Death Is Not Dead
The Crown
CD | MP3
Century Media Records
Release Date: January 13, 2015

You know, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t as a metal band. If you stick to a formula, people will say that you’re one dimensional or out of ideas. But if your new material doesn’t sound exactly like your classic stuff, so-called “fans” will bitch and moan about how you’ve “sold out.” It’s even tougher when you’re an underground band in a specific niche genre like death metal.

Swedish death metal veterans The Crown are currently finding themselves a bit in the latter category now with their new album Death Is Not Dead, which was released January 13, 2015 through Century Media Records.

German death metal legends Morgoth are preparing to release their first album in 19 years on March 30, 2015 in Europe and April 7, 2015 in North America via Century Media Records. The disc is titled Ungod and features new vocalist Karsten “Jagger” Jäger. As a preview, the band has just released the first song from the album through Century Media’s Soundcloud page. The track is called “Black Enemy” and finds Morgoth picking up right where they left off all those years ago. You can check it out here below.

Swedish black metal merchants Dark Funeral have just released the official video for the first song to feature their new lineup . The video is not accompanied by any details about the new members, but if this track is any indication, Dark Funeral are back with a vengeance! This is the first new music from the band since their 2009 album Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus in 2009.

Watch the video for “Nail Them To The Cross” here below.

Tribulation is a blackened death metal band from Arvika, Sweden. They have released two great records thus far and have just announced their signing with Century Media Records for a worldwide deal. I personally discovered these guys when they opened for Watain and In Solitude on their first American tour late last year and can vouch for the fact that they are a phenomenal live act. I’ve been addicted to their second album, Formulas of Death, ever since. The band is preparing to enter the studio in December to begin work on their third full-length album and if it’s anywhere near as good as the last two, with the strength of Century Media behind them, they should soon be a household name in metal circles.

Here live from Party San in 2010 is Tribulation with a song from their first album, The Horror, entitled “Graveyard Ghouls.”

Swedish melodic death metal pioneers At The Gates are riding high on the critical and commercial success of their astoundingly great comeback record At War With Reality. The record is the first offing from the band in 19 years and is an instant classic that fits seamlessly with the band’s already legendary back catalog. At War With Reality is among the very finest records, in any genre, released in 2014.

Now, the band have released an animated video for the second single from album “Heroes & Tombs.” Watch it here below.