Archive for February 22, 2012

HEXEN – Album Artwork And Track Listing Revealed For: ‘Being And Nothingness’

Posted in Heavy Metal, heavy metal albums, heavy metal news, metal music, Music, rock music, rock music news, Thrash Metal, thrash metal bands with tags , , , , , on February 22, 2012 by Metal Odyssey

Los Angeles Thrash battalion HeXeN are set to unleash their second album, Being And Nothingness. Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Vivid Tone Recording Studio (Lividity, Guthrie Govan, etc.) by producer Rich Bruce, the sonic onslaught of Being And Nothingness sees the band moving toward a far more comprehensive and thorough voyage of metal musicality and further distancing themselves from being just another run-of-the-mill revival band.

Being And Nothingness contains nine tracks of Progressive Thrash proficiency, closing with an epic eight-part suite, and features a hand-painted cover by celebrated extreme Metal illustrator Kristian Wåhlin/Necrolord (King Diamond, Dissection, Emperor, etc) viewable by clicking – HERE.

Commented HeXeN in a collective statement: “We are completely stoked for this long-worked on, long-awaited second release and we can’t wait to showcase this opus live to all our fans. Unlearn what you have learned about metal!”

Being And Nothingness – Track Listing:

01. Macrocosm

02. Grave New World

03. Defcon Rising

04. Private Hell

05. Walk As Many, Stand As One

06. Stream Of Unconsciousness

07. Indefinite Archetype

08. The Nescient

09. Nocturne –

i. Opus 55 № 1 in Fmin

ii. Out of Reach

iii. Existential Crisis

iv. Entrance of the Absurd

v. The Unbearable Lightness of Being

vi. With Salvation I Persist

vii. Elegy of the Night

viii. End in Purplexity

Being And Nothingness will be released via Pulverised Records. Stay tuned for more announcements from HeXeN.

(Source: Earsplit PR)

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For more info on HeXeN, click on the links below:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HeXeN/266806818176

http://www.pulverised.net

LONG LIVE HeXeN.

Stone.

LISTENABLE RECORDS – Offering FREE 22 Track Sampler!

Posted in Extreme Metal, gothic metal, Heavy Metal, heavy metal news, heavy metal songs, metal music, Music, rock music, rock music news, Thrash Metal with tags , , , , , , , , on February 22, 2012 by Metal Odyssey

Listenable Records is offering fans a FREE 22-track sampler, which is now available for streaming and download at Listenable Records Free Sampler. The album, which features tracks from many of Listenable’s dynamic and diverse roster of artists – past and present – includes Gojira, Svart Crown, Sarah Jezebel Deva, 77, Hate, KATANA, TORNADOTormentedSerpent Cult and many more.

(Source: ClawHammer PR)

For more info on Listenable Records, click on the link below:

LISTENABLE RECORDS

LONG LIVE LISTENABLE RECORDS.

Stone.

PRIMAL FEAR ‘Unbreakable’ – The Time Is NOW To Join The METAL NATION

Posted in Heavy Metal, heavy metal albums, heavy metal news, metal music, Music, Power Metal, power metal albums, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , , , , , on February 22, 2012 by Metal Odyssey

PRIMAL FEAR – I guess if I wasn’t listening to this new Primal Fear album so often, I would have written a review on it much sooner. Seriously, Unbreakable has made it mandatory for me, to raise my fists to the air and thank the Metal Gods for Primal Fear and Power Metal. Released on Frontiers Records back on January 20th, this album is a must to the maximum Metal degree.

Once I realized what I took in from this new Primal Fear offering of Power Metal glory, I began to wonder, could 2012 be “The Year Of Power Metal”? With Iron Savior releasing their new album The Landing, (which brought me to tears of Metal joy) and now I’m brought down to my knees from Unbreakable… how else could I describe this year of Metal thus far? Primal Fear has not only delivered an unbelievable album of Power Metal, they’ve also created some of the most amazingly memorable songs of their legendary career. To my Metal blistered ears they have.

Once I realized how unreal golden Bad Guys Wear Black and Metal Nation are for transmitting everything triumphant about Power Metal, there is Strike,Where Angels Die, Give Em Hell, Blaze Of Glory and Marching Again. Metal be thy name does Primal Fear get their point across with their new album… that Primal Fear is not a Power Metal force to reckon with, they are THE Power Metal force. Period. This album from Primal Fear is the Metal beacon that tells us Metalheads that everything is okay and we shall strike down all negative obstacles in our F’n way.

As I see it, you’re either gonna join the Metal Nation, are already a member or decide that you’re gonna take a pass. If you take that nonsensical pass, then stop reading this review now. Then, go take some ex-lax, stick your thumb in your mouth and peruse your VHS library of Shirley Temple movies.

