Poland's blackened tharsh metallers WITCHMASTER have made their new album "Kaźń" available for pre-listening. The album will be released on November 25th via Agonia Records. Give it a spin, here:
WITCHMASTER ends its seven-year slumber to bring more chaos and clamour through the art of blackaned thrash metal. Since 1996, the band descends deeper and deeper into an absurd theatre of cruelty, pursuing the cold embrace of aural depravity and darkness. "Sipping blood from skulls and gnawing the bones of old gods, we hope to let you down once again," comments the band perversely.
WITCHMASTER comprises bassist and vocalist Reyash (Azarath (live), ex-Vader, Supremer Lord), guitarist and vocalist Kali (Five the Hierophant, ex-Profanum), drummer and guitarist Inferno (Azarath, Behemoth) and vocalist Bastis (ex-Profanum).
"Kaźń" was recorded at Studio Wieloślad by Haldor Grunberg and mixed & mastered by Haldor Grunberg and Inferno. Cover artwork by Durda.
Tracklisting: 1. Sound of Crushed Skull / Intro 2. War Metal Haiku 3. Alle Gegen Alle 4. Poison Chalice 5. Zdychaj K**** Nazareńska 6. All-consuming Hate 7. Circle of Bayonets 8. Hostile Declaration 9. Master Knife Sacrifice 10. Like Flies on Scum 11. Rune of Destruction 12. White Madness 13. Trails of Blood 14. Kaźń
Formats: - Digipak CD - Black LP - Picturedisc + patch - Smoked LP - Red LP (Bandcamp exclusive) - Tape - Digital
Polish shapeshifters ENTROPIA (psychedelic black metal mixed with krautrock, electronics and sludge) will release their fourth studio album "Total" on March 17th, 2023 via Agonia Records.
ENTROPIA's members perform under a joint moniker ULTRA. They combine a number of genres, filtered through a prism of metallic extremity. Through three studio albums - "Vesper" (2013), "Ufonaut" (2016) and "Vacuum" (2018) - ENTROPIA pushed and evolved its base sound to develop a unique sonic perspective, drenched in psychedelia. The latter plays a major part in the band's image and conceptual approach, and constitutes the new album, "Total".
"Total" encapsulates all previous installments of ENTROPIA. Pushing aside the temptation to follow along the same lines as "Vacuum", new ideas have sprout in favor of further musical growth. In this sense, "Total" stands as a brand new opening, and rests upon the sound of self-designed amplifiers and multi-layered electric guitar compositions.
"Total attempts to capture a glimpse of our ongoing and unending search," comments ENTROPIA. "It consolidates the experiences and skills we've amassed throughout the years, and constitutes a standalone, complete and utter creation; a totality, which reflects of the band's chaotic spirit."
ENTROPIA recorded "Total" in April of 2022 at studio Monochrom, located in the mountains of Kotlina Kłodzka in Poland. Heinrich House Studio engineered, mixed and mastered the album. "Total" is replete with artwork from Zbigniew Bielak (Behemoth, Ghost, Mgła).
Tracklisting: 1. Retox 2. Mania 3. Orbit 4. Total 5. Final
Stay tuned for a new single and album formats, very soon.
ENTROPIAwas formed in 2007 and originates from Oleśnica in Lower Silesia. Its output was met with growing interest from metal and non-metal community, having the group playRoadburn Festival,Primavera Sound,OFF Festival,Mystic Festivaland a European tour supporting US black/folk actWayfarer. The band contributed to the video gameCyberpunk 2077, by having their song"Future Drugs"appear on the official soundtrack.
Italy'sdeath metal outfit HOUR OF PENANCE will re-release its 2019 album "Misotheism" on January 27th via Agonia Records. The album will receive a new jewelcase CD, limited LP and will be made available on tape, for the first time.
"It's almost the third anniversary of the release of Misotheism and we have some nice treats for you," comments the band. "We will release not one, but two limited editions: a brand new colored vinyl and for the first time, you can blast our music on tape!"
HOUR OF PENANCE is planning to further promote the reissue by releasing a drum playthrough video in the near future.
