Baptism reveal release date and title of new album

BAPTISM are announcing that their forthcoming full-length will bear the title 'The Devil's Fire'. The new album of the Finnish black metal underground veterans has been recorded at Fantom Studio and the release date slated to the 22nd of July.

Lord Sargofagian comments on behalf of BAPTISM regarding 'The Devil's Fire': "The writing process for new album was the hardest ever for me. I was seriously thinking that this work was never going to finish a couple of times. Yet when once the everything was in place and the mood right, the recording session with this line-up, the new studio, and people behind us turned out to be the easiest since our early demo days. I am proud to say, this is our best devil's work so far!"

BAPTISM have previously commented on their signing: "We are very excited to become a part of Season of Mist, with such a great roster and people behind the label", writes Lord . It is an honour as well as a great opportunity for us. We are planning to enter studio at the end of this year in order to record our first album for Season of Mist, which will hopefully be released in 2016. We will be coming back stronger than ever and we cannot wait to start a great fire to light the darkness with this record. Until the world may burn... A.M.S.G."

BAPTISM – Finnish Black Metal

Black metal orthodoxy demands a raw and unbound fierceness in the musical expression that is counterbalanced by epic melodies buried underneath a shredding onslaught and majestic atmospheres as well as corpsepaint, hoods and spikes in the visuals enhanced by Satanic mysticism on the lyrical side. All of this is delivered to the dark letter by BAPTISM, who also let their Finnish roots clearly show through their hellish sound.

Era I: BAPTISM was formed by vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Lord Sargofagian and Demoniun on drums in the Finnish town of Ylöjärvi in 1998. As early as the summer of the same year, the first and now extremely rare demo 'Satanic Rituals' was released. A second demo entitled 'Sons of Ruin & Terror' followed in the year 2000. The band was joined by Slaughterer on bass in 2001 and this line-up unleashed first full-length 'The Beherial Midnight' (2002), as well as sophomore album 'Wisdom & Hate' (2003). Afterwards, Lord Sargofagian relocated his centre of activity to Kuopio and his former allies left the band.

Era II: BAPTISM quickly reformed in Kuopio, when Lord Sargofagian met Spellgoth and SG.7 joined the band before taking on duties as live guitarist and singing clean vocals. The EP 'Black Ceremony' as well as a split 7" with Uncreation's Dawn followed in 2004. Local musicians Kobalt on drums as well as SDS and Cinatas were added to the group, which performed their first live ritual in Kouvola, Finland. More live appearances materialised in their home country after the release of a third full-length entitled 'Morbid Wings of Sathanas' (2005). On the following EP 'Evil Mysteries' (2006), Lord Sargofagian was responsible for playing all instruments.

Era III: BAPTISM experienced another change of line-up when their mastermind returned to western Finland by moving to Tampere. Cinatas handed his duties over to M, who became the band's third bassist. The black metal outfit began to perform internationally in 2007. LRH became session drummer for the next album 'Grim Arts Of Melancholy' (2008), while TG took over as lead guitarist from SDS. The EP 'Chalice of Death' (2010) was recorded and released amidst rituals all over Europe and led to a mini tour in Russia. In the meantime Syphon became the fourth bass player for the Finns.

Era IV: BAPTISM unleashed their next full-length 'As the Darkness Enters' in 2012 for which the men from the north toured during the following year including a first ritual in the USA. A number of reissues of earlier material followed in 2014 as demand for these cult releases had reached new heights. This was emphasised by the rarities compilation album 'Gloria Tibi Satana', which was released early 2015.

Era V: BAPTISM sign a new record deal with Season of Mist. A new album is planned for release in 2016. The writing process is currently a work in progress... AMSG.

Line-up

Lord S.: vocals, guitar, songwriting

SG.7: guitar

TG: lead guitar

Syphon: bass

LRH: drums

www.baptismofficial.com

www.facebook.com/baptismofficial

ROB ZOMBIE - The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser

"The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser"

Release Date: 29, aprile 2016

Label: T-Boy Records

Country: United States

Style: Alternative/ Industrial/Shock rock

Track List:

1. The Last Of The Demons Defeated  

2. Satanic Cyanide! The Killer Rocks On!

3. The Life And Times Of A Teenage Rock God

4. Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O.

