Victoria K offer live DVD for pre-order

One more idea to enjoy some live music these days is grabbing your trusty DVD player, put in a disc and there you go.

These option for sure goes more for the bigger bands since they often have live recordings on hold that they can put out now. But I was surprised to read that the symphonic metal newcomers Victoria K are about to put out a Digital Versatile Disc as well.

Victoria K surprise us with a live DVD release in January 2021.

 

The release is called "Live Isolation Concert". It was recorded during the pandemic crisis and includes all the songs from the debut album "Essentia" unleashed during April 2020.

The music of the band is for dedicated fans of symphonic metal with intensive female vocals inside of it. It's emotional and sensible all the way. 

The DVD is available for pre-order here: https://bit.ly/VictoriaK_DVD

The live show will be also released as a digital album on the major online stores.

Track Listing:
1. The Haunting
2. Mist Filled Sky
3. Forsaken
4. Humanity
5. Surreal
6. Freaks
7. Shroud of Solitude
8. Lacuna
9. Freedom Uncharted
10. Matrix 

Update 22.01.2021: 

Finally one full track called "Freaks" has been put out for preview. I think it underlines that the DVD priced at 12,99 Euro plus shipping and handling could be well worth it. 

 

"Freaks" is also available for stream and immediate download
Spotify - http://spoti.fi/3q3ezmX
Apple Music - https://apple.co/35pSYgo 

Static-X distress the soul with new single "All these years"

In a time when stress takes so much of us it is more urgent than ever to put
something against these feelings. Something that lifts you back up again.
Something that makes the soul shine.

The new Static-X Single "All these years" does that for me. It has this
calming and coming back down to earth feeling in the verses. The heavier and aggressive side comes back in when the refrain takes it's place.

It's the latest preview to the upcoming output "Project Regeneration Vol. 1"
which has been postponed to be released on July 10th 2020.

It's currently up for pre-order digitally through Apple Music, Amazon or in limited physical formats such as marbled vinyl or signed CDs. The coverart has been updated since my last post about the band being victim of thiefs robbing their equipment.

The new cover fits better to the music of the band in my ears.

PROJECT REGENERATION Volume 1 features 12 brand new STATIC-X tracks, containing many of the final vocal performances and musical compositions of Wayne Static along with the original Wisconsin Death Trip lineup of bassist Tony Campos, drummer Ken Jay, and guitarist Koichi Fukuda. Both volumes are being worked on by longtime STATIC-X producer Ulrich Wild.

Track List:
1. Regeneration
2.Hollow (Project Regeneration)
3. Worth Dyin For
4. Terminator Oscillator
5.All These Years
6. Accelerate
7. Bring You Down (Project Regeneration)
8. My Destruction
9. Something of My Own (Project Regeneration)
10. Otsego Placebo
11. Follow
12. Dead Souls

100 remastered vinyl copies of Corners Of Sanctuary's Galloping Hordes available

Some opportunity's only come once your way in life... This experience from real life may also count for the vinyl album offer of Old School metal revivalists Corners Of Sanctuary.

This is how the originally intended cover artwork looks like

Currently 100 copies are up for pre-order as a crowdfunding campaign the band set up on Qrates.com. If you decide to pick up a copy for 17.98 Dollar plus shipping and handling you'll be rewarded with remastered sound, optimised for vinyl by Bill Metoyer. A bonus track plus a alternative cover round out the package.

It is available until 30th June 2019. You can stream the whole record on the Qrates page if you're not sure about the album yet. Or stream the title track right here.

In other news the band is working on a new album plus further singles and will continue to play shows in the upcoming months. This band is for sure all about taking chances.

