Search Results: 2024

• Exitus Stratagem Records - The Metal World Lost A Pinnacle Brother - VORAATH Drummer Joshua Ward Passes Away At 37

  Jan 3, 2025 Fistoffreedom 0 Comments

   

  The metal community is mourning the sad news of drummer, composer, and storyteller Joshua Nassaru Ward (age 37) who passed away on New Year's Eve night December 31st after his car with him, his fiance Amanda Lynn Leroux, and two friends, Audrey Ross and Jade Burton were struck by a drunk driver on Cooley Bridge Road in Belton, South Carolina. Ward leaves behind a young son Kai. A GoFundMe has been created to aid in funeral costs, please donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/remembering-josh-ward-music-and-martial-arts​

  Ward was a pinnacle force in the Carolina metal scene known for his musical adventures in Enthean, Rapheumets Well, Xael, Olkoth, and Voraath (Exitus Stratagem Records) along with being a drum tech for bands NILE, and Terrorizer plus being endorsed by Los Cabos Drumsticks and Saluda Cymbals. He had a strong passion for drumming, sci-fi lore, directing videos, martial arts, and giving back to the community with his recent humanitarian efforts delivering aid during recent floods. His memory will be forever cherished by his family and extended metal family across the United States and beyond. He was a beloved friend to all. His genuine generosity and to lead with kindness to all were one of his most beloved characteristics. Rest In Power m/m/ Drum Eternally On The Other Side!

  Jason Fisher of Exitus Stratagem Records comments:

  "It is with a heavy heart that the ExSR family reports that we have lost one of our own. Joshua Ward, the drummer and creative genius behind the band, Voraath passed away in an automobile accident on December 31st. This news comes as a harsh blow to everyone who knew him professionally and personally. Besides his stellar work with Voraath, he had also been spending time with us, putting in extra work at the label. We will miss Joshua for many reasons, from his inexhaustible imagination and passion for Voraath and its universe to his kindness and his infectious laugh. Voraath was in the process of recording new music and was about to unleash an entirely new webpage of lore for their universe. We will work with the band as they decide their next steps. A friend of Joshua’s has set up a GoFundMe page to help defray the expenses of Joshua’s funeral. We at ExSR will miss our friend and colleague."

  Please donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/remembering-josh-ward-music-and-martial-arts

  ​

  Transporting you through a portal of sci-fi storytelling and extreme music, VORAATH unleashed their first full-length “Vol 1: The Hymn of the Hunters” in June 2024 on Exitus Stratagem Records (EXSR). Brutal yet epic metal, the level of detail that VORAATH has emphasized on this record exposes a grand story of interdimensional worlds and cosmic entities warring while paying homage to their culture in the Appalachian Mountains of the Carolinas.

  ​"This album is an investment of thought and emotion. We want to immerse the listener in another world. It’s heavy yet sad, brutal yet immersive, so we hope to take everyone on a journey. That journey is scored with metal! We think this album will be something unique, a whirlwind of emotions and an auditory odyssey. We capsulated real events in our lives and laced them through our complex musical universe. We want the fans to feel the music, and ride along with us on this musical journey through our dystopian planet." adds the band.

  An odyssey of hardship, betrayal, survival, and cosmic tales, “Vol 1: The Hymn of the Hunters” is recommended for fans of Septic Flesh, Gojira, and Fleshgod Apocalypse, and is available at the following links:

  Digital - https://hypeddit.com/voraath/volume1hymnofthehunters

  CD - https://www.exsrmusic.com/store/p/pre-sale-voraath-vol-i-hymn-of-the-hunter-available-june-17-2024

  ​

  More info: Exsrmusic.com | https://linktr.ee/voraath

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• Trois-Rivières MetalFest Announces 2024 Lineup w/ IMMOLATION, UNEARTH, BEYOND CREATION, GOROD, GHOULUNATICS, AUGURY and More!

