Name: Category 7 - Mousetrap (Official Video) @metalbladerecords
Uploaded: 2026-09-24T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: Category 7 - Mousetrap (Official Video)

Category 7 - Mousetrap (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2026-09-24 | Category 7 - Mousetrap (Official Video)

Unboxing Entheos An End To Everything! #unboxing #vinylrecords #techdeath #deathmetal #metalblade

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-17 | Pre-order your copy HERE: metalblade.com/entheos

Ensiferum - Winter Storm (Full Album)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-17 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/ensiferum
New album 'Winter Storm' is out October 18th!

The Finnish folk-metal melodeath sensation has maintained a prolific release schedule since their first demo in 1997, gradually increasing in stature until eighth album Thalassic crowned their ascent in 2020. The nautical opus went on to top Finland's album chart, reaching #3 in Germany, and top ten in Switzerland, Canada, and the United States. Eventually, ENSIFERUM would take Thalassic on two massive world tours and to festivals like Wacken, Hellfest, Summer Breeze, and Ragnarök, but the global Covid pandemic ensured that the four-year wait for Winter Storm would be the longest in the band's near-thirty-year history.

Much of the new material emerged in the lockdown era, when ENSIFERUM's founding guitarist Markus Toivonen set himself the challenge of finding new ways to make music -- eventually composing every song except the rousing, anthemic “Fatherland,” written by bassist Sami Hinkka. The addition of singer/organist Pekka Montin's crystal-clear melodic high notes provided a tremendous boost on Thalassic. But on Winter Storm -- a fantasy concept narrative penned by Hinkka -- Montin's super-strong voice finds its optimal place in ENSIFERUM's sound. Bringing to life such grandiose, heroic material, the singer emerges as one of the greatest vocal discoveries of the decade.

"The way I see it, this album is more like a 'musical' than a traditional album," says Hinkka. "The lyrics of Winter Storm are based on part of my unpublished fantasy book. One day it will be out… I don’t want to reveal the plot or details too much but ‘Winter Storm Vigilantes’ and ‘Fatherland’ tell of two factions in this long tale. The Vigilantes have gained knowledge to utilize certain rare elements, and even though there was already magic in this world, with this new epiphany they have reached a completely new level. This element seems to interact with living things in a way that even the wisest men don’t completely understand. And through generations of trial and error, they have refined a skill to expose their horses to the element and managed to break the law of gravity, making their steeds fly. But they became ruthless and greedy on their quest to gain more of this element. A small tribe in the north keep on fighting for their land, which the Vigilantes plan to take over. These North Folks will literally fight until the last man…

“Other characters include a Vigilante castaway, the last shaman of the North Folk, and a mysterious widow. The album ends with a great battle against the Vigilantes and the unholy alliance of the castaway and the North Folk shaman, who has transcended into a spirit wolf. Who will prevail? Will this be the final battle of the book? Time will tell… I understand that all this sounds very far out -- well, it is a fantasy book -- but believe me, it will be truly an epic story!"

Winter Storm Track Listing:
1. Aurora
2. Winter Storm Vigilantes
3. Long Cold Winter Of Sorrow And Strife
4. Fatherland
5. Scars In My Heart (Feat. Madeleine Liljestam)
6. Resistentia
7. The Howl
8. From Order To Chaos
9. Leniret Coram Tempestate
10. Victorious
11. Six Ribbons (Jon English cover) *
12. Lambada (Kaoma cover) *
** Special Edition Bonus Track

ENSIFERUM:
Petri Lindroos - vocals, guitars
Markus Toivonen - guitars, vocals
Sami Hinkka - bass, vocals
Janne Parviainen - drums
Pekka Montin - keyboards, vocals

#ensiferum #winterstorm #folkmetal

Lifesick - Loved by None (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-16 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/lifesick
Danish death metal/metallic hardcore behemoths LIFESICK today unveil their animated video for “Loved By None.” The punishing new hymn comes by way of the band’s Loved By None, Hated By All full-length, set for release on November 1st through Metal Blade Records.

LIFESICK manifests brutal and brutally honest songs with lyrics inspired by the turbulent nature of life. Musically influenced by Swedish death metal, the band’s authentic and explosive mixture of crushing tones and modern breakdowns create an uncompromising sound and vision.

Elaborates the band on their latest single, “Loved By None,” “The feeling of being loved by none and hated by all, despite trying your best to be a good person, can be overwhelming. It often feels like the world is trying to bring you down and keep you there. This song is the fastest and most aggressive track on the album, and also one of the shortest. It’s straightforward, bone-crushing hardcore, featuring a mix of blast beats and a groovy breakdown at the end.”

Follow Lifesick:
https://www.lifesick.dk
facebook.com/lifesick
instagram.com/lifesickhc
twitter.com/lifesickhc

LIFESICK:
Simon Shoshan – vocals
Nicolai Lindegaard – guitar
Nikolai Lund – guitar
Jeppe Løwe – drums
Jeppe Riis Frausing – bass

More wax to unbox! Kings Of Mercias Battle Scars! Prog for the soul! #vinyl #progmetal #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-15 | 'Battle Scars' drops October 25th! Pre-order HERE: metalblade.com/kingsofmercia

The Crown - Howling at the Warfield (Guitar Playthrough)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-15 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/thecrown
For "Crown of Thorns," the dynamic, ground-breaking follow-up to 2021’s "Royal Destroyer," The Crown made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s 10 songs would stand as a unique collection. “For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,“ says guitarist Marko Tervonen. And while Royal Destroyer was termed a “a ridiculously catchy album,” The Crown wanted to “make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of the comfort zone on Crown of Thorns.“

Musical dynamics are also on a new level with the 2022 addition of drummer Mikael Norén and bassist Mattias Rasmussen, and the return of lead guitarist Marcus Sunesson, rejoining long time members Tervonen and vocalist Johan Lindstrand. “With Mikael we managed to bring back a bit more of that crazy ‘Janne Saarenpää’ feel to the drumming, so that was a really cool energy boost. Mattias comes more from a punk/crust background, and he wrote ‘I Hunt with the Devil’ and ‘Mind Collapse’ for the album, which turned out great. This is definitely a step up in many ways, changing the way we worked on the CSV and RD albums.”

"Crown of Thorns" was recorded by Marko Tervonen (Studio-MT), mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios).

THE CROWN:
Johan Lindstrand – vocals
Marko Tervonen – guitar
Marcus Sunesson – lead guitar
Mattias Rasmussen – bass
Mikael Norén – drums

Video By: Lect Production / Christoffer Tönnäng

Marko Tervonen of The Crown jamming Howling At The Warfield #thrashmetal #guitar #guitarist #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-15 | New album, 'Crown Of Thorns' is OUT NOW! Stream/order HERE: metalblade.com/thecrown

Lets unbox the upcoming IOTUNN record, Kinship! #vinyl #unboxing #progmetal #metal #vinylrecords

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-15 | IOTUNN's new record, 'Kinship' drops NEXT WEEK on 10.25! Pre-order HERE: metalblade.com/iotunn

Iotunn - Kinship (Unboxing)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-15 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/iotunn
Follow Iotunn:
facebook.com/iotunn
iotunn.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/iotunn

IOTUNN’s "Kinship" is a massive album arising from the primeval sea. It’s a mythological journey through eight tracks that span immense spheres both musically and lyrically, exploring the deep roots of human nature, its connection and disconnection with everything and everyone, and how our choices have always defined ourselves and the lives lived.

Notes guitarist Jesper Gräs, "The creation of Kinship has been the most extensive and wild journey we’ve ever been part of. Like trekking up the Galdhøpiggen mountain in Norway, we have crossed peak after peak and seen things continuously brighter and wider until we reached the top, the end. Never have we been prouder and more pleased, and we hope our fans - old and new - will take this album into their hearts and let it unfold from there.”

Set in primeval time, Kinship unfolds the story of a tribesman who is part of a prehistoric tribe. It tells the story of life’s many conditions as themes of unity/disunity, light/dark, body/mind, nature/culture, good/evil, creation/destruction, and human/inhuman unfold throughout the album.

“Everything is related, everything has an impact, and we all must find our ways to our true selves and true freedoms in our choices in this interconnectedness of everything,” elaborates vocalist Jón Aldará. “The album explores themes of conformity versus following your own path and the consequences your choices have for relationships. It is also a consideration of the mind-body connection; especially with regards to how you interact within yourself, how you are influenced and controlled by the arenas of life and the interaction with nature. All this influences your identity, your choices, and your individuality.”

