Brutai annouce show at Bloodstock 2016 plus club shows

Brutai show is a very good way how modern songrwriting is done in today's heavier range of music. After showing off their first single "Deep" to the public the band has spread the word that they will be part of the line up of this years Bloodstock festival alongside the likes of Slayer, Gojira, Mastodon and more, and will perform on the Sophie Lancaster Stage on the Friday.

The flyer for the Bloodstock Open Air 2016, (c) by Bloodstock Open Air, used with kind permission

They're also heading out on some dates with The Five Hundred in a couple of weeks. You can check out The Five Hundred's single 'Come Closer' here.

The poster for the clubshows, (c) by the Origin Agency, used with kind permission

Friday 6th May - Bantam Northampton
Saturday 7th May - Bar 42 Worthing
Sunday 8th May - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton
Friday 13th May - Sound Circus, Bournemouth
Saturday 14th May - The Gryphon, Bristol
Sunday 15th May - Sanctuary Live UK, Basingstoke

The debut release of Brutai has been set for the end of 2016. If you've not heard / seen the band before here's their single "Deep".

Also make sure to mark their social accounts with a like or follow so you won't miss out on the further developments via Facebook or Twitter.

Ways. use silence perfectly on first single

"The music is not in the notes,but the silence in between."

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This quote crossed my Facebook feed some days ago and I think it perfectly fits to the song "Misty Hope" of the Rock/Hardcore band Ways. from Paris (France). This is a unique song! Wow, not many bands manage to put out such unique stuff on the first attempt.

Besides putting the silence on the right places it's also the mixture between softer and heavier guitar parts that makes this track sounding so great. The vocalist put's his all and everything into the vocals and it's one of the few times in a videoclip that I have the feeling to stand in the first row where you can feel the rough energy of the musicians coming directly your way.



This is the first single of the bands upcoming EP named "Watching From Afar" which will be available soon via the Bandcamp page of Ways. That's also the place where you can pick up a free download of "Misty Hope" in the audio format of your choice, so don't miss out this chance to grab a great song.

The cover for the EP "Watching From Afar", (c) by Ways. used with kind permission

Make sure to follow them via Facebook or Twitter as well as Instagram for all the latest updates coming along with the impending EP release.

CD Review: Addiction - Addiction (2015)

Short Introduction

Addiction are a Classic Hardrock / Glam formation that is based in Athens, Greece. If you like 80's / 90's bands from that era you'll love them. They're one of the biggest surprises for me this year. They came out of nowhere and immediately struck me like heavy metal thunder with a lot of  positive power. :-)

(c) Addiction, used with kind permission

Summary

Let's have a party - let's have a good time! That's what the tunes on the Addiction album seemed to call at me when I turned on the music. While most of the metal music out there seems to talk about the darker aspects of life and seems to express all the hardships we face this album pushes you up. It's a good dose of positive power and wants to engage the listener to take his life up in a positive attempt.

It comes around with a lot of positive vibes and good feelings, sometimes more sometimes less heavy when it comes to the musical view but always with "Keep pushing forward" attitude. Most of the tracks are set in midtempo format so they can easily used to sing along to them. There also a ballad that made it's way on the album. That one is for the times when you think a lot or just need to relax a bit. It's a fitting difference on the record, a moment to stop from the pumping heavyness for a while. For a quick start and overview on the bands sound I'd suggest you to go with the video for "Bad Addiction". If you liked that make sure to check the samples in the Soundcloud player, "Saturday Night" and Paradise" are good picks.

If you dig Classic Hardrock and Glam Rock from the 80's or 90's you should definitely check this release out. This goes especially if you've been one of those individuals that used to see the german TV show "Hard 'n' Heavy" on Tele5 back in the 90's. I was one of them and I remember that a lot of these bands were shown off back in those days. There was a lot of good feelings hanging in the air which was often was caused by videos of bands like this. Hit the play button and enjoy being in those moments again - also if it's only for one videoclip. Enjoy it anyway - you can never know what comes next in life. 

Player 




 
Purchase Link and Contact Data

You can purchase the CD or a download in high quality wave format directly from the homepage of the band so you're going to support the artist directly if you decide to pick up a copy.

You can follow the band through Facebook or check in to their homepage from time to time to stay up to date about the band's activities.

