Dragon Fire: 31||12||23
The legendary Dragon Fire scours through the Earth once more, unearthing the latest campfire tales.
Cedric Vassal – Order In Chaos
We just have time for one more rapid round of Dragon Fire before the lid shuts on 2023. Christening this session is Order In Chaos from Cedric Vassal. This track, taken from his instrumental EP, Inner Kingdom, contains more noodles than your average Asian supermarket. Not always a good thing, but on here, it’s really rather enjoyable. Impressive musicianship if nothing else, and more expressive than you might imagine.
The press release says “It was at the age of 12, as an autodidact, that this musical journey began. Several involvements in various groups followed (Morpheus, Denied, Veil of Mist) and numerous scenes in France and Europe. With this experience, the time had come for him to make a childhood dream come true and to immerse himself body and soul in instrumental metal. His influences were forged on the melodies of the guitar heroes of the 1990s (Vinnie Moore, Tony Macalpnie, Joe Satriani…) but also on the riffs of more modern guitarists such as Jeff Loomis or Andy James.“
Get the album here.
Black Absinthe – Call Of The Void
The fairly basic production on Black Absinthe‘s Call Of The Void (see the YouTube audio track below) is testament to the fact that you don’t need to be super shiny to be effective. Coming in like Slayer meets Annihilator, slopped with equal parts black metal and groove, the music makes its own stand here, without too many modern bells and whistles. The full album, On Earth Or In Hell, is out March 27th. It seems likely to go out through their Bandcamp page found at the link down the page.
The band comments: “A thought, urging us to swerve into oncoming traffic or jump from the balcony ledge are contemplations of the mind found in reality. The French have a phrase for it, ‘L’appel du vide’. But where are these intrusive thoughts coming from? Is this instinct misread as temptation on our journey to survive? Or a defensive mechanism towards danger.”
Find more music from Black Absinthe here.
Dragon Fire: 31||12||23
Bloodsun – Swarms Ascension
Inverness based Bloodsun were a surprise contender from the North in 2023’s Metal 2 The Masses: Scotland. Fairly green on the scene, they still managed to smash their way straight to the finals. Their take on “metalcore” is quite like Lamb Of God in places, blended with the finest bleugh-hardcore. Swarms Ascension is their first real single, and it’s some way to start on recorded output.
Vocalist Aaron says “When I wrote the lyrics, I invisioned a brief story of turmoil. An invasion of parasites from the unknown that takes over one’s mind, and casting genocide to their close ones. It doesn’t necessarily have meaning per say. About the tune, it’s full of everything – Punchy, nasty riffs, solo, and a range of harsh vocals.”
Buy it here.
Volcano X – Demon King
Following on is another Scottish number – Demon King from Dundee’s heavy metal legends, Volcano X. The video below is almost certainly their finest visual work to date, and the track is a bit of a stormer to boot. Supplementing their usual old-school singalong style are some real evil vocal snippets, clever harmonies, and a great big slice of King Diamond. The whole thing is really well crafted. A proper cracker! More please!
Leading persona Johnny Steel comments “While the demons of the Abyss answer only to their own basic instincts, every single devil answers to the Lord of the Ninth, Asmodeus.”
Buy Demon King here.
Vltimas – Miserere
We’ve already covered Vltimas in SDM articles this week, but this track, Miserere, bears repeating. Aside from being a big, beautiful battering of blackened death-thrash, the personnel list is nuts! David Vincent (Morbid Angel), Rune Eriksen (Mayhem), and Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy) bring some hefty credentials to the table, and it shows. Full album, Epic, is coming March 15th on Season of Mist.
“We wrote every bit of Epic together at my ranch in Dime Box, Texas,” offers Vincent. “The writing sessions were as organic as they could be. There were times when, at the end of the night, Rune would take his guitar and play something ridiculous. Flo would play something even more ridiculous on top of it. I’d say to the guys, ‘I need to capture this.’ So, the magic [of Vltimas] is being in the same room together, discussing, playing, and recording music and everything else we’re doing together. We have unbelievable camaraderie.“
Pre-order Epic here.
Dragon Fire: 31||12||23
Aeons – Gollum’s Song (LotR)
Ok, so this last video has been knocking about for 6 weeks or so. But it has been getting repeat spins at SDM HQ, and the main point here is something else. Our Isle Of Man friends in Aeons recently signed a deal with Sliptrick Records… This means album number three – The Ghosts Of What We Knew – is on its way in 2024! This is one we’ll be looking forward to a lot!
They band say “Finally ! We get to tell you news we’ve been sat on for a while. Aeons are immensely proud to announce we have signed with Sliptrick Records ! This is a massive opportunity and an amazing next step in our journey. Not only that but we can now also announce our third album is ready to go! The Ghosts Of What We Knew has been with us for months and now it’s going to be unleashed via Sliptrick in 2024. So much awesome stuff happening! Thanks for being with us so far and stay with us for the next adventures to come. Peace.“
READ MORE NEWS IN DRAGON FIRE ON SLOW DRAGON MUSIC
Dragon Fire: 31||12||23
