swallow the sun – Nine Circles

CANTO: Fallujah, Volcandra, MMXX, and More

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022CoreyLeave a comment

Hey, I’m back! And I leave for the mountains tonight. So I’m not really back!

We can start with a tour. Fallujah and Psycroptic are co-headlining a run of shows in September and October with support from Interloper and Cognitive. This is going to be a lot of fun. Wish I could go. Oh well.
Now I’m going to jump to a couple things from yesterday. First, new Bloodbath. Survival Of The Sickest drops on September 9th through Napalm Records, and the video for “Zombie Inferno” is available here. Awesome.
And then Gaerea announced their third album, Mirage. That one will be out on September 23rd through Season of Mist. Check out “Salve” right here. I’m really excited about this one, and this leading single is a hell of a start.
Doom collective MMXX unveiled a new lyric video for “This Breath Is Not My Breath”, which features Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow The Sun. Full album details and still to come, but I can promise a lot of major names are tied to this project, so we’re going to keep tabs on this one.
Closing out our Thursday, we have a new video from Volcandra for “Resonance Cascade”. That’s taken from the melodic black metal group’s Border World EP, which dropped last Friday through Prosthetic Records.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Mörk Gryning, Predatory Light, Swallow The Sun, and More

April 11, 2022April 11, 2022CoreyLeave a comment

Apparently April is officially the month of four day work weeks for me. Not gonna fight it.

Mörk Gryning have announced their first U.S. tour, and that’s how we’re leading things off today. The dates run from April 28th through May 9th, and they’ll be joined by Arsantiqva, The Noctambulant, and Promethean Horde.
After a notable six year absence, Predatory Light have returned. The second album from the black metal collective, Death And The Twilight Hours, is set for a May 20th release through 20 Buck Spin. Check out “To Plead Like Angels” here.
Entropia have signed on with Agonia Records, with plans to release their next album, Total, later in the year. The extreme metal band out of Poland has some momentum, so we’ll keep an eye on this one.
American death metallers Obscene have announced tour dates in support of Morta Skuld, as they prepare the release of their next album. From Dead Horizon… to Dead Horizon will be out through Blood Harvest on May 27th, just to finish that thought.
We’ll close out Monday with a new video from Swallow The Sun for “This House Has No Name”. That track, of course, is taken from Moonflowers, which dropped late last year through Century Media. Pick that album up here, if you haven’t already, and check out the new clip below.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Cave In, Pyrithe, Ithaca, and More

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022CoreyLeave a comment

Slowly, but surely, I am catching up on life.

We’ll open with the latest from Cave In. The second single from Heavy Pendulum was unveiled today, titled “Blinded By A Haze”. And yes, it’s another good one. As a reminder, that album is out on May 20th through Relapse Records.
If you missed it, Pyrithe announced details surrounding their long-awaited debut full-length not too long ago. Monuments To Impermanence is out on April 29th through Gilead Media, and today they shared a new single through Decibel. Give “Ekphrastik I” a listen here.
Pivoting to some tour news for the sake of mixing things up, Moonspell have announced North American dates with Swallow The Sun and Witherfall. Those dates are in August and September, and tickets are available here.
Ithaca shared a new track today, titled “In The Way”, which is the opener from They Fear Us. Their second album is set for a July 29th release through Hassle Records.
Texas death/black metal act Haunter shared a clip from “Chained At The Helm Of Eschaton”, a track taken from Discarnate Ails. That album drops next month through Profound Lore.
Closing with new material from Clutch feels like the right thing to do, so here’s the video for “Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)”. Fun fact, that video was directed by David Brodsky. Of course, it’s can be streamed here as well.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Scholar of the First Sin: Hera’s Best of 2021

December 28, 2021December 25, 2021Hera2 Comments

I am the Scholar of the First Sin, and I have insight to give.

Last year, my list was short and to the point, as I spent more time listening to music that gave me respite and comfort than to new releases. This meant that, once I had more time on my hands, I was finally able to go out and see what I had missed. The fact that I can’t include Dark Tranquility’s Moment, an album that deserves more attention, on this list because it came out last year fucking kills me.

Despite the Omicron variant (at this time) destroying all hope for a small sense of normalcy, 2021 was an absolutely fantastic year for music. After many bands either couldn’t tour because of the onset of the pandemic or postponed a lot of their releases, this year provided us with new music, which meant that a lot of vetting had to happen in order for me to make this list. After graduation, I suddenly had more time than I ever had to do with and decided to dive deep into what I had been ignoring for the better part of five months.

Welcome to EOY list season!

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CANTO: Swallow the Sun, Behemoth, Mystic Circle, and More

November 19, 2021November 19, 2021CoreyLeave a comment

So out of the all the epic new material that dropped today, what has everyone been listening to?

Current and former members of In Flames sure have been busy lately. That’s also true for Anders Fridén, who launched his own new project, titled If Anything, Suspicious. Check out the first material from OFFAIR: Lullabies for the Damned, right here.
Behemoth continue to share material from In Absentia Dei, so we most certainly should include that. Here’s the footage for “Prometherion”. That one hits shelves on December 17th, and can be purchased in various formats here.
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher has announced a new solo album, self-titled Corpsegrinder. That debut from the Cannibal Corpse vocalist will be out on February 4th through Jamey Jasta’s new label, Perseverance Music group.
Reunited German black and/or death metal collective Mystic Circle have revealed new album details, and of course a new track along with it. The self-titled album drops on February 4th through Atomic Fire Records, and you can watch the video for “Letters From The Devil” here.
We’ll wrap up the week with Swallow the Sun. One of the releases we had our eye on this week was Moonflowers, which is out through Century Media, so join us in celebrating this one with the video for “The Void” below.