Nine years since the first installment of 'The Singularity Trilogy', virtuosic progressive metallers SCAR SYMMETRY, who recently re-signed to Nuclear Blast Records, have announced The Singularity (Phase II - Xenotaph) which will be released on 9th June. To coincide with the announcement, the band have also released the video for the album's first single 'Scorched Quadrant'.
In the wake of the announcement, band mastermind Per Nilsson comments:
"It brings us the utmost pleasure and pride to announce the long-awaited and much-teased 'Phase II' to the world along with its first single! It's been a long time coming but I'm glad that we went the extra mile to make everything as perfect as we felt it needed to be.
The world is a different place in 2023 than it was in 2014 when 'Neohumanity' was released... We see the rise of AI before our very eyes and while we all look in awe at the wonders it can create it is easy to think of some very disturbing scenarios. In our new album, we once again explore these themes of neohumanity, artificial intelligence and the technological singularity from a dystopian point of view."
The Singularity (Phase II - Xenotaph)
Tracklisting:
Chrononautilus
Scorched Quadrant
Overworld
Altergeist
Reichsfall
Digiphrenia Dawn
Hyperborean Plains
Gridworm
A Voyage With Tailed Meteors
Soulscanner
Xenotaph
Today also sees SCAR SYMMETRY kick off a run of Swedish tour dates supporting MESHUGGAH, alongside THE HALO EFFECT and ORBIT CULTURE. The band also have a number of additional dates lined up for 2023, including several festival performances. All dates can be found below.
SCAR SYMMETRY 2023 Live Dates
31.03.23 SE - LUND, Sparbanken Skåne Arena*
01.04.23 SE - ÖREBRO, Conventum*
07.04.23 SE - UMEÅ, Nolia-hallen*
08.04.23 SE - STOCKHOLM, Annexet*
21.04.23 SE - LINKÖPING, Saab Arena*
22.04.23 SE - PARTILLE, Partille Arena*
06.05.23 NO - KOPERVIK, Karmøygeddon Metal Festival
Top-charting German force, FEUERSCHWANZ, will release their new studio album, Fegefeuer, on July 7, 2023 via Napalm Records! The successor to 2021’s acclaimed Memento Mori (#1 Official German Album Charts) is fully dedicated to metal and thus consistently continues the band's path away from their comedic rock roots of days gone by.
Today, the band has already released the album’s first single, "Bastard von Asgard" feat. Eluveitie singer Fabienne Erni (in German!), alongside an official music video - a straight Heavy Metal track in pure FEUERSCHWANZ style! In the official music video, Hauptmann Feuerschwanz is attacked by real wolves before Hodi and Fabienne put a bloody end to it.
FEUERSCHWANZ on "Bastard von Asgard":
"With this song, we pay our rightful tribute to the old gods! It is set in the saga world of the Vikings and deals with end of the world of betrayal and deceit. Odin's son meets Loki's bastard - with vocal support from Fabienne Erni, singer of the folk metal pioneers Eluveite! To do justice to the epic saga, we have turned the speed up to full blast and march toward the end of the world. Ragnarök can come!"
Power Metal Warriors Gloryhammer Set to Release New Album, Return to the Kingdom of Fife, via Napalm Records!
🔴Watch the brand new Action-Packed Animated Music Video for First Single, “Keeper Of The Celestial Flame Of Abernethy” here: https://youtu.be/-O5TxWQkfr0
Chart-storming power metal warriors GLORYHAMMER are back and proudly announcing their highly anticipated upcoming fourth album, Return to the Kingdom of Fife, out June 2, 2023 via Napalm Records! Wasting no time, the band has released the epic first single, “Keeper of the Celestial Flame of Abernethy”, cut from the upcoming masterpiece. The track features a relentless blast of hyper-catchy laser-choruses that assault your ears on a non-stop voyage through space and time, and is not to be missed! A guaranteed singer-pipe ear-trumpet for all future live shows!
