SEEN AND HEARD: ROTTING CHRIST, RAGNAROK, CALIFORNIA DEATHFEST, DECAPITATED, CHARM DESIGNER

 

The end of the year is fast approaching, but the freight train of metal isn’t slowing down. Here are just a few of the things that caught my eyes and ears over the last 24 hours, sifted from my scanning of the NCS in-box and my daily dive into the interhole.

ROTTING CHRIST

I’ve probably mentioned somewhere in the dim mists of the past that Rotting Christ were the band whose music first convinced me that I needed to learn more about black metal — my first step along a musical left hand path from which I’ve never turned back. The following announcement, received yesterday, was thus an especially exciting piece of news:

On February 12, Season of Mist will release Rotting Christ’s twelfth studio album, Rituals. In addition, Stereokiller premiered the album’s first advance track, “Elthes Kyrie“, in the U.S. (it also appeared at many other sites around the world).

 

 

Rotting Christ’s founder Sakis Tolis made these statements about the song:

“Elthe Kyrie” translates as ‘Come Lord’ and was influenced by the tragic ancient Greek poet Euripides and more specifically his creation ‘Bakxais’. This pure bacchanalian play refers to the coming of the new god.

“The ritualistic atmosphere of this historical theater-drama influenced us lyrically as well as musically, and resulted in this song. There only remains one thing, which is us taking you on a mystical journey into ancient Greek bacchanalian occultism. The female guest vocals are courtesy of the fabulous Danai Katsameni, an actress of the National Hellenic Theater.”

“Elthe Kyrie” drives hard and fast, burning like a bonfire, with powerhouse riffs and pulse-quickening drum beats. The crazed, inflamed pronouncements in the verse do indeed summon images of a bacchanalian ritual, while Sakis‘ roars in the chorus are gargantuan. The thunderous pounding and riveting guitar solo in the song add to its magnetic power. It’s one hell of a way to herald the coming of this new album.

To listen to the song, use this link.

Rituals is available for pre-order HERE, in a variety of formats. The new album’s track list is as follows:

Track List:
1. In Nomine Dei Nostri
2. Ze Nigmar
3. Elthe Kyrie
4. Apage Satana
5. Les Litanies De Satan (Fleurs du mal)
6. For A Voice Like Thunder
7. Komx Om Pax
8. Devadevam
9. Thou Thanatou
10. The Four Horsemen

 

 

 

RAGNAROK

Less than two weeks ago I featured the music of Norway’s Ragnarok in our Sunday Rearview Mirror feature. I wrote then: “They’ve got seven albums to their credit going back to 1995, the last of which was 2012’s Malediction (yes, they are overdue for a new album).” Well, they are overdue no longer, because today we received the announcement that they have completed work on their eighth full-length, entitled Psychopathology, which is set to be released in early 2016 on Agonia Records.

The announcement further disclosed that this will be Ragnarok’s first album without founder Jontho on drums; Malignant (the man behind Norway’s Dauden) handles that work on the new album. It will also be the last album to feature DezeptiCunt on bass; he is leaving the band to concentrate on new projects.

We don’t yet have any new music to bring you, but we will waste no time sharing it with you once premieres begin to happen.

RAGNAROK on-line:
http://facebook.com/ragnarokofficial
http://ragnarokhorde.com

Agonia Records:
http://agoniarecords.com
http://tinyurl.com/agoniashop
https://facebook.com/agoniarecords

 

 

 

 

 

CALIFORNIA DEATHFEST

Now I’ve got some festival and tour news to share.

Yesterday, California Deathfest announced the second list of confirmed bands for the second edition of the festival  on October 14-16, 2016, in Oakland, California:

Black Breath
Exhumed
Hooded Menace (Finland)
Mantar (Germany)
Mitochondrion (Canada)
Unholy Grave (Japan)
Splatterhouse
Vastum
Verbal Abuse

This is further proof that after only one year, this west coast version of MDF is already branching out to draw prominent bands from other countries. When you add these new names, the overall line-up announced so far is really damned impressive — and this still isn’t the final line-up:

Angelcorpse
Birdflesh (Sweden)
Black Breath
Blood Incantation
Dead in the Manger
Demilich (Finland)
Excruciating Terror
Exhumed
Hooded Menace (Finland)
Mantar (Germany)
Mitochondrion (Canada)
Necrosic
Revenge (Canada)
Rites of Thy Degringolade (Canada)
Ruins of Beverast (Germany)
Spectral Voice
Splatterhouse
Unholy Grave (Japan)
Vastum
Verbal Abuse

Early-bird passes went on sale last night. I bought mine. They’re available HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

DECAPITATED

I thought this was an exciting tour announcement even though the tour is snubbing my town. I realize I’m late reporting it, but it took me a while to get over my grumpiness about Seattle being overlooked.

Poland’s Decapitated will headline a North American tour beginning in January preceding their tour in a supporting role with At the Gates. Accompanying Decapitated will be two killer bands from the Pacific Northwest, Black Breath and Theories. Here are the dates for both tours:

Blood Mantra Across North America, 2016
DECAPITATED, BLACK BREATH, THEORIES
01/27/16 Marquis Theater – Denver, CO
01/28/16 Lefty’s – Des Moines, IA
01/29/16 Skyway Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
01/30/16 Reggie’s – Chicago, IL
02/01/16 Mod Club – Toronto, ON
02/02/16 Le Cercle – Quebec City, QC
02/03/16 Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA
02/04/16 Marlin Room at Webster Hall – New York, NY
02/05/16 Voltage – Philadelphia, PA
02/06/16 Café 611 – Frederick, MD
02/07/16 Shaka’s – Virginia Beach, VA

AT THE GATES, DECAPITATED, THE HAUNTED, HARMS WAY
02/09/16 Revolution – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
02/10/16 State Theater – St. Petersburg, FL (DECAPITATED only)
02/11/16 Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
02/13/16 Gas Monkey – Dallas, TX
02/14/16 Mohawk – Austin, TX
02/16/16 Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM
02/17/16 Marquee – Phoenix, AZ
02/18/16 House Of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
02/19/16 House Of Blues – San Diego, CA
02/20/16 Glasshouse – Pomona, CA
02/21/16 Regency – San Francisco, CA
02/23/16 Whisky – Los Angeles, CA (DECAPITATED only)

 

 

 

 

 

CHARM DESIGNER

Okay, one more selection of new music to round out this round-up.

I confess that I’m often attracted to, or deterred from, listening to new music by nothing more than a band’s name. I further confess that I nearly didn’t listen to the song you’re about to hear because I imagined that anything created by a band named Charm Designer probably wouldn’t be my kind of thing.

I decided to forge ahead anyway for two reasons: First, the artwork for the band’s new album, and the animation in the following lyric video, were created by graphic artist and musician Costin Chioreanu. Second, the album is being released by Finland’s Inverse Records, and I’ve enjoyed many of that label’s releases. As it turned out, I was… charmed… by the music.

 

 

The song is the title track to this Columbian band’s second album, Everlasting, which will be released on February 19. The album was recorded with producer Waldemar Sorychta, known for his work with Samael, Tiamat, Lacuna Coil, Sentenced, and Moonspell, among others; this is his first production work with a Latin American band.

I should warn you that there is clean singing in this song (really good, by the way) — along with bestial growls. I should also warn you that it’s a dynamic and damned infectious song, with massive riffs and booming drums that you’ll feel in your spine and a soaring chorus melody that sticks in the head. The production gives the song a clear and powerful sound. All in all, a great discovery that I hope you’ll be charmed by as much as I have been.

https://www.facebook.com/charmdesigner
http://www.inverse.fi