Groove Thrashers Amentia look into the Eyes of Medusa

So last time I posted here I looked back soundwise on the beginnings of the Thrash Metal scene with the album stream from Aggravator's current output "Populace Destructor".

But how can the Thrash genre go on forwards and evolve further? Maybe a look to Sweden can help here. A band named Amentia currently is in the process of recording for the upcoming release. Two bandmembers should be familar to readers of this blog: Peter Jonsson (guitars) and Peter Wexell (drums). Both were already active in Senate Of Prevail (who are currently on hold) and have made up this new band.

Amentia describes their style on the Facebook page as Groove Thrash Metal. Maybe the groove element can help to bring in some new variations to today's Thrash scene. I think it's also a question if some variations can be integrated into the material. Diversity is what makes songs more attractive, exciting and less monotone in my eyes. Besides that band's playing this style these days are playing it a lot harder and heavier than ever back in the day. I often wonder how they make it possibe to bring in even more power to the sound.

This also goes for the first single Amentia have put out. Entitled "Eyes of Medusa" this is for sure a massive track! I like the heavyness of this one. Ludvig Setterlind's voice sounds hard and dark and I often wonder about the bandwith he is able to sing. But it's great to hear it also comes with some variations in the mood. Very haunting moment when I heard the slower part for the first time. Just check out the video to find out if you agree.



If this video has made you curious longing for more just head over to Amentia's Facebook site. There you can find some more trailers the band has already uploaded for you to enjoy.

Odd Crew releases new album and video "Mark These Words"

Maybe you guys remember that I've written about the crowdfunding campaign of Odd Crew here on my blog some time ago. The campaign was a half-success on the financial side but the band refused to give up.

Problems with Visa's for America also made the original plans impossible but the band managed to work around this as well and re-deceided to record the album in Sweden with the help of Daniel Bergstrand as a producer, mixing was done by Jason Suecof and Alan Douches took care about the mastering of the new material.

The new album entitled "Mark These Words" will see the day of light in two days and you can still pre-order your copy through the band's website for 7,50 Euro plus shipping and handling. The band also opened up a presence of Bandcamp where you can get the songs digitally. Currently two tracks of the new record are available (Mark These Words and Lay On Me).


In the meantime check out the video for the title-track of the record. The refrain is a killer. I like the direct and brutal riffing along with the vocals. Those are kept heavy and hard but it's also great when they go over to the clean part. It's cool to see a vocalist changing without any ado from one style to another. Besides that the groove and push of the drums give a lot of positive energy to the listener. Enjoy. :-)


The band is also going to do some shows in support of the album, here are the exact dates with links to the venues on Facebook.

16.10 - Plovidv - Театъра / The Theater
17.10 - Burgas - Bar Bez Ime / БАР БЕЗ ИМЕ Бургас
22.10 - Bucharest - Question Mark
23.10 - Ruse - Karaoke Star / Караоке Стар
24.10 - Stara Zagora - Club Jam
29.10 - Veliko Turnovo - BAR ROCKA ROLLA
30.10 - Varna - VARNA LIVE CLUB
12.11 - Blagoevgrad - Club UNDERGROUND
21.11 - Sofia - HRISTO BOTEV HALL

For more updates check out the band's Facebook page or go to their official website.

Vanden Plas to release Netherworld II album soon

Vanden Plas is such a dedicated progmetal band, I love the song structures and vocals so much. It feels to me as if their music goes somehow deeper, it has more depth to offer and most of all the tracks are played with a lot of power, always giving it a good balance between progressive elements and the needed agressive and direct parts that keeps the music moving forward and enjoyable for fans of the heavy music style.

They've for years now put out one strong record after another yet it seems not many recognize them. I remember having hear them first on a sampler CD of the german Rock Hard megazine back in 1999 which featured the track "I can see" and was overwhelmed by the way the vocals came out on that one. Over the years I've always had a eye on them, every here and there. Now the time is getting closer for the release of a a new record - the follow up to last years "Netherworld" album. This first trailer gives me chills offering a wide overview on the new CD.