5. A Hearse Overturns With The Coffin Bursting Open

6. The Hideous Exhibitions Of A Dedicated Gore Whore

7. Medication For The Melancholy

8. In The Age Of The Consecrated Vampire We All Get High

9. Super-Doom-Hex-Gloom Part One

10. In The Bone Pile

11. Get Your Boots On! That’s The End Of Rock And Roll

12. Wurdalak

Il gigantesco carrozzone di Rob Zombie sta per tornare in città
.
Un tour colossale che ha incassato milioni di dollari e proseguirà con la promozione del nuovo album, oltre all’imminente uscita del prossimo film come regista intitolato “31”, sembrano suggerirci che il buon vecchio Zombie abbia più energie ora che ai bei tempi di Astro Creep: 2000.

Tra orge extraterrestri ed immagini orrifiche, il non-morto di Haverhill (Massachusetts) desidera informarci che è pronto a smembrare ogni parte del nostro corpo con il solito sguardo sardonico e l’immancabile seguito di giullari sopravvissuti all’olocausto Manson.

Impossibile parlarne male, inevitabile criticarlo, va da sé che RZ rappresenta oggi l’ultimo baluardo di un artista ancora capace di creare spettacolo. 

Galleggiando tra suoni futuristici ed il più classico hard rock, al quale ha aggiunto negli anni una buona dose di industrial, The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser mantiene un ritmo impeccabile dall’inizio alla fine, senza però mai superare i limiti di guardia, nonostante la straordinaria bravura di signori come John 5 e Ginger Fish sarebbe in grado di guidare il gruppo fino all’eccesso.

Alcuni brani arrivano un po’ a scoppio ritardato, altri invece innescano la tipica schizofrenia del singer mettendo a segno una dietro l’altra tre tracce davvero esilaranti come "The Life And Times Of A Teenage Rock God", "Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O." e "A Hearse Overturns With The Coffin Bursting Open".

Supponiamo che quando si arriva a certi livelli mantenere la guardia sempre alta sia veramente difficile, specie quando si suona un genere dove esagerazione e esasperazione sono elementi basilari, che dovrebbero sorprendere e non solo divertire.

7/10

Michela (Anesthesia)

robzombie.com

facebook.com/RobZombie

Season Of Mist presents: Numenorean announce title and release date of new album

NUMENOREAN are finally revealing the title of their forthcoming full-length, which has been penned down as 'Home'. The Canadian post-black metal outfit from Calgary will release their debut on July, 22nd.

'Home' was recorded by NUMENOREAN vocalist/guitarist Byron Lemley and Alex Kurth in Calgary, and mixed as well as mastered by Josh Schroeder (GHOST BATH, BATTLECROSS, KING 810) at Random Awesome Studios in Michigan.

Regarding 'Home', Byron  comments on behalf of the band: "This album is an exploration and journey into some of the deepest human emotions we have. While it does offer hope and solace along the way, it ultimately never recovers."

Engineer Josh Schroeder adds: "NUMENOREAN's sound reminds me of a dark, distant memory of falling from a great height. I am always looking to challenge the way I approach records, and no better way than to work with artists like NUMENOREAN who are challenging the definition of black metal."

www.facebook.com/Numenoreanofficial

www.instagram.com/numenoreanofficial/

www.youtube.com/user/Numenoreanofficial

https://numenorean.bandcamp.com/

BLOODY HAMMERS – Unveils Album Details!

“This album is certainly the darkest album I've ever recorded”, states BLOODY HAMMERS mastermind Anders check out all the details! Manga, who stays on the dark path to the nether world and opens the seven gates with Lovely Sort Of Death. Today BLOODY HAMMERS unveils the album artwork, track listing & release date of their upcoming album!

