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NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – June 1, 2021

For fans of Venom, Immortal, Celtic Frost, Darkthrone, Satyricon

Newfoundland Black Metal Duo Artach Conjure Up Mysticism With “She Gathers Leaves” Off “Sworn to Avenge”

Lyric Video Premiere via NoCleanSinging

New Album “Sworn to Avenge” Out June 25th via Depressive Illusions Records

St. JOhn’s Newfoundland is home to some of the most unforgiving, bleak, and snowiest weather in the country and local black metal act Artach uses that grey atmosphere as an inspiration for their raw and epic music.

Last year, Artach released a debut album “Chronicles of a Black Winter” and this year, will follow it up with “Sworn to Avenge”. The second single from the upcoming release is “She Gathers Leaves”, being presented in a lyric video. The single is more mystical and pagan than the other tracks on the album, as they explain:

“The music has a bit of a gothy feel in places and that leads to having some lyrics about witchy subject matter.”

They go on, to comment on the album:

“The music on the album is a frigid mixture of topics about nature and how it meets and interacts with the darkness of humankind. The desolation of the world, the planet, and the repeated failure of society to evolve to a place where we are a part of nature and not brutish subjugators of everything in our path.”

Coming from the coldest, windiest, snowiest, foggiest city in Canada, Artach’s music is heavily influenced by nature and even takes after the bleak climate they are surrounded by. “Sworn to Avenge” is an inescapable, cold and at times unhinged grimness. Raw aggression tempered with bouts of melody evoking the grandmasters of the genre while incorporating first and second wave black metal influences.

Raw and epic black metal, Artach is recommended listening for fans of Immortal, Celtic Frost, and Darkthrone.

The lyric video for “She Gathers Leaves” can be seen and heard via its premiere on NoCleanSinging HERE.

“Sworn to Avenge” is being released on June 25th via Depressive Illusions and is available for pre-order / save at the following links: DepressiveIllusions.com, Artach.bandcamp.com, Amazon, Spotify.

Previous single:
“Into the Frozen Woodlands” – https://youtu.be/FtfosCUA7iw

Track Listing:
1. Tuiteam an Duine (7:08)
2. Ice Throne (5:09)
3. Shimmer (6:35)
4. Endless Tundra (21:35)
5. Into the Frozen Woodlands (4:49)
6. She Gathers Leaves (5:25)
7. Mistress of Black Thorns (6:24)
8. Winter’s End (8:14)
Album Length: 1:05:23

Album Band Line Up:
Fíochmhar: Vocals, Drums, Keyboards
Sruthán: Guitar, Bass

For more info:
Facebook.com/ArtachBlackMetal
Instagram.com/ArtachBlackMetal
EPK

About:
Artach is a two-man black metal band (Sruthán: Guitar/Bass, Fíochmhar: Battery/Vokills/Keys)based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Being from the foggiest, snowiest, wettest, windiest, and gloomiest capital city in Canada, one should not be surprised that this fuels the creation of Black Metal. Their inspiration comes from the land, nature, the bleak weather of the Canadian North, and influential black metal bands.

Since the duo’s formation in the spring of 2019, Artach has been consistently releasing new music. The band’s debut album “Chronicles of a Black Winter” was released digitally during February 2020 and later unleashed on physical CD by Depressive Illusions Records. The full length contained 9 songs of extreme, harsh, and haunting sounds, which included a cover of Celtic Frost’s ‘Jewel Throne’.

Now in 2021, the band returns with their next offering “Sworn To Avenge”, a full-length scourge of raw and relentless bruting gloom. From the calming blasts and savagery of album opener “Tuiteam an Duine” to the ingrained black metal blast beats, and headbanging riffage on “Shimmer” to the 20-minute exploration for the epic “Endless Tundra” about the doomed Franklin expedition of 1846 to the Immortal-esque riffing and unorthodox exorcism of album closer “Winter’s End”, Artach delivers a 65-minute cold deliverance of their surroundings.

The band adds:

“The music on ‘Sworn To Avenge’ is a frigid mixture of topics about nature and how it meets and interacts with the darkness of humankind. The desolation of the world, the planet, and the repeated failure of society to evolve to a place where we are a part of nature and not brutish subjugators of everything in our path… these are all themes described throughout many songs. The music is angry, savage, unhinged, but contains melody and some twists and turns to surprise the listener. Varied song tempos mixing blasting with thrashy, punky, doomy elements keep the sounds interesting and not monotone. Song structures often vary and we never limit a song to a certain length. We indulge and have them be as long, or as short as we think feels right.”

“Sworn To Avenge” will be available digitally from Artach along with CD and cassette via Depressive Illusions Records on June 2021.

