Funeral Rain Press Corps

Legendary Singaporean blackened warbeasts Impiety are set to unleash eighth studio album through Pulverised Records this May. Offering up eight grisly tracks, including a cover of Bathory’s “Sacrifice,” the aptly titled Ravage & Conquer was recorded, mixed and mastered over a course of two weeks at Studio 47 in Singapore and features cover art by renowned illustrator, Lord Sickness (Sabbat, Witchaven, Zygoatsis, etc).

Savagely innovative, technical, and uncompromising, Ravage & Conquer lives up to its name. Led by frontman Shyaithan, Impiety’s covenant of chaos remains impenetrable, delivering some of the harshest and most vicious brand of blackened death metal the world has witnessed.

Ravage & Conquer Track Listing:
1. Revelation Decimation
2. Ravage & Conquer
3. Weaponized
4. The Scourge Majesty
5. War Crowned
6. Legacy Of Savagery
7. Salve The Goat
8. Sacrifice (Bathory cover)

Impiety Personnel:
Shyaithan – Bass, Vomit
Nizam Aziz – Lead Guitars
Dizazter – Drums

Ravage & Conquer will be released in North America via Pulverised Records on May 8, 2012.

Impiety on Facebook.

Band Continues Work On Forthcoming Album

Fear Factory today confirm Matt DeVries as the band’s new bass player. DeVries, previously of Chimaira and most recently Six Feet Under, joins the band replacing Byron Stroud. The announcement comes as the band continues work on their upcoming new album, planned for release early Summer. The album is currently being mixed in Canada by Greg Reely while artwork for the album’s packaging is nearly complete.

DeVries comments: “I have been asked by Dino and Burton to join one of my favorite bands. I have been a fan of
Fear Factory since 1992 and I could not be more excited to be part of this incredible band. We have shared the stage many times together and now I’m beyond stoked to be on the same stage playing together. Thank you to all my fans worldwide for sticking by me and I will be seeing you all on the road very soon.”

Guitarist Dino Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell note: “We are very excited to have Matt playing bass for Fear Factory. We feel he is a great addition to our touring lineup. He has been a friend for a very long time and he’s a great musician who will be a perfect instrument in the FF machine.”

Fear Factory’s new album will follow 2010’s highly regarded Mechanize. Said Blabbermouth of the record, “this is the album fans have been waiting for…a fiery and evolved rebirth of the band that changed metal in the ‘90s.” Revolver Magazine called Mechanize, “one of the best albums of the band’s career. Its combination of new-wave melody, rapid-fire aggression, and electronic ambiance sounds as fresh today as Fear Factory did nearly 20 years ago. Call it the soul of their new machine,” while Decibel Magazine added, “Fear Factory are back and beyond intact.”

Specific details with regards to Fear Factory’s new album are expected to be released in the coming week.

Artwork, Track Listing And First Single Unveiled

America’s reigning kings of brutality, Cannibal Corpse, will unleash their twelfth studio offering this March via Metal Blade Records. Aptly titled Torture, the follow-up to 2009′s Evisceration Plague offers up 12 tracks of maniacally precise, soul-searing death metal. Torture was again produced by Hate Eternal‘s Erik Rutan at his own Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida as well as Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and features the maniacal cover art by longtime Cannibal Corpse artist, Vincent Locke.

While Torture marks the latest progression in the band’s sound, it also witnesses a return to what drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz accurately terms “the frenzied attack of Butchered At Birth (1991) or Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992),” infusing the band’s advanced musicianship with the raw savagery that haunted their earlier releases, and in the process conceiving the definitive Cannibal Corpse record. Adds bassist Alex Webster on the outcome of the record: “We’re extremely happy with how Torture turned out. Erik Rutan did an amazing job with the production, and the songwriting and performances may be our strongest yet. We can’t wait until our fans get to hear the whole thing!”

Witness the gutting sounds of “Demented Aggression,” the band’s first single, as well as studio footage, at the official Cannibal Corpse landing page, at THIS LOCATION.

