A Band of Orcs
From:
Santa Cruz,
CA,
United States
Last Known Status: Active
Latest A Band of Orcs News
Below is our complete A Band of Orcs news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Displaying records 1 - 20 of 36 1 2 Last
A Band Of Orcs Working On EP
Following 2012's full-length album release "Adding Heads To The Pile" and 2015's brief EP excursion "March of the Gore-Stained Axe Tribe," A Band Of Orcs is finally working on new material.
The orcs issued this brief statement online: "Humans, pre-production wORC on our next EP has officially begun. Hail Gzoroth!!!!"
More info will be announced as blood-stained dispatches are received from the greenskins. In the meantime, check out the group's previous three song output below. More...
A Band Of Orcs Announces Orctoberfest
Santa Cruz, California’s most metal Halloween show returns this year with Orctoberfest 2015 on Friday, Orctober 23 at 8 PM in the Catalyst Atrium featuring A Band Of Orcs and the shredding human co-headliners Exmortus.
The performance from A Band Of Orcs will feature the band's new line up with Gronk! Shaman on
high scream vocals and Cretos Filthgrinder on shredding guitars and guttural growls. Oog Skullbasher will continue driving the war machine with his tribal beat downs and the latest adition to the band, Srig Foehammer on bass, will take the stage with the Orcs for the second time.
Be prepared for new material from the Orcs’ yet-to-be-named forthcoming concept album about transdimensional-mind-fucking-demon-spiders-from the Abyss, due out in the first quarter of 2016.
All you budding horror and fantasy make up and FX artists better bring you’re A-game. Trick or Treat Studios will be sponsoring a “Most Metal Costume Contest” judged by owner Chris Zephro and thee VP of Art Direction Justin Marby, whose designs are featured on almost every costume store in America’s shelves. More...
A Band Of Orcs Card Game Getting Expansion Set
Everybody's favorite full-costume death metal group A Band Of Orcs was featured in the bluffing card game Dubious Alliance, which is now getting an expansion titled Lair Of The Lich King, due out later this year. The following update was just issued about the progress on this new expansion set:
"How about a quick production update on the Lair of the Lich King? Illustrations are pouring in, so we remain on schedule for Kickstarter deliveries later this year.
"Here is one of the amazing illustrations from Evgani. The Lich King's Mass Confusion spell causes the tribe to turn on each other! Negative Survival cards for everyone." More...
A Band Of Orcs Releases New EP
Friday the 13th unlucky? Not in Hirntodia! Luckily for you humans A Band Of Orcs will release new music in defiance of your foolish superstitions.
For the first time since the Madness at the Core of Time Tour, the creatures in A Band Of Orcs will raid with D.R.I., Angerhead, The King Must Die, and Cultural Warfare at the Back Bar in San Jose, California Realm on April 3rd. Ahead of the band's return to the battlefield, A Band Of Orcs has begun beating the wardrums and unleashed a digital triple shot available at Bandcamp or in the player below.
Formerly a 5-piece war machine, A Band Of Orcs returns on this recording with Oog Skullbasher, Cretos Filthgrinder, and Gronk! the Shaman, as a death metal trio in the wake of the demise of two former WarChiefs.
If you are part of the Bay Area California Tribe and go to the raid with D.R.I. on April 3rd you will also have a chance to meet the newest and 4th member of A Band Of Orcs going forward, bass-player Srig Foehammer, who was liberated from the slave mines of the Hill Giants when the WarChiefs incited an uprising to defeat the horrid flesh traffickers – a tale told in the song “Of Broken Chains & Shattered Skulls” on the last concept album “Adding Heads to the Pile.” More...
A Band Of Orcs To Reveal New Member
Santa Cruz's very own A Band Of Orcs has a major revelation to bestow upon the humans of earth as the group prepares to announce the newest addition of the orc horde at an upcoming show on April 3rd in San Jose.
The orcs have been busy devouring souls in their homeland of Hirntodia after their last national tour with GWAR, and the time has come to unleash the next wave of assaults on humankind.
This new orcish raid and announcement will commence on Friday, April 3rd at Back Bar SoFa in San Jose, California.
Gronk! and Cretos will be handling the vocal assault for the night as they perform with D.R.I., Angerhead, The King Must Die, and Cultural Warfare. More...
Report
Housecore Sucessfully Blends Horror and Metal
Housecore Horror Film and Heavy metal festival masterminds, Corey Mitchell and Philip H. Anselmo brought Austin, Texas a rare entertainment opportunity, packaged in human flesh, marred by celluloid cigarette burns--a four-day, multi-stage, multi-tent, multi-everything horror-movie festival. Industry people arrived from all around the world to help support this lofty endeavor.