Back to Unbreakable. Sorry about that my true Metal brethren. Hell, you want guitar driven? You want duo guitars? Trading guitar leads and solos that will shock and awe? Wanna hear guitars blazing the old-fashioned way, as in kicking your Metal lovin’ ass like there is no tomorrow? Alex Beyrodt and Magnus Karlsson will take care of it. Are you looking for a premier Power Metal vocalist, one whose name itself equates Metal? Ralf Scheepers is the modern-day Rob Halford. Yes, there is another Metal God and his name is Ralf Scheepers. Now, go take that Metal check and cash it… then tell ’em all that Stone says so.

Spread the Metal word. What word Stone? That the rhythm section of Primal Fear is a Power Metal vehicle sent to us all as a gift from the Thunder God. Mat Sinner (bass) and Randy Black (drums) sound so powerfully perfect together that it’s implausible to think otherwise. There are 12 songs on Unbelievable, (oops, I meant Unbreakable) that are a representation of how Heavy Metal was meant to escalate the psyche-you-out senses in the first place. Metal Nation members know what I mean. Screw the non-believers.

If everything I’ve written thus far sounds like a Metal temptation to you, then you absolutely won’t be able to resist hearing  a Primal Fear ballad. Yes… I stated… ballad. Born Again is the song and it’s quite Metal moving to me. Ralf Scheepers proves he can impact just as effectively singing a ballad as he does belting out extraordinary high notes on a Power Metal anthem. I will say this and not be ashamed: Born Again is a beautiful song from Primal Fear.

Yes, amongst the Power Metal domination I hear on Unbreakable, the Metal jubilation I feel does give a nod to beauty when it’s so eloquently played and sung. Still, bad guys will always wear black and the Metal Nation is a flaming juggernaut, one that shall never be contained nor controlled. Metal be thy name.

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UNBREAKABLE Track Listing:

Unbreakable (Part 1)

Strike

Give Em Hell

Bad Guys Wear Black

And There Was Silence

Metal Nation

Where Angels Die

Unbreakable (Part 2)

Marching Again

Born Again

Blaze Of Glory

Conviction

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Backing Vocals: Ralf Scheepers, Mat Sinner, Erik Martensson and Oliver Hartmann.

For more info on PRIMAL FEAR, click on the links below:

http://www.primalfear.de

FRONTIERS RECORDS

LONG LIVE PRIMAL FEAR.

Stone.

BEAK – Prepare For Debut Album With New Video Clip; Band Shares “EYRIE” Cover

Posted in Heavy Metal, heavy metal albums, heavy metal news, metal music, Music, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , on February 22, 2012 by Metal Odyssey

CHICAGO QUARTET’S DEBUT ALBUM OUT APR. 3CHICAGO SHOW MAR. 31 AT ULTRA LOUNGE

Feb. 21, Chicago — Beak, the Post-Metal quartet formed by local Chicago luminaries Chris Eichenseer and Jason Goldberg previously of The Timeout Drawer, have created a clip highlighting music from their forthcoming debut album, Eyrie (Apr. 3, Someoddpilot Records), which can be seen here:  http://vimeo.com/37183154.

The band has also shared the cover art for Eyrie which was created by Eichenseer, a sought after graphic artist who has done artwork for American Heritage, Caural, Elliot Lipp and others. The album cover photo was shot outside of Monterrey, Mexico where Eichenseer was teaching a course on graphic design.

Recorded and mixed in late-2011 at Engine Studios by Neil Strauch (Sage Francis, Bonnie Prince Billy), the five-track release highlights the band’s adept combination of blistering heaviness and melodic prog-rock.

“Metal for the sake of it just doesn’t interest us. We need more than heavy riffage and the trappings of the genre,” expained Eichenseer. “I wish we could call it something else, because to me it’s more. We’re not afraid to carry influence from our roots in post to punk rock. We’re very aware of storytelling and depth. We’re not interested in skulls.”

Vocalist Jon Slusher discussed the conceptual aspect of the debut album: “Eyrie is the nest of a bird of prey built in a high, inaccessible place. The album is conceptual.  It’s the path of ruin, the crumbling of empires and the marching of time. ”

Beak is Andy Bosnak (Guitar), Chris Eichenseer (Drums), Jason Goldberg (Bass, Vocals) and Jon Slusher (Guitar, Lead Vocals).

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Eyrie – Track Listing:

1.  Angry Mother of Bones

2.  Hands Collide

3.  Men at Arms

4.  Billions of Eyes

5.  The Weight & Time

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Upcoming tour dates:

Feb. 23  Chicago, IL  Reggie’s

Mar. 31  Chicago, IL  Ultra Lounge* Record Release Show

Apr. 11  Lansing, MI  Mac’s Bar

Apr. 12  Columbus, OH  Ruby Tuesday

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(Source: Speakeasy PR)

For more info on BEAK, click on the links below:

www.facebook.com/pages/Beak/183159646995

www.beakmusic.com/

LONG LIVE BEAK.

Stone.