Century Media signs Miasmal
Miasmal have officially signed with and will be heading into the studio this winter to record their sophomore album.
Label: Century Media
Viewing posts 1-10 out of 10Century Media signs Morbus Chron
Lambgoat reports that has picked up Swedish old-school death metal act Morbus Chron: http://lambgoat.com/news/17960/Century-Media-Records-signs-Morbus-Chron
The band will be heading into the studio this spring to record a 10" EP for the label.
Vildhjarta sign with Century Media
Lambgoat reports that Swedish act Vildhjarta has been picked up by : http://www.lambgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=16253
In Flames sign int'l deal with Century Media
Following on earlier news concerning In Flames signing with in Sweden, it was also announced today that the band signed with for the rest of the world. Read the press release at Lambgoat: http://www.lambgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=16028
Manifest 2011 nominees are go
The nominees for the 2011 Manifest Awards, Sweden's indie/alternative Grammy, have been announced:
Pop:
Anna von Hausswolff - Singing from the grave (/)
jj - jj No 3 ()
CEO - White Magic ()
Nicolas Makelberge - The Unforgettable Planet ()
Dance:
Cloud - Hökarängen Space Program ()
Dmitry Fyodorov - Shapeless ()
Jarl & Fotmeijer - Lifesigns ()
Skudge - Samlad produktion ()
Synth:
Code 64 - Trialogue ()
Cryo - Hidden Aggression ()
Page - Nu ()
Social Ambitions - Almost gone ()
Hardrock/Metal:
Ghost - Opus Eponymous ()
Watain - Lawless Darkness ()
Khoma - A final storm ()
Dark Tranquility - We are the void ()
Rhythm:
Haci Tekbilek - Türlü ()
Helt Off - Marknadens Soldat ()
Million Stylez - Everyday ()
Serengeti - Standing Steady ()
Jazz:
Elin Larsson Group - Live and Alive ()
Lekverk - Everyday ()
NEO (Nässjö Extreme Orchestra) - NEO ()
The Country - The Country ()
Punk/Hardcore
Antipati - Frågor som rör det allmänna ()
Hårda Tider - Gatan Kallar ()
Old Fashioned Ideas - We're in this shit together ()
The Baboon Show - Punk Rock harbour ()
Hip-Hop:
Academics - Tare Lugnt 4 ()
Carlito - Guldburen ()
PH3 - Löser ett fall ()
Zacke - Visst är det vackert ()
Rock:
Bad Hands - Take The Money And Run ()
Dundertåget - Dom feta åren är förbi ()
Pascal - Orkanen närmar sig ()
The Bear Quartet - Monty Python ()
Folk/Visa:
Anders Svensson, Magnus Gustafsson, Susanne Gustafsson, Anders Löfberg, Jörgen Svensson - Bålgetingen, Låtar efter August Strömberg ()
Mats Edén, Daniel Sandén-Warg, Leif Stinnerbom, Magnus Stinnerbom - Anno 2010 ()
OK Star Orchestra - Sound Classique ()
Ola Magnell - Rolös ()
Experimental:
Ombudsman - And His Father Was A Great Machine ()
Erik Enocksson - Man tänker sitt ()
Leif Jordansson - The Comet / The Doll Maker ()
New Tango Orquesta - Vesper ()
Singer/Songwriter:
I'm Kingfisher - Arctic ()
Daniel Norgren - Horrifying Death Eating Blood Spider ()
The Tarantula Waltz - Did Not Leave To Find But To Forget, To Leave Behind ()
The Tallest Man On Earth - Wild Hunt ()
Best live act:
Anna Von Hausswolff
The Tallest Man On Earth
Masshysteri
Robyn
Best unsigned act (in collaboration w/P3 Lab):
Alice B
Katakomb
Ascend
Broken Boys
Winners will be announced at a ceremony on February 4 at Nalen in Stockholm. More info: http://www.manifestgalan.se/
New Witchery album coming in June
I didn't realize they were still a band, but apparently Swedish all-star thrashers Witchery (feat. members from The Haunted, Seance, Arch Enemy, Opeth, etc.) will release their new album "Witchkrieg" on June 21 via . Hear a sample tune at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/witcherytheband
The Haunted to stick with Century Media
The Haunted have officially resigned with : http://www.lambgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=13693
Arch Enemy
Rise of the tyrant
Century Media
Let me start with saying I really wanted to like this album a lot. Maybe too much. I absolutely loved "Doomsday machine" and was hoping this would, if not top it, at least be something close. To my total surprise, I was really disappointed with this release. Angela Gossows' voice is left almost without effects, which surely makes her sound vicious, but also very mundane and annoying for an entire album. However, this is not the only weak point of this album. Most songs lack a catchy chorus and I often can't tell one song from the other. Sometimes they are saved by shredding leads, but that's one of the few things that stand out as positive on this album. I hope it grows on me, but it seems unlikely.
