The Bucketlist With DAWN OF ASHES Vocalist Krisrof Bathory!

Industrial/Symphonic Black Metal artists Dawn of Ashes are set to release their new record. On June 9th they will release their seventh album ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’ on Metropolis Records. Dawn Of Ashes has already released a lyric video for the track “Guardians” from the upcoming album. The band formed in 2001 and has been a dominating force in the symphonic metal genre ever since. ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’ is a diabolical musical milestone & Dawn of Ashes‘ most brutal fusion of Extreme Symphonic Black Metal to date. Like Dawn of Ashes‘ previous album ‘Theophany’, ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’ was mixed & produced by Mick Kenney of AnaalNathrakh. Features a cover of Black Metal legend Mayhem’s “Freezing Moon”, as well as guest vocals from Cradle of Filth’s Lindsay Schoolcraft. In support of ‘Daemonolatry Gnosis’, Dawn of Ashes will set out on a headling North America tour called “Fire Of The Phoenix” with Projekt F Continue reading

SOILWORK Announces 25-Year-Old BASTIAN THUSGAARD as Permanent Drummer

Photo Credit: Marc Duvollet

It was well publicized last year, when Soilwork’s drummer of twelve years – Dirk Verbeuren – departed from the Swedish melodic death metal band to join Megadeth. In response to Dirk’s exit, Soilwork enlisted young gun, Bastian Thusgaard, to fill in as touring drummer for the remainder of the band’s touring commitments during these last ten months. And now, the band has confirmed that Bastian is the permanent drummer for the band! Below is a statement issued by the band via the Soilwork Facebook page today, concerning Bastian Thusgaard’s addition to the lineup.  Continue reading

SLAYER/LAMB OF GOD/BEHEMOTH NA Tour, PLUS A Chance For FREE TIX! [Tour News, Contest Announcement]

 

ARE YOU KIDDIN’ ME?!?

I mean, just look at at that lineup! Our friends over at WOLVERINE KILLS gave us a heads up here at the Nexus about the upcoming tour between larger than life legends Slayer, the MIGHTY Behemoth, and the ferocious Virginia based Lamb of God (themselves now ubiquitous on the ever expanding metal tabula rasa) Continue reading

Review of the Incredible “Building Castles in Air” by Lucid Fly

Lucid Fly is:

Nikki Layne – vocals
Doug Mecca – guitar

Aaron Ficca – drums

Often described as a dark and epic cross between Evanescence and A Perfect Circle, Lucid Fly has been together since 2001. Founded by vocalist Nikki Layne and guitarist Doug Mecca in Orlando, FL, the band found its name, interestingly, from a headline in the paper, reading: “Lucid Flies Into The Record Books” that documented the record breaking time in space by astronaut Shannon Lucid. Once cementing their staying power in the Orlando music scene and growing their fan base, Lucid Fly released their debut LP entitled Adapting to Gravity in 2005. With almost universal acceptance and mounting acclaim, Lucid Fly continued to play in and around FL, but they had their sights set on a bigger prize and moved to the West Coast. Once landing in L.A., drummer Aaron Fica, who had been touring with Macy Gray, was given an honorary spot behind the kit. As a follow up to their 2009 release of The Escape Stage, a three song EP entitled Stasis was released in 2015. As their fan base has continuously expanded and critical acclaim has come in droves, demand for new music thrust the band, once again, into the studio. Once their successful crowdfunding campaign that raised in upwards of $13K for what would become Building Castles in Air, Lucid Fly, were one of only seventeen bands invited by Mike Portnoy to play at the 2014 Progressive Nation at Sea event along with other noteworthy bands including Periphery, Haken, Riverside and many others. After great care and thoughtful songwriting, Building Castles in Air was recently released in November, 2016 and is deserving a prominent spot in any music fans’ collection. Continue reading

A Little Q and A To Metal Up Your Day [Interview With ACID DEATH!]