IOTUNN:
Jón Aldará – vocals
Jens Nicolai Gräs – guitar
Jesper Gräs – guitar
Eskil Rask – bass
Bjørn Wind Andersen – drums

MASTER BOOT RECORD - Hardwarez (Full Album)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-11 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/masterbootrecord

C:\HARDWAREZ\TOUR.EXE
TICKETS HTTPS://MBRSERVER.COM
12 Oct - CA - Quebec City, QC - Hackfest
18 Oct - FR - Marseille - Le Molotov
19 Oct - FR - Paris - Backstage By The Mill
20 Oct - FR - Nantes - Le Ferrailleur
22 Oct - UK - London - Academy 2
23 Oct - UK - Manchester - Satans Hollow
24 Oct - UK - Glasgow - Cathouse
26 Oct - IR - Dublin - Grand Social
28 Oct - UK - Bristol - Exchange
30 Oct - NL - Eindhoven - Effenaar
31 Oct - NL - Amsterdam - Melkweg
02 Nov - DE - Cologne - Club Volta
03 Nov - NL - Leeuwarden - Neushoorn
04 Nov - DE - Hamburg - Logo
06 Nov - DK - Copenhagen - Stengade
07 Nov - SE - Gothenburg - Valand
08 Nov - NO - Oslo - Goldie
09 Nov - SE - Stockholm - Kollektivet Livet
11 Nov - PL - Wroclaw - Lacznick
12 Nov - DE - Berlin - Gretchen
13 Nov - DE - Dresden - Chemiefabrik
14 Nov - CZ - Prague - Cross Club
15 Nov - CZ - Brno - Kabinet Muz
16 Nov - HU - Budapest - Turbina
17 Nov - AT - Vienna - Szene
18 Nov - CH - Monthey - Pont Rouge
19 Nov - CH - Zurich - Exil

Pixel art animation by instagram.com/kirokaze

SPREAD THE CODE

To create Hardwarez, the technologist worked by live streaming his desktop on YouTube while composing new music. Everything is programmed via MIDI. "The very first song I wrote is actually also the first single, "CPU," he says. "Even though the other songs on the album have a quite different style, the type of riffing and the different melodic section of this track worked as a base to upgrade the sound before moving forward." "CPU" is also where Love decided to test the real guitar overdubs and was inspired by the results.

"With every album I've upgraded bits of the sounds, adding new layers," he says. "In Hardwarez the core sounds for synth guitars, leads and pads are still those that constitute the trademark MBR sound, but what makes this album very different is the addition of guitar overdubs that play along synth guitars for both the rhythmic and solo sections."

Intensive touring augmented with live musicians helped Love to make the decision to include real guitars to achieve a massive sound and boost the enhanced frequency spectrum of the instrument. "On this record there are a lot of heavy riffs with palm muting and my lead guitarist Shreddy recorded most of those leads and solos as well playing in unison with synth leads and adding extra energy to them."

The album title merges the term "Hardware" with "warez," also known as The Scene, more commonly known as the scene of cracks and pirated software which has been influential to Love in terms of crack and keygen music. While Love also organically began listening to electronic music, acid techno, industrial and synth pop, he also grew up in the '90s through all the grunge, nu-metal and industrial scene.

Old-school metal as well as '80s and '90s movies and video games -- and music from these -- also play a role in Love's musical DNA. His years of music and computer fanaticism is all manifested in MASTER BOOT RECORD and Hardwarez. "What I'm doing with this album and to an extent with previous ones, is to mix the sounds of cracks, keygen, demoscene and video game-inspired chiptune with heavy metal and classical music using hardware and computers to produce it."

Additionally, Love explains, "Computers in general, old and new as well as hardware or software since 1986 until now, have been a huge influence on me and MBR. I grew up through all of it because my father had a computer shop in the early days. I've been dealing with all those manuals, learning how to make each of these new devices work, be it motherboards, graphic cards, mouses, scanners, CD-burners or webcams, you name it. I've seen it all in all possible variations."

Yet Love doesn't necessarily think that everything old school is necessarily better. MBR's music is produced through the most advanced technologies in audio production while the concept at its basis is to limit the framework to a specific set of sounds. The goal and result boosts creativity and define the sound of the project. Live, that duality continues. Cutting-edge tech is used next to a Commodore 64 and Amiga 500 that Love uses onstage to play some parts live. MBR utilize video projections, but also bring CRT monitors, preferring cathode TV's vibrancy to LCD monitors.

"With this album the 486DX-33MHz-64MB becomes sentient through human augmentation", Love says, concluding, "For we may become better humans with their help, but machines still need us to shine."

The Crown • Crown Of Thorns is OUT NOW! Thrash it up! #thrashmetal #heavymetal #metalhead #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-11 | Stream and/or order your copy of 'Crown Of Thorns' HERE: metalblade.com/thecrown

The Crown - Howling at the Warfield (Official)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-11 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/thecrown
For "Crown of Thorns," the dynamic, ground-breaking follow-up to 2021’s "Royal Destroyer," The Crown made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s 10 songs would stand as a unique collection. “For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,“ says guitarist Marko Tervonen. And while Royal Destroyer was termed a “a ridiculously catchy album,” The Crown wanted to “make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of the comfort zone on Crown of Thorns.“

Musical dynamics are also on a new level with the 2022 addition of drummer Mikael Norén and bassist Mattias Rasmussen, and the return of lead guitarist Marcus Sunesson, rejoining long time members Tervonen and vocalist Johan Lindstrand. “With Mikael we managed to bring back a bit more of that crazy ‘Janne Saarenpää’ feel to the drumming, so that was a really cool energy boost. Mattias comes more from a punk/crust background, and he wrote ‘I Hunt with the Devil’ and ‘Mind Collapse’ for the album, which turned out great. This is definitely a step up in many ways, changing the way we worked on the CSV and RD albums.”

Crown Of Thorns was recorded by Marko Tervonen (Studio-MT), mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios).

THE CROWN:
Johan Lindstrand – vocals
Marko Tervonen – guitar
Marcus Sunesson – lead guitar
Mattias Rasmussen – bass
Mikael Norén – drums

(Music: M.Tervonen and The Crown
Lyrics: J.Lindstrand)

Chaos is coming, the age of end is prominent
How will you take your leave when souls are gathered in the fire?
Answer my call as the bombs entangle all my sanity
Blooddrunk, attack with hate in trench beyond trench

World oh so blissful, the eyes of deceit are bleeding
A View of grace, the mirrors joker standing tall
Solitary elderly power of blackened doom
All hells visionarian on a throne in bloom

Dirt is flooding his way
Blood boils in his crooked heart
Venom is spreading fast
The judges gavel hitting hard
Shields of massive iron
Protector of the old ways
Ravenous conquest
Megalomaniac disorder burns bright

We are all dancing with the dead
Howling at the Warfield
Bloodmoon Calling
Stranger killing stranger
True wild turned loose
The burning of mankind
We are all dancing with the dead
Howling at the Warfield
Bloodmoon reaping
Stranger killing stranger
True wild turned loose
The burning of all

The horizon of peace drifting further away
As the wolf entertaining the lambs to the slaughter
Sickening phase of the burning of earth
Yeah, the almighty lunacy banging on your door(Solo: M.Sunesson)
Beaten and broken and mangled to pieces
Still brothers march on at the high of believing
Rising, revolting, they light up the fire
The dead men are walking raising swords on Goliath
(Solo: M.Sunesson)
We are all dancing with the dead
Howling at the Warfield
Bloodmoon Calling
Stranger killing stranger
True wild turned loose
The burning of mankind
Wasting lives for nothing
Rotting minds of misery
Bloodmoon reaping
Brother killing brother
True wild ripping flesh
The burning of all

The Crown - Crown of Thorns (FULL ALBUM)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-10 | ARTIST: The Crown
ALBUM: Crown of Thorns
RELEASE DATE: 10/11/2024

US Store: metalblade.indiemerch.com/collections/the-crown
EU Store: eu.kingsroadmerch.com/metal-blade/artist/1011
Official artist merch: thecrownofficial.com

01. I Hunt with the Devil (00:00)
02. Churchburner (04:55)
03. Martyrian (09:10)
04. Gone to Hell (13:59)
05. Howling at the Warfield (18:46)
06. The Night Is Now (22:37)
07. God-King (25:47)
08. The Agitator (28:54)
09. Where Nightmares Belong (30:43)
10. The Storm That Comes (34:33)
11. Eternally Infernal [Bonus Track] (41:31)
12. No Fuel for God [Bonus Track] (47:02)
13. Mind Collapse [Bonus Track] (50:48)

Johan Lindstrand: Vocals
Marko Tervonen: Guitar
Marcus Sunesson: Guitar
Mattias Rasmussen: Bass
Mikael Norén: Drums

