Tag: heavy metal

Seattle’s SKELATOR To Release ‘Blood Empire’ EP and Reissue ‘King Of Fear’ On Vinyl In September

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Seattle’s SKELATOR will release the new “Blood Empire” EP and reissue their fourth studio album, “King Of Fear” on Sept 23 via Gates Of Hell Records — a double-dose of epic speed metal!

The “Blood Empire” EP was recorded in September and October 2021 at the band’s rehearsal studio and home studios. The album was mixed by guitarist Robbie Houston, with mastering by Collin Jordan of The Boiler Room Mastering. The cover art was created by Max Nazaryan.

Like so many of their contemporaries, SKELATOR’s 2020 plans — including a tour in support of their 2019 “Cyber Metal” album — were thwarted by the pandemic. It prompted the band to hunker down and focus on new material while also dealing with a lineup change.

“We had the framework of a song called ‘Vengeance’ which later became ‘The First Empire’,’ says guitarist Rob Steinway. “This song was our catalyst for the rest of the songs that appear on the EP. During the first bit of 2020, we parted ways with our bassist and had our friend Leona [Hayward] join. Most of 2020 and 2021 were spent working on songs remotely, exchanging files, and recording demos until restrictions in our area were eased and we were able to rehearse in person again and actually record. After completing the music for ‘The First Empire’, we began working on ‘Good Day To Die’ as our second song, which went through several revisions as well but was also the first songs that had completely written music and lyrics before we even played through the entire thing in person as a group. ‘Deeds Of Honor’ and ‘Bloodwine’ were written and finished at the same time.”

Steinway describes “Blood Empire” as “less futuristic” sounding than “Cyber Metal”; drawing influence from the epic heavy metal and thrash influenced sounds of SKELATOR’s early releases and also notes the production is less pristine. Vocalist Jason Conde-Houston notes that “Cyber Metal” was inspired by German power metal bands GAMMA RAY, GRAVE DIGGER and PRIMAL FEAR with sci-fi and ’80s movies, whereas “Blood Empire” tackles new lyrical themes.

“The EP is straight-up inspired by Klingon lore from the entire ‘Star Trek’ franchise,” he says. “It’s a bit more primitive in nature, but still with some very technical skills involved. I’d say that the two epic journeys will impress more than we have in the past.”

“King Of Fear” will be brought to life on vinyl — a long overdue happening considering the number of requests SKELATOR fielded from fans to have the album on this format. The album has also been purposely re-mastered for vinyl and will feature expanded cover art.

“‘King of Fear’ had only been released on CD and digital download — we desperately wanted to release it on vinyl, but we struggled to find anyone that was wanting to work with us on that,” says Steinway. “At the time of its original release, we weren’t officially on any label, just collaborating with Swords & Chains Records to get the CD distributed. Every show we played, people always ask if we had ‘King Of Fear’ on vinyl yet, along with requests from people to our social media pages. I think we all have personally said, ‘Sometime soon; we really want to release it on vinyl’ hundreds of times. We approached Gates Of Hell with the idea and they were receptive and helped us bring it to life. The art we had is great on CD, don’t get me wrong, but having a larger version will really be a treat and the detail will stick out a lot more.”

 

Outside of the release of “Blood Empire” and reissue of “King Of Fear”, SKELATOR is also planning on making a return to the live stage.

“It’s been two years and I think our fans deserve to hear some Heavy Metal Madness once again,” says Conde-Houston. “We already have song ideas for the next release so there is no stopping this train. We will continue to deliver new material to the masses as long as there is oxygen in our lungs.”

“Empire Of Blood” track listing:

 

  1. Deeds Of Honor
  2. Good Day To Die
  3. The First Empire
  4. Bloodwine

 

“King Of Fear” track listing:

 

  1. King Of Fear
  2. Stronger Than Steel
  3. Temple Of The Witch
  4. Sword Of The Dawn
  5. Raging Demon
  6. Curse Of The Black Hand
  7. Test The Metal
  8. Honor Is Life
  9. Necromancer
  10. Master of the Universe (BONUS TRACK)

BLAZON RITE To Release New Album ‘Endless Halls Of Golden Totem’ in June

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BLAZON RITE To Release New Album ‘Endless Halls Of Golden Totem’

Philadelphia primal epic metallers BLAZON RITE will release their first full-length, “Endless Halls Of Golden Totem” in June via Gates Of Hell Records. The album was recorded from mid-December 2020 to January 2021 at guitarist James Kirn’s home studio. Richie Rabid served as engineer, while Will Mellor handled mixing and master duties. The album will feature hand-painted cover artwork from Matt Stikker.