Track Listing:

1             Bloodletting On The Kiss

2             Lights Come Alive

3             The Reaper Comes

4             Messalina

5             Infinite Gaze To The Sun

6             Stoke The Fire

7             Ether

8             Shadow Out Of Time

9             Astral Traveler

10           Catastrophe

Deluxe Edition Bonus CD

1             Altar Of Fear

2             The Shrine

3             Halloween

4             At Dawn They Sleep

Lovely Sort Of Death is set to be released on August 5th via Napalm Records.

Anders Manga on Lovely Sort Of Death:

“This album is certainly the darkest album I've ever recorded. I wrote the songs over the winter, which was an unusually snowy one. We live high on a mountain with a steep treacherous driveway so when any snowfall happens, we're stuck for days. Luckily, as a result of all the isolation, my songwriting mood ended up much more on the darker side than previous records. The songs are heavy, but not always heavy. I wanted to create more atmosphere than before. It's a stylistically varied record which I'm very proud of. I used the Moog more on this album which blends well with the heavy guitar fuzz tones. It's definitely my favorite album so far in every way.”

BLOODY HAMMERS are a duo who hail from the mountains of Transylvania County, NC. The project and first self-titled release was originally formed as a studio only project with vocalist/songwriter, Anders Manga producing and recording all instruments

Soon Anders decided to take the project from the studio to a real band by recruiting his wife Devallia to play keyboards and other local musicians for live shows.

In late 2013 Anders was approached by one of Europe's largest rock and metal labels, Napalm Records. In 2014 Napalm released Bloody Hammers' second official album titled 'Under Satan's Sun'. In support, the band embarked on a European tour, ending at UK's largest rock festival, 'Download' to a great reception.

Through the snowy winter of 2015, Anders began writing again, but this time took a much darker and atmospheric direction.

For the first time he added thick Moog sounds along with his normal fuzzed-out guitar, with more atmospheric keys provided by Devallia. 

They emerged from the winter with 'Lovely Sort of Death', their darkest album yet.

www.facebook.com/BloodyHammers

www.bloodyhammers.com

Season Of Mist presents: Withered premiere new song

American dark extremists WITHERED are streaming a fourth monstrous track taken from their forthcoming album 'Grief Relic' (out worldwide on May 27th). 

The song "Downward" is exclusively streaming via Stereogum

Tracklisting

1. Leathery Rind

2. A Realm of Suffering

3. Withdraw

4. Feeble Grasp

5. Husk

6. Downward

7. Distort, Engulf

8. To Glimpse Godliness

www.facebook.com/witheredmetal

www.withered.net

https://twitter.com/witheredmetal

JADED HEART - Guilty By Design

"Guilty By Design"

Release Date: April 22, 2016

Label: Massacre Records

Style: Melodic Metal

Country: Germany/Sweden

Track List:

1. No Reason

2. Godforsaken

3. Seven Gates Of Hell

4. Remembering

5. Rescue Me

6. Salvation

7. No Waiting For Tomorrow

8. Watching You Die

9. So Help Me God

10. Bullying Me

11. This Is The End

12. Torn And Scarred

13. My Farewell (Digipak Bonus)

14. My Own Way Down (Digipak Bonus)

Un disco heavy metal che ha melodie AOR ma non vuol essere chiamato hard rock? Come direbbe il Dr. Frankenstein: SI PUO’ FARE!

Non c’è niente da fare, quando si tratta di maneggiare materiale rock i tedeschi proprio non ce la fanno a non farlo suonare metal; ed ecco perché il nuovo album dei JADED HEART, nonostante l'impostazione di base, mantiene inalterato il proprio DNA da metallaro.

Guilty By Design non vuole essere un album spregiudicato, né presentare brani di effetto che verrebbero santificati più per onorificenza che merito, come successe agli Scorpions con la sopravvalutata "Wind Of Change". Con la naturalezza del metal moderno i riff vanno a braccetto con la bella voce grintosa del vocalist Johan Fahlberg, sottolineandone le ottime doti canore e quell'incedere melodico tipico delle terre del nord europa, dalle quali peraltro proviene lo stesso Fahlberg, e che nel brano “Watching You Die” ne possiamo scorgere le fattezze.

