Danish metalcore band IVY CROWN have released new single / video 'Not Who We Are'. The song is the third single taken from their upcoming debut full-length, Echo, scheduled for October 2019 via Long Branch Records.

Check out 'Not Who We Are' here: https://youtu.be/caI12Rruy90

The band comment on the song: "'Not who we are' is about how life can be difficult, and how you feel pressured, stressed, depressed and all that can lead you to get different diagnoses you get medicated for. But it gives you a false feeling of happiness and you actually never feel completely happy. The video illustrates the zombie state you get in."

IVY CROWN are a melodic metalcore quartet hailing from the cold streets of Copenhagen, Denmark. Captivating vocals, detailed compositions and heavy riffs make up the band's formula which is impressively showcased on Echo. These girls are geared up to take on the world, and make some necks hurt.

IVY CROWN released their single 'Lonesome and Cold' in February 2019, which now has more than 200k streams, ahead of their debut full-length which will be released this October via Long Branch Records. This was followed up with second single 'Run' last month. Echo is a captivating record, exploring themes of breaking free from poisonous relationships and standing up for yourself, but also about growing with every defeat you encounter.

The album was recorded and produced by Chris Kreutzfeldt (Cabal), with assisting vocal production from Mirza Radonjica-Bang (Siamese). The album also has guest features from Kadeem France (Loathe), Kim Song Sternkopf (MØL) and Jesper Gün (Ghost Iris).

South African progressive quartet DEITY'S MUSE have released new single 'Sleep/Escape' ahead of their UK tour with Monuments and appearance at UK Tech Fest.

Taken from their new Lungs Full EP, check out the video to 'Sleep/Escape' here: https://youtu.be/AyGQh-R6XMs

Commenting on the single, guitarist / vocalist Wayne Boucher said: "This track is very dream-like in its sonic delivery with its spacey, open beginning but it explodes with some big, chugging riffs followed by one of our most melodic choruses. The lyrics speak of a protagonist who is grappling with a tough situation until an epiphany arrives to him one night in the form of a dream. The emotions are very high on this one and I feel like Sleep / Escape is musically loaded with dynamics."

Released 28th May, Lungs Full is three tracks of gritty riffs and intricate rhythms, over-laced with an atmospheric veil of Wayne's stunning vocals and hauntingly luscious guitar melodies. The EP is the band's first release since their critically acclaimed third full-length Convergence (2016).

This July the band head to the UK to open for UK Tech Metal pioneers Monuments, play UK Tech Fest and play a one-off headline show in London. Wayne continues: "We've been big fans of the music the Monuments guys make for a long time now. We're really excited about joining them as main support on their UK summer tour with our new EP, Lungs Full. Similarly we're stoked about seeing the Monuments lads performing tracks from Phronesis live. We'll also be making our first appearance at TechFest and what an incredible line-up that is! To top it off, we're lucky enough to have secured our own headliner show in London to close off the tour. Getting opportunities like this as a band based on the tip of Africa is really something quite special to us and we can't wait to show the UK crowds what we're about."

Check them out on the following dates:

3 July – The Haunt, Brighton w/Monuments
4 July – Waterside, Norwich w/Monuments
5 July – The Flapper, Birmingham w/Monuments
6 July – UK Tech Fest, Newark w/Monuments, Dying Fetus, Vildhjarta, Leprous + more
7 July – The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes w/Monuments
8 July – 229, London (headline)

DEITY’S MUSE are rapidly becoming the most talked about rock band from South Africa. Now three albums in, the band have played every South African rock music festival and shared stages in their homeland with Dead Letter Circus, Rise Against, Bring Me The Horizon, Blind Guardian, Unearth, Protest The Hero, 36 Crazyfists, Karnivool, Tesseract, Seether, Jinjer and more. They have also taken to the international stage touring Europe a number of times and performing at Euroblast 2017 and Bloodstock 2018. Now returning to Europe for a fourth time this July, South Africa’s best kept secret DEITY’S MUSE promise to become progressive household names in Europe very soon.

For more information:

www.deitysmuse.com
https://www.facebook.com/deitysmuse/

BETRAYING THE MARTYRS have unveiled new single / video ‘Parasite’ and announced the release of new album Rapture, out 13th September via Sumerian Records.

