WHITE MAGICIAN Signs With Cruz Del Sur Music; New Album ‘Dealers Of Divinity’ Due This Fall

September 20, 2020September 20, 2020 Enrico

Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of Detroit, Michigan metallers White Magician.

The label will release the band’s first full-length, “Dealers Of Divinity”, on November 20.

“The deal with Cruz Del Sur is an excellent opportunity brought about by a decision to reach out to some larger record labels,” says the band’s consigliere, Victron Power El.

“The amount of time, care, sacrifice and effort invested in this latest piece of music deserved to reach a wider audience and my guess was when Cruz Del Sur heard the material their reaction was the same as mine when I first heard the band’s 2016 ‘The Pledge’ EP many years ago: Holy hell, this is what heavy metal rock and roll is all about!”.

Recorded over many nights and weekends between May 2018 and December 2019 in Lansing, Michigan by George “The Extortionist” Szegedy, “Dealers Of Divinity” is classic metal at its finest, defined by the band’s deft use of mystical twin guitar interplay and epic, ’70s-tinged song arrangements, which carefully bridge WHITE MAGICIAN’s vast influences, namely , BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, KING CRIMSON, ANGELWITCH, ASHBURY, MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND and YNGWIE J. MALMSTEEN, to name a few.

According to Victron Power El, Szegedy’s knowledge and expertise “pushed this recording to be better than ever possible before” due to his experience tracking more rock than metal bands. “This album is more everything that’s been hinted at in previous releases,” notes Victron Power El. “However, it is more developed, more precise, more over-the-top. The EP was a launching point, the rehearsal single was the bridge and the split were the rendezvous. Now it’s time for the extravaganza of magic and power. The majesty of rock and roll will compel you once the album is in your hands!

“One thing that stands out is the carefully planned and executed vocals in each song,” he continues. “Something that The Great Kaiser has always strived for finally coming to fruition the way he has envisioned. Another thing that comes to the forefront is the way the band really comes together to deliver a full proper sound — something that has improved with each release but becomes quite evident on ‘Dealers Of Divinity’. You can tell that time was taken and under the expert tutelage of George Szegedy, the WHITE MAGICIAN boys didn’t settle, but hit the tape till they got it right!”

WHITE MAGICIAN’s debut EP, “The Pledge”, was released in 2016 via Dystopian Dogs Records. The “Antipathy” single followed a year later. The band released a split with THE GREAT KAISER’s WHITE MAGICIAN (not to be confused with this WHITE MAGICIAN) and PRELUDE TO RUIN in 2018.

“Dealers Of Divinity” track listing:

1. Dealers of Divinity
2. Mad Magic II: In the Absence of Gods (Bad Magic)
3. Fading Into The Obscurity of Ages
4. In Memoriam; Love and Magic
5. Magia Nostra
6. Power of the Stone
7. Spectre of a Dying Flame

OLD MOTHER HELL:”Lord of Demise” to be released Oct 23

August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 Enrico1 Comment

Three years after the release of their self-titled album and countless gigs / festival appearances in between, OLD MOTHER HELL returns on October 23, 2020 with their second album “Lord of Demise”.

Not even COVID-19 was able to stop this amazing German band to start and complete the recordings of their sophomore album. And today we are pleased and extremely proud to present you the opening track “Betrayal At The Sea”.

Old Mother Hell took the unorthodox and now rarely-taken step of recording Lord of Demise live (at Rama Tonstudio in Mannheim with Jens Siefert, with additional vocal tracking taking place at Sculpt Sound Studios in Cologne with Laurent Teubl / Chapel of Disease), with all member in the same room at the same time.

In turn, the album sounds powerful and crisp, stacked with eight songs that embrace their classic metal roots.

The amazing cover artwork and layout was provided by Zenz-Art.

“Lord of Demise” will be available on Compact Disc, LP, Digital.
Pre-orders will start in 2 weeks. Stay Tuned!

SPELLBOOK to release “Magick & Mischief” album in Spetember

July 15, 2020July 15, 2020 Enrico

SPELLBOOK – “Magick & Mischief”
RELEASE DATE: SEPT 25, 2020
FORMAT: CD / LP / DIGITAL
PRE-ORDER:
CD: https://tinyurl.com/y8jblwc9
LP: https://tinyurl.com/yaawkc4o

Vintage, adventurous proto-metal that taps into the deep well of ’70s rock!

Formerly known as Witch Hazel, SpellBook marries Black Sabbath, Pentagram and progressive rock for seven songs of entrancing classic metal!

During the writing process for what would eventually become Magick & Mischief, the members of York, Pennsylvania vintage proto-metal purveyors Witch Hazel realized there was no better time than the present to change their name. The idea had long rested on their mind, but the risks in changing a band’s name are numerous, if not painfully obvious. After all, since their 2007 formation, Witch Hazel independently released three studio albums, Forsaken Remedies (2012), Nocturnity (2015) and Otherwordly (2018), and had already generated buzz in the doom metal underground. But, with the confidence that the material they created for Magick & Mischief was the strongest of their career, Witch Hazel reached back into their past for the song “The Spellbook” from Forsaken Remedies and rebranded themselves SpellBook. Soon, a deal with Cruz Del Sur Music was signed, and the band started a new chapter that begins with the release of Magick & Mischief.

Recorded in May 2019 at Developing Nations with Kevin Bernsten, Magick & Mischief is the embodiment of a band going further than before, honing in on their obvious strengths as songwriters while exploring new territory in the sprawling classic metal and vintage heavy rock landscape. SpellBook, who feature vocalist Nate Tyson, drummer Nicholas Zinn, guitarist Andy Craven and bassist Seibert Lowe, followed a fairly simple approach when writing the album: There is no formula. There are no rules. Write what feels good. The best songs win. As a result, Magick & Mischief is a varied, adventurous body of work, reeling in Iron Maiden and proto-metal vibes on “Wands to the Sky” and “Ominous Skies,” an epic concept piece in the form of “Dead Detectives,” which appropriately recalls Alice Cooper at his theatrical peak, along with regular crowd-pleaser “Amulet,” which the band honed in the live arena before committing it to tape. Elsewhere, doom, acoustic guitars and sterling lead vocal work from Tyson are interwoven with ease, all the while staying true to SpellBook’s impeccable list of influences of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss and Pentagram.

The album artwork was created by Chad Keith, who dutifully melded each of Magick & Mischief’s songs in visual form to comprise the cover. It’s a fitting representation of an album that puts a fresh twist on a classic style.

Magick & Mischief track listing: