Metal Blade Records announce the signing of Finnish cinemascopic metallers Crimfall to its ranks!
Crimfall comments: “We are beyond excited for this opportunity to work with the legendary Metal Blade. It makes all these years we wrestled with the third album worthwhile as we can finally share the fruits of our labor through the most dedicated and respected label. Crimfall never does anything half-assed so be sure we go all in with this album as we see this as a massive opportunity to raise the stakes to the sky-high level.”
Crimfall took its shape in 2007 from the mind of Jakke Viitala. He gathered talented musicians to drive forth his lifelong vision of music that would respect no boundaries. Crimfall has released two albums since then, 2009′s As The Path Unfolds… and 2011′s The Writ Of Sword. Wearing many a mask, Crimfall‘s movie metal eludes easy descriptions. The influence of ancient grim-frost North and its traditional roots meet echoes of black metal, but it is all iced with massive orchestration and epic movie soundtrack atmosphere. The melodies convey atmospheres of majesty, adventure and times long forgotten, as the interplay of Mikko’s demonic screams and Helena’s heavenly vocals bring forth the raw, natural feelings and underline the cycle of seasons and the contrast of ascending lights and falling shadows.
With their third album, Amain, Crimfall has combined the best of the first two albums with new elements. Set to be released in summer 2017, a first teaser for Amain can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1CCBkqWCX0
Crimfall line-up:
Mikko Hakkinen – Vocals
Helena Haaparanta – Vocals
Jakke Viitala – Guitars
Miska Sipilainen – Bass
Janne Jukarainen – Drums
Wolfheart releases its albums with stable pause, and distinguishes by their productive leader Tuomas Saukkonen, which has music career long before and include different music projects.
And this time, his main band Wolfheart offers a new album called “Tyhjyys”, which means “Empty” or “Emptiness”. So, let’s dive into this Finnish Emptiness.
Diving takes starts with melancholiac acoustic guitar turning into freezing riffs in “Shores of Lake” with shouts. “Boneyard” with firm Wolfheart sound and kind of a “hit” riffs, especially the first one, was right chosen for single and keeps exact its place in song order. It’s worth to mention that none of songs sounds out of place, everything is well placed in a right time. From this point, “Tyhjyys” doesn’t differ from previous band’s works – “Winterborn” and “Shadow world” – both of them have its well-made song order.
However, in some atmospheric elements appear – synth choir and piano parts in “World on Fire” for instance, which gives some “volume” to guitar lines. Then going deeper in winter emptiness with “The Flood” and its melancholic sounds of downtuned acoustic guitar, which turns then into so-“Wolfheartish” epic riffs with orchestra elements shining in between, creating an atmosphere of fatigue and a bit of nostalgia.
“The Rift” and “Call of the Winter” are continuing this tendency with orchestra lines flying together with instrumental ones and acoustic guitar interludes between riffs, bass line and intense drum ornament.
“Dead White” is differs from other songs on this album by quite fast and at the same time melodic rhythm, which didn’t slow its way during the whole song. The final part is “Tyhjyys” with Finnish lyrics, which echoes with the closure song of “Shadow World” – “Veri”.
Tyhjyys is the perfect clothing to this album of the same name – freezing emptiness has reached out its arm and took the listener to its freezing realm. Nothing exceptionally original or innovative, but still very catchy and atmospheric.
Wolfheart is still keeping the level and their own niche of melodic death metal, or winter metal, hehe. Their third album proved it.
Score: 5/5
“Tyhjyys” will be available via “Spinefarm Records” on 3rd of March.
Tracklist:
01. Shores Of The Lake Simple
02. Boneyard
03. World On Fire
04. The Flood
05. The Rift
06. Call Of The Winter
07. Dead White
08. Tyhjyys Line-up:
Tuomas Saukkonen – guitar, vocals
Mika Lammassaari – lead guitar
Joonas Kauppinen – drums
Lauri Silvonen – bass, backing vocals
Finnish heavy metallers, BATTLE BEAST, released their fourth studio record titled “Bringer Of Pain”, last Friday through Nuclear Blast. For all of you, who haven’t got their pain yet, the band has released another musical taster in the form of a music video for the album’s title track today. Watch the clip, produced by Dark Noise Productions, over on YouTube:
Bassist Eero Sipilä commented on the video: “Short story: We wanted to do a video which was simply about thrashing around. ‘Bringer Of Pain’ is the fastest and probably the least “commercial”-sounding song on the album, displaying a completely different side as opposed to the previous singles so it seemed like a perfect choice. Empty industrial hall, tons of smoke, tight jeans and lot’s of headbanging – the classic metal video!”
