Lamb of God just released their new album, Lamb of God, last Friday via Epic Records (review here, exclusive interview with Willie Adler here). Following the Friday release of their new self-titled album, Lamb of God is connecting with fans through daily online activities today through Thursday, beginning with a “live quarantine video” today on YouTube. The video features three songs recorded by the band live from quarantine. Tune in to watch at the link below.
Glasgow may not be considered a heavy metal hub, but the band Bleed From Within proves that Scotland can produce some pretty extreme musicians. Formed fifteen years ago, this young, charged-up group of guys sought to make a spectacle of aggression and severity. Their early works took on a very vengeful edge that was mainly categorized under the Deathcore genre. Now, these fresh-faced Scots present a more sophisticated take on the ‘Core’ genres while merging it with Modern Metal on their new fifth full-length album, Fracture (Century Media Records). Continue reading
Many consider the British band, Paradise Lost to be the fathers of the Gothic Metal genre. Formed in 1988, four out of the five members have been there since the beginning. This tight-knit group of guys is a prime example of a hard-working band who knows how to stay creative and original. The exploration and determination of this act has led them down some unique roads over the years. After experimenting on albums like One Second (Music for Nations) and Believe In Nothing (EMI), Paradise Lost got back to their roots in 2015. They embraced their Death Metal background with the release of The Plague Within (Century Media Records) and 2017’s Medusa (Nuclear Blast). Now with the release of their sixteenth record, Obsidian (Nuclear Blast), their heaviness is being fleshed out with even more distinct devastation. Continue reading
Just over a decade ago, the supergroup Voodoo Gods was created. Though the birthplace is in Florida, the lineup consists of international musicians from around the globe. The diversely skilled and experienced members came together under one banner to generate some very heavy and very hostile music. In 2014, the band exchanged one epic vocalist for another. Seasoned frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher from Cannibal Corpse replaced Adam “Nergal” Darski from Behemoth as the co-vocalist and soon the group released their first full-length, Anticipation For Blood Leveled in Darkness (Saturnal Records). Though it’s been six years since their last record, the band’s heat and hatred has not cooled down. Their recently released second album, The Divinity of Blood (Reaper Entertainment) wreaks havoc in a forceful, yet slightly monotonous way. Continue reading
American Rock band The Pretty Reckless, led by singer/actress Taylor Momsen, has inked a new U.S. deal with Fearless Records. The band, which is signed to Century Media Records for territories outside the USA, will release its fourth album, Death By Rock And Roll, later in the year. The album’s first single will arrive soon. In other news, Momsen will take part in a special “Fearless At Home” acoustic performance on Saturday, May 9. Watch a trailer here. Continue reading
Ghost Cult was honored to chat with musician and artist Jacob Bannon of Converge, Wear Your Wounds, and his new band Umbra Vitae. That group just released their debut album, Shadow of Life, (read our review here), a brutal, OSDM flavored album created by Jacob and a group of master musicians and friends such as Mike McKenzie (The Red Chord, WYW) and Sean Martin (Twitching Tongues, ex Hatebreed, WYW) Greg Weeks (The Red Chord, Labor Hex) and Jon Rice (Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Job For A Cowboy). In a frank discussion with our editor Keefy, Jacob discussed the impact coronavirus has had on the music world and more specifically his bands and his label Deathwish Inc., what are the Death Metal inspirations of the group, how Umbra Vitae came together, how this is a full band and not side-project, the poem that inspired the band name and the entire album, an update on new Converge and WYW music, and much more. Jacob is working to stay focused and creative during the pandemic to keep his bands and Deathwish Inc. alive in all of this and if you can, please support his music, art activities at these links.
Buy the album here https://orcd.co/umbravitae
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Converge is one of the lucky Hardcore/Punk bands that has seen notable success over the years. Though they have flirted with the metal genre on some of their albums like The Poacher Diaries (Relapse Records) and You Fail Me (Epitaph Records), frontman Jason Bannon has been itching to make something heavier. This veteran vocalist loves his celebrated children Converge and Wear Your Wounds, but is now really exposing his heart for ferocity with his new Death Metal project, Umbra Vitae. Along with some other experienced and eager members, Bannon has just released the band’s debut LP, Shadows of Life on his own label, Deathwish Inc.
Imperial Triumphant has revealed their new artwork for their upcoming new album Alphaville, due out on out July 31st via Century Media Records. The new album will be their first for the label and their first since their acclaimed album Vile Luxury. You can see the artwork, created by legend Zbigniew M. Bielak below, along with the tracklisting. The album also features a number of special guests such as Tomas Haake (Meshuggah) on the taiko drums, Phlegeton (Wormed) on guest vocals, Yoshiko Ohara (ex-Bloody Panda) as part of the choirs, RK Halvorson as part of the Barbershop quartet, Sarai Chrzanowski as part of the choirs, Andromeda Anarchia (Folterkammer, Dark Matters) as part of the choirs, J Walter Hawke on the trombone, and Colin Marston on guitars. The band includes Zachary Ilya Ezrin (vocals, guitars), Steven Blanco (bass, vocals, piano, mellotron, synths, taiko drums), and Kenny Grohowski (drums, taiko drums). You can see an additional behind the scenes video below as well. Continue reading
We caught up with Wolfheart leader Tuomas Saukkonen recently for a new interview. The band has unleashed its amazing new album (review here) Wolves of Karelia, out now via Napalm Records. The follow up to the acclaimed 2018 release Constellation Of The Black Light, Wolves… is a sprawling conceptual masterpiece about the “Winter War” between Finland and Russia. Tuomas spoke at length about the research that went into the album, his view of concept albums in general, how the band continues to be so prolific over time, the travails of making their excellent ‘Hail of Steel’ music video, and how the band plans to stay active and connected to fans during the coronavirus quarantine. Interview by Keefy. Purchase Wolves of Karelia here: Continue reading
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Igorrr is the brainchild of the French musical genius, Gautier Serre and he made it to destroy the limitations of music. Originally a solo project, Serre dug into a variety of contrasting genres to proclaim palatable pieces of art that shouldn’t work, but do. In 2017, he broke barriers when the project gained more members and they released Savage Sinusoid (Metal Blade Records). Now, this bizarre band is back with the full-length album, Spirituality and Distortion (Metal Blade Records) where Serre and the other players are embellishing on the already oddball invention that is Igorrr. Continue reading