July 03, 2012

Illinois-based Viking Thrashers THE HORDE have signed with Abyss Records for the follow-up for the release to 2011’s "Thy Blackened Reign". Guitarist Tim Matthews comments: "The HORDE are thrilled to have signed with Abyss Records. This is a match made in Valhalla as they will suit up in their armor and go to war with us as we ride into the flames of battle! We are currently working on our third album, which has the working title "Destroyer… Slayer Of Men". Some song titles are ‘Pray Hater’, ‘10,000 Strong’ and ‘Firevurm’. Will be entering Mercenary Digital Studios in Zion, IL at some point this winter to record with Scott Creekmore." THE HORDE is slated to appear at Spring Bash IV in April of 2013 in Milwaukee, WI alongside DECEASED, MORTA SKULD and other acts tba. More US festival appearances for 2013 are in the works. The band’s Abyss Records debut is scheduled for a fall 2013 release on CD and vinyl formats. A video for the song ‘Odin’s Blood’ (off "Thy Blackened Reign") can be found at this location. For more on THE HORDE, visit www.facebook.com/hordemetal

Norwegian Black Metallers RAGNAROK have released a new video for the title track from their last album "Collectors Of The King". The video was produced by William Brovold, directed by Stefan E Pedersen and the cinematography is by Lasse Roed. Drummer and RAGNAROK founder Jontho had this to say about the video: "It’s the first official video we’ve done for the band, and for a band that’s been around as long as we have, you could say it’s been a long time in coming. It’s a very dark piece in every sense of the word and perfectly conveys the atmosphere and subject matter of the track itself. We’re very pleased with the result, and now we’ve got a taste for it, it certainly won’t be the last video we make and you can rest assured that the new album will provide plenty of material for the next one." The ‘Collectors Of The King’ video can be seen at this location.

Germany’s DESASTER have shot their first official promo video for the song ‘Phantom Funeral’. You can check it out at this location.

GunShyAssassin.com are currently streaming the song ‘Modern Enslavement’ from French brutalists OFFENDING at this location. The song is taken from the band’s newest release "Age Of Perversion". The album’s tracklist reads like this: ‘Infested By His Burden’, ‘Within This World’, ‘Modern Enslavement’, ‘Dominion XXI’, ‘Religion Depravity’, ‘Age Of Perversion’, ‘Hopeless Submission’, ‘Raped By Religion’ and ‘Devotion’. All further info at www.facebook.com/pages/offending/150646044483

California Death / Thrashers SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER will team up with ISOLATION IN INFAMY and MADROST for the "Sickening Southwest Tour III", which kicks off September 23, 2012 in Los Angeles. You’ll find all details in our tourdates section. The tour is booked around the "Building Temples From The Dead Fest", which will take place on September 29, 2012 at Fitzgerald’s in Houston, Texas. The fest will feature performances from SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER and ISOLATION IN INFAMY, along with INGURGITATE, HOD, DESPISE THE SUN and many more (21 bands on two stages on one day). For more details on the fest visit this location. More info on SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER you can find at www.facebook.com/sacrificialslaughter

Here’s an official statement from Swedish old school Death Metallers DEMONICAL: "As a lot of people have asked us during the past months what’s up with the DEMONICAL line-up we feel that it is time to sort things out. Since February Pablo Magallanes is no longer a member of DEMONICAL. Only about two months after he officially joined the band we had to part ways due to him moving back to South America and as a result of this, some of the shows during the spring were done as f our-piece. The timing of Pablo’s departure was not the best as Johan had already last autumn notified us that because of personal reasons he needs to take some time off from all touring activities during this summer. However, Johan will be back again after the summer and everything will be back to normal. We have not yet decided and feel no rush in deciding what to do with the vacant guitarist slot. We will continue as a five-piece live – that’s for sure – but in which form (fulltime or session member) is yet to be decided. As for now we have Daniel Gustavsson and Antti Kurvinen with us to fill in on guitars and so far everything has worked out incredible well. The shows we have done this spring have been awesome – actually some of the best shows we have ever done – and we are all very much looking forward to the exciting festivals and club battles that we have ahead of us. See you all in the ditch!" – Martin, Sverker and Fredrik on behalf of DEMONICAL. More info at www.demonical.net