The gorier the better as many of the major stars of the film portion of the festival had participated in legendary blood spillers such as the "Nekromantik" film series (Director Jörg Buttgereit ), "Coffin Joe" (Director José Mojica Marins ) and "Friday the 13th." Ari Lehman made film history when Jason Voorhees finally sprung to life after the murder of his mother. Lehman attended the festival not only as a film celebrity, but as a musician. Nefarious of Macabre joined Lehman on stage in his First Jason band to perform campy horror metal songs about that guy in the hockey mask. More...
GWAR To Tour With A Band Of Orcs
The mighty GWAR is poised to return to the world of man as today the group announces the first leg of the massive "Madness at the Core of Time" world tour, in support of new album, "Battle Maximus," which is out September 17th on Metal Blade Records.
The tour, which features a completely brand-new show full of slavering creatures and deserving victims, is set to kick off October 2nd in Columbus, Ohio and runs through November 17th in Washington, DC. Tickets go on sale this Friday August 2nd.
Said verbose front-thing Oderus Urungus, "Our loyal slaves have been laboring ceaselessly to create the ultimate GWAR show, and for this they have received nothing but abuse and torment. I know our legions of loyal fans will be delighted to experience a whole new cast of ridiculous characters, all of whom shall meet exceedingly messy ends to the soundtrack of slaughter that our new album shall provide. Get ready world...GWAR is coming!"
GWAR shall be joined by deathcore heavyweights and label-mates Whitechapel, Richmond, VA thrashers Iron Reagan (featuring Municipal Waste singer Tony Foresta) and A Band of Orcs (which is actually a band of Orcs).
The tour comes after an intense lead-up period, feautring the debut of a GWAR beer and GWAR B-Q sauce, several mini-tours and convention appearances, the second season of Oderus on FEAR.net's sitcom Holliston, and finally the fourth annual GWAR-B-Q. Tickets and more information on the GWAR-B-Q can be found at this location. More...
Exclusive
A Band Of Orcs Premieres Full New Album
The prelimary invasion of the soft, weak races of Earth began with "WarChiefs of the Apocalypse" (reviewed here), and the orcs took a brief side trek to metal-up the fantasy miniature world, but now it's officially time to add even more heads to the pile!
The debut full-length album from A Band of Orcs, "Adding Heads to the Pile," doesn't see it's official release (and the subsequent enslavement of all mankind) until Halloween through Itchy Metal Entertainment, but now you lucky few get the chance to hear the release in full, and possibly be spared orcish wrath come the Domination.
The album tells a tale of A Band of Orcs' mercenary employment for a human kingdom in the realm of Hirntodia. This craven kingdom of humans hires the Gore-Stained Axe Tribe to "settle their giant troubles" for them with axe and spear, but they get a lot more than they bargained for, once the orcs fulfill the terms of their geas by vanquishing the giants and returning to pay the piper.
Give all 13 tracks of the album a listen in the player below (the songs may take a few seconds to load the songs after hitting "play.") If you dig the death metal you hear and don't want to be eaten by orcs on the 31st, pre-order "Adding Heads to the Pile" right here.
A lyric video for "In The Keeper's Chamber" can also be found below, and the album's track listing is as follows:
1. Prepare for Domination
2. When the Hills Run Red
3. In the Keeper's Chamber
4. Of Broken Chains & Shattered Skulls
5. Wyrd of the Winter Wolf
6. The Darkness that Comes Before (Interlude)
7. Hall of the Frozen Dead
8. Lair of the Ice Wyrm
9. Stormbringer
10. At the Mouth of Fire
11. Fall of the Fire Lord
12. Adding Heads to the Pile
13. A Deeper Evil (Instrumental) More...
A Band Of Orcs Releases New Lyric Video
The new A Band Of Orcs album "Adding Heads to the Pile" is due out on Halloween, with pre-orders available right here. In celebration of the impending release, the orcs have also now released a lyric video for "In the Keeper's Chamber," which can be viewed below. The full album's track listing is:
1. Prepare for Domination
2. When the Hills Run Red
3. In the Keeper's Chamber
4. Of Broken Chains & Shattered Skulls
5. Wyrd of the Winter Wolf
6. The Darkness that Comes Before (Interlude)
7. Hall of the Frozen Dead
8. Lair of the Ice Wyrm
9. Stormbringer
10. At the Mouth of Fire
11. Fall of the Fire Lord
12. Adding Heads to the Pile
13. A Deeper Evil (Instrumental) More...
A Band Of Orcs Playing Summer Slaughter Date
After tasting blood at the local date of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival earlier this season, underground metal monsters A Band of Orcs have succeeded in storming the gates of the last date of the Summer Slaughter Tour on August 25th at the Grove of Anaheim. Also playing are Cannibal Corpse, Between The Buried And Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil Of Maya, Job For A Cowboy, Goatwhore, Exhumed, and Cerebral Bore.