Phil Bozeman. Whitechapel A Visceral Retch. ONE TAKE. #whitechapel #vocalist #vocals #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-10 | Stream "A Visceral Retch" HERE: metalblade.com/whitechapel

Whitechapel - A Visceral Retch - Phil Bozeman | Vocal One Take

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-10 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/whitechapel
“‘A Visceral Retch’ is a song that fans of "The Somatic Defilement" will latch onto immediately. It was one of the first songs we had in the chamber to work with. This song came to light thanks mostly to [guitarist] Zach Householder. He showed us and we all immediately said, ‘yup, that’s it.’ Zach is notorious for very dark and horror-like vibes so this album is right in his wheelhouse. The song is disturbing. Imagine being put in a situation of survival by gluttonous, mammoth demons that give you a choice. Eat the demons’ waste, eat each other, or starve to death. The twist, you’re against the people you love the most. It’s a way to find the ones that are truly evil people to build and strengthen their cult. It also represents how horrible people can really be, when push comes to shove.” - Phil Bozeman

WHITECHAPEL:
Phil Bozeman – vocals
Ben Savage – lead guitar
Alex Wade – rhythm guitar
Zach Householder – guitar
Gabe Crisp – bass
Brandon Zackey – drums

LYRICS:
Consume
Consumed without a gasp, we gorge into the night as we dance
To the curdling whimper of pitiful man
Blasphemous, gluttonous
The belly begs for a moments rest, quick to reject, we still ingest
As the withered hole pleads to eject
They cannot stomach the smell, mangled innards wrench as they swell
An eternal song of visceral retch
The churns, they burn
Unnourished, brittle shell of a man
Submit or consume the consumed

Hail the coprophagous and cannibalistic
Long for the flesh, compelled to eat shit

There’s no distance our hymns won’t reach
The gags of dissonance echo as they preach
Cold goes the waste, reluctant to taste
Now the mold is in bloom, insatiably they consume

They cannot stomach the smell, mangled innards wrench as they swell
An eternal song of visceral retch
The churns, they burn

Bless the mess that rots in my gut
Behold the foul vessel erupt

Septic we bleed
Our seed breeds vermin
Appetite of the sick
Eviscerate to rid the taste
And be consumed once more

Eviscerate to rid the taste
Eviscerate, re-consume the waste

Follow @WhitechapelTV -
whitechapelband.com
https://x.com/whitechapelband
instagram.com/whitechapelband
facebook.com/whitechapelband

Ensiferum - Fatherland (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-09 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/ensiferum
New album Winter Storm is out October 18, 2024

The Finnish folk-metal melodeath sensation has maintained a prolific release schedule since their first demo in 1997, gradually increasing in stature until eighth album Thalassic crowned their ascent in 2020. The nautical opus went on to top Finland's album chart, reaching #3 in Germany, and top ten in Switzerland, Canada, and the United States. Eventually, ENSIFERUM would take Thalassic on two massive world tours and to festivals like Wacken, Hellfest, Summer Breeze, and Ragnarök, but the global Covid pandemic ensured that the four-year wait for Winter Storm would be the longest in the band's near-thirty-year history.

Much of the new material emerged in the lockdown era, when ENSIFERUM's founding guitarist Markus Toivonen set himself the challenge of finding new ways to make music -- eventually composing every song except the rousing, anthemic “Fatherland,” written by bassist Sami Hinkka. The addition of singer/organist Pekka Montin's crystal-clear melodic high notes provided a tremendous boost on Thalassic. But on Winter Storm -- a fantasy concept narrative penned by Hinkka -- Montin's super-strong voice finds its optimal place in ENSIFERUM's sound. Bringing to life such grandiose, heroic material, the singer emerges as one of the greatest vocal discoveries of the decade.

"The way I see it, this album is more like a 'musical' than a traditional album," says Hinkka. "The lyrics of Winter Storm are based on part of my unpublished fantasy book. One day it will be out… I don’t want to reveal the plot or details too much but ‘Winter Storm Vigilantes’ and ‘Fatherland’ tell of two factions in this long tale. The Vigilantes have gained knowledge to utilize certain rare elements, and even though there was already magic in this world, with this new epiphany they have reached a completely new level. This element seems to interact with living things in a way that even the wisest men don’t completely understand. And through generations of trial and error, they have refined a skill to expose their horses to the element and managed to break the law of gravity, making their steeds fly. But they became ruthless and greedy on their quest to gain more of this element. A small tribe in the north keep on fighting for their land, which the Vigilantes plan to take over. These North Folks will literally fight until the last man…

“Other characters include a Vigilante castaway, the last shaman of the North Folk, and a mysterious widow. The album ends with a great battle against the Vigilantes and the unholy alliance of the castaway and the North Folk shaman, who has transcended into a spirit wolf. Who will prevail? Will this be the final battle of the book? Time will tell… I understand that all this sounds very far out -- well, it is a fantasy book -- but believe me, it will be truly an epic story!"

Adds Hinkka of ENSIFERUM’s first single from the offering, “Winter Storm Vigilantes,” “Markus had quite grandeur visions of the song and it turned out to be even more heroic than we expected. It was an obvious choice to open the new album. This epic song serves as one faction of the big story. The song pushes forward with the might of a thousand horses and will surely be a great song in the future setlist.”

"Winter Storm" Track Listing:
1. Aurora
2. Winter Storm Vigilantes
3. Long Cold Winter Of Sorrow And Strife
4. Fatherland
5. Scars In My Heart (Feat. Madeleine Liljestam)
6. Resistentia
7. The Howl
8. From Order To Chaos
9. Leniret Coram Tempestate
10. Victorious
11. Six Ribbons (Jon English cover) *
12. Lambada (Kaoma cover) *
** Special Edition Bonus Track

ENSIFERUM:
Petri Lindroos - vocals, guitars
Markus Toivonen - guitars, vocals
Sami Hinkka - bass, vocals
Janne Parviainen - drums
Pekka Montin - keyboards, vocals

#ensiferum #winterstorm #folkmetal

Rivers Of Nihil Hierarchy remix/remaster drops 11.8! #metal #deathmetal #metalblade #progmetal

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-08 | Giving the Rivers classic a new life! Pre-order your copy HERE: metalblade.com/riversofnihil

Goatwhore AHFTAOH celebrates TWO years! Lets thrash it up! #metalblade #thrashmetal #metal #heavy

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-07 | Stream and/or order your copy of 'Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven' HERE: metalblade.com/goatwhore

Iotunn - Iridescent Way (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-10-01 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/iotunn

Danish/Faroese progressive metallers IOTUNN today unveil “Iridescent Way” and its accompanying video. The moving acoustic track appears on the band’s second full-length album, Kinship, set for release on October 25th through Metal Blade Records.

IOTUNN’s Kinship is a massive album arising from the primeval sea. It’s a mythological journey through eight tracks that span immense spheres both musically and lyrically, exploring the deep roots of human nature, its connection and disconnection with everything and everyone, and how our choices have always defined ourselves and the lives lived.

Comments guitarist Jesper Gräs on “Iridescent Way,” “It has been our wish for years to make an acoustic song. [Guitarist] Jens Nicolai [Gräs] and I have origins in playing classical guitar and this, combined with the folk tradition in the North as well as in the West as such, has been a huge gift and inspiration throughout the years. The intro and outro part came to me in a dream, and I woke up and played it. It laid a foundation for this song which is very special to the whole band, and we hold it very dearly.

Jens Nicolai agrees, “It’s clearly a stand-out song on the album. Finally, we pulled ourselves together to do something like this. There’s no brave or out-of-box decisions here. Just us doing something that also feels natural to us.”

Music video by Cold North Creative
http://www.instagram.com/coldnorthcreative

— — — — —

Follow Iotunn:
facebook.com/iotunn
iotunn.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/iotunn

IOTUNN’s "Kinship" is a massive album arising from the primeval sea. It’s a mythological journey through eight tracks that span immense spheres both musically and lyrically, exploring the deep roots of human nature, its connection and disconnection with everything and everyone, and how our choices have always defined ourselves and the lives lived.

Notes guitarist Jesper Gräs, "The creation of Kinship has been the most extensive and wild journey we’ve ever been part of. Like trekking up the Galdhøpiggen mountain in Norway, we have crossed peak after peak and seen things continuously brighter and wider until we reached the top, the end. Never have we been prouder and more pleased, and we hope our fans - old and new - will take this album into their hearts and let it unfold from there.”

Set in primeval time, Kinship unfolds the story of a tribesman who is part of a prehistoric tribe. It tells the story of life’s many conditions as themes of unity/disunity, light/dark, body/mind, nature/culture, good/evil, creation/destruction, and human/inhuman unfold throughout the album.

