Tag: NWOBHM

THE WATCHER Joins Cruz Del Sur Music, New Album Due In 2024

Enrico

Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of Boston classic metal/doom outfit, THE WATCHER. The label will release the band’s first full-length in 2024.

THE WATCHER is the 2016 creation of guitarist/bassist Max Furst, who, after many years of playing darker and heavier styles of metal, wanted to write music that was more driving, epic and up-tempo. Furst embarked on finding the proper musicians, first landing on drummer Chris Spraker. The two promptly began work on the music that would become the “Your Turn To Die” EP.  But first, they needed to find a vocalist.

“After years of dead ends and countless ‘no’s,’ I was fortuitously introduced to Paden Reed in late 2020 through a mutual acquaintance,” says Furst. “Paden was the first person to come at the project with sincere enthusiasm, and in July 2020, he sent me a demo of what would become ‘Your Turn To Die.’ I was beyond floored by his delivery of the vocals and his interpretation of the music. I immediately knew we had something special, so we spent the next few months developing vocals for two additional songs from a 2017 instrumental demo. Paden then went into a studio to properly record the vocals; we then mixed and mastered the entire session.”

The “Your Turn To Die” EP finally saw the light of day in 2021. The wait for THE WATCHER was worth it — the EP was warmly received across the metal underground for its tight, immediate songwriting and timeless blend of BLACK SABBATH and NWOBHM. (To boot, all physical copies of “Your Turn To Die” are sold out!)

“The reception of the EP was incredible,” notes Furst. “Very exciting. After having had this project on a shelf for four years, it was so rewarding to have it out for people to hear finally. The positive response made the long uphill battle to get there feel worth it. It also helped actualize a path forward for the band. It inspired me to resume writing for the band and I became determined to compose a full-length album. I pretty much immediately buckled down and went to work with my guitar. The EP was released in April and by July of that year, I had already developed almost the entire album’s foundation.”

Furst says THE WATCHER is currently set to finish tracking the album this coming month with Sasha Stroud at Artifact Audio in New York City.

With new tracks on the way along with the promise of future live shows, joining the Cruz Del Sur Music roster is the logical next step for THE WATCHER.   

“Finding a label that felt right for the band was tricky,” says Furst. “I was fortunate enough to be put in touch with Cruz Del Sur through a mutual friend. Cruz Del Sur stood out to me because of the wide range of bands they release. While everything is squarely within the scope of the metal genre, each band has a distinct and unique quality about them. Above all, all of the folks at Cruz Del Sur seem incredibly passionate about the music they release. To me, that implies a true personal investment in what they do and that is the most important trait a label should have, in my opinion.”

https://thewatcherheavymetal.bandcamp.com/album/your-turn-to-die

https://www.instagram.com/the.watcher.heavy.metal/

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!”

CARDINALS FOLLY & LUCIFER’S FALL Bring The Doom Via A Split Release Due In March

Enrico

On March 22, Cruz Del Sur Music will pair Finland’s CARDINALS FOLLY and Australia’s LUCIFER’S FALL together for a split of monolithic proportions.

Formed in 2007 in Helsinki, CARDINALS FOLLY has four full-lengths to its credit, including their most recent effort, 2017’s “Deranged Pagan Sons”. Releasing the split on vinyl was their primary reason for signing with Cruz Del Sur, not to mention their affinity for the label’s previous output. CARDINALS FOLLY’s three-song contribution features songs that expand upon the undeniably heavy and dark feel found on “Deranged Pagan Sons”.

“This time it felt inspiring to create a smaller release of just three song with a singular theme that remains basically the same throughout the release,” says bassist/vocalist Count Karnstein. It also features the Nordic mysticism in our music. We’ve had it before on few songs of our catalogue, but this time, it was given priority which was the knot we used to tie it all together. So, in a way, it came naturally through some of the stuff you hear on ‘Deranged Pagan Sons’, especially the last songs of that album, but I don’t see it as a new direction, but rather feeding more influence from a certain side of our music that was always there, but not so much present before.”

One of the secrets to CARDINALS FOLLY’s sound is their ability to avoid the traditional trappings of doom metal. The Finns, who played major festivals like Doom Over Vienna and Doom & Bloom in addition to trekking over to America for an appearance at the Doomed And Stoned festival, aren’t interested in long, laborious songs, nor are they afraid to incorporate influences from other forms of metal, in particular black metal, which Count Karnstein cites as a spiritual influence.

“We rely on showmanship, catchy songs, fearlessness a and ride-or-die attitude,” he says. “I am merely following the path set out to me by the bands that I used to look up to as a very young man and that doesn’t just include legends from the genre known as doom metal, but also BATHORY, VENOM, MERCYFUL FATE, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST. NWOBHM is a very important influence in our riffs, even if we don’t play that fast. I’m doing heavy metal in a way I see as true, and that doesn’t just mean the music, but also how to perform it and carry it forward. And that’s all you need, in my opinion.”

Hailing from Adelaide, LUCIFER’s FALL was formed in 2013 and have been prolific ever since. The band has released two full-lengths in addition to numerous demos, singles and splits, and were brought to the attention of Cruz Del Sur by CARDINALS FOLLY’s Count Karnstein. The band’s most recent album is 2016’s “II: “Cursed & Damned”.

According to vocalist Deceiver, the three songs LUCIFER’s FALL provided for the split were born out of simple band rehearsals, reflecting the lively and dynamic sound. “Heavy metal is just as important to us as doom,” he says. “This release leans more to the metal than the doom. There’s nothing really that slow this time around. We didn’t think too much. We just wanted to write some simple aggressive, catchy headbanging tunes.

“‘Die Witch Die’ is an anti-stoner rock song written in a stoner rock language. ‘Call Of The Wild’ is about a beast/man who escapes his tormentor, wreaks havoc on the moors and also on his master. ‘The Gates Of Hell’ is about an escaped lunatic searching for the gates of hell in the nearby woods. He rides through the imaginary gates and then hangs himself in disappointment.”

The band’s split with CARDINALS FOLLY will be preceded by demo compilation that includes rehearsals and live recordings that is due this December. They have also started writing for their third full-length album, “III: From The Deep”.

CARDINALS FOLLY/LUCIFER’s FALL split release track listing:

CARDINALS FOLLY:

  1. Walvater Proclaimed
  2. Spiritual North
  3. Sworn Through Odin And Satan’s Blood

LUCIFER’s FALL:

  1. Die Witch Die
  2. Call Of The Wild
  3. The Gates Of Hell