This represents a step forward for the orcs in their attempt to bring about the Domination, the orc-style ear-drum apocalypse of your frail human realm. Southern California metalheads who want to attend the show should plan on showing up early to catch A Band of Orcs (1:30pm PST) as they claw their way to the top of the metal heap while adding more heads to the pile.
Following up on 2007's "WarChiefs of the Apocalypse" EP (reviewed here), A Band of Orcs has a new full-length album due out soon, with the release date now pushed back to the end of September. When asked about the delay, bass player and shaman for the band, Gronk!, had this to say, "Us get put behind when us decided to join battle for Mayhem and play some other dates in July. Us live for live raids! But Gogog and us finish brutal vocals last week. Now, audio sorcerer need time to mix magic. All powerful sorcery take time. Hail Gzoroth!!!"
By audio sorcerer, Gronk! means engineer/producer Juan Urteaga of Trident Studios in Pacheco, CA whose most recent credits include chart-busting albums like Machine Head's "Unto the Locust" and Testament's "Dark Roots of the Earth."
The A Band of Orcs Summer Slaughter set will include several tracks from the forthcoming album
"Adding Heads to the Pile," including the latest single released through Itchy Metal Entertainment entitled "In the Keeper's Chamber."
A Band Of Orcs Streaming New Song
The almighty A Band of Orcs finally has new tunes available for the human masses. The first to surface is the song “In The Keepers Chamber,” which is being premiered via Hails And Horns Magazine. Headbang to the track over at this location or in the player below.
Tomorrow, A Band of Orcs will also be playing the Headbang for the Highway Battle for Mayhem in Santa Clara, CA at The Avalon. We also recently unveiled the cover artwork for the band's upcoming new album, which can be found here. More...
A Band Of Orcs Launches Kickstarter Campaign
The guitar wielding goblinoids in A Band of Orcs recently revealed the cover artwork for an upcoming new self-titled album, and now they have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for releasing a double vinyl picture disc edition. Check out the details on the fundraiser at this location, and the band commented:
It's bold. It's stupid. It doesn't make sense, and that's why we're doing it. We have always been entranced by the mythical visionscapes on LP's and picture discs of the heavy metal greats like Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Slayer. So that's what we're doing. CDs are too small for the epicness of A Band of Orcs debut concept album about slaying giants in the home realm of Hirntodia...
The very best way to present our album is in a double vinyl picture disc set, complete with a 12-page art & lyrics booklet. To hell with what makes sense in today's digital music environment! Not like your human world makes any sense anyway. We believe in the traditional values of metal--great visual art, spectacular music from start to finish, and well, general epicness. What's more epic than a double vinyl picture disc set?!?!?
If you don’t have a record player, don’t worry, all the sets will come with a download code for the digital version of the album. You can keep this picture-disc artifact as a relic of bygone times, or you can simply pledge your support for a digital copy and forego the record set altogether. Either way, you contribute to raising the money necessary to help us pay the production costs of this ancient metal practice of actually making "a record."More...
Exclusive
A Band Of Orcs Reveals New Album Artwork
It seems like an epoch since A Band of Orcs debuted in Orctober of 2007 with the "WarChiefs of the Apocalypse" EP (reviewed here) and the accompanying “Into the Maelstrom” video. Since that time the band also contributed a Type O Negative cover to our Peter Steele tribute album, and released a set of fantasy gaming minis.
Now, 5 years later, the monsters of DIY underground metal strike back with a self-titled full-length concept album, detailing the adventures of the Gore-Stained Axe Tribe as they war against the giants of Hirntodia. This offering is produced (executive producer Gruesom Grimp) and engineered by Juan Urteaga of Trident Studios, whose most recent engineering credits include Machine Head’s “Unto the Locust” and portions of Testament’s upcoming “The Black Roots of Earth.”
Metalunderground.com is proud to host the exclusive unveiling of the artwork for the new self-titled album, which can be viewed below.
The story relates, in the form of 12 metal tales, how the Gore-Stained Axe Tribe (i.e., A Band of Orcs and orc-kin in the home realm of Hirntodia) come to be hired and geased (if you don’t know what that means, check out this Wikipedia article) into settling some “giant troubles” for a neighboring human kingdom. The orcs don’t appreciate the coercion of the geas too much and vow to return and settle the score with the human kingdom after they fulfill the terms of their quest and vanquish the titan foes of the realm. More...