Due to the global pandemic, BLAZON RITE, who also include vocalist Johnny Halladay, bassist Pierson Roe and drummer Ryan Haley, employed some ingenuity to record. The band created isolation booths in Kirn’s basement, resulting in a more polished, triumphant effort that takes BLAZON RITE beyond their well-received 2020 “Dulce Bellum Inexpertis” EP.
“The recording process took a while because we were only doing it on the weekends and really taking our time with tones,” says Kirn. “It was fun because we were documenting ourselves in some of the sessions with pictures and videos, which we’ve never done before!”
The band’s inspiring blend of NWOBHM and European power metal ala BLIND GUARDIAN and HELLOWEEN is even more realized on “Endless Halls Of Golden Totem”. According to Kirn, the album’s eight tracks benefit from more focused songwriting. But, unlike the “Dulce Bellum Inexpertis” EP, it is not a concept record.
“I think we have a lot of variety from song-to-song vibe-wise and really provide a nice journey for the listener,” he says. “From power metal and traditional epic heavy metal to acoustic LED ZEPPELIN parts and Viking influenced metal, I think we really give a lot on this full-length. Each song is a whole story within itself.”

“Endless Halls Of Golden Totem” track listing:

 

  1. Legends Of Time And Eidolon
  2. Put Down Your Steel (Only For The Night)
  3. The Executioners Woe
  4. Endless Halls Of Golden Totem
  5. The Alchemists Brute
  6. The Watchmen Of Starfall Tower
  7. Consumed By Glory Light
  8. Into Shores Of Blood

French Metallers TENTATION Sign With Gates Of Hell Records; New Album Due in 2021

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Gates Of Hell Records is proud to announce the signing of French metallers TENTATION. The label will release the band’s first full-length album, “Le Berceau Des Dieux”, in 2021.

 

Formed in 2012 in the Occitanie region of France, TENTATION is a French metal tour-de-force — complete with lyrics sung solely in their native tongue. The band released their debut self-titled EP in 2015, then followed it with the “Bruixes / Shaman” single in 2018. The same year, TENTATION teamed up with IRON SLAUGHT for the “- 665 – Les hordes métalliques” split.

The members of TENTATION have been in touch with Cruz Del Sur Music / Gates of Hell Records since March 2016, shortly after the release of their self-titled EP. A deal was discussed but was put on hold until this past July when the band sent some demos. After that, it didn’t take long for the two parties to agree to work together.

Comments bassist Guillaume “Guix” Pastor: “We had several proposals and our choice fell on Gates Of Hell because of the sincere passion that transpires from this label, distribution network and the quality of the bands present in its catalog, such as our French friends in HERZEL and MEURTRIÈRES.”

 

TENTATION (who is rounded out by vocalist Patrice “Darquos” Rôhée, guitarist Guillaume Dousse and drummer Laurent “Lole” Metivier) is currently putting the finishing touches on “Le Berceau Des Dieux”, which is translated as “The Cradle Of The Gods.” According to Pastor, the new album will be more “mature,” the direct result of TENTATION spending more time on the songs. The band will be hitting Moontower Studios in Barcelona, Spain next February with Javi Flz overseeing the sessions.

 

“After we released the split in 2018, we started to write some new songs, some of which, like “L’Exode” and “Le Couvent”, we played for the first time in Vouziers for the ‘Le Festival de Vouziers’ and in Paris for the release party of ADX’s new album, ‘Bestial’, says Pastor. “We had a very positive reaction to these songs — it let us know we were on the right path for completing the rest of the new album.”

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!”

TERRIFIANT Signs With GATES OF HELL RECORDS

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Belgian throwback metal miscreants TERRIFIANT are the latest addition to the Gates Of Hell Records roster. The label will issue the band’s debut full-length in February 2020.

As the story goes, TERRIFIANT was formed when garrulous, rough-housing troublemaker guitarist ZZ Slop met a “mysterious sleazeball” by the name of Lord Terrifiant at a festival parking lot. The two proceeded to hash out their idea for a metal band that would commit itself to the “ways of old and forgotten metal gods of yore.” Enter TERRIFANT.

The band’s lineup was eventually rounded out in 2018 after scouring every back alley, dive bar and street corner in their native Brussels, eventually landing the services of Alcoloic (drums), SlimeValdi (guitars) and Sniffany Baggs (bass). Terrifiant, appropriately enough, found their sound by mixing the rawness of NWOBHM and early U.S. metal, along with strong nods to metal from the Far East. The result is an uncompromising offering to the metal gods backed with a “fist full of rock ‘n’ roll attitude and seriously bad intentions.”

To date, TERRIFIANT has just a self-titled demo released via Messe Noir to their credit, which can be streamed below. A seven-inch version is coming soon.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Sam Barhd)

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.”