Children Of Bodom are about to let loose their tenth studio album entitled ‘Hexed’ on March 8th on Nuclear Blast Records. The band formed in Finland in 1993 originally under the moniker Inearthed. Children Of Bodom rocketed to success by melding thrash, neoclassical metal, symphonic black metal, and melodic death metal into a sound uniquely their own. Continue reading
Finland’s melodic death veterans, Children Of Bodom, will release their tenth album, ‘Hexed,’ on March 8, 2019 via Nuclear Blast Records. The band has just released the second single entitled, “This Road,” as a lyric video. Frontman guitarist and mastermind Alexi Laiho commented it was the last song written for the album but ended up being the opening track. He also stated it was one of his favorites and its different from anything they have done since ‘Follow The Reaper’. Continue reading
Time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday, watching the Headbangers Ball on MTV, and some band called Overkill comes on with the video “In Union We Stand.” The name glowed in green with a skull bat logo (please cease and desist Avenged Sevenfold) draped on each side of the drum riser. The song had speed but also a hook in the chorus that had me singing it the next morning. It’s been over three decades since that introduction and now I’m staring at their 19th full-length album titled ‘The Wings Of War.’ Overkill climbed out of the New Jersey gutters with a determination to succeed and has been resilient against the trends and changing climates of the music industry. This latest offering shows no signs that this green and black thrash machine will slow down anytime soon. The new caveat to the equation is the addition of drummer Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, Flotsam and Jetsam, Stigmata), and he turns in a crushing performance. Throughout the songs you continually notice how lethal the drums are. His playing and energy provided the spark to ignite the fuse on this record. The album will be released on Nuclear Blast on February 22 and once again features a brilliant cover design done by Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth, Soilwork, Death). Continue reading
Extreme death metallers from Poland, BEHEMOTH, spearheaded by front man Nergal have released a fresh new music video that goes by the name of “Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica“, from their recent album, ‘I Loved You At Your Darkest‘, which was released back in October to widespread acclaim. Grupa 13 has been working with BEHEMOTH for a long time now, and continues to awe the fans on this video as well.
Transcontinental black/death metal band Hiss From The Moat have released a lyric video for their new track, “The Harrier”. This international powerhouse was founded by James Payne (Vital Remains, Hour of Penance) with Italian friends bassist/vocalist Carlo Cremascoli and guitarist Giacomo “Jack” Poli. In 2009 the three-piece released their debut EP The Carved Flesh Message. Sharing the stage with acts such as Psycroptic, Skeletonwitch and The Black Dahlia Murder they took their project to as many audiences as possible. Four years later they released their debut full-length Misanthropy via Lacerated Enemy/Nuclear Blast. During this period Payne left Italian death metal band Vital Remains to work full time on Hiss From The Moat. Taking their blended sound of black and death metal the band toured Europe and Asia with acts such as Behemoth, Belphegor and Rotting Christ. The band then brought on guitarist/vocalist Max Cirelli. Continue reading
New Jersey heavy weights OVERKILL are just no where even in close proximity being done. They have a lot of unfinished business, and to take care of that the band has already announced its next studio album. The upcoming all new 19th studio record, ‘The Wings Of War‘ is dropping on February 22nd, 2019 via Nuclear Blast. And to get you a first taste of the oncoming thrash attack, Bobby Blitz and co. have their very first single in the form of a lyric video out from the album. It’s called, ‘Last Man Standing‘, and as intimidating as it sounds, it does stand up to its name for it is one hell of a typical thrash, true to its core attack. It’s a riff fiesta accompanied with satisfying fast and ruthless riffs, swift & technical drumming and of course, Bobby’s trademark raspy, awesome vocals.
