Here are a trio of new songs that I heard this morning that I enjoyed. Perhaps you will enjoy them, too. Obviously, I couldn’t resist grouping these three S bands together. Cool album covers for all of them, too.
SCAR SYMMETRY
Scar Symmetry’s sixth album is on the way. The title is Singularity (Phase I: Neohumanity). It has a cool album cover, don’t you think? Today the band released a lyric video for a single from the album named “Limits To Infinity”. The announcement came with these quotes from band members:
Per Nilsson: “I thought to myself… am I allowed to fuse death metal with AOR, and go extreme in both directions? I didn’t ask for permission, I just went and did it, and I’m pretty excited to hear what people are gonna think about it.”
Henrik Ohlsson: “‘Limits to Infinity’” unveils the malevolent plan of the elite, the hidden hand, and their discoveries regarding the secrets of the universe. The lyric elaborates on the decision makers’ long-term plan to merge with machines and colonize other planets.”
The music is a high-powered combination of jolting riffs/rhythms and catchy melody, deliciously ugly growls and soaring cleans, tumbling drums and a flickering solo. It hammers and it glides and I don’t think you’ll be able to remain still while it does its thing.
Singularity will be released by Nuclear Blast and it’s available for pre-order here. “Limits To Infinity” is being released individually and is on iTunes and Amazon mp3. The band will be releasing a second single, “Cryonic Harvest”, on September 26.
https://www.facebook.com/scarsymmetry
THE STONE
As we previously reported, the long-running Serbian black metal band also have a new album on the way (their seventh), entitled Nekroza, with excellent cover art by Serbian artist Marko Danilović. (The second image you see above is another piece of art created for the release by INIMICVS (Opposition Artworks).
The CD release has been scheduled for October 1 through Folter Records, with vinyl projected for December. Yesterday the band released the first “bitter taste” of what the album contains, with a stream of the song “Kamenolom”.
It’s a big spinning drill-bit of venomous blackened power, segmented by interludes of brute-force stomping and highly infectious gallops. Good stuff, but I expected nothing less from this band.
http://www.thestonehorde.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thestonehorde/
SANCTUARY
And finally, we have a new song from Sanctuary. As previously reported here, the resurrected Sanctuary have recorded a comeback album entitled The Year the Sun Died (with cover art by Travis Smith), and it’s scheduled for release by Century Media on October 6 in Europe and on October 14 in North America. Sanctuary, as you may know, were formed in Seattle in 1985 and released two albums on Epic Records, Refuge Denied in 1987 and Into the Mirror Black in 1989. The band broke up in 1992, with vocalist Warrel Dane and live guitarist Jeff Loomis going on to form Nevermore. The new Sanctuary’s line-up is:
Warrel Dane – Vocals
Jim Sheppard – Bass
Brad Hull – Guitars
Lenny Rutledge – Guitar
Dave Budbill – Drums
And the new song is the album’s opening track, “Arise and Purify”. I suppose you might call this “classic metal”, but regardless of the label, it’s loaded with killer riffs, attention-grabbing solos, and great vocals (which I say despite my blatant prejudices in that regard). Check it out below.
https://www.facebook.com/sanctuaryfans
7 Responses to “SEEN AND HEARD: SCAR SYMMETRY, THE STONE, SANCTUARY”
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Digging that track from The Stone.
You know how strongly certain smells can evoke memories? I saw Sanctuary with Fates Warning and Leige Lord at the old 9:30 Club in DC back in the day. I was a huge Sanctuary fan and it was a great show. Their stage setup had two large fans behind them pointed out towards the audience and blowing their hair around, causing the unmistakable smell of Aqua Net to permeate the whole place. Now whenever I smell Aqua Net, I hear Die for My Sins..
Hilarious! But damn, I do wish I had heard Sanctuary live when they were a new band.
This post is what I like to refer to as an NCS trifecta. I’m stoked about the return of Sanctuary, and that new Scar Symmetry has moved past death-Jovi into death-Boston territories of catchiness. The Stone track is killer too.
“death-Boston” — choice phrasing.
Scar Symmetry is my JAM
A couple hours ago Per Nilsson added this on Facebook:
“MUCHAS GRACIAS everyone for the overwhelming response to ‘Limits to Infinity’, it means the world to us!
‘Limits’ definitely has the album’s most pop-sounding chorus and in that sense, it was the obvious choice for a first single. The melody sticks to your brain like bubblegum to my beard, am I not right?
While the rest of ‘The Singularity Phase I’ certainly has more than its fair share of huge choruses, it also features the proggiest moments of our career along with blastbeats and probably way too many guitar solos hehe! Just wait until you hear ‘Technocalyptic Cybergeddon’ – the longest and arguably most epic track we’ve ever recorded.”