  Sep 17, 2024 Fistoffreedom 0 Comments

   

  TMF 2024 Spotify Playlist - https://spoti.fi/4gw6Mcu

  After a sold-out 2023 event that hosted Kataklysm, Suffocation, Incantation, and many more, Trois-Rivières MetalFest is proud to announce their 2024 lineup for its 17th edition on November 22nd and 23rd at the Amphitheatre Cogeco in Trois-Rivières, QC, which stands between Montreal and Quebec City.

  The 2024 extreme music event will showcase headliners New York death metal legends IMMOLATION and Boston metalcore titans UNEARTH with support from Montreal technical death masters BEYOND CREATION, France's progressive metal lords GOROD, Montreal legends GHOULUNATICS, Progressive Death champions AUGURY among many more over the two nights along with the Thursday, November 21st pre-festival kick-off concert at L'Entité (lineups listed below).

  Ticket Info:

  3-Day Pass (Two Main Nights + Pre Fest Show):

  French URL: https://amphitheatrecogeco.com/spectacles/trois-rivieres-metalfest​
  English URL: https://amphitheatrecogeco.com/en/shows/trois-rivieres-metalfest​

  Thursday, Nov 21st - Pre-Fest Show:

  ​https://lepointdevente.com/billets/3rmf2024?lang=en​

  Thursday, Nov 21st - Doors at 7pm, show at 8pm at L'Entité (1420 rue Notre-Dame Centre):​
  Feels Like Home (Qc)
  Hopeless Nation (Qc)
  Polygraph (Qc)
  Chained by Illness (Qc)
  ​
  ​Friday, Nov 22nd - Doors at 5pm, Show at 6pm at Amphitheatre Cogeco (100, avenue des Draveurs):​
  Immolation (Headliner US)
  Beyond Creation (Qc)
  Ghoulunatics (Qc)
  Reanimator (Qc)
  Strigampire (Qc)
  Backstabber (Qc)
  Uriel (Qc)
  ​
  ​Saturday, Nov 23rd - Doors at 5pm, Show at 6pm at Amphitheatre Cogeco (100, avenue des Draveurs):​
  Unearth (Headliner US)
  Gorod (France)
  Necrotic Mutation (Qc)
  Augury (Qc)
  Fracturus (Qc)
  Apocalyptic Fear (Qc)
  Zero State (Qc)

  For more information, please follow Trois-Rivières MetalFest at the following links:

  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/troisrivieresmetalfest​

  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/3rivmetalfest​

  ​About: Trois-Rivières Metalfest was originally founded by Jean-François Houle, Samuel Landry, and Annie Richard. Since 2001, Trois-Rivières MetalFest has been bringing metal music fanatics from across Quebec and abroad together for one of the province's most extreme mosh pits. Presenting past headliners such as Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Annihilator, Voivod, Despised Icon, and many others to name a few. In 2023, the team experienced a second wind with the addition of new blood. Its new committee, now made up of Jean-François Houle, David Steines, Dany Soucy, and Nicolas Dumais, has set itself the task of ensuring the sustainability of the festival for many years to come! Once again this year, the Trois-Rivières Metalfest will do everything possible to prove that its festival still has its place among the biggest events in the province.

   

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• STRIKER Unveils Music Video "Live To Fight Another Day" + Shredding North America Tour w/ Seven Kingdoms, Lutharo, Osyron

  Aug 20, 2024 Fistoffreedom 0 Comments

   

  Every day is a new day! And STRIKER has a new music video "Live To Fight Another Day" to announce their upcoming USA and Canada tour dates with Floridian power metallers SEVEN KINGDOMS, Hamilton, ON's melodic metallers LUTHARO and Calgary, AB's thunderous progressive symphonic metallers OSYRON whom will support select dates.

  Striker will kick off preliminary dates with a performance at ProgPower USA in Atlanta, GA on September 4th followed by Canadian shows with Lutharo in September, and then push things into full gear in November to start the "Shredding North America Tour" in Corpus Christi, TX on November 9th and wrap up the month-long tour in Orlando, FL on December 8th (dates listed below).

