Metal label from Tromso
Art of Deception has changed their band name. From now on it’s simply ‘Deception’.
The band writes on their Facebook page: “A new era has begun! We have decided to change our name to ‘Deception’ to mark the change in the band. Same music, shorter name!”
Photo by Helge Knutson
We proudly announce the addition of Kvikksand to our ranks!
An album release is scheduled to March/April 2019. We can’t wait to dig into new music from this mean, dark and powerful metal quartet from Raufoss/Norway.
Check out their Facebook page here.
Photo by Raven Photography
Vederkast – Reflections Linger
5 Oct 2018, on all digital outlets.
Vederkast is set to release the second and last single from their new album, And In The Abyss They Sleep. The single named ‘Reflections Linger’ explores relations between people in a challenging situation, and though the word «ballad» is not a correct description, the sound is massive, melodic and emotional.
The song was, like the rest of the album, recorded live at the small village of Bleik on Andøya Island, surrounded by majestic mountains and the mighty sea. This made the recording process really special and definitely created a unique atmosphere in the music. Members from the local brass band also contributes on the single.
Cover art by Marni Kruse
Pre-order And In The Abyss They Sleep here! Release 16 Nov.
Rob Mules Records recently got to talk to the thrash metal quartet Tonic Breed from Sarpsborg/Norway. Read on to discover the story behind their band name, who their musical influences are, and pretty much all you need to know about their upcoming EP Install Memory (out Sept 14).
Who is Tonic Breed, and what is the story behind your band name?
Tonic Breed is a band forged together inside the deepest of fabrics in the industry town of Sarpsborg, Norway. Since 2006 the band has been playing heavy metal on various places, and released two full length albums. The name came together alongside the establishment of the band and have sticked ever since.
Your album is titled Install Memory and consists of seven tracks. In short, give a presentation of each track: how it came about, lyrics etc.
‘Crypto Knight’ is the first song on the EP. It´s the shortest track by the band ever made (reaching 3:17). It’s a straight forward thrash-metal track that is basically built around one riff that varies throughout the song. The lyrics are built upon the cryptocurrency-hype that was on its (so far) peak earlier this year, and how bad it may end for people that have invested a little too much in it. The music video for the song, which will be released some time after the release of the EP itself, is built around a story from an actual happening in the cryptocurrency-history.
‘Install Memory’ is a track not too far from Crypto Knight in the genre, but here Ole is showing off some really fast footwork as well. It’s also a bit more complex in the structure, and the track is shorter than previous Tonic Breed songs. The theme of the lyrics are a bit more futuristic on how mankind is becoming more machine and machine is becoming more human.
‘Don’t Panic!’ is a more lay-back-song that points more to the heavy metal genre. It has a more melodic feel to it. A quite untraditional Tonic Breed song is safe to say. In the head of Starman, the lyrics are traveling through space.
‘Overkill’ has been played live several times by Tonic Breed and we’ve wanted to make a cover track for quite some time. It’s our tribute to all the aces in Motörhead and the song does not really need further introduction. A strong anthem in the heavy music world.
‘Mummy Dust’ is originally a song by Ghost – a band we all have had close eyes on the last couple of years. Watching them live several times inspired us to make a cover of one of their songs. We picked out a song from the album Meliora and made it a bit more Tonic Breed.
We also included two live songs from two separate live shows, as the first ever live songs to be included on a Tonic Breed release.
Toproom Studio has mastered your album. What is the story behind it?
We chose Toproom Studio to do the engineering and mastering on this release based on great experience from our previous full length album «Outsold». We knew Børge Finstad would pull off a great result – and he sure did! We also need to mention Stian Olsen for editing drums and vocals. The entire process was done in May-July, 2018.
Tell us about the cover art? Who is Jan Yrlund?
Jan Yrlund is an illustrator we’ve had in mind for a long time. He turned around really quick to make the artwork be done in time. We are really satisfied with the result. The artwork is mainly based on the song “Install Memory”. There are also hints of the other two Tonic Breed songs from the EP on the illustration.
What’s in store for Tonic Breed the coming year? Any tours planned? New album in the horizon?
We have some upcoming shows in Norway and Sweden this year, and we are constantly in booking-mode in order to make ourselves busy in 2019. We will continue to write new material in order make a full album in the time to come.
Can you tell us about your influences, bands you like?
When it comes to influences we can’t pick just a few bands. 50 years of heavy metal cannot be summed up on a few sentences. However, to mention the Bay Era Thrash Metal as one of the most influential music on our behalf is safe to say. On the other hand you can hear a lot of parts in our music that have many other inspirational sources.
Photo by Oscar Birk
Listen to Tonic Breed on Spotify
For more news on Tonic Breed check out their official website and Facebook page.
And last but not least – find out who are on Tonic Breed’s mixtape!
We welcome Haunted By Silhouettes to the camp of Rob Mules Records! Haunted By Silhouettes is a melodic death metal band from Trondheim, Norway.
They formed in 2013. In 2016 Haunted By Silhouettes released The Final Mind Plague (EP) followed by Wrath of Kharon (EP) a year later. In 2017 the album Shortcuts To Dead Ends came out.
Now, signed on Rob Mules Records, Haunted By Silhouettes set their sight on a second album release due in 2019. We are all extremely excited!
Photo by Ida Juliane Remen
Vederkast – And In The Abyss They Sleep
Release date: 16 Nov 2018 (LP, CD and digital)
Track listing:
Cover art by Marni Kruse
Pre-order the album here!
