Funeral Rain Press Corps

Candlelight Records today confirms October 26 as the North American release date for The Isolationist, the new album from Krieg. Recorded at Volume Studios in Chicago, the nearly hour-long album will challenge the listener with its primitive yet complex sound. It is Krieg‘s sixth full-length recording, and the first since 2006’s Blue Miasma.

Working with producer Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Pelican, Yakuza), The Isolationist finds Krieg further experimenting with sound. The rage and dissonance fans have come to expect from the New Jersey band emerges even more frenzied making the journey through this album far more intense than on previous efforts. Vocalist Imperial admits, “The Isolationist presents Krieg at it’s most evolved yet primal state thus far in fifteen years of causing problems for people’s hearing. It is my ugliest and most personal child, going deep into the darkest places in my own history on earth. I’m a fucked up wreck, and this record shows that.”

The Isolationist features performances from guitarist Joseph Van Fossen (Noctuary), bassist Wrest (Leviathan), and drummer Chris Grigg (Woe). “It was an intense process, considering everyone only had a few days in and out due to their own hellish schedules. I was fortunate to work with dedicated artists who each brought their own identity to the project and a good understanding behind the meaning of the record.”

Krieg has been an integral part of the American black metal scene since forming in 1995. In addition to their full-length albums, including 2003’s acclaimed The Black House (which Terrorizer Magazine noted it as “one of the ten most important American black metal records”), Krieg has recorded and released numerous demos, split and live recordings. Fans tally more than 40 individual items as part of the band’s creative efforts. In addition to Krieg, vocalist Imperial has several other band projects including N.i.l., Apothecary.Sound.Lodge and his doom band March Into the Sea. He is also a member of Twilight which features members of Nachtmystium, Leviathan, The Atlas Moth, Isis, Minsk and more.

The Isolationist Track Listing:
1. No Future
2. Photographs from an Asylum
3. All Paths to God
4. Ambergeist
5. Depakote
6. Religion III
7. Blue of Noon
8. Decaying Inhalations
9. An the Stars Fell On
10. Remission
11. Dead Windows

Krieg on MySpace.

Candlelight Records today confirms September 28 as the North American release date for In the Absence of Light, the second full-length album from black metallers Abigail Williams. Recorded at Conquistador Studios in Cleveland, Ohio, the album was mixed by Peter Tagtgren (Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Celtic Frost) and features artwork by Farron Kerzner (Nachtmystium, Lightning Swords of Death).

In The Absence of Light is true to the rules of black metal. The vocals are harsh and shrill, sounding like the product of a lacerated larynx. Guitars buzz, rip and roar alongside articulate, rapid licks and blazing solos. Drums slam and crash like exploding mortar shells, whether battering with blast beats, double-bass rolls or syncopated snare hits. And there is just the right amount of haunting keyboard washes, a noted difference to the band’s previous album In The Shadow of a Thousand Suns. Vocalist/guitarist Sorceron notes, “There is a lot less keyboards on the new songs. I like keyboards, but before we started this record we decided to get rid of a lot of them because we wanted to do something different.”

The album presents new band members, guitarist Ian Jekelis and drummer Ken Bedene. Joining Sorceron after Abigail Williams‘ final tour in support of In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns last fall, the trio quickly got to work writing material that would become In the Absence of Light. The album’s eight songs contain far more urgency then the band’s previous material; songs written exclusively by Sorceron.

“We let ourselves have much more room with writing this album, kind of a more open, free environment than any we have employed before,” reveals Sorceron. “We literally constructed the songs as we went. Ken would be in the drum room and Ian and I would be in the control room and we just played for hours. We would listen back and pick out what we thought was good and we put songs together. We recorded everything with much more ease and I think it has helped in capturing a very honest vibe.”

Formed in 2005, Abigail Williams have been called “a buzz band,” and “a band to watch.” They have endured more than their fair share of opposition, including revolving door member changes and in 2007 altogether disbanding. But through it all, the core of the band has kept a level head, a steady eye, and an unbridled passion for what they do. The band’s 2006 Legend EP and 2008 debut, In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns (produced by James Murphy and featuring Emperor drummer Trym Torson) have now sold a combined 35,000 in the US. The band has toured exhaustively including their most recent West Coast headlining dates.

Abigail Williams recently confirmed their first tour in support of In the Absence of Light. Kicking off September 29, the band will perform alongside headliners Immolation and Vader, as well as Lecherous Nocturne and Pathology, for four weeks. Tickets are on sale now.

Abigail Williams w/ Immolation, Vader, Lecherous Nocturne, Pathology
09/29/2010 Sonar – Baltimore MD
09/30/2010 Crazy Donkey – Farmingdale NY
10/01/2010 Club Hell – Providence RI
10/02/2010 Rocko’s – Manchester NH
10/03/2010 FouFounes – Montreal QC
10/04/2010 Mod Club – Toronto ON
10/05/2010 Peabody’s – Cleveland OH
10/06/2010 Blondie’s – Detroit MI
10/07/2010 Rave – Milwaukee WI
10/08/2010 Station 4 – St. Paul MN
10/10/2010 El Corazon – Seattle WA
10/11/2010 Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver BC
10/12/2010 Hawthorne Theatre – Portland OR
10/13/2010 DNA Lounge – San Francisco CA
10/14/2010 Whiskey A Go Go – W. Hollywood CA
10/15/2010 Galaxy Theatre – Santa Ana CA
10/16/2010 Ramona Mainstage – Ramona CA
10/17/2010 UB’s Bar – Mesa AZ
10/18/2010 The Rock – Tucson AZ
10/20/2010 Emo’s – Austin TX
10/21/2010 The Warsaw – Houston TX
10/22/2010 Marquee – Tulsa OK
10/23/2010 Uncle Pleasant’s – Louisville KY
10/24/2010 Volume 11 – Raleigh NC
10/25/2010 Jaxx – W. Springfield VA
10/26/2010 Montage Music Hall – Rochester NY
10/27/2010 Emerson Theater – Indianapolis IN
10/28/2010 Reggie Rock Club – Chicago IL

