SAINT VITUS To Release 'Blessed Night' 7˝ Single

SAINT VITUS will release a seven-inch single featuring "Blessed Night", a track from "Lillie: F-65". The B-side is a live version of classic VITUS tune "Look Behind You", recorded in December 2010 at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland.

The "Blessed Night" seven-inch single is limited to 1,000 hand-numbered copies. Pre-order it at this location.

SODOM To Record New Album In May

German thrash metal veterans SODOM are currently writing material for their next studio album, which they plan to record in May. A tentative late summer release is expected, to be followed by a celebration of the band's 30th anniversary.

AURA NOIR: 'Out To Die' Track Revealed

Norway's blackened thrashers AURA NOIR will unleash their fifth studio ablum, "Out To Die", on March 23 in Europe and March 27 in North America via Indie Recordings.

Speaking to Terrorizer magazine shortly after a recent listening session in Oslo, AURA NOIR guitarist/vocalist Aggressor stated about the band's new CD, "It feels right. That's all I can say really. I'm not sitting here digging it; it's more like I'm content with having the finished product there, and now we can go play live. Because I think our music comes into its element when we're playing live. For me, a new album is like, 'Okay, we have more songs to play live now.'"

"Out To Die" marks the return of guitarist Rune Eriksen (a.k.a. ex-MAYHEM guitarist/songwriter Blasphemer). Eriksen made several trips back to Norway to work on the new AURA NOIR songs with Aggressor and Apollyon (guitar, bass, vocals, drums; also bassist in IMMORTAL).

"I wish we were all living in the same apartment and rehearsing every day, all three of us together, but obviously that's not possible because we have our private lives and everything," Aggressor told Terrorizer. "But it brought about some new ways of working, and it actually worked out okay in the end."

"Out To Die" track listing:

01. Trenches
02. Fed To The Flames
03. Abbadon
04. The Grin From The Gallows
05. Withheld
06. Priest's Hellish Fiend
07. Deathwish
08. Out To Die

MPIRE OF EVIL To unleash 'Hell To The Holy' In March

MPIRE OF EVIL (formerly PRIMEVIL) will release its full-length debut, "Hell To The Holy", on March 26 via Scarlet Records.


Produced by Mantas and featuring stunning cover artwork by Gyula Havancsák (ANNIHILATOR, DESTRUCTION, GRAVE DIGGER), "Hell To The Holy" is without any doubts a "must have" album for  all the fans of Venom. 


A North American tour with British thrash legends ONSLAUGHT has already been confirmed but many more dates will follow soon. 


Despite having played on the album, drummer Antony "Antton" Lant (ex-VENOM) has since left the band for personal reasons but a replacement for the tour will be announced soon. 


"Hell To The Holy" track listing:


01. Hellspawn
02. Metal Messiah
03. Waking Up Dead
04. Hell To The Holy
05. Snake Pit
06. All Hail
07. Devil
08. Shockwave
09. The 8th Gate
10. M-pire (Prelude) 

MIDNIGHT INTERVIEW 2011

Infernal Hails Athenar, finally the first Midnight full leght is out, are there any particular reasons you make us wait so much long?
IT'S ALL ABOUT TIMING AND WHEN I JUST FEEL LIKE DOING SOMETHING.

How did you get the band started? 
I STARTED IT BECAUSE I HATED BEING IN BANDS SO I JUST MADE UP THE SONGS AND RECORDED THEM MYSELF. I STILL HATE BEING IN BANDS!

I must say that the sound and the production of Satanic Royalty it`s really great, how much time took to write and record all the stuff? 
NOT LONG AT ALL. ABOUT A WEEK FOR THE MUSIC, ABOUT 2 WEEKS FOR THE LYRICS AND 3 DAYS TO RECORD AND MIX. I DON'T LIKE TAKING TOO LONG FOR SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE NATURAL SOUNDING.

I saw that the CD version contains a bonus DVD. What kind of blasphemies can we expect? 
IT'S SOME LIVE GARBAGE AND A STUPID FUCKING COMMENTS BY MYSELF AND LORD ZIGAR WHILE SITTING ON MY COUCH LISTENING TO TESLA LIKE IN CLIFF EM ALL.

In April this year you split up with your previous label Nuclear War Now. Is there any specific reason or simply Hellsheadbangers offer you better conditions?
HELLSHEADBANGERS IS MUCH CLOSER TO MY HOME AND THEY JUST WOULD KEEP THINGS IN PRINT. NWN DID A GREAT JOB WITH ALL THE OTHER MIDNIGHT RELEASES THOUGH.

Your stuff it`s long time sold out. Do you plan to repress some of your cult releases on Hellsheadbanger? 
YES. BUT NOT THE DEMO BONUS TRACKS THAT WERE ON SIDE 4 OF COMPLETE AND TOTAL MIDNIGHT.

Who Is The main Artist behind your albums covers and is there any meaning behind them? 
THE GUY WHO DID THE NEW COVER IS A FRIEND FROM NYC NAMED WILLIAM LACEY. I'M SURE THERE'S SOME KINDA MEANING BEHIND IT BUY I DIDN'T DRAW IT SO WHO KNOWS?

Do you plan any tour to promote Satanic Royalty? 
YEAH WE'D LOVE TO DO SOME EURO GIGZ AND PLAY PLACES WE'VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE.

Tell me something about the japanese benefit split with Toxic Holocaust, how did you come up with this idea?

FOR ME I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING BECAUSE WE JUST GOT BACK FROM JAPAN AND HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME, EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN THE GIGS WERE FANTASTIC AND I PERSONALLY LOVE JAPANESE HEAVY METAL. SO I REALLY DIDN'T DO IT BECAUSE I THINK I'M BETTER THAN ANYBODY AND PEOPLE NEED MY HELP BECAUSE THAT'S NOT THE CASE AT ALL, IF ANYTHING I COULD REALLY USE THEIR HELP! LIKE IT SAYS IN THE LINER NOTES ON THE RECORD IT WAS JUST TO PRESERVE JAPANESE HEAVY METAL. 

Athenar thanks for your availability. Any last words on your side? 

THANKS FOR THE INTEREST IN THE BAND.

Impiety is recording a new album

Impiety are currently recording the new 8th full lenght album in Singapore at Studio 47

Enthroned to release ˝Obsidium˝ in March

Brand new album from Belgium’s ENTHRONED, Obsidium, is coming out on 20.03.2012 in Europe and on 10.04.2012 in the North America.

Obsidium is an incantation of new wisdom strengthened  by 19 years of controlled fury. In terms of improvement, the band has decided not to manifold their recent effort (Pentagrammaton, out in 2010), but to explore the unique Black Metal gemstone further down the line, polishing it to its grim, deep and fierce colorus.

Seeking new grounds and  holding to their twisted vision, ENTHRONED managed to combine an impressive legacy with insane vocals, speed granted energy, melody and dark yet swift background. “Obsidium" may turn out to be highly explosive for those blissfully unaware!

The band has confirmed 3 live appearances so far:

17/05 : UK - Bristol - The Croft
18/05 : UK - Derby - Old Bell
19/05 : UK - London - The Underworld

Obsidium was recorded and mixed in ENTHRONED’s own studio, Blackout Multimedia. Their ninth full-length to date will be released on a noble digipack CD and 12-inch heavy black vinyl. There’s also a limited to 100 copies special coloured vinyl edition, that will be available via Agonia Records Webshop exclusively.