Crowbar: Cemetery Angels – new video / Sever The Wicked Hand – new album

 

American sludge metal legends, CROWBAR, have just released new video for the song ‘Cemetery Angels’, directed by Dale “Rage” Resteghini. ‘Cemetery Angels’ comes off CROWBAR's forthcoming ninth album, ‘Sever The Wicked Hand’, to be released on February 8th, 2011 in USA and on February 14th, 2011 in Europe. Longtime awaited follow-up to band's last album, ‘Lifesblood For The Downtrodden’, will be released through eOne Music/Housecore Records/Century Media Records. The album (CD and vinyl) can be preordered on iTunes and Amazon.

Kirk Windstein (CROWBAR's founder, guitarist and singer as well as guitarist for DOWN and KINGDOM OF SORROW) summed up CROWBAR's past with the following words: “1989. That’s over 20 long years ago. Countless memories. Some still vivid, most just a blur. The one constant thing has been my focus and desire. The same vision I had in '89 is still burning strong in my head. Possibly stronger than ever. When you put this much blood, sweat and tears into something you can never look back. Fueled by the down-tuned sludge of the MELVINS and the over-the-top aggression of Peter Steele's CARNIVORE, I set out to create my own beast and CROWBAR was born. The band's sound was labeled “doom-core” by the European press shortly after the debut release of ‘Obedience Thru Suffering’. I found it to be quite fitting then and still do honestly. CROWBAR have released 8 full length CDs, the second selling over 100,000 units worldwide. We threw in a live EP and a few compilations for good measure and that’s where we stand today. Anyone who knows CROWBAR is familiar with the numerous label and line-up changes over the years. I couldn’t be more happy with the group of guys in our current line-up. In terms of musicianship, loyalty and friendship, this is our strongest line-up to date. Period.”

CROWBAR features: Kirk Windstein – vocals and guitar, Matthew Brunson (KINGDOM OF SORROW) – guitar, Patrick Brunders (GOATWHORE) – bass and Tommy Buckley (SOILENT GREEN/CHRIST INVERSION) – drums

Follow-up: Check out this in-depth interview with CROWBAR's mastermind Kirk Windstein. Also featuring music from the upcoming album ‘Sever The Wicked Hand’:

 

Living Sacrifice: Overkill Exposure – new video

         

 

‘Overkill Exposure', opening track from LIVING SACRIFICE seventh studio album entitled ‘The Infinite Order’ (January 2010, Solid State Records), got visually remodeled by director Michael Dalton. Work instructions given to him by band's vocalist Bruce Fitzhugh were more than clear: “He wanted to make sure I understood the song dealt with some dark content. The message he was portraying on this song was that the dark/evil things we expose ourselves to, open us up to more darkness and evil,” video director told Noisecreep. “When I set out to make this video, I wanted to make sure nothing was pretty and everything had a very eerie feel. What we ended up getting out of that was a story of a man being filled with images of substance abuse, suicide and murder, all heralded in by a raging LIVING SACRIFICE.”

LIVING SACRIFICE is a Christian metal band that formed  in 1989 in Arkansas, USA. The group released seven studio albums to date, broke up in 2002 and reunited in 2008. Former and current members of LIVING SACRIFICE went on to play in bands such as EVANESCENCE, P.O.D. and NORMA JEAN.

LIVING SACRIFICE features Bruce Fitzhugh – lead vocals and guitar, Rocky Gray – lead guitar, Arthur Green – bass and vocals and Lance Garvin – drums.

Kryoburn: Broken Hero – new video

 

KRYOBURN, New Mexico-based industrial metal band that is proud to be compared to FEAR FACTORY, has released new video for the track ‘Broken Hero’, taken from their second full-length entitled ‘Three Years Eclipsed’. The new album, mixed and mastered by Danish producer (I seem to mention here a lot) Tue Madsen, can be pre-ordered on Amazon and iTunes. The CD will be released on January 11th, 2011 through Candlelight Records. The video was directed by Marcos Morales (Dirty City Studios).

KRYOBURN formed in 1995, been busy amassing following by wrecking nightclubs and rehearsal spaces in their native town Carlsbad for a decade before releasing their “FEAR FACTORY-inspired” industrial/trash album ‘Enigmatic Existence’ (2005). Their 2010 release was produced by vocalist and guitarist Todd Brashear who - along with Les Huber – bass/vocals, Chris Huber – drums, Allen Scott – guitar/vocals and Sam Logan – synth/keyboards – makes for the current line-up.

