California Tech Death giants ODIOUS MORTEM are now streaming a new track from their long-awaited upcoming album: Synesthesia. The exclusive premiere of “Condemnation Foretold,” the album’s second single, has been posted at ToiletOvHell.com.
Synesthesia arrives January 17 on Willowtip Records.
Blabbermouth’s description of 2007 sophomore album Cryptic Implosion as “an awe-inspiring slab of accomplished death metal aggression,” is even more applicable to Synesthesia. Avoiding the clinical sterility of many modern death metal productions, the band created a sound on Synesthesia that is raw, robust, and infused with an authentic old school spirit.
The time between releases seems only to have hardened the band’s resolve to continue creating extreme metal magnificence, as evidenced by Synesthesia.
Guest guitar solos on “Condemnation Foretold” performed by Cary Geare.
All music and lyrics written by Odious Mortem. David Siskin (former guitarist) was also a musical contributor to the album.
Recorded at Electric Orange Studios in San Diego, CA. Engineered by Jon Green, mixed and mastered by Richard Houghten.
Artwork by Adam Friedman
BAND BIO:
Odious Mortem was formed in 2000 by Dan Eggers (guitar, vocals), David Siskin (guitar) and KC Howard (drums). Joel Horner (bass) joined the band in 2004 and they released their debut album Devouring the Prophecy in 2005 on Unique Leader Records. Anthony Trapani became the new lead vocalist in 2005.
After finishing the Bloodletting V Tour, Odious Mortem recorded their second album Cryptic Implosion, released in 2007 on Willowtip Records. Ivan Munguia (bass) also played live with the band that year. New album Synesthesia will be released in 2020.
With All Hallows’ Eve and the Day of the Dead fast approaching, the L.A.-based thrash/death/shred quartet EXMORTUS has unveiled a visualizer for the title track for their just-released horror-themed EP Legions of the Undead. Check out the clip – which was designed by Wayne Joyner (Dream Theater, Devin Townsend). Watch it HERE or below:
Says guitarist Jadran “Conan” Gonzalez, “Just in time for Halloween, enjoy this video of the new EP title track, ‘Legions of the Undead,’ inspired by the darker themes in Tolkien & Lovecraft lore. We are extremely excited to perform the new songs on Death Angel’s North American Humanicide Tour this November and December. See you on the road, Legions!”
As Gonzalez acknowledged, the song “Legions of the Dead” nods to the Dead Men of Dunharrow in “Lord Of The Rings.” It is joined on the new EP by one other new original track – the “Evil Dead”-inspired “Swallow Your Soul” – as well as three instrumental covers: renditions of Danny Elfman’s “Beetlejuice” theme and Bernard Hermann’s theme from Alfred Hitchcock’s horror classic “Psycho,” as well as a neoclassical shred take on 19th Century Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s haunting “Night On Bald Mountain.”
Recorded earlier this year with longtime producer Zack Ohren (Machine Head, Immolation) at Oakland’s Sharkbite Studios, “Legions Of The Undead” – the cover art for which was designed by Toha “AHOT” Mashudi – is now available via the band’s own Exmortus Music in cooperation with M-Theory Audio. Physical copies can be ordered on CD and limited-edition green slime-colored vinyl HERE.
“Legions Of The Undead” marks the first EXMORTUS release featuring the lineup – founding guitarist/vocalist Gonzalez, guitarist Chase Becker (also of Warbringer), bassist Cody Nunez and drummer Adrian Aguilar – that has logged numerous miles on the road together over the past two years with the likes of Obituary, Venom Inc., Sabaton, Kreator, Havok, Allegaeon, Hatchet, Homewrecker and The Absence. The group – whose most recent performance was alongside Exodus at the legendary thrash group’s sold-out “Bonded By Con” concert during San Diego’s recent Comic-Con – will support another iconic Bay Area act this fall, when they team up with Death Angel for a five-week tour across the U.S. and Canada. See below for the complete itinerary.
Founded by Gonzalez when he was just 12 years old, EXMORTUS released their debut album, “In Hatred’s Flame,” via Heavy Artillery in 2008. After gaining additional acclaim with their 2011 sophomore effort “Beyond The Fall Of Time,” the group signed a three-album deal with Prosthetic Records in 2013. In support of that acclaimed trilogy of releases (2014’s “Slave To The Sword,” 2016’s “Ride Forth” and 2018’s “The Sound Of Steel”), the band toured alongside some of metal’s biggest names, including Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom, Abbath, Dark Tranquillity and Marty Friedman, earning extensive praise along the way for their live power, prowess and proficiency.
