Artillery reveals details for new album, ‘X’
On May 7th, Artillery will release their tenth full-length, X, via Metal Blade Records. For a first preview of X, the new single, “In Thrash We Trust”, can be heard at https://www.metalblade.com/artillery/
In the mid-1980s, Denmark’s Artillery established themselves as being at the cutting edge of the thrash movement, and nearly forty years later, they continue to destroy. Returning with their tenth – and aptly titled – full-length X, they prove once again that they have not missed a step, delivering a record that’s ruthlessly heavy, catchy and pure molten metal. “We wanted to have the typical Artillery trademarks, like the riffs and hook lines in the usual combination together with aggression and melody. We always try to combine melodic thrash metal with elements from the heavy sounds of the 70s and the 80s, and this time with new elements in some of the songs,” says guitarist Michael Stützer. “We don’t have to push ourselves hard when we’re writing a record because we love what we’re doing.”
Sadly, guitarist – and Stützer’s brother – Morten Stützer passed in 2019, which understandably affected the band. Having played a big part in shaping Artillery‘s songs and appearing on every album up to 2018’s riveting The Face Of Fear, his loss is a real blow. “It was tough, even if he did not play live with us since 2016, he was always supporting us. Morten was a unique musician and writer and a very humorous guy, and following his death was the first time ever I thought about stopping playing music. But, he always said that I had to go on with Artillery and continue playing if he was not there anymore. He will be missed so much.” Admitting it was very strange entering into the writing process without him, the brothers typically playing off each other a lot, they still managed to pull things together, helped by the contributions of new guitarist Kræn Meier, who has been playing live with the band since 2017.
X was tracked in Medley Studio in Copenhagen, Denmark with producer Søren Andersen, who the band have worked with on every record since 2009’s When Death Comes. As well as his production work, Andersen contributed some keyboards to “The Ghost Of Me”, also adding some effects to a few other songs, and the band recruited their drivers/merch men to contribute some backing vocals on four tracks. With the record in the can, the band are able to start to look toward what is next, hoping the Coronavirus pandemic passes soon so that they can get back on the road, but now is also a good time for reflecting on what they have achieved at this point in their lengthy career. “It feels great and awesome to have been going for nearly forty years. I’m so glad, and I am so lucky that I can do what I love the most, making albums and touring for our awesome fans. If anyone had told me forty years ago that I would have made ten albums and played in over sixty different countries, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
X track-listing: 1. The Devils Symphony 2. In Thrash We Trust 3. Turn up the Rage 4. Silver Cross 5. In Your Mind 6. The Ghost of Me 7. Force of Indifference 8. Varg I Veum 9. Mors Ontologica 10. Eternal Night 11. Beggars in Black Suits
Artillery line-up: Michael Bastholm Dahl – vocals / Michael Stützer – guitars / Kræn Meier – guitars / Peter Thorslund – bass / Josua Madsen – drums
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The Crown releases new album, ‘Royal Destroyer’, worldwide.
The Crown has released their new album, Royal Destroyer, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of Royal Destroyer, a lyric video for “Scandinavian Satan” can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAp-CBkwlNM&ab_channel=MetalBladeRecords
Bassist Magnus Olsfelt comments: “‘Scandinavian Satan’. The music inspired from the early days of extreme metal, first generation black metal, a raw kind of barbaric metal rock’n roll. Even though inspired by history and days gone by, this is not by any means ‘retro’, but takes its aim firmly set on the future. The lyrics are taken from the Völuspa, at least 1000 years old, but maybe still valid today and even more in the future of days?
The epic cover art made by Christian Sloan Hall depicts the burning remains of a great tree, which is symbolic of the old Scandinavian worldview with its roots still intact, above this a golden crown is magically shining. In the distance, there is a great battle and an undead warrior appears, perhaps with the cut-off heads of the 3 norns, who represent what is, what has been past and what shall come to be. The undead warrior approaches the crown. The sky is shot with lightning. The axe is lifted with a piercing wail…What shall happen next?”
Having celebrated their thirtieth anniversary in 2020 [their first eight years spent as Crown Of Thorns], The Crown have proven themselves one of the most enduring forces in death metal. In 2021, they further up the ante with Royal Destroyer, a record that sets a new standard for the genre. “It is our album number ten, so now we are in the big boys club,” says bassist Magnus Olsfelt. “I think it in some ways is our crowning achievement, and it encompasses our sound across all albums on one defining record. It’s got it all – the early 90s death metal stuff, the haunting melodies, the thrash, the punk, the grind, the heavy metal and the more epic and doomy stuff.”