In the Absence of Light Track Listing:
1. Hope the Great Betrayal
2. Final Destiny of the Gods
3. The Mysteries that Bind the Flesh
4. Infernal Divide
5. In Death Comes the Great Silence
6. What Hells Await Me
7. An Echo in Our Legends
8. Malediction

Genre: Progressive Black Metal
Label: Southern Lord

Reformed with a mostly new line-up, featuring Blake Judd from shithot black metal band Nachtmystium, Twilight return to the scene.
A true supergroup of black metal, and mostly from very different styles of black metal, progressive metal, and doom, Twilight is more than the sum of its parts. Because these are all guys that are very knowledgeable as to what they are doing, and considering this was written as a truly collaborative effort, unlike the Twilight debut, this is a much stronger album too.
The music takes at times more rock structures, but with very blackened overtones. I think this comes not from black metal thinking but the progressive thinking of the FOUR guitarists (Blakemystium, Wrest, Aaron Turner from Isis, and Stavros Giannopolous from The Atlas Moth) and the vocals are throat destroying and amazing. I honestly do not know how N. Imperial does such work. The drums and bass are done by Wrest himself, and are done amazingly.
All told, Monument to End Time is a gorgeous piece of work, and truly is genre defining and breaking at the same time. If you don’t get it, you’re missing the fuck out.
10 out of 10.

Twilight on Southern Lord.

New Orleans, Louisiana sludge metal icons EYEHATEGOD are proud to announce their long-anticipated US tour beginning in June, following an appearances at this year’s edition of the Maryland Deathfest. Sponsored by MetalSucks and SMN News, the 18-date trek begins at Blackbooth in Orlando, Florida on June 3 and will rage through 16 more cities before coming to a close in Chicago, Illinois at the Empty Bottle (where they play two nights). Support will come primarily from psychedelic black metallers Nachtmystium (from June 4 – 15) but will also feature a rotating roster of crushing openers throughout the tour including Brutal Truth, Withered, Black Anvil, Tombs, Howl, The Atlas Moth, Black Tusk and Strong Intention.

EYEHATEGOD US Tour 2010

6/03/2010 Backbooth – Orlando, FL
6/04/2010 Ground Zero – Spartanburg, SC **
6/05/2010 Volume 11 – Raleigh, NC
6/06/2010 Headliners – Louisville, KY
6/07/2010 Fubar – St Louis, MO
6/08/2010 Muse – Nashville, TN
6/09/2010 Alley Katz – Richmond, VA
6/10/2010 Krug’s – Frederick, MD
6/11/2010 Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA
6/12/2010 Europa – Brooklyn, NY
6/13/2010 Club Hall – Providence, RI
6/14/2010 Daniel St – Milford, CT
6/15/2010 Rocko’s – Manchester, NH
6/16/2010 Bug Jar – Rochester, NY
6/17/2010 Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH
6/18/2010 Blondie’s Detroit, MI
6/19/2010 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
6/20/2010 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL

** VIP package available; 50 tickets are available for $40 and will include sound check access, BBQ, meet & greet with the band + a signed poster.

When TWILIGHT’s self-titled debut was delivered in 2005 it was an explosive new time for American black metal, where several stateside acts were captivating the world’s attention. It was during these times that a crew of henchmen hailing from said acts covertly assembled to formulate a collaborative album, under the banner of TWILIGHT. Then comprised of members of Nachtmystium, Leviathan, Kreig, Xasthur and Drautran, the album’s gritty and varied content was an instant cult classic for the genre.

Due to personal differences within the unit, TWILIGHT officially disbanded a year later, with no plans of a new record on the horizon. Yet in early 2009 several members resurrected a modified lineup. These alterations would expand this “follow-up release” into a full-blown masterpiece.

TWILIGHT’s massive lineup on the upcoming Monument To Time End includes three founding members – Blake Judd (Nachtmystium), Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice), and N. Imperial (Kreig), – and new recruits Stavros Giannopolous (The Atlas Moth), Sanford Parker (Minsk, Buried At Sea) and Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom), as well as vocal contributions by Robert Lowe (Lichens, OM).on three tracks. This wholly forward-thinking alignment of artists presents this TWILIGHT release as an entirely new entity.

Undoubtedly, the harsh and cantankerous black metal underbelly of the foundation of the unit is still intact throughout Monument To Time End, but it’s the visual hell the listener feels personified through the more dissonant, demented and ethereal realms of utter madness explored, where seemingly psychotropic nightmares come to life with an ethereal, beautiful vengeance.