- Richard Wilson
Dark Tranquility
Fiction
Century Media
Dark Tranquility can still deliver top notch melodic death metal after some 15 years in the business. Together with At the Gates and In Flames, they are the founders of the so called Gothenburg sound. Where most bands would long since peaked, Dark Tranqility at this point sound better than they've done in a long time. I dare say "Fiction" is their best album since the classic "The gallery" from 1995. They make smart use of keyboards and sometimes create a gothic mood, and the variation of really fast and aggressive songs alongside slower material makes this album a very versatile affair. And the fact that vocalist and growl-master Mikael Stanne once again uses his clean voice on two songs is a great move. Songs like "Blind at heart" and "Nothing to no one" is the ultimate proof that this band should achieve the same kind of breakthrough as other Swedish death metal bands like Arch Enemy or In Flames!
- Richard Wilson
The Haunted
Revolver
Century Media
A few years ago, while I was fully immersed in metal, The Haunted became one of my favourite bands. Their first album took the art of the no-frills trash record to new heights; to me that record was better than Slayer's "Reign in Blood" or "Season in the Abyss", Metallica's "Master of Puppets" or Megadeth's "Peace Sells". It was a revelation and it carried afterwards a slew of other good (Darkane, Defleshed, The Crown) and not so good (Carnal Forge, Gandalf) bands that were brought to prominence at the end of the nineties. While The Haunted continued their road on the thrash map, in the process changing vocalist from Peter Dolving to Marco Aro, I lost a bit of interest. Aro's delivery, while aggressive, was run-of-the-mill death vocals that did absolutely nothing for me. The additional consequence was that the bands felt the need to go as aggressive as possible with Aro and were losing the subtle things that made them good in the first place.
Two records later: Dolving is back and so is the band. First of all, this supposed evolution of the band is not that big of a deal. What they did is finally picked some melodic elements in the old At the Gates' bag of tricks, which was left unopened since the demise of the band and the formation of this one. We are talking about a majority of the songs here being extremely up tempo and a few numbers being mid-paced. The return of Dolving permits the band to use his vast array of talents in different situations and vary the attack with a lot more ease than it would have been possible with Aro. Here is how it goes song per song:
"No Compromise" starts the record as if recorded in a shoe box with strange rhythm pattern before going all out in the traditional Slayer-at-their-best thrash number that starts off the record not only with a bang but also reintroduced shouted backing vocals to the foray, something that was never part of their arsenal with Aro. The slower mid-section is so chest-pumping heavy it is amazing.
"99" is a bit of lower bpm affair that brings memories of "The Red in the Sky is Ours", with a bit a more modern melodic Gothenburg style but not without your scarifying on the violence.
"Abysmal" starts with clean guitars and Dolving doing what makes him a better fit for this band: the ability to actually sing (although he does very little of that on the record), and it is a nice change of pace. Once again this one lowers the bpm a little more and shows the band in all their mid-paced glory. This song sounds a bit like what Entombed sound like since the Death 'n Roll conversion.
"Sabotage" is one of those songs that is meant to blow your head clean off and does not quite succeed even though the song is pretty good. The breakdown at the end of the song particularly good the chorus just doen't do it.
"All Against All" is more of a mid-paced song that is probably the weakest on the entire album. I don't know why they felt the need to put it right in the middle of the album. It does have a nice lead and melodic guitar riff that accompanies it.
"Sweet Relief" is a throwback to the self-titled album: Fast and furious riffing but once again a very nice melodic lead and a breakdown changes things up mid song, much to my delight. This rocks.
"Burn to a Shell" once again displays Dolving's abilities, in the singing and screaming department. This could be considered The Haunted's ‘ballad' much like "Fade to Black" was but this one never stays in the ballad mode for long. Perhaps the strongest number on the album as it shows everything they are able to do, as well as combining them with a lot of ease.
"Who Will Decide" continues in the not-so-fast department but also shows just about every tempo change in a single song this band is able to do, and they do it well. Not the strongest song but certainly not the worst.
"Nothing Right". At this point if you did not enjoy the rest of the album, then you have no reason listening to this, but you would be missing out. The Haunted on this record throws at you everything but the kitchen sink and this song is a perfect example of subtle changes in riffs, stopping the guitars there and just changing things up mid-song. Just great stuff.
"Liquid Burns" continues the tradition of fast thrash and melodic enhancement this record brought to us.
"My Shadow" finishes the album, much like the self-titled one finished with a half spoken-word, half singing affair in depressing fashion. This is a good finishing song, although it is certainly not the band's strength.
- Simon Thibaudeau