Finnish metal band, Ephemerald although fairly new to the scene, having formed in 2016 are no strangers to the industry as collectively the members have a wealth of experience and touring. The members consist of by Joni Snoro (ex-Frosttide), Lauri Myllylä (ex-Frosttide), Vesa Salovaara (Vorna) and Juho Suomi (Apocryfal & Prayed and Betrayed). They are wasting no time building their reputation as they have recently signed a deal with Rockshots Records to release their debut single ‘I Bear Fire’. So what can we expect from this new band?!…
‘I Bear Fire’ quickly asserts its massive presence, aided by dark and eerie sounds. The fierce growled vocals amongst the in depth instrumentation is very effective, with the big orchestrations enhancing the melodies and ambience. The contrasting memorable clean vocals, paired with aggressive vocals is well placed and makes quite an impact. This is an unstoppable mighty force; what a way to showcase their sound with this huge debut single!
Fortunately the band are currently working on their full length album release, which is tentatively set for 2018. Until then enjoy ‘I Bear Fire’!
You can watch the official lyric video for the single below:
On March 1st, the Finnish kings of epic melodic death metal, WINTERSUN, start their crowdfunding campaign to finance the construction of their own studio. Fans will be able to purchase their ‘Forest Package’ – also including their upcoming studio album »The Forest Seasons« – directly from the band and support them. Bit by bit, WINTERSUN unveil new info on their upcoming full-length release and today, Jari Mäenpää states:
ABOUT THE FOREST SEASONS ALBUM
This album is more primitive and organic than I normally like to do, but still modern, melodic, epic, bombastic yet also dark – and dare I say even shocking and we love it! It is new and different, because I don’t like doing the same thing over and over, but it’s still very much a WINTERSUN album – although WINTERSUN can be anything, even techno/trance/pop… There are no limits with the music of WINTERSUN!
It is a longer album than »Time I« running over 53 minutes and for once I’m 100% happy with the sounds and the production. The sound fits PERFECTLY for this album! This album actually sounds great in every sound system / speakers / headphones I’ve listened to it! If you are a WINTERSUN fan you won’t be disappointed! It has everything you would expect from a WINTERSUN album, that we can promise you! And if you’re not a fan, you might like it anyway, because it has lots of variety and new dimensions to our sound and style.
»The Forest Seasons« album was something that I could do with my current resources, but it doesn’t take anything away how great the album is. Because it is killer! And music isn’t measured in money. Albums costing hundred bucks or a million bucks can be equally good albums. (But the unfortunate thing is that certain albums can only be done with higher end production and then again some albums would sound like shit with a big budget production and vice versa, some albums would sound like shit with low budget production and some albums would sound killer with low budget production!)
The album has four epic and monumental songs, all very different, but still merging together perfectly like the season changes. Two of the songs, ‘Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring)’ and ‘Eternal Darkness (Autumn)’ are multipart songs like ‘Starchild’ and ‘Sons of Winter and Stars’.
AWAKEN FROM THE DARK SLUMBER (SPRING)
‘Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring)’ is the starting track. It’s a very energetic song illustrating the awakening of nature and it will build up to a big climax! (This song has this album’s “killer riff”… forest style!)
THE FOREST THAT WEEPS (SUMMER)
‘The Forest That Weeps (Summer)’ is the summer song. It’s atmospheric, melodic and rockin’! It’s also enhanced with big choirs celebrating the end of summer, before the autumn darkness takes over.
ETERNAL DARKNESS (AUTUMN)
‘Eternal Darkness (Autumn)’ is the darkest WINTERSUN track to date! It paints a dark mood illustrating the Finnish autumn, when you hardly see any sun at all. But ultimately the song is about death… with a twist that some of the parts are written from death’s point of view and how IT sees life… as a mistake in the universe. It’s an epic and long four part song describing four phases of dying.