"Misotheism" is a pitch-black and delightfully brutal death metal soundtrack to a collapsing universe. The album was worked on in three different locations. Drums were recorded at Bloom Recording Studio (Italy), where the band "took advantage of the huge recording rooms and endless choice of microphones". Guitars, bass and vocals - at Kick Recording Studio (Italy) with Marco Mastrobuono, who also worked on "Regicide" (2014) and "Cast the First Stone" (2017). Lastly, HOUR OF PENANCE drove to Poland to mix and master the album at Hertz Studios (Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated). As the band reports: "Working with the Wiesławscy brothers was like putting the icing on the cake and thanks to their mastery we managed to achieve the perfect sound without making any compromises". The cover was handled by Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsàk (Accept, Annihilator, Destruction, Ensiferum).
"Misotheism" is HOUR OF PENANCE's first album for Agonia Records and eighth to date (first two were released with Xtreem Music, next two with Unique Leader Records and last three with Prosthetic Records). The band has a reputation of a venerated live act, with tours across North America, Europe and Australia, in the company of Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Devildriver and Misery Index, to name a few.This year the band played Hellfest and Lions Metal Festival in France.
Tracklist: 1. Mass Crucifixion Of Kings 2. Blight And Conquer 3. Fallen From Ivory Towers 4. The Second Babel 5. Lamb Of The Seven Sins 6. Flames Of Merciless Gods 7. Sovereign Nation 8. Dura Lex Sed Lex 9. Iudex 10. Occult Den Of Snakes
Line-up: Giulio Moschini - guitars Paolo Pieri - guitars and vocals Marco Mastrobuono - bass
Greek prog black experimentalists' AENAON'fourth studioalbum "Mnemosyne" has been out for a round month, and to celebrate it, the band unveils a new music video for one of the album' hightlights, "Trauma Cultura", feat. Frédéric Gervais (Orakle / Cor Serpentii) on guest vocals. The video was directed and produced by Art Lens and is available for your viewing pleasure at this address: https://youtu.be/9OexGPkg7yE
Hailed as an album of heavily textured black metal, "Mnemosyne" offers nine new songs, recorded, mixed and mastered by guitarist/bassist Achilleas C. (Varathron, Katavasia) at Suncord Audiolab in Ioannina, Greece. The painting that adorns the cover was created by Ben Howe while Ra.design prepared the layout.
Apart from mastermind Achilleas C,the line-up comprises drummer Haris (Varathron), vocalist Astrous (Katavasia) and saxophonist Orestis Zyrinis. Clean vocals on "Synastry of Heartbeats", "Trauma Cultura" and "Mantledeath" were guest performed by Frédéric Gervais (Orakle / Cor Serpentii).
"Six years have passed since our last album and we are thrilled to finally share our darkest effort so far," comments AENAON. "As always, we have been silent but creatively restless, aiming to a timeless creation. Mnemosyne is an album of noir aesthetics and emotional extremity. The title derives from the Greek goddess of remembrance and the river of memory."
The name AENAON means "the Eternal" in Greek. The band's history dates back to 2006 and encompasses (on top of several smaller releases) four studio albums: "Cendres et Sang" (2011), "Extance" (2014), "Hypnosophy" (2016) and "Mnemosyne" (2022).
Formats: - Jewelcase CD - Limited slipcase CD - Black LP - Limited colored LPs - Digital
Tracklisting: 1. Psyche 2. Cartesian Eye 3. Synastry of Heartbeats 4. Pleiades 5. Trauma Cultura 6. Clark Nova 7. Hysteria 8. Mantledeath 9. Doppelgänger 10. Grand Narcotic Reharvest* *Slipcase CD bonus track
Line-up: Astrous - vocals Achilleas C. - guitars, bass Orestis Zyrinis - saxophone Haris - drums
ENTROPIA combines
a number of genres, from krautrock and electronic music, to sludge and black
metal, filtered through a prism of metallic extremity. With three studio albums
to its name - "Vesper" (2013), "Ufonaut" (2016)
and "Vacuum" (2018) - the five-piece pushed and
evolved its base sound to develop a unique sonic perspective, drenched in
psychedelia. The latter plays a major part in the band's image and conceptual
approach.