Released just ahead of their US headline tour, ‘Parasite’ is barrage of punishing riffs and crushing grooves, and is a true depiction of what’s to come on their next full-length release. Directed by Igor Omodei, check out the stunning video here: https://youtu.be/Y3a5D1nItkE

Vocalist Aaron Matts comments on the single and video: “The song is a subject that I've wanted to touch on for quite some time now, it speaks of an internal battle of the minds between myself and that evil self that we all I'm sure have and know all too well; the story speaks of the innocent untainted self that ultimately trumps and returns to defeat this metaphorical parasite of depression and anxiety. The song is more of a celebration of overcoming a dark period in my life, but can be seen from more than one perspective. We're in love with the music video, Igor did a fantastic job as he always does, and we absolutely cannot wait for people to see what we've been working so hard on!”

‘Parasite’ follows the single ‘Eternal Machine’, which is already approaching 200k views on Youtube. Both tracks will appear on Rapture. Check out 'Eternal Machine' here: https://youtu.be/u7J4cXFpCZ0

Rapture is BETRAYING THE MARTYRS’ fourth LP which promises to deliver many more neck-breaking metal tracks packed with huge hooks and melodies. The sextet set out to create their most impressive release yet and have exceeded all expectations with Rapture. The song 'Incarcerated' depicts how deep the band is willing to go down the personal rabbit hole lyrically, while 'Rapture' and 'Imagine' showcase the true span of the band’s musical spectrum – proving that any metal fan can find something to love on Rapture.

Aaron comments on Rapture: “Rapture for us is a product of each one of our experiences up until this moment; each moment lived on the road, every drop of inspiration picked up along the way. Written musically in the only way we know how, we took each one of our musical tastes and formed it into the ultimate album for ourselves, hoping that it will translate and fall onto the ears of the listeners the same way it falls onto ours. Rapture is a musical journey through each one of our minds, lyrics that come from both the darkest and lightest corners of our souls. We put everything into this one, leaving behind any preconceptions, and what came out the other side is something that we're all so proud of, and we hope that the listener will feel it within themselves also.”

Pre-order Rapture here: http://smarturl.it/BTMRapture
Merch bundles are available here: www.btmrapture.com

Rapture was produced by BETRAYING THE MARTYRS, with individual instrument and recording duties carried out by Tomáš Raclavský at Babylon Studio in Jenikov, Czech Republic, Lucas d’Angelo at Dangelosound Studio in Paris, France, and Justin Paul Hill at Whitehouse Studios in Reading, United Kingdom. Rapture was mixed and mastered by Henrik Udd at Henrik Udd Studio in Sweden.

BETRAYING THE MARTYRS will soon announce a full European headline tour. In the meantime, the band is about to kick off their first headline tour of North America. The “Summer Rapture Tour 2019,” also featuring support from Entheos, Within Destruction, Sentinels and Defying Decay, will kick off this week on 28th June.

BETRAYING THE MARTYRS are:
Vocals : Aaron Matts
Keyboard/Vocals : Victor Guillet
Guitar : Steeves Hostin
Guitar : Baptiste Vigier
Bass : Valentin Hauser
Drums : Boris Le Gal

For more information:
http://www.betrayingthemartyrs.com
www.facebook.com/WeAreBetrayingTheMartyrs
www.instagram.com/betrayingthemartyrs

Emerging from the shadows of eastern Poland back in 2015, black metal band BATUSHKA have established themselves as one of the modern era’s most powerful and evocative outfits. Harnessing the fire and fury of arcane black metal and channelling it through the reverberant grandeur of ancient rituals of worship, the band’s debut album Litourgiya stood apart from the extreme metal hordes: a monument to originality, depth and dark mysticism that swiftly cast its spell over the metal underground and beyond.

The band will release their sophomore album Hospodi through Metal Blade Records on 12th July. The album is available for pre-order here: https://batushka.lnk.to/hospodi

BATUSHKA have just unleashed the third track from the album in the form of 'Liturgiya.' Watch and listen here: https://youtu.be/yxzcshhQoeE

The band previously shared the tracks 'Wieczernia' and 'Polunosznica', both of which appear on Hospodi.

Named after an Old Church Slavonic word for “God,” Hospodi enhances all the unique qualities that made the band such an instant phenomenon, while offering an entirely distinct and fresh sensory experience. The album boasts the most ferocious and bewitching songs the band have penned to date — along with a newfound sense of rock swagger.

