Monday 28 June 2010

Vampire Vol.1

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Tuesday 22 June 2010

Morbid Angel

Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida. They, along with Death, Possessed, Obituary, Massacre, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, and a handful of others were crucial in the development of the death metal genre and its standards, separating it from thrash metal completely. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked two Morbid Angel albums in its "Top 40 Greatest Death Metal Albums," with their 1989 debut Altars of Madness appearing at number 1. Decibel Magazine also rated guitarist Trey Azagthoth as the number 1 "Death Metal Guitarist Ever". The band's songs are complex in arrangement, owing to the considerable technical skills of both Azagthoth and drummer Pete Sandoval (who also played in the grindcore/death metal band Terrorizer). According to Nielsen SoundScan, Morbid Angel is the third best-selling death metal band in the United States with sales over 445,000 in the United States alone, with their third album Covenant being the best-selling death metal album of all time in the United States, at over 127,000 units sold.

Morbid Angel was formed in 1983 in Tampa, Florida. The band made their debut in 1987 on New Renaissance Records. They recorded their debut album, Abominations of Desolation, in 1986, but the band was unsatisfied with the final product and it remained unreleased until 1991. Their first proper studio album, Altars of Madness, was released in 1989.

Morbid Angel was one of the original death metal bands signed to Earache Records, and was also influential in the transition of death metal from its thrash metal roots to its current form by adding guttural vocals, up-tempo blast beats, incorporating atonality in guitar soloing, and dark, chunky, mid-paced rhythms. They were also the first death metal band to have a touch of mainstream success, such as being signed to Giant Records in 1992 and having the music video for the song "God of Emptiness" shown on an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.

The band's original lyrical themes focused mostly on Satanism, Occultism and anti-Christian subject matter, but from Blessed Are the Sick onward, the lyrics slowly moved toward the ancient Sumerian gods. Much of this is a nod to the Simon Necronomicon, which was influenced by Sumerian mythology as well as the author H. P. Lovecraft, as well as a fascination with the Roman Empire, though anti-religious elements continue to permeate the lyrics. Their albums are notable for being released in alphabetical order (their first album starts with the letter A, the second with B, etc.). Guitarist Trey Azagthoth has said in an interview that it was a coincidence with the first two albums, but has been done consciously since then.

As stated on their official website, Morbid Angel's appearance on some of the mid-summer 2008 European festivals is announced as a "short break from writing and pre-production of their new 8th Studio album." Morbid Angel is currently under contract with French label Season of Mist and the label will release their new album in 2010. In May 2008, it was announced Thor Anders Myhren of Zyklon would be the band's new touring guitarist.Myhren will also appear on the new album.

During European tours and festivals in 2008 a new song, "Nevermore", has been played from the forthcoming album.

On March 18, 2010, the band announced that Tim Yeung would play drums on the upcoming album, allowing Pete Sandoval to recover from back surgery.


Metal Community™
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Moonspell

Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band with death, doom and black metal elements, formed in 1992. They released their first EP, Under the Moonspell in 1994, a year before the release of their first album Wolfheart. The band quickly gained status and became one of the most recognizable metal bands from Portugal.

Moonspell reached the Portuguese top first with their album Sin/Pecado, and were, along with Metallica and Iron Maiden, the only metal band to reach the first place of the Portuguese charts after the release of their album, Memorial, in 2006.With Memorial, Moonspell also became the first Portuguese heavy metal band to have a record certified gold status.[3] They are also very popular in Germany, where Memorial entered at 68th in the Top 100 Chart.


History
Early days (1992–1994)


Although they had been playing since 1989 under the name of "Morbid God",the band became Moonspell in 1992, the same year they released the promo track "Serpent Angel". In 1993, singer Fernando Ribeiro, drummer Miguel Gaspar and bass player Ares (not to be confused with Aires

Breakthrough (1995–1997)

After the release of mini-album Under the Moonspell, Moonspell signed with Century Media for six CDs. Wolfheart was recorded in Germany with producer Waldemar Sorychta and was released in 1995 and was followed by a European tour. Although the album had little or no recognition at the beginning. During the tour, guitarist Mantus quit the band and was replaced by Ricardo Amorim.

