Friday, March 29, 2013

SkullsNBones Debuts New DEVIL TO PAY Track



SkullsNBones.com has posted an exclusive world premier of the song "Already Dead," taken from Fate is your Muse, the upcoming release from Indy-based heavy rockers DEVIL TO PAY.  Enjoy the sludge-soaked and soulful tune at http://snblnk.com/2pf. 

Fate is your Muse
 is set for an April 9th release on Ripple Music.  
Fate is your Muse is an introspective lyrical journey that careens from the metaphysical, to the absurd, to the pragmatic (and back again), all set to bone crushing heaviness wrapped in elaborate vocal melodies and elegant guitar phrases. Exploring topics such as reincarnation, the end of days, and the thin veil between reality and fantasy, the Indianapolis foursome create a rare musical experience; one that will have heavy rock fans returning for the primal emotional riffs, as well as the complex and heady lyrical content. Order the album on CD, digital and vinyl formats atwww.ripple-music.com.

DEVIL TO PAY released a video for the single "This Train Won't Stop," which was premiered by The Obelisk in conjunction with the end of the Mayan Baktun on December 21st. The lyrics are about the continual false prophesizing of the world's end. Check out the video at this location.



"I feel the need to go and dance round a pole. Fate Is Your Muse is the soundtrack to every seedy strip club you ever wanted to go to." [4.5/5] - TBFM Online

"Fate Is Your Muse mixes hard riffing and suave grooves into a twelve track fat album of boot stomping, head moshing magnificence that you didn't even know had been missing from your life." - TheMidlandsRocks.com  


Monday, March 25, 2013

Prog Rockers FEN Announce FREE T-Shirt Give Away! Time To Make Room For New Merch!


Top Left to Right = Bass: Jeff Caron | Drums: Nando Polesel   
Bottom Left to Right = Lead Guitars/Backing Vocals: Sam Levin | Guitars/Vocals: Doug Harrison

Vancouver progressive rockers FEN have announced they will be giving away FREE band T-shirts to make room for new merchandise as they encourage their fans to share their tunes and increase their social media presence. 

The band has commented the following:

"Dear Grumps,
We're clearing out our merch closet and using it as a shameless excuse to pull a few more listeners out of the woodwork. We'll give away 10 T-shirts if we reach 1000 likes on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/fenmusic. After that, we'll give away 5 shirts for every additional 500 likes until supplies are gone. The selection will be made on April 12th.

And how will we make the crucial decision of who gets the shirts?
We're still sorting that part out. We're considering a kind of ritualistic monkey dance that will involve the four of us uprooting house plants then hurling our feces at the computer monitor. Whichever names get covered up on our facebook page, we'll contact those people and mail the shirts to their homes.
Shamlessly yours, 
Doug, Jeff, Sam & Nando"

In additional news, Fen recently released their latest music video 'A Long Line Final' from their fifth and latest album 'Of Losing Interest' released last summer via indie label Ripple Music to follow up their fourth release 'Trails Out Of Gloom'.
 
Video - A Long Line
a long line - fen (ripple music)

fen - miracle - official music video
 
Their heaviest and most technical album to date, 'Of Losing Interest' is an album that revisits the band’s harder edged metallic past while retaining the melodic sensibilities that made 'Trails Out of Gloom' so alluring. Co-Produced by Mike Southworth, his fourth with the band, 'Of Losing Interest' is a contrast of technical virtuosity layered against warm low end organics.