“The whole album is a concept based on the Liturgy of Death, the prayers for the dead, and Orthodox funeral rites and dirges,” said the band. “It’s all about a ritual that involves the dead and the mourners. We also used a lot of old folk songs and elegies from our homeland. These are sung during the wake, around the casket, in the deceased person’s home. Nowadays only a few older people know them and still sing them accordingly in our region. We decided to cherish that tradition and I’m glad that with our album these songs and rites will survive.”

BATUSHKA online:

https://batushkaofficial.com
https://facebook.com/batushkaband
https://twitter.com/batushkaband
https://www.instagram.com/batushkaband/

French atmospheric rockers KLONE have revealed their new single 'Yonder'. The track is taken from the band's forthcoming album Le Grand Voyage, due for release on 20th September 2019 via Kscope.

Check out the video for 'Yonder' here: https://youtu.be/eL9KeXozxW4

Lead single 'Yonder', which also serves as the opening track, bridges the gap between this latest opus and 2015 studio full-length Here Comes The Sun. Mixed by Francis Castes at the Sainte Marthe studio in Paris, guitarist Guillaume Bernard describes the music as a “natural and logical continuation of the song 'The Last Experience' which concluded our previous album.”

“'Yonder' tells the story of a quest for peace, to an unknown place, far from everything but which seems familiar. A dreamlike journey between the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Based on an idea by Yann Ligner, we worked on the video with Arthur Jarry. In order to enjoy the wide-open spaces and for the needs of the clip, we went to shoot in the Bardenas desert in Spain.”

Le Grand Voyage will be released on CD, LP and digitally and is available to pre-order, with all digital pre-orders receiving 'Yonder' as an instant download: https://klone.lnk.to/LeGrandVoyagePR

See KLONE live at one of the following dates:

11/08/2019 - Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, Into The Grave Metal Festival (Mainstage)
27-29/09/2019 - Cologne, Germany - Euroblast Festival

French headline dates

12/10/2019 - Nantes - Le Ferrailleur
17/10/2019 - Lyon - Hard Rock Cafe
18/10/2019 - Grenoble - L'amperage
19/10/2019 - Cannes - Mjc Picaud
26/10/2019 - Strasbourg - La Laiterie
02/11/2019 - Marseille - Jas Rod
08/11/2019 - Poitiers - Le Confort Moderne
09/11/2019 - Savigny-Le-Temple - L'empreinte
15/11/2019 - Niort - Festival Rise & Fall
28/11/2019 - Orleans - Le Bouillon
30/11/2019 - Audincourt - Le Moloco

In recent years, KLONE have built their name on making music that’s as deeply introspective as it is sonically powerful. Le Grand Voyage, the band’s first release for UK post-progressive specialists Kscope, is an album brimming with that sense of searching and self-discovery, its ten tracks living up to their name in unabashed, no-stone-unturned, existential exploration.

“Our music allows the listener to travel and ask, ‘What is the spirit? What is the matter?’ and those kinds of questions,” says Bernard. “The title refers to the wandering of the mind. It all came our singer [Yann Ligner] who came up with something in English like ‘The Great Journey’. We all liked the meaning but weren’t sure how it sounded. Eventually we realised it would be easy enough for people to translate and understand in our native tongue.”

Much of the inspiration on forthcoming singles 'Breach', 'Keystone' and 'Hidden Passenger' came from pondering the great philosophies of life, those eternal unanswered questions like who we are, where we are going and, ultimately, what happens next. It was the uncertainty and confusion surrounding mortality, the notion that something or nothing awaits us, which felt like an unlimited creative playground for the French art-rockers.

What came out the other end was bold in sonic ambition, twisting dark guitars and electronic ambience into a modern masterpiece that feels excitingly new, yet in many ways feels like a contemporary take on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. Now is an exciting time for progressive music, says Guillaume, because audiences are open-minded.“We don’t have to respect any particular rules when making this music.”

Having racked up a lot of interest on home soil after previous albums Here Comes The Sun and Unplugged, KLONE are now looking to focus on and extend their international operations. They’ve performed in the UK with cult grunge heroes King’s X and French metal titans Gojira, toured with Devin Townsend and landed supports for Helmet, Orphaned Land and Anneke Van Giersbergen.

