Metal Riot

© Olga Kuzmenko

European metallers Ascend The Hollow a couple of days ago released their lyric video for their song “Sea of Crises.”

Last month the band released their album Echoes Of Existence via Dr. Music Promotion.

“Sea of Crises” features guest vocalist Jon Howard (Threat Signal) and a guest appearance by Kris Norris (Darkest Hour, Scar The Martyr, Shadow Domain) on the guitar.

The lyric video for “Sea of Crises” was done by video artist Andy Pilkington of Very Metal Art (Skindred, Visionatica, Rotting Christ).

Check out the lyric video for “Sea of Crises” and the video for “Prisoners Of The Storm” here.

Indiana metallers The Contortionist earlier this week released a music video for their newest single “Early Grave.”

“Early Grave” comes off the upcoming EP Our Bones due out August 9 via Entertainment One/Good Fight Music.

The “Early Grave” video was produced and directed by Corey Norman and produced and edited by vocalist Michael Lessard.

Our Bones is a follow up to 2017’s Clairvoyant.

“Once I was finally able to get Robby to record that riff we started piecing together the song in the back of the van, while on tour in Europe,” Lessard recalls of “Early Grave.”

“We try to do something different with everything we create,” explains Lessard. “With our albums, we tend to work with overarching interconnected themes. Our Bones is a departure. It offered an opportunity to dive into some things we haven’t had a chance to explore, and the shorter EP format allowed us to be hyper-focused on each song.”

Our Bones was mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, Through The Eyes Of The Dead), who worked on Language and Clairvoyant.

The Contortionist will be heading out on tour next month with Between The Buried and Me and Nick Johnston. Check out the video for “Early Grave” as well as those tour dates here.

Illinois metallers Pelican have released their latest track “Cold Hope.”

“Cold Hope” comes from the forthcoming album Nighttime Stories out on June 7 via Southern Lord Records.

Check out “Cold Hope” as well as Pelican tour dates here.

No matter how dedicated to the noise one is, they are bound to miss some great releases. One of those releases that I missed this year was Crippled Black Phoenix‘s Great Escape. The band’s sound defies genre categorization (and this is coming from me, the queen of genres). CBP’s dragging sound and melodic vocals are preceded by the first track on Great Escape, “You Brought It Upon Yourselves,” which is an aggravating collection of samples which eventually overlap and bump into each other, stacked over beautiful instrumentation. While the shortest song on Great Escape clocks in at 2:50 (“Uncivil War (pt 1)”), this album is not for folks who don’t like long, meandering tracks (the album has two songs over ten minutes long).

Check out my full review of Great Escape here.

Swedish progressive metallers Soen are preparing to release their  fourth album Lotus on February 1 2019 via Silver Lining Music.

Drummer Martin Lopez had this to say about the album:

“We are all very fortunate to have this place where we can go and explore thoughts, perspectives and emotions which everyday life maybe does not have the room for. There are definitely things that we say, and places we go, in Soenwhich would be very hard to express without us coming together and creating music.”

Produced by David Castillo and Iñaki Marconi at Ghostward Studios and Studio 6 between July and October 2018, the album marks the first recorded Soen work of new Canadian-born guitarist Cody Ford, whilst the center-point of the album remains those trademark, snap-heavy, progressive Soen riffs.

“The world right now is undeniably a very strange, tense place,” says Lopez. “I think the songs clearly reflect that, but they also reflect that we must now be stronger than ever in challenging, confronting, and dealing with the pandemonium life throws at us all.”

“We each have our own personal ideas as to what it means,” says Lopez, “but we’d much rather discuss what others think, what our audience thinks, what the media thinks… I think it’s extremely important that we all communicate with each other and take the time to fully conceive our own meanings and interactions with life and creativity.”

Vocalist Joel Ekelöf had this to say about Lotus:

“Ultimately Lotus is about rising from whatever darkness, or dark places, you might find yourself. And its inspiration comes from a deep motivation to not just settle for the situation you might find yourself in. Lotus is about changing life — both your own and your surroundings for which we must all take responsibility — and make them better rather than letting darkness pacify you and take you down.”

Check out Soen European tour dates here.