EXMORTUS on tour with Death Angel:
Nov 13 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst (EXMORTUS only)
Nov 14 – Chico, CA – Metal Shop (EXMORTUS ONLY)
Nov 15 – Bend, OR – Third St. Pub (EXMORTUS only)
Nov 16 – Seattle, WA – Club Sur
Nov 17 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
Nov 18 – Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw Theater
Nov 19 – Edmonton, AB – Starlite
Nov 20 – Calgary, AB – Dickens
Nov 21 – Regina, SK – The Exchange
Nov 22 – Winnipeg, MB – Pyramids
Nov 23 – St. Paul, MN – The Amsterdam
Nov 25 – London, ON – London Music Hall
Nov 26 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
Nov 27 – Montreal, QC – Piranha Bar
Nov 28 – Ottawa, ON – Brass Monkey
Nov 29 – Quebec City, QC – L’Anti Bar & Spectacles
Nov 30 – Brooklyn, NY – Saint Vitus
Dec 1 – New Bedford, MA – Vault @ Greasy Luck
Dec 2 – Waterford, NY – Chrome (EXMORTUS only)
Dec 3 – Lancaster, PA – Chameleon
Dec 4 – Baltimore, MD – Otto Bar
Dec 5 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
Dec 6 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
Dec 7 – Tampa, FL – Brass Mug
Dec 8 – Orlando, FL – The Haven
Dec 9 – Mobile, AL – Alabama Music Box (EXMORTUS only)
OBITUARY will be visiting Japan to perform 2 shows in January of 2020; Tokyo on January 10th and Osaka on January 11th. Check the tour flyer above and click the band link below for more info.
Creator-Destructor Records this week unleashes Once Forsaken, the lead single from Ohio death metal act DISMEMBERMENT‘s impending second album, Arc Of Ancients. The song has been set loose upon the public as the devastating new LP nears release later this month. Preorders for the record have also been issued with the new track.
In a time fueled by instant gratification and over-saturation, DISMEMBERMENT has chosen to avoid the common path. Since the band’s formation in the winter of 2010, the band has forged their own way, fueled by fierce determination and perseverance. Over recent years, DISMEMBERMENT has continued to grow into a well-oiled machine, booking their own shows, traveling, and recording and releasing albums on their own finances, while continually pushing themselves and their unique brand of metal to new heights. Their catalog includes two EPs – The Condemned (2011) and Denied Salvation (2012) and their 2014-released debut LP, Embrace The Dark.
DISMEMBERMENT has taken their unique blitzkrieg black-thrash attack across the nation many times over, including touring with greats such as Master and Solstice, and having shared the stage with the likes of Mayhem, Immolation, Morbid Angel, Gorguts, Incantation, Death Angel, and countless more.
It is only now, with the impending release of their second LP, Arc Of Ancients, that the truly destructive nature of DISMEMBERMENT‘s sound is fully apparent. Completed in recent days, the album further expands on the band’s sound from the prior album, Embrace The Dark, yet reinforces their sound with the ferocity of their earlier recordings. Arc Of Ancients was recorded and mixed by the band, mastered by Dan Randall at Mammoth Sound Mastering, and as with prior releases, the album artwork was handled by renowned artist Andrei Bouzikov.
States the band with the release of the “Once Forsaken” single, “Here at last! A new ripper hot off the press. Turn it up and bang your head!”
Stream DISMEMBERMENT’s savage “Once Forsaken” atTHIS LOCATION or below:
Arc Of Ancients will be released on LP, CD, and digital platforms through Creator-Destructor on October 18th. Find preorders at the label webshop HERE and via Bandcamp HERE.
Watch for additional audio samples, and more on Arc Of Ancients to be issued in the days ahead, with tour dates to also be posted throughout the coming months.
Infected Dead made a grand impression with their Lovecraftian cosmic horror debut Archaic Malevolence and have left fans salivating for more ever since. Today the band proudly reveal a blistering new single and video to sate those in wait, a track entitled ‘The Rache’ out now via Hostile Media.
The video was shot in the woods of Heathfield, Sussex UK earlier this summer with Loki Films. Vocalist Lou Ede elaborates: “The song is loosely based on the lesser known Lovecraft short story ‘The Hound’ so the main concept we had in mind was to give the allusion of the band being stalked by the titular monster, I think the director did a great job of getting that across.”
“We are delighted to finally be unleashing our first fresh track since Archaic Malevolence. It was great to be back working with Wynter Prior (producer) and work is well underway on our debut album, we’re really excited to share the first glimpse of what we’ve been up to over the past year.”