Peter Steele Tribute: Time Is Running Out
Well over a year ago, Dan Mitchell (of Autumns Eyes) pitched the idea of putting together a tribute album to Peter Steele (Type O Negative, Carnivore) for release on the first anniversary of his passing.
After Dan, Ty (Metalunderground.com Content Manager) and I spent countless hours coordinating and working to make this project happen, and a dozen bands volunteered to record cover songs the tribute on their own dime, "All For None, None For All: A Tribute To Peter Steele" came to fruition and was released last year on April 14, 2011. It's safe to say that we were very pleased with the final result. I was amazed at the quality of all of the songs and pleased with the variety, making it one of my favorite albums of the year.
The only thing we were not pleased with was that we were forced to charge for this album in order to cover licensing fees and "do this the right way" (i.e. legally). We would have much rather released the tribute for free and see it spread as far and wide as possible - for fans everywhere to hear these great renditions of Type O Negative and Carnivore classics as performed by quality underground metal bands. But that was not possible and we settled on the bare minimum price to cover all of the fees: $3 USD per download.
Figuring out the licensing process was an effort unto itself, and in the end we had to pre-purchase a fixed number of licenses. These licenses are only good for a year, and their expiration is rapidly approaching in just days. The last day you will be able to purchase "All For None, None For All: A Tribute To Peter Steele" directly from us will be April 13, 2012.
It would be a shame to see this tribute disappear entirely. We may get the album up on other services such as Amazon.com. (iTunes does not let us set the price, so the album will not be available there). But there are no guarantees on this, or that it will be available in all territories. But one thing is for sure: This is your last chance to buy this full album download for a mere $3.00 (USD), as the fees for other storefronts (who handle the licensing) are higher and will have to be factored in to the price.
If you're a fan of Type O Negative, underground metal or this site (Metalunderground.com), please show us your support by ordering a copy of this tribute so we can fulfill all of the licenses that we purchased and get this compilation out to as many people as possible. If you have friends who may enjoy it, buy them a copy. What's $3 for a full album?
The track listing, which includes interpretations ranging from depressive rock to power metal to death metal and black metal, are as follows:
1. Auvernia – “I Don’t Wanna Be Me”
2. Fairytale Abuse – “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)”
3. Stabbingback – “Halloween in Heaven”
4. Emancer – “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend”
5. Dead Shape Figure – “Dead Again”
6. Enthrope – “Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)”
7. Dark Hound – “Life is Killing Me”
8. A Band of Orcs – “Green Man”
9. In.Verno – “Everything Dies”
10. Blind Greed – “Christian Woman”
11. Revilement – “Sex and Violence”
12. Autumns Eyes – “Love You To Death”
You can find more information and links to buy "All For None, None For All: A Tribute To Peter Steele" here. You'll also find some wallpapers and a PDF of the booklet there for free download.
Thanks for your support.
A Band Of Orcs Checks In With Recording Update
A Band of Orcs has checked in with the following update about recording a new album and launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the release:
"Humans,
"Here's a sneak peak behind the scenes of the audio-sorcery taking place at Trident Studios, with the wizard himself, Juan Urteaga, as he tracks the brutal rhythms of Oog Skullbasher. There's a small but meaty strip of a new song at the end of the video. Hail Gzoroth!
"Thanks for helping us make the most metal thing to hit your face in 2012. Please proselytize the wicked and tell your friends. We need to hit our pledge goal by December 3rd, so let's reckon the number of Gzoroth, because the we know the time grows short.
"Hail Gzoroth!!!"
In other recent news, the orcs released a set of fantasy gaming miniatures (reviewed here), and also recorded a Type O Negative cover song for Metalunderground.com's digital Peter Steele tribute album.
A Band Of Orcs Streaming "Wyrd Of The Winter Wolf"
A Band of Orcs has posted the song "Wyrd of the Winter Wolf" online for streaming, which was included with the pre-sale edition of the band's recently released gaming miniatures.
You can check out the song in the player below, or find the demo's cover artwork at this location.
A Band Of Orcs Reveals New Miniature Set
After recently announcing a digital demo will be made available with pre-sale orders of the band's new fantasy gaming miniature set, A Band of Orcs has now also revealed images of the finished minis.
You can check out the painted miniatures below, or see the unpainted versions and original concept artwork after the jump. The miniatures were sculpted by Patrick Keith, and the concept art was handled by Chuck Lukacs.
Pre-sale information on the miniature set is available at this location.