The new release will be called "Chronicles Of The Immortals: Netherworld II" and will see the light of day on 6th November 2015 through Frontiers Records. Here is the tracklist:

VISION 11even * In My Universe
VISION 12elve * Godmaker´S Temptation
VISION 13teen * Stone Roses Edge
VISION 14teen * Blood Of Eden (* All love must die) (* The rite)(* This is the night)
VISION 15teen * Monster
VISION 16teen * Diabolica Comedia
VISION 17teen * Where Have The Children Gone
VISION 18teen * The Last Fight
VISION 19teen * Circle Of The Devil

A first full song "Stone Roses Edge" along with a fine band-performance has been installed on Youtube as well. Make sure to connect with the band through Facebook or see their website from time to time to keep for more news, tourdates and so on.

MONSTER releases fun-packed videoclip

One of the best things a band can do in my eyes is to show their fans how much fun they have on stage. Sure, there are a lot of people out there often being musicians themselves who also take a look on the technical side or how certain parts are played. But the fun-factor is something that can go over to the fans and take them into the show. Hopefully it will animate them to have fun and make them listen to the music so they will take a closer look upon the peformance of a band. That's what happened at least to me several times.

This is exactly what the first ever full featured videoclip captures that the thrash metal band MONSTER has been released! The footage was filmed and cut-together by Jörg Harms at this years edition of the Let the bad times roll festival. (taking place in Lower Saxony, Northern germany every year).

Much heartblood has been put into this one, it's sort of video you only get to see seldom - a lot of emotions from musicians and fans in here. You can even re-feel what happened out there while the band was on stage.


Please support this band by buying their full album "The arrival"  for 5 Euro (plus shipping and handling) as a original pressed CD in a jewelcase. Just contact the band via E-Mail if you'd like to have a copy. You can also have a look upon their Facebook page and follow them there so you won't miss out on what the band will do next.

Tad Morose release first videoclip for the new album St. Demonius

Yes, this time it happily didn't took that long. ;-) After a 10 year's break from releasing a new album Tad Morose returned in 2013 with a powerfull, hard and riff-filled album called "Revenant".

Having played some shows in the meantime the band didn't hesitate to write new songs and has now announced that the next .album "St. Demonius" is ready for release on August 28th 2015. The tracklist goes like this:

1. Bow to the Reaper's Blade
2. Forlorn
3. Where Ignorance Reigns
4. Remain
5. Black Fire Rising
6. Day of Reckoning
7. The Shadows Play
8. Darkness Prevail
9. Fear Subside
10. Dream of Memories
11. The World Is Growing Old
12. Your Own Demise

The album can be pre-ordered through the webshop of Depotz Records in two configurations, one of them is a bundle of the Digipack CD with a poster handsigned by the band along with a proper band T-Shirt with the new album cover on it.

And how is the record going to sound like? Well this question can easily be answered with the brand new video the band has released for the song "Forlorn".

If you want to see the band live you may be happy enough to see them on a European tour that has been announced for September 2015 on Facebook. Check back for the exact dates on that page or keep an eye on this article.

Desperate Journalist introduce album with emotional and message-filled video

I like videos that have a message. Some even show it with including keywords in their promo videos. This particular one hits the feelings very deep with words and faces expressing closely the songs message. Emptiness and loneliness is what I would describe it with. The refrain sticks in your mind with the vocals going up so intensive that it's hard to ignore. But try it out for yourselves, because everybody has a different view on things.



Desperate Journalist consist of two girls and two boys who have bonded in the abandoned wilds of North London. Jo Bevan (vocals), Simon Drowner (bass), Rob Hardy (guitar) and Caz Hellbent (drums) - for 'tis they – have been hauled together by a fearsome instinct for what makes alternative music actually really properly authentically alternative.

They started their journey at the local Negative Creep grunge club night in Finsbury Park on February 23rd 2013. Since those heady, dark days Desperate Journalist have released one EP and two independent singles and played every other shadowy basement in London Town, displaying a bold musical vigour and an admirably chaotic sense of coherence along the way.

The video is a first taste of the self-titled debut album ‘Desperate Journalist’, which was recorded almost entirely live in Soho’s Dean Street Studios, jointly produced alongside Keith TOTP and mixed by the band itself. If that wasn’t organic enough, Desperate Journalist designed their own artwork, get heavily involved in their videos. You can download the digital version of the record already on the well known places like Amazon or itunes. The physical album is going to be released on 26th January 2015 on CD and LP via Fierce Panda Records.

