Tag: GATES OF HELL RECORDS

French Epic Metallers HERZEL Join GATES OF HELL RECORDS

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Gates of Hell Records  is proud to announce the signing of French epic metallers HERZEL. The label will release the band’s first studio album sometime in 2020.

HERZEL was formed in 2013 by vocalist Thomas Guillesser, who was then joined by drummer Ion Philippon, guitarist Kévin Le Vern and bassist Mordiern Le Dissez. Second guitarist Gurvan Lardeux was the last piece to the puzzle, and shortly thereafter, HERZEL got to work on its debut demo, “Unis dans la gloire”, which was released in 2015.

Influenced by U.S. metal stalwarts MANILLA ROAD, WARLORD, QUEENSRŸCHE, HEIR APPARENT, OMEN and VIRGIN STEELE, as well as Celtic and French traditional music, HERZEL offers a unique angle to epic metal. Their songs are sung entirely in French, but fans of the aforementioned bands will no doubt find something special lurking within HERZEL’s sound.

“We think that the ‘unique’ sound of HERZEL comes out from the different types of music we listen to and the fact that we don’t put up walls during the composition process,” says Philippon. “We want it to be sometimes like U.S. metal with fast and catchy riffs, other times more melodic and epic with ideas that come from Celtic or prog music. Ultimately, we want to play music that sounds epic, that tells the story of heroes, of legends from Bretagne.”

HERZEL was brought to Cruz Del Sur’s attention by one of the first fans of the band, Luis Ruvio. At the 2018 installment of the Keep It True festival in Germany, Ruivo introduced Philippon to Cruz Del Sur owner Enrico Leccese. “Since I already knew of the label, I knew Cruz Del Sur would be a good fit for our band,” notes Philippon. “A few months later, we traded a few more messages and that was it”.

Since the 2015 release of “Unis dans la gloire”, HERZEL has been gradually working on new songs. Philippon estimates there has been occasions when the band has spent six months or up to a year working on compositions, fine-tuning the riffs, melodies and vocal lines. But, the finish line is drawing near: HERZEL has completed the songwriting process for their first-ever full-length album.

“It will be an album with five new songs,” says Philippon. “Three of the songs will be part of a trilogy about a hero called ‘Herzel.’ Just like the demo, the lyrics will be a melting pot of legends and historical facts that took place in Bretagne.”

TRAVELER Hits Studio; New Album Due In 2020

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Upstart Canadian metallers TRAVELER are currently recording their second full-length album, due in March 2020 via Gates Of Hell Records. The band’s 2019 self-titled debut was released to critical acclaim, with Toilet Ov Hell hailing it as a “starbreaking smash” and Metal Observer calling it a “strong contender for album of the year.”

“It’s been an amazing year,” says guitarist, founding member and primary songwriter Matt Ries. “It has exceeded our expectations way beyond what we thought, and is a really good introduction to what’s to come! Playing Western Canada, to Chicago, all the way to Germany, it’s been a great learning experience on how to improve our shows. It’s been an amazing ride. We can’t wait to keep this train rollin’.”

According to Ries, TRAVELER’s new album is “nearly completely written,” with the band needing to tighten up a few things while they continue to track drums. Like their self-titled album, Jan Loncick will be manning the production board. “We will be doing this similar to what we did last time, except we’ll be stepping up the production just a little more,” says Ries. “No triggers, though. Never triggers. But Jan knows what we want and how to deliver the goods. We’ve always had great chemistry with him so why fix what ain’t broke?

 

“The songs are more in the same vein, but with more dynamics to the structures,” he continues. “There are some blazing fast songs and some slower, feely-tunes, and some right in the middle. There’s more to work with this time around.”

Ries and TRAVELER have more to work with largely because the band had some leftover songs from the self-titled album. Furthermore, there has been additional input from vocalist Jean-Pierre Abboud, who has taken over most of the lyrical duties, and bassist Dave Arnold, who has contributed a song from his previous band, STRIKER.

“Also, our new friend JP Fortin of DEAF DEALER has gifted us a song of his that never made it to a DEAF DEALER album,” notes Ries. “It’s an absolute honor to do this for him. So, with the two songs I didn’t write, it alleviated some pressure to take on all the writing again. It’s a way different approach this time around with JP and Dave’s help. I still don’t know how most of these will sound when it’s complete, which is a little nerve-racking, but exciting at the same time.”