ENTROPIA's
output is met with growing interest from metal and non-metal community, having
the group play Roadburn Festival, Primavera Sound, OFF
Festival, Mystic Festival and a European tour supporting
US black/folk act Wayfarer. The band contributed to the video
game Cyberpunk 2077, by having their song "Future
Drugs" appear on the official soundtrack.
ENTROPIA's
members perform under a joint moniker ULTRA. Their sight is set on
releasing their fourth album titled "Total" on Agonia
Records.
"We have the pleasure to announce that our new
album 'Total' will be released later this year via Agonia," comments ENTROPIA.
"With a hint of irony, the album was announced as the soundtrack to the
end of the world. Now it's clear, that our announcement should have been taken
literally."
American tech-death titans ORIGIN will return with their eighth studio album titled “Chaosmos” on June 3rd on Agonia Records (Europe) and Nuclear Blast Records (rest of the world). Listen to the album's first single “Ecophagy”below.
Cover artwork by Santiago Jaramillo (Immolation, Pestilence)
The long-standing outfit celebrate not only their eighth full-length installment, but also ring in their 25th year on “Chaosmos.” The same fury, brutality, and musical savvy that brought ORIGIN critical acclaim and a devout fanbase on “Unparalleled Universe” (2017), “Antithesis” (2008), and “Origin” (2000) returns with reinvigorated intensity, passion, and skill. In 2022, the group - Paul Ryan (guitars/backing vocals), Mike Flores (bass/backing vocals), John Longstreth (drums), and Jason Keyser (lead vocals) - are undeterred by unprecedented roadblocks and global uncertainty as they push forward. Indeed, ORIGIN’s new-era shock and awe mission is complete on “Chaosmos.”
“The music of Origin is a fusion of order and disorder. Our music is viewed as a meaningless assemblage of infinite perspectives,” posits guitarist/vocalist Paul Ryan with cosmic import.
Formed in Topeka, Kansas, in 1997, ORIGIN have eight full-length albums to their name. The group buzzed early with their 1998 EP, “A Coming into Existence” (re-released and re-recorded from scratch in 2019 on Agonia Records, as part of the “Abiogenesis” release). Fans of high-caliber death metal and record label representatives had noticed. It was after ORIGIN joined luminaries Nile, Cryptopsy, and Gorguts on the 1998 “Death Across America” tour that a monster was unleashed. In 2000, ORIGIN signed to Relapse Records, issuing four full-length albums in “Origin,”“Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas” (2002), “Echoes of Decimation” (2005), and the Billboard-charting“Antithesis”. While on the label, the group gigged incessantly, appearing on such notable tours as “Death Across America 2000”, “Relapse Contamination Tour 2008”, “The Summer Slaughter Tour North America 2009” and several successful European runs. Additionally, guitarist/vocalist Paul Ryan was listed on Decibel’s Top 20 Death Metal Guitarists list in 2007. ORIGIN’s subsequent albums “Entity” (2011), “Omnipresent” (2014), and “Unparalleled Universe” garnered praise in Metal Hammer, Allmusic, and Exclaim!, while occupying prime slots on the “Occupation Domination 2012,” the “Devastation on the Nation”, and “The Hell Over Europe” tours. “Chaosmos” yet again sees ORIGIN’s technically apt death metal in scarily superlative form.
“It’s our third album with the same lineup,” Ryan says. “And I personally feel it’s a continuation of who the band is currently. At the start of 2021, people started talking about a new Origin album, and I wasn’t sure if the world was literally ready for it due to lockdowns/restrictions. In March, I told myself, ‘I will write one song per month until I finish the album.’ When it was completed, I sent over what I had written to the rest of the band. From that point forward, our collective alchemy resulted in what you hear on Chaosmos.”
“Chaosmos” is the tip of ORIGIN’s newly honed spear. Fronted by the frenetic “Ecophagy,” stabbed mid-way through by vicious duo of “Panoptical”/ “Decolonizer,” and capped by the ominous coda of “Heat Death,” this is some of Paul Ryan’s most riveting guitar work to date. Drummer John Longstreth - known for his highly dexterous playing style - also shines throughout, but he’s imposing on “Cullscape,”“Cognito, Tamen Non Sum,” and the reality-blurring title track. The triple vocal attack of Jason Keyser, Ryan, and Flores is also an ORIGIN original. The three-headed beast of Keyser/Ryan/Flores effuses sounds that are at one end hellishly subterranean and at the other horrifically otherworldly. Whereas most death metal buries bass frequencies into the din of the guitars, bassist Mike Flores is expertly all over and in-between his fellow bandmates - ”Panoptical,” for example, is masterclass finger work - on “Chaosmos”.
