Italian Atmospheric Gothic/Progressive Metal one-man band Paraxenia released their new single «A Broken Wire». The release was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jerico Biagiotti in his home studio.
Paraxenia is the brainchild of a multi-instrumentalist whose passion for progressive metal stems from a deep, shared connection with his muse. Blending the raw power of metal with the intricate complexity of prog rock, Paraxenia creates immersive, genre-defying soundscapes. Influenced by classic prog's technical brilliance and modern metal's heaviness, the project is a testament to inspiration and the boundless potential of progressive metal.
The new compositions and arrangements are powerful and catchy Stuff for the Third Metal Opera !
For the new DIONISYAN's Album the mastermind TREGOR RUSSO moved on Melodic Death Doom Metal, with his personal and unique Style that is melancholic, progressive, modern, obscure and powerful !
Exclusively for this Album TREGOR RUSSO Sang and Performed all the Clean and Harsh Vocals, furthermore he performed and recorded all the instruments at Underground Music Recording Studio of Palermo – Italy ( 7 strings Electric Guitars, Classical Guitar, 5 strings Bass and Drums ) concluding the Trilogy with this last Chapter.
WILDERNESS HYMNAL has released the stunning track "I Buried My Teeth" via Alternative Control. The song is from the upcoming split album with DUNCAN EVANS "Until Liars Fear You". The album will be released on November 5th via Trepanation Recordings.
Javier Wallis of WILDERNESS HYMNAL comments:
“Demons are elliptical. We gain ground, sometimes watch them drop out of sight in the rear-view mirror… and suddenly find ourselves encircled again by the same teeth. Often, the teeth that haunted our fathers, and their fathers, and theirs…"
With immaculate songwriting skills and the perfect balance between dark cinematic, alt-rock, and melodic melancholy, NEPTHISIS unleash their darkness-fueled, chaos-driven album Spiral Hollow on January 21, 2022.
Spearheaded by multi-disciplined artist Sheila Eden, Spiral Hollow comes from a place below the surface where the sleepless and sinister dwell. Heavily inspired by Egyptian mythology and the twin goddesses Nephthys and Isis - from which the outfit garners their name - Spiral Hollow is transformed by the darkest of dreams and the most primal desires. Musically, this exploration takes on gothic nuances while abandoning any hesitation in exchange for a more aggressive spirit unbound by genres.
Sheila Eden comments: “During the pandemic, I took a deep, dark dive and unleashed my true honest, chosen sound and identity in an album under the dark goddess name & brand NEPTHISIS. The music is dark and heart-wrenching, and pairs with cinematic visuals and storytelling. This is my dream, and it’s coming to fruition. It feels exciting and vulnerable, daring and aligned.”
NEPTHISIS dwells in the realm of modern female performers CHELSEA WOLFE and ZOLA JESUS - combining goth, industrial, electronic, and experimental rock. The musical influences are cross-genre with tonal qualities of hard-hitting 1990s groups DEFTONES, MASSIVE ATTACK, NINE INCH NAILS, MY BLOODY VALENTINE and HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS.
NEPTHISIS is a multi-faceted and dynamic musical discovery that will engulf fans in a shroud of the unknown. Walk the uncharted path with NEPTHISIS.
5.Everyday, There Is That Memory or That Daydream 02:37
6.Randomness Is Everything 02:52
7.Another Light 04:08
about
Today, Russian ambient-drone project Desolate Horizons releases their new EP, Patience. Desolate Horizons is the alias of Russian producer Constantine Horizon. Known for creating lush soundscapes, Constantine puts his heart and soul into his surreal productions he describes as “atmospheric dreamy sounds for watching the skies.” He explains, “From day one of this project it was all about being spontaneous and creating everything in this very moment so as not to lose the feeling and emotion. Little has changed over time, I still work mostly spontaneously.”
