Tag Archives: melodic death metal

Finnish melodic death metal band Beyond The Hate releases first single “The Lighthouse” from their upcoming debut album “Darkest Times”!

Photography by Tuomas Scholz

The Finnish melodic death metal band Beyond The Hate is set to release an anticipated debut album Darkest Times on March 8th 2024 via Inverse Records. The first single ‘The Lighthouse’ is released today with lyric video which can be seen here: https://youtu.be/BU-BYhb_o-s  

Guitarist Kimmo Perälehto states:
“In the pre-production and early stages of the album, we wanted something a little different, so we ended up writing the song in 3/4 time signature. At the same time we combined the song our trademark tremolo saw picking alongside a slower pedal stroke – the result was what we felt was the perfect song”
 

Bass player Mikko Monto adds:
“As for the chorus, the song is one of the fastest played on the upcoming album, with the slower interludes bringing a nice moody lift to the song. 
Symbolically and metaphorically, the lighthouses stand in their lofty solitude and soar towards the sky, taking on the storms of the seas and leading 
travellers safely to their destination. This time, however, the listener is left to ponder the darknesses of the story.”

Vocalist Niko Kalinainen sums:

“Lighthouses usually provide shelter for sailors and guide them past the reefs, this lighthouse is something quite different. It lures its prey towards its inevitable end, like a flame to a moth. This monument of death swallows up all light in its path and steers towards destruction – let those who can still be saved!”

LISTEN on streaming services: https://push.fm/fl/bth-lighthouse 

PRE-SAVE album: https://music.imusician.pro/a/fXgthIe9 

BIOGRAPHY:
Beyond The Hate’s beginnings date back to the summer of 2016, when guitarist Kimmo Perälehto and bassist Mikko Monto started writing songs together. Second guitarist Jyrki Karhu joined in early autumn and singer Niko Kalinainen in late 2016. The band was officially founded in 2017, when Tommy Uhtio took over the drumming duties and the first practice sessions were held.

In the beginning, the band’s songs were more straightforward metal but in late 2018, the band started to find their musical direction in melodic death metalsuch, as an good example the single “This Cold Morning” was released in 2019. In 2018 and 2019, the band participated in the Emergenza Finland band competitions, reaching the finals at the both times.

The first taste of the new style came with the 2020 EP “Betrayal Of Time”, which received good reviews and created expectations for the band’s future. – Miika Manninen / Metalliluola 2020: “Beyond the Hate’s name is worth remembering for the future, because you can expect a lot from the next release.”. – The band also participated in the 2022 Tuska-Torstai competition, reaching the semi-finals.
 

After the songs on the EP, the band focused on writing even more atmospheric and melancholic songs. More orchestral and choir elements were added to the songs, as well as acoustic guitar playing to create a new melodic mood. From this creative process came the twelve-track debut album “Darkest Times”, which will be released in March 2024 via Inverse Records. The album will also feature guest vocalists Katri Hiovain-Asikainen from Numento on “Black Within” and Jaakko Mäntymaa from Marianas Rest on “In Memoriam”.

Line-up:
Niko Kalinainen – vocals
Kimmo Perälehto – guitars
Jyrki Karhu – guitars
Mikko Monto – bass
Tommy Uhtio – drums

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/BeyondTheHate 
https://www.instagram.com/beyondthehate_band 
https://beyondthehate.bandcamp.com  

(review) Thousand Year War – ‘Nidhöggr’

Thousand Year War are hailing from USA and apparently there are only two entities in this band, namely Hiram Lohr-Guitars, Keys, Bass and Bryan Arant- Drums. This is band’s second EP and it contains five songs of pagan Viking metal. Some of the song parts reminded me of Bathory a lot, like ‘Kingdom Of Nastrond’. I love the mixture of screeching vocals with clean sung parts and you can understand what is being sung most of the time. Music? A mixture of melodic death/black metal with pagan Viking metal and guitar and keyboard melodies are very catchy and get into your ear like for example excellent title song. The music is warrior pride and aggressive, but at the same time has that melancholy in guitar riffs and sometimes sadness, at least I hear it like that. My personal favorites are the title song and ‘Hammer to the Heart of Christ’. Great pagan Viking metal indeed!

Finnish extreme metal band Kneel Before The Death releases new powerful single!

Photographer: Lisa Nikula

Helsinki-based extreme metal band Kneel Before The Death releases new single “I Am The One”. The band is known for their skills to combine massive sound walls to brutal extreme metal expression.


Band Comments on the song:
“´I Am The One´ is the continuation to Kneel Before The Death’s previous single, ´Eternal Sleep´. Filled by hate, the protagonist heads towards a final challenge, one he has never faced before. Only one will prevail. This fight won’t be over until it is won.”


Listen to the single on music services: https://push.fm/fl/kbtd-iamtheone


Band’s drummer Konsta Vihavainen comments:
“When we started to write this song, the idea was to create a piece of music with a massive chorus as its centerpiece. Something that would instantly catch the listener’s attention. In addition, we wanted to explore soundscapes that our band hasn’t previously touched upon, and the result is a dynamic and massive extreme metal song. This track is truly a unique combination of haunting guitar melodies, beautiful orchestrals and lots of blast beats.”

Kneel Before The Death is a Finnish extreme metal band founded in early 2013. The band consists of drummer Konsta Vihavainen, guitarist Niko Lappalainen, bassist Joonas Peltonen and vocalist Markus Raito. Kneel Before The Death´s music combines elements   from symphonic metal, black metal and electronic music, such as synthwave, creating the band’s unique sound.


Kneel Before The Death released their first single, ‘In Death We Trust’, in December 2013, following their first EP ‘The First Chapter’ in August 2014. Band kept evolving their sound to a darker direction and in 2015 released two singles, ‘The Bloodline’ and ‘Deathbringer’. Their second EP, ‘Life/Death’, was released in September 2016. ‘Miserere Mei’, a single mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström, was released in November 2018. After that, KBTD released an EP, ’Memoir’, on April 28th 2022. Their latest release, single ‘Eternal Sleep’, saw daylight on 5th of May 2023.

https://www.facebook.com/KBTDBand
https://www.instagram.com/kbtdband
https://kneelbeforethedeath.bandcamp.com