“Keeper of the Celestial Flame of Abernethy” is accompanied by a high quality animated music video, with which GLORYHAMMER exceeds all expectations! The exciting, action-packed music video - directed and animated by Alex Henderson – reveals the origin tale of the evil sorcerer Zargothrax, and shows the visual world of Gloryhammer the way it was always meant to be seen!
GLORYHAMMER about “Keeper Of The Celestial Flame Of Abernethy”:
"This tale begins long in the past, 1000 years before even Angus McFife was born. A simple peasant by the name of Zargothrax lived a peaceful existence weaving baskets in a village called Auchtermuchty, until the legendary hero Dundax decided to build a new Kingdom in his lands...the Kingdom of Fife. Follow the rise of Zargothrax into a twisted sorcerer of chaos and evil, as he seeks the ultimate revenge on the Prince of Fife and all his descendants!"
Towers of Gold is the second Chapter in The Sacred Chronicles. Written and arranged by George Apalodimas, it is the first album featuring the brand-new line-up of axeman Steve Lado, drummer Defkalion Dimos and the legendary Daniel Heiman behind the mic.
The long-awaited successor to the highly acclaimed debut "Damned for All Time" was fine-tuned to perfection by the band and masterfully mixed & mastered by Steve Lado in SL Studio, Greece.
"Towers of Gold" is a full concept album directly tied to the golden age of late '90s and early '00s power metal, fused with the legendary '80s US metal scene, where Warlord meets Blind Guardian and Manowar joins Lost Horizon on a mystical journey through ten chapters of dark, epic power metal.
And of course, there's a zillion Easter eggs in there, happy hunting!
releases May 19, 2023
All Songs by Sacred Outcry
Produced by George Apalodimas
Mixed & Mastered by Steve Lado at SL Studio
Lead & Rhythm Guitars recorded at SL Studio
Bass & Orchestra recorded at The Aphelion Tower Studios
Acoustic Guitars recorded at Eightyard Studios
Orchestral Arrangements by George Apalodimas & Sapfo Lignou
Cover Artwork, Concept & Layout by George Apalodimas
12-String Guitar on tracks 5 & 10 by Jeff Black
Acoustic Guitars on tracks 1, 5 & 6 by Yorgos Karagiannis
"Here is the second Nunatakr demo, focused and concentrated on one song. Let yourself fall and follow the journey further through the ice. Nunatak rise!"
Illusionary has released a video for "Brain Dead", a tune coming from their "Baku" EP
Hailing from the wonderful location of Brisbane, Australia come an aggressive up and comer in the metal realm. They go by Illusionary and they mean business. The band’s current line-up was formed in 2019 as a four piece. The band is home to a multicultural outlook, and provides a fresh take on the genre. Illusionary build it’s momentum off clever groove mixed with energetic build up and impressive vocals. Illusionary releases their new song “Pierce The Membrane” which is the fifth heavy hitter to be release off of their upcoming EP that aims for a summer 2022 release. Illusionary is really starting to turn gears, and it’s sounds very promising.
Whitechapel has just unveiled the new music video for the song “I Will Find You” off their October 29, 2021 release Kin. View the video HERE. Kin is available on CD, vinyl, as a limited imported Box Set, digitally, and streaming HERE.
Opener “I Will Find You” takes place right after the last track off The Valley, “Doom Woods”, which sees Bozeman entering into his life following the events characterized on that album. “I am being followed by my alternate reality/evil self. It’s the part of me that can’t let go and will go to any heights to find the real me and pull me back into the dark past that I want to move on from.“
The video was shot and produced by David Brodsky of MyGoodEye Visuals and comes just as the band prepares to hit the road on a US headlining tour where the band will perform their critically lauded 2019 full-length, The Valley, in its entirety! The special month-long trek begins on April 14th in Atlanta, Georgia and runs through May 13th in Nashville, Tennessee. Support will be provided by Archspire, Signs Of The Swarm, and labelmates, Entheos.
Whitechapel‘s upcoming tour marks the band’s first headline run in four years due to the pandemic. Supporting the band on the upcoming tour are Archspire, Signs Of The Swarm, and labelmates Entheos. Whitechapel will also play an extended encore of classic bangers in addition to The Valley so make sure you don’t miss it!