KLONE are:

Yann Ligner: Vocals
Guillaume Bernard: Guitar
Aldrick Guadagnino: Guitar
Florent Marcadet: Drums
Jean Etienne Maillard: Bass
Matthieu Metzger: Sax / Samples

For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/kloneband
https://www.twitter.com/KloneOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/kloneband

RADAR Festival has completed the line-up for its first ever edition with the announcement of six exciting masterclasses from some of the finest musicians in modern music.

Masterclasses include guitar showcases from Rabea Massaad (Toska, Dorje, Frogleap), Tosin Abasi (Animals As Leaders), a drum showcase from Matt Garstka (Animals As Leaders) and a live sound engineering event with Ronnie Young (Plini, Animals As Leaders).

Purchase masterclass tickets from: http://radarfestival.seetickets.com/

The news adds to a highly impressive debut year for the festival, held in Guildford's Corner House 2-3rd August. Two stages, no clashes, and all indoors.

Full line-up is as follows:

Friday, Stage 1

Monuments
Heart of a Coward
Secret act (*announced at time of performance)
Uneven Structure
Loathe
Harbinger
Unprocessed

Stage 2

Toska
Sumer
Eschar
Mask of Judas
Shattered Skies
Visionist
The Deadlights

Saturday, Stage 1

Animals as Leaders
Intervals
Agent Fresco
Rolo Tomassi
Car Bomb
Vola
Sithu Aye
Arcaeon

Stage 2

Modern Day Babylon
No Consequence*
Kadinja
Valis Ablaze
Kaguu
Cryptodira
Brink of Extinction
Gatvol

*back for one night only.

The nights continue after the final bands with the RADAR after parties: Power Nerd bring their synthwave metal hybrid, Wild Tales blast through their favourite TV themes, Stiff Bizkit provide their Limp Bizkit tribute, and special guest DJs spin their biggest singalong tunes until 3am.

Scottish technical death metal band GODEATER have announced an October tour supporting Harbinger across the UK.

Dates are as follows:

14.10 London New Cross Inn
15.10 Birmingham Wagon & Horses
16.10 Manchester Star & Garter
17.10 Dundee Beat Generator
18.10 Glasgow Classic Grand
19.10 Bradford Nightrain
20.10 Bournemouth The Anvil
21.10 Brighton The Pipeline

Guitarist Ross Beagan comments: "We’re extremely happy to be supporting Harbinger on their upcoming UK headline tour. We met Harbinger at our second ever show and we’ve kept in touch over the past few years. They have always been supportive of Godeater on a personal and professional level; so it’s great to finally be playing shows with them!"

The highly-regarded young band are gearing up to release their debut full-length, having already received attention from the likes of Metal Hammer on their debut EP. GODEATER's previous single 'Exsanguinated' has already passed 20,000 plays on Spotify and can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjeM-_vAsc

A highly potent blend of the likes of early Decapitated and recent Between The Buried And Me, the young band are already demonstrating an impressive originality. Precise to a point, the Scots paradoxically bring forth a sense of dazzling chaos.

More news on GODEATER's debut LP to follow shortly.

Canadian progressive metal act AURAS have streamed their new single 'The Demoness' ahead of their second LP Binary Garden, due 12th July 2019 via Entertainment One / Good Fight Music.

Watch the new single here: https://youtu.be/KE3delxPyzw

“‘The Demoness’ is one of the heavier songs off of Binary Garden," says guitarist Josh Ligaya. “The lyrics were written with a fictional sci-fi approach where I talk about Mother Nature letting go of herself as a person would. She’s tired of being mistreated by people and decides to stop taking care of herself; along with everyone who lives with her (human beings). Her toxic lifestyle of metaphorical substance abuse eventually leads to destroying humanity as a result.”

Pre-order Binary Garden here: https://ffm.to/binarygarden

AURAS will embark on a large batch of tour dates across North America in support of the new LP. The band will hit the road in July on a short run of headline dates before touring with Night Verses for ten dates, and then two weeks with Red Handed Denial.

AURAS' new album is the follow-up to Heliospectrum, their debut full-length. Heliospectrum was the inevitable culmination of years spent perfecting their sonic brew in basements, clubs, and rehearsals, honing a mix of unrelenting heaviness, complex riffs, and melodic ambiance.

As New Noise raved in their four-star review, “AURAS specializes in chaotic intensity married with passages of staggering beauty (and nice melodic touches strewn about).” Canada’s Exclaim! observed, “Heliospectrum is an indication that, in a genre overflowing with imitators, AURAS are capable of carving out a place that is firmly their own.” Metal Injection’s Nick Abela even included the album on his list of the Top 15 Albums of 2016.