A Band Of Orcs Releasing Demo With Gaming Minis
A Band of Orcs has announced the presale is now active for 100 sets of the "Gore-Stained Axe Tribe" official gaming miniatures, which will be numbered and included autographed packaging.
A digital copy of the "Wyrd of the Winter Wolf" 2-song demo will also be included with the limited edition minis. The track listing and artwork for the demo are available below.
1. Wyrd of the Winter Wolf
2. Hall of the Frozen Dead
A Band Of Orcs Releasing Miniature Set
Green skinned death metal act A Band Of Orcs, which covered the Type O Negative song "Green Man" for our digital Type O Negative tribute album, will soon be releasing a line of 28mm fantasy miniatures. A statement from the band's website reads as follows:
"We the denizens of Orc Tower are positively, diabolically giddy to announce that we have teamed up with Impact! Miniatures in a joint venture to produce a 28mm miniature set based on – you guessed it – the harbingers of the Domination… A Band of Orcs!
"The set will include all five warchiefs of the Gore-Stained Axe Tribe – Gogog Bloodthroat, Cretos Filthgrinder, Hulg ElfR.I.P.per, Oog Skullbasher and Gronk! in poses with their instruments. These minis will make a brutal addition to your Warhammer armies, a great coaching staff or vip crowd members for your fantasy football teams, or you can simply paint them and role-play the inevitable Domination!
"We tapped our erstwhile slave and chaos chronicler renowned artist Chuck Lukacs, longtime veteran of the war on human ear drums and the painter responsible for the A Band of Orcs’ Burning Shield and Axe logo, Ugly is Sexy t-shirt design and the WarChiefs of the Apocalypse EP cover, among other pieces of orctastic proporcanda, to provide the sketches upon which our monstrous visages will be based. Impact! and A Band of Orcs will release Chuck’s sketches over the coming weeks with the miniatures set for release at Gencon (the original, longest running and best attended RPG and war-gaming convention in the world) in early August. Patrick Keith, a magician of metal sculpture in the gaming industry, will bring these mini- manifestations of your brutal orc masters to life."
Metalunderground.com's xFiruath also commented on the upcoming minis:
"Heavy metal music anthems have been a staple of weekly gaming sessions for years, and now the two worlds are about to collide violently as the guitar wielding orcs invade the fantasy miniature market. You don’t get names like 'Skullbasher' or 'Bloodthroat' through brutal riffs alone though, as my poor players are going to find out when these minis hit the gaming table. So pull out the paints, crank up the volume, and hope your gaming group gets spared come the orc Domination."
Site Update
Peter Steele Tribute Album Officially Released
A year ago we lost one of heavy metal’s iconic voices with the untimely death of Type O Negative’s Peter Steele. Twelve bands hailing from Europe and both North and South America have lent their talents to pay tribute to the gothic metal giant and ensure his music continues to be played by fans all across the world.
In collaboration with Beneath the Woods studios and a dozen of the finest underground bands, Metalunderground.com is very proud to announce that “All For None, None For All: A Tribute To Peter Steele” is now officially available. All twelve tracks from the album and a PDF booklet containing words from the bands are available for $3, which covers the costs of the mechanical license and the transaction fees. Metalunderground.com will be donating any leftover profits to charity.
You can buy your copy of the album as an immediate digital download starting today.
We would like to personally thank all of the bands involved for their fantastic contributions, and to all our readers who have stuck by us throughout the years. There's a little something for everyone in this tribute album, and we hope you'll love it just as much as we do.
Dan Mitchell of Beneath The Woods Studios also added, "My original idea was to find bands that were only interested in paying tribute to Peter, and not getting caught up in the politics of it all. No talks of money, labels, suits, or anyone trying to suck the life out of it. Just a straight up tribute. While we had people from Dave Ellefson to Anathema showing interest, their schedules are too busy from prior commitments.
“If you look back at Type O Negative's catalogue, they covered various songs by artists that were much different from the original. There were most definitely fans of Neil Young who hated their rendition of 'Cinnamon Girl,' and Seals and Crofts fans who hated 'Summer Breeze.' There were even fans of Sabbath who hated Type O's rendition of a Sabbath song.
“However, Johnny Kelly put it best when he said ‘These are what those songs would have sounded like if WE wrote them, its our interpretation of the material.’ That was actually his response to me commenting on how ‘different’ the music on this tribute is.”
To hear what the bands have to offer with their cover songs, two teaser trailers are available below. The groups involved in the tribute have also conducted a series of interviews with Metalunderground to talk about Peter Steele’s legacy and the future of metal icons. You can read about how Autumns Eyes, Dark Hound, and Fairytale Abuse approached their cover songs and how Peter Steele influenced them. More...
