Prachtige nieuwe muziek van Silvercord, HDK, Conjurer, Misery Index, Wardruna, Vola, Hellblind, Miss May I, Oceans, Palisades, Blacktoothed, Stray Gods en Locus Grove

Silvercord
Silvercord is opgericht in 2016 in Texas en speelt progressieve metalcore. Via Famined Records heeft de band de EP Umbral uitgebracht. Een EP die het resultaat is van twee jaar hard werken waarin de band op verkenning is gegaan naar muziek die ze niet eerder hadden ervaren. De inspiratie voor hun muziek haalt de band bij bands als Architects, Northlane en Vildhjarta. Van het titelnummer is ook de video beschikbaar.

Magic-o-metal
Via Magic-o-metal worden artiesten en bands uitgenodigd om samen (metal)muziek te maken. Met de oorlog in Oekraïne bleek de compositie Borderland een actueel thema aan te snijden.
Sander Gommans: “Every person will have to face situations in their lives in which they have to stand up for what they believe in. Sometimes it’s a choice, but at other times you’re forced to defend what you and your ancestors have built up. To fight for your identity and who you are or want to be. Sometimes it is just a matter of where you happened to be born. The whole world is just shocked to experience another war, where it appears that again, David is up against Goliath. Ordinary people, recklessly becoming victims of the powers that be. Where people can do nothing else than to defend their bare existence. But not only that of their own. We can only have the utmost respect and admiration for the courage and the spirit of so many people, defending and sacrificing their personal lives for the values and principles many of us wish to live by. This is not a song about politics nor about pointing fingers. It is a song about inner strength and the determination people show to stand tall despite the risks for their personal lives … even if the opposing force is overwhelming and seems to be unbeatable. No matter which side, our thoughts are with EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD who are unwillingly involved in this current and horrific conflict.”
‘Borderland’ initially had a different title, but with the exact same lyrics. It was written at a time in which we could not yet imagine nor have any notion of what was about to happen. While working on the last details of the video for this track, it struck us how relevant this song had become in the light of what happened. This song has now chosen its own destiny in support of all the incredibly brave people who are now determined to defend themselves, others, and foremost the future of their but also our children. ‘Borderland’ was and will still be the first song of a new concept ‘Serenades of The Netherworld’ by Magic-O-Metal”

Vola
Het Deens-Zweedse kwartet VOLA kondigen hun eerste live release ooit aan, “Live From The Pool”. De release komt uit op 1 april 2022 via Mascot Records/ Mascot Label Group.
Adam Janzi vertelt: “It is a pleasure to share ‘Head Mounted Sideways’ with you taken from our upcoming ‘Live From The Pool’ release! We recorded this last year in an abandoned military camp in Denmark. Despite the cold and the humidity, we had a great time being there all day and all night into the early morning. Between loading in all the gear, setting it up, recording and packing down, we had the time to visit the abandoned area and take it all in. The atmosphere of the place, the abandoned halls and the memories that might still dwell there influenced our show and gave us a sense of being part of another world. Hopefully, we can bring you into that world and give you a glimpse of what we experienced there!”
In september 2021 speelde VOLA een intieme show in een schitterende live setting. ‘Live From The Pool’ vond plaats in het zwembad van de verlaten militaire basis Auderød in Noord-Seeland vlakbij Kopenhagen, Denemarken. Dit verlaten gebouw is ontworpen door de wereldberoemde architect Henning Larsen en is onderdeel geworden van het natuurpark Auderød.
De band creëerde een unieke ervaring door samen te werken met het audiovisuele kunstenaarscollectief Vertigo.
Over de show vertelt Nicolai Mogensen, “The idea for ‘Live From The Pool’ was conceived at a time where it was particularly hard to be a band with an international fanbase. Due to the Covid-19-pandemic making live shows and touring practically impossible, we were forced to think carefully and creatively about how to reach our listeners in new ways. We wanted to do something spectacular that didn’t seem like a compromise – and with loads of help from talented people, we think we succeeded in creating an online concert experience out of the ordinary.”
Hij vervolgt, “‘Live From The Pool’ is the biggest production we have ever made as a band, and it was very exciting for us to work with such an extensive set-up. We filmed the entire concert, featuring both new and old material, at an abandoned indoor swimming pool with five cameras and a drone, the scenery lit up by a beautiful light installation, custom-made for this show by the Danish audio-visual artist collective Vertigo.”
De show bevat uitvoeringen van hun catalogus, waaronder “Alien Shivers,” “Stray The Skies,” “Whaler,” “Ghosts”, evenals nummers van hun nieuwste release “Witness”. Fans van buiten Denemarken kunnen nummers als “Straight Lines,” “These Black Claws,” Head Mounted Sideways”, en meer voor het eerst live horen.
VOLA zijn Asger Mygind (vocalen/gitaar), Martin Werner (keys), Nicolai Mogensen (bas) en Adam Janzi (drums).

Miss May I
Het is een tijd stil geweest rond Miss May I, maar met Unconquered laat de band, die in het rijtje van de New Wave Of American Heavy Metal speelt, horen dat ze ertoe doen.
Levi Benton : “We as well as everyone else went through the ringer the last couple of years. Some of us worse than others and even more of us finding ourselves in the darkest places we never thought we’d end up. After that experience and making it out – it felt as if a battle had been won. That’s what “Unconquered” is all about”.

Locust Grove
Vanuit Oklahoma komt Locust Grove met de nieuwe video bij de single Worth My Time. Het betreft de eerste single van het aankomende debuutalbum Battle Of Locust.
“Worth My Time’ is a song we wrote about keeping someone around in your life that is absolutely not worth having around and finally realizing that person isn’t worth your time anymore. The music for this one is heavy and hard hitting, we released this song first to satisfy the die hard Locust Grove fans. Worth My Time will get your blood flowing the moment the first line hits!”
Maak je klaar voor een dosis stevige gitaarriffs, een lekkere groove en pure emotie en laat je hoofd maar op en neer gaan met de nieuwe single.

Palisades
Better is de titel van de nieuwe single van Palisades die op 22 juli het nieuwe album Reaching Hypercritical via Rise Records zullen uitbrengen. Het is de opvolger van het laatste album Erase The Pain uit 2018.
“Better” gaat over de geestelijke gezondheid, inclusief de ervaringen hiermee van frontman Brandon Elgar
Brandon zegt hierover: “What I want people to get out of this song is, I want them to feel safe listening to it… especially if you suffer from these things. Atthe end of the day, it’s all that I want to feel, is better. And I think that’s why that became such a stamp in this song because Ithink that’s what everybody wants to feel… Awareness is important, being kind to people is important. So I hope you getsatisfaction out of this song like it has done for me”.
Ook in het leven van de leden van Palisades, zanger/bassist Brandon Elgar, gitaristen Xavier Adames en Matthew Marshall, en drummer Aaron Rosa, heeft de laatste twee jaar een (mentaal) litteken achter gelaten en ze kennen de strijd die je soms iedere dag strijdt om het verlies in het leven het hoofd te bieden.
Over het nieuwe album zegt drummer Aaron Rosa: “It’s a been a pretty drastic progression musically. This album reallycaptures how the band has matured while being brutally honest with ourselves about all the tough moments that were goingthrough our heads while making the record. Reaching Hypercritical is a true demonstration of how the past few years have changed us as people, as a band and what Palisades’ music stands for”.
De oplettende lezer heeft dan ook in de gaten dat voormalig voorman Lou Miceli de band heeft verlaten waarna Brandon Elgar naar voren is geschoven als nieuwe zanger.
“The sheer talent and unique style Brandon brings to being a frontman really elevates our music” zegt gitarist Matthew Marshall. “His melodies, lyrics and his flair makes all of us continue to push ourselves and that was ideal for what we wantedto achieve with Reaching Hypercritical. A new beginning for Palisades“.
“In terms of both our mental health and our career, it very much felt like we were reaching a hypercritical point” he says of theband’s recent experiences. “You have all of the uncertainty that was brought on by a pandemic while life continues to do what itdoes. My father was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and died two months later. It was the hardest thing I’ve everhad to deal with, and in the middle of that, we were still trying to write a record. That moment in my life and some of thetraumatic experiences of the other guys in the band really shaped this record. Ultimately, it altered the entire tone of the recordand truly what the songs meant”.

Blacktoothed
29 juli komt ook het nieuwe album van Blacktoothed uit. Een album met de veelzeggende titel Juli. De eerste single You Never Know wordt nu gevolgd door de nieuwe single Pulse met daarop een gastrol voor Kassim Auale (ex-Alazka)
“Pulse was the perfect single long before we knew we were even writing an album. Working with Kassim felt like the perfect choice considering just the soul & heart he puts into his voice, so we love the way it vibes with the whole story of the song”.
“Recording JULI was a funny “3-way experience”, involving 3 different recording sessions over the course of 2 years, changing band members, finally getting the flow in our songwriting process and of course lots of bad jokes & food with our producing team (cheers!) – to sum it up, we might finally know what we are doing musically”, David, Matti & Hendrik describe their recording experience. With JULI, our main concern is to create awareness to the fact that we carry a lot of potential in ourselves to change the lives of our loved ones for the worse, but at the same time to recognise how we might be able to help those affected”

Conjurer
De maand juli is een drukke tijd voor releases, want ook ‘de toekomst van de Britse metal, zoals Conjurer wordt aangekondigd komt met het nieuwe album Páthos bij Nuclear Blast Records.
Bassist Conor Marshall: “Excited to finally be able to share the album with everyone! I’m sure this is the same for every band trying to release an album during the pandemic but it feels like we’ve been holding on to it for so long, so it’s nice for it to not be my problem any more and to be able to actually talk about it!”
De eerste single It Dwells is nu beschikbaar.
Gitarist/zanger Dan Nightingale: “I think ‘It Dwells’ is a good introduction to the sound of the record, from the musical influences to the lyrics and how we’ve drawn from what’s been going on in our lives, it’s one of our most personal outings for sure. It’s nice to have been able to step up our game with the music videos for this album as well. Good album. Top track. Boss man.”

