Tag: LUNAR SHADOW

LUNAR SHADOW’s “Wish To Leave”: listen to “Serpents Die”, pre-orders open!

Enrico

A new, bold frontier from one of Germany’s most intriguing acts!

RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2021

CD PRE-ORDER

LP (BLACK VINYL, INSERT & DOWNLOAD CODE) PRE-ORDER

Wish to Leave 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 mastered the album. The six songs found herein are interwoven with melody and darkness with stripped-down guitars and greater emphasis on vocals as well as the rhythmic aspects of Lunar Shadow, who are completed by vocalist Robert Röttig, second guitarist K. Hamacher, bassist S. Hamacher and drummer J. Zehner. It is an album sure to intrigue and puzzle — while several Lunar Shadow sonic trademarks remain in place, Wish to Leave represents a new direction sound borne out of artistic restlessness and ceaseless creativity from Birbaum.

The Wish to Leave album title is an abstract token of escapism. It describes the vague longing Birbaum sometimes has — a wish to leave everything behind him, namely, love and friendship. It is an all-encompassing title, tying together Birbaum’s idea that Wish to Leave is Lunar Shadow’s “big city album.” Indeed, a lot of the lyrics were inspired by Birbaum’s late-night walks home in Leipzig — dark alleys, concrete, the sound of boots clicking against the sidewalk, the gutter, dirt and broken glass all served as the backdrop for his lyrical ideas. Like The Smokeless Fires, Wish to Leave explores themes of love and the complexity of relationships. Acclaimed author Robert E. Howard is again used as inspiration — his stories The Screaming Skull of Silence and The Striking of the Gong served as the lyrical foundation for “And Silence Screamed.”

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.

TERMINUS Signs With Cruz Del Sur Music; New Album ‘A Single Point Of Light’ Due This November

Enrico

Irish epic metallers TERMINUS have signed with Cruz Del Sur Music for the release of their second studio album, “A Single Point Of Light”. Recorded at the home studio of instrumentalist David Gillespie and mixed and mastered by Richard Whittaker (SOLSTICE), the album will see the light of day this November. The artwork was created by Anaïs Mulgrew.

The TERMINUS/Cruz Del Sur relationship stretches back to 2013 when both parties were tossing around the idea of releasing the band’s “The Reaper’s Spiral” debut. While the idea didn’t come to fruition then, there is no better time than the present — Gillespie says Cruz Del Sur is a “natural fit” for TERMINUS since their friends in RAVENSIRE, ARGUS, LETHEAN, GATEKEEPER and LUNAR SHADOW already call the label home. 

TERMINUS ceased to be a live entity in late 2017 after triumphant appearances at Keep It True, Up The Hammers, Pyrennean Warriors Open Air and Ultimate Revenge in Helsinki, enabling the band (now a two-piece featuring vocalist James Beattie and Gillespie on instruments) enough time to focus on new material. According to Gillespie, the goal with “A Single Point Of Light” was to “evolve enough so that a second album was not a redundant exercise while still remaining true to our core sound.”

“As the principal songwriter, it was self-imposed pressure to prove — to myself — that I wasn’t a one-off and that I could write another record of equal or superior quality,” he continues. “Hence, we did not simply poop out an album in 18 months, but took our time.”

Like its predecessor, “A Single Point Of Light” is a deep dive into the realms of epic and progressive metal, with bountiful guitar harmonies, complex song arrangements and the controlled, but emotive delivery of Beattie. It results in an album that is a comfortable step forward for TERMINUS while not reneging on the core tenets that initially brought the band together in 2012.

“The obvious thing is that we haven’t turned into a Sisters Of Mercy tribute band or anything silly like that,” says Gillespie. “The new album is in the same vein and we have retained our ethos — which seems to have become strikingly popular of late — that the album should fit on one side of a 90-minute tape and should split evenly and sympathetically across both sides of a 12-inch LP. Some elements of the sound have been dropped, some have been focused on and there are a few new textures in there to keep things fresh.”

“A Single Point Of Light” again finds TERMINUS exploring lyrical themes off the traditional heavy metal path. Instead, the band continues their approach of interpreting classic science-fiction tales alongside stories of their own telling.

“We have always been antithetical to the rest of the subgenre, lyrically,” wraps Gillespie. “Our songs are not about heroes and their deeds. They’re about cowards, deviants, deceivers — the scum of the universe, really. There are no heroics and no victories to be found in our world.”

“A Single Point Of Light” track listing:

  1. To Ash, To Dust
  2. Harvest
  3. As Through A Child’s Eyes
  4. Flesh Falls From Steel
  5. Mhira, Tell Me The Nature Of Your Existence
  6. Cry Havoc
  7. Spinning Webs, Catching Dreams