Nel complesso le dodici tracce si assomigliano un po’ tutte, fatto salvo per alcune come “Rescue Me” e le due ottime bonus, che concedono una sferzata di epicità grazie all'ottimo lavoro svolto dalle chitarre della premiata ditta Östros – Eto e riprendono in extremis una valutazione che fino ad ora sarebbe stata appena sufficiente.

6,5/10

Michela (Anesthesia)

Johan Fahlberg - Vocals

Peter Östros - Guitars

Masahiro Eto - Guitars

Michael Müller - Bass

Bodo Stricker - Drums

http://www.jadedheart.de

https://www.facebook.com/jadedheartmusic

https://twitter.com/jadedheartband

https://www.youtube.com/OfficialJadedHeart

SadDoLLs are proud to announce the signing with german label Trisol Music Group.

SadDoLLs are proud to announce the signing with german label Trisol Music Group.

Regarding their signing, the band comments throught the Official Facebook page:

"We are happy to announce that SadDoLLs signed with the German record label Trisol Music Group, home of "London after midnight", "Dopestars inc", "ASP", "Garden of delight", "Clan of xymox", "Project Pitchfork", "Malice mizer", etc. "Trisol" will release our upcoming album along with all our previous releases and the distribution will be handled by "darkTunes".

We would really like to thank " Inverse Records " and Jaakko Tarvainen for the excellent collaboration we had for the last 2 years and for their trust and support. In addition, we would like to thank all the fans and friends who helped us out collecting a really big amount of money to do the new album. Thank you very much! You are all awesome!

Even if it's too early, we have some cool news for you people. The new album is gonna be called" Blood Of A Kind" !

The new record is coming out on March 2017 and this is because we need time to have a great production quality that we never had before. As you already know the guests for the upcoming album are JP Leppäluoto (Charon, Northern Kings, Ex-Poisonblack) and Mikki Chixx (Stoneman). 

All the recordings are done and next week the stuff is gonna be sent to Hiili Hiilesmaa as the mix is about to start! 

"Blood Of A Kind" tracklist

1. Dunkelstein

2. Kiss You In Hell

3. Zombie Love

4. Pale White Dracula

5. Creep It Into You

6. Cold Blood Inside

7. Jigsaw

8. Die Better

9. Sex In Church

10. Misery Revisited

Please note that the picture above is just a digital promotional flyer and not the actual album artwork.  Promotional flyer by Heli Duran

Creep it up!

SadDoLLs

http://www.saddolls.net 
https://www.facebook.com/saddolls

I VOLBEAT svelano i dettagli del loro attesissimo album

I VOLBEAT svelano i dettagli del loro attesissimo sesto album in studio, Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie, in uscita il 3 giugno. 

La band hard rock danese multiplatino ha già reso disponibile il primo singolo The Devil’s Bleeding Crown e che sarà inviato in download gratuito a tutti coloro che pre-ordineranno il disco.

The Devil’s Bleeding Crown spicca per un galoppante riff di chitarra accompagnato da un groove propulsivo in stile thrash. La band ha suonato la canzone solo una volta la scorsa estate a Odense, Danimarca, incuriosendo i fan. Il singolo ha un ritornello antemico che verrà cantato in coro ai festival di tutto il mondo. È già destinato a diventare un classico dei VOLBEAT.

Prodotto dal collaboratore di lunga data Jacob Hansen e co-prodotto dal frontman Michael Poulsen e dal chitarrista solista Rob Caggiano, il disco contiene tredici nuovi brani, che riflettono il marchio di fabbrica della band: un ibrido di rock di valore, potenza metal, blues soul e swing rockabilly.

Il cantante Michael Poulsen dichiara: “Dopo mesi di composizione e registrazioni, siamo entusiasti all’idea di presentare al mondo Seal the Deal & Let’s. Suonatelo al massimo!”.

