EPK – Summoner’s Circle – Chaos Vector (2021)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Management: Mark Kloeppel – Extreme Management Group – emg.markkloeppel[@]gmail[.]com
For fans of Dimmu Borgir, Behemoth, Immortal, Opeth, Tribulation
“The last year has been difficult on us all. Many of us lost friends and loved ones, and none of us in the band thought it would last this long or end up this bad. We figured early in 2020, before the pandemic hit, that we would finish the album, get it released, and immediately get back to touring. That didn’t happen. Now there is hope for the future, and this amazing album we sat on for over a year is finally being released. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out – a concept album that was first conceived over two years ago is now here. Our love of story-telling and cosmic horror has given us inspiration for a story that Blind has wanted to tell since our formation in 2015. We wanted this album to elicit an entire range of emotional reactions in a post-Covid-19 world. While this album, in a literal sense, has nothing to do with the pandemic, we are certain that the content will appeal to metal fans and give them what they may need going forward as the post-pandemic clouds part. This album is the culmination of ever-growing musicianship, new blood, old blood, staying true to our tastes, and growing with new experiences and goals. As we continue this journey with all of you, we can’t wait to share this creative endeavor with fans, both new and old. We have scratched every creative itch with this album, and we hope you find as much enjoyment out of it as we have in creating it.” – Blind – Vocals – Summoner’s Circle
Album Title: Chaos Vector
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Self-Release
Distribution: Blood Blast, powered by Nuclear Blast
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“The song (Chaos Vector) itself is sonic alchemy, not merely because it creates a frightening atmosphere of dark magic being practiced and dangerous forces being unchained, but also because it blends together different sensations and stylistic ingredients from the realms of black, death, and gothic metal to create an experience that’s greater than the mere sum of its parts.” – No Clean Singing
“If you’re a fan of bands like Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth, then you’re going to love this.” – GearGods
“Summoners’ Circle have the whole package. Their songs are original and memorable, beautifully written, and hook the listener after the first listening. They have a great stage presence, and the theatricality and imagery of their live performances keep the fans talking about their experience way beyond the day of the show. I am honored to work on the production of their upcoming album.” – Yanic Bercier, Ph.D | Endorser of Yamaha Drums, Sabian, Vic Firth, Evans, AKG, RME, True-Systems, Engl, Ddrum
“Hooked the first time I saw this band play! No two shows are the same and I’m always left wanting more. It’s what music and show should be!” – Lee Abney | Pentagram/Place of Skulls
“These guys are serious about what they do and the costumes and imagery match the grandiose sound they produce.” No Clean Singing
“SUMMONER’S CIRCLE’s full-length debut gets near the 75-minute mark, and yet it succeeds in balancing complexity, heaviness, catchiness, mystery and melodrama to make sure its duration does not become overwhelming. an almost perfect record …especially its flawless production and its tight, inventive songwriting.” – Metal Temple
“Summoner’s Circle is the kind of band you go your whole life hoping to hear and when you finally do it’s even better than you expected. They are the culmination of a lifetime spent listening to music and finally finding something that fits where nothing else has. Plus, brutality aside, they’re just a fantastic group of otherworldly beings.” – Josh Martin| 94.3 WNFZ
Become None debuted at #15 on the NACC Top 30 Loud Rock on 5/21/19
“Summoner’s Circle have proven to the heavy music world through their fierce brilliant heavy metal musicianship that they’re the future of modern black metal.” – Underground Nation Magazine #007 – Oct 2019
[Download Album Cover | Download Album Lyrics]
Album Title: Chaos Vector
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Self-Release
Distribution: Blood Blast, powered by Nuclear Blast
Track Listing:
1. The Message (1:02)
2. Of Black Horizons (4:00)
3. Vessel (7:34)
4. The Hierophants (5:17)
5. Apostasy (7:45)
6. Chaos Vector (4:05)
7. Terminus Egress (9:12)
8. Chrysalis (1:35)
9. The Beyond (7:43)
Album Length: 48:17
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: Summoner’s Circle
• All songs written by: Summoner’s Circle
• Produced by: Yanic Bercier and Summoner’s Circle
• Mixed by: Yanic Bercier at Wavetransform Studios – http://www.wavetransform.com/
• Mastered by: Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios – https://www.fascinationstreet.se/
• Album Artwork by: Yoann Lossel – https://yoannlossel.com/
Album and Live Band Line Up:
Blind – Vocals
Gog – Lead Guitar
Azra – Guitar
Y’takt – Bass
Hex – Keyboards
Invictus – Drums
Discography:
2021 – Chaos Vector LP (Bloodblast Distribution)
2019 – Become None LP (Pavement Entertainment)
2018 – Tome LP
2016 – Become None Single w/ Minotaur B-side
2015 – First Summoning EP
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The album as a whole:
Chaos Vector is a Lovecraftian cosmic horror tale inspired heavily by H.P. Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. It tells a story of a man who is interested in the occult, gets in way over his head, and discovers a plot by ancient gods to pierce his world and bleed it dry. The album is heavier than our previous works and, we feel, more musically ambitious. The songs are shorter and easier to digest while being able to convey a wider range of emotions both in the music and lyrical content. It is an homage to cosmic horror and capped with beautiful cover art created by French fine artist Yoann Lossel. The music is the strongest material we’ve written to date, leaving behind much of the early doom origins for a much more mature sound that is uniquely that of Summoner’s Circle.
