Heathen Deity post rehearsal video

Heathen Deity, blackmetal band from UK are currently working on a new album. There is also a new lineup and a return to the live scene.
For those who don't know, this band has been around since 1998. They released two demos and one EP and took a break in 2004.
Dagon remains in the new lineup as well as the original member Azrael on guitars, and new addition Xjort will become the Heathen Deity's full-time drummer, both in the studio and live.  The band is currently looking at bringing in a rhythm guitar and bassist to play lives, ready for their stage comeback which will take place in October at the Blackwood Gathering, which takes place in the forest on the shores of Lake Windermere in Cumbria.

Dagon explains why he has decided to bring back the band after such a long time:  "I had been busy with day to day things  and with my solo project FROSTWORK, whilst Azrael was busy with ETHEREAL FOREST and his various projects, and although we'd been talking about it for a long time,  we could never find the time to get together to concentrate on HEATHEN DEITY until now" commented Dagon. 

"Would you believe that we started working on the new album in 2002 and didn't pick it up again until 2014.  As you can imagine, with the passage of time, we are looking at those songs from a completely different perspective now, and we have re-worked and updated them to reflect where we find ourselves both musically and philosophically at this moment in time.    We also intend to include newly written material, as well as some of the songs we performed live back in the day, songs that never appeared on any of our releases.  We  see these songs as marking the end of one chapter of HEATHEN DEITY, whilst the new material will herald a new beginning".

The album will be mixed and mastered by Jonny Maudling (Kull, ex Bal-Sagoth) at his Waylands Forge Studios in Sheffield.  Maudling and Dagon are long-time collaborators, having previously worked together.

You can watch the video of the band rehearsing here:

You can also watch a video of Heathen Deity performing the Karmageddon cover from the Official Nargaroth Tribute album here:

Read more in:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/heathendeityofficial
BandCamp: http://heathendeity.bandcamp.com/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGfdjI2lZXrmOBhAtipQDg
Band Contact and Booking: Heathendeity@outlook.com
Management & PR:  patriciathomas@btinternet.com

Static Tension Recordings celebrate 1st anniversary with free release

Static Tension Recordings is a label from Oregon and they are now celebrating their 1st anniversary by releasing Brain Damage, a free compilation. This label is somewhat versatile and the compilation contains tracks from the bands who worked with the label along this first year.

You can stream the whole compilation here:
 https://statictension.bandcamp.com/album/brain-damage-vol-1

Track listing for Brain Damage:
1.Sharp Weapons - Eat Another Chord
2.Reign Of Fury - Harbinger Of Decay
3.Curezum - The Top
4.The Wolf Council - The Day I Cleared The Debt
5.A Light Within - Between Shores
6.Curse of the North - Sleep While You Can
7.Dead River Runs Dry - Revenge Upon Fate
8.Biotoxic Warfare - Proclaim The Gospel Of Lies
9.Tormenter - Critical Stasis
10.War Curse - Severed Crosses
11.Biotoxic Warfare - Baptized In Blood
12.Allfather - Blood Red Sunset
13.Lucis Absentia - Colossus

Read more in:
https://www.facebook.com/StaticTensionRecordings

Niklas Kvarforth and former label Spinefarm Records reached an agreement

In a statement issued three days ago, Niklas Kvarforth confirmed that the band Shining had reached an agreement with former label, Spinefarm Records, for the re-releasing of three of Shining's recordings, which, according to Kvarforth, "have all been unavailable for a few years due to several "inconvenient" matters".

The frontman also says: "SHINING's seventh full-length album VII / Född Förlorare and the Lots Of Girls Gonna Get Hurt EP will both appear in CD and Limited Edition vinyl formats, with the vinyl formats having one additional track each.

"But the best news of all is that Redefining Darkness will once again be available to those who missed out on its short-lived presence on the record market.  The album will be available in both deluxe digipak and vinyl editions".

The deluxe digipak edition of Redefining Darkness, and the vinyl editions of all three of the re-releases, have been re-mastered by Andy La Rocque at the Sonic Train Studios, and are now available to pre-order, along with new merchandise and bundles from  www.shininglegions.com

Ten tracks from Shining can be heard at http://soundcloud.com/shining-official/sets/shining

Read more in:
Website: www.shiningasylum.com
Shining on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shiningofficial
Niklas Kvarforth Official Fan Page on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kvarforthofficialfanpage
Shining Webshop: http://www.shininglegions.com
Shining on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/shining-official
Official  YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/OfficialShining
Management and PR: patriciathomas@btinternet.com
Booking: luc@rtn-touring.com

Review: Blakk Old Blood / Black Devotion Split 7"

As mentioned on the previews review of Blakk Old Blood, they are releasing a EP called Greed on the 13th of May. On the same day, they are releasing as well a split 7" with the band Black Devotion through Clavis Secretorvm. On side A there is a track of Blakk Old Blood called 7 Chants. Very different from Greed. Much more aggressive musically and in terms of sound quality as well. Sounds like it was taken from the depths of a trunk, as a tape you haven't heard in 20 years. This doesn't mean it is bad though. Specially in a time when some black metal bands and labels are trying to go back in time and sounding more rough than what we have been listening to in the last decade. It is quite tortured and screamy and fast and noisy as we are already accustomed to.
Side B is a track by Black Devotion called Prophets of the Black Arts. There is a big contrast here regarding the quality and the clarity of the music. Same style, same aggressiveness, but touching a bit the Death Metal singing and with more neatness. However, sounds like the perfect match. The two bands may be a bit different but it is a good combination. When you hear one track and then the other it gives sense to the split.