Acid Death, Live in Germany. (Photo credit unknown)

 

About a month ago, I wrote a little piece for Metal Nexus in regards to the unearthing of the long lost debut album of Grecian prog/tech metal innovators, Acid Death.  (Click here to check it out if you’re so inclined.)  Not long after the publication of that article, I was in contact with Savvas Bettinis (vox and bassist for AD) about a possible interview with the band and after consideration, we decided on a more Q & A style due to differences in scheduling and time zones.  What follows is the results of that exchange, Continue reading

Take A Chance On This Chalice of Suffering Contest!

Hailing from twin-city-to-St.Paul Minneapolis, Chalice of Doom have thus far shared one solo album of exemplary funeral doom with the world so far, with plans for their sophomoric release sometime SOON.  While we anxiously await for that album to drop (and if you haven’t already, check what my duderus Fist had to say about their debut here), these pallbearers of funeral doom purveyors are giving away some sweet swag to TWO lucky winners via their Facebook page!  Continue reading

Review: OF THE SUN – ‘Before A Human Path’ [Album Stream]

Texas shredders Of The Sun have finally released their long awaited sophomore album ‘Before A Human Path’.  Their first release ‘A.M. Radio’ came out back in 2009 so long time fans have been left waiting for many years for this record. ‘Before A Human Path’ was self released by the band last Friday on April 14th. Describing themselves as “Southern Progressive Metal”, Of The Sun brings a creative new sound by being very experimental in the progressive and thrash genres while maintaining an extremely heavy groove in each track. The band has played with the likes of Intronaut, Devin Townsend, and Gorguts so you know they are serious. This 5 track album contains no filler and gets straight to the point of grabbing your attention. You can buy the record on Bandcamp or stream it below. See what the band had to say about the record below. Step into the world of Of The Sun now.

With Before a Human Path, we pulled from personal extremes to convey a more colorful and varied storyline within the span of each song. Ultimately shunning conventional songwriting formula, we really dug in to unearth something we felt isn’t currently being done. We’re beyond excited to share it with you!.”

With only 5 tracks on ‘Before A Human Path’, the trio wastes no time diving into superb craftsmanship and songwriting with “The Tightrope Mile”. Several time changes are applied and trade offs between clean vocals and screams are transitioned flawlessly. The song will at times will be peaceful as if you are sitting on a beach before once again shooting you back into the slamming, tortured sounding verses in purgatory. “Nebulamorphous” begins with a beautifully composed shredding guitar intro from Patrick Duvall that could paint a song on its own. Of The Sun continues their large experimentation on the record here with several guitar effects and fervent drumming from Johnny Reed. David Duvall shows out with an equally impressive bass solo and keeps it flowing with the rest of the song. The groove that they bring while still being heavy as all can be is incredible and hard to find in metal. “Cantos” presents yet another side of the band with more clean vocals and creepy guitar melodies to give the listener another perspective of the band and how proficient they are at creating original material. The fourth track “A Soliloquy” is a rather angst-filled song with complicated rhythms. The song has several layers, constantly evolving and becoming heavier as it continues. I’m not usually a fan of breakdowns but Of The Sun makes it work here with the guitar and bass battling each other to produce an enormous sound. ‘Before A Human Path’ draws to a thunderous close with “The Limbless God”. This song holds massive weight on the record with the fierce riffage and impassioned screams from Duvall. Reed is unrelenting on the bass drum while David Duvall continues to grind out robust bass lines as we exit the world of Of The Sun. In just 5 tracks, this trio has proved they are here to stay in the metal universe and will wreck havoc at their shows. Be sure to check out the album below and to follow Of The Sun on Facebook.

Of the Sun is:
Patrick Duvall – Lead Vocals/Guitar
David Duvall – Bass/Vocals
Johnny Reed – Drums

‘Before A Human Path’ Track List
01. The Tightrope Mile
02. Nebulamorphous
03. Cantos
04. A Soliloquy
05. The Limbless God

State of the Art: Pennsylvania – Tungsten

*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s State is Pennsylvania!