 

Ries says TRAVELER is almost done booking their 2020 “Warriors Of The North” European tour. The band will also be playing the “Hell’s Heroes” festival in Texas later in 2020. Coupled with the new album, some new art and merch and 2020 is looking bright for TRAVELER. “It’s going to be a banger,” says Ries. “We’re stoked to see everyone there. Thank you all for the support!”

German Speedsters TORPËDO Join GATES OF HELL RECORDS

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Gates Of Hell Records is proud to announce the signing of Nuremberg, Germany speed metallers TORPËDO. The label will re-release the band’s 2019 “Mechanic Tyrants” demo in early 2020 with brand-new cover art.
Originally formed in November 2018 as a side-project with the goal of covering old-school metal songs while peppering in a few of their own compositions, TORPËDO became a serious band once its members realized how strong their chemistry was. The band got to work on the “Mechanic Tyrants” demo — it sold out quickly, prompting TORPËDO to go on a search for a record company.

“We wrote to several labels we thought would fit our band and got to choose between three or four of them,” says bassist Danny Keck. “In the end, we settled for Gates Of Hell for several reasons: the medium they wanted to release the demo (CD and vinyl), they have a good reputation and they signed a lot of bands that we like personally like TRAVELER, VULTURES VENGEANCE and PULVER.”

“Mechanic Tyrants” was recorded in a basement studio of the band’s Nuremberg hometown. (“Everything was improvised down there; there wasn’t even a toilet — we just used the sink,” laughs Keck.) The members of TORPËDO (who are rounded out by vocalist/guitarist Flo Fait, second guitarist Alex Starbreaker and drummer Phil Srešý) took a truly hands-on approach: They mixed and mastered the demo themselves, leading to its raw, but natural feel, one that harnesses the band’s influences of NWOBHM and speed metal.

The one difference between the original release of “Mechanic Tyrants” and the Gates Of Hell Records version is the album cover. The band has decided to update the cover art with a drawing courtesy of Fait. “The original cover is totally ugly which was the reason we used it in the first place,” says Keck. “We thought it was funny. To be honest, we still think it’s funny. Never had we thought that we would receive such good feedback. So, we figured that since this was going to be a re-release, we need to come up with a better cover, especially since it will be released on vinyl.”
Keck says TORPËDO already has five new songs in the can and several more in the works. In the meantime, the young thrashers will be doing what they do best: bringing their brand of metal in front of a live audience.
“I guess people in front of the stage can describe it better than the guys on stage, but I’ll try it anyway: I would say our shows are energetic, with lots of movement and headbanging on stage,” wraps Keck. “And honest. I think we do a very honest live show. We totally believe in what we do up there on stage and stand behind it one-hundred percent.”

SKELATOR Inks Deal With GATES OF HELL RECORDS; New Album ‘Cyber Metal’ Due In June

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(Cover art illustration and design by Dordji Bowles and Ryan Rich)

Veteran west coast metallers SKELATOR has signed with Gates Of Hell Records for the release of their fifth studio album, “Cyber Metal”. The album is due June 14 in European territories and June 21 in North America.

Formed in 1998, SKELATOR has capably flown the flag of never-say-die true metal, harnessing Jason Conde-Houston’s stratospheric vocal range, dueling guitar harmonies and battle-tested rhythms. SKELATOR originally met Cruz Del Sur Music/Gates Of Hell owner Enrico Leccese in 2013, who relayed word that SLOUGH FEG leader Mike Scalzi suggested the label sign the band. Fast-forward six years and the two parties have joined forces for “Cyber Metal”.

“Creating ‘Cyber Metal’ was a long process for us, not just recording and writing, but finding the right lineup as well,” says Conde-Houston. “We started writing for the album in 2016 but had two incidents of needing to find a bass player to round out the lineup which effectively put a stop to the writing process. Luckily in 2017, we found Darin Wall and he brought the driving bass that we needed to solidify the lineup. His playing immediately locked in with Pat’s [Seick] ‘rock bomb’ drumming style and enabled Robbie [Houston] and Rob [Steinway] to focus in on delivering the guitar harmonies and heavy riffs and allowed us to shape the band’s sound into what we have always wanted. I can say without hesitation that this current lineup of the band is the most talented and cohesive that it has ever been.”

With the goal of making “Cyber Metal” their “most polished effort to date,” SKELATOR has assembled a batch of songs that deftly combine modern German power metal (GRAVE DIGGER, PRIMAL FEAR) as well as classic influences such as JUDAS PRIEST and RIOT. The result is an album with no shortage of screaming vocals, high-flying guitar solos, thunderous bass, gated drums and even extra doses of keyboards.

