Category: Cruz Del Sur Releases

MAUSOLEUM GATE To Introduce New Singer On ‘The Demon Age Of Aquarius’ 7-Inch

Enrico

MAUSOLEUM GATE’s past meets their future on “The Demon Age Of Aquarius” seven-inch, which is due for release on early April via Cruz Del Sur Music. Featuring artwork from the unofficial seventh member of the band, Timo Raita, and recorded at Semistimiinuksella Studios in Kuopio, Finland, “The Demon Age Of Aquarius” marks the final MAUSOLEUM GATE release for long-time vocalist V-P Varpula, but also introduces new singer Jarno Saarinen and guitarist Jari Kourunen.

Due to his commitments at Austria’s Opera House Graz, Varpula departed MAUSOLEUM GATE last May. Saarinen was quickly tapped as his replacement and makes his presence known on the seven-inch’s title track. However, in an almost unprecedented move, Varpula gets a proper send-off on the seven-inch’s other cut, “Before The Snake Sneaked In”.

“When we found out V-P’s commitments in Austria would prevent him from continuing in MAUSOLEUM GATE, we immediately got to work in finding a new vocalist,” says guitarist Count L.F. “V-P played his last show with us in June, we added Jarno and Jari after that and spent most of the summer and autumn working them into our lineup. From this, we came up with ‘The Demon Age Of Aquarius’, which was one of the new tracks we worked on.”

The two songs here showcase how multi-faceted MAUSOLEUM GATE has become. While they’re still rooted firmly in traditional metal and ’70s proto-rock, the band is also able to take some risks. “‘The Demon Age Of Aquarius’ is a heavy and groovy SABBATH/old JUDAS PRIEST-type of song,” says Count L.F. “The song is heavier than anything we did on ‘Into A Dark Divinity’, with the possible exception of ‘Apophis’. The lyrics are apocalyptic and demonic — very typical for MAUSOLEUM GATE. Despite the fact that there are new members, it still sounds like MAUSOLEUM GATE. Jari plays a solo here, so he was thrown to the wolves from the start!

“‘Before The Snake Sneaked In’ is an unusually bluesy tune for us,” he continues. “There’s a bit of ZEPPELIN in there and some funky ’70’s stuff, maybe. This is a song that has been with us from the very beginning — our very first lineup played it years back. The lyrics deal loosely with gnostic interpretation of the creation, but more importantly, we see it as a ‘goodbye’ from the old lineup.”

MAUSOLEUM GATE, as is their tradition, has always issued a stop-gap seven-inch between proper studio albums. With Saarinen and Kourunen getting themselves acclimated, there is no better time than now, especially with some live shows on the horizon.

“We have our first gig with the new lineup in late March at Heavy Metal Nights in Helsinki if all goes as planned,” concludes Count L.F. “We’re going to do some more gigs with the new lineup, which will help get the wheels rolling as we start to think about a new album. A lot of exciting things are ahead for MAUSOLEUM GATE!”

“The Demon Age Of Aquarius” track listing:

  1. The Demon Age Of Aquarius
  2. Before The Snake Sneaked In

SMOULDER Inks Deal With Cruz Del Sur Music; ‘Times Of Obscene Evil And Wild Daring’ Due In April

Enrico


Firebrand Canadian epic doomsters SMOULDER has signed with Cruz Del Sur Music for the release of their first full-length, “Times Of Obscene Evil And Wild Daring”. Set for release on April 26, the album was recorded throughout 2018 at Chicago’s Swift Road Studios and Toronto’s Lincoln County Social Club. Mixing and mastering was handled by Arthur Rizk (ETERNAL CHAMPION, SUMERLANDS), with artwork from iconic fantasy painter Michael Whelan (CIRITH UNGOL).

 

Buoyed by the positive response to their debut 2018 demo, “The Sword Woman”, the members of SMOULDER and Cruz Del Sur label head Enrico Leccese cemented their partnership at last year’s instalment of Germany’s Hammer Of Doom festival. “Enrico reached out to us prior to our performance and stated he was interested in chatting with us at the show,” says frontwoman Sarah Ann. “We’re all big fans of the label, so it was nerve-racking and exciting to be heading to our fourth gig ever (at a festival in Germany, no less!) and have the interest of a label who has released excellent albums by GATEKEEPER, SLOUGH FEG, ATLANTEAN KODEX, MAGISTER TEMPLI, LUNAR SHADOW and QUICKSAND DREAM, just to name a few. It’s a great fit. We are honored to be on a label that has so many mythic-leaning bands, particularly because I own a good 20 releases by the label and listen to them frequently!”