(c) by Desperate Journalist, used with kind permission

The band has some shows coming up, here are the dates:

NOVEMBER 21ST LINCOLN The Scene
NOVEMBER 22ND BIRMINGHAM Actress & Bishop

NOVEMBER 27TH - LONDON Buffalo Bar
DECEMBER 13TH NOTTINGHAM - The Chameleon

Don't miss out the further band's progress. Head over to Facebook to add them your watchlist or check out the band's own website. You may also have a look at the record company's website from time to time.

Dead Bouquet kick off debut album with the first video single

Can you imagine folk and psychedelic elements to fit in well with distortion elements? Well this band called Dead Bouquet has found a way to combine all these elements along with fine melodies and a lot of feelings and emotions. It's music to be remembered. Maybe it's sort of expression of the feeling to be a leave flying in the wind these autumn days...



Also this song comes in a bit more lightweight I like the atmosphere in this one very much. It gives some postives vibes and a bit of redemption feeling also the basics of the track seem to have their roots in a more dark direction. The unusual mixture of the different elements with the acoustic elements together with slight elements of distortion give it this special dark, yet positive feeling to it. The vocals and powerfull drums add the perfect round-up for this track.

The Italian rock band presents their debut album with this video, out on October 27th via Seahorse Recordings, comprised of 13 mystical and nocturnal songs, ranging from psychedelia to folk. As Far As I Know has been produced by Paul Kimble (Grant Lee Buffalo) and mastered by Joe Gastwirt (Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Tom Petty, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys).

(c) by Dead Bouquet, used with kind permission

Dead Bouquet have been playing together since summer of 2012, performing in some of the most relevant clubs in Rome and surroundings, furthermore participating to LazioWave festival at Isola Tiberina. The band will be on the road very soon for their debut album's promotion.

Make sure to stay up to date about all the further activities of the band by joining them on Facebook or see their presence on Bandcamp.

Dead Bouquet are:

Carlo Mazzoli:12-string acoustic guitar, vocals and author

Daniele Toti: bass guitar and backing vocals

Alberto Croce: drums

Diamonds Are Forever return with storybased videoclip from the upcoming album

One of the things I always enjoyed about Heavy Metal and all it's corresponding styles is the redemption feeling it gives. It often has some sort of "cleaning and healing" effect on me and in some way this song perfectly fits as a example for that. After listening to this one I often feel empty but good. Somehow it has a similar effect like Slayer has for me. Their superior musical brutality somehow cuts bad feelings and emotions and keeps you going this way. Let's see how you feel about this band and song.




No more than 3 years ago, the metal band Diamonds Are Forever made their fist appearance on the underground metal stage in their local town of Cluj-Napoca, RO.

Now, after two EP-s released and a live DVD, the band published a first look into the upcoming full length album with the video for "My fragile heart will feed the darkness". The bands next live appearance will be tomorrow 11th October 2014 in their hometown of Cluj-Napoca, Romania at the Flying Circus Pub.

For all of you who are new to this band, they are a metalcore band. Their music is a bit different than common metalcore bands out there, since a lot of their style is based on a combination of powerful vocals and guitar riffing with a lot of melodic riffing in between. You may say a lot of metalcore bands do this too, but Diamonds Are Forever don't use a default song pattern. They don't have one! Most of their songs are formed of non-repeating riffs. That's a bit unusual, but it seems they have found the way to manage them into their style.

Their songs are like a story that takes the listener from point A to point B, but when you reach that final destination, they make it worth you followed.

At the moment the band is preparing their first album and here's a little snippet of what is to come...



If you want to keep a eye on the band have a look on the band's website as well as on Facebook and make sure to check their Youtube channel every here and there.

Metal Hammer unfolds upcoming Mob Rules album

The german section of Metal Hammer megazine presents each day one song from upcoming Mob Rules album, that is set for release on 2012/10/19. You can find the main-site here. Just click on one of the headlines under the main article and it will lead you to one of the new songs. The title of each track is included in the headline.

But there is already more stuff up there for you to check out, so I decided to seize the possibility and give you a round-up here on what has been released so far. First of the record company gives away the title-track of the album "Cannibal Nation" as free download!  Just follow this link ,register and enter the code "MG52K2V". It's well worth it - a typicall Mob Rules awaits you.

Following the fine tradition of putting out a single the band has picked the song "Ice & Fire" this time and also filmed a video to promote the song. Watch it below.



The song has been cut for the video, but the band was so kind to put up the full song on soundcloud for streaming, so here you go.