Track By Track explained:
1. The Message is an atmospheric instrumental piece meant to set the tone of the album. It contains creepy whispers, backward masking, and disturbing audio captured from the Voyager probe as well as unexplained underwater sounds.
2. Of Black Horizons is the first full song on the album. It opens with a fast and aggressive kick in the jaw and maintains that energy throughout. Lyrically, this song is a warning of impending doom.
3. Vessel is a dark and moody blackened doom piece that conveys some of the creepiest elements of the album. Lyrically, it is about the main character obtaining an ancient vessel once used by King Solomon to imprison 77 ancient demons. The song tells the history of the vessel as well as the insatiable madness it brings to the character.
4. The Hierophants starts as a folk metal-inspired piece that initially gives a vibe of Basil Poledouris’ 1982 Conan the Barbarian. As the song progresses it becomes heavier, and ultimately chaotic, by the end. Lyrically, the song is a history lesson on “The Six”, the antagonists of the story, and the fictionalized members of the band. It details the past encounters with these beings.
5. Apostasy has a misleading, pretty opening that soon gives way to one of the heaviest offerings of the album. This song contains a lot of prog influences with a crushing verse & chorus and a grand keyboard solo during the bridge. Lyrically, this song is about the main character having doubts about his occult works as he is forced to sacrifice a pregnant woman bound to an inverted cross. Thus, opening a portal to another dimension and calling forth a beast from the void that rips itself from the woman’s womb and becomes The King in Yellow.
6. Chaos Vector is the title track and was the first song written for the album. It was written to be a fast and chaotic piece with multiple time signatures that still maintains a memorable hook. The drums were written by Yanic Bercier of Quo Vadis and Gone in April during a time that he filled in for drums. They are now recorded and performed by Invictus. Lyrically, this track is about the main character being locked in an asylum and being taunted by the madness he helped to unleash upon the world. Yet, despite his warnings, the people at the asylum view his ramblings as nothing more than the ravings of a madman.
7. Terminus Egress is probably the most ambitious and emotionally driven song we’ve ever written. It is the longest track on the album and is meant to convey a sense of depression, regret, and complete loss of control that results in suicide. The song features guest musician Julie Belanger Roy, of Gone in April, performing operatic vocals, violin, and viola. Lyrically, this song is about the main character escaping the asylum and being instructed by The Six to sacrifice his own infant son. Refusing to do so, a decision is made, and he pulls a pistol on himself and shoots himself in the head in front of his son and terrified wife. Before his body hits the floor, The Six curse his bloodline to carry out the deed he was meant to complete.
8. Chrysalis is a piano interlude, composed by Hex, meant to maintain the feeling of loss after Terminus Egress as well as allow the listener a chance to breathe. While there are no lyrics, in the story, this chapter conveys the passing of time by several hundred years and follows up to the most recent descendant of the main character.
9. The Beyond is the ending of the album and the story. It opens with a dark and cosmic atmosphere that gives way to a blackened verse and chorus and a very moody bridge. The track maintains a feeling of space and horror throughout, with some of the more interesting guitar layerings on the album. Lyrically, this song is about a distant descendant of the story’s main character studying the farthest reaches of our universe, only to be ripped away from it by an unknown force. The descendant falls through an endless void without dying for millions of years. Unable to die or move, simply drifting further away from their home universe until they eventually crash into another universe that is being consumed from its center by a galactic-sized cosmic horror. This horror embraces the descendant and uses it as the key into our own universe and Earth to begin consuming all.
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BAND STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS:
1. The Chaos Vector album also has a complete short story that tells the album’s story in literary fashion. This story marks a new chapter in The Lore of The Six, and sets a foundation for us conceptually moving forward.