Massive Slavery: Humanity’s Last Hope – new video

 

MASSIVE SLAVERY, hailing from Rouyn-Noranda in Northern Quebec, Canada, play “a refined version of melodic death metal on steroids” according to some and “a form of modern urgent metal” according to others. Brave Words' (& Bloody Knuckles) Jason Deaville, who awarded this Canadian death metal band's debut album, ‘Global Enslavement’ (2010, Maple Metal Records) with 8.5/10, described their music style as a refreshingly unique mix of melodic, brutal and technical death metal and complimented the album thusly: “ ‘Global Enslavement’ is an album that delivers a quintessential death metal experience, while demonstrating a level of faith in the intelligence and taste of its intended audience that’s become all but nonexistent in this genre of clichés and stilted linearity.” The album was produced by by Yannick St-Amand (DESPISED ICON, BENEATH THE MASSACRE, NEURAXIS). The video was directed by Chad Archibald, co-directed by Philip Carrer and produced by Black Fawn Films. Singer Jon “The ProF” St-Pierre survived a near-death experience during the shoot: “I nearly killed myself on the first scene, hahaha. I fell from a rock stand on a pile of big rocks right on my back and arm. I still have bruises from it, but when I see this video produced by Chad it was definitely worth it!”

MASSIVE SLAVERY features: Jon “The ProF” St-Pierre – vocals, Joel St-Amant – guitar, Marc-André Barrette – bass and P-A Mercier – drums.

Mary Magdalan: The Dark Passenger – new video

The following video is one of those “Dexter”-inspired, hence embedded below the text. Viewers discretion is advised, heh.

According to press release, M∀ЯY MAGD∀LAN are a high energy hybrid band made up of three passionate and extreme people who literally live for their music. Fronted by the elusive Mary Magdalan the band represents an outlet for her former self; from junkie to rock star, this band is, allegedly, ready to open a vein for you in an attempt to help you understand yourself and to understand them. Phew! MARY MAGDALAN are more than just a band; they claim to be an eye opener, a source to be reckoned with and are ready to show you just how music can turn your life around. In an interview KikAxe Music conducted with the singer earlier this year, Mary Magdalan described band's music stile as “anti-genre”: “As far as I’m concerned, genres have ruined music. Once they were able to categorize music as it sounds like this or it sounds like that, it became shit. A bunch of bands that sound like a bunch of other bands. Absolute shit. So I  just say ‘fuck your genre’.  Be original. That’s what we have done since day one.” She and producer Gzus met through a mutual friend about four years ago and “ended up being really good drug buddies”. Eventually, having to decide between music and drugs, they chose the former: “We took all of our sober anxiety and applied that to our songs. Then we hooked up with Jizm [guitarist].” The band recorded a few demos and posted them on their MySpace page; following the encouraging response by fans, the band decided to record an album, ‘Pity Girl’.

‘The Dark Passenger’ is taken from MARY MAGDALAN's wildly successful double album ‘R.I.P.’ which sold over 10,000 units with no label or distributor via band's own imprint Smack Records. The video was directed by DJ Ray (aka Gzus) and Valerie Babayan.

Brutus: All Roads Lead To Rome – seminew album

If understood correctly, ‘All Roads Lead To Rome’, debut album by Egypt's BRUTUS, was released back in May 2010. It can be streamed in its entirety and downloaded (if registered) at this location (Indiefonica) as of now. The band, formed in 2007 in Cairo, Egypt, is comprised of four musicians from four different parts of the world: Al (drums) hails from Ireland, guitarist Wez is from Egypt, T (guitar) comes from Russia and Bassam (vocals) is Palestinian.

They describe their music as “heavy, dark, hard-hitting, modern sounding, a bit old-school, not technical but demanding where necessary”: “We wanted to give something people can seriously headbang to, get their blood pumping, and release all that pent up aggression from living the daily grind during these hard times,” explained guitarist T. “We don’t really have a particular message but at the same time we would like to let everyone know about the bullshit that we see in our lives everyday. There are several world political references in our song titles but the lyrics are just catharsis for whoever wrote the words; basically, thoughts on personal struggles, expressed in different ways. Some of it is straightforward some not really, like a stream of consciousness, but who said it’s supposed to make sense anyway.” 

Alter Bridge: Isolation – new video

 

Video for ‘Isolation’, one of ALTER BRIDGE's most successful singles ever, was shot on their recent European tour and aims to give a look into the everyday life of the band: “It is not some put together story, it’s a tribute to the fans. It’s a look into the tour. We just wanted to show our interaction with the fans by including them in the video,” guitarist Mark Tremonti told Noisecreep. The video was directed by Dan Catullo.

