Sometimes a very brilliant and promising band can exist somewhere and we will have missed out on them entirely. I mean, sure, we’re supposed to have our ears to the ground and fingers on the pulse and all that other nonsense but we do what we can to get by. At any rate, it’s better late than never! We have for you today a symphonic black metal band from Finland, Shade Empire.
Pictured: Wintersun’s Jari Maenpaa in the studio in open defiance of The Iron Maiden Rule.
Wintersun‘s Time has been the butt of many jokes in the metal community due to its constant delays and years spent in development. Just when it looked like things were looking up when the first half Time I was announced and subsequently released with the promise that Time II was to follow shortly after in early 2013, Wintersun has pushed back Time II a full year. Cue sighs and shrugged shoulders the world over.
The news comes via an easily overlooked third paragraph in what looks like an otherwise harmless update on Facebook:
We are starting the mix of TIME II and it will be released early 2014. The album will continue where TIME I left, but it will be an upgrade in production, it will be equally epic, if not more. It will contain some “fast stuff” and some guitar shredding (incl. 7 solos) like some of you metal heads and guitar wankers have been wishing for. It will also contain some of the most beautiful music ever written, that will bring a tear to your eye.
Upon reading this, I thought I was crazy. I could have sworn I read somewhere that Nuclear Blast slated Time II for a spring 2013 release. Digging through my emails, that was indeed the initial plan:
TIME I mix is set to be finished by July, mastered in the beginning of July and released in early fall of 2012! TIME II will be released in 2013. Conception of album artworks, videos, live shows including rehearsals will keep us busy during the Summer and I´ll also continue mixing TIME II meanwhile.
The update was posted last week, and yet no one’s made a stink about this yet. Perhaps it was so expected that people stopped caring and that joke horse has been long send out to pasture. Maybe it was just easily overlooked. Ribbing aside, Time II remains as one of our most highly anticipated records, and Time I landed on my best of 2012 list. Perfection can’t be rushed though and there’s no doubt that the band are working their asses off to get it to us. It’s just a shame that there’s a two year wait from Time‘s first release before we get to hear the rest of the album.
We’ll pass along any information we get when Time II‘s release is further cemented.
- JR
Xanthochroid01. Aquatic Deathgate Existence
02. Blessed He With Boils
03. Winter’s End
04. Long Live Our Lifeless King
05. Deus Absconditus: Part I
06. Deus Absconditus: Part II
07. The Leper’s Prospect
08. In Putris Stagnum
09. “Here I’ll Stay”
10. Rebirth Of An Old Nation
Black Metal is really awesome, but add some symphonic elements to it and it gets even better. Black metal, in essence, is known for its ability to go over the top musically and visually, and to be, in a sense, very epic. Enter Xanthochroid, a symphonic black metal band hailing from California, not the place you would expect USBM to come from. They claim to take influence from the likes of Wintersun, Emperor, Moonsorrow and Opeth and identify their sound as one that “combines many styles into a blackened cloud of legendary metal madness.” And while they may not be legendary, they are starting to show the world they are on the right path.
I had pretty much zero expectations from 2012, but it turned out to be an awesome year. This time, I have quite a bit of expectations from 2013, so it will probably be even better. Without further ado, let’s get down to it!
Since the first time I’ve heard Leprous, my tastes in music have been slowly changed by them. Bilateral is my second all-time favorite album (more on #1 later), I’ve become a huge fan of Nordic progressive metal, and that shows in this list. I love both Leprous albums and both EPs, so it’s safe to say that I’m looking forward to this release. Leprous’s blend of progressive metal is very heavy on the emotions, carried by Einar Solberg’s powerful voice and excellent songwriting by everyone in the band. They said that they’re hoping that the new album will be “great and a bit different”, which sounds exciting. They’ve posted a studio video which you can view here. The song they’re working on sounds heavier and more upbeat than some songs on Bilateral, and that will probably turn out to be awesome.
Æther Realm01. Journey of Discovery
02. Hourglass
03. Æther Realm
04. Swampwitch
05. One Chosen by the Gods
06. Ravensong
07. Winter’s Grasp
08. Odin Will Provide
09. Oak
Æther Realm are the best melodic death metal band deceptively not from Finland you’ll have the pleasure of hearing this year. Their sound can only be described as Wintersun sitting down one day for a horn of mead to discuss being beyond great, when Eluveitie show up and decide that it’s time for collaboration. Their debut effort One Chosen by the Gods certainly incorporates orchestral touches for that added huge sound, but never lets the heaviness of the music fall by the wayside or simply get lost.