The album was recorded throughout 2018 between a variety of studios, including drums at Hangar 12 in Mountlake Terrace, Washington and vocals with Matt Roach at Rain City Recorders in Vancouver, British Columbia. The rest of the tracking was handled by the guitar duo of Houston and Steinway, who eventually put the finishing touches on the album this past December. “It was a long grueling process but it was well worth it because now we have the best sounding SKELATOR record to date,” says Conde-Houston.

Thematically, Conde-Houston says SKELATOR had one rule: No songs about swords, unless they are laser swords. “We touch on movies and comics that have inspired us since we were kids in the ‘80s. Songs like ‘Akira’, ‘Highlander’ and ‘Seven Scars’ are all obvious nerd-out lyrics based on decades of watching the same movies over and over. But the songs are still anthems and we still have at least one track about playing true metal.”

Now past the 20-year mark as a band, “Cyber Metal” finds SKELATOR at the top of their game with the same drive and passion as when they started. “The hard part about keeping a band together for 20 years is the fact that we are all getting older and have more and more responsibilities,” concludes Conde-Houston. “But the beauty of having this band for so long is that we have a great legacy of albums to share with the world, and we all enjoy what we do and have the drive to keep doing it. As hard as it was to create this new album, it is a joy to listen to. This is our most ambitious record and the catchiest as well. I think it will please SKELATOR fans new and old. Even if you are a ‘Give Me Metal Or Give Me Death’, purest you’ll be still be singing along to tracks like ‘Cast Iron’ or ‘Cyber Samurai’.”

 

“Cyber Metal” track listing:

  1. Cyber Samurai
  2. Cast Iron
  3. The Hammer
  4. Highlander
  5. Akira
  6. Erlkönig
  7. Seven Scars
  8. Psychic Silver Wheels

 

IRON GRIFFIN To Release ‘Curse Of The Sky’ In March: track streaming!

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IRON GRIFFIN, the vintage metal project from MAUSOLEUM GATE drummer Oskari Räsänen, will release its first full-length, “Curse Of The Sky” on March 22 via Gates Of Hell Records.

LISTEN TO “REIGN OF THUNDER” on BANDCAMP!

 

The follow-up to the band’s 2017 self-titled EP, the instrumentation for “Curse Of The Sky” was recorded in July of 2018 at Räsänen’s rehearsal room in Kuopio, Finland. Vocals were tracked in Joensuu, while synthesizers were recorded in Helsinki. Like the self-titled EP, “Curse Of The Sky” finds Räsänen once again handling all instrumentation and recording the album himself. He is joined by a new face, female vocalist Maija Tiljander, who he discovered several years ago singing European power metal covers in a Finnish bar. Impressed, he took a mental note of Tiljander’s abilities and when it came time to work on “Curse Of The Sky”, he felt compelled to track the vocalist down.

“I found her through social media and straightly asked if she would be interested in an album project like this,” he says. “She responded, ‘Of course I am!’ Long story short, I did not know her before, I took a bus to Joensuu with my portable recording equipment and we had a pleasant demo session. I was really impressed with her abilities and sound and how greatly she adapted my ideas. Maija’s vocals give really unique twist to IRON GRIFFIN. This kind of metal is enchanted with powerful and high-pitched vocals is something really unique and cool.”

“Curse Of The Sky” traverses the familiar road of classic, proto-metal, with Rasanen’s savvy songwriting being the guide as he takes the listener through songs of fantasy and folk tales. Inspired by U.S. power metal and progressive folk/rock, Räsänen also looked toward doom metal for atmosphere and melancholy. “I tried to channel epic-ness in the instrumentation and especially in the vocals. I was highly influenced by the vocals in MAJESTIC RYTE, ENCHANTER on their ‘Defenders Of The Realm’ album and STORMBRINGER’s ‘Stealer Of Souls’. But on the other hand, folk bands like PENTANGLE, RENAISSANCE, MELLOW CANDLE, COMUS, MIDWINTER, CHIMERA, MORITA DOJI, HAKO YAMASAKI have all stuck so hard in my subconscious. If you’re aware of this kind of music, you might hear something similar and familiar in ‘Curse Of The Sky’.”

While he’s very much comfortable in a full band environment like MAUSOLEUM GATE, in IRON GRIFFIN, Räsänen admits that working alone does present its share of obstacles, especially when he wants to try new ideas out. But, through the process of elimination and sheer perseverance, Räsänen is often able to emerge with songs he can stand by, which is why he will continue to do all instrumentation himself.