Originally formed in 2013, SMOULDER (who are rounded out by guitarists Shon Vincent and Collin Wolf, bassist Adam Blake and drummer Kevin Hester) had the smallest of expectations upon the release of “The Sword Woman”. Released by Hoove Child Records on a limited run of 100 copies, the demo quickly sold-out, prompting the band and label to push the run to 150 — which sold out just as quickly. Soon, the label had no choice but to press a 300 run of the demo to vinyl.

“All this has pushed SMOULDER from our initially very slow-moving state to one that’s interested in getting things done,” says the band, who operates remotely with two members in Illinois. “In the past year, our spread-out weirdos has performed multiple times, written and recorded a full-length and played alongside COVEN, HALLAS and WHILE HEAVEN WEPT in Germany. It’s been pretty fun getting together exclusively to write, perform and play to people who dig power doom about swords and magic!”

The “Times Of Obscene Evil And Wild Daring” album title was inspired by the Michael Moorcock short story “The Greater Conqueror”. “While our lyrics run the gamut of fantasy and touch on stories by authors like Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, George R.R Martin, C.L Moore and others, they are also injected with personal themes and interpretations,” notes Sarah. “Fantasy is often derided for being mindless by the uninitiated and it’s quite striking as the story themes are generally much deeper. They run the gamut and are frequently embedded with humanism, spiritualism, philosophy, globalism and the importance of fortitude, empathy, duty and responsibility. These stories can be incredibly empowering.”

 

Sonically, “Times Of Obscene Evil” finds SMOULDER spreading its wings to incorporate more diversity on the guitar and vocal front: “There’s more doom, more power, more eldritch magic, better production and more songs about killing with swords and flaming battle axes,” enthuses Sarah.

With a stacked schedule that not only includes the release of “Times Of Obscene Evil And Wild Daring”, but also live appearances with CIRITH UNGOL, LIEGE LORD, BITCH, SAVAGE MASTER and SIREN HEX, among others, the members of SMOULDER are pragmatic about their standing within the ultra-competitive underground metal scene.

“We all write music that we want to hear,” closes Sarah. “There are other bands who are doing the same things that we love and we’re happy to be part of a broader movement of traditional metal that’s producing some absolutely killer stuff.”

“Times Of Obscene Evil And Wild Daring” track listing:

 

  1. Ilian Of Garathorm
  2. The Swordwoman
  3. Bastard Steel
  4. Voyage Of The Sunchaser
  5. Shadowy Sisterhood
  6. The Black God’s Kiss

RAVENSIRE Enters Studio To Record Third Full-Length, ‘A Stone Engraved In Red’

Enrico

Portuguese heavy metal battalion RAVENSIRE has entered Studio 13 in Lisbon to begin work on their third full-length album, “A Stone Engraved In Red”. The album will be engineered once again by Paulo ‘Paulão’ Vieira and is due next summer via Cruz Del Sur Music.

The follow-up to 2016’s “The Cycle Never Ends” will be the first to feature new members Mário (guitar) and Alex (drums), both of whom took part in live activity that saw RAVENSIRE take their brand of traditional metal into Europe. According to founding guitarist Nuno, “A Stone Engraved In Red” will feature all the trademarks of RAVENSIRE’s sound, but with some new twists.
“We have started exploring a bit more when it comes to developing musical themes inside a song,” he says. “We have a couple of longer — even by our standards — songs, with plenty of changes in moods and tempo. The material is quite diverse and, personally, it is always a good sign when you listen to your own stuff and enjoy it!
“The songwriting remained the same for us,” he continues. “Someone will come up with a skeleton for a song more or less finished, and then we work it up as a whole band and everyone adds their part. There is one song, however, that was co-written by me and Mário. He did come up with an initial idea and then I added other parts and we created a structure. But, that was the exception to the norm!”
Nuno confirms song titles such as “Carnage at Karnag”, “Gabriel Lies Sleeping” and “The Games Of Titus” and their own tribute to recently-deceased MANILLA ROAD leader Mark Shelton, “After The Battle”. “Mark gave so much to the scene, so we felt it was right to dedicate this song to him. In addition, we have another tribute called ‘Dawning In Darkness’, which is dedicated to Hartmuth ‘Barbarian Wrath’ Schindler who had a terrible misfortune in the hospital and has been in a coma for more than a year. We want to pay our deepest respect and friendship to both of them.”

Like previous RAVENSIRE efforts, the album artwork for “A Stone Engraved In Red” will be in black and white, although Nuno admits there may be a surprise within the cover. As such, Nuno says the title of the album has a deeper meaning for the band: “It’s a statement that no matter what we do, we want it to be rock solid and stand the test of time, just like the epitaphs of old.”