Music News & Notes

ANTAGONIST reveals cover art for WORLD IN DECLINE

Southern California's ANTAGONIST has unveiled the cover art for their new album, "World In Decline," which has just been confirmed for an August 17th release date on Prosthetic Records. The art was done by Daniel McBride, (Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris) and ties in to the overall theme of the record.

Vocalist/guitarist Carolos Garcia explains the relationship between the cover and album; "'World in Decline' focuses on the downfall of human civilization as a result of our own selfishness, ignorance, and greed. The artwork was handled by our boy Daniel McBride, and the cover art is based on the lyrics for 'Darkest Darkness,' which, is basically, about me going to 'confession' just to realize I'm just as guilty as everyone else in contributing to our decline. We can't wait for Prosthetic to release the album, and we're even more excited to hit the road and play the new songs for everyone! There are definitely tour plans for the end of the summer, we'll keep you posted."








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Conspiracy To Release Third Full-Length

Dutch extreme metal assault Conspiracy return with their third full-length, "Irremediable." The record offers twelve tracks with artwork inspired by controversial 17th century artist Félicien Rops. "Irremediable" will be released via Pulverised Records later this year. Official street date TBA.

Previously helmed by sole member Carpathian Wolf, aka A' Hazred, best known for his work with Sumerian black metallers Melechesh, Conspiracy now features Wolf alongside German guitarist, composer and orchestrator Aryan Blaze.

Elaborated Wolf on the latest offering: "This time Conspiracy doesn't just spit rage and hatred but presents the symphony of sinister entertainment for the elite black metal consumer. The material on Irremediable ranges from blackened heavy metal with melodic and harmonious guitar solos to black metal with unorthodox elements, which will pleasantly surprise even the most spoilt listeners.

"The cover art is based on the painting by the Belgian Satanist painter Félicien Rops (1833-1898), which goes really fine with the dark poetry of Aleister Crowley, Charles Baudelaire and some other classical masters. As an additional treat, some of the songs that are on Irremediable will feature pre-recorded drum performances by Dirk Verbeuren (Aborted, Soilwork, Scarve etc.) taken from The Library Of The Extreme - Blasts & Fills by Toontrack."

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While Heaven Wept Live Album Details Announces

While Heaven Wept are currently working on the forthcoming release of their new live album "Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence - Live At The Hammer Of Doom Festival" set for a November 2010 release date.

"Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence" will be made available as a CD/DVD set courtesy of Cruz Del Sur Music, as well as a 2xLP set via a joint collaboration between Cruz Del Sur Music, Iron Kodex, and High Roller Records. The DVD portion will contain several bonus features that will be detailed after the band will finish the studio work on the masters.

The release is a 24-track audio capture of While Heaven Wept's performance at the Posthalle in Würzburg, Germany on February 6, 2010. The final master will be later synchronized to the multi-camera pro-shot footage, resulting in the band's very first DVD.

The philosophy behind this release is twofold. First, it is an expression of gratitude to everyone who attended the show - who made it such a special, unforgettable experience for the band. Secondly, being that there are so many fans of the band who they've not been able to reach tour-wise, this record should help tide those fans over until While Heaven Wept can make it to their town.

In the words of WHW's Tom Phillips, "The audio quality of this release is incredible - perhaps in some ways better than even Vast Oceans Lachrymose - along with the excellent energy of the performances and the excitement of the improvisations. The video is even more amazing, so expertly filmed and edited by our friends at Streetclip TV in Germany."

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Brian Wilson 'Reimagines George Gershwin'

Recently, the L.A. Times broke the news that the estate of composer and songwriter George Gershwin had enlisted Beach Boys visionary Brian Wilson to complete unfinished music that Gershwin had left behind when he died in 1937. The resulting album, 'Brian Wilson Reimagines George Gershwin,' is scheduled to hit the stores on August 17 via Disney Pearl (with a vinyl edition coming August 24).

The LP features two songs that Wilson built from Gershwin's unfinished music, "The Like in I Love You" and "Nothing But Love". You can hear "The Like in I Love You" over at Wilson's site for the price of an email address.

It also features Wilson's versions of classic Gershwin compositions like "Summertime", "I've Got Rhythm", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "Someone to Watch Over Me", and "I Loves You Porgy". Wilson's usual band backs him on most of the album, but the whole thing opens and closes with Wilson's a capella version of "Rhapsody in Blue", which whoa.

In a press release, Wilson says, "Along with Irving Berlin, Gershwin basically invented the popular song, but he did something more. He had a gift for melody that nobody has ever equaled, yet his music is timeless and always accessible. This is the most spiritual project I've ever worked on."

Brian Wilson Reimagines George Gershwin:

Album's tracklist:

01 Rhapsody in Blue /Intro
02 The Like in I Love You
03 Summertime
04 I Loves You Porgy
05 I Got Plenty of Nothin
06 It Ain't Necessarily So
07 'S Wonderful
08 They Can't Take That Away from Me
09 Our Love Is Here to Stay
10 I've Got a Crush on You
11 I've Got Rhythm
12 Someone to Watch Over Me
13 Nothing But Love
14 Rhapsody in Blue/Reprise

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DEATH ANGEL: New Album Title, Artwork Revealed

San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans DEATH ANGEL have set "Relentless Retribution" as the title of their new album, which is due out on September 3 in Europe and September 14 in the US (via Nuclear Blast Records). The CD was recorded at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, AUGUST BURNS RED, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ALL THAT REMAINS, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER). The cover artwork was created by Brent Elliot White (JOB FOR A COWBOY, CARNIFEX, WHITECHAPEL).

Commented DEATH ANGEL vocalist Mark Osegueda: "I haven't been as excited about the cover artwork on any other DEATH ANGEL album as I am for this one! It fits the whole theme of the album! Angry and aggressive! I think what excites me most is that Brent did the artwork based on our lyrics! It wasn't an already finished product.

"When we first saw Brent's work, we were floored by the mixture of fantasy meets reality and we knew we wanted him to do the artwork for this album! In the end he surpassed our expectations with the fiercest DEATH ANGEL album cover to date!"

DEATH ANGEL will team up with Godfathers of Swedish modern metal SOILWORK, Quebec's tech-death masters AUGURY, Roadrunner Records recording artists MUTINY WITHIN, and pirate-themed thrashers SWASHBUCKLE for a North American tour in July/August.

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ASPHYX To Release 'Abomination Echoes' 7" Box Set

On July 9, reformed Dutch death metal outfit ASPHYX will release the "Abomination Echoes" deluxe seven-inch box set exclusively through CMDistro.com.

Featuring artwork from Ketola (WATAIN, KAAMOS), the set contains six seven-inch EPs, including:

* "Enter The Domain" demo
* "Crush The Cenotaph" demo
* Rehearsals
* "Mutilating Process"
* Promo '91
* Live in Holland '89

Also included is a 20-page booklet with lyrics, introduction by Metalion (Slayer magazine), liner notes by the band, old flyer designs and more. The set also includes a previously unreleased track, "Priest Of Mendes".