September 09, 2011
Century Media Records have signed U.K. Death Metallers VALLENFYRE. The band’s line-up consists of Gregor Mackintosh (PARADISE LOST) – vocals and lead guitar, Hamish Glencross (MY DYING BRIDE) – rhythm and lead guitars, Mully – rhythm guitars, Scoot (DOOM, EXTINCTION OF MANKIND) – bass and Adrian Erlandsson (AT THE GATES, PARADISE LOST) – drums. VALLENFYRE have just released the "Desecration / Iconoclast" 7" EP (limited to 500 copies) through Imperium Productions. Samples of both tracks can be found on the band’s official web site www.vallenfyre.com. "I was first introduced to more extreme music by my older brother in 1981", Gregor says. "Over the next few years in my early teens, I grew to love various early Hardcore Punk bands like DISCHARGE, ENGLISH DOGS, CONFLICT, etc. Around a similar time I was becoming aware of other more Metal music like MOTÖRHEAD and BLACK SABBATH. In ’84 / 85′ I got into bands who were fusing these styles like HELLHAMMER, ANTISECT and AMEBIX. A couple of years later I started tape-trading with people all around the world, which enabled me to hear lots of really cool, interesting, extreme music. AUTOPSY, NAPALM DEATH, MORBID ANGEL, REPULSION, NIHILIST are some of the more well-known names I started to get into, but there were many, many more which never gained the same notoriety. At the same time, I formed PARADISE LOST with my friends. Our early stuff was a bit of a mixture of all this stuff but we also had a lot of Doom influence from the likes of CANDLEMASS, TROUBLE and ST. VITUS." The tracks on the single and the upcoming album were recorded between December 2010 and April 2011. Added Gregor: "The album is called "A Fragile King", which is a reference to my father’s battle with cancer. The lyrics are predominantly about the same thing, but also include gripes with society, religion, politics and relationships as well. It’s all pretty grim." "A Fragile King" will be released on October 31, 2011 in Europe and on November 01, 2011 in North America. VALLENFYRE is not a one-off project but will continue as a band that will also play live in 2012.
F.D.A. Records have signed Stockholm’s old school Death Metal horde ENDING QUEST. The band name is a tribute to GOREMENT’s album "The Ending Quest". The band was formed by Stefan Nordström and Gustav Gunnarsson, as a way to have some good, friendly, violent fun with the HM-2 guitar sound. Later, as the line-up solidified with new musicians, they mutated into a real band and have recorded two demos – "Led To The Slaughter" (2010) and "Vlad Tepes" (2011). The demos were never officially released, but will be included as bonus tracks on the band’s upcoming first full length album.
DIABOLICAL will celebrate 15 years of existence by doing some selected European dates in September. Each date will see different local support bands and special guests. Considering the nature of the tour, the band will do more old material than usual, covering all five official records released until now. "We see this partly as a celebration of the 15 years that was, but mainly as an introduction of the 15 years that are to come. It is a great opportunity to pick up older material, and revisit some good and bad moments from the past. Looking back is only enjoyable to some…" says founding member Sverker Widgren. www.diabolical.se