“Everything is related, everything has an impact, and we all must find our ways to our true selves and true freedoms in our choices in this interconnectedness of everything,” elaborates vocalist Jón Aldará. “The album explores themes of conformity versus following your own path and the consequences your choices have for relationships. It is also a consideration of the mind-body connection; especially with regards to how you interact within yourself, how you are influenced and controlled by the arenas of life and the interaction with nature. All this influences your identity, your choices, and your individuality.”

IOTUNN:
Jón Aldará – vocals
Jens Nicolai Gräs – guitar
Jesper Gräs – guitar
Eskil Rask – bass
Bjørn Wind Andersen – drums

The Crown - Churchburner (Drum Playthrough)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-30 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/thecrown
For "Crown of Thorns," the dynamic, ground-breaking follow-up to 2021’s "Royal Destroyer," The Crown made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s 10 songs would stand as a unique collection. “For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,“ says guitarist Marko Tervonen. And while Royal Destroyer was termed a “a ridiculously catchy album,” The Crown wanted to “make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of the comfort zone on Crown of Thorns.“

Musical dynamics are also on a new level with the 2022 addition of drummer Mikael Norén and bassist Mattias Rasmussen, and the return of lead guitarist Marcus Sunesson, rejoining long time members Tervonen and vocalist Johan Lindstrand. “With Mikael we managed to bring back a bit more of that crazy ‘Janne Saarenpää’ feel to the drumming, so that was a really cool energy boost. Mattias comes more from a punk/crust background, and he wrote ‘I Hunt with the Devil’ and ‘Mind Collapse’ for the album, which turned out great. This is definitely a step up in many ways, changing the way we worked on the CSV and RD albums.”

Filmed and edited by Christoffer Tönnäng
Additional video/graphics by Anton Hallenberg

Video produced by Lect Production and The Crown

Crown Of Thorns was recorded by Marko Tervonen (Studio-MT), mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios).

THE CROWN:
Johan Lindstrand – vocals
Marko Tervonen – guitar
Marcus Sunesson – lead guitar
Mattias Rasmussen – bass
Mikael Norén – drums

LYRICS:
(Music: M.Tervonen and The Crown Lyrics: J.Lindstrand)

The night is endless
Covenant obscure
Churchburner dead and alive
Warm blood in the freezing cold
Nosferatu vomit the cross

When I’m lost in the darkness
I fear myself more than ever
When I reach out to the light
I bear witness to my own desolation

Fearsome mystic power of the old
The blues of black he grant the weak

Fear him! Fear him!
The chosen God of the new world order

Leaving earth the way we know it
Scorched by light, embraced by night
Damned, undead, a shadow conquest
Stripped of all but Hunter’s pride

Night eternal
Covenant of black
Immortality feeding its youth
Warm blood on the bitter frost
Nosferatu raping the cross

When I’m lost in the darkness
I fear myself more than ever
When I reach out to the light
I bear witness to my own demise

Fearsome mystic power of the old
The blues of black he grant the weak

Fear him! Fear him!
The chosen God of the new world order

Leaving earth the way we want it
Scorched by light, embraced by night
Damned, undead, a shadow conquest
Stripped of all but Hunter’s pride

(Solo: M.Sunesson)

Churchburner
The inferior loss of life
Churchburner
Grand design of the übermensch

Leaving life
Embraced by night
Damned undead
Leaving life
Embraced by night
The Hunter’s pride

New Black Dahlia video for Panic Hysteric just dropped! #metal #theblackdahliamurder #deathmetal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-30 | New album, 'Servitude' dropped just a few days ago! You know the drill! Stream and/or order you copy on wax HERE: metalblade.com/tbdm

The Black Dahlia Murder - Panic Hysteric (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-30 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/tbdm
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER:
Brian Eschbach – lead vocals
Max Lavelle – bass
Alan Cassidy – drums
Brandon Ellis – lead guitar, backing vocals
Ryan Knight – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Director / Cinematographer / Editor:
Robbie Tassaro

Executive Produced by:
E.J. Johantgen & The Black Dahlia Murder
Additional Cinematography:
Marshall Wieczorek

Lighting Director / Playback Tech:
Evan Burke

Statford the Ape:
Nick Marrero

Colorist:
Anthony Tocchio

Filmed on location during The Remnant Returns EU 2024 Tour

“Before the tragedy, no one ever thought this band was going to exist without Trevor.”

That’s THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER’s co-founder Brian Eschbach telling it like it is. With the tragic passing of the band’s frontman and co-founder Trevor Strnad in 2022, Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and producer/guitarist Brandon Ellis were faced with a decision: Close the door on one of the most beloved death metal bands of the last twenty years, or carry on in their fallen brother’s charismatic spirit?

“Everyone that’s in the band now is someone that Trevor and I searched for,” Eschbach says. “We spent so much time on the road together that everyone understands the mission statement. We don’t really need to talk about it. We just need to make great music and try to make people happy playing it.”

After a period of profound grief and deep soul-searching, Eschbach moved from guitar to vocals, setting aside his lifelong identity as a live guitarist for the survival of the band. Former THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER member Ryan Knight returned to the fold to take Eschbach’s place on guitar. The new lineup made their debut in TBDM’s hometown of Detroit in late October 2022 for a tribute show for Strnad.

Fast forward to right about now: THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER’s new album is the one that many would have thought impossible. Servitude marks Eschbach’s recorded debut as THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER’s lead vocalist and lyricist—and their first with Knight on guitar since 2015’s Abysmal.

“I just had to lean into it hard,” Eschbach says of approaching Servitude in a completely new role. “Honestly, writing the lyrics for this album was easier for me than writing the music for the three songs that I wrote music for. I’d pick a subject, research it, and just kinda dive in. Even though it’s not something I’d really ever done before, there was a natural flow to it once I started.”

You can hear the thrilling results on “Aftermath,” the ripping lead single, which envisions a post-apocalyptic cannibal scenario. “We wanted that one to be heard first because it’s one of the faster songs on the album, if not the fastest,” Eschbach says. “We wanted that very aggressive BLACK DAHLIA melodic death metal feel coming right at you. Lyrically, it’s about a meteor that fucks up the whole planet, but there’s still people living. Kind of like The Walking Dead, but with no zombies—so you get right to how people deal with it. And by the end, they’re eating each other.”

The members of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER know that some will be skeptical of an album without Trevor’s inimitable presence. But many fans have already embraced the band’s decision to move forward.

“More than pressures or expectations from the fanbase, I feel their trust and support,” Ellis says. “We've always done what we do for them, and they've appreciated our consistency over the years. The global outcry following Trevor's passing has shown us how important the band's music has been to so many people, and how important it is that we continue in his honor. Under all that weight, I think we all knew what needed to be done.”

“We put in everything we had, and this is the album that felt right to make,” he adds. “I'm proud of it and proud of the five of us. You can never please everybody, but I know that this music will be a healing and positive force for those who embrace it!”

The guitars, bass and vocals for Servitude were recorded at Ellis’ home studio in New Jersey. The drums were recorded by Mark Lewis in Nashville, Tennessee where the album was also mixed. Servitude was mastered by Ted Jensen.

New Asinhell video, “Impii Hora” is NOW PLAYING!💥 #metal #heavymetal #deathmetal #melodicdeathmetal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-30 | Their debut album "Impii Hora" is streaming NOW! Check out the full carnage HERE: metalblade.com/asinhell

Asinhell - Impii Hora (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-30 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/asinhell
Poulsen has rekindled the death metal fire that fueled his first band Dominus. He began jamming on riffs with longtime friend and neighbor, drummer Morten Toft Hansen (Raunchy). The two started playing in Morten's tiny garage: no mics, no P.A. — just a drum kit and a combo amp turned all the way up like they used when they were teenagers. Soon, the pair were completing a new song every time they got together. When it came time to add vocals, Poulsen turned to his good friend, who also happened to be one of his all-time favorite death metal growlers: Marc Grewe (Insidious Disease, ex-Morgoth).

Asinhell:
Michael Poulsen — Guitar
Marc Grewe — Vocals
Morten Toft Hansen — Drums

"I had known Michael quite a long time and he always mentioned that we should do a death metal project one day, but I never took him too seriously because he was so busy with Volbeat," Grewe says. "Then he called for real and said, 'Yeah, I want to do it now. Are you up for it?' Immediately, I was like, 'Yes, of course!'"

With Asinhell fully formed, the three convened with Volbeat producer Jacob Hansen to produce, mix, and play bass on their debut album. When it was time to add lead guitar to the album, Michael looked no further than friend and The Arcane Order axeman Flemming C. Lund.