Veislakt is soon coming out with their anticipated third album, ‘Sandnes Undergrunn Circus & Kabaret’. It will be released September 7. We’ve been touch with René Undem; vocalist, rhythm guitarist, song writer and commander in chief. Here’s what he had to tell us.
Who is Veislakt, and what is the story behind your band name?
Veislakt is a quartet from the Stavanger area in Rogaland, Norway. Playing a hybrid of punk, hard rock and hardcore, singing in Norwegian. Consisting of me on vocals/guitars, Mads Arild Hamre on guitar/vocals, Stian Askeland on bass and Tommy Utsola on drums. It startet out as one-man-band by myself at the very end of 2012, releasing an EP in 2014, before it altered into a five-piece band just after that release. Afterwards we put a debut album out in 2015 titled ‘Litium & Went Smågodt’, and a second album in 2016 titled ‘Fumar Mata’. Right afterwards Fredrik, one of the guitarist quit to pursue other musical ideas, and I took over the guitar duties while still doing vocals. A drummer who played with us at an early stage came up with the name Veislakt while we were discussing the idea of taking English song titles and directly translate them into Norwegian. Even though ‘Roadkill’ wasn’t a song title, we translated it into Norwegian. Viola! Veislakt was born and we stuck with it.
Your album is titled ‘Sandnes Undergrunn Circus & Kabaret’ and consists of eleven tracks. In short, give a presentation of each track: how it came about, lyrics etc.
This is a concept album, and every song tells a story of what is happening when a circus is coming to town.
1. ‘Sandnes Undergrunn Circus & Kabaret’: This is mainly a song about welcoming the audience to the circus during the opening parade.
2. ‘Alle Mann Alle’: This song is about working the audience before it all starts.
3. ‘Franz, Frank & Han Andre’: This song is about three sea lions’ performance where two of them do a soccer penalty shoot out, while the last one is the referee.
4. ‘Klovnene’: This song is about three Russian clowns, brothers and alcoholics doing some very realistic slapstick humor with iron rods. There will be blood in the sand.
5. ‘Øynene’: This song is about how kids and their families witness the acrobatics high up in the air.
6. ‘Blod I Manesjen’: This song is about the lion Nelson, getting tired of his lion tamer, and kills him during the show. And at this moment the audience thinks it’s all an act.
7. ‘Lyse Dagen’: This song is about the aftermath after the murder of the lion tamer, and how the circus director feels that the show is about to go under.
8. ‘Skammen’: This song we take you backstage of the circus and show how violently the elephants gets treated.
9. ‘To Alkoholiserte Russere’: In this song we move back into the circus again where there are three jugglers showing off, while a strong bearded woman is doing the act with them. She even lifts a cow. Two of the Russian clowns are in love with her and starts fighting over her, while they are really intoxicated in the backstage area.
10. ‘Tro & Håp’: In this song we tell the story of how everything is starting to go to the hell. We got a knife thrower who hits his living target, and people are starting to get uncomfortable.
11. ‘Inferno’: In the last song the fight between the two Russian clowns have escalated and they trip over a bottle of Vodka that goes into the aggregate and a fire bursts out. There’s panic all over the place. People run over each other, the animals get loose, and of course the tent burns to the ground.
Arvid Tjelta has mixed and mastered your album. What is the story behind it?
He’s been a old close friend of the band, and he knows his stuff. Easy dialogue, and a lot of skills in that man.
Tell us about the cover art? Who is Michael Myklebust. Stian Askeland is behind the layout, how did that come about?
The cover art is designed by Michael Myklebust at GoodThings Design. We just told him what the album was going to be about – then he just made it. The layout is done by our very own bass player, Stian.
What’s in store for Veislakt the coming year? Any tours planned? New album in the horizon?
We’re booking some gigs at the very moment. Gonna be some touring all over Norway this autumn. We’re pretty psyched about presenting our new album to our audience while we are on the road.
Can you tell us about your influences, bands you like?
Most of the bands we love knows how to build a song up that includes some progressive stuff in it, but mainly let it be more about the songs than showing off their techniques and stuff like that. Mainly it is all about creating a good show for the audience.
Photo by Sivert Wergeland
Check out the latest news on Veislakt by visiting their Facebook page
Listen to the mixtape of Veislakt!
Phandrom
A classic hard rock band located in Alta/Norway.
Phandrom is playing timeless melodic hard rock and heavy metal with a contemporary touch. All original material exclusively. The music of Phandrom is based upon strong original material written in a time span of 40 years.
Photo: Freddy Ludvig Larsen
facebook.com/phandrom
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A power trio from Tromso/Norway.
“You can hear it in their music, sophomore album ‘ShadowTech’ boasting infuences such as Sabbath and Lizzy. And then there’s their playing; this is a band full of the kind of swagger that’s born of miles on the road and hours in the studio. They’re tight, too: the kind of tightness that only three-pieces seem able to muster; the instruments practically breathing together.” (Powerplay, October 2015 by Wayne Simmons)
Photo: Kenneth Augdal
www.ohmworktromso.com
facebook.com/ohmworktromso
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Melodic, progressive hard rock from the North. Located in Tromsø/Norway.
“The Norwegians have set a milestone here with their debut, which can hardly be surpassed. It seems we might get some problems with that difficult second album!” (Metal Underground Webzine Austria)
Photo: Daniel Lilleeng
facebook.com/vederkast
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