Track Listing: Of Losing Interest
1. Riddled 03:55
2. Of Losing Interest 04:59
3. Nice For Three Days 04:04
4. A Long Line 04:43
5. The Glove 03:23
6. Drunken Relief 04:26
7. Light Up The End 03:34
8. Pilot Plant 06:03
9. Snake Path 03:17
About:
In January of 1998, in the mountain shadows of Nelson, British Columbia, a creatorship emerged called Fen. The road has been long for this dark-leaning band, which after more than a decade of obscurity, was finally ushered into the prog and metal fan’s psyche. This occurred in 2010, when Fen signed to California label Ripple music and released their fourth album Trails Out Of Gloom. The album garnered impressive reviews from bloggers and print magazines worldwide, including mention in the UK’s Classic Rock magazine and a perfect 16/16 score from the US authority on prog: Progressions Magazine. To follow up this attention, in May of 2011, the management of UK/Israeli prog veterans Blackfield invited Fen to open for them on the Vancouver stop of their North American tour.

To date, Fen’s music has sold in more than fifteen countries, and with the help of dedicated bloggers, two AAA-radio campaigns, and a music video for the single “Miracle,” the band’s following continues to expand. In surprising contrast to the dark nature of Fen’s music, their songs have been placed on HGTV (Home and Garden Television) and Animal Planet’s, From Underdog to Wonderdog, among others. The song “Through the Night” will soon be available on the video game RockBand.

Fen has performed at clubs and festivals throughout BC, and in the summer of 2011, took part in the Forest Symphony at UBC’s Pacific Spirit Park. Fen’s fifth album, Of Losing Interest, will be available in August 2012, and is a return to the heavier aspects of the band's sound. It is their second release under the Ripple Music label, and it brings together a band line up first assembled in 1999.

Friday, March 15, 2013

EARTHEN GRAVE Signs Exclusive Worldwide Deal With Ripple Music




Chicago's EARTHEN GRAVE is thrilled to announce their recent signing to Heavy Rock Leader, Ripple Music for worldwide release of their debut album, Earthen Grave.

The album will be available on CD and double vinyl on July 9th via Ripple Music.

Formed in 2008, EARTHEN GRAVE is a five-piece Chicago metal band that marries the sounds of metal past and future with a sweaty, pummeling live show. EARTHEN GRAVE boasts an undeniable collective metal and musical pedigree. Each member is an accomplished musician and a veteran of the metal scene, including Ron Holzner who was a member of the seminal and seismic doom pioneers TROUBLE - a band widely regarded as one of the most important unsung American metal bands of all time. In addition, EARTHEN GRAVE has that "extra something special" with occasional guest 6th member live and boasting a Full collaboration on the new release with Rachel Barton Pine. Rachel, a world-renowned classical violinist brings her frightening classical chops to a relatively new instrument, the Viper.

Originally released in 2012, EARTHEN GRAVE's self-titled debut features 10 tracks of blistering Doom and Metal that left the critics grasping for superlatives. Terrorizer Magazine hailed "...Earthen Grave sounds old school without being retro, managing to go through every element on which lesser bands usually fail with exquisite grace and solemn subtlety..."

Now to be reissued through Ripple Music, the new edition of the album, produced by Ron Holzner, has been completely remastered with four bonus tracks including the new song, "Death is Another Word...." with new drummer Chris Wozniak (LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR) and the epic live Stargazer (Rainbow) with string section and virtuoso violinist Rachel Barton Pine.

And now the album will finally see a vinyl release! Double gatefold vinyl to be precise, featuring the 10 song remastered debut with the new song "Death is Another Word...." plus three bonus live tracks. One of the live tracks, "Death March Intro - End of my Daze," features TROUBLE guitarist Bruce Franklin. That's a whole new side of vinyl featuring the epic live Stargazer (Rainbow), plus three more live, never-before-released tracks.

EARTHEN GRAVE is dedicated to exploring new possibilities for the genre. As guitarist Jason Muxlow says, "It's not about being the heaviest band or the slowest - it's about having good songs. " second guitarist Tony Spillman and I played doom metal before it was even called that," Ron continues. "And for Jason, the music we pioneered was his influence. We're bringing the strands of the music together - and with the addition of Rachel using the violin as a core component of a metal band, and featuring multi-talented vocalist Mark Weiner we're taking the genre on a new journey."