For more than 20 years, vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulsen has been spearheading Danish rock and roll machine Volbeat, releasing eight full-lengths, selling millions of albums, and filling stadiums worldwide. Before fronting Volbeat, however, Poulsen formed death metal band Dominus, which recorded four fast, brutal albums in the mid '90s. When Poulsen was putting together songs for Volbeat's 2021 album, Servant of the Mind, he wrote a bunch of death metal riffs and saved them on his phone. Then, when he was done with the Volbeat record, he reopened the rusty gates to Armageddon and started putting together songs for his new death metal band Asinhell, whose debut album Impii Hora (Latin for "Ungodly Hour"), is a tribute to Poulsen's favorite old-school groups.

Time to unbox The Crowns Crown Of Thorns! Some beauties in here! #thrashmetal #metal #vinyl

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-27 | 'Crown Of Thorns' drops October 11th! Pre-order one of these killer variants on wax HERE: metalblade.com/thecrown

The Crown - Crown of Thorns | Unboxing

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-27 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/thecrown
For "Crown of Thorns," the dynamic, ground-breaking follow-up to 2021’s "Royal Destroyer," The Crown made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s 10 songs would stand as a unique collection. “For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,“ says guitarist Marko Tervonen. And while Royal Destroyer was termed a “a ridiculously catchy album,” The Crown wanted to “make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of the comfort zone on Crown of Thorns.“

Musical dynamics are also on a new level with the 2022 addition of drummer Mikael Norén and bassist Mattias Rasmussen, and the return of lead guitarist Marcus Sunesson, rejoining long time members Tervonen and vocalist Johan Lindstrand. “With Mikael we managed to bring back a bit more of that crazy ‘Janne Saarenpää’ feel to the drumming, so that was a really cool energy boost. Mattias comes more from a punk/crust background, and he wrote ‘I Hunt with the Devil’ and ‘Mind Collapse’ for the album, which turned out great. This is definitely a step up in many ways, changing the way we worked on the CSV and RD albums.”

"Crown of Thorns" was recorded by Marko Tervonen (Studio-MT), mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios).

THE CROWN:
Johan Lindstrand – vocals
Marko Tervonen – guitar
Marcus Sunesson – lead guitar
Mattias Rasmussen – bass
Mikael Norén – drums

The Black Dahlia Murder - Servitude (FULL ALBUM)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-26 | ARTIST: The Black Dahlia Murder
ALBUM: Servitude
RELEASE DATE: 09/27/2024

US Store: metalblade.indiemerch.com/collections/the-black-dahlia-murder
EU Store: eu.kingsroadmerch.com/metal-blade/artist/594

01. Evening Ephemeral (00:00)
02. Panic Hysteric (03:55)
03. Aftermath (07:01)
04. Cursed Creator (10:03)
05. An Intermission (13:39)
06. Asserting Dominion (14:07)
07. Servitude (17:38)
08. Mammoth's Hand (21:06)
09. Transcosmic Blueprint (24:59)
10. Utopia Black (28:47)

The next IOTUNN track is on its way! Whos ready?! #metal #metalblade #progmetal #metalhead

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-26 | IOTUNN's new single, "Iridescent Way" drops October 1st! Set a reminder for it over on our main page!

New album, 'Kinship' out 10.25. Pre-order HERE: metalblade.com/iotunn

New LIFESICK just dropped! Ft. Cabals Andreas Bjulver! #metal #hardcore #metalblade #metalcore

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-25 | LIFESICK's new album, 'Love By None, Hated By All' drops November 1st!
Pre-order your copy HERE: metalblade.com/lifesick

Lifesick - Legacy of Misery (feat. Andreas Bjulver of Cabal) (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-25 | Order here: http://www.metalblade.com/lifesick
"This is an anthem for all of you who have been beaten down by the system and let down by everyone around you, but have found solace in this brotherhood of outcasts. This song is the grooviest on the album, featuring a catchy sing-along chorus. Additionally, it features guest vocals from our good friend Andreas Bjulver from Cabal." - Lifesick

Follow Lifesick:
https://www.lifesick.dk
facebook.com/lifesick
instagram.com/lifesickhc
twitter.com/lifesickhc

MASTER BOOT RECORD - RAM

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-24 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/masterbootrecord
FROM "HARDWAREZ"
OUT ON OCTOBER 11 ON METAL BLADE RECORDS

C:\HARDWAREZ\TOUR.EXE
TICKETS HTTPS://MBRSERVER.COM
25 Sep - US - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
26 Sep - US - Costa Mesa, CA - The Wayfarer
27 Sep - US - San Jose, CA - MagWest
01 Oct - US - Portland, OR - Star Theater
02 Oct - CA - Vancouver, BC - The Pearl
03 Oct - US - Seattle, WA - Substation
08 Oct - US - Mesa, AZ - The Nile Theater
09 Oct - US - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom
12 Oct - CA - Quebec City, QC - Hackfest
18 Oct - FR - Marseille - Le Molotov
19 Oct - FR - Paris - Backstage By The Mill
20 Oct - FR - Nantes - Le Ferrailleur
22 Oct - UK - London - Academy 2
23 Oct - UK - Manchester - Satans Hollow
24 Oct - UK - Glasgow - Cathouse
26 Oct - IR - Dublin - Grand Social
28 Oct - UK - Bristol - Exchange
30 Oct - NL - Eindhoven - Effenaar
31 Oct - NL - Amsterdam - Melkweg
02 Nov - DE - Cologne - Club Volta
03 Nov - NL - Leeuwarden - Neushoorn
04 Nov - DE - Hamburg - Logo
06 Nov - DK - Copenhagen - Stengade
07 Nov - SE - Gothenburg - Valand
08 Nov - NO - Oslo - Goldie
09 Nov - SE - Stockholm - Kollektivet Livet
11 Nov - PL - Wroclaw - Lacznick
12 Nov - DE - Berlin - Gretchen
13 Nov - DE - Dresden - Chemiefabrik
14 Nov - CZ - Prague - Cross Club
15 Nov - CZ - Brno - Kabinet Muz
16 Nov - HU - Budapest - Turbina
17 Nov - AT - Vienna - Szene
18 Nov - CH - Monthey - Pont Rouge
19 Nov - CH - Zurich - Exil

Pixel art animation by instagram.com/kirokaze

SPREAD THE CODE

To create Hardwarez, the technologist worked by live streaming his desktop on YouTube while composing new music. Everything is programmed via MIDI. "The very first song I wrote is actually also the first single, "CPU," he says. "Even though the other songs on the album have a quite different style, the type of riffing and the different melodic section of this track worked as a base to upgrade the sound before moving forward." "CPU" is also where Love decided to test the real guitar overdubs and was inspired by the results.

"With every album I've upgraded bits of the sounds, adding new layers," he says. "In Hardwarez the core sounds for synth guitars, leads and pads are still those that constitute the trademark MBR sound, but what makes this album very different is the addition of guitar overdubs that play along synth guitars for both the rhythmic and solo sections."

Intensive touring augmented with live musicians helped Love to make the decision to include real guitars to achieve a massive sound and boost the enhanced frequency spectrum of the instrument. "On this record there are a lot of heavy riffs with palm muting and my lead guitarist Shreddy recorded most of those leads and solos as well playing in unison with synth leads and adding extra energy to them."

The album title merges the term "Hardware" with "warez," also known as The Scene, more commonly known as the scene of cracks and pirated software which has been influential to Love in terms of crack and keygen music. While Love also organically began listening to electronic music, acid techno, industrial and synth pop, he also grew up in the '90s through all the grunge, nu-metal and industrial scene.

Old-school metal as well as '80s and '90s movies and video games -- and music from these -- also play a role in Love's musical DNA. His years of music and computer fanaticism is all manifested in MASTER BOOT RECORD and Hardwarez. "What I'm doing with this album and to an extent with previous ones, is to mix the sounds of cracks, keygen, demoscene and video game-inspired chiptune with heavy metal and classical music using hardware and computers to produce it."

Additionally, Love explains, "Computers in general, old and new as well as hardware or software since 1986 until now, have been a huge influence on me and MBR. I grew up through all of it because my father had a computer shop in the early days. I've been dealing with all those manuals, learning how to make each of these new devices work, be it motherboards, graphic cards, mouses, scanners, CD-burners or webcams, you name it. I've seen it all in all possible variations."

Yet Love doesn't necessarily think that everything old school is necessarily better. MBR's music is produced through the most advanced technologies in audio production while the concept at its basis is to limit the framework to a specific set of sounds. The goal and result boosts creativity and define the sound of the project. Live, that duality continues. Cutting-edge tech is used next to a Commodore 64 and Amiga 500 that Love uses onstage to play some parts live. MBR utilize video projections, but also bring CRT monitors, preferring cathode TV's vibrancy to LCD monitors.

