Category: Cruz Del Sur Releases

LUNAR SHADOW To Release Highly Anticipated Third Album, ‘Wish To Leave’, in March. Repressing of debut album “Far From Light” available in February.

Enrico

German metallers LUNAR SHADOW will release their third studio album, “Wish To Leave” on March 19 via Cruz Del Sur Music.

“Wish To Leave” marks a change in direction for LUNAR SHADOW — after two well-received albums of heavy metal-meets-Scandinavian black metal, founder, guitarist and songwriter Max Birbaum had other, more experimental things in mind, namely, taking the band into indie/post-punk territory:

“It certainly sounds different and I suppose many people won’t like it,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to the release; a little controversy in difficult times might just be what everyone needs right now.

“The guitars are taken back a little this time, the gain on our amps is lower, the bass is more prominent. No fast shredding, no wild riffing. But our pants are still tighter than they should be and our boots are pointy — it’s a good album to have a drink to and forget about your problems. Or make them worse… that depends.”

The follow-up to 2019’s “The Smokeless Fires” was recorded from July to November 2020 in Leipzig under the careful eye of engineer/producer Max Herrmann; V. Santura of DARK FORTRESS and TRIPTYKON fame is responsible for mastering. The artwork was created by renowned Russian artist Denis Forkas Kostromitin.

Birbaum previously announced plans to cease all LUNAR SHADOW live activities after their now-postponed appearance at the 2020 Party.San Open Air festival.

“Wish To Leave” track listing

  1. Serpents Die
  2. Delomelanicon
  3. I Will Lose You
  4. To Dusk And I Love You
  5. And Silenced Screamed
  6. The Darkness Between The Stars

At the same time, Lunar Shadow and Cruz Del Sur Music decided to repress the long-sold out debut full length of the band in February. “Far From Light” repressing will be available in BLACK VINYL, LMT 400 copies, INSERT & DOWNLOAD CODE.

Pre-order: https://tinyurl.com/y373lt6v – available on Feb 15, 2021.

CORONARY “Sinbad” to be released on Feb 19, 2021

Enrico

Raise your fist and bang your head — the golden age of metal lives on through Coronary!  

“Coronary refuse to reinvent the heavy metal wheel.” This quote — attributed to Metal Crypt — appropriately sums up everything this Finnish quintet stands for. While there are still some who balk at the idea that metal should have both of its feet firmly planted in its glory years, there is a growing consensus that this was the time when metal was at its best. Without all of the mindless, if not grating sub-genre tags that exist today, 1980s heavy metal was pure, raging, and, most of all, fun. Coronary recaptures those elements and more on their first full-length album and initial release for Cruz Del Sur Music, Sinbad.

Coronary came together in 2017 when guitarist Aku Kytölä and drummer Pate Vuorio happened to be browsing in the same second-hand vinyl section at a Tampere flea market. The two instantly struck up a connection over their shared love of music and over time, started making plans to form a band of their own. The band was soon rounded out by Korpiklaani bassist Jarkko Aaltonen, second guitarist Jukka Holm and vocalist Olli Kärki, and got to work on writing original material. The freshly-branded Coronary promptly issued Demo 2018, an effort so promising that Gates of Hell Records paired the band with emerging Canada metallers Traveler for a highly-regarded split release the same year.

Recorded at Headline Studio in Tampere under the guidance of producer/engineer Jari Latomaa, Sinbad picks up where Coronary left off their debut demo. Fans were treated to a handful of sneak previews earlier in 2020 with songs such as “I Can Feel This Love,” “The Hammer” and “Reflector,” but taken as a whole, Sinbad is a consummate pure metal album complete with an array of scorching guitar leads, fiery lead vocals courtesy of Kärki and memorable compositions. The Sinbad album title is a reference to Sinbad the Sailor, the fictional traveler and his amazing journeys. But, look further and it’s also an amalgamation of the words “sin” and “bad,” both of which, in Coronary’s estimation, are “perfectly suitable life goals.”

Sinbad track listing:
01. Sinbad
02. Firewings
03. The Hammer
04. Bullet Train
05. I Can Feel This Love
06. Reflector
07. Burnout

German Epic Doom Metallers WHEEL Join Cruz Del Sur Music; New Album Due In April

Enrico

Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of Dortmund, Germany doom metallers WHEEL. The label will release the band’s long-awaited third studio album, “Preserved In Time” this April.

“Cruz Del Sur was candidate number one for me when we were looking for a new label home simply because I buy a lot of records from them,” says guitarist Ben Homberger. “Every time I see an advertisement of them in ‘Deaf Forever’ magazine I most often buy their releases blind. So, I approached Cruz Del Sur A&R/WHILE HEAVEN WEPT leader, Tom Phillips. I sent him the new album, he liked it, talked to Cruz Del Sur owner, Enrico and here we are.”

“Preserved In Time” was recorded by Homberger in the band’s rehearsal room save for two vocal sessions at a friend’s house. Tracking WHEEL this way was of crucial importance for the guitarist: He wanted real drums and real guitars; no “plug-ins” or “cheating,” meaning, he wanted to capture the spirit of the band’s performances without relying on technology. Due to the global pandemic, the album was tracked in various sessions starting in autumn 2019 to summer 2020 with it finally ending up in the hands of Dennis Koehne for mixing and mastering. Koehne had worked with WHEEL on their cover of ROKY ERICKSON’s “Night Of The Vampire,” which was found on their 2010 debut self-titled album.

WHEEL — who are rounded out by vocalist Arkadius Kurek, bassist Marcus Grabowski and drummer Carsten Jercke — was founded in 2009. The band issued a demo that year, then WHEEL released their self-titled debut a year later via Eyes Like Snow. “Icarus” would follow in 2013, then the “Live At The Hammer Of Doom 2013” live album arrived in 2014.

According to Homberger, the delay between studio albums can be attributed to the band losing their rehearsal space and real-life events such as parenthood. However, this long gestation period gave the members of WHEEL the opportunity to fine-tune what is arguably the finest and most epic set of songs to date.

“It’s more metal and more focused,” notes Homberger. “On ‘Icarus’, we had a lot of different influences mixed in the sound, like 70s prog and stuff like that. Also, the songs on the new album focus more on good structure and catchy choruses. The sound is a lot heavier and better than last time since I gained a lot of experience in recording and Dennis was the perfect match to work on the mixing and mastering. It was the first time we did proper vocal editing — so it sounds a lot more professional this time.”

Heading into 2021, WHEEL — like the rest of the general population — is waiting to find out whether a vaccine will slow the global pandemic. If it does, it’s very likely WHEEL will bringing their doom wares to audiences across Europe.

“We likely wouldn’t tour due to our day jobs and families, so weekend shows and festivals are the goal,” closes Homberger. “One of my personal goals is to play the Roadburn festival in the Netherlands. It’s one of the most relaxed festivals I know and it’s in such a beautiful city.”

“Preserved In Time” track listing:

1. At Night They Came Upon Us

2. When the Shadow Takes You Over

3. After All

4. She Left In Silence

5. Aeon Of Darkness

6. Hero Of The Weak

7. Daedalus

Related links:
https://www.facebook.com/Wheeldoom

https://wheeldoom.bandcamp.com/