“The best thing about doing music by yourself is that there are no boundaries, you can do whatever you want,” he says. “There is no one presenting bad opinions or shitty riffs, ha-ha! If you want to make even more over-the-top vocal melodies or anything weird and un-acceptable, you can just do it. No compromises have to be done. When working as a full band, it’s always about making compromises and struggling through what is good and what is not from everybody’s opinion. That is why making your own music in your own ways is really refreshing. At least for me it is. Still, the greatest motivation to make a full-length was to challenge myself and become better both in composing music and playing various instruments.”

 

“Curse Of The Sky” track listing:

1. Prelude
2. Reign of Thunder
3. Forgotten Steel
4. Lost Legion
5. Curse of the Sky
6. Dawn of Struggle
7. To the Path of Glory

BOOZE CONTROL To Release GATES OF HELL RECORDS Debut “Forgotten Lands” In February

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German metallers BOOZE CONTROL have set a February 22 release date for their fourth full-length album and first for Gates Of Hell Records, “Forgotten Lands”. The album was recorded in October 2017 at Overlodge Recording Studio in Harz Mountains, Germany, with Martin Schnella handling engineering duties.

“Forgotten Lands” is the embodiment of a band now in full songwriting stride. BOOZE CONTROL’s engaging blend of NWOBHM-inspired classic metal shines through on the album’s ten cuts. “The two previous albums really helped us find and define our style as a band,” says vocalist/guitarist David Kuri. “We feel that we got it now, so ‘Forgotten Lands’ is less of a search and more of an arrival. This doesn’t mean that it’s boring now — on the contrary, it allowed us to be more confident when deliberately diverging from that style, so there is quite some experimenting going on on top of the solid heavy metal foundation we defined for ourselves.”

Kuri says BOOZE CONTROL (who are rounded out by second guitarist Jendrik Seiler, bassist Steffen Kurth and drummer Lauritz “The Lord” Jilge) often come up with songs during rehearsal where they swap riffs and ideas. Some of the songs on “Forgotten Lands” stem back to the band’s 2013 “Heavy Metal” and 2016 “The Lizard Rider” albums, but always go through the same process with Kuri and fellow guitarist Jendrik Seiler adding finishing touches. One element on “Forgotten Lands” is sure to stand out: BOOZE CONTROL has adopted a much more serious lyrical tone than their previous efforts.

“‘Forgotten Lands’ mostly tells fictional stories inspired by books, movies, television, video games or scientific findings,” says Kuri. “The title song — a first for us — and ‘Slaying Mantis’ specifically give some context to the album artwork. ‘Playing With Fire’ is the only more ‘worldly’ song, in the sense that it is inspired by recent geopolitical events, though I wouldn’t call the song itself political and BOOZE CONTROL definitely isn’t. There are also a lot of small cross-references between the songs, some of which actually have a meaning while others just send you on a fun journey of interpreting the songs in a broader context.

“Thematically, we also work with the topics of discovery and arrival in the lyrics. The title song is about discovering the new, even after you have already made some headway. Songs like ‘Spellbound’ and ‘Slaying Mantis’ expand on that and hopefully convey that we are still trying to find new approaches to both music and life, while building on what we have already found.”

The “Forgotten Lands” cover art was created by Dimitar Nikolov (Keep It True, ROSS THE BOSS, STEELWING, SACRAL RAGE). Nikolov was asked to create the “Forgotten Lands” album cover due to the overwhelming response to the band’s previous two album covers, which he was also responsible for.

“Dimitar is a great help in shaping the current identity of the band,” says Kuri. “I think the idea of depicting the confrontation with the giant Praying Mantis was there first, and then quickly sparked the idea of the album title. The title track wasn’t planned, but just so happened, and turned out to be a great opener. The artwork shows the same fighting woman as the last two albums, with two novelties: First, she’s going in close this time, not relying on ranged combat. Second, you can see her face for the first time. Both of these facts are highly metaphorical for the way that BOOZE CONTROL has developed.”

Next year, BOOZE CONTROL will celebrate ten years a band. Remarkably, they’ve been able to keep the same lineup, all the while, building a steady following across mainland Europe. “Forgotten Lands” may represent a new conceptual frontier for the band, but the same unbending, memorable metal is still in place, a lot of which has been forged through hard work the last ten years.

“There is a ton of things we have learned along the way,” finishes Kuri. “I think the most important one for me would be to talk to people as much as you can: other bands, promoters, bookers, and of course, your fans. Sharing experience and stories is not only great fun, but the best chance to grow you can get.”