With Record Store Day behind us, we can start concentrating on the non-special edition releases coming up…
Empyre
We love these guys – they played our Wildfire stage a couple of years back… twice! – and we’re overjoyed to hear that they’re due to release their debut album, Self Aware, on July 5th. In addition, the band will release their first single “Too Little Too Late” on 19th April 2019.
Hailing from Northampton, the atmospheric rock four-piece is ready to present a truly accomplished first record. Containing no fillers, Self Aware is a collection of 11 outstanding tracks, in which each song individually showcases a band with skillful songwriting and a bold sound.
Every song on this album has its own personality, and an underlining and unifying soundscape ties all the tracks together, fusing the roots of the style’s tradition with a unique musical edge, creating a distinctive, dark and introspective rock. From the gritty opener “My Bad” to the heavier and more intense “New Republic”; from the dramatic “Too Close” to the more upbeat “Drive”; from the hard-hitting “Too Little Too Late” to the atmospheric and epic “Homegrown”; each track is lyrically engaging and displays an unapologetic unique sound.
The band comments:
We feel we have encapsulated the essence of Empyre in its present guise in eleven tracks. Subtlety to anthemic. Lyrically ‘Self-Aware’ is an album with a dark tone, however the tracks conceal positive messages. Musically we try to hit a point between a soulful, melodic tone, whilst keeping it heavy enough to shake the foundations now and then. We’d describe it as a combination of gritty, sometimes haunting vocals with captivating guitar hooks and solos.
Calea Dreaming
Australian atmospheric post-black metal band Calea Dreaming will release their new EP A Cloudy Mist on the 1st of June 2019. The EP was recorded/mixed and mastered by Calea at Huon Pine Studio.
Calea Dreaming was formed in 2016 at Coffs Harbour, Australia as a one man project creating a mix of instrumental atmospheric post black metal, inspired by the natural landscapes that surround Calea’s home region. In December 2018 the band released their debut album The Rainforest Canopy. Check it and their other releases out on bandcamp.
LVCIFYRE
The Beast of Darkness unleashes his coils upon man once again. Blackened death maniacs LVCIFYRE break a five-year silence with Sacrament. The band’s forthcoming EP features four new original tracks and a blistering cover of “Morderca” from Polish cult thrashers KAT.
Check out new track “The Greater Curse” below.
After the leveling aural decimation of 2014’s Svn Eater, the UK’s LVCIFYRE have re-emerged with Sacrament, a 23-minute extended-play offering of cacophonous and wretched death metal savagery. Where relentless and violent death metal riffing meets chaotic and claustrophobic atmosphere, Sacrament is a delve into the corner of death metal fringe that many fear to explore.
Dark Descent Records will release Sacrament on May 24th on digital, CD and 12″ MLP formats. Pre-order Sacrament at darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com.
Tronos
Tronos is a true collision between two unstoppably creative heroes of the metal underground: Shane Embury (Napalm Death, Brujeria) on guitar/vocals and producer Russ Russell (At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir, Napalm Death) on guitar, synths and vocals team up with drummer Dirk Verbeuren for a load of dark fractured colossal doom ambience metal.
Celestial Mechanics – out now – also features a string of illustrious guests: Denis ‘Snake’ Belanger (Voivod / vocals), Erica Nockalls (The Wonder Stuff / vocals & violin) as well as no fewer than three legendary bass players, Billy Gould (Faith No More), Troy Sanders and Dan Lilker (Nuclear Assault, S.O.D.). Also featuring the Black Sabbath cover version “Johnny Blade“, this rocketing debut album was mixed by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Solstafir, Paradise Lost, Ulver) as well as Russ Russell.
You can order the album in a variety of formats, and an interview video with more information is below.