LONELINESS (WINTER)
I’m really proud of all the songs, but especially the last song called ‘Loneliness (Winter)’ is what I’m really proud of. I really hit it out of the ballpark with this one, even if I do say so myself. It’s a little like ‘Silver Leaves’ (on »Time II«), but a more sorrowful and darker song with a really cold winterish vibe where as ‘Silver Leaves’ is more beautiful, oriental, atmospheric.
I really think that this is my first PERFECT ALBUM I’ve ever done. It all came together just right!
We sincerely hope you will support us by getting the new album from INDIEGOGO on March 1st, included in our crowdfunding package, the FOREST PACKAGE. This will help us to reach our goal which is to build the WINTERSUN Headquarters studio, completing »Time II« once and for all and start making our future albums!
Thank you!
Jari & the WINTERSUN boys
Here is the track list of »The Forest Seasons«:
1. Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring) 14:40
Part I The Dark Slumber
Part II The Awakening
2. The Forest That Weeps (Summer) 12:18
3. Eternal Darkness (Autumn) 14:08
Part I Haunting Darkness
Part II The Call of the Dark Dream
Part III Beyond the Infinite Universe
Part IV Death
4. Loneliness (Winter) 12:54
In the meantime you can witness the band’s return to the stage at the following festivals:
07. – 10.06. S Sölvesborg – Sweden Rock Festival
30.06. – 02.07. FIN Helsinki – Tuska Open Air
11. – 13.08. P Vagos – Vagos Metal Fest
10. – 13.08. UK Derby – Bloodstock Open Air
16. – 19.08. D Dinkelsbühl – Summer Breeze
18. – 19.08. SK Zvolenská Slatina – More Than Fest
Interview by Carina Lawrence / Dark Art Conspiracy
Can you tell us about how you came up with the name Emerald? Al: The name is taken from the Thin Lizzy classic “Emerald”. We still think it’s a cool name, even though there are some other bands acting under the same name. If you choose a name this short and catchy, there’s always a big chance that it is already taken. But back in 1995 you couldn’t just google a name and check if it was still available. So we just went with it!
You have been going for more than two decades now, how would you say your sound has evolved in that time? Al: I guess it evolved just the way any band’s sound is supposed to. The first songs were pretty simple and the abilities of each member were rather limited. Over the years the songwriting became more mature and everyone got more experienced.
Each line-up change also brought some new influences to the mix, which led to more diversity in our sound. We certainly got heavier and more open minded over the years but we always stayed true to our roots!
Following on from that, how much has the metal music scene changed, especially in your home country Switzerland since your formation? Al: The metal scene in Switzerland definitely grew stronger within the last years. Back in the mid 90s classic heavy metal was completely shut out. In our region, Emerald was pretty much the only band playing this kind of sound. In the beginning it was rather hard to find good gigs to play since the demand for this kind of music was rather small. But nowadays there is a good and healthy underground metal scene growing here in Switzerland with lots of cool bands playing all different kinds of metal and lots of small new metal festivals popping up each year.
So you are releasing your seventh album, ‘Reckoning Day’ on the 24th March, what can you tell us about this new release? Al: For us, “Reckoning Day” marks some kind of turning point since it is the first album with a whole new line-up and the first sign of life after 5 years of silence. Some might even call it a comeback album because no one heard or saw anything of us within the last years and considered us dead. It was indeed very quiet after the departure of former singer Thomas L. Winkler, but we’ve always been active, writing songs and planning our return to the surface… plotting our day of reckoning, so to speak!
What was the writing and recording process like for the album? Al: The writing process was very unusual since it was the first time that we had to write everything without having a singer in the band. We just wrote and recorded some instrumental demo songs and added some of our own demo-vocals while we were searching for a new singer.
In 2014, American singer George Call (Aska, ex-Omen) joined our band and agreed to sing on all songs on “Reckoning Day”. So we went to the Little Creek Studio here in Switzerland where we recorded all songs in instrumental versions under the supervision of producer V.O. Pulver (Gurd, Poltergeist, Destruction…). Then we sent the tracks to Texas where George was supposed to record his vocals. Since George was very busy with some other projects, it took him more than a year to finally start working on our songs. In the meantime, as we grew more and more impatient, we started looking for a new singer here in Switzerland and finally found the great voice of Mace Mitchell, who was very eager to finish the vocals on our record and become a permanent member of Emerald.
