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Interview

Darkest Hour: Still Strong After Twenty Five Years

Metalcore is a genre which has had something of an image problem among the "true" metal elitists over the years. Frankly, it can be hard to define at times, so it's easier to lump some bands in with the style when they either never played it or moved on to something else. But there's always been bands in any genre which have shined bright and earned praise from even the harshest critics of a style. One such band which has received this status is Washington D.C.'s own, Darkest Hour.

During the band's beefy European tour, I was lucky enough to catch up with guitarist Mike Schleibaum, along with Fallujah (see interview here) and Une Misere, to discuss the trek, as well as work on a new album, their twenty fifth anniversary and what was learned from growing up in the D.C. hardcore scene. You can watch the interview in full below.

Diamond Oz: Straight into it, right now you're on tour with Fallujah and Une Misere. How did this combination come about?

Mike Schleibaum: Right now we are on tour with Fallujah, Une Misere, Bloodlet and Lowest Creature. Lowest Creature is badass, they're from Sweden and they're fucking awesome. They were... not our pick or anything but they were the young band that, we just loved their vibe and after seeing them live I'm so excited about it. Then the second band is Une Misere, they're from Iceland and they put on an incredible show from the second minute and being from Iceland, you've gotta be really good to rise out of there.

So you've got a more old school new band and a more new school new band, then you have a very special band called Bloodlet, who are a band that has songs that are older than Darkest Hour and they're a band that influenced Darkest Hour. We sort of trudged them up from the Florida swamp and brought them out here just to remind everybody we come from all places. Old, hardcore, metalcore version one, whatever you want to call it. Then lastly is Fallujah who are there to round it all out because they're like insanely good musicians. Great, progressive death metal. Smart, forward thinking, good shit. So that kind of rounds out an awesome tour package and it's a long night but we've felt a lot of energy from people at the end so I think it's a good party in general.

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Viscera Posts New Music Video Online

UK death metal powerhouse, Viscera, have premiered a music video for their new song "Immersed In Ire". The track is from the group's forthcoming debut album, "Obsidian," which will see a March 6 release via Unique Leader. Watch the clip below.

Obsidian sees the band, which features a veteran lineup that includes ex - Sylosis and Heart Of A Coward vocalist Jamie Graham as well as former members of Martyr Defiled and Abhorrent Decimation, immediately establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in extreme metal. The nine track effort showcases all of the fearless brutality, thrilling technicality, and song writing maturity that one would expect from musicians of their pedigree.

The album was mixed and mastered by Michael Leo Valeri (Brand of Sacrifice) with artwork being provided by Shindy Reehal (Ingested, Harbinger).

Tracklisting:

1. Delilah
2. Immersed In Ire
3. Lamb To The Slaughter
4. Carpe Noctem
5. Affliction
6. Hammers And Nails
7. Lilith
8. Obsidian
9. Silentium More...

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Assassin Posts New Song Online

Germany-based thrash commando, Assassin, will release their new album, "Bestia Immundis," on February 7 via Massacre Records. A lyric video for new single, "No More Lies," can be found below.

"Bestia Immundis" was mixed by Marc Görtz at the Nemesis Studio, and mastered by Olman V. Wiebe (aka Olman Viper) at the Hertzwerk Studio. Dirk Freder created the cover artwork.

The upcoming album promises to be aggressive, powerful and heavy but also varied, and offers a nice mix of speed and thrash metal with hardcore and punk influences.

"Bestia Immundis" will be available as CD Digipak, limited edition Gatefold Vinyl LP as well as download and stream. More...

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Pentagram To Play Mexico Metal Fest V

Doom pioneers and veterans, Pentagram, is the latest band to be added to an already varied Mexico Metal Fest V lineup.

Mexico Metal Fest V already includes:

Mayhem
Batushka
Destruction
Sodom
Entombed A.D.
Immolation
Tankard and then some!

The festival will take place November 14, 2020 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

Tickets are on sale now and more bands will be announced.

Mexico Metal Fest Tickets Can Be Found Here! More...

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Abbath Parts Company With Bassist

Mia W. Wallace, AKA Soulfucker, bassist for Triumph Of Death and Niryth, has announced that she has parted company with Abbath's eponymous band. A post on her Facebook reads as follows:

"It is with sadness I have been forced to part ways with Abbath. It has been a challenging but exhilarating/exciting time and I am proud of my contribution to the Outstrider album, the concerts, the videos for Harvest Pyre and Hecate and the visuals and promotion of the band in general. For me, being a part of Abbath was a dream come true and I can say with my hand on my heart I have been loyal to the team and to Abbath himself. Everyone can see this from the Argentina concert where I stood on the stage until the bitter end. I have not always agreed with certain other people in the Abbath camp and I have given my opinion honestly without anger or negative intent.

"Unfortunately not everyone can take this.

"I am disappointed that none of my former colleagues have contacted me in this process except for the five minute phone call from Abbath's manager in which I was told I would no longer be needed.