Review: Blakk Old Blood's upcoming EP "Greed"

Black Metal band Blakk Old Blood are releasing a EP on vinyl format on the 13th of May. This is a band that has very experienced members from bands as Asag, Deathcult, and Antiversum. They are from Switzerland and the EP will be called Greed. It has 4 tracks and is released through Clavis Secretorvm.
What a good surprise! Such good stuff is rare to find nowadays, if you like more traditional bands, that is. In fact, if you are expecting to find tortured voices, agonizing laments, long doomy riffs full of sadness and despair and fast drums, you will find all that in these short but very powerful release. The second track Intermezzo is full of painful screams and disturbing noise. On other tracks, at times the voice resembles Attila from Mayhem (which doesn't seem to be a problem at all) and sometimes the guitar sounds a tiny bit out of tune (especially in Seed of Greed), which is difficult to tell if it was on purpose or not. Anyway, it adds some more drama and atmosphere to the whole thing.

Review: Dead River Runs Dry's upcoming album "Hierophants of the Storm"

For the ones who don't know, Dead River Runs Dry are a band originally from Australia and are  releasing their debut album in vinyl. The album is called Hierophants of the Storm and is to be released on the 3rd of June.
Hierophants of the Storm is all about the storm phenomena and about all that is involved. It has 10 tracks of almost pure Black Metal. The sound is very Black Metal, but there are other influences as well, such as a softer heavy metal. You can hear the sincerity of the instruments with all their rhythms and melodies and in the way they combine with the voice. The voice is sometimes more bassy and other times more high pitched as we are traditionally used to listen in Black Metal bands.
Lachryma Christi's favorite track is Skull of the Wind. Has a mix of everything in there. The blast beats, the fast riffs, the agonizing voice, the weight of a thunderstorm, but also a very catchy melody at times, melodic and melancholic. Hyperic Vortex is also a very interesting track, but sometimes sounds like it is from a different band.
The artwork is by renowned artist Lucas Ruggieri and the album will be available through Static Tension Records (USA).
Good stuff.

Abbath released video clip for "Winterbane"

Abbath just released their new video for the debut album Abbath, which was released in January. You can now stream the video for Winterbane on the following pages:

Metal Hammer (DE)
Devilution (DK)
Rockzone (ES)
Inferno (FI)
VS-Webzine (FR)
Rocking (GR)
Lángoló Gitárok (HU)
Metal Wani (IN)
Andfari (IS)
Rock Hard (IT)
Ward Records (JP)
Lords of Metal (NL)
Metal Hammer (NO)
Musick Magazine (PL)
Loud! (PT)
Close-Up (SE)
Metal Hammer (UK)

The video has been created by Jon Simvonis: www.magnumproductions.gr
Filming by Ragnvald Stokken and Francisco Munoz

Tracklist:

01. To War!
02. Winterbane
03. Ashes of the Damned
04. Ocean of Wounds
05. Count the Dead
06. Fenrir Hunts
07. Root of the Mountain
08. Endless
09. Nebular Ravens Winter [bonus]

Abbath are now starting a tour through the US and have announced some festival shows as well. You may see the dates below.

ABBATH Decibel US Tour
+HIGH ON FIRE +SKELETONWITCH +TRIBULATION
17 Mar 16 Baltimore, MD (US) Baltimore Soundstage
18 Mar 16 Charlotte, NC (US) Amos' Southend
19 Mar 16 Atlanta, GA (US) The Masquerade
20 Mar 16 Ybor City, FL (US) The Ritz Ybor
22 Mar 16 Dallas, TX (US) Gas Monkey Live!
23 Mar 16 Austin, TX (US) Emo's
25 Mar 16 Scottsdale, AZ (US) Live Wire
26 Mar 16 San Diego, CA (US) The Observatory North Park
27 Mar 16 Santa Ana, CA (US) The Observatory
28 Mar 16 Los Angeles, CA (US) The Regent Theater DTLA
29 Mar 16 San Francisco, CA (US) The Regency Ballroom
31 Mar 16 Portland, OR (US) Roseland Theatre
01 Apr 16 Seattle, WA (US) El Corazon
02 Apr 16 Vancouver, BC (CA) Commodore Ballroom
05 Apr 16 Denver, CO (US) Gothic Theatre
06 Apr 16 Lawrence, KS (US) Granada Theater
07 Apr 16 Minneapolis, MN (US) Mill City Nights
08 Apr 16 Chicago, IL (US) Metro
09 Apr 16 Cleveland, OH (US) Agora Ballroom
10 Apr 16 Toronto, ON (CA) The Opera House
12 Apr 16 New York, NY (US) Webster Hall
14 Apr 16 Boston, MA (US) Royale
15 Apr 16 Philadelphia, PA (US) Union Transfer

Festival shows
05 Jun 16 Nijmegen (NL) Fortarock
17 Jun 16 Clisson (FR) Hellfest
18 Jun 16 Dessel (BE) Graspop
24 Jun 16 København (DK) Copenhell
09 Jul 16 Viveiro (ES) Resurrection
16 Jul 16 Gävle (SE) Gefle Metal Fest
18 Aug 16 Dinkelsbühl (DE ) Summer Breeze

As mostly of you know, Abbath left Immortal, which caused a great shock throush the metal scene. However he returns with a new band called Abbath.

Line-up 

Abbath: guitar & vocals
King: bass
Creature: drums

Read more in:

www.facebook.com/abbathband
www.abbath.net