‘Isolation’ comes off ALTER BRIDGE's third album, ‘AB III’, produced by Michael “Elvis” Baskette and released via Roadrunner Records (self-released on Alter Bridge Recordings via Capitol Records in North America). Lyrically, the new album marks a radical departure from the band's first two albums, ‘One Day Remains’ (2004) and ‘Blackbird’ (2007), it being a very dark record, focusing on themes of “hope and perseverance in the face of adversity” as explained by singer and guitarist Myles Kennedy. “It touches on the thoughts and emotions of someone who has come to question everything that was once regarded as an absolute truth and the realization that everything you once believed in might not exist.” Rick Florino (Artist Direct) awarded the album with 5 out of 5, describing it as a “sprawling masterpiece”. Below you’ll find the tune ‘Life Must Go On’, taken from ‘AB3.5’ – ALTER BRIDGE's repackaged special edition of ‘ABIII’.

ALTER BRIDGE is American rock band that formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida, by former CREED members, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, with lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of THE MAYFIELD FOUR and the current frontman of SLASH's touring band.

ALTER BRIDGE: Life Must Go On – courtesy of Roadrunner Records

Full Album Stream: Dukatalon: Saved By Fear – new album

 

Israel's doom & sludge metallers DUKATALON are finally getting some deserved worldwide attention; the band has recently signed with Relapse Records which will avail their debut album, ‘Saved By Fear’, to the world on December 14th, 2010. ‘Saved By Fear’, tightly-budgeted and recorded in just three days, was produced by Billy Anderson, known for his work with EYEHATEGOD and HIGH ON FIRE among many others. Decibel is streaming ‘Saved By Fear’ in its entirety at this location. If you like what you hear do click here to pre-order the album. You can also watch footage of DUKATALON’s live performance here (YouTube).

DUKATALON's founder Zafrir Tzori commented the album's title thusly: “Without going too much into philosophical discussions, fear is not necessarily a bad thing. If you listen to it, it can really save you and be of help rather than be something bad as the initial negative customary association. This is something reflected in everyone's life, including ours [band's].” As for the group's name, DUKATALON, band's name, Tzori explained: “It looked cool, it sounds catchy especially because no one has a clue of its interpretation.” Well, of course. DUKATALON, featuring Zafrir Tzori on vocals and guitar, Yariv Shilo on drums and Lior Mayer on bass, self-released self-titled EP via Sleeping Village Records in 2007.

 

The Damned Things: Ironclast – new album / We’ve Got A Situation Here – new video

 

American heavy metal soupergroup THE DAMNED THINGS, consisting of ANTHRAX members Scot Ian and Rob Caggiano, Keith Bucklet of EVERY TIME I DIE and Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley of FALL OUT BOY, has released its first video, ‘We’ve Got A Situation Here’, for the track that comes off group's forthcoming debut album ‘Ironclast’. ‘Ironclast’, self-produced by Caggiano and Trohman, will be released through Island Records/Def Jam Records on December 13th, 2010 (13. 12. 2010) - a day later in North America. The video was directed by Brendan Small, the co-creator of animated series “Metalocalypse”.

Joe Trohman, guitarist for FALL OUT BOY and a life-long ANTHRAX fan, met legendary ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian for dinner and “was surprised by Scott's lack of hatred for his band [FALL OUT BOY]”. The pair, inspired by the encounter, agreed to start working on a new project which they originally dubbed “Methuselah”: “You know, like, Methuselah — the oldest man in the Bible! Leave it to two Jews to come up with the most Jewish band name of all time!” Ian reportedly told Rolling Stone Magazine. According to the same source, Ian managed to rope in fellow ANTHRAX guitarist Caggiano while Trohman snagged FOB's Hurley, and when they realized they needed a vocalist, Trohman was able to convince Buckley by text-messaging him. When THE DAMNED THINGS finally announced their new project, fans of both FALL OUT BOY and ANTHRAX were a bit skeptical but: "If ANTHRAX would’ve listened to anybody we never would have gotten past our first record," braved on Scott Ian. "I learned a million years ago that you can’t listen to what anyone else says about your music.” The two agree that the song ‘We’ve Got a Situation Here’ is probably the best example of band's hybrid approach to music: “Musically, it’s a good representation of the band,” says Trohman. “It has the sludgy riffs, but there’s a catchy chorus, a tempo change breakdown, and some leads/solos. There’s a real bluesy feel to the verses. [It’s] everything the group stands for.” If you click here you’ll get to Absolute Punk where you can listen to the song ‘Little Darling’, also from ‘Ironclast’ album.