See all confirmed dates below.
WHITECHAPEL w/ Archspire, Signs Of The Swarm, Entheos:
4/14/2023 Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
4/15/2023 The Orpheum – Tampa, FL
4/16/2023 Revolution – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
4/18/2023 The Underground – Charlotte, NC
4/19/2023 The Canal Club – Richmond, VA
4/20/2023 Baltimore Sound Stage – Baltimore, MD
4/21/2023 The Gramercy Theater – New York, NY
4/22/2023 The Palladium – Worcester, MA
4/24/2023 St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
4/25/2023 The House Of Blues – Chicago, IL
4/27/2023 Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS
4/28/2023 Gothic Theater – Denver, CO
4/29/2023 Metro Music Hall – Salt Lake City, UT
5/01/2023 Showbox Market – Seattle, WA
5/02/2023 Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR
5/04/2023 Ace Of Spades – Sacramento, CA
5/05/2023 The Regent – Los Angeles, CA
5/06/2023 The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
5/07/2023 The Nile Theater – Mesa, AZ
5/09/2023 Mohawk – Austin, TX
5/10/2023 Grenada Theater – Dallas, TX
5/12/2023 Red Flag – St. Louis, MO
5/13/2023 Basement East – Nashville, TN
In other news, Whitechapel will be performing at Louder Than Life Festival, held September 21-24 in Louisville, KY. Louder Than Life will feature performances from a spectacular list of rock artists including: Foo Fighters, Green Day, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Weezer, Rancid, Corey Taylor, Coheed and Cambria, and many more. Tickets and full lineup can be found here: LouderThanLifeFestival.com
The Valley is WHITECHAPEL‘s seventh full-length studio offering, released in 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The record was mixed by David Castillo, mastered by Ted Jensen, and produced by Mark Lewis (Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder). Exclaim crowned The Valley, “the strongest release of [WHITECHAPEL's] career…” In a 9/10 review, Metal Injection championed, “one of the most well-written metal albums I have heard in quite some time,” furthering, “The interplay of the heavy and the melancholy is done beautifully.” Added Consequence Of Sound, “Thanks to a unique blend of instrumentation, excellent vocal talent, and poetic lyricism, WHITECHAPEL’s The Valley takes its place among the upper ranks of the band’s discography.“
UNEARTH delivers another bar raising track of extraordinary musicianship loaded with technical prowess and an utterly brutal vocal delivery, taking listeners from dismal to hopeful and yet again raising UNEARTH to higher ground.
Trevor Phipps says, "A riff fueled interstellar endeavor sums up our third single ‘Into the Abyss’. Our future planet is in disrepair and the fortunate are forced to flee to a distant world to continue the human race while billions of the less fortunate are left behind to meet a hellish end. Buz McGrath lights the path with a journey of melodic riffs, leads and solos that set it apart from the bulk of The Wretched; The Ruinous album. Beyond oblivion we ride!"
On album number eight, The Wretched; The Ruinous, UNEARTH not merely continues to amp-up their metal meets hardcore intensities, but they also exceed themselves with a record that incorporates elements of classic UNEARTH offerings dating back to 2004’s “breakthrough” The Oncoming Storm, while exploring beyond the recent back-to-basics promise of 2018’s Extinction(s). For UNEARTH’s founding mainstays, Trevor Phipps and guitarist Buz McGrath, it feels like the beginning of a new chapter. “Buz took the entire pandemic to write these songs,” says Trevor. “He pushed himself to get out of his comfort zone and explore what UNEARTH is, both past and present. Buz adding these new elements and killer song structures inspired me to be more diverse vocally. The Wretched; the Ruinous is still UNEARTH, but it’s also the most dynamic record we’ve ever done.”