I VOLBEAT nascono a Copenhagen nel 2001. Da allora, si sono fatti strada con tour infiniti e cinque album di grande successo. Il loro album del 2010 Beyond Hell / Above Heaven ha venduto più di 1.5 milioni di copie anche grazie al singolo “A Warrior’s Call”. Otto singoli sono entrati nella Top 5 dei singoli di Active Rock con ben cinque numeri uno! Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies del 2013 è entrato al # 9 della Billboard Top 200 e il singolo "Room 24" con King Diamond ha ricevuto una nomination ai Grammy Award. È disco di platino in Austria, Danimarca, Germania e disco d’oro in Canada, Finlandia, Svizzera e Stati Uniti. I Volbeat parteciperanno ad alcuni festival estivi tra cui il Rock Am Ring in Germania, di cui saranno headliner. La band ha venduto oltre 3.5 milioni di dischi in tutto il mondo.

 TRACKLISTING:

1.    The Devil’s Bleeding Crown

2.    Marie Laveau

3.    For Evigt

4.    The Gates of Babylon

5.    Let It Burn

6.    Black Rose

7.    Rebound

8.    Mary Jane Kelly

9.    Goodbye Forever

10.    Seal The Deal

11.    Battleship Chains

12.    You Will Know

13.    The Loa’s Crossroad

Volbeat Links: 

www.volbeat.dk/

www.facebook.com/volbeat

www.twitter.com/volbeat

www.instagram.com/volbeat/

www.youtube.com/user/VolbeatVEVO

WISHING WELL AND GRAHAM BONNET WANT TO COOPERATE AGAIN

Finnish hard rockers Wishing Well opened up for Graham Bonnet Band at On The Rocks Club in Helsinki on 21 April. It provided a good chance for Wishing Well band leader Anssi Korkiakoski to meet Graham Bonnet and discuss continuation for “Hippie Heart Gypsy Soul”, the song which they recorded last year and released earlier this year as a single and on Wishing Well’s critically acclaimed “Chasing Rainbows” album.

“It was good to meet Graham and have a chat. He’s not only a very pleasant and easy-going gentleman but also in top shape when it comes to singing. His live performance was awesome and I really enjoyed seeing him live after a long time. We were all just astonished by what he can still deliver. The band was great too”, says Anssi. “We discussed the possibility of working together in the future and agreed it would be great to record a new track at some point down the road. I really hope we can do that when the time is ripe again since now we’re still busy with promoting our album and Graham is busier than ever with his new albums and autobiography to be released later this year. Time will tell if it’s going to happen but we both honestly wish we’ll get a chance to make it happen.”

For the time being Wishing Well will continue with lead vocalist Pekka Montin, who replaced Peter James Good earlier this spring. The band is now booking more live shows and working hard to promote “Chasing Rainbows” album.  

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ARGONAUTA RECORDS mette sotto contratto gli INDIVIA

Un nuovo nome si aggiunge alla famiglia ARGONAUTA Records: gli italiani INDIVIA, autori di un eccitante Stoner Doom Rock!

Gli Indivia (Cichorium endivia, dalla parola greca ἔντυβον) nascono nei dintorni di Padova nell’autunno 2012, in seguito all’incontro tra Andrea (chitarra) e Nathalie (batteria). Nel 2013, dopo l’ingresso di Diego (basso), il power trio inizia ad organizzare concerti sotto falso nome (Wedge) e pubblica un EP di quattro tracce, 'Belladonna' (totalmente autoprodotto) nel 2014. A dicembre 2015 la band registra il secondo album, 'Horta', tuttora inedito. Il trio, influenzato da band come Sleep, Black Sabbath, Conan, Karma to Burn e Bongzilla, suona un blackened stoner doom, dall’atmosfera sperimentale ed ipnotica, creando un muro sonoro monolitico.