"With this album the 486DX-33MHz-64MB becomes sentient through human augmentation", Love says, concluding, "For we may become better humans with their help, but machines still need us to shine."

MASTER BOOT RECORD - RAM (Official)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-24 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/masterbootrecord
FROM "HARDWAREZ"
OUT ON OCTOBER 11 ON METAL BLADE RECORDS

C:\HARDWAREZ\TOUR.EXE
TICKETS HTTPS://MBRSERVER.COM
25 Sep - US - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
26 Sep - US - Costa Mesa, CA - The Wayfarer
27 Sep - US - San Jose, CA - MagWest
01 Oct - US - Portland, OR - Star Theater
02 Oct - CA - Vancouver, BC - The Pearl
03 Oct - US - Seattle, WA - Substation
08 Oct - US - Mesa, AZ - The Nile Theater
09 Oct - US - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom
12 Oct - CA - Quebec City, QC - Hackfest
18 Oct - FR - Marseille - Le Molotov
19 Oct - FR - Paris - Backstage By The Mill
20 Oct - FR - Nantes - Le Ferrailleur
22 Oct - UK - London - Academy 2
23 Oct - UK - Manchester - Satans Hollow
24 Oct - UK - Glasgow - Cathouse
26 Oct - IR - Dublin - Grand Social
28 Oct - UK - Bristol - Exchange
30 Oct - NL - Eindhoven - Effenaar
31 Oct - NL - Amsterdam - Melkweg
02 Nov - DE - Cologne - Club Volta
03 Nov - NL - Leeuwarden - Neushoorn
04 Nov - DE - Hamburg - Logo
06 Nov - DK - Copenhagen - Stengade
07 Nov - SE - Gothenburg - Valand
08 Nov - NO - Oslo - Goldie
09 Nov - SE - Stockholm - Kollektivet Livet
11 Nov - PL - Wroclaw - Lacznick
12 Nov - DE - Berlin - Gretchen
13 Nov - DE - Dresden - Chemiefabrik
14 Nov - CZ - Prague - Cross Club
15 Nov - CZ - Brno - Kabinet Muz
16 Nov - HU - Budapest - Turbina
17 Nov - AT - Vienna - Szene
18 Nov - CH - Monthey - Pont Rouge
19 Nov - CH - Zurich - Exil

SPREAD THE CODE

To create Hardwarez, the technologist worked by live streaming his desktop on YouTube while composing new music. Everything is programmed via MIDI. "The very first song I wrote is actually also the first single, "CPU," he says. "Even though the other songs on the album have a quite different style, the type of riffing and the different melodic section of this track worked as a base to upgrade the sound before moving forward." "CPU" is also where Love decided to test the real guitar overdubs and was inspired by the results.

"With every album I've upgraded bits of the sounds, adding new layers," he says. "In Hardwarez the core sounds for synth guitars, leads and pads are still those that constitute the trademark MBR sound, but what makes this album very different is the addition of guitar overdubs that play along synth guitars for both the rhythmic and solo sections."

Intensive touring augmented with live musicians helped Love to make the decision to include real guitars to achieve a massive sound and boost the enhanced frequency spectrum of the instrument. "On this record there are a lot of heavy riffs with palm muting and my lead guitarist Shreddy recorded most of those leads and solos as well playing in unison with synth leads and adding extra energy to them."

The album title merges the term "Hardware" with "warez," also known as The Scene, more commonly known as the scene of cracks and pirated software which has been influential to Love in terms of crack and keygen music. While Love also organically began listening to electronic music, acid techno, industrial and synth pop, he also grew up in the '90s through all the grunge, nu-metal and industrial scene.

Old-school metal as well as '80s and '90s movies and video games -- and music from these -- also play a role in Love's musical DNA. His years of music and computer fanaticism is all manifested in MASTER BOOT RECORD and Hardwarez. "What I'm doing with this album and to an extent with previous ones, is to mix the sounds of cracks, keygen, demoscene and video game-inspired chiptune with heavy metal and classical music using hardware and computers to produce it."

Additionally, Love explains, "Computers in general, old and new as well as hardware or software since 1986 until now, have been a huge influence on me and MBR. I grew up through all of it because my father had a computer shop in the early days. I've been dealing with all those manuals, learning how to make each of these new devices work, be it motherboards, graphic cards, mouses, scanners, CD-burners or webcams, you name it. I've seen it all in all possible variations."

Yet Love doesn't necessarily think that everything old school is necessarily better. MBR's music is produced through the most advanced technologies in audio production while the concept at its basis is to limit the framework to a specific set of sounds. The goal and result boosts creativity and define the sound of the project. Live, that duality continues. Cutting-edge tech is used next to a Commodore 64 and Amiga 500 that Love uses onstage to play some parts live. MBR utilize video projections, but also bring CRT monitors, preferring cathode TV's vibrancy to LCD monitors.

"With this album the 486DX-33MHz-64MB becomes sentient through human augmentation", Love says, concluding, "For we may become better humans with their help, but machines still need us to shine."

Primordial - Guitar Rig Rundown

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-20 | Ciarán MacUiliam of Primordial dives into his guitar setup during their recent trek through the US.

Their latest album, 'How It Ends' is OUT NOW.

Stream/order HERE: metalblade.com/primordial

#primordial #deathmetal #metalbladerecords

Category 7s Jason Bittner shreds through Exhausted! #heavymetal #metalbladerecords #drummer

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-19 | Full playthrough of "Exhausted" on our channel! The band's self-titled debut is OUT NOW! Stream/order HERE: metalblade.com/category7

The Black Dahlia Murder - Abysmal (FULL ALBUM)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-19 | ARTIST: The Black Dahlia Murder
ALBUM: Abysmal
RELEASE DATE: 09/18/2015

US Store: metalblade.indiemerch.com/collections/the-black-dahlia-murder
EU Store: eu.kingsroadmerch.com/metal-blade/artist/594

01. Receipt (00:00)
02. Vlad, Son of the Dragon (04:02)
03. Abysmal (06:59)
04. Re-Faced (10:41)
05. Threat Level No. 3 (14:31)
06. The Fog (18:17)
07. Stygiophobic (22:07)
08. Asylum (25:21)
09. The Advent (29:00)
10. That Cannot Die Which Eternally Is Dead (32:42)

The Crown unleashes another new jam! Behold..Gone To Hell! #metalbladerecords #metal #thrashmetal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-19 | New album, 'Crown Of Thorns' drops October 11th! Pre-order your copy HERE: metalblade.com/thecrown

Whos up for some shred?! Dive into Demisers playthrough of Carbureted Speed! #thrashmetal #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-19 | Demiser's new album, 'Slave To The Scythe' is OUT NOW! Stream/order your copy HERE: blacklightmediarecords.com/demiser

Kings Of Mercias new track, Aftermath is now playing! #metalbladerecords #metal #progmetal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-18 | New album, 'Battle Scars' drops 10.25! Pre-order HERE: metalblade.com/kingsofmercia

Category 7 - Exhausted (Jason Bittner Drum Playthrough)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-18 | Jason Bittner shreds through a playthrough of "Exhausted" taken from the band's self-titled debut OUT NOW!

Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/category7

CATEGORY 7:
John Bush – vocals
Phil Demmel – guitar
Mike Orlando – guitar
Jack Gibson – bass
Jason Bittner – drums

category7official.com
facebook.com/category7band
instagram.com/category7band

CATEGORY 7, the new heavy metal collective featuring the all-star lineup of John Bush (Armored Saint, Anthrax), Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob, Sonic Universe, Noturnall), Phil Demmel (Machine Head, Kerry King, Vio-Lence), Jack Gibson (Exodus), and Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, Overkill), today unleashes their latest single, “Exhausted.” The track comes by way of the band’s self-titled debut full-length, set for release on July 26th through Metal Blade Records.

Named after the numerical designation for the most powerful windstorms, CATEGORY 7 came together from a batch of musicians who strived to play music they loved and weren’t hearing elsewhere and wanted to do so with bandmates they enjoyed being with. Together, the band has created an album that is fresh and familiar; a new breed of metal that lives up to the storied histories of its members. The mixture of NWOBHM, thrash, punk-metal, and traditional metal is cohesive and sonically rewarding, establishing an eclectic musical backdrop for vocalist John Bush’s instantly identifiable vocals. At the same time, the diversity of styles creates its own template that’s ideal for headbanging, moshing, and voluble sing-alongs.

