumente o volume e aproveite esta última atração que faltava no ‘Circus Of Doom’!”



“Circus Of Doom” foi gravado no JKB Studios em Helsinque e produzido e mixado pelo tecladista Janne Björkroth, enquanto a impressionante arte foi criada por Jan Yrlund.

KIRK HAMMETT - PORTALS

Now here’s a little something off the beaten path. Over 40 years in the music Kirk Hammett has been in the music business and 2022 sees his first ever solo release with Portals. A musical exercise in different sounds and atmospheres, Hammett explores his love of all things horror and Clint Eastwood in this EP release that is quite frankly more musically interesting then what his main band has done on their recent studio efforts. That is not a put down of Metallica in any way – Hardwired was an enjoyable album, but Hammett’s solos have been a point of criticism. Those criticisms will be put to bed as Portals shows a talented guitarist utilizing different effects and inspired sounds to create a diverse EP with much replay value.

Portals plays out like mini-movies, or soundtracks to a theatrical film. Kirk shows an adept ability to string notes together that blend magnificently with the softer and symphonic parts of the songs. There’s almost a ‘70s progressive bent to the tracks as Hammett is freeform and just goes for it as he's clearly having a ton of fun putting this beast together. I want this Kirk on future Metallica releases!

Opener “Maiden And The Monster” is a homage to classic horror stories as the songs breaks down into different passages acting out a plot, going through the different emotions of a the villain chasing after the damsel in distress. “The Jinn” has a definite ‘70s Scorpions vibe to it – especially bringing to mind “Sails Of Charon” – love the main, crushing riff in the middle section.

Inspiration is the main word as Kirk isn’t afraid to be flashy while also keeping his playing to the confines of the song. “High Plains Drifter” is Maiden-ish in parts and the showdown, Western vibe serves as a great backdrop for Kirk to display technical and melodic proficiency – and again it has to be noted this is the Hammett I want on Metallica!

“The Incantation” closes Portals off on a sinister vibe - clearly a Black Sabbath influence here - but the interplay with the symphonic elements is brilliant. Portals comes off as a much pleasant surprise and is a scarily good listen – be sure to check this out!

ABYSMAL DAWN - NIGHTMARE FRONTIER

 

I've long turned to Abysmal Dawn for trustworthy technical death metal that isn't so technical it becomes unenjoyable, the band a great example of owning chops but also not losing the DM plot too much. Plus, they always have great album covers to stare at while letting the pristine death metal wash over you, the Nightmare Frontier EP being no different.

The EP is an excellent format for death metal, and Abysmal Dawn put it to good use here, dropping one new song in the form of opener “A Nightmare Slain”, which features excellent glory-ride soloing, tasteful melodies, and, as always, frantic and fluid drum work and great songwriting skills. Then there's a reworking of old cut “Blacken The Sky” from the band's 2006 debut From Ashes; granted, you'd have to be a serious fan to notice that this one is tighter and leaner than the original, with an obvious boost in production quality. Then there are two covers: In Flames' “Behind Space” from that band's 1994 debut Lunar Strain, and Candlemass' Bewitched, from their 1987 record Nightfall. Fun to hear Abysmal Dawn play it straight and melodic like In Flames, and they do a good job of it, even scrapping the acoustic folk-metal ending because who needs that shit; they also do a surprisingly good job of Candlemass' doom, definitely a stretch for these guys, but even the vocals sound pretty good, and definitely convincing.



A fun EP from a band you can trust, Abysmal Dawn slowly and surely building a confident catalogue of solid death metal, this fun release not an essential part of it but worthy of a listen regardless.