Torture Tracklisting:
01. Demented Aggression
02. Sarcophagic Frenzy
03. Scourge of Iron
04. Encased in Concrete
05. As Deep As the Knife Will Go
06. Intestinal Crank
07. Followed Home Then Killed
08. The Strangulation Chair
09. Caged…Contorted
10. Crucifier Avenged
11. Rabid
12. Torn Through

As a precursor to the release, Cannibal Corpse will perform a special one-off show at the Culture Room in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 22nd then head to the seas to take part in this year’s edition of the 70,000 Tons Of Metal Cruise. The band will get a short break before a near month-long march through Europe on the Full Of Hate 2012 tour with labelmates Behemoth.

Torture will be released in North America on March 13, 2012.

Cannibal Corpse:
Alex Webster – Bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz – Drums
Rob Barrett – Guitar
Patrick O’Brien – Guitar
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – Vocals

Norwegian pioneers in blackened death metal, Fester have revealed the cover art and tracklisting for their forthcoming new album, A Celebration Of Death. The band’s first offering of new material in 17 years, A Celebration Of Death will be out in early 2012 through Abyss Records. In an exclusive premier, Bravewords.com is now streaming the track “Rites of Ceres.” Visit this location to experience the return of Fester!
The cover for A Celebration Of Death was painted by artist Eliran Kantor (Testament, Sodom, Atheist, Sigh, Anacrusis). The rest of the layout was done by Joce of Industrie Chimere Noire (Portal, Ghäst, Total Holocaust). The core members of the band, bassist Jon Bakker (Kampfar), vocalist Thomas Andersen and guitarist/vocalist Bjørn “Tiger” Mathisen, all made the following comments regarding the album:

“A Celebration Of Death is a whirl of flavours hitting you all at once. All the varieties makes you spin the tracks over and over again. A real treat for the fans of Black, Death and Doom. The mix of musicians makes everything really original, but all in all Fester reeks through it all.” – Jon Bakker

“For me personally, A Celebration of Death has the ultimate lyrics evolving the theme of death, and it manages to pull all my aggression just to the edge, without turning over “ – Thomas Andresen

“Have you ever felt the sensation of darkness and death embracing you, and that you actually welcome it? Like love, death comes in all different shapes and sizes, and I really feel that we have captured our feelings around the theme. It’s darker and more melancholic than our previous releases, but it’s FESTER no doubt!” – Bjørn “Tiger” Mathisen

Tracklisting:
Rites of Ceres
The black tower
March of death
I’ll hunt you down
Metalized
Jeg spytter på deg
Last day of battle Pt.I
Last day of battle Pt.II
A Face for a funeral (bonus)
Rites of Mortiis (Remix of Ceres by Mortiis)

In addition to Bakker, Andersen Mathisen, A Celebration Of Death also features Audun Kleive (session drums), Raymond Pellicer (additional guitars, programming and synth), Eivind Aarseth (additional guitars), Guido Saint Roch (guest vocals on “Metalized”) and Mortiis (Dark Converter). For more on Fester, visit the band’s Facebook page. Norway’s atmospheric masters have returned to once again change the face of black/death metal. Prepare yourselves…

Hypnotic Dirge Records has signed two new bands onto its artist roster, with both bands planned to have a release in the first half of 2012. The new bands added to the roster are Epitimia and Silent Path.

Epitimia is a black metal/post-rock band from Russia consisting of three members known simply as A., K., and M. Epitimia has released two prior full-length albums, as well as two split albums. Their latest album was called Four Truths of the Noble Ones and was released through Grailight Productions in october 2010. Epitimia‘s next album will be called Faces of Insanity, exploring the story of an individual suffering from a mental disease, and will be released through Hypnotic Dirge Records in the first half of 2012. For the time-being, check out the Epitimia profile page which features streaming audio, band members photos, and a full biography.

Silent Path is a one-man funeral doom metal/depressive black metal project from Iran created by Saman Nu. The project’s only member is also known as Count de Efrit, the musician behind the project Ekove Efrits which is already signed to Hypnotic Dirge Records. We will be releasing the debut Silent Path album Mourner Portraits within the first half of 2012. In the meantime, you can listen to streaming music from Silent Path‘s upcoming debut album, and read more in-depth about the history of the project on the official Silent Path profile page.