Ottawa native Dean Hadjichristou (Parkway Drive, Protest The Hero) recorded Binary Garden, which was mixed by Jordan Valeriote (Silverstein, Counterparts, Structures). Nick Sampson (Of Mice & Men, We Came As Romans, Born Of Osiris) aided in pre-production as AURAS endeavored to crystallize their ambitious ideas.

AURAS continue to throw new curveballs, pulverising through tight musical corners with precision, filling their songs with rhythmic twitches and warped riffs that beckon listeners down a new rabbit hole with each rewarding repeated listening. It’s all imbued with a deep sense of connection to the audience and an emphasis on communication.

THE CONTORTIONIST have released new single / video 'Early Grave' and details of a new EP. Produced and directed by Corey Norman and produced and edited by vocalist Michael Lessard, this is the first music video and original song we’ve seen from the progressive group since the release of their Clairvoyant album in 2017.

Check out 'Early Grave' here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQ19k0L6_I

THE CONTORTIONIST will release new EP Our Bones on 9th August 2019 via Entertainment One / Good Fight Music. Crafted in the compound owned by producer/engineer John Douglass (Coheed & Cambria, Bad Wolves, Carnifex), where the guys were able to live and work, Our Bones began with some ideas Robby Bacawould regularly run through at the band’s soundchecks.

“Once I was finally able to get Robby to record that riff we started piecing together the song in the back of the van, while on tour in Europe,” Lessard recalls. The result was lead single 'Early Grave,' an expression of gratitude to the fans who’ve shared their stories of heartbreak, loneliness, and depression, and found new strength in the music of THE CONTORTIONIST.

The band’s blistering new EP sees THE CONTORTIONIST step outside the atmospheric storytelling of their critically-lauded conceptual masterpiece Clairvoyant (2017) to indulge an aggressive shadow side. More an anthology of standalone bursts of intensity, Our Bones isn’t a mere stopover between albums, it’s both a definitive look back and an ambitious leap forward.

“We try to do something different with everything we create,” explains Lessard. “With our albums, we tend to work with overarching interconnected themes. 'Our Bones' is a departure. It offered an opportunity to dive into some things we haven’t had a chance to explore, and the shorter EP format allowed us to be hyper-focused on each song.”

Our Bones was mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, Through The Eyes Of The Dead), who worked on Language and Clairvoyant.

While THE CONTORTIONIST ultimately have proven themselves masters of psychedelic-enhanced experimentation and trippy melodicism, endearing them to fans of later period Enslaved and Sigur Ros alike, they have never entirely forsaken the urgent impact of tech-leaning extremity.

“From The Beatles to Pink Floyd to Mastodon, all the great rock bands in history have clear, non-linear musical trajectories,” Metal Sucks observed. “It’s great to see a band taking chances and moving forward. The result is a fully formed band, four albums in, to which no other bands compare. Literally: no one else sounds like The Contortionist even a little.”

THE CONTORTIONIST have announced a run of European tour dates including appearances at ArcTanGent (UK), Summer Breeze (DE) and Brutal Assault (CZ) festivals. Azusa, featuring former members of Dillinger Escape Plan, will support on a number of the headline dates. This directly follows the band's summer North American tour with Between The Buried and Me.

Dates:

August 3 - Venice, Italy @ Argo 16*
August 4 - Milan, Italy @ Circolo Svolta*
August 6 - Wiesbaden, Germany @ Kesselhaus
August 7 - Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol
August 8 - Warsaw, Poland @ Hydrozagadka*
August 9 - Jaromer, Czech Republic @ Brutal Assault Festival
August 10 - Berlin, Germany @ Music & Frieden
August 11 - Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
August 13 - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Merelyn
August 14 - Cologne, Germany @ Club Volta
August 15 - Dinkelsbuhl, Germany @ Summer Breeze Festival
August 17 - Bristol, England @ Arctangent Festival
August 19 - Dublin, Ireland @ Voodoo Lounge*
August 20 - Belfast, UK @ Speakeasy*
August 22 - Leeds, England @ Brudenell Social Club

*=No Azusa

Pre-order / Save Our Bones here: https://ffm.to/ourbonesep

Track-listing:

1. Follow
2. Early Grave
3. All Grey
4. 1979