Category: Cruz Del Sur Releases

THE WIZAR’D Signs With CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC; New Album ‘Subterranean Exile’ Due In April

Enrico

Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of Australian occult doom metallers THE WIZAR’D. The label will release the band’s new album, “Subterranean Exile” on April 24.

Formed in 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Ol’ Rusty, THE WIZAR’D quickly staked their claim as one of their country’s best representation of vintage doom in the vein of BLACK SABBATH, WITCHFINDER GENERAL, PAGAN ALTAR, SAINT VITUS and TROUBLE. A series of demos, singles and EPs would follow before the band’s first studio album, 2008’s “Infernal Wizardry”. Along the way, THE WIZAR’D (who are completed by second guitarist Master of the Night, bassist Blackie and drummer Maniac Frodsham) developed their own style while paying homage to the aforementioned bands. 2010’s “Pathways Into Darkness” and “Ancient Tome Of Arcane Knowledge” only generated further interest in THE WIZAR’D, with the band notching a prime slot at the 2010 installment of the Hammer Of Doom festival.

The new year will bring forth the band’s latest studio album, “Subterranean Exile”. Drum tracking started in January 2018 at The Green Room in Hobart; the rest of the album was tracked at Heavy Chains HQ and was completed in May 2019. However, as Ol’ Rusty explains, THE WIZAR’D wanted to make sure they were one-hundred percent satisfied with the results. “‘Subterranean Exile’ follows on from where ‘Ancient Tome’ left off, we are still conjuring the same kind of arcane metal magick as the previous two albums, but in a more refined and direct way,” he notes. “The production on the new album is also a big step up from anything we’ve done before, thanks to the lengthy recording and mixing process and also thanks to the mastering job from Patrick Engel.”

As for the band’s deal with Cruz Del Sur, ‘Ol Rusty explains that the band made a list of “cool” labels they wanted to work with. At the top was Cruz Del Sur and its sub-label, Gates Of HellRecords.

“Both have an impressive roster of bands and operate and present themselves in a cool, old-school manner which we think is important,” he says. “Gates Of Hell was impressed by the album but felt that it might be better suited to what their parent label Cruz Del Sur is releasing these days. We are very happy to be included with a roster of legendary bands like SLOUGH FEG!”

SMOULDER To Release ‘Dream Quest Ends’ EP In March

Enrico

Firebrand Canadian epic doomsters SMOULDER will release the “Dream Quest Ends” EP next March via Cruz Del Sur Music.
The follow-up to this year’s critically acclaimed “Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring” will feature two new songs, a cover of MANILLA ROAD’s “Cage Of Mirrors”, as well as all three cuts from the band’s debut 2018 “The Sword Woman” demo, including, for the first time on vinyl, their cover of NIGHTMARE’s “The Queen Is Gone”.

The Vinyl Edition will be available in 3 different colors (PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE):
– REGULAR BLACK VINYL (lmt 400) https://tinyurl.com/uzpfbay
– BONE VINYL (lmt 300) https://tinyurl.com/udmfg59
– NEON VIOLET (lmt 300) https://tinyurl.com/rqrszlr

– CD  https://tinyurl.com/uumccw4

“Dream Quest Ends” marks the end of a chapter for SMOULDER. The EP’s two original compositions, “Dream Quest Ends” and “Warrior Witch Of Hel”, was written by drummer Kevin Hester several years ago and accordingly were molded into a “more SMOULDER-esque” sound, complete with more lead guitars and choir-like vocal parts. Both serve as a milestone for SMOULDER — they are the last remaining songs from the band’s demo and “Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring” period.


“I don’t think these songs are what anyone will expect; we zigged instead of zagged,” notes singer Sarah Ann. “On a production front, we dialed it back a bit to make it sound more raw and unusual to match both the MANILLA ROAD track and the fact that a reprint of our demo is on the B-side of the vinyl. As for the A-side, what can we say? It’s unusual and both of the new tracks are slower. They are somewhat more bluesy and psychedelic within the context of power metal or epic doom, and I think that they fit very well alongside ‘Cage of Mirrors’.  