“Chaosmos is who we are,” says Ryan. “Everyone in death metal has copied our style and techniques. Then, tried to call them their own. Origin just is what it is and what it needs to be. I had nothing but blank pages for this album, and then the word ‘Chaosmos’ kept ringing in my head for about six months. We all suffered during the pandemic, and I personally was in a dark place. Thankfully, the music was a positive release of negative energy.”
That vitality manifested itself deeply in the lyrics for “Chaosmos”. Whereas previous full-length, “Unparalleled Universe”, explored cosmosophy and had tendrils of inspiration from Frank Herbert’s“Dune,”“Chaosmos” is more ominous. For all the pain, suffering, joy, and accomplishment humanity faces, it’s relatively nothing in the front of the universe’s gaping maw. Frontman Keyser dissected the insignificance of everything we hold dear - from life and death to Earth’s very existence. He posits that we’re simply nanoscopic against the vast nothingness beyond our feeble atmosphere. Throughout “Chaosmos,”Keyser tackles the subject at different angles.
Says Keyser: “In the words of Lovecraft, ‘We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.’ On ‘Ecophagy,’ we explore the ‘devour and move on’ mentality of the billionaire pipe dream of colonizing other worlds after we’ve drained our own to a husk. ‘Cogito, Tamen Non Sum,’ Latin for ‘I think, yet I am not,’ delves into the rise of artificial intelligence, ripping an unsolicited consciousness from the nether, like a Boltzmann brain spontaneously becoming aware of itself and the horrors that surround it. ‘Cullscape’ and ‘Panoptical’ look into the rise of the despotic machine and humanity’s brutality towards itself. These all culminate in a final crescendo, ‘Heat Death,’ the final stage of the universe, where the last stars are snuffed out of the sky, and all our strife and efforts are finally revealed for what they have always been, utterly insignificant. Ultimately, that is the theme of Chaosmos. The cosmos is chaos. We must accept our end.”
ORIGIN re-tapped Kansas City-based studio guru Rob Rebeck (Unmerciful, Vänlade) to engineer, produce and mix “Chaosmos”. The production team holed up in GFM Recording Studios in Blue Springs, Missouri and Chapter 2 Recording in Lenexa, Kansas, over 14 days. Rebeck worked the mix over four days, while Colin Marsten at Menegroth in Queens, New York, mastered “Chaosmos” in two. The goal was, as always, to preserve yet expand upon ORIGIN’s savage signature, and that’s precisely what Rebeck and Marsten achieved. If “Unparalleled Universe” was the crawling insanity that is Nyarlathotep, then “Chaosmos” is the crushing tentacles of Cthulhu.
“The studio sessions are always super-high stress - unprepared madness,” Ryan says. “There is some improv magic that happens because of it, too. I feel like something great comes out of the aggression in death metal, and if you’re happy laying down tracks, maybe you shouldn’t be recording death metal. Origin bends but doesn’t break when in the studio.”
When ORIGIN broke out of the heartland in the aughts, death metal had no idea what was coming. A new era of brutality was born. Now, many years later, the outfit are ready for another round of redefinition on “Chaosmos”. They’ve blazed trails few could barely conceive, they’ve achieved more than they ever thought possible (the track “Finite” has two million YouTube views), and ORIGIN continue to innovate and enervate all. Be warned… the inevitable end is near with “Chaosmos”.
“Push play and hold on for the next ride,” says Ryan. “We hope you enjoy it as we do! Ad Astra Per Aspera. Vincit Qui Patitur.”
Tracklisting: 1. Ecophagy 2. Chaosmos 3. Cogito, Tamen Non Sum 4. Panoptical 5. Decolonizer 6. Cullscape 7. Nostalgia for Oblivion 8. Heat Death
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