Il nuovo album è in uscita in autunno, ma il primo singolo “The Green Planet” è disponibile QUI

www.argonautarecords.com

GRIMNESS canzone in anteprima su TOMETAL.COM‏

I Black/Death Metallers italiani GRIMNESS hanno reso disponibile lo streaming di una canzone tratta dal loro album del 10° anniversario su TOMETAL.COM

"A Decade of Disgust" è la ristampa dell'album di debutto "Increase Humanity Disgust", con materiale bonus e nuova grafica. Verrà pubblicato il 2 maggio su THE GOATMANCER Records.

https://www.facebook.com/TheGoatmancer/

https://www.facebook.com/Grimness-40993332445/

"THE 69 EYES - Universal Monsters

 "Universal Monsters"

Release Date: 22 April 2016

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Country: Finland

Style: Gothic rock

Track List:

01. Dolce Vita

02. Jet Fighter Plane

03. Blackbird Pie

04. Lady Darkness

05. Stiv & Johnny

06. Never

07. Miss Pastis

08. Jerusalem

09. Shallow Graves

10. Rock 'N' Roll Junkie

11. Blue

L’ora della luce. 

Dopo il colpo di coda inferto con l’ottimo X, quando tutti si aspettavano l’ennesimo album dei The 69 Eyes, immaginare uno scenario diverso per Universal Monsters non sarebbe poi così scontato, soprattutto per una band che da oltre 25 anni è sempre riuscita a coinvolgere pubblico e critica di tutto il mondo, ma mai a convincerla di poter fare il grande salto di qualità.

Universal Monsters è un buon album, se non fosse per quella sensazione che in qualche modo sembra voler demolire l’immagine di ribelli della notte, per tramutarla in quella più accattivante di uomini finalmente cresciuti e usciti allo scoperto.

Dal punto di vista della band, questi undici brani rappresentano un ritorno al passato, quando bastava avere un vinile tra le mani, un giubbotto di pelle addosso e la sigaretta tra le labbra per sentirsi belli e dannati. In un certo senso l’opener “Dolce Vita” può essere la sintesi di questo pensiero, allineandosi perfettamente con la spirale senza fine di un successo tanto invidiato quanto paradossale.

Abbandonando le atmosfere malinconiche alla Syster Of Mercy e Type O Negative, ma restando sempre legato ai 45 giri di Elvis ed alle poesie di Jim Morrison, Universal Monsters è un disco autocelebrativo, quasi un’opera lirica in chiave rock’n’roll dove ogni attore recita la parte di sé stesso. La familiarità con cui i chitarristi Bazie e Timo Timo creano atmosfere agrodolci tra Morricone ed un polveroso teatro di posa, le possenti pulsazioni della colonna portante Archzie ed il provocatorio folletto della batteria Jussi accompagnano la sensuale quanto ironica voce di Jyrki nell’atto conclusivo, prima che il sipario cali sull’ennesimo intervallo di una carriera che li vedrà protagonisti di chissà quante nuove avventure.

It’s only goth’n’roll, but I like it!

7/10

Michela (Anesthesia)

Official Site

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Season of Mist sign Sons of Balaur

Season of Mist are proud to announce the signing of SONS OF BALAUR. The notorious and much rumoured about black metal outfit from Oslo, Norway will release their debut full-length on the label later this year. Season of Mist wishes to point out in this context that it is not responsible for the actions of musicians.

Regarding their signing, frontman Tomas comments on behalf of SONS OF BALAUR: "For years we have kept to the shadowy underworld of the Balaur Kvlt, secretively committing our visceral incantations to limited release for only the trvely worthy, calling for our great Lord Balaur's return. Now he has risen and the new world order is at hand, through blood lust, orgiastic sex and unimaginable vampiric terror this Realm Of The Damned is now a reality. With the release of the Realm Of The Damned graphic novel and the forces of good now vanquished, our debut album, a trve black metal gospel of praise to the Lord Balaur is set for release though Season of Mist Records later this year. Let the chaos begin! Screaming Blood And Pussy, Hail Lord Balaur!"