Stray Gods
Storm The Walls is de titel van het nieuwe album van Stray Gods (release 18 maart) en de band brengt nu de tweede single Black Horses uit via ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records!
Stray Gods over de video: “In this video, we faced a big challenge: while the song is talking about a forthcoming encounter of two armies interrupted by the sudden galloping of some riders on a kind of “evil” Black Horses, we wanted to do something different from the typical “epic” videoclips. So, we decided to go for a REAL battle of “Crossbows & Catapults”! This game was a huge success in the early 80s, particularly in our country, Greece, where it still has its enthusiasts and collectors spending insane amounts of money for a boxed version of the game! We had tons of fun, while also striking some deeply nostalgic strings of ours and hopefully of our fans. The rest of the video was filmed in Bob’s very own Sound Symmetry Studio in Athens, GR.”
 

Oceans
Na Part 1 verschijnt logischerwijs part II. Zo komt Oceans met het de nieuwe EP Hell Is Where The Heart IS – Part II: Longing. De nieuwe single Home is afkomstig van deze nieuwe EP.
Timo Rotten : “Home is so much more than just the place where we come from. It’s love, friends, acceptance – it’s peace. I’ve been searching for this place, this feeling of accomplishment all my life and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve found it yet. But what I do know is, that ‘HOME’ portrays pretty damn well how it feels to search for it.”

Hellblind
De debuutsingle Hitched vn Hellblind is op video verkrijgbaar. De single komt van de aankomende EP A Plague On All Your Houses.
Hellblind is een nieuw project van Mark Clayden (Pichshifter) and Paul Fletcher (Romeo Must Die, This Is Menace) die met Adam Frakes-Sime (Stampin’ Ground), Will Romain (Romeo Must Die) en Charley Olsen (Outside The Coma) de line-up van de band compleet maken.

Lord Of The Lost
Gewoon omdat het niet alleen een mooi statement is, maar ook een uitstekende compositie.

Wardruna
Nordic/dark folk/ambient band Wardruna (NO) heeft zojuist zijn nieuwe (live) single-video ‘Skugge (First Flight Of The White Raven Live)’ online gezet, een indrukwekkende registratie van hun grensverleggende virtuele release-show ‘First Flight Of The White Raven’ die op 26 maart 2021 plaatsvond. Twee maanden geleden werd de live video ‘Solringen (First Flight of the White Raven)’ al uitgebracht.
‘Skugge’ (Shadow) is een griezelige sonische reis waarin een dialoog tussen mens en schaduw wordt uitgedrukt. Of zoals frontman Einar Selvik het stelt:”It’s a song about shadows, echoes and the balance between seeking answers and wisdom internally and externally”. De video werd in januari 2022 in Noorwegen gefilmd en geproduceerd door Ragnarok Film.
Beide live tracks (‘Solringen’ en ‘Skugge’) staan dus op het prachtige document ‘Kvitravn –First Flight of the White Raven’: een luxe release op 2CD en op digitale formaten waaronder het originele studioalbum ‘Kvitravn’ uit 2021, plus een live audio-release van het concert ‘First Flight Of The White Raven’ op 26 maart 2021. Deze nieuwe release biedt een speciale setlist met de nummers van ‘Kvitravn’ en met publieksfavorieten uit Wardruna’s hele catalogus.
Einar Selvik : “‘Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven’ is an audio-visual recording that was broadcasted online, as the release show of the Kvitravn album. It was recorded in a time when it was not allowed to perform in front of an audience, which made it very important for me that the recording itself truly captured the energy of a live performance. What you hear is what we performed in that moment in that room. No re-recordings or autotune was done in the afterwork. Just like for a regular concert, the set list was carefully put together with a selection of songs from all our albums, including a handful songs from the new album, which we performed for the very first time. On the day of recording, we all stood together in the same room for the first time in over a year. Everyone came focused and well prepared and the energy felt like no time had passed. I hope you will agree!”
Volgende week start de band zijn wereldtour in Londen die gedurende 2022 door Europa, Amerika en Canada voert. Wardruna geeft dit jaar slechts één (exclusieve) show in de Benelux: ‘Nordic Night Open Air‘ in OLT Rivierenhof in Antwerpen (BE) op zondag 17 juli 2022. Voorjaar 2023 komt de band dan opnieuw terug voor vier Benelux shows:
Zondag 17 juli 2022: ‘Nordic Night Open Air Tour 2022’- Antwerpen (BE)
EXCLUSIEVE BENELUX SHOW 2022!
Donderdag 23 februari 2023: Rockhal, Esch-sur-alzette (Luxembourg)
Vrijdag 24 februari 2023: Cirque Royal, Brussel (BE)
Zaterdag 25 februari 2023: Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht (NL)
Zondag 26 februari 2023: Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht (NL)


Misery Index
Het nieuws was al bekend: Misery Index komt met een nieuw album. Via Century Media Records is het vanaf 13 mei beschikbaar. Je kunt al kennismaken met het geluid met de single The Eaters And The Eaten.
Misery Index: ““The Eaters and the Eaten” is the most straight-forward, blasting track on the album. It’s utterly relentless and hammers home the key themes of exploitation and drudgery that define life for so many on the planet in our current age.”