SVART LOTUS RELEASE "SOM ET VONDT ÅR"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Band: SVART LOTUS

Album: Som et Vondt År

Country: Norway

Genre: Black Metal

Label: Hellstain Productions

Release date: March 1st, 2024

This is the band’s second full-length album, and it builds on the band’s characteristic, dark and doomy ’90s black metal with both harshness and beauty. Incorporating innovative elements and skillful blending of various styles and moods, Svart Lotus is ascending to new heights with this latest release, showcasing the true artistic capabilities of the band in a well-arranged composition of eight tracks for close to 40 minutes of playing time. The Norwegian title-track roughly translates to “like a bad year”, and the album lyrics deal with contemporary issues of human nature, ego, existentialism, darkness, doom, hopelessness, and despair – suitably covered by cuts from the classic Dr Mabuse’s psychoanalysis.

“Som et Vondt År” also boasts outstanding guest artists, including Nag (Tsjuder) delivering sections of screaming vocals, Eldur (Fortíð) contributing with his unique clean vocals on “Hat og Forakt”, and Jarrett «Nekronatalenheten» Pritchard on lead guitar on "Cryptic Lights"!

For fans of Celtic Frost, Enslaved and Dødheimsgard

Svart Lotus is a Norwegian metal band that was started in 2012 by Tor R. Stavenes, also known as Seidemann from 1349. The band plays extreme metal with elements of black, death and doom. They have previously released a self-titled EP in 2016 and a full-length album in 2018. The band is known for their powerful and atmospheric sound and has impressed both critics and fans with their depth and variation.

The band consists of Brye (Djevelkult) who handles the drums, Jordheim on guitar together with Stavenes who is also lead vocalist backed by Kaslegard’s vocals and bass.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100029115116147

https://www.instagram.com/svartlotus_official/

https://svartlotusband.wixsite.com/svartlotus

ATRÆ BILIS RELEASE "AUMICIDE"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Like all bands that meld metal’s numerous disparate incarnations, Vancouver's ATRÆ BILIS are not easily pigeonholed. Death metal, atmospheric dissonance, tech brutality, and much more are all thrown into the ATRÆ BILIS meat grinder coalescing beautifully and disturbingly into their own signature fusion like a perfectly functioning innovative machine.

On their new album Aumicide, the follow-up to the band’s 2021 debut full-length, Apexapien, ATRÆ BILIS has taken axiomatic strides in expanding the scope of their elegantly perplexing mélange of incinerating invocations. Sounding both crushingly concrete and slickly organic, the band amputates all boundaries, injecting Cyberdyne slams, serrated inscrutability, and unfettered new magnitudes of vocal abuse. Conceptually as committed as it is musically, Aumicide tells of a test specimen subject to experiments in faith removal by intromitting simulations of Hell to sever the self from the multiverse, resulting in the genesis of a new era; an egregore engineered by an absolute godlessness.

Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Christian Donaldson of Cryptopsy, the massive production on Aumicide utterly pulverizes, elevating the Canadian power to uncharted extremities of deadly heaviness. This manifestation results in one of the most singularly ambitious underground releases of 2024, propelling the often-backward-looking death metal genre unflinchingly into a far more terrifying future.

The album is completed with cover art featuring a sculpture by Michael Perry and Angela Webber at Grayhouse Studios, photography by Rob Zawistowski and Savannah Bagshaw, and the layout and design by Marko Jerković at Wrathdesign. Fans of Ulcerate, Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Neuraxis, Beyond Creation, Gorguts, Afterbirth, Deeds Of Flesh, Dying Fetus, Decapitated, and Circle Of Dead Children must hear ATRÆ BILIS’ Aumicide.

With the release of “Salted In Stygia,” guitarist and lyricist David Stepanavicius reveals, “Any song could have been selected as a single, for each is one smaller part of a greater whole. However, ‘Salted In Stygia’ was chosen for it accounts the artwork image. At this locus of the album's concept, an apparatus designed to ingress a synthesized Hell, has been punctured into the nervous system of a test subject. Why? To manipulate the causality of manifestation, and to orchestrate the hologram."