The busy producer has been providing his listeners with calm yet emotional vibes since 2014. “Despite the fact that the sound has changed quite a lot over time, the main thing remains unchanged - this project is a reflection of me, my thoughts, dreams, reflections, experiences and hopes for the best. I can say that this project for me is analogous to keeping a diary or journal, but in sounds.” He adds, "All the music on this release is sun-drenched, just think of spring and the first rays of the warmest sunlight in a long long time. While writing, I was thinking a lot about the first meeting with my future wife, and despite the fact that it was a dull and cold winter back then, it felt like springtime. Even though Spring does not last forever, the heart always becomes warmer just by remembering."
“One - In The Dark” is the first out of four chapters, in which TVINNA break down the different stages of life - each linked to one of the four elements. Their debut album is focusing upon the first chapter of our life: the state of being unborn and the process of birth - reflected through the element of water in its different shapes. Each of the 9 songs on the album tells a story about where we come from, are made of and are born into. One living being, out of the dark, connected and dependent.
TVINNA musical evolution has been constant since the release of their first song “The Gore“ in November 2019. Best described as progressive dark and electronica pop, their music marries multi-layered vocals to effect-accordion and electronics, accompanied by new metal influences on guitars, bass and drums. TVINNA are intertwining and summoning an intense and unique musical experience. All the songs and imagery (artwork, video) are created, written and produced by an intensive alliance between Laura, Fiona and Fieke.
TVINNA comment on the album: “We’ve created our own unique sphere through TVINNAs musical style - showing the depths of our inner reality in a more intimate way than ever before in this very first album. “One In The Dark” shows a musical side of us no-one has heard before! Where “The Gore” was like an introduction into the sonic landscape of TVINNA, the rest of the album really takes off into raw emotions and with that a more raw and heavy sound.”
TVINNA is an international band founded by Laura Fella (Faun), Fiona Rüggeberg (former Faun) and Fieke van den Hurk (Musician/Producer for a.o. Eivør, Omnia, Cesair), accompanied by Rafael Salzmann (Eluveitie) on guitars & bass and Jasper Barendregt (former Ulsect a.o.) on drums & beats.
Find the album on vinyl, CD digipack plus exclusive merchandise and bundles:
Alase releases an atmospheric single "Ajan kysymys", after which the band will switch their lyrical language to English. The single will be released together with a music video made by Vesa Ranta's Kaira Films.
"Ajan kysymys" combines Alase's main musical elements such as melancholy, modern atmospheric soundscapes, progressiveness and heavy riffs. The band will continue to work with guest vocalists, however this is singer Juha Tretjakov's third song with Alase.
Guitarist Janne Lunnas describes: "Working with Juha is fun and it involves creativity which clearly enhances the song through the vocal arrangements." The song was recorded with session drummer Ville Aatsinki and it was a very straightforward process.
Janne describes the session with Ville: "Before the studio, Ville and I worked on the drum arrangements remotely and it went really smoothly. After less than two weeks, we went to studio in Tampere, and Ville nailed the song with just a few takes.”
Alase has the composition of the next song ready and its recordings will start soon. There are plans to release a single called "Unburden" in the fall.
Sentient Ruin joins Portuguese atmospheric raw black/death metal necromancers Concilium in the release of their first proper debut album “Desecration”, a churning spectral emanation of total and agonizing death exhaling at the edge of a decaying void. If you ever thought the concept of "depressive", "sad", or "atmospheric" war metal was just an abstract thought, please read on….
Like the bastard child of Portal, Beherit, and Black Cilice, "Desecration" levitates from pure darkness with a miasma of tortured lamentations, serpentine whispers and suffocated screams radiating from the innermost depths of torment, while an incessant outflow of sepulchral lo-fi raw black/death metal murk reverberates through the abandoned pits of buried temples and lost sepulchers materializing a truly unsettling and ominous aural nightmare. The band's masterful texturing of decaying and sulphureous black/death metal with subterranean aphotic atmospheres and a diseased sense of occult ritualism creates a lightless aural twilight that embraces the listener like a disembodied disease, giving away way to a blood-freezing (and at times even moving) out of body experience.