SONS OF BALAUR are a true kult black metal band based in Oslo, Norway. Formed in March, 1992, the band were part of the original first wave of Norwegian black metal – a notorious inner circle of underground artists who took music to extremes it had never previously reached. Started in secret, for obvious reasons, the band features some of Norwegian black metal's most dedicated and shadowy personalities: Tomas (vocals, guitar), Markus (bass), Kristoffer (guitar), and Lars (drums).

The band are true followers of the Dark Arts, and their songs are as much spells to the black forces of the underworld as they are music. The band’s recordings have been kept closely guarded within a tight-knit community of like-minded servants of the night, and remained unreleased in any official form until now. Their new album is an invocation of the dark vampiric overlord of chaos and death: Balaur.

Lead singer Tomas (all surnames are withheld due to legal reasons) is one of black metal's most infamous, yet secretive, personalities. Having burned down two churches (a centuries-old wooden stave church in Øksfjord, Norway, and a fortified church listed as a heritage site in Transylvania, Romania) Tomas has been imprisoned for arson, and has also been arrested twice on murder charges – though, in both cases, he was released as a result of insufficient evidence.

The band members all knew each other as children – they all hail from the small town of Øksfjord in the very far north of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. Even as teenagers, those who knew them said there was trouble ahead, and so there was: trouble at school, at home, with the police… it was an endless litany of turmoil. One notable incident involving Markus (bass guitar) resulted in him being detained in a juvenile prison, having been caught digging up graves and allegedly attempting acts of necrophilia with the corpses… he was fifteen at the time.

As they grew older, the band members moved away from Øksfjord one by one, and played in an assortment of separate bands, all of which came to nothing – each of them feeling that their new bandmates simply showed no real wish to be truly occult and evil. They had not seen each other for some time when a fateful chance meeting at the legendary Helvete record shop in Oslo brought them back together. It would appear that destiny once again drew these dark souls to one another, for a shadowy purpose.

This group of musicians ignored the rest of those who frequented Helvete – a gathering place and centre of nefarious activity for all those involved in black metal's inner circle in its early days. They had no interest in forging alliances with others, instead keeping themselves apart and sitting in each other’s company without uttering a word, until eventually Lars broke the deathlike silence between them, inviting Tomas, Kristoffer and Markus to form a new band – a band that would reign supreme and write the history of black metal as it would be known around the world in years to come. A band that would provide the soundtrack to the death of humankind… A band that would serve their lord and master as no other could... A band that would be the ultimate incarnation of Black Metal in Hell itself!

They began rehearsing in earnest, and several demos were recorded – but none were ever officially released to a wider audience. These early years yielded such legendary recordings as: 'To Summon Him' (1993, unreleased, cassette only); 'The Dark Lord Shall Rise' (1995, unreleased, cassette only), 'Bloodfrenzy' (1996, ultra-rare 7" single) and 'The Equanimity Of Chaos' (1999, unreleased, cassette only).

'Bloodfrenzy' is reputed to change hands for well over £1,000 on the underground collectors’ market, but the chances of a copy being offered for sale are unimaginably slim – the authorities have declared they will arrest anyone found with a copy in their possession, so it’s seldom that anyone has been known to publicly admit to owning what is probably the most controversial song ever recorded.

The band have, until now, only played to secretive gatherings of the followers of the cult of Balaur, a vampire whose legends permeate the darkest recesses of Romanian folklore and sorcery. No one knows the real name of this legendary Carpathian predator. Known as 'Balaur' (the Dragon) for his demonic ability to breathe fire, he existed for a relatively short period in 15th/16th century Europe, feared among mortals and vampires alike. His origin is a mystery lost in time, though his bloodline was clearly mixed with ‘something else’ – a scion of House Petrova, Balaur remained a wild animal scything across the battlefields of Europe completely out of control, even fighting alongside the 'Great Impaler' Vlad Tepes. He did as he pleased, upsetting the Petrovas' schemes, until it fell to his blood-sister, Athena, to make the decision to murder him for the good of the family.