  "Live To Fight Another Day" is off the shred master's new album "ULTRAPOWER" produced with Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Tallah, King 810) released this past February. The band explains the track:

  "Originally this was just a regular Striker song. Tim had the idea that we should just try turning it into a synth-wave track. It fits like a glove. We’ve always been into Synthwave but never had the guts to do it ourselves. Until now! This is our first attempt at it and we are stoked about how it turned out. This one is another track about keeping it together and taking on life one day at a time."

  Watch the video for "Live To Fight Another Day" below.

  ​

  "ULTRAPOWER" is the seventh full-length from Striker and follows their Juno Award-winning self-released record "Play to Win" (2018) unleashed on their label Record Breaking Records.

  With the band writing material since 2018, "ULTRAPOWER" is a collection of Striker tinkering and exploring new avenues. From the album's opening track "Circle of Evil", a Malmsteen-esque metal banger about secret societies and the evil dealings behind closed doors to their previously released single "BEST of the BEST of the BEST" serving up some big riffs and hockey arena vocals to "Blood Magic", which might be one of Striker's most progressive songs, taking cues from bands like King Diamond, with its unconventional structure and punctuated guitar solos. From the band delving into their obsession for late 80s AOR and pop rock with "City Calling", an ode to 1987, and bands like Toto and Kenny Loggins with their hook-powered albums. To fans experiencing the band's first attempt at a synth-wave track with "Live To Fight Another Day", this new offering sees Striker making a shredding love letter to the hard-rocking era of guilty pleasures.

  The band comments on the album:

  "Starting with the album cover, we wanted the artwork to represent how we feel as a band right now. We are an engine that is fired up and ready to roll. We’re made of metal and our circuits gleam! The album itself is an amalgamation of 5 years of writing and exploring music. With influences from AOR to Speed Metal, Hardcore to Hair Metal, Steely Dan to Deathcore, you name it, it made its way into the album. In the end with the help of Josh Schroeder’s guiding hand, we melted it all together to present something uniquely Striker. Lyrically we’ve stuck to the Striker tradition of writing montage songs for movies that don’t exist, songs about our spiraling serfdom, and lyrics about the evils that lurk in the shadows."

  "ULTRAPOWER" is available at https://www.striker-metal.com/shop/ (CD, Vinyl, Digital)

  Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3SnIshu​

  

  Tour Dates:​
  Sept 4 - Center Stage - ProgPower USA - Atlanta, GA
  ​
  ​Striker, Lutharo​
  Sept 11 - La Source de la Martinière - Quebec City, QC
  Sept 12 - Piranha Bar - Montreal, QC
  Sept 13 - Overflow Brewing Company - Ottawa, ON
  Sept 14 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, ON
  ​
  ​Shredding North America - Seven Kingdoms, Striker, Lutharo, Osyron ​
  # = w/ Osyron
  Nov 9 – Boozers Rock Bar – Corpus Christi, TX
  Nov 10 – Come And Take It Live – Austin, TX
  Nov 11 – Haltom Theater – Haltom, TX
  Nov 12 – 89th Street – Oklahoma City, OK
  Nov 13 – Launchpad – Albuquerque, NM
  Nov 14 – Vultures – Colorado Springs, CO
  Nov 16 – Last Exit Live – Mesa, AZ
  Nov 17 – Sinwave – Las Vegas, NV
  Nov 18 – Brick by Brick – San Diego, CA
  Nov 19 – Knucklehead – Los Angeles, CA
  Nov 20 – DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA
  Nov 21 – Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR
  Nov 22 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
  Nov 24 – Jackknife – Kelowna, BC
  Nov 25 – Dicken’s – Calgary, AB #
  Nov 26 – The Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB #
  Nov 27 – The Black Cat – Saskatoon, SK #
  Nov 28 – Sidestage – Winnipeg, MB #
  Nov 29 – TBA – St. Paul, MN
  Nov 30 – Reggie’s – Chicago, IL
  Dec 1 – Sanctuary – Detroit, MI
  Dec 3 – Meadows – Brooklyn, NY
  Dec 4 – Metro – Baltimore, MD
  Dec 5 – Hangar 1819 – Greensboro, NC
  Dec 6 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
  Dec 7 – The Orpheum – Tampa, FL
  Dec 8 – Conduit – Orlando, FL