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“The album is definitely black metal – but there are some really nice elements in that that makes this author think the musicians are truly having some fun. In particular, ‘Frozen In Time’, exhibits this by delivering several rhythmic textures and a variety of guitar techniques. The vocals are also just well placed in this track in both timing and style.” – Brutalism (Album Review – 2020 Chronicles of a Black Winter)

“Artach have overnight become one of the most interesting bands to come out of the Newfoundland metal scene in some time, not only for the Darkthrone-esque duality of their lineup, but for their genuine appreciation for all things grim and frostbitten and their unique flavour of first wave meets second wave black metal. If you’ve not given Chronicles of a Black Winter a listen yet, give it a spin or two. It’s definitely worth checking out.” – HeavyNFLD (Album Review – 2020 Chronicles of a Black Winter)

“Artach is a mysterious two-piece Black Metal band who have issued their debut CHRONICLES OF A BLACK WINTER. Artach have spawned some fierce raw and primeval Black Metal. I’m hearing lots of classic Hellhammer/Bathory/Venom and maybe even dipping into second wave stuff like Immortal. It is all very black and grim the way this type of stuff should be.” – Metal-Rules (Album Review – 2020 Chronicles of a Black Winter)

“Like the album’s title may suggest, this album’s atmosphere is as cold and bleak as the North winds. The album is very riff focused with modern production, but it isn’t too clean—I actually really enjoyed the production. Vocally, it is very unique and [not] just the same ol endless blackened screams.” – Metal Temple (Album Review – 2020 Chronicles of a Black Winter)

“A solid dose of second wave black metal.” – Astral Noize (Album Review – 2020 Chronicles of a Black Winter)

“This is an album that took a little time to grow on me and after more listens than I care to count, I still hear little twists that I hadn’t heard before. Pretty cool debut from a band that’s doing its own thing in a genre where bands are often content to imitate.” Rating: ⅘ – The Metal Crypt (Album Review – 2020 Chronicles of a Black Winter)

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NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – December 28, 2016

For fans of Motorhead, Saxon, Tank, Venom

TestYourMetalOfficial.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

Japanese Heavy Metallers SOLITUDE Posts New Lyric Video ‘Blow’

North American Release ‘Reach For The Sky’ via Test Your Metal Records

L to R: Toru Nishida (bass) / Akira Sugiuchi (vocals) / Takamasa “MAD” Ohuchi (drums) / Shingo Ida (guitars) – Credit: Yuki Kuroyanagi

Unleashing their latest album ‘Reach For The Sky’ for North America via Test Your Metal Records this past November, Japanese heavy metallers SOLITUDE have a new lyric video for their track ‘Blow’. The track is one of 8 fist pounders off the band’s third album that was issued in Japan in 2015 by Spiritual Beast and follows 2009’s Brave The Storm (Spiritual Beast) plus 2001’s Virtual Image (Spiritual Beast). ‘Reach For The Sky’ was mixed by Magnus “Mankan” Sedenberg, who has previously worked with Bullet and Crucified Barbara along with artwork by Velio Josto (Warlord, Medieval Steel, Ostrogoth etc).

To watch ‘Blow’, please visit the following link at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8Qvpxv6-o

Physical Order: http://testyourmetalrecords.bigcartel.com/product/solitude-reach-for-the-sky-pre-order
Digital Order: https://solitudetymr.bandcamp.com/album/reach-for-the-sky

Album Preview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDLqwueYR6I

1. Venom’s Angel (7:32)
2. Blow (4:51)
3. Reach For The Sky (5:30)
4. Don’t Need Mercy (3:59)
5. Escape For The Crime (3:47)
6. You Got My Mind (5:32)
7. On The Edge Of Sorrow (4:03)
8. December (8:41)
Album Length: 43:59

For more info:
https://www.facebook.com/solitudejapan
EPK – http://wp.me/pciNW-8TC
http://www.testyourmetaloffcial.com

About:

Japan’s SOLITUDE was formed in 1996, when two ex-members of SACRIFICE (Japan)*, the founding member and main composer Akira Sugiuchi <vo> and the bass player on two of their albums Toru Nishida, met ex-RIP RIDE guys of Yasuo Koyano <ds> and Hiroki Nakamori <g>. The guys kept on rehearsing for as long as 3 years, composing songs and forging the foundation of the band. With Heavy Metal as its core, their sound has tastes of various music as if to show that they have been influenced by various different styles of music, such as 70’s Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, and most notably NWOBHM, among others.

In 1998, they picked up “SOLITUDE” as the name of the band, and they played live for the first time in March 1999. This debut live was reported through fanzines and the internet, with such praises as “the birth of the new Defenders of Heavy Metal” or “the answer to what Heavy Metal is”. In September, Shingo Ida (ex-BARTOLOMMEO) replaced Nakamori, and his distinctive style of melodic guitars has brought a new blood into the band. In November, they recorded two songs, “Virtual Image” and “Eagle Fly”, latter of which was dedicated to their favorite British Heavy Metal band, SAXON. This recording was used for promotion as “SOLITUDE Demo ’99”.

In July 2000, the band started recording an album, and the recording carried on until December as the band aimed at the highest quality they could achieve. Their debut album “Virtual Image” was finally released on 5th of September, 2001 as the first-ever release of SPIRITUAL BEAST, who would later grow to one of the leading independent Heavy Metal labels in Japan. The album got rave reviews from the underground fanzines and webzines, not just in Japan but in the US and throughout Europe, and requests for interviews flooded in. The reaction was especially overwhelming in Germany, owing to the sampler CD called “Metal Crusade” from “Heavy oder was!?” magazine, which featured the title track “Virtual Image”.