Leading up the release iconic underground metal blog Last Rites has revealed part of the album’s sound via an exclusive premiere of the opening track “From the Chalice”, remarking that the track “is but a gateway to the world of punishing barbaric madness that Concilium have sculpted from the ruins of crumbling nightmares” and that “the record oozes with spiritual, mental, and aural toxicity that will draw plenty of cross-appeal for fans of the suffocating horrorscapes of Portal, the eerie orthodoxy of Deathspell Omega, the twisted brutality of Cryptae, the primitive doom ritualism of Beherit and Void Meditation Cult, and the raw catatonia of Black Cilice and Pa Vesh En - the crude wine that results on Desecration is one that is bitter, intoxicating, and, above all, heavier than sin.” - you can read their full feature and check out the track HERE.
"Desecration" is scheduled to arrive on July 2 2021 on vinyl, cassette tape and digital formats via Sentient Ruin Worldwide, and all formats are now preordeabale from the label´s Bandcamp and webshop.
Ghostbound was founded as the long-gestating vehicle for the songwriting of Brooklyn-based musician/actor Alec A. Head (ex-Kosmodemonic). Founded when he was still in his teens under the name of Timshel, Ghostbound did not truly take form until 2013, at which point he began to seek like-minded musicians in an effort to complete what he had started over a decade prior, with the goal of creating expansive, cinematic music that drew holistically from all genres. In its formative years, the band was a duo consisting solely of Head and bassist Noah Shaul with the help of session musicians. Ghostbound would expand its ranks in early 2018 to include guitarist Talha Alvie (Skeletonflowers_, The D/A Method), and drummer David E. Richman (End of Hope, St. Bastard, Witch Taint) in an effort to play live and solidify its line-up.
Their debut record, All is Phantom, was released to worldwide critical acclaim in June of 2018. At once lush, verdant, haunting, and ethereal, that album represented Ghostbound’s arrival to the greater underground music scene; replete with Head’s soaring, Scott Walker-derived vocals and a cinematic instrumental under-pinning that drew from the wells of both black metal and post-punk, among many other genres. The command of expansive atmospherics and dynamic songwriting continues with the upcoming release of Extended Play For My Sweet Mary Thyme, a mini-LP consisting of a “suite” of songs that are all tied together via an oceanic, maritime theme. Whereas All is Phantom took place firmly on land, “Mary Thyme” is decidedly at sea, by design. Additionally, the EP sees a “loosening of the reins”, as it were; while Head wrote the bedrock of the material, every member had a hand in the arrangement thereof, resulting in a concise, moving, and altogether other-worldly experience.
Extended Play For My Sweet Mary Thyme will be released digitally on March 26, with a vinyl release being put out by Red Nebula on the same date.
Ghostbound is:
Alec A. Head: Voices, Guitars, Orchestrations and Atmospherics
Talha Alvie: Guitars, Synthesizers, Orchestrations and Atmospherics
Noah Shaul: Bass, Orchestrations and Atmospherics
David E. Richman: Drums
Produced by Ghostbound and Nolan Voss
Drums recorded at ACME Studios by Rich Bennett
Guitars, Bass, Voices, and Atmospherics recorded by Nolan Voss at Spectral Sounds in Brooklyn, New York
Additional Orchestrations and Sounds captured by Talha Alvie via Ghostbound’s Roving Interdimensional HQ
CD in 4-Panel DigiPak, with glossy varnish & booklet, first edition 200 copies
CD in A5-DigiPak with glossy varnish + booklet lim. to 100 copies
White 12" Vinyl LP in 3mm-sleeve with glossy varnish + insert, first edition 300 copies
White Pro Tape in clear case with 6-panel jcard lim. to 100 copies
Black Shirt, fullcolor print, one sided, Gildan Heavy Cotton, first run 100 pieces
Tracklist:
1. Of the Lineage of Kings
2. Shards of Narcil
3. Her Mighty Heart
4. To the Paths of the Dead
5. The Last Alliance
6. King of the Reunited Kingdom
7. I've Seen the Dragons Fly
8. Book of the Fallen ( Caladan Brood Cover, on cd & tape as hidden song)
A Last Alliance between the Kingdom of Men and the Kingdom of the Elves will be forged and an Oath was sworn before the all High to face the ever-growing forces of evil. The sword that was once will be forged again and the prophecy of a coming king will be fulfilled and so shall the rightful king be known.