Catch it all at www.ripple-music.com.

EARTHEN GRAVE has announced the following live dates.

Thursday March 28th Chicago Ridge, Illinois w/ Red Lamb (Dan Spitz X-Anthrax) https://www.facebook.com/events/417402081679144/

Saturday June 22nd Days of The Doomed Fest III Cudahy, Wisconsin https://www.facebook.com/events/418021214950612/

Saturday October 12th Denver Doom Fest III Denver, Colorado w/ The Skull + Evoken https://www.facebook.com/denverdoomfest3

Praise for Earthen Grave

"...Earthen Grave sounds old school without being retro, managing to go through every element on which lesser bands usually fail with exquisite grace and solemn subtlety..."
- Terrorizer

"...the integrity and honesty of the musical endeavour shines through, making this a thought-provoking, melancholic metal creation with some real magic..." - Zero Tolerance

"...a modern doom metal classic that will live beyond a mere best-of-the-year bestowing. 4.5/5" - Metal Underground

"...a unique and refreshing take on the doom metal genre. 8/10" - Doommantia

"...they take the Black Sabbath/Pentagram/Witchfinder General formula to another level by adding in Pine's lovely violin work, which gives these crushing songs an almost Kansas-ish feel to them in spots. 4/5" - Sea of Tranquility

"...one of the year's best doom newcomers." - Blistering

"...one of the most unique doom sounds I have heard in a long time. 9/10"
- This Is Not A Scene

Monday, March 11, 2013

Mighty High and Ripple Music Join Forces to Auction Rare Test Pressing for Charity






Cosmic Lava proclaims that the latest Mighty High slice of primal rock mayhem is "angry, funny and a powerful jolt of rebellious energy." Downtuned Mag boasts that Legalize Tre Bags is "an addictive, vulgar, raw, filthy son of a bitch. A thirty-minute bad-ass, pure garage-punk 'n' roll fun ride." And Ringmaster spits out "Legalize Tre Bags is a raucous feast of punk, weed, and middle finger attitude -- most of all it's a deeply satisfying slab of rock n roll."

Now, continuing Ripple Music's tradition of auctioning off it's rare test pressings for charity, Mighty High and Ripple have joined forces to auction the only original test pressings of Mighty High's block-buster new album, Legalize Tre Bags, with all proceeds going to benefit Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for Cancer Research.

With cancer being a deeply personal issue for both the band and label, they couldn't be happier to support this cause.

Now, this isn't just any old test pressing auction. What's being auctioned is the incredible rare locked-groove version of the album, with a repeating belch at the end of side one that was deleted from the official release. This is the ONLY version that includes the original version of the album. Due to time and financial constraints, this idea had to be abandoned.

But that's not all! Included with the test pressing is the original cover art and a signed poster featuring the mind-bending art of Braino.

You can find this rarest test pressing auction happening now on eBay Mighty High Test Press Auction

And don't forget the special Mighty High package, still available at the Ripple Music Store! This specially designed set was created to help fans get up to speed with the Mighty High story. The package includes every Mighty High release to date: Legalize Tre Bags black vinyl, the "Drops A Deuce" 7" vinyl, The Mighty High/Stone Axe split 7", the Heavy Ripples double 7" set featuring the Mighty High tune "Hempaphobic", and the bands first album, In Drug City, on CD. All of these are blessed with that wild, Crumb-inspired Braino artwork that Mighty High has become famous for. That's every Mighty High release on vinyl,  and the incredibly rare debut CD, all for one low price!

(Mighty High Deluxe Set)

So, if snotty rebellion played gloriously loud, with a big nod towards the 70's legends of Motorhead, Grand Funk, and AC/DC is your thing, Mighty High may have just released your album of the year! And, this is your chance to own the rarest Mighty High album of all time, the locked-groove test pressing, while helping out a worthy cause!

Auction is going on HERE