Teaming again with Extinction(s) producer, Will Putney (Body Count, Thy Art Is Murder), the goal was simple: create the definitive UNEARTH record. From the scathing title track opener to the explosive "Cremation of the Living", the brooding "Mother Betrayal" to the album’s riff-violent closer, "Theaters of War", The Wretched; The Ruinous is UNEARTH pulling out all the stops. “There’s certain songs where you can really hear the band’s hardcore roots,” explains Trevor. “The track 'Dawn of the Militant' is a true mix of metal and heavy hardcore, that to me define what the term 'metalcore' truly is. For the bulk of this record though, the metal, aggression, and technicality are reminiscent of our Watchers of Rule (2014) album. All of the ingredients of UNEARTH are present on these songs, but the band continues to explore new territories as writers and players."
The Wretched; The Ruinous is a turning point moment for UNEARTH. It’s first album in their canon recorded without guitarist Ken Susi, who mutually parted with the band in 2022. Trevor shares, "It simply came time for Unearth and Ken to take a break from working together. He'll always be a large part of the story of this band, and we wish him the best on all of his endeavors"
The frontman makes no bones about the arduous writing process for The Wretched; The Ruinous. “Coming out of the pandemic I found myself struggling to find my zone of creativity with writing, but I pushed through, and once I found it things caught fire.” Phipps has never been one to shy away from often scathing social commentary. “Lyrically, it’s a warning shot record,” Trevor continues. “I’ve spoken about the decline of our environment by Mankind’s hand dating back to our first record in 2001, and I've continued to write about the environmental crisis throughout our entire career. We are now at a tipping point with Mother Nature and our place on this planet, and I had to devote the entirety of this album to what is happening around us. This album is a collection of stories of what is happening, and what is to come, if we do not make monstrous changes to how we treat our only home."
“The Wretched; The Ruinous is about the eight billion people on this planet,” echoes the frontman of UNEARTH’s latest state of the world address. "We've created a man-made mass extinction event and have been too slow to correct our faults. Extreme weather, drought, famine, disease, erosion of land, culture wars, civil wars, wars for natural resources, and the displacement of billions of people, is all a current reality. This isn't a future problem; it is a now problem and I take this record to talk about it. As a species we are very quickly turning our once Garden of Eden into our future hellscape.”
"It's not all devastation and gloom though," adds Phipps. "On the track 'Call of Existence' I talk about how we can turn this around with swift, drastic changes to our emissions and consumption of natural resources. There is a responsible way forward that will benefit all life on our planet, and we have to embrace and act on that responsibility now."
About UNEARTH:
With their 25-year mark looming, it’s a daunting thought that UNEARTH has been a part of the metal landscape since making their recorded debut with 1999’s Above the Fall of Man EP. At that point, UNEARTH was one of the key bands in an-about-to-detonate New Wave of American Heavy Metal (NWOAHM) scene that included nascent lineups of Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, Darkest Hour, Bleeding Through, and God Forbid. “It was a healthy competition between all of us,” the vocalist recalls. “It made for some great music and opened up a new chapter in American metal.”
The release of 2001’s The Stings of Conscience album (Eulogy) and its landmark follow-up Endless EP ignited excitement about UNEARTH, who in 2003 joined Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall and Lamb of God on the inaugural MTV Headbanger’s Ball tour. Inking with Metal Blade that year for the album The Oncoming Storm, UNEARTH took their spot as one of American metal’s most explosive live acts. “Those early years of full-time touring were really impactful for us,” says Trevor. “We were hitting milestone after milestone, year in year out. Endless road work followed including countless tours, massive European, Japanese, and Australian festivals, and rite-of-passage American road-jaunts, including the Ozzfest and Mayhem festival tours, cemented the Mass quintet as a force in the world of metal. That unassuaged work ethic drives the band to this day.
Joining Trevor, Buz and long-time bassist, Chris O’Toole, on the road is not only new guitarist Peter Layman (ex-Apiary), who filled in for UNEARTH before, but also drummer Mike Justian, long considered an integral part of UNEARTH’s halcyon days. “Mike’s live performance and presence are unmatched, and we couldn’t be happier to have him back with us,” states Trevor. In the Summer of 2022, with Justian and Layman, the band headed off to Europe for festivals and haven’t looked back since, with appearances at various US festivals, a tour in Mexico to round out 2022, and upcoming world touring in 2023, with tours in Australia, Japan, Taiwan and Europe all on the docket in the first quarter of the new year.