Koyano left the band prior to the release of the album, but the band continued touring with the help from Suguru Kobayashi (ex-CASBAH), sharing the stage with various bands from OUTRAGE, RAGING FURY or METALUCIFER to DEFILED and SIGH. In July 2003, having added Tai Syouda (ex-GUARDIAN’S NAIL, now leading his own band, SEVENTH SON) as a permanent drummer, they flew to Germany to play at “Headbangers Open Air”, where they shared the stage with veterans like BLITZKRIEG, TRESPASS, and KILLER (Belgium) as well as youngsters like STORMWARRIOR, CRYONIC TEMPLE and DOOMSWORD. Their performance was praised by various media, with German “Rock Hard” magazine describing them as “the highlight of the festival”. The fact that many metalheads kept on chanting for SOLITUDE for a while after they left the stage proves the impact they had.

In 2004, they started preparing for a new album, and first recorded “Rainbow Theme” – “Frozen Rainbow” for a SAXON tribute album “Eagleution – A Tribute to Saxon”, put together by Remedy Records in Germany. The recording continued while the band played selected gigs like “Duryu Rock Festival” in Korea (with JURASSIC JADE from Japan, MINDFLOW from Brazil etc), or first-ever opportunity to play in Sapporo, Hokkaido, but their uncompromising attitude and various personal issues of each member delayed the whole process more than they had expected.

The recording, carried out at various points, was finally over and while they were waiting the mixing to be done, at the end of 2008, Syouda decided to leave the band. In February 2009, the remaining 3 guys participated in a NWOBHM cover event “Denim And Leather” as “SOLITUDE with Mad Ohuchi”, featuring none other than Takamasa “Mad” Ohuchi of ex-ANTHEM fame on drums. This resulted in Ohuchi joining SOLITUDE as a permanent member later that year.

In December 2009, after 8 years from the debut album, the long-awaited (literally!) new album “Brave the Storm” finally hit the stores. Like its predecessor, the album was produced by Fuyuhiko Inui, ex-band mate of Ida, who has been involved in various recordings as engineer/producer from BUCK-TICK or CHARA to MAVERICK. The mastering duty was handled by Alan Douches at West West Side Music (THE AGONIST, MASTODON etc).

In January 2011, the band toured Korea and Japan with Swedish sensation Enforcer, with Mean Streak also added for the Japanese dates. In September, “Brave the Storm” was released in Europe on Fastball Music in Germany, proving their growing popularity in the mainland Europe. In July 2012, the band helped set up a Japan tour for Canada’s Skull Fist, and toured with them and Widow from US. In 2013, they co-hosted the “Japanese Assault Fest”, sharing the stage with GIRLSCHOOL, VEKTOR, FASTKILL, AIR RAID etc.

In April 2014, the band finally started recording a new album. Looking for the kind of sound production they grew up listening, they went into a closed movie theater in Gotenba, Shizuoka, where they brought in the recording equipments, just like Deep Purple did in a hotel; Rainbow did in an old castle etc in the 70’s. With the great ambience and the environment to allow you to play as loud as you want, the place was later modified into a proper recording studio called “Tapestry Recording Studio”. The band appeared at the “Japanese Assault Fest” two years in a row (SATAN, HEAVY TIGER, MIDNIGHT MALICE, ETERNAL ELYSIUM etc) later that year.

The album was mixed and mastered at Pama Studios in Sweden, by Magnus “Mankan” Sedenberg and Magnus “Maxe” Axelsson respectively, who had worked with such bands as BULLET and CRUCIFIED BARBARA. The stunning artwork was painted by the Italian artist Velio Josto, who had done covers for WARLORD, MEDIEVAL STEEL, OSTROGOTH among others. The album “Reach for the Sky” will be released on SPIRITUAL BEAST in June 2015, and the band will be extensively touring throughout Japan for the rest of the year, starting in Nagoya in August.

*SACRIFICE (Japan) was one of the leading bands in the Japanese thrash/underground scene from their formation in 1985 until disbanding in 1992, and they left a lot of impacts on young and upcoming bands then and even now. During their career, they released three studio albums, “Crest of Black” (1987), “Total Steel” (1990) and “Tears” (1992) and shared the stage with SODOM (Germany), NUCLEAR ASSAULT (USA), CASBAH, OUTRAGE, UNITED (all from Japan) among many others. They once featured Shinji “Samm” Tachi of ex-SABBAT on drums, who later formed MAGNESIUM and also joined his brother in METALUCIFER. SACRIFICE has recently reunited under the lineup of Sugiuchi <vo>, Nishida <b>, Tachi <ds> and Temis Osmond <g> of ex-SABBAT fame.

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0 Newfoundland Black Metal Duo Artach Conjure Up Mysticism With “She Gathers Leaves” Off “Sworn to Avenge” Out June 25th (Depressive Illusions Records), Lyric Video Premiere via NoCleanSinging

0 NEWS: Japanese Heavy Metallers SOLITUDE Posts New Lyric Video ‘Blow’