"Just like our previous releases..." he continues, "you can expect the story arc to include another dismal rebirth. However, between this single and that junction, Aumicide recites the snuffing of the human spirit, as experienced from the inside."

Stepanavicius goes on to note... "Hermeticism observes, [that] ‘He who understands the principle of vibration, has grasped the spectre of power’ - Curiously, one need not seek too far to find that Aumicide has apparently already materialized an inverse version of itself. If that isn't power, I'm not sure what is.”

The lead single from ATRÆ BILIS’ Aumicide, “Salted In Stygia,” is now playing everywhere including YouTube HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

Aumicide will be unveiled on LP, CD, MC, and digital platforms April 19th. Find preorders for all formats and merch at the 20 Buck Spin webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

 

Aumicide Track Listing:

1. Protoxenesis

2. Hell Simulation

3. Salted In Stygia

4. Inward To Abraxas

5. To Snuff The Spirit Guides

6. Aumicide

7. A Kingdom Of Cortisol

8. Monolith Aflame

9. Through The Hologram’s Cervix

10. Excruciate Incarnate

ATRÆ BILIS is actively confirming tour dates surrounding the release of Aumicide, confirmed to play at Northwest Terror Fest 2024 with Amenra, Forbidden, Repulsion, Weekend Nachos, Eternal Champion, Primitive Man, and many more including labelmates Ascended Dead, Daeva, Immortal Bird, Ulthar, and Kommand. Watch for a more extensive tour announcement to post next week.

ATRÆ BILIS Live:

5/09-11/2024 Northwest Terror Fest @ Neumo's & Barboza – Seattle, WA [info]

ATRÆ BILIS:

Jordan Berglund – vocals

David Stepanavicius – guitars

Luka Govednik – drums

Miles Morrison – bass

https://www.facebook.com/atraebilis

https://www.instagram.com/atraebilis

https://linktr.ee/atraebilis

https://atraebilisdeath.bandcamp.com

http://www.20buckspin.com

https://listen.20buckspin.com

https://www.instagram.com/20buckspinlabel

http://www.facebook.com/20buckspin

http://www.twitter.com/20buckspinlabel

VIIHB RELEASE "MEMENTO MORI"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Dutch Doom Metal band VIIHB released their debut album «Memento Mori». The release was recorded in "Granny Attic Studio", and mixed/mastered by Peter H Boer.

https://sevenhousesburnviihbofficial.bandcamp.com/album/memento-mori

VIIHB was formed in 2018 at Zevenhuizen, Netherlands by Luce Vee (vocals), Jeff Von D (vocals/guitars) and Ray DiBianco (drums). After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the band started to write material for a full-length album. In November 2021 Peter H Boer joined VIIHB on bass guitar and the band was ready for recording sessions in 2022, but in April 2022 Luce Vee passed away. His departure had a huge impact on the band and on each member personally. After a period of grief and overthinking, the remaining members of VIIHB have decided to continue and record the band's debut album dedicated to Luce.

https://sevenhousesburnviihbofficial.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/VIIHB-2614637848549574/

VRSA RELEASE "SALTWATER CIRCADIAN"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

VRSA

Saltwater Circadian

30 March 2024

Tracklist:

Saltwater Circadian 5:25

Hurricane Song 6:11

Shellbacks 6:18

Thirst 5:28

Born on the Tide 9:09

Ocean Floor 7:10

Josh comments: 

"Living on the coast of Long Island Sound along with sailing and fishing culture has led to a ten-year journey of writing with nautical imagery. Even before our previous release Cvlt of Machina, the seed of Saltwater Circadian started to take hold in my mind.”