2. The Chaos Vector album was recorded by Yanic Bercier at Wavetransform Studios in Knoxville, TN. Yanic also wrote the drums for Chaos Vector before Invictus was brought in as the full-time drummer. Yanic’s wife, Julie Belanger Roy, who is also the operatic vocalist and violinist in his band, Gone In April, is featured as a guest musician on Terminus Egress for opera vocals, violin, and viola, which she composed for the song.
3. Gog is the father-in-law to Blind, who married Gog’s daughter, Katarina, in September of 2018.
4. Despite the dark content and appearance of the band. The entire band enjoys sharing horrible dad jokes and owning the stereotype that metalheads love dogs, cats, and just pets in general. The band never turns down an opportunity to meet a new furry or scaley friend and enjoys going to zoos and aquariums.
5. Blind works as a photographer and videographer outside of the band and does most of the bands’ photos, photo edits, non-music video videos as well as video editing. Gog, who has a degree in film, and Blind frequently work together to create new visual art for the band.
6. On the last day of the Hexed North American Tour with Children of Bodom, in New York City, our keyboardist, Hex, cut through two tendons on the back of his left thumb while trying to open a new package of cables with a knife. It was a bloody mess and, unfortunately, he spent the day in surgery in a New Jersey ER getting put back together. Due to Hex’s injury, he was unable to perform that evening. We were also unable to find a volunteer human sacrifice for this show. Due to both of these situations, Blind brandished the dagger we use for the sacrifice and addressed the crowd by saying, “You may have noticed that we are missing a keyboardist tonight. This is because Hex was playing with our sacrificial dagger and accidentally cut two tendons in his hand. So, he is spending the night in a New Jersey hospital. You will also notice that we will not be performing a sacrifice tonight. This is because the dagger can only taste virgin blood once per day. For this, we apologize.” The statement was received with lots of laughter. The following day, while returning home, social media posts regarding Hex’s well-being were met with show attendees commenting such things as, “wait, that story was real!?” Fortunately, Hex made a full recovery.
L-R: Invictus (Drums), Y’takt (Bass), Hex (Keys), Blind (Lead Vocals), Gog (Lead Guitar), Azra (Guitar)
Photo Credit: Rachel Craig Media/Joshua Winstead Photography
“Let the Summoning Begin…”
Summoner’s Circle is a six-piece theatrical metal band that blends elements of doom, death, black and progressive metal into what they refer to as simply Epic Metal.
For the band, every song in an incantation, every live performance is a Summoning, and everything they do is tied intrinsically to the mythology, or lore, they have created. The lore tells the story of the band’s origins, battles of divine conquest and showcases their creativity and vision, which sets the stage for a very entertaining live performance where bigger is better, and Epic is always the standard.
The Summoners released their first EP, entitled First Summoning, in late 2015. This was followed in 2016 by the single, Become None, and its B-side, Minotaur, both of which are included on their debut full-length release entitled Tome, which was released in June of 2018.
In May of 2019, Tome was repackaged and released as Become None via the Pavement Entertainment label.
In the spring of 2019, Summoner’s Circle joined Children of Bodom, Swallow the Sun and Wolfheart as part of Bodom’s Hexed North American Tour, gaining many new fans and excellent reviews.
In June of 2019, the Six signed a worldwide management deal with Extreme Management Group, Inc. who also manages Suffocation, Cattle Decapitation, Misery Index and many others.
Summoner’s Circle’s second full-length album Chaos Vector is scheduled to be released in 2021 and will be accompanied by a Lovecraft-style cosmic horror short story written by the band. Each song is a chapter in the story.
Shared Stage with:
Pentagram, Deicide, All Hell, Crowbar, Goatwhore, Place of Skulls, GWAR, MacSabbath, Phil Anselmo and the Illegals, King Parrot, Thy Antichrist, Wolfheart, Swallow the Sun, Children of Bodom, Kataklysm, Nevalra, Whitechapel
Tours and Festivals:
2019 – Full Terror Assault Open Air – Cave In Rock, Illinois
2019 – 25th Soopa Gathering of the Juggalos Festival – Springville, In
2019 – Hexed North American Tour with Children of Bodom, Swallow the Sun and Wolfheart – Canada/USA
2018 – Funny Ears Music Festival – Knoxville, TN
Artist endorsements:
Gog, Azra, Y’takt – Solar Guitars Feature Artists and DR Strings
https://www.solar-guitars.com/artists/gog-herb-himes-summoners-circle/
https://www.solar-guitars.com/artists/ytakt-john-springer-summoners-circle/
https://www.solar-guitars.com/artists/azra-haley-clark-summoners-circle/
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