Over the break, photographer Maclyn Bean (who has been previously published by the likes of Metal Injection, Sick Drummer, Premier Guitar, and Brooklyn Vegan!) has joined our ranks and will be hitting up shows for us from time to time. You previously saw his work published on Heavy Blog when he shot Powerglove’s set for us, but now he reports back with photos from folk metal legends Eluveitie’s headlining tour featuring Wintersun on their first ever US tour. You can view the photos of both sets after the jump!
So it’s Wednesday at 3:43 AM the week these year-end retrospective lists are being published and I’m scrambling to edit my fellow writers’ contributions when I’ve barely even started mine. To be honest it hasn’t even quite settled in that 2012 is just about over. As I’m writing this, there’s about a week and a half left of the year, and it puzzles me. It feels like just a couple of months ago that I was doing this exact same thing for 2011, only this time I seem to be much busier and everything looks different. The site, wordpress, and even my staff group have all changed.
We’ve picked up a number of fresh faces this year that you’ve already seen these past few days, but you may have also noticed that a couple of people from last year are no longer with us. A lot of people have come and gone over these past three and a half years that I’ve been doing this Heavy Blog thing, and most of them sort of float around and hang out when they can. The most important ones that come to mind right now are Dan (Dormition) and Chris (Disinformasiya), both of whom were very instrumental and valuable in the growth of this site, and it was sad to see them part ways with us. Without them (Chris in particular), I might have not kept this thing going this far. I love both of those guys dearly, and you can keep up with them at The Monolith, which you should bookmark if you haven’t already. Ya jerk.
Like I’ve said, this year has been busy. I don’t talk about my personal life much here despite the fact that it’s my blog, but what better time to get all personal than a year-end retrospective? As you may have noticed, I’ve been a bit more of a hands-off editor and the scheduling of posts have been a bit less rigid and frequent than they used to be. I’m at the tail end of my college career and I’m currently in and out of internships which have kept me busy and often away from Heavy Blog. Between classes, internships, my “actual” job, and this website, my hands are pretty full. You (and I, for sure) can thank Evan (Juular) for his help with editing since Chris’ departure as well as Damien, Noyan, Gunnar (DeusExMachina), Cody (Tentaclesworth), Spencer (Inhumed), Anthony (Alucard), Greg (Red Bruschetta), Atif (Dr. Killjoy), David (Riptide), Ridge (Deadite), Colin (Momento Mori), and Geoff (Denisovich) for sticking with me and making sure there’s enough content each week and that this site keeps going strong. Also a strong word up to Ben Robson who took over Heavy Blog recently and decided to stick around with us behind the scenes and Chris Collins, our resident photographer. These guys are awesome, and they manage to put a smile on my face every single day.
2013 promises to be even busier with my next internship, impending graduation, and career, but hopefully that doesn’t stop this site from growing and providing daily content that helps to promote and further our favorite genre of music. Thank all of you for sticking with us!
So with all these feels out of the way, here’s what most of you care about, my albums of the year:
Let’s celebrate with champagne
Because it’s that time of the year again
When everyone gives each other gifts
And makes end of the year lists
2012 was a great year
Many albums I did revere
But only a few I must choose
Now before more rhymes I abuse
Let’s get to the favorite albums
So take this list into your cerebellums
(Yes, I know that the cerebellum doesn’t do that, shut up!)
As you may have noticed, The Omega Experiment‘s fantastic self-titled debut album ended up on a few of our year-end lists. Their powerful blend of prog metal and soaring hooks — sounding like a crossbreed of Styx and Devin Townsend Project — is both thought provoking and incredibly catchy. We acclaimed the record, and we weren’t the only one who took notice of their excellence either; Listenable Records (home to fellow Heavy Blog favorites Gorod, Betraying The Martyrs, and Sybreed) just signed TOE and are re-releasing their debut album in 2013. We asked frontman and songwriter Dan Wieten to give us a recap of his favorite albums from the year, which you can read below!
A few weeks ago, we ran a contest offering a special edition copy of Wintersun’s long-awaited Time I to whoever can come up with the best re-interpretation of the cover art. Congratulations, Isaias, your hand-drawn artwork is beautiful and definitely fits Wintersun. I’d actually prefer this as the album artwork, and that’s saying a lot. You deserve the special edition! We’ll ship off your prize ASAP.
This made me spew my drink on the screen from laughter, this is just great. Unfortunately I only have one copy to give away, but I’ll send you some cool swag. Good job!
As far as the rest of the entries, thank you all for entering! You can view the rest of the entries after the cut.