Week number three of our State of the Art: Pennsylvania series takes us back to Philadelphia where we find an extremely unusual band that pulls influences from all over the musical landscape: Metal, Psychedelia, Progressive Rock/Metal and everything in between to create a sound like no other. My spotlight band this week is Tungsten.

Continue reading

SUFFOCATION Set To Release New Album In June [New Track Streaming]

Artwork by Colin Marks

Brutal death metal pioneers Suffocation have announced they will be releasing their 10th studio album on June 9th. ‘…Of The Dark Light’ will be released via Nuclear Blast Records and it is the band’s first full length record since ‘Pinnacle of Bedlam’ in 2013.  You can check out a 360 video of the new single “Your Last Breaths” below. You can also view the track list and see what founding guitarist Terrance Hobbs has to say about the record. Suffocation begins a North American tour next month with Morbid Angel, Revocation, and Withered. Pre-order ‘…Of The Dark Light’ here. Continue reading

Review: WOODHAWK – ‘Beyond The Sun’

Artwork by Mark Kowalchuk

Just this Friday, Calgary, Alberta band Woodhawk released ‘Beyond the Sun’ independently. They dropped their first EP in 2014 and are now here with their first album. With slamming, groovy riffs, the band’s first full length record brings you back to the early 70s rock n roll sound with several different lyrical themes to keep it interesting. The trio recorded this album at Rain City Recorders in Vancouver BC. It was mixed by Jesse Gander, mastered by Brad Boatright, and produced by Gander and the band. The album artwork was created by Mark Kowalchuk. You can purchase ‘Beyond the Sun’ on Bandcamp or stream it below.

‘Beyond the Sun’ leads us in with a relaxed intro from the title track before taking off into a space-like dimension of riffs to prepare us for what is in store for the rest of the record. “The High Priest” (music video below) is a hard rock anthem filled with remarkable instrumentals and catchy choruses from Turner Midzain. Woodhawk continues to pack a huge punch in their sound with the thunderous “Living in the Sand”. This track features guest vocals from Kevin Keegan (Dead Quiet, ex-Mountain Dust, ex-Barn Burner). It’s a six minute epic with a full dose of 70s hard rock storming into your door with power and emotion overflooding your stereo.  “Magnetic North” is a slow tempo, bluesy with booming bass from Mike Badmington and is plentiful of riffs that will put the listener into a trance. The album picks its pace back up with “Lawless” shredding through with that classic rock sound with a psychedelic edge. “Quest For Clarity” has an marvelous bass intro before exploding into another musical adventure with splendid work behind the drum kit from Kevin Nelson. The more relaxed guitar solo near the end is a beautiful work of art and builds tension before roaring back into the chorus. “A New Hope” has a  neat guitar echo effect and obviously rotates around the theme of Star Wars. It doesn’t get much better than rock’n’roll about Star Wars! “Foresee the Future” is a slick two-minute instrumental with a desert-like tone to set the mood for the final song on the record. “Chrononaut” is definitely the most rifftastic song on the album with these huge sounds rushing to you at the speed of light. It takes a more mid-tempo turn towards the middle before closing out in dramatic fashion. Woodhawk has released a killer 9-track debut record not to be forgotten soon by fans of stoner rock. Make sure to follow Woodhawk on Facebook at the link below.

‘Beyond the Sun’ Tracklist
1. Beyond The Sun (3:57)
2. The High Priest (4:46)
3. Living In The Sand (6:03)
4. Magnetic North (4:13)
5. Lawless (3:06)
6. Quest For Clarity (4:14)
7. A New Hope (4:49)
8. Foresee The Future (2:12)
9. Chrononaut (5:19)

Woodhawk is:
Turner Midzain – Vocals/Guitar
Mike Badmington – Bass/Vocals
Kevin Nelson – Drums