George Call still delivered the vocals for 2 songs that appear on “Reckoning Day” as well as a third song which will be used as a bonus track on the limited edition version.
As you can see, the whole process was pretty tedious. It never took us five years to put out a new record before. But now it’s finally here and we are really happy with it!
How would you say it compares to the rest of your back catalogue? Al: Well, the new album is always the best, haha! No, of course that’s always a matter of opinion! But we certainly think it is a step forward and the logical continuation of the path we chose on the previous albums. It features a much broader range of musical influences and some excellent vocal work from Mace Mitchell and George Call.
One thing that’s unique on this record is the 7 track mini-concept “The Burgundian Wars” on the second half of the album. It is based on the novel “Der Löwe von Burgund” from our keyboarder Thomas Vaucher and tells the story of the conflict between Charles the Bold and the Swiss confederates.
Oh… and the new album has definitely the best sound we ever had, thanks to the great production of V.O. Pulver!
As well as a new album you have a new band line-up, how are things going so far and how would you say the dynamics have changed following this? Al: You could say that Emerald 2017 is a whole new band! From the very first line-up only band founder Michael Vaucher (guitars) and his brother Thomas Vaucher (keyboards) are left. I consider myself as one of the “old guys” as well since I’ve been playing the part of Emerald’s drummer for already 10 years now. The rest of the bandmembers all joined the band within the last four years: Julien Menth (guitars) in 2013, Vania Truttmann (bass) in 2014 and Mace Mitchell (vocals) in 2016. All three of them brought a lot of freshness and enthusiasm into the band, which was exactly what the rest of us needed.
I think I can speak for everyone in the band when I say that we now have the greatest line-up ever! The dynamics in Emerald have never been this powerful before and it has never been this much fun to play in this band. I believe that, in this constellation, we have a great future ahead of us!
Collectively what are your main musical influences? Al: Well, there’s one band we can all agree upon: Iron Maiden! Apart from that, everyone in the band has his/her own personal favourites. That leads to a wide range of influences that includes bands from the hard rock, punk, heavy, power, prog, thrash, symphonic and even modern metal sector.
How is it to be signed with Pure Steel Records? Al: It’s a cool underground label that stands 100% behind everything we do. For them, heavy metal is not just business but a lifestyle. We’ve been part of the Pure Steel family for more than 10 years now and are very happy for everything they have done for us so far. They never treated us like just another number in their roster. They are big fans of every band they sign.
Are there any plans for a tour in support of the new album? Al: We certainly want to do another tour, yes, but so far we don’t have any specific plans.
What else has Emerald got planned for the year? Al: We already have some great gigs confirmed and hope to play some festivals across Europe this year. Apart from that we are already working on our next album and want to hit the studio again as soon as possible.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us? Al: First of all, I’d like to thank you, Carina, for your interest in Emerald and the opportunity to share my thoughts with you! I’d also like to thank all Emerald fans worldwide for their loyalty and endless support! You rock!!!
And I promise it won’t take another five years to release our next album. We are back, stronger than ever and ready for the next 20 years of Emerald!
Let’s raise our horns up high!!!
Thanks for your time!
Carina
Dark Art Conspiracy
TRACKLISTING:
1. Only The Reaper Wins
2. Black Pyramid
3. Evolution In Reverse
4. Horns Up
5. Beyond Forever
6. Through The Storm
7. Ridden By Fear
8. Mist Of The Past
9. Trees Full Of Tears
10. Lament Of The Fallen
11. Reckoning Day
12. Reign Of Steel
13. Signum Die
14. Fading History
15. End Of The World (Bonustrack)
Total Playing Time:: 62:08
Total Playing Time with Bonustrack: 67:15 min
Line Up
vocals – Mace Mitchell
guitars – Michael Vaucher
guitars – Julien Menth
bass – Vania Truttmann
drums – Alex Spicher
keys – Thomas Vaucher
Special Guests
vocals – George Call – “Evolution In Reverse”, “Through The Storm”
guitar solo – Slädu – “Horns Up”
backing vocals – Alexx Suter – “Beyond Forever”
Dark Art Conspiracy 
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