‘The Rache’ was produced by Wynter Prior, while Inner Sound overseen mixing and mastering. Luciferium War Graphics manned the helm once again for the epic artwork.
Catch Infected Dead Live in UK with Bloodshot Dawn next month!
Oakland death metal outfit VASTUM is preparing for the release of their gnarled fourth album, Orificial Purge. Ahead of the album’s public unveiling through 20 Buck Spin at the end of October, the new single “I On The Knife (Second Wound)” has been issued.
With lead vocalist Daniel Butler, guitarist/vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf, guitarist Shelby Lermo, bassist Luca Indrio, and drummer Chad Gailey, Ryan Honaker provides guest strings on VASTUM‘s Orificial Purge, and Honaker and Abdul-Rauf also help shape the album with elements of ambience. Recorded with Greg Wilkinson (Necrot, Nightfell, Ulthar) at Earhammer Studios and visually represented by the brooding abstraction of San Francisco artist Laina Terpstra, VASTUM’s Orificial Purge is one of the year’s most vicious and hypnotic LPs. Fans of Bolt Thrower, Undergang, Autopsy, Necrot, Asphyx, Mortuous, Tomb Mold, and Scorched are orificially summoned to take note.
Vocalist Daniel Butler exposes of the track’s lyrical content, “‘I On The Knife’ is about psychophysical self-mutilation under the command of a thing, an it, which is gradually symbolized as an object (e.g. father, knife) that in turn reveals the self as a wound. Basically, it’s about how you’re a wound and nothing else.”
Guitarist/vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf offers, “We felt this song – along with initial single, ‘Reveries In Autophagia’ – was the most representative of the classic VASTUM sound.”
Hear VASTUM’s “I On The Knife (Second Wound) at THIS LOCATION or below:
20 Buck Spin will issue Orificial Purge on CD, LP, cassette, and all digital platforms on October 25th. Preorders go live this week at the label webshop HERE and at Bandcamp where “Reveries In Autophagia” is now streaming HERE.
Guitar World just ran a feature on the 25 Best Metal Guitar Tones Of All Time where VASTUM‘s Leila Abdul-Rauf was featured alongside the likes of Black Sabbath, Slayer, Metallica, Entombed, Meshuggah, Danzig, Sunn O))), and more. See the piece HERE.
Having just made their return to Killtown Death Fest 2019 in Copenhagen alongside Grave, Coffins, Abhorrence, Tomb Mold, and many others in September, VASTUM has also been confirmed to play the inaugural Shadow Frost Music & Arts Festival taking over Frederick, Maryland February 21st and 22nd, 2020. The band joins The Chasm, Primitive Man, Thantifaxath, and labelmates Magic Circle as one of the event’s main headliners, and guitarist/vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf will also perform a set from her solo/ambient project at the fest as well.
VASTUM Live:
2/21-22/2020 Shadow Frost Music & Arts Festival – Frederick, MD [info]
After four years of near silence, Oakland death metal outfit VASTUM returns with Orificial Purge, the anxiously awaited follow-up to their acclaimed Hole Below. With its members playing in Acephalix, Necrot, Ulthar, Mortuous, Ionophore, Cardinal Wyrm, and others, the band’s dedication to their craft is showcased throughout the underground. After three standout albums over the course of the last eight years, the effect of VASTUM‘s influence has by now seeped into the wider death metal scene, leaving an indelible mark due to their singular amalgam of aural primitivism and aesthetic originality. Their most markedly refined and tortured oblation to date, Orificial Purge represents the dominant return of VASTUM, a death-doom band driven by the horrors of psychic and corporeal life.
VASTUM‘s Orificial Purge offers a distinctive blend of sinister atmosphere, punishing brutality, and an unparalleled lyrical and visual imagery that traces connections between perversion, mortification, and “an abyssal mysticism of sin.” Elements from previous albums are preserved on Orificial Purge, but they are evolved and devolved at once. The usual mid-paced dirge and cave-dwelling riffs are intertwined with slicing melodic dissonance and a celestial frenzy in the solos and the leads, all of which is set against the background of a bulldozing rhythm section. The dual vocal and lyrical exorcisms of Daniel Butler and Leila Abdul-Rauf combine to deliver unsettling, dichotomous meditations on “abjection as life, life as tragedy, and tragedy as an eviscerating, eroticized rapture through which an evil and useless humanity comes into being.
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RT @themikkeydee: Found this great picture from when we played with Ramones in Buenos Aires. Early 90s. What a great band they were! https:… 20 hours ago
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