With 2018’s Cobra Speed Venom, the band reached the same lofty heights as their 2002 landmark release, Crowned In Terror, but they were primed and ready to write its successor. “It surely set the bar up high for a follow up,” Olsfelt explains. “But it’s more inspiring than daunting. We have a real good vibe in the band, so we know we are capable of creating great stuff if we all just put our hearts to it and work hard.” Confident, they pushed ahead, with the idea of making a sequel to Cobra Speed Venom – a sequel meaning “more of everything”.
Together with legendary producer Fredrik Nordström, the band tracked the resulting 10 songs at Gothenburg’s Studio Fredman. “We push ourselves to the limit, really trying to make everything as good as it can get, trying to make every song as impactful as possible,” Olsfelt states. While he believes that people need to hear the album themselves to be able to accurately describe it, Olsfelt also asserts that The Crown have achieved something that makes for a “continuous whole” – while being diverse. There are also some surprises in store for fans. “We have some of the most intense stuff ever, like one song is about one minute long, and we also have a ballad!”
Royal Destroyer track-listing: 1. Baptized in Violence 2. Let the Hammering Begin! 3. Motordeath 4. Ultra Faust 5. Glorious Hades 6. Full Metal Justice 7. Scandinavian Satan 8. Devoid of Light 9. We Drift On 10. Beyond the Frail
The Crown line-up: Johan Lindstrand – Vocals / Magnus Olsfelt – Bass / Marko Tervonen – Guitar / Robin Sörqvist – Lead guitar and backing vocals / Henrik Axelsson – Drums
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Denmark’s Iotunn releases new album, ‘Access All Worlds’, worldwide.
Denmark’s Iotunn has released their new full-length, Access All Worlds, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of the record, a video for the album track, “The Weaver System” (produced by Costin Chioreanu – Twilight Media – twilight13media.com), can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wsm-4PP3Cg&ab_channel=MetalBladeRecords
Iotunn comments: “‘Weaver’ has been in our creative loops for several years since back when Jesper came up with the very first clean guitar part. We always knew it would appear on our debut album. For us, it’s an album highlight on its own terms, and to this day, it still sounds fresh to us. With Jón’s vocals and lyrics, the composition has found its home, and when Costin did his visual art and film, ‘Weaver’ got weaved into new spheres and perspectives. We are very proud of this collaboration and hope you’ll like what you see and hear!
Additionally, we are now ready to have the entire album released for takeoff. We present to you the whole voyage of ‘Access All Worlds’ and encourage you to come with us and spend one focused hour listening to ‘Access All Worlds’ from the first to the last note. We believe that we have created seven distinctive worlds constituting one world – one album, seven songs, for all of us who love listening to full albums!”
Formed in 2015, Iotunn (which is old Norse for “Giant”) entered the scene with their acclaimed EP, The Wizard Falls (2016), which was mixed by Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica, Morbid Angel, Blind Guardian, Rainbow) at Sweet Silence Studios. After some line-up changes, the band found their voice and narrator in March 2018: Jón Aldará (Hamferd), plus bassist Eskil Rask (Sunless Dawn) in October 2019. The quintet – completed by Jens Nicolai Gräs (guitars), Jesper Gräs (guitars), Bjørn Wind Andersen (drums) – then began work on their first full-length and Metal Blade Records debut: Access All Worlds.
Mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström (In Flames, At the Gates, Dimmu Borgir) at Fredman Studios, Access All Worlds is seven songs driven by creative curiosity and artistic honesty, that also initiate feelings and reflections. An epic, cosmic and contemplative journey of energetic beauty and ferocity, Access All Worlds reflects on human existence, set in a storyline following daring space travelers. The music is grounded in roaring, colorful drumming and crushing bass, while the sonic horizon is painted with a vast spectrum of guitar-driven expression, all overarched by narration through diverse vocals. “We wanted to make an epic, strong and atmospheric yet rocking record both musically and lyrically. Jón came with the idea based on space travelers trying to find answers to the apocalypse, which reflects many of the impressions, feelings and thoughts human life holds that originates from something vast, mysterious, chaotic and breathtakingly spectacular. Everything just went berserk regarding the album theme. Is everything occurring in the lyrics just a dream? Is the album an allegory for any individual’s chapters in life? Where does the album actually start and end? Stuff like that. We find that the album can be interpreted in various ways. For us, the album is a truly exciting journey, and we hope it will be for the listener as well, on his or her own terms”, says guitarist Jens Nicolai.
Access All Worlds track-listing: 1. Voyage of the Garganey I 2. Access All Worlds 3. Laihem’s Golden Pits 4. Waves Below 5. The Tower of Cosmic Nihility 6. The Weaver System 7. Safe Across the Endless Night
Iotunn line-up: Jón Aldará – vocals / Jens Nicolai Gräs – guitars / Jesper Gräs – guitars / Eskil Rask – bass / Bjørn Wind Andersen – drums