"I was told not to contact anyone in the band. The explanation for this had no substance and just made more questions and confusion for me. Up until then I had been preparing for the European tour as I had been told to do. I had to cancel other plans, and get time off work for the tour which I spent much time preparing for.

"I am truly grateful for all the support from the fans, media, everyone at Season of Mist and collaborators of Abbath!

"Thank you so much! It means everything to me in this difficult time.

"I also wish only the best for Abbath whom I will always admire as an artist and thank him for the opportunity he has given me. Now I shall focus on my next step. Several very interesting new projects are in the works. I promise you have not heard the last of me.

"Ciao."

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Napalm Death Announces North American Tour

British grindcore pioneers Napalm Death has announced that they will be embarking on a headlining tour of North America this April. Joining them on the trek will be Belgian deathgrind veterans Aborted, as well as The Locust on the West Coast dates, Wvrm and on select dates, Tombs.

The tour dates are as follows:

April 3 - Philadelphia, PA @ Decibel Metal & Beer Fest
April 4 - Philadelphia, PA @ Decibel Metal & Beer Fest
April 9 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco Theater *
April 10 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall *
April 14 - Portland, OR @ Bossanova Ballroom *
April 15 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo *
April 17 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall ^
April 18 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theater ^
April 19 - Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room Monday ^
April 20 - St Louis, MO @ Red Flag ^
April 21 - Milwaukee, WI @ Miramar Theater ^
April 22 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze ^
April 23 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews ^
April 24 - Chicago, IL @ Reggies Rock Club ^#
April 25 - Toronto, Canada @ Opera House ^#
April 26 - Ottawa, Canada @ Brass Monkey ^#
April 28 - Quebec City, Canada @ La Source ^#
April 29 - Montreal, Canada @ Fairmount Theater ^#
April 30 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club ^#
May 1 - Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus ^#
May 3 - Washington, WA @ Black Cat ^#
May 4 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall ^#
May 6 - Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum Tampa ^#
May 7 - Miami, FL @ Churchill’s Pub ^#
May 8 - Orlando, FL @ The Haven ^#
May 9 - Atlanta, GA @ 529 Gallery ^#
May 10 - New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks ^#
May 11 - San Antonio, TX @ The Rock Box ^#
May 13 - Albuquerque, NM @ LaunchPad ^#
May 14 - Phoenix, AZ @ Club Red ^#
May 15 - San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick ^#
May 16 - Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory ^#

* - with The Locust
^ - with Aborted, WVRM
# - with Tombs

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Sick Of It All And Agnostic Front Announce Tour

Two of the biggest names in New York hardcore, Sick Of It All and Agnostic Front, have announced that they will be teaming up for a tour across Canada and the United States this April.

Agnostic Front's Roger Miret comments, "Really excited to kick-off this tour with our NYHC peers Sick Of It All!!! It’s been a long time coming and now is the time to bring some classic NYHC to the East Coast!!! See you in the pit."

Sick Of It All's Armand Majidi comments, "Following-up on our sold out NYC borough tour together, we’re very excited to announce the 2020 Agnostic Front/Sick Of It All East Coast tour. It’s always great to play with other classic New York bands, and Agnostic Front almost wrote the American hardcore handbook, so this will be extra special. When two of the kings of New York come to your town, it’s gonna be clobberin’ time with the godfathers of hardcore, so be a part of it and help keep this movement buzzing into the new decade!"

The tour dates are as follows: More...

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Beggar Premiere New Song "Black Cloud"

London based doom/sludge band Beggar premiere a new track titled "Black Cloud", taken from their upcoming new album "Compelled to Repeat", which will be out in stores on April 3 via APF.

Check out now "Black Cloud" below.

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Aeonian Sorrow Pre-Release Full-Album Streaming

Multinational funeral doom outfit Aeonian Sorrow premiere the pre-release full-album stream of the band's upcoming new album "A Life Without", which will land in stores on February 7th.

Check out now "A Life Without" in its entirety below.

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Summon Premiere Pre-Release Full-Album Stream

Portuguese black/death outfit Summon premiere the pre-release full-album stream of the band's upcoming new album "Helios", which will be released on February 2nd via Godz Ov War Productions.

Check out now "Helios" in its entirety below.

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Turian Premiere Pre-Release Full-Album Stream

Seattle-based grindcore band Turian premiere the pre-release full-album stream of the band's upcoming new EP "Spiral & The Hermit", which will be released on March 20th by Buster Room Records.

Check out now "Spiral & The Hermit" in its entirety below.

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Hear TBDM Singer Guest On New Graverape Song

Listen to The Black Dahlia Murder vocalist Trevor Strnad guesting on the recently premiered song “Feast On The Deceased” from Detroit, MI’s Graverape below. That track is slated for Graverape‘s new record “Exhuming Decay“, out this Friday, January 31st.

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Vader Premiere New Song & Lyric Video

A lyric video for the new Vader song “Shock And Awe” has premiered online and is streaming via YouTube for you below. “Shock And Awe” will be the opening track of the group’s impending new album, “Solitude In Madness“, out in stores this spring through Nuclear Blast.

Say Vader of this new single: More...

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