For 1995's Irreligious, the band again recorded with producer Waldemar Sorychta. While previous album was considered black metal, this one fell into the genre of gothic metal. The song "Opium" became the first Moonspell single. It quoted one of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms, Álvaro de Campos, on his poem "Opiário" and its music video, featured the character of poet writing in a bar with the band playing. Along with the release of the album in a convent, the Convento do Beato, there were factors that helped the band selling 10,000 copies of the album in their homeland.

After conflicts with the band involving lawsuits, bass player Ares left the band and was replaced by Sérgio Crestana.

Experimenting (1998–2000)

Sin/Pecado (Pecado means "sin" in Portuguese) was released in 1998. It had a bigger experimental nature than its predecessors. The song 2econd Skin was released as a single. At the time they released the one and only Daemonarch album, Hermeticum. Daemonarch was a side project composed by all Moonspell members but drummer Mike Gaspar. The album was seen as a return to their black metal roots and its lyrics were all written by singer Fernando Ribeiro between the age of 14 and 16.

Sin/Pecado was followed in 1999 by The Butterfly Effect, recorded in London and produced by Andy Reilly. This album is considered to be very experimental in nature as well. Featuring "down-tuned guitar riffs, eerie synthesizer passages",the album was mainly composed by guitarist/keyboard player Pedro Paixão and was not very well received by metal critics.

Darkness and Hope and The Antidote (2001–2005)
Fernando Ribeiro during a live show in Spain in 2006

Darkness and Hope was released in 2001 and was produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa, producer of Sentenced and HIM. The album reached 79th on German charts and special editions included covers of Madredeus, Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley" and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart". "Nocturna" was released as a single and music video.

In 2003, the band released The Antidote, with Niclas Etelävuori from Amorphis playing as a session musician on the bass guitar. The album was released with a book with the same title written by Portuguese writer José Luís Peixoto. Both the CD and book share the same concept and story and each song in the CD is sister to a chapter in the book that enhances the story in the lyrics. "Everything Invaded" was released as a single and music video. The band toured extensively around the world, playing at Rock in Rio Lisbon in 2004, a concert that brought them to more mainstream attention in Portugal. From this album on, the tours feature Aires Pereira on the bass.

In early 2004 the band recorded a cover of the jazz standard "I'll see you in my dreams" for the soundtrack of a Portuguese horror movie of the same name. There is an official music video of this song featuring footage from the film itself.

Memorial, Under Satanæ and Night Eternal (2006–present)

Memorial was released in 2006. Recorded with the producer of their first three albums Waldemar Sorychta, who also recorded the bass guitar parts, it was the first to be released under their new label SPV Steamhammer. The album topped the Portuguese album chart on its first week and also broke into the German Top 100 at number 68.Memorial achieved gold status in Portugal after selling 10,000 copies, making Moonspell the first Portuguese heavy metal band to achieve that.

Although the album is heavier than the previous, it was very well received and its release was featured in various Portuguese news broadcasts. A new release of the album was released in December 2006 and featured a DVD with live performances and the music videos made for the album. Music videos for "Finisterra" and "Luna" were released.

The band is currently working on releasing a DVD entitled Lunar Still/13 Years of Doom, but is having some issues of a legal nature and has been forced to delay the release, originally expected in September 2005. It has been pushed later to 9 December 2008 with a new title: Lusitanian Metal.

On November 2, 2006, Moonspell won an MTV Europe Music Award in the category of Best Portuguese Act.

The Great Silver Eye, a best-of album, was released on June 26, 2007.

In 2007, Moonspell released Under Satanæ, a re-recording of early songs.

The newest album is called Night Eternal. It was released on May 16, 2008. The lead single off the album, Scorpion Flower, features Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering).

Moonspell performed the "Blackest of The Black" tour with Danzig, Winds of Plague, Dimmu Borgir, and Skeletonwitch.

Moonspell toured Europe with Cradle of Filth, Gorgoroth, Septic Flesh and Asrai ("The Darkest Tour: Filthfest") in December 2008, and took part in a European tour with Cradle of Filth and Turisas, dubbed the "Darkest Tour:Filthfest 2", in April and May 2009.
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