The digital single does contain the following stuff and can be ordered here. 
1. Ice & Fire (Radio Edit) 2. Ice & Fire 

Update 2012/10/20: This weekend Amazon is giving away the full album as mp3 download for only 5 Euro. Here's the direct link for purchasing "Canninbal Nation" as digital download.

Pegazus

Most people thinking about metal bands from Australia will surely recognize AC/DC or Airbourne when being asked for bands from this country. But there are surely a lot of other bands out there as well. One of them is Pegazus, a band that already been around since the 90's came to my attention with "Wings Of Steel", a track taken from the second CD "Wings of Destiny" that came on a sampler CD of the german Rock Hard magazine back in 1998.

I remember that I liked the song very much for the easy going riff and straight drumming as well as for the high vocals. Sometime later I got the full album and as a little surprise beneath the songs of the album weren't only straight forward songs but also some more complex tunes that needed closer listening to get the full joy of the song. So the band got a place on my "watchlist". I wanted to see how the band would develop further. The next time I should hear new songs from them was a while later when their third CD "Breaking the chains" was available as a bargain. It features a similar structure like the previous album. I would describe them as a straight rocking band with riff-driven songs that have a lot of fine melodies with them as well as great hooklines that one easily can sing-along.

Several more passed that saw the band doing a longer break while they continued their way with some live and best of releases. It shouldn't be 'till 2011 that I got aware of them again through a new videoclip for "Haunting Me" of the actual album "In Metal we trust". I found it while browsing through the Metal Hammer new videoclip section and was surprised that the band was still active yet they had changed thier linup on some positions. Anyway, it's a great song and video but check out for yourselfs:



I hope I'll be able to see them sometime live. They've been added to my "wanting to see them live" list as well. ;-)

For more info on the band check their nicely redesigned website.

Amaranthe

Nearly every day I'm surfing several websites to keep up to date with the Heavy Metal Universe. To name my three most ones used they're RockHard Magazine as well as the well known Metal Hammer and even more the fine Powermetal webzine. So now you know some of my sources. Which are your's?

One of the topics that the Metal Hammer regulary covers is a compilation of Metal Videos that have been released recently. I mostly do look first at the band name. If I don't know the band I do look further for the starting picture that is shown mostly on youtube videos. One of them made me very interested because it showed the face of a beautifull woman. So I guess every man like's to know what stands behind that picture so I started the video. And it gave me the kick I needed to start to the day to day work. The song "Hunger" totally kicks ass I my eyes since it has a nice combination of heavy riffs and powerfull and hacked rhythm drums that fit very good with the female vocals of Elize. On the contrary the dark voice of Jake E giving it all a nice diverse package that covers different styles as well as it makes the song sounding more brutal overall.

The band from Sweden is yet in it's early days having released the self-titled album last year. Let's have a listening and besided that a look at the action-packed video the band shot for the song "Hunger".



As always do look at their official online presence to find out more about the band.

Adrenaline Mob / EP and Video up for streaming

Wow, very powerfull and hard music. That is what first comes to my mind when I listened to this one. And looking to the people that stand behind it, it's rarely surprising that in comes in such a fine quality but it is a surprise that there's only few progressive elements in there. Just look at the actual member list and you'll understand:

Mike Portnoy - Drums
Russell Allen - Vocals
Mike Orlando - guitars

Their first album "Omertá" is about to be released on 3/13/2012 but you can already have a first teaser of what's to be coming up by listening to the songs of the first EP on the widget below.



They did already put out a video, if you like more audiovisual stuff then this one is for you:



After all give their website a click and look around for more stuff or even join the community of the band:

Adrenaline Mob - Official website

Vanden Plas

Nowadays most people discover new music through the various possibilities of the internet. But back in the day the only chance was listening to cover CD's from magazine's such as Rock Hard or Metal Hammer.

One day I listened to the track 'I can see' from Vanden Plas featured on the Rock Hard cover CD. It fastly got me through the killer riff along with the great atmosphere the refrain provided with the special long stretched vocals mixed up with backing vocals. Ever since the band's on my mind and they did even made me more interested in their music in the following years.

By now they have their first ever videoclip put out. It's a song from their latest album entitled 'The Seraphic Clockwork'. Let's see if it will make you interested in more of them.



For more info on the band visit their homepage at:

http://www.vandenplas.de