On February 5th, Cult of Luna will release a new EP, entitled The Raging River, via Red Creek (red-crk.com) - the band's newly created record label, which will be physically distributed by Metal Blade Records (in North America) and Season of Mist (in Europe). For a first preview of The Raging River, the new single "Three Bridges" can be heard now at: youtu.be/wgN3OV6XtTY
Pre-order The Raging River at: metalblade.com/cultofluna (North American ltd edition pre-order; vinyl & CD) and red-crk.com (limited editions, band merch & more). See below for available formats:
- digipak-CD
- transparent red w/ gold splatter vinyl
*First pressing SOLD-OUT; 2nd pressing available via Red Creek
The Raging River is a seamless continuation of the writing process and the creative mindset that has guided Cult of Luna for the last couple of years. "'The Raging River' feels more like a bridge. A midpoint that needs to be crossed so we can finish what we started with 2019's 'A Dawn to Fear,'" the band adds. "It's been an interesting, as well as an introspective, way of working, having our instinct leading the way and then having to figure out where it takes us. But not only has it been a linear journey; some aspects of it are also clearly circular. For example, we have been a fan of Mark Lanegan for many years. So in 2005, when we wrote the song 'And With Her Came the Birds', we had his voice in mind, and the working title was 'The Lanegan Song'. But we were not many years over 20, and our lack of self-confidence prevented us from even daring to ask. It took fifteen years for us to get the guts to ask him. Hearing his voice on 'Inside Of A Dream' is nothing more than feeling that we're inside of a dream."
On February 5th, Cult of Luna will release a new EP, entitled The Raging River, via Red Creek (red-crk.com) - the band's newly created record label, which will be physically distributed by Metal Blade Records (in North America) and Season of Mist (in Europe). Pre-order The Raging River now at: metalblade.com/cultofluna (North American ltd edition pre-order; vinyl & CD) and red-crk.com (limited editions, band merch & more). See below for available formats:
- digipak-CD
- transparent red w/ gold splatter vinyl
Cult of Luna comments: "After more than 20 years of touring, releasing albums and experiencing different kinds of deals and aspects of the music industry, we believed that it was the right time for us to seek more freedom and to reduce the distance between us and our audience.
So, in 2020, Red Creek was born. It has been created as a safe home for our art, but we wanted to do more and offer our experience, expertise and network to the artists we love and believe in. Therefore, we gathered talents and partners around us to create a crafted solution to our needs that is adaptable also to the needs of other artists.
Red Creek will be our home; if you've been with us for 20 years or 2 days, this will be your home too.
We're also pleased to team up with great companies such as Metal Blade for the distribution in North America and Season of Mist for the distribution in Europe."
Red Creek's debut release, The Raging River, is a seamless continuation of the writing process and the creative mindset that has guided Cult of Luna for the last couple of years. "'The Raging River' feels more like a bridge. A midpoint that needs to be crossed so we can finish what we started with 2019's 'A Dawn to Fear,'" the band adds. "It's been an interesting, as well as an introspective, way of working, having our instinct leading the way and then having to figure out where it takes us. But not only has it been a linear journey; some aspects of it are also clearly circular. For example, we have been a fan of Mark Lanegan for many years. So in 2005, when we wrote the song 'And With Her Came the Birds', we had his voice in mind, and the working title was 'The Lanegan Song'. But we were not many years over 20, and our lack of self-confidence prevented us from even daring to ask. It took fifteen years for us to get the guts to ask him. Hearing his voice on 'Inside Of A Dream' is nothing more than feeling that we're inside of a dream."
Stay tuned for a preview of The Raging River coming soon!
Release: 30th October | Preorder & Full Stream: 9th October
Format: CD in 6 Panel DigiPak lim. To 100 copies | Pro tape, black with 5-Panel Jcard in clear case lim. to 50
Tracklist:
1. Alone Among the Misty Hills
2. Melancholia
3. Grim Banners
4. Voyageur
5. Kingdom of Liars
6. Douceur de la Dernière Pierre
7. Moonlight Rider
8. Snowfall
Snow - Frost - Forests. The wind is howling, you are alone in the frozen night. Explore this feeling of emptiness, resilience, and of profound unity. This album depicts a darker and more melancholic atmophere. At the crossroad between dungeon synth, darkwave and neoclassical, it weaves magical links between the genres.