During his relatively short existence as a vampire, Balaur was a pure sociopath – a sensualist devoted only to satisfying his own whims. All he ever desired was to destroy the world, for no other reason than to hear its inhabitants scream. He was chaos, bloodlust and destruction incarnate: an (un)living reminder that life cannot be tamed and that control over the world is nothing but a comforting fantasy. As the scholars of his day put it: "He is the Dragon – the fire that knows nothing except how to burn."

Following Balaur's death at the hands of his sister, his loyal retainers retrieved a fragment of his body, which they revered as an unholy relic, dedicating themselves to finding a way of resurrecting him. This cult has endured for centuries, but has become a forgotten footnote in the occult history books – remembered only by the most dedicated acolytes.

The band’s live shows are rumoured to have included occult rituals, mass orgies, extreme violence, and even human sacrifice – with the ultimate offering being made in an attempt to summon the undead. More of a Satanic ceremony than a live black metal performance, these ‘gigs’ have been highly secretive, in an attempt to avoid attention from the vampire hunting organisation (themselves extremely enigmatic) known as ‘The Congregation’.

The band dropped out of public sight in the year 2000. Aside from each other, they had no close friends, so the rare reported sightings of the individual members are usually considered to be nothing more than urban legends. Rumours have persistently spread that they disappeared after travelling in the murky Transylvanian region of Romania – that they had been murdered, sacrificed at one of their own shows by competing followers of the vampire Balaur. The truth about what had become of SONS OF BALAUR, where they had disappeared to, or even if they still survived, remained a mystery… until now!

After an absence of fifteen years, during which no one outside of the most extreme Satanic circles has known anything that could be substantiated about their activities, the SONS OF BALAUR have returned from their self-imposed exile in the netherworld to release their debut full length album…

Line-up

Tomas: vocals and guitar

Markus: bass guitar

Kristoffer: guitar

Lars: drums

www.facebook.com/SoBKvlt

Style: True Black Metal

JORDAAN - Theoretic

"Theoretic"

Release Date: April 15th, 2016

Label: Argonauta Records

Country: Italy

Style: Post Rock, Psychedelia, Instrumental

Track List:

01. Gravity 

02. Over Quantum Paradox 

03. Swahili 

04. Nautilus 

05. Ramona Flowers 

06. The Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction 

07. Radius And Construction Of A Mixtilinear Circle- Z 

Profondità siderali ed inserti elettronici alla ricerca del proprio equilibrio nell’attimo in cui tutto si dissolve.

Il primo album dei torinesi Jordaan non poteva che presentarsi cosi, elegante ed aulico.

Brandelli di voci campionate che si percepiscono solo negli spunti iniziali di “Gravity” e “Over Quantum Paradox” non riescono a fermare l’incantesimo che sta per ammaliarci. Le note camminano sospese nel vuoto come acrobati circensi, vacillando tra una distorta effettistica elettronica e riff plumbei che potrebbero spezzare la loro equazione da un momento all’altro. 

Immagini in technicolor vengono proiettate in loop per destabilizzare l’ascoltatore con impressionanti pulsazioni di basso capaci di creare una tensione insostenibile, mentre le chitarre fluidificano il suono e lo dilatano all'infinito ottenendo il massimo del dinamismo.

Se il post rock è un genere nebuloso e trascendentale, ancora più impervi e pericolosi sono i territori del gothic/death rock espresso da band seminali come i Fields Of The Nephilim, dalle cui fondamenta Theoretic riesce a ricavare un rifugio sicuro, avvicinandosi allo stile più familiare di Russian Circles e Pelican, in un intreccio di radici così profonde da non riuscire a determinarne l’origine.

Un album atmosferico che squarcerà le tenebre della vostra anima.

7.5/10
Michela (Anesthesia)

Line Up:
Ox (batteria), 

Tony (basso), 

Miki 

Cri (chitarre) 

Ale (synth e “diavolerie elettroniche”)

http://www.facebook.com/jordaanband