April 26 - Threatpoint Benefit - Wilkes-Barres, PA
April 29 - McStew’s - Levittown, PA
(supporting Blaze Bayley formerly of Iron Maiden)
May 4 - TBA
May 17-18 - Finger Lakes Metal Fest 2019 - Clyde, NY
June 6 – Cherry Street Station - Wallingford, CT
June 7 – Trish Stock – Oswego, NY
June 8 – 33 Golden Street – New London, CT
June 28 - TBA
June 29 - Basement Transmissions - Erie, PA
July 27 - Vinyl Closet Records Metal Fest - Norristown, PA
August 30 - Border Bar - Wilkes-barres, PA
September 11 - Skinny’s – North Hollywood, CA
September 12 - TBA
September 13 - Whiskey – West Hollywood, CA (supporting The Iron Maidens)
September 14 - Malone’s House of Metal – Santa Ana, CA

Black JuJu Inc. offer new album on green vinyl

There are still wonders happening in this digital age... The coldwave metal band Black JuJu Inc. is currently taking pre-orders for a limited run of their album "Crosses and Crossroads" on green vinyl!

This fits perfectly to the optic of the album cover. The vinyl on demand service Diggers Factory gives the band the chance to release this edition. You can order here. Only if 100 pre-orders are reached the vinyl can be produced, otherwise you will be re-funded. There's a time frame ending in 29 days for the chance of placing your pre-order.

A look on the pre-order website for the green vinyl edition of "Crosses and Crossroads"

The vinyl will be numbered. Compared to the tracklist of the album, there is a song that changes on the vinyl. The song "Don’t Fear" will be in the tracklist of the vinyl and will replace the song "Rude Awakening". So you'll get a song that's not to be heard on the standard edition of the record if you decide to pick this rare item up!

If you've not heard the band before here's a track to check out. It has a cool riff and rhythm with it also the atmosphere remains tight with the ongoing guitarwork. The vocals give it a roasty note rounding out the package perfectly. It's for fans of Alice in Chains & Prong.


You can listen to more songs of the album on the vinyl pre-order campaign page.
Also check out the Facebook page of the band.

Shower Sharks coming to a bathroom near you

In these all too hard times we're living in having a laugh is great. Here is a little preview of a horror/comedy short film that is currently in the works by musician Noah "Shark" Robertson, known as drummer of bands such as Motograter and The Browning and founder of Zombie Shark Records and Swimming with Sharks Records. It comes around a bit funny and slightly scary so it made me curious about what is coming up there.

The poster for the horror/comedy short film "Shower Sharks", (c) by Noah Robertson, used with kind permission

Shower Sharks synopsis:

Noah, a shark-obsessed, struggling musician, has begun writing a screenplay for a low-budget feature film entitled, Shark Slayer. Scrambling to complete his script, his town of Surf Beach, California is turned upside down when news spreads of a small, unknown species of aggressive shark making its way up shower drains and attacking people while they are bathing. Noah remains skeptical, until he comes face to face with the menacing monsters himself. Will he complete his epic masterpiece, or succumb to the peril of the Shower Sharks?

Until 7nd of May 2018 a GoFundMe Campaign is running that let's you pre-order a copy of Shower Sharks as DVD. 15 Dollars a copy are asked for to cover the costs of finishing the movie, printing it on Digital Versatile Discs as well as submitting it to proper festivals. The film is slated to hit horror movie festivals in October of 2018 .If you order you'll have your name in the credits and will get a signed copy on DVD with bonus material.

As for me this looks cool because low budget often means you have to work around stuff and things and can not rely on special effcts alone. That can end up in something different compared to mass market releases. Finally: how will the soundtrack turn out like? Well let's keep a eye on the Facebook page of Noah "Shark" Robertson to keep up to date about what's going on in the Shower Sharks camp. 

XII Boar return as Twelve Boar with new album

These days the news reached my inbox that a new album of UK Rock 'n' Rollers Twelve Boar is on the way. The band decided to re-brand from XII Boar to Twelve Boar and announced the release of their third effort "No Forgiveness" (this means that the band made one album each year - going strong in my eyes).