Let yourself be guided by DSDM's deep voice. Grimm banners are now approaching - Ride the dragon, it's time to fight!
ARKHERON THODOL - "Rituals of the Sovereign Heart"
Release: 30th October 2020 | Preorder & Full Stream: 9th October 2020
Format: CD in 4-Panel DigiPak w. 12 pages of booklet | 12" black Vinyl LP, in sleeve with 3mm spine & glossy varnish, including 12 pages of booklet (21x21cm), lim. to 100 copies
Tracklist:
1. A Glimpse of Woven Light
2. Archonsbane in Bloom
3. Animist Elixir
4. Void Secretion
Arkheron Thodol, /ärkə,rän • thō,däl/, phrase; To Liberate the Primordial Song of Joy
"Rituals of the Sovereign Heart" is a sonic grimoire, whose intention is to spur a detachment from the synthetic autopilot program of mundane routine. To disengage from Empire is not to fight it, but to starve it..
French atmospheric dark metal duo Death of a Dryad sets December 3rd, 2020 as the international release date for their 2nd full-length album "Hameln"!
Hameln is a concept album loosely based on the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and suggests a succession of musical scenes.
The story takes its roots from an old medieval legend, from which the oldest reference dates back to the XVth century, and recounts facts from 1284.
An array of ancient instruments were used to create a dark medieval atmosphere suitable for this story, emphasizing the flute, common thread throughout the album.
Hameln starts at a crucial turning point, when the city is being freed from a rodent infestation, and the Piper is betrayed by his kin.
Every song depicts a different part of the story from the Piper’s point of view who, as nature’s herald, is torn between his will to save mankind and the sentence he has come to deliver.
More than a simple story, Hameln is a metaphor for a nature overexploited by man, that will ultimately be his undoing: the children’s death symbolizes the destruction of the future of mankind.
The Piper knows he has to kill the children to restore a balance destroyed by man, blinded by thirst for power and greed, endless plundering the Earth with no consideration for its well-being.
Every song follows Robert Browning’s poem The Pied Piper, and the audio extracts are read by Robert Hardy.
Tracklisting:
01. Enter the Piper
02. Hameln
03. Apud Omnes Hostes
04. Moths to a Flame
05. Left to Die
06. Requiem (Project Pitchfork cover)
07. Freedom Lies
Death of a Dryad is an atmospheric dark metal duo from France, whose universe mixes metal riff s with atmospheric ambiances.
Death of a Dryad musical style creates dark, melancholic and sometimes apocalyptical atmospheres inspired by the fatalist awareness of the dereliction of our world and the loss of our bounds with nature. Their musical style ranges from grievous metal to nostalgic medieval tunes, blending old musical instruments ‐ such as psaltery, hurdy‐gurdy, Renaissance recorder or flute ‐ to electric guitars and drums.
Lyrics complete the music to create very personal and arousing songs depicting a decaying universe of lost hope and old legends. Their self‐titled debut album was released in February 2014 on Dark Faery Records and Seventh Crow Records labels, and received positive reviews from several magazines like Orkus, Obsküre or Sonic Seducer, and webzines.
In 2015, they released a cover of the song Dead Souls from Joy Division on the tribute Touching From a Distance (TSC Records / Seventh Crow Records).
In March 2016, they recorded two new songs that were mixed and mastered by Patrick Damiani at Tidalwave Studio (Sopor Aeternus, Falkenbach). They would be included, along with Dead Souls, in their EP “Blight”, released on Dark Faery Records on June 30th, 2016.
In 2018, Death of a Dryad starts working on a new concept album revolving around the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Composing takes time for Death of a Dryad: time to live stories they want to tell, to share feelings felt, and above all, to feel the urge again to transform the harshness of life into music so they can share it with others.
The duo is composed of vocalist / guitarist Nogh who also played in Obnoxious, and bassist / flutist Carol who played with Necroblaspheme. They also both play in the metal band Mind Imperium.
