Füneral Rain Press Cörps

Dubai based death-thrashers Nervecell have set Psychogenocide as the title of their long-awaited new album, due for release late March 2011 in Europe through Lifeforce Records and Spellbind Records for the Middle East. The artwork has been a concept, which the band have been working on for quite a while they are extremely proud of how it has turned out, perfectly matching the aggression and musical direction of the new album.

Psychogenocide is scheduled to be mixed and mastered at Hertz Studios (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader) in Warsaw, Poland by the Wieslawscy Bros. This will mark the follow-up to Nervecell’s first full-length Preaching Venom which was released on October 26th 2009 via Lifeforce Records. The new songs are sounding aggressive, fast and dark! The fans can expect a heavy dosage of old-school death metal, modern thrash metal, intertwined with a touch of Eastern melodies and brutality.

Stay tuned for the album track list and more details to be announced very soon.

The artwork was designed by Killustrations (Aborted, Severe Torture, Zyklon)

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

Another old interview from October 2009. Since this was done, Dennis and I have become pretty good friends, and the -NL has been dropped from the name. A great label that deserves your support.

Hello Dennis. How is your week going so far? What can you tell us of yourself?

It hasn’t been too bad, a lot to do and not enough time to do it in, but I’ve gotten pretty used to that. I’m a workaholic, with my dayjob and Ziekte-NL combined I work between 15 and 18 hours each day, in weekends as well. As for telling you more about myself…I’m never too sure what to say, besides shamelessly advertising Ziekte-NL, so what would you like to know?

You run Ziekte-NL, a fairly new record label. How long has Ziekte-NL been active?

Ziekte-NL has been active for almost a year now, we’ll have our anniversary in December.

What kinds of music do you release, and on what formats?

We mainly release various types of metal, but also rock, ambient and minimalistic. So far we have released albums on CDr, CD and in digital ways (like iTunes). In the future we will also release music on tape and hopefully on vinyl as well. The only thing holding us back from releasing on vinyl is the price really.

I see you’ve had a working relationship with a fair amount of bands I’m familiar with (and fands of), including Demonic Cremator and Necrosadik, among others. Is there any band out there, still making music or defunct, that you’d like to work with and haven’t had the pleasure yet?

There are way too many bands I’d like to work with. If you want a list/overview, well…take a glance at our myspace friendlist. Pretty much all of them. If we had the budget, we would be working with all of them, if they want to as well of course.

Aside from what you release on the label, is there any form of music in general, or any band specifically, that you enjoy? Anything that would surprise readers?

I enjoy pretty much every form of metal. I prefer black metal and death metal. One of my personal favourite bands is Marduk, I saw them live last month, together with Vader. It was a great concert. As for anything that would surprise the readers…I’m not sure. I also enjoy experimental / alternative music like Carnival In Coal. Is that surprising? You tell me.

In the world of metal there are some very controversial bands, with topics and themes that in themselves are controversial. One such topic is antichristian lyrics, and openly satanic lyrics. This seems to be a part of black metal the most, and I’m wondering if you subscribe to these religious views yourself?

If you were to label me when it comes to religion, I guess you can label me Nihilist. So I have no religious views really.

In the same vein as the last question, one topic that seems to be gaining more and more ‘popularity’ in metal as well as other genres is National Socialism, not just as a topic . Does Ziekte-NL as a label support such acts, or do you yourself personally support such acts?

NS may be gaining more and more popularity, but it’s still only a very small group. I haven’t really given it much thought, since I haven’t spoken to any such acts either. Unless they just have it in their lyrics for shock value, I don’t think I’d sign any such acts, simply to prevent conflicts with any of our other artists.

Let’s stay on the topic of controversy for one more question: what makes music metal? I know a lot of people have their own notions of what is or is not metal, so what are your ideas on the genre? Also, what separates rock from metal, when so many people call one band rock and another set calls the same band metal (Led Zeppelin comes to mind, specifically)?

When the first metal bands started getting known, it was all fairly clear what was rock and what was metal. These days, with so many bands playing so many styles, it’s become more difficult. I was talking about this with our photographer, Vincent, not too long ago. He didn’t really know what to say either. I guess what makes metal music metal is the combination of amplified guitars, prominent bass and a large drumset for a usually fairly constant beat. Though as soon as you start to give a description, there’s always a ‘But what about ?’ that you can give as a reply.

Finally, is there anything you’d like to add to the interview?

Again a question where I’m tempted to just shamelessly advertise. I’ll keep it simple; keep checking our website, there’s a lot of new stuff coming.