In the words of the band we can expect "brash, Motörhead-esque riffage, huge sing-along choruses and an overwhelming sense of fun injected into every song." So far they shared the artwork and new logo which reminds me of old C64 and Amiga Computer games - I loved that thing on first sight.

The cover of the new Twelve Boar record made by Rahadil Hermana, (c) by Twelve Boar, used with kind permission

‘No Forgiveness’ was produced once again by Chris Fielding and is set for release on Friday 8th September 2017.  Pre-orders are now available from the band at http://xiiboar.bigcartel.com.

Track Listing:
1.       Steppin' Up
2.       Golden Goose
3.       The Curtain Call
4.       No Forgiveness
5.       Elders From The Deep
6.       Snake On A Lead
7.       All the Heavy Griftin'
8.       Panama
9.       Hellspeed Truckin'

Preview pages of James Hetfield biography surfaced

James Hetfield is for sure a outstanding personality in the world of metal. Before becoming known as one of the greatest metal guitarists in the world, Hetfield surpassed several barriers throughout his adolescence including his parents’ divorce, his mother’s untimely death and severe alcoholism.

It is for sure interesting to read how he went along with all the stuff that crossed his path. I always enjoy a look at the beginnings of people. It's exciting to read how they lived their lives, which decison lead to which consequence and how other stuff found their way into their lifes. Some info and story of that kind is about to come our way with the book "So Let It Be Written: The Biography of Metallica's James Hetfield". After months of speculation from fans and critics, preview pages of the introduction and chapter 1 are now available exclusively on CLRVYNT.

Update 2017-06-04: A excerpt of chapter six along with some pictures takes out of the release have been published online at the pages of Noisey. This part of the book talks about the creation of the second Metallica album "Ride The Lightning" and offers some nice insight into the making of.

The cover of "So Let It Be Written: The Biography of Metallica's James Hetfield", (c) by Lesser Gods, used with kind permission

In the first biography of a living Metallica member the author Mark Eglinton uses exclusive, firsthand interviews with a number of artists and celebrities who have crossed paths with Hetfield including members of Metallica, Chuck Billy (Testament), Charlie  Benante (Anthrax), Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains), Rex Brown (Pantera), and more to construct the definitive account of Hetfield.

So Let It Be Written: The Biography of Metallica’s James Hetfield will hit shelves and online stores on April 11, 2017 via Lesser Gods. The publication can be pre-ordered via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indies.

CD Review: Brutai - Born (Modern Metal/2016)

Seldomely has a band impressed me the way Brutai did with their first album. Usually the first previews of many records sound good but the finished album later on may not be as fullfilling as you hoped for.

Introduction
Happily that's not the same with "Born". Having heard the first track "Deep" I was thrilled for more to come. Seeing that the band was very busy with playing gigs wherever they had the opportunity and other stuff they had to work around like a writing blockade I thought that a EP would wait around the corner. But what we have here is a full album and that's even more impressive if you keep in mind that all of this happened in a time of under one year!

The cover of Brutai's first full length "Born", (c) by Brutai, used with kind permission

Summary
So what's inside of the package? First of all it's a modern metal record but one with a special note. While most of the songs have a rough edge to the riffs and the pushing, uncompromising rhythm it's the vocal's core that always centers the music back to some melodic and softer tonality. It's great to hear that along with some catchy melodies the record always remains one you love to listen to. Most of all the sound remains natural and intact not letting the all too modern production ruin the product in the end. You never have the impression that it's overpolished or impossible to play this but instead always can imagine that this is handcrafted music of real humans.

The first three tracks are a good intro in a row. The album slowly takes you into the world of Brutai. With every step you sink in further. While "Relapse" is a rhythm-oriented opener to the album, "Deep" adds the progressive elements just to finally push you to the riffing monster "Of Ashes".

The absolute peak of the record is reached with the songs starting with "Lucidity" up to "Dear Emily" - all the tracks grow further from one song to each other. They're all heavy and will give you a great feeling through the whole duration. I simply had to headbang to these tunes.