PROTOKULT have been defining folk/pagan metal since 2009 when they released their debut album “Ancestral Anthems”, since then they have created three additional uncompromising and relentless albums with their fifth “Transcending The Ruins” coming out on October 1, 2020.
An introduction to this new offering comes with the single “Feed Your Demons”, which the band explains in their own words: ““Feed Your Demons'' was probably the last song written for the record, we needed something fairly simple, heavy and to the point. I pictured a groovy yet haunting female folk bridge in the middle and wanted some extra aggression too. One of the more personal songs from the album, it deals with the fragility and vulnerability of what makes us human, I.E addictions, shame, and hopefully learning to cope with so-called vices. It’s not a song that supports addiction but essentially, controlling your demons if you absolutely HAVE to feed them on occasion.”
Over two years in the making, “Transcending The Ruins” is a rush, meant to be enjoyed either as a whole journey or at any entry point, the band ensures. Approaching this record with a bit more maturity and consistency, the result is heavier, faster, darker.
Inspired and fascinated by various metal genres alongside folk-culture, after a few years of experimenting, Protokult was meant to fuse the two together while paying homage to the past, Bacchanalian festivities and honouring the underground.
For fans of Arkona, Korpiklaani, and Nightwish, the record pulsates from start to finish yet incorporates the massive dynamics, ambience and dashes of folk-melodies that the band has become known for.
“Feed Your Demons” can be heard at the following links:
Martin Drozd – guitar, vocals, keyboards, additional percussion, jawharp; Ekaterina Pyatkova- vocals, recorder,; Kaveh Afshar – drums; Jack Neila – rhythm and lead guitar; Dave Slowiak – bass, gang vocals
Live Band Line Up:
Martin Drozd – guitar and vocals; Dave Slowiak – bass and backup vocals; Ekaterina – vocals, recorder and synth, Jack Neila – guitar; Kaveh Afshar – drums
Guest musicians: Quinn Strahl – electric violin; Matt Hilden (Vesication) – vocals; Joe Feral- vocals; Jesse Harvey (Ammo) – vocals; Cristina Marcu – operatic vocals; Ewelina Ferenc- folk vocals
Ambient avantgarde masters ULVER are streaming a new track, "Nostalgia" that will be part of the band´s new album "Flowers of Evil". The new album will be released on August 28th through House of Mithology. "Flowers of Evil" will be released on CD, digital and multiple vinyl formats. the album will feature eight tracks. You can check "Nostalgia" below:
Without having any releases planned for the remainder of this year, NAGAARUM had entered a period of self-imposed reflection, channeling creativity into different areas – whilst constantly planning and scheming for what the future held for NAGAARUM.
This was abruptly ended with an enforced pandemic lockdown in March 2020, interfering with plans but simultaneously acting as a source of inspiration and creative overload.
Those who are familiar with NAGAARUM’s discography will know the album “Rabies Lyssa”, released in 2014, which foretold a story of a pandemic that would break out in 2019. As this prediction henceforth become reality, it felt natural to record a follow-up album, one that would complete the cycle of “Rabies Lyssa” as a fulfillment of that prophecy. What better opportunity than having a whole world of scientific and human crazed activity to use as real-life creative resource.
The resulting music manifested in the album “Covid Diaries”, this was recorded over a period of weeks. Tracks were released digitally, in conjunction with the worldwide progress of the disease, and supplemented with listener feedback being received. Both elements were important in creating each following track and ultimately guiding the album toward its denouement, a totally eclectic creative process which one might expect from a NAGAARUM album.
These recordings are now compiled and released as a whole – NGC Prod, again teaming up with Aesthetic Death (as they did on the 2018 album “Apples”), for a CD edition.
This is one of the finest NAGAARUM releases to date – six tracks of obscure, doomed sounds. A diverse and eclectic mix of ambient soundscapes, noisy segues, isolated doom and pained outbursts.
NAGAARUM was joined by reliable guest, Roland Szabó, who enhanced this record with his voice and his English translations. Whilst the entire process was overseen by loyal producer, Betty Varga.
If this is what a pandemic indirectly creates – then long live the lockdown.
