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!
Like the
rest of the metal contemporaries, Germany’s OLD MOTHER HELL is patiently
waiting to resume live activity and work on their next studio album. The band
is currently taking part in Germany’s country-wide lockdown to control the
spread of the Coronavirus, but that hasn’t stopped them from unearthing their
brilliant live set from the 2018 Hammer of Doom festival. The show was a
critical turning point for the band — it was the second show for drummer Michael
Frölich, who went from being a temporary replacement to a full-time member —
and captures OLD MOTHER HELL in their pure metal power trio glory.
“The Hammer of Doom show still is something very special for
us,” says guitarist/vocalist Bernd Wener. “We were invited just two weeks
before because some other band had to cancel and were at least as excited as
with the Hell Over Hammaburg invitation some month prior.
“It was just our second show with Michael as a
replacement drummer and we never played in front of such a big audience before,
so we were pretty nervous. So nervous indeed, that the first song of the set, ‘Another
War’, is missing because I forgot to switch on our camera. From song to
song there were more people gathering in front of the stage and more and
more fists were raised into the air. What a view, what a feeling. We were
overwhelmed by the energy and the positive reactions.
“After the show,
Michi decided to join the band. Finally having a full line-up again, we
instantly decided to work on a new album and made a rough schedule. Of
course, we may have to postpone this due to the current situation, but we keep
evaluating the situation daily.
“We cannot meet up
to rehearse or stream live, so we decided to at least upload this very special
show as a whole. Enjoy, and stay healthy!”
Cruz Del Sur Music re-released OLD MOTHER HELL’s self-titled debut album in 2018.
The band has been assembling new material for a release sometime in the near
feature.
Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of New York City’s own TOWER.
The label will release the band’s sophomore full-length in mid-2020.
Formed in 2015, TOWER plays a brand of classic, traditional metal
inspired by legends such as JUDAS PRIEST and SCORPIONS, further
propelled by the imitable, almost Pat Benatar-esque vocals of Sarabeth Linden.
To date, TOWER has one studio album to their credit, 2016’s self-titled,
as well as this year’s “Tomorrow & Yesterday” EP.
Shortly after the release of the video for “Run
For My Life”, multiple record companies came calling for TOWER,
including Cruz Del Sur. What sealed the deal for TOWER and Cruz
Del Sur, though, was the good word put in by some of the label’s existing
bands.
“We’re close
friends with Nate Honor and Jim Hunter, whose bands SANHEDRIN and
TWISTED TOWER DIRE are/were on Cruz
Del Sur,” says guitarist James Danzo. “We heard so many good things
about Cruz that it was pretty clear
from the beginning which route we should take. In the few years we’ve been a band, we’ve learned not to rush
into things and to be very deliberate,
but we know we made the right choice!”
Danzo describes the first four years of TOWER’s
existence as a “real wild ride,” with the band (who is rounded out by second
guitarist Zak Penley, bassist Jeff Filmer and drummer Claire
Vastola) going from formation to the demo stage, to playing shows, then
scoring their first record deal for the release of their self-titled album. “In
this crazy world of ours
not everything is ice cream sundaes and cherries on top — we’ve been through some changes with lineups and labels when
it became clear we had different goals in mind. We
look back with pride on our debut album
and especially the new EP. It’s been a huge boost in morale and poured gasoline on the fire inside us!”
The origins of TOWER date back to
when Linden and Danzo were playing in THE PSYCHO HIPPIES,
a group that primarily played ’50s, ’60s and ’70s pop covers, along with some RAMONES
songs to boot. Because of her experience playing such music, Linden
brings a unique brand of soul and style to metal, with Danzo noting she
even sang at the legendary Apollo Theater as a teenager. Fret not true metal
believers: Linden’s vocal idol happens to be Ronnie James Dio,
further rounding out a band who is equal in music and image.
“Metal bands love to say, ‘we hate image!’”
notes Danzo, “but truth be told, we have a vision and are very protective of it. It’s important
to us to come across as real, first and
foremost. Everyone in the band has a unique style and persona and we aren’t about to mess with it. We try to avoid
clichés when it comes to album covers, too — so
far photographs have worked, they’re just
classic and real. We’re just here to kick some ass and I think that comes across clear as day.”
TOWER will fill up the rest of 2019 with occasional live duty,
but the priority remains to get ready for their forthcoming second studio
album. Danzo says “lack of material has never been a problem” for TOWER:
The band has three songs leftover from the “Tomorrow & Yesterday”
session, as well as another cut that has already been aired live.
“Unlike the last two releases which took forever
in spaced-out sessions from weekend to
weekend, we plan on blocking out 7-10 days of studio time and doing it as a
concise and complete project like a band
would do in the old days. Onward and upward!”