The middle sees us taking a breath with the modern half ballad "Valediction", some pretty complex piece of music yet is has a infectious melody spreading all along the track. Just when you thought it's over after the eight track "Over now" the band returns for two more songs.

"Visitors" has some great keyboard melody going through the whole track - it touches you and has been circulating in my mind for a long time. "The Border" is the heaviest track and a full surprise to the package. It's a long pushing heavy crusher that never seems to end but it gives you this special feeling to it that the band has put out something great with the debut "Born" and that you definitely need to see them live.

Purchase Link
Make sure to pick your copy early. All CD and T-shirt bundles are £20 for a limited time only... Prices will increase after 'Born' is released on November 25th. You can place your pre-order here.

Album stream
I've picked the track "Of Ashes" as a quick check- in song for you. Besides the great music it comes with a nice animated album cover. If you'd like to listen to the full album, just check out the Facebook page for the Heavy Metal Underdogs Blog - at this direct link you can hear the whole album that the band has uploaded to YouTube.


Contact data
Make sure to keep a eye on the band through Facebook and mark your calenders when the band hit's the road in January 2017 with The Devil You Know in the UK. For detailed tourdates check my post.

Arcade Messiah previews new album III

Instrumental metal albums are a exciting sort of releases for me. Since they focus completly on the music they have to work differently to keep the interest of the listener. If you've ever experimented with sound snippets on your PC you surely know what I mean and how hard it is to fill just one minute with instrumental music that is something worth your time.

A new album of John Bassett's project Arcade Messiah is about to be unleashed this November. It's the third installment entiled "III" and we can finally catch some short snippets of the record in the player below. While listening to the music the video also reveals the artwork by Michael Kerbow. The pre-order phase starts November 10th 2016 on Bandcamp.

Make sure to follow the next steps of the project through Twitter or Facebook.

Divides talk about being trapped in the past in new video

I've talked already in a previous post about the band Divides and their ability to bring on topics related things happening in our lifes and the ongoing changes in them through their music and videoclips. The newest output, the second single from the upcoming album "Brokentooth" is no exception from that.

This time they focussed on the danger of being trapped in the past by things that happend in those days of your life in the song "Echoes Fade". "The lyrics for this song were written in pieces since we moved down from Alaska," says bassist Joe Jackson. "Transitions anywhere can be hard, but the worst part is being away from the people you love. These lyrics in particular were really therapeutic for me to write, I'm reminded of that every time we play it. I wanted it to be less about the tragedy of absence and loss, and more so about not letting yourself get trapped in the past and the memories that hold you there. Having our friend Chris add vocals to the song really helped convey that message."

The expression of the face of Chris James, all the desperation and sadness makes it clear what the lyrics want to say. I also like the way the memories are shown in there with the use of the polaroid pictures hanging everywhere he goes. It's like the past that can follow you everywhere you go. Happily there's a way to get around that...



You can pre-order the album through itunes.

Also don't miss out the chance to catch the band live on the upcoming shows in the USA.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

Sat Jul 18th – The Viking Bar, Spokane, WA

Wed Jul 29th – The Analog Cafe, Portland, OR

Wed Aug 5th – The Charleston, Bremerton, WA

with The Quiet Cull

Thu Aug 6th – The Town, Tacoma, WA (21+)

with The Quiet Cull

Fri Aug 7th – Vans Warped Tour @ Portland Expo Center, Portland, OR

Sat Aug 8th – McCoy’s Tavern, Olympia, WA (21+)

with The Quiet Cull

Thu Aug 13th – The Ash Street, Portland, OR (21+)

with The Quiet Cull

Fri Aug 14th – The Fun House, Seattle, WA (21+)

with The Quiet Cull

(c) by Divides, used with kind permission

Make sure to stay in connection with the band on Facebook, Twitter or through the band's website.

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.