October 21st, 2005 is a historic date for every Nightwish fan – many tears flowed, yet the foundation was laid for a new beginning and the ongoing continuity of the band. What subsequently appeared as the DVD titled ‘End of an Era’ was not only the final show of their mega-selling Once tour, but also the very last joint performance with their singer Tarja Turunen. Due to all of these facets and more, the DVD will give you goosebumps many times over, yet it crowns the end of the Tarja chapter with a unique show that could hardly have been better or more spectacular. Nightwish have unveiled a monumental live video for the song “Ghost Love Score” taken from their upcoming ‘End of an Era’ re-issue . Continue reading
The Charm The Fury formed in Amsterdam in 2010 and solidified their metal sound with their first album ‘A Shade Of My Former Self’ in 2013. It was a few years later when the band truly turned heads as they were signed to Nuclear Blast Records and released ‘The Sick, Dumb & Happy’. The band tour the U.S. playing several festivals along the way including Carolina Rebellion, Welcome To Rockville, Northern Invasion and revived the Wall Of Death among fans and moshers wherever they took the stage. The band was led by charismatic lead vocalist Caroline Westendorp. Her vocals were far superior to other female fronted bands and the band often was compared to the might legends Pantera. Rhythm guitarist Mathijs Parent exited the band in 2016 followed by lead guitarist Rolf Perdok in 2017. Once those founding members left the band they had been pretty quiet after finishing out their tour schedule. On November 20th the band made a statement on Facebook that the band is officially breaking up.
There are some of the guys in this heavy metal music industry who are nothing short of mega massive walking icons for the heavy metal. we are of course talking about one of the legends who has helped pioneer many genre defining bands, especially SEPULTURA. Yes, the spotlight is on our Brazilian brother, Max Cavalera.
This one man army has single handedly led the charge for the extreme metal genre way too many times now. Juggling three to four active bands all at the same time is something Max does without even the slightest sense of nervousness or failure. Max Cavalera after having departed from SEPULTURA in 1996, re-channeled his passion for heavy music in the form of bands like SOULFLY which is an incarnation as close to SEPULTURA it can be, KILLER BE KILLED is a super-group formed in 2011 with the members of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and MASTODON, and lastly CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, which Max fronts along with his brother Igor. Cavalera was also involved in a short-lived side project called NAILBOMB. So there you can see, it’s evident that this Brazilian bad ass is surely a jack of all trades.
From the ashes of Swedish Doom / Stoner band NORRSKEN rose two new bands. Whilst some of the band formed WITCHCRAFT, the rest formed the classic retro-modern GRAVEYARD. They strode into the spotlight with a steely stare and a sense of purpose.
After forming, the band were swift to record a two track demo and played a total of three shows, before planning for a full-length album. Their self-titled debut album was recorded by Don Ahlsterberg and released in early 2008. On the recording sessions’ completion, Truls Mörck was replaced by guitarist Jonatan Ramm.
GRAVEYARD then toured with label mates WITCH. In the fall of 2008, they also toured with CLUTCH. In 2009, they toured with the rock band CKY and released their second album in spring of 2011. Touring followed, with the likes of SOUNDGARDEN. However, bass player and co-founder Rikard Edlund then left the band to “pursue other musical ventures“. In September 2015, the band released the ‘Innocence & Decadence’ record through Nuclear Blast.
On 23 September 2016, the band announced they had broken up, citing, “all so classic reasons.” This hiatus lasted only until 2017, when the band announced their reunion, albeit with a new drummer as Axel Sjöberg decided to stay with his new band.
The album ‘Peace’ is the reunion tentpole. It was produced by Chips Kiesbye and is released via Nuclear Blast. It combined elements of Stoner/Doom, but with many more references to 60’s and 70’s artists. The warm, yet somewhat retro production, gives it a sound that is very welcome in the cold age of digital perfection.
The songs shift around your consciousness and I have generally been impressed by the thoughtfulness of songs such as “Walk On” and “Del Manic”. The sound is propelled by guitarist/vocalist Joakim Nilsson’s fantastically rich vocals and the jazzy content on some songs makes this record a genuine treat to fall into. Like a feather coated beartrap – you initially feel comfortable until the teeth chomp on your leg.
There is a feeling of a band genuinely understanding the pulls of the musical universe and who are acutely aware of their place in the patheon of chaos. They seem to be stretching out on an aural adventure in an effort to put distance between them and their somewhat tumultous past. However, it is a solid album with great tunes such as “A Sign Of Peace” and the opener “It Ain’t Over Yet”.
If your bag is thoughtful, grooving Stoner rock with a warm retro feel, then GRAVEYARD is a band for you to check out.
Sonic Temple