“In the title track, we do more experimentation with quiet acoustic parts, dueling vocals and top it off with a hugely epic triumphant end that sounds like a battering ram,” she continues. “The song lyrically revolves around a warrior sorceress who travels to an alien world to battle her titan nemesis in his sky castle, and Adam [Blake, bass] and I sing from the perspective of the titan and the sorceress to drive the epic-ness home. Meanwhile, ‘Warrior Witch of Hel’ starts out on this lurching, dark note with a repeating riff and lower register vocals. Once we get into the segments about the character — who is on a quest to free a castle full of slaves and cast the sorcerer presiding over it to Hel — it becomes much more upbeat and driving.”

The members of SMOULDER had been kicking the idea around to cover a MANILLA ROAD song ever since guitarist Collin Wolf and Hester joined the band. After leader MANILLA ROAD Mark Shelton’s untimely passing in July 2018, SMOULDER decided to move forward with a cover to honor his memory.

“‘Cage Of Mirrors’ is my absolute favorite track by the band and I’ve wanted to cover it for a long time so it was not a hard decision,” says guitarist Shon Vincent. “With its simple yet powerful structure, emotional vocal delivery and epic story-driven occult sword and sorcery lyrics, it was a perfect fit for us thematically. Sarah worked hard to match Mark’s wavering, unusual delivery, along with his growls, screams and laughs.”

The March release of “Dream Quest Ends” will coincide with the band’s appearance at the Up The Hammers and Horns Up festivals in Greece, as well as a spot at the Hell’s Heroes festival in Texas and Headbanger’s Open Air in Germany. After that, SMOULDER is going to give their collective creative batteries some time to recharge.

“We decided that we want to take some time on the next album rather than rush it out,” closes Sarah Ann. “All our favorite bands do things slow and steady, and we want to do the same to maintain quality.”

STYGIAN CROWN Feat. Ex-MORGION Member Joins CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC

Enrico

Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of Los Angeles doom metallers STYGIAN CROWN. The label will release the band’s self-titled debut in May 2020.

STYGIAN CROWN was formed in 2018 by former MORGION and current GRAVEHILL drummer Rhett Davis, who tapped his GRAVEHILL bandmates Nelson Miranda (guitar) and Jason Thomas (bass) to help launch the band. MORBID ECLIPSE guitarist Andy Hicks was the next to join, and with the help of longtime friend Bob Kassing, vocalist Melissa Pinion was discovered after Kassing (who has since sadly passed away) showed Davis a YouTube video of her singing a cover of IRON MAIDEN’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name”.

“Jason, Nelson and I have been doing GRAVEHILL for quite a while,” notes Davis. “The three of us had always wanted to do a band in this vein so we started writing music in between commitments for GRAVEHILL. The three of us are fans of Andy’s band, MORBID ECLIPSE, and invited him to sit in with us. His chemistry with Nelson — that Adrian Smith/Dave Murray type of chemistry — you can’t fabricate that. Personally, I admire guitarists who can mesh like that. Melissa also has quite a bit of music to contribute — more than we can keep up with.”

To date, STYGIAN CROWN has only the 2018 “Through Divine Rite” demo to their credit. The demo was initially tracked before Pinion joined the band, but once she laid down her vocals and the mixing and mastering process was complete, the three-song offering quickly started making the rounds in the doom community. It wasn’t too long before STYGIAN CROWN fell into the lap of a familiar face.

“We were initially contacted by Skol Records, but while discussing with [label owner] Bart Gabriel, he handed us over to Tom Phillips of WHILE HEAVEN WEPT to instead work with Cruz Del Sur. It was surreal to find ourselves working with Cruz Del Sur, as an old friend of mine Aesop Dekker (ex-AGALLOCH) recommended the label to me months previously. Just them, nobody else.”

STYGIAN CROWN is currently hard at work on their debut self-titled album. Drums will be tracked at Trench Studios (EXHUMED, HIRAX) with John Haddad. Guitars, bass and vocals will be tracked at Miranda’s home studio, and mixing and mastering will be handled by Mark Kelson of THE ETERNAL’s Kelsonic Studios in Australia.

As for what fans can expect, try this combination on for size:

“It’s a concoction we call ‘CANDLETHROWER,’” enthuses Davis. “We wanted to expand on the approach of bands like CANDLEMASS and BOLT THROWER — our new material combines both. Add Melissa’s vocals, some synth and it’s epic all the way!”