About VRSA:

VRSA (Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) formed in 2007 as Josh sought to start a band with a more unique name who did something different. Taking their name from the staph infection that has mutated by the overuse of antibiotics, it's a commentary on the human race doing things we don't fully understand and destroying ourselves in the process. It seemed to have just the right amounts of social commentary and enigmatic meaning.

Their debut full-length Old Man Gray released in 2010 followed by albums Galaxia in 2011 and Phantom of an Era in 2015. Their 2018 EP Cvlt of Machina is to be followed by VRSA’s upcoming offering Saltwater Circadian, to be released on March 30th 2024. Musically the outfit are predominantly influenced by post metal, sludge metal, some stoner and doom, but are no by no means bound to these styles alone. The band’s upcoming fifth album, Saltwater Circadian, explores water imagery, sea creatures and ancient sailing traditions.

“VRSA is a hard band to categorize, although everyone (on the net) calls them some form of doom […] It’s almost like alternative doom, or dark metal or something....” - Heavy Planet

“They veer stylistically to either side of the designation, but there’s little question that Connecticut four-piece VRSA are metal at their roots”. - The Obelisk

VRSA is:

Joshua – vocals, guitar

Andrius – Guitar

Matt – Bass, Vocals

Walt – Drums

Credits:

Recorded at our own Last Bastion studios

Mixed By Paul Pavao

Mastered by Alan Douches at west westside music

Album artwork by MIchael Miglietta 

http://vrsa.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/vrsaband

https://www.instagram.com/vrsaband/

DIALITH RELEASE "ALTER"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Dialith

Alter

5 April 2024

DIALITH return with their latest offering, Alter. The 4-track EP aims to push further the boundaries of symphonic power metal through trailblazing ventures into new sonic territories. Alter will be released on April 5th, 2024.

Krista Sion comments:

“With every new release, I think that the quality of the songs just gets better and better. All four songs on this EP are high-energy, unique, and special to me. I am looking forward to releasing this out into the wild.” 

The release opens with "Writhing Red", a folk metal inspired song complete with flutes and fiddles, with lyrics that explore the nature of anger, hate, and greed. Following up to that is the anthemic "Ironbound", a chorus-focused experience inspired by Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn with some tasteful saxophone completing this unique sound. Alter concludes with the crown jewel of the EP: The two-track epic of "Hourglass (Shadowdancer Pt. 1)" followed by "Shadowdancer". Featuring a heavily middle-eastern inspired atmosphere, its lyrics evoke the mythology of the ancient Near East. This song signals a turning point in the band’s history–it weaves a unique balance between heavy metal staples like gritty guitars and thundering drums with Middle Eastern vocal improvisation and instruments.

About DIALITH:

DIALITH is an epic symphonic power metal band from Danbury, Connecticut. Formed in 2015, DIALITH made an impact with their 2019 debut album, Extinction Six. Blending epic orchestral arrangements with enrapturing melodeath riffs, DIALITH aims to breathe new life into the symphonic metal genre with tracks that draw inspiration from varied sources, from death metal to pop music to Arabic and Celtic folk music. Alter is the continuation of DIALITH’s 2021 EP Atrophy, the second in what will be a trilogy of EPs that culminate in a full album. 

DIALITH is:

Mark Grey - Bass, Irish Whistle

Cullen Mitchell - Drums

Krista Sion - Vocals

Alasdair Wallace Mackie - Guitar, Orchestrations

Credits:

All music composed by Alasdair Wallace Mackie, except: “Writhing Red” by Mark Grey and Krista Sion

All lyrics written by Krista Sion

Vocals recorded by Randy Pasquarella at Pasquarella Recordings in Wappingers Falls, NY

Drums recorded by Nick Bellmore at Dexter’s Lab Recording in Milford, CT

Mixed and mastered by Andy LaRocque at Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden

Saxophone by FoolishFrankie

Artwork by Marta Sokolowska

Graphic Design by Kate Johnson

Produced by Alasdair Wallace Mackie

Links:

Website: www.dialith.band

https://www.facebook.com/DialithBand/

https://www.instagram.com/dialithband

MOONOISES RELEASE "SHE - THE VOID"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Moonoises

She - The Void

Label: These Hands Melt

Release date: March 8th, 2024

Formats: CD / Digital

Country: Italy

Genre: blackgaze / post-rock / post-metal

Four years after their debut EP, 'Chasm' (2020), Apulian band Moonoises return with a new album, 'She - The Void'.

'She - The Void' is the natural evolution of 'Chasm', of which it broadens the musical horizons.

It's an eclectic album that ranges from the wave hybridized with the post-rock in 'Cold Grey', to the shores of certain orthodox black metal in 'Dead End'; post-punk influences run underground in 'Hate Without Form' and 'Black Beyond'; 'Creepy 31' combines black metal choruses and post-rock influences with dark wave verses, while 'Wild Fire' is a quick foray into new wave territories. There are also more reflective and shoegaze moments like 'Rope' and 'Portrait'. 'Mirror' closes the album, being the summary of the Moonoises sound in which all the souls of the project converge.

These Hands Melt will release 'She - The Void' on CD and digital on March 8th, 2024. Find preorders at Bandcamp HERE.  https://moonoises.bandcamp.com/album/she-the-void

Watch MOONOISES’s 'Black Beyond' visualizer HERE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wp-idSgn-c

TRACKLIST

1. Black Beyond

2. Hate Without Form

3. Portrait

4. Creepy 31

5. Rope

6. Dead End

7. Cold Grey

8. Wild Fire

9. Mirror

BIOGRAPHY

Apulian Moonoises born in may 2019 from the ashes of Fading Rain, when the guitarist James Lamarina (former Full Moon Ritual) and the bassist Marco Locorotondo (former Bravata and Cold Moon) start a new project, overcoming the end of the previous band. They soon find two perfect mate: Tony Gianfreda on vocals (former Ingraved) and Fabio De Iaco on drums (former 8bilionpeople and Kosmogonian). Moonoises released their debut EP ‘Chasm’ (Golden Morning Sounds) in 2020. Inside Moonoises each musician has poured his musical background and influences, searching for a sound far from any kind of strict categorization, mixing: post-rock, post-metal, shoegaze, new wave, noise rock, slowcore and blackgaze.

LINKS

https://www.facebook.com/moonoisesband

https://www.instagram.com/moonoises

https://moonoises.bandcamp.com

KHÜLL RELEASE "WHERE SHADOWS RISE"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Khüll - "Where Shadows Rise"

Release: 12.04.24 (12th April)

Merch: CD, Cassette (lim.)

Tracklist:

1. Oath of War (single 1 – 15.03.24)

2. Rise of the Dark Dragons

3. Son of the Shadows

4. A Kingdom Hidden Behind the Sun (single 2 – 08.04.24)

5. Eternal Moonlight

6. Farkeng ́s Curse

7. Unholy Warrior

8. The Path of Ashen One (from Split "Before the Fire Fades")

9. Corrupted by the Abyss (from Split "Before the Fire Fades"

10. Capital of Gods (from Split "Before the Fire Fades"

"Where Shadows Rise" is a different album than previously seen in Khüll's discography. It is an album more focused on melodic, epic and atmospheric black metal. This album is set in a dark medieval fantasy theme. It tells stories about kingdoms and landscapes lost in the universe.

Band Links:

https://khull.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCruDjOmDVVXeiKfeg5UtO8w

https://www.instagram.com/khull_ds/

Album Info:

Khüll: Vocals, Synths, Guitars, Bass.

Syhobsh: Drums.

Mixed by Daniel MVN at Estudios MVN.

Master by Daniel MVN and Naturmacht Studios.

Cover art and Logo by Igor Mugerza.

Layout by R.B./Naturmacht Studios.

Honorable Mentions:

Penta, Doble J Photos, Bibian Solittude, Samgraz, Naturmacht Productions, Mazmorra Arcana.