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From the Promoter

BELPHEGOR

DIABOLICAL DEATH/ BLACK METAL ART SINCE 1993

The dark days of autumn and winter are approaching as European troop BELPHEGOR plant another signpost to Hell upon the Earth's surface. One of the most consistently extreme bands on the Death/Black scene crest their throne built of bones once again to uncompromisingly attack humanity, three years after their 2014 demonstration of brutality, »CONJURING THE DEAD«. »TOTENRITUAL« consists of nine compositions which, blow-by-blow, silence any doubts about the supremacy of these icons of the European scene. Merciless riff force, crunchy blasts in a dark setting – 24 years after their foundation, BELPHEGOR’s inventive creativity places them head and shoulders above the rest. Anyone looking for silence, beautiful melodies and a life-affirming aura will suffocate under the power of »TOTENRITUAL.«

Even small interludes takes the listener to a safe place only for a short period, before the next brutal attack follows. The eleventh studio album of the undisputed Death/Black Metal scene conductors follows the sophisticated path of its precursors and will have their followers kneeling down in humility. The commander of death-sounds does not use a blunt corset of henchmen for his attacks on society's conventions, but demonstrates his skills as a high-class songwriter. From determined songs, embossed by an obsessed directness, to majestic ritualistic hymns - followers of darkest sermons will be led directly into the abyss. »TOTENRITUAL« enters mercilessly into the procession of BELPHEGOR's works of art: another thorn in the eye of every upholder of moral standards – the end is heralded.

For the recordings of »TOTENRITUAL«, the squad retired to Stage One Studios in Germany and Studio Mischmaschine in Austria.

For the diabolic wall of sound, the explosive material was sent across the pond and was refined in the Audiohammer Studios in Florida by Jason Suecof [Mix] and Mark Lewis [Mastering]. The impressive cover artwork was again created by the Greek artist Seth Siro Anton, who has also created the striking visual countenance for »PESTAPOCALYPSE VI« [2006] and »CONJURING THE DEAD« [2014].

BELPHEGOR was founded in 1993 and spread like a virus within the underground. Meanwhile, their »BLOODBATH IN PARADISE« demo has become legendary and paved the baleful path into the souls of thousands of listeners. Anti-religious with nihilistic tendencies as well as provocative topics, BELPHEGOR moved on. The debut album »The Last Supper« [1995] let the community of followers and opponents grow. Inexorably, the band pushes their destructive ways forward in the following years. BELPHEGOR become louder, more obsessed and more dynamic, and their albums now have cult status. To think about the scene doesn't work without thinking of BELPHEGOR. In 2008, the band sent their followers to the edge of hell with »Bondage Goat Zombie« and sparked an all-consuming Death Metal fire with blasting black metal influences. This masterpiece, inspired by the Marquis de Sade, is one of the most demanding works the genre has offered to this day. BELPHEGOR showed themselves equally brutal and baleful on the successors »WALPURGIS RITES - HEXENWAHN« [2009] and »BLOOD MAGICK NECROMANCE« [2011]. The band received a lot of great feedback for their intense live performances as well, and reached out to a big and loyal fan base. Their obscure rituals full of diabolical magick have haunted the world several times – next to extensive tours through Asia and Europe, BELPHEGOR have also completed ten tours through North America. No matter where BELPHEGOR march forth on this planet, be it on your stereo or live on stage, one thing is for sure: after the crest of their devilish death ceremony, there will only be a heap of ruins remaining!

CRYPTOPSY

Cryptopsy is an influential extreme metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For over 20 years, they have sculpted and pushed the boundaries of their metal genre by releasing seven studio albums (Blasphemy Made Flesh, None So Vile, Whisper Supremacy, And Then You’ll Beg, Once Was Not, The Unspoken King and CRYPTOPSY), a live album (None So Live), a best of (The Best of Us Bleed) and an EP (Ungentle Exhumation). After being on a record label for their entire career, Cryptopsy decided to go independent in 2012. Supported by their fans, Cryptopsy distributed and sold thousands of albums across the globe and had the opportunity to tour Japan, Western and Eastern Europe, the UK, South America, Scandinavia and Canada. Now in 2015, rather than a full album, Cryptopsy will release the first instalment (Tome 1) of a series of EPs entitled The Book of Suffering. The band has said that The Book of Suffering Tome 1 is some of the most brutal, dark and technical music they have ever created.

