Exciting news for Ensiferum
fans! The band have announced that their new album, to be titled
Unsung Heroes, will be released on August 27th.
Clocking in at over an hour of metal, Unsung Heroes will
feature 10 tracks – including the epic, 16-minute 'Passion Proof
Power'. In a statement on their official
website, the band said: “We've tried to push the different
aspects of what we do as far as we can, the sonic scope is wider than
ever. The folk elements go further down that path and the metallic
parts will absolutely rip your face off!”
The tracklist is as follows:
- Symbols
- In My Sword I Trust
- Unsung Heroes
- Burning Leaves
- Celestial Bond
- Retribution Shall Be Mine
- Star Queen (Celestial Bond part II)
- Pohjola
- Last Breath
- Passion Proof Power
They're not the only band who have
announced new material. Egyptian progressive metal band Sand Aura
have announced their debut album, entitled Elegy of the Orient.
Six of the tracks will be re-recorded versions of tracks which
appeared on the earlier Elegy of the Orient EP, but also
includes some new material. The tracklist is as follows:- The Sand Aura (From the Land of Nod)
- Aljahelia
- The Orphaned Child I (Pilgrimage for his Name)
- The Orphaned Child II (Fountain in the Desert)
- Fountains of Moses
- Ya Sabyya
- The Shepherd's Elegy
- Sidi Abd El-Raheem
In addition, Sand Aura have made new
track 'The Shepherd's Elegy' available for streaming.
Russian metallers Beer
Bear, have also announced the follow-up to their Folk
'n' Roll EP. The new full-length, Beyond the Invisible
Line, is nearing completion and will be released in October. The
album will consist of nine tracks, plus some bonus material. Here's
the tracklist:
- Intro
- Bears' Wedding Day
- Fire-Mead
- Drink and Revel, Bears' Gentry!
- Folk 'n' Roll
- Beyond the Invisible Line
- Holger Danske
- Twin Soul
Na Zielonej Ukrainie
In addition, the new album will be
accompanied by a (slightly) changed logo, incorporating the Lithuanian
cross. This reflects a change in the band's musical direction
towards the hymns of middle age Poland and Lietuva. The band said:
“On the next album there will be two songs of this direction. And
the third album will be devoted to the history of Rzeczpospolita.”
There's also a new-old release on the
horizon from Eluveitie,
following fresh on the heels of their latest release, Helvetios.
The band is releasing a new double CD package called The Early
Years to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their formation. The
collection will feature material from the band's first EP Vên (which will be entirely
re-recorded) and debut album Spirit, as well as previously unreleased
song 'Divico'.
In a statement on the band's official
website, frontman Chrigel said:
“The Early Years will give both old and new fans access to the very first steps in
Eluveitie’s history. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years
already!
“We had a lot of fun putting those
songs on tape again – some of which we have been playing live to
this day and that have developed together with us over all these
years.
“With ‘Divico’ we have finally
completed a song that has been in the works forever. We are happy to
be able to present this little “classic” to you now – good
things take time to ripen!”
Trollfest
continue to tease us with updates ahead of their upcoming album,
Brumblebassen, which is due
for release on August 24th.
The band have recently announced
a whole host of bonus content available on the limited edition
Digipack edition of the album. This includes two previously
unreleased tracks and over 100 minutes of video, including a video
diary from the Heidenfest
Tour and making of Brumblebassen
feature. In addition, Trollfest have released the song 'Illsint' from
the album, which can be downloaded
as an MP3 or viewed on Youtube.
Korpiklaani
have also been busy whetting the appetite ahead of the August 3rd
release of their eighth studio album Manala by
releasing lyric videos of both the English
and Finnish
versions of new song 'Kunnia' ('Honor').
In
more sad news, Orphaned
Land have parted ways
with long-serving guitarist Matti Svatizky. Svatizky had been with
the band since its formation in 1991 and leaves after more than 20
years due to undisclosed reasons.
On a
statement on the band's official
website he said: “It is time for me to move on with my
life. There are issues both on the personal and the professional
levels that made me come to this decision, which has not been an easy
one, and which I'm whole with and sure that will bring many positive
things in the future.
“I wish the band many more fruitful
years of creation and joy, and I wish you, the fans, many more years
of enjoyment of what Orphaned Land has to offer, and who knows, maybe
we'll meet again someday in the future, this way or another.”
The band had this to say: “How can
you sum up two decades with a brother and a partner? The answer is
simple: you can't. Matti is deeply immersed in Orphaned Land history
and his uniqueness will surely be missed. All we can do is respect
Matti's decision and wish him the best the future can offer for him.
Orphaned Land was always a home for friends and shall remain such a
place for Matti.”