“It’s all about big verses and big songs, and it has a lot of the elements we’ve explored in our other bands,” notes guitarist and main songwriter Mike Orlando.

Category 7 was produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Orlando at Sonic Stomp Studios with art and layout by Carlos Fides at Artside Studio (Angra, Evergrey, Kamelot).

#metalbladerecords #metal #category7

The Crown - Gone to Hell (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-18 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/thecrown
For "Crown of Thorns," the dynamic, ground-breaking follow-up to 2021’s "Royal Destroyer," The Crown made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s 10 songs would stand as a unique collection. “For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,“ says guitarist Marko Tervonen. And while Royal Destroyer was termed a “a ridiculously catchy album,” The Crown wanted to “make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of the comfort zone on Crown of Thorns.“

Musical dynamics are also on a new level with the 2022 addition of drummer Mikael Norén and bassist Mattias Rasmussen, and the return of lead guitarist Marcus Sunesson, rejoining long time members Tervonen and vocalist Johan Lindstrand. “With Mikael we managed to bring back a bit more of that crazy ‘Janne Saarenpää’ feel to the drumming, so that was a really cool energy boost. Mattias comes more from a punk/crust background, and he wrote ‘I Hunt with the Devil’ and ‘Mind Collapse’ for the album, which turned out great. This is definitely a step up in many ways, changing the way we worked on the CSV and RD albums.”

Created by: Anton Hallenberg & Robin Schulz

Crown Of Thorns was recorded by Marko Tervonen (Studio-MT), mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios).

THE CROWN:
Johan Lindstrand – vocals
Marko Tervonen – guitar
Marcus Sunesson – lead guitar
Mattias Rasmussen – bass
Mikael Norén – drums

LYRICS:(Music: M.Olsfelt/M.Tervonen
Lyrics: M.Tervonen)

Brave until the end
Helpless souls demising
Righteous never stand
Altered into dark – fell into the part

Drowning, the hopeless part of me
Rising, the flame that burns within

Fallen dreams are left for us to wonder
Hopeless dreams gone to hell too deep

Conscious minds fighting seeking wonder
Endless dreams gone to hell too dee

Too deep.

Roaring echoes thunder.
Falling seek the order
Twisting all the wonders
Falling down – lost the crown – endless might- watch me tear it down

Roaring echoes thunder
Falling seek the order
Twisting all the wonders
Falling down – lost the crown

Fallen dreams are left for us to wonder.
Hopeless dreams gone to hell too deep.

Conscious minds fighting seeking wonder
Endless dreams gone to hell too deep

Drowning, the hopeless part of me
Rising, the flame inside of me

Drowning, the hopeless part of me
Rising, the light inside of me
So dim

Kings of Mercia - Aftermath (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-17 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/kingsofmercia
“Aftermath" is "very dark,” vocalist Steve Overland comments. “It's about what will be left behind in the end. What will be left on the planet. It's a very dark track and very dark subject matter."

"I almost didn’t send this one to Steve, and when I did I was certain he wouldn’t like it,” says guitarist Jim Matheos. “I’m glad I did though, as it’s one of my favorites on the album now. It’s quite different for us and I think Steve really shines on this one.”

Now and again, art offers up the perfect storm. When creative worlds collide with a furious cacophony of power, licks, and lyrics, magic happens. Such is the case with KINGS OF MERCIA, whose second album, 'Battle Scars,' is the continuation of a story as unlikely as it is glorious. The band is helmed by guitarist Jim Matheos (Fates Warning) and singer Steve Overland (FM) who are joined by drummer Simon Phillips(The Who, Toto) and bassist Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning).

KINGS OF MERCIA are:
Jim Matheos - Guitars
Steve Overland - Vocals
Simon Phillips - Drums
Joey Vera - Bass

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"We found our feet with this album. This is the Kings of Mercia evolving. People think you can pigeonhole rock music fans, but they just like good songs and good music," Overland says.

KINGS OF MERCIA's 2022 approachable, world-class self-titled debut was termed “truly a hybrid: it’s heavy, but not metal. It’s got tones of melodic AOR hard rock but with an edge.” Now, 2024 brings the band's sophomore album written and recorded throughout 2023, 'Battle Scars' sees the core writing team of Matheos and Overland expanding on their obvious chemistry.

"I think it was a bit easier this time around because we’ve established a good working rhythm," states Matheos, "I’ll send Steve at least a few songs every couple of months, and I try to keep them varied. This allows him to work on whichever ones he feels strongly about."

“What Jim sends me is the first draft of that song,” says Overland. “So once he's heard all the melodies and the harmonies I sing, he can chop it about and make it how he thinks it should be. He always sends me three or four different versions. He'll say, ‘What do you think? Which do you like?’ Then we work it out between us and come up with the one we're both happy with.”

“Steve and I started working together in 2021,” says Matheos. “I was aware of FM–they came up around the same time as Fates Warning – but I’d lost touch with them and wasn’t familiar with their more recent work. When Steve was recommended to me, I checked out some of the newer releases and felt Steve was exactly what I was looking for.”

“It's a different genre of music that I'm normally involved in,” says Overland, whose voice has been likened to other British greats Paul Rodgers and Glenn Hughes. “Obviously, I’d heard of Fates Warning – they're a very big cult band in their field. Jim and I touched base, and I told him to send me one backing track. If it sounds great, then it's a win-win. If it doesn't, we'll just call it a day, knock it on the head, not take it any further. That song became ‘Humankind’ from the first album. I wrote the melodies and the title and put it all together. Jim got it and he was blown away. So we made a couple more. I loved doing it. It was just such a different challenge for me.”

Those songs would become the self-titled debut album, which was released in 2022. Written during lockdown, bouncing tracks across the Atlantic, KINGS OF MERCIA found its mojo. Fans of Fates Warning, FM, and Armored Saint all rejoiced at the common ground on KINGS OF MERCIA, the sweet spot in the middle of the Venn diagram.

It’s a true collaboration that has led to KOM's 'Battle Scars.' However, despite the unfolding sound and clear chemistry between the four Kings, Overland has never met his bandmates in person. 'Battle Scars,' like its predecessor, is a slab of transatlantic magic.

Video by:
Simon Ward
identity-media.co.uk

Wolfbrigade - Ways to Die (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-16 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/wolfbrigade
Formed in 1995 in the small Swedish city of Mariestad by key players from Sweden's legendary hardcore scene, WOLFBRIGADE -- previously known as Wolfpack until 1999 -- stands among Scandinavia's most respected, influential, and reliable purveyors of real-world brute-force tumult.

“This is a little gem about the human creativity when it comes to ways of punishing and killing each other in the most terrible ways. Take the sadistic practice of ‘rat torture’ for instance, involving strapping a bucket full of rats to a victim’s naked torso. The bucket is then heated from the outside. The rodents chew their way into the very bowels of the victim in an attempt to escape the heat. All the way through the doomed person’s flesh, and any organs it happens to encounter on its way to freedom. No living being is meant to be caged.” - Wolfbrigade

Director: MeANkind
Director of Photography and Editor: Jacob Frössén

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On their crushing "Life Knife Death", thirty years of skill are honed to a fine edge and dispatched with greater style and intensity than ever before. Most immediately, there's the sheer velocity and barely controlled rage pumping through dynamic d-beaten blood-shakers like “Ways To Die” and “Your God Is A Corpse,” the furious attack assisted to heart-fluttering greatness by a newly loosened sense of raucous spontaneity. "We didn’t really rehearse any of the songs on this album," the band reveals. "We tend to overwork and overanalyze everything that we do, and sometimes we get lost in that process. This time we wanted to go rough, to capture the raw essence of the song when it’s just out of the womb. All the blood and gore."

Lets kick the weekend off with some SPEED and The Crowns Churchburner! #heavymetal #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-14 | New album, 'Crown Of Thorns' drops October 11th! Grab your pre-order and check out the first single in full HERE: metalblade.com/thecrown

NWOBHM legends, SATAN, unleash their new album! Songs In Crimson - OUT NOW! #heavymetal #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-13 | Stream and/or order your copy HERE: metalblade.com/satan

New Wolfbrigade album, Life Knife Death OUT NOW. Time to get wrecked! #heavymetal #metal #thrash

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-13 | Stream and/or order your copy HERE: metalblade.com/wolfbrigade

Satan - Era (The Day Will Come) (Official)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-13 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/satan
SATAN’s history is storied, their albums and incendiary live shows, iconic. The Newcastle, England-bred lineup may quip that their career has been “forty-four years of prolonged mayhem with a twenty-year lunch break” — forming in 1980, eventually pausing before reuniting in 2011 — but circa 2024 finds the band thriving, writing, recording, and touring at the top of their game.