HATE

HATE has always meant the essence of extreme and unholy metal, and as such, had tremendous influence over forming Polish metal scene in the nineties and nillies. Established in 1990 in Warsaw by a guitarist and vocalist Atf Sinner, the band has quickly become one of the leading acts in the Polish underground. HATE's music was always elaborate death metal with lyrics concentrating on apocalyptic themes, spiritual mysticism and dark part of Self, showing distinct anti-Christian attitude. In 1992 the first demo "Abhorrence" was released by a small underground label Hate Productions. After numerous line-up changes and releasing a series of records available solely in their native Poland, the group inked their first international record deal with an American label World War III in 2000. At that point the band was given an opportunity to leave obscurity of the Polish underground in which they remained for nearly a decade.

Soon HATE's early material was published on two discs titled “Holy Dead Trinity” (2000) and “Cain’s Way (2002). A year later, the band signed another contract with French-based label Listenable Records, and released their next, highly acclaimed album “Awakening of the Liar” (2003), which is considered one of the Polish death metal masterpieces. In 2004 the group was working on an official DVD material titled “the Litanies of Satan”, which was soon published by Metal Mind Productions. In that period the band’s style acquired new characteristics - industrial and dark ambient elements appeared in the background of the main riffs. This kind of arrangements was further developed on an album titled “Anaclasis - a gospel of malice nad hatred” (2005), which no longer presented classical death metal but ingenious combination of death, black and heavy metal with distinct industrial influences. “Anaclasis” got great reviews in almost all metal magazine across Europe and was highly acclaimed as one of the most innovative records in the genre.

In support of the album, the band went on their first full-fledged European tour with Carpathian Forest and appeared on a few important festivals such as PartySan Open Air, Winter Assault and more. In 2007 the band once again went to tour Europe, this time accompanied by their countrymen Decapitated. January 2008 saw another album from HATE which was titled “Morphosis” and released again via Listenable Records. The record showed fast musical development of the band, as well as the production part. HATE got offers from numerous festivals, such as Brutal Assault, Neurotic Death Fest, Screamfest, Metalcamp Festival, Summer Breeze O.A., Metal Heads’ Mission and more. In May 2008, the group realized their first official video-clip for the song “Threnody”, which was shot in an actual coal mine in Silesia/Poland. The album “Morphosis” has also been officially released in the USA, South America and Russia.

The year 2010 saw the band's further development and intensive touring schedule. Their next album "Erebos" was supported by intensive tours both in Europe and America with groups such as Hypocrisy, Sepultura, Rotting Christ, Melechesh and Mayhem. The band also visited Brazil, Mexico and Russia reaching as far east as Siberia with their shows. Coming back home from the tour, HATE shot their second official video for the title track "Erebos". In 2012 the band inked a new record agreement with Austrian-based label Napalm Records. The album titled "Solarflesh" was released under the new flag in the beginning of 2013 receiving a lot of praise in the music press and gaining the band more recognition the world over.

In March/April 2013 the band was traveling through Germany on a European tour accompanying Sweden's death metallers Hypocrisy. In the early morning of April 6th, HATE's bassist Sławek "Mortifier" Archangielskij died in his sleep near the city of Munchberg. He was discovered lifeless in the morning by other band members. An ambulance was immediately called in and Slawek was reanimated, but to no avail. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia. Mortifer's tragic and unexpected passing was a hard blow and the band's continuation was at question for some time. After a few weeks, however, the musicians announced that they would come back. Accompanied by Mortifer's wife Aleksandra on bass guitar, HATE took part in Hellfest Festival in France in June 2013. Afterwards the band played a series of summer festivals around Europe with a session bassist and announced that they would work on a new record. In March 2014 HATE set out to tour Europe again, this time in the company of Norway's Kampfar, and in June they entered Hertz Studio in Poland to start recording their 9-th full-length album with release pegged for early 2015 through Naplam Records.

Having released "Crusade:Zero" record, HATE have toured Europe in company of Belphegor and Vital Remains, and later visited the southern (Balkan) countries teaming up with Decapitated and Thy Disease. In May 2016, the band was touring Russia and Baltic Republics with Fleshgod Apocalypse and a month later paid their second major visit to Mexico for a headline tour. In December 2017, HATE hit the road once again for another European tour, this time as a headliner. In the meantime, the group was working on a new material entitled „Tremendum”. The recording session started in September 2017 at Custom 34 Studio in Poland with Arek „Malta” Malczewski behind the console. HATE's new album is now ready for a release on May 5th 2017 via Napalm Records.

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