  More info: Striker-metal.com

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• WACKEN METAL BATTLE USA Announces National Winner - CASCADE EFFECT - One Band To Conquer Them All & Play Wacken Open Air

  Jun 25, 2024 Fistoffreedom 0 Comments

   

  ​

  One band to conquer them all! Down to the final five bands from across the country, the national final for Wacken Metal Battle USA was held this past Saturday, June 22nd in San Diego, CA at the Brick by Brick with regional winners Cascade Effect (San Diego), WarTroll (NorCal), Versipul (PNW), Prime Prophecy (East Coast), and Father Wolf (Texas).

  Judged by an industry panel that included Rod Kukla (Silver Lining Music), Craig Goldy (Dio), Derek Engemann (Scour, Phil Anselmo and the Illegals, ex-Cattle Decapitation), and Patrick Stone (Adler's Appetite, Budderside), the band that reigned the stage and proved themselves worthy of gracing the holy land of metal at Wacken Open Air in Germany is crowned 2024 champion, San Diego's Cascade Effect.

  As this year's crowned USA champion, Cascade Effect will now move on to perform as the only independent American band at the International Battle at Wacken Open Air (July 31st – August 3rd), one of the world's most prestigious and largest metal festivals (Attendance of over 80,000 people in Wacken, Germany for over 30 years).​

  Cascade Effect joins the list of previous WMBU national winners, San Diego’s Fadrait (2023 - San Diego) Mythraeum (2022 - San Diego), Monarch (2019 - San Diego), Voices of Ruin (2018 - Anaheim) and Corpse Hoarder (2017 - Philadelphia).

  2024 battles were hosted in the following cities: New York, NY, Clifton, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, Bay Area, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Orange County, CA, Sacramento, CA, San Diego, CA, Austin, TX, Dallas, TX, El Paso, TX, Houston, TX, San Antonio, TX.

  ​

  For the last 5 years of battles (2017-2019, 2022, 2023), Wacken Metal Battle USA has hosted battles across the country to send one independent metal band to perform at the world’s largest metal festival Wacken Open Air in Wacken, Germany. 2019 saw the festival celebrate its 30th anniversary, but due to Covid, the 2020 and 2021 editions were both canceled. As the metal community regains its strength, Wacken Open Air 2024 will be the 33rd edition of the festival and will be held from July 31st – August 3rd. The 2024 event is already sold out with a line-up that includes Scorpions, Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian, In Extremo, Pain, Beast In Black, and many more. Details here.

  Wacken Metal Battle USA is part of an international competition that sees bands from across the country battle each other for the chance to win their spot among 30 other countries’ champions, and represent the USA in an international battle of the bands at the world’s largest outdoor metal festival: Wacken Open Air. The battles have been hosted at the festival for over a decade and give independent bands the opportunity to showcase their talents to an international audience along with the chance to win multiple prizes.

  How it works:​
  ​Participating cities will host qualifying rounds plus a city final organized by a local city concert promoter where one band will move forward to the American national final (date and city to be determined). The winner of the national final will move on to perform at the Wacken Open Air 2024 and compete against the winners of 29 other countries in a final global battle. All bands will be judged during battle rounds by respected local music industry representatives.

  Rules for participation: https://metalbattleusa.com/rules/​

  Links:​
  ​Metal-Battle.com​
  ​MetalBattleUSA.com​
  ​Facebook.com/metalbattleusa​
  ​Twitter.com/MetalBattleUSA​
  ​Instagram.com/metalbattleusa

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