SATAN:
Brian Ross – vocals
Russ Tippins – guitars
Steve Ramsey – guitars
Graeme English – bass
Sean Taylor – drums

Proof positive is their seventh studio album, and third for Metal Blade, Songs In Crimson. If 2022’s Earth Infernal album was brutal, up-tempo and with loud guitars, guitarist Russ Tippins calls Songs In Crimson “concise. It’s more to-the-point and gets there quicker. One of the reasons behind the album title is that this record is very ‘song’ focused. There’s more punch this time around. Each chorus speaks for itself.” With influences from King Crimson to Mercyful Fate, SATAN’s own stylings remain unique, the band’s NWOBHM origins a springboard for musical and lyrical creativity, commentary, and nonconformity.

While Songs In Crimson features lyrics including “a once-great nation is going down” and “this is the end of an era,” SATAN offers no quick fix. “There is always hope; solutions are not for us musicians to proclaim,” Tippins believes. “Each song has its own different theme. While there is no title track as such, the song ‘Deadly Crimson,’ which is an anti-capitalism narrative, is as close as it gets to that. As a concept, making money from money is fatally flawed in that it depends on constant growth,” Tippins says. “But constant growth is obviously impossible; a conveyor belt of sacrificial lambs.”

Tippins continues, “‘Turn The Tide’ is the classic ‘King Canute’ scenario -- the deluded head of state who believes himself to be divine and sets out to prove it by standing in front of the sea and ordering the waves to retreat. They don’t of course. We are kind of using that as an allegory to illustrate the ridiculous standpoint of certain Jingoistic Brits who believe that foreigners have no place in our country. It’s the shortest song on the album. And also the fastest!.”

#satan #heavymetal #nwobhm

The Black Dahlia Murder - Everblack (FULL ALBUM)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-12 | ARTIST: The Black Dahlia Murder
ALBUM: Everblack
RELEASE DATE: 06/11/2013

US Store: metalblade.indiemerch.com/collections/the-black-dahlia-murder
EU Store: eu.kingsroadmerch.com/metal-blade/artist/594

01. In Hell Is Where She Waits for Me (00:00)
02. Goat of Departure (05:20)
03. Into the Everblack (09:13)
04. Raped in Hatred by Vines of Thorn (13:47)
05. Phantom Limb Masturbation (18:21)
06. Control (23:31)
07. Blood Mine (26:58)
08. Every Rope a Noose (30:24)
09. Their Beloved Absentee (34:16)
10. Map of Scars (39:18)

Whitechapel takes deathcore to a WHOLE NEW level! Experience A Visceral Retch. #deathcore #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-12 | Stream "A Visceral Retch" in its entirety HERE: metalblade.com/whitechapel

Whitechapel - A Visceral Retch (Official Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-12 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/whitechapel
“‘A Visceral Retch’ is a song that fans of "The Somatic Defilement" will latch onto immediately. It was one of the first songs we had in the chamber to work with. This song came to light thanks mostly to [guitarist] Zach Householder. He showed us and we all immediately said, ‘yup, that’s it.’ Zach is notorious for very dark and horror-like vibes so this album is right in his wheelhouse. The song is disturbing. Imagine being put in a situation of survival by gluttonous, mammoth demons that give you a choice. Eat the demons’ waste, eat each other, or starve to death. The twist, you’re against the people you love the most. It’s a way to find the ones that are truly evil people to build and strengthen their cult. It also represents how horrible people can really be, when push comes to shove.” - Phil Bozeman

WHITECHAPEL:
Phil Bozeman – vocals
Ben Savage – lead guitar
Alex Wade – rhythm guitar
Zach Householder – guitar
Gabe Crisp – bass
Brandon Zackey – drums

LYRICS:
Consume
Consumed without a gasp, we gorge into the night as we dance
To the curdling whimper of pitiful man
Blasphemous, gluttonous
The belly begs for a moments rest, quick to reject, we still ingest
As the withered hole pleads to eject
They cannot stomach the smell, mangled innards wrench as they swell
An eternal song of visceral retch
The churns, they burn
Unnourished, brittle shell of a man
Submit or consume the consumed

Hail the coprophagous and cannibalistic
Long for the flesh, compelled to eat shit

There’s no distance our hymns won’t reach
The gags of dissonance echo as they preach
Cold goes the waste, reluctant to taste
Now the mold is in bloom, insatiably they consume

They cannot stomach the smell, mangled innards wrench as they swell
An eternal song of visceral retch
The churns, they burn

Bless the mess that rots in my gut
Behold the foul vessel erupt

Septic we bleed
Our seed breeds vermin
Appetite of the sick
Eviscerate to rid the taste
And be consumed once more

Eviscerate to rid the taste
Eviscerate, re-consume the waste

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Ensiferum unleashes their second single from Winter Storm! #metalbladerecords #folkmetal #metal

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-12 | Pre-order 'Winter Storm' before it drops Oct. 18th HERE: metalblade.com/ensiferum

Ensiferum - Long Cold Winter of Sorrow and Strife (Lyric Video)

Metal Blade Records 2024-09-12 | Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/ensiferum
New album Winter Storm is out October 18, 2024
Watch video for Winter Storm Vigilantes here: youtu.be/7dxUBV5dr_c

The Finnish folk-metal melodeath sensation has maintained a prolific release schedule since their first demo in 1997, gradually increasing in stature until eighth album Thalassic crowned their ascent in 2020. The nautical opus went on to top Finland's album chart, reaching #3 in Germany, and top ten in Switzerland, Canada, and the United States. Eventually, ENSIFERUM would take Thalassic on two massive world tours and to festivals like Wacken, Hellfest, Summer Breeze, and Ragnarök, but the global Covid pandemic ensured that the four-year wait for Winter Storm would be the longest in the band's near-thirty-year history.

Much of the new material emerged in the lockdown era, when ENSIFERUM's founding guitarist Markus Toivonen set himself the challenge of finding new ways to make music -- eventually composing every song except the rousing, anthemic “Fatherland,” written by bassist Sami Hinkka. The addition of singer/organist Pekka Montin's crystal-clear melodic high notes provided a tremendous boost on Thalassic. But on Winter Storm -- a fantasy concept narrative penned by Hinkka -- Montin's super-strong voice finds its optimal place in ENSIFERUM's sound. Bringing to life such grandiose, heroic material, the singer emerges as one of the greatest vocal discoveries of the decade.

"The way I see it, this album is more like a 'musical' than a traditional album," says Hinkka. "The lyrics of Winter Storm are based on part of my unpublished fantasy book. One day it will be out… I don’t want to reveal the plot or details too much but ‘Winter Storm Vigilantes’ and ‘Fatherland’ tell of two factions in this long tale. The Vigilantes have gained knowledge to utilize certain rare elements, and even though there was already magic in this world, with this new epiphany they have reached a completely new level. This element seems to interact with living things in a way that even the wisest men don’t completely understand. And through generations of trial and error, they have refined a skill to expose their horses to the element and managed to break the law of gravity, making their steeds fly. But they became ruthless and greedy on their quest to gain more of this element. A small tribe in the north keep on fighting for their land, which the Vigilantes plan to take over. These North Folks will literally fight until the last man…

“Other characters include a Vigilante castaway, the last shaman of the North Folk, and a mysterious widow. The album ends with a great battle against the Vigilantes and the unholy alliance of the castaway and the North Folk shaman, who has transcended into a spirit wolf. Who will prevail? Will this be the final battle of the book? Time will tell… I understand that all this sounds very far out -- well, it is a fantasy book -- but believe me, it will be truly an epic story!"

Adds Hinkka of ENSIFERUM’s first single from the offering, “Winter Storm Vigilantes,” “Markus had quite grandeur visions of the song and it turned out to be even more heroic than we expected. It was an obvious choice to open the new album. This epic song serves as one faction of the big story. The song pushes forward with the might of a thousand horses and will surely be a great song in the future setlist.”

Winter Storm Track Listing:
1. Aurora
2. Winter Storm Vigilantes
3. Long Cold Winter Of Sorrow And Strife
4. Fatherland
5. Scars In My Heart (Feat. Madeleine Liljestam)
6. Resistentia
7. The Howl
8. From Order To Chaos
9. Leniret Coram Tempestate
10. Victorious
11. Six Ribbons (Jon English cover) *
12. Lambada (Kaoma cover) *
** Special Edition Bonus Track

ENSIFERUM:
Petri Lindroos - vocals, guitars
Markus Toivonen - guitars, vocals
Sami Hinkka - bass, vocals
Janne Parviainen - drums
Pekka Montin - keyboards, vocals

#ensiferum #winterstorm #folkmetal