TERMINUS Signs With Cruz Del Sur Music; New Album ‘A Single Point Of Light’ Due This November

Irish epic metallers TERMINUS have signed with Cruz Del Sur Music for the release of their second studio album, “A Single Point Of Light”. Recorded at the home studio of instrumentalist David Gillespie and mixed and mastered by Richard Whittaker (SOLSTICE), the album will see the light of day this November. The artwork was created by Anaïs Mulgrew.

The TERMINUS/Cruz Del Sur relationship stretches back to 2013 when both parties were tossing around the idea of releasing the band’s “The Reaper’s Spiral” debut. While the idea didn’t come to fruition then, there is no better time than the present — Gillespie says Cruz Del Sur is a “natural fit” for TERMINUS since their friends in RAVENSIRE, ARGUS, LETHEAN, GATEKEEPER and LUNAR SHADOW already call the label home. 

TERMINUS ceased to be a live entity in late 2017 after triumphant appearances at Keep It True, Up The Hammers, Pyrennean Warriors Open Air and Ultimate Revenge in Helsinki, enabling the band (now a two-piece featuring vocalist James Beattie and Gillespie on instruments) enough time to focus on new material. According to Gillespie, the goal with “A Single Point Of Light” was to “evolve enough so that a second album was not a redundant exercise while still remaining true to our core sound.”

“As the principal songwriter, it was self-imposed pressure to prove — to myself — that I wasn’t a one-off and that I could write another record of equal or superior quality,” he continues. “Hence, we did not simply poop out an album in 18 months, but took our time.”

Like its predecessor, “A Single Point Of Light” is a deep dive into the realms of epic and progressive metal, with bountiful guitar harmonies, complex song arrangements and the controlled, but emotive delivery of Beattie. It results in an album that is a comfortable step forward for TERMINUS while not reneging on the core tenets that initially brought the band together in 2012.

“The obvious thing is that we haven’t turned into a Sisters Of Mercy tribute band or anything silly like that,” says Gillespie. “The new album is in the same vein and we have retained our ethos — which seems to have become strikingly popular of late — that the album should fit on one side of a 90-minute tape and should split evenly and sympathetically across both sides of a 12-inch LP. Some elements of the sound have been dropped, some have been focused on and there are a few new textures in there to keep things fresh.”

“A Single Point Of Light” again finds TERMINUS exploring lyrical themes off the traditional heavy metal path. Instead, the band continues their approach of interpreting classic science-fiction tales alongside stories of their own telling.

“We have always been antithetical to the rest of the subgenre, lyrically,” wraps Gillespie. “Our songs are not about heroes and their deeds. They’re about cowards, deviants, deceivers — the scum of the universe, really. There are no heroics and no victories to be found in our world.”

“A Single Point Of Light” track listing:

  1. To Ash, To Dust
  2. Harvest
  3. As Through A Child’s Eyes
  4. Flesh Falls From Steel
  5. Mhira, Tell Me The Nature Of Your Existence
  6. Cry Havoc
  7. Spinning Webs, Catching Dreams

RAVENSIRE Enters Studio To Record Third Full-Length, ‘A Stone Engraved In Red’

Portuguese heavy metal battalion RAVENSIRE has entered Studio 13 in Lisbon to begin work on their third full-length album, “A Stone Engraved In Red”. The album will be engineered once again by Paulo ‘Paulão’ Vieira and is due next summer via Cruz Del Sur Music.

The follow-up to 2016’s “The Cycle Never Ends” will be the first to feature new members Mário (guitar) and Alex (drums), both of whom took part in live activity that saw RAVENSIRE take their brand of traditional metal into Europe. According to founding guitarist Nuno, “A Stone Engraved In Red” will feature all the trademarks of RAVENSIRE’s sound, but with some new twists.
“We have started exploring a bit more when it comes to developing musical themes inside a song,” he says. “We have a couple of longer — even by our standards — songs, with plenty of changes in moods and tempo. The material is quite diverse and, personally, it is always a good sign when you listen to your own stuff and enjoy it!
“The songwriting remained the same for us,” he continues. “Someone will come up with a skeleton for a song more or less finished, and then we work it up as a whole band and everyone adds their part. There is one song, however, that was co-written by me and Mário. He did come up with an initial idea and then I added other parts and we created a structure. But, that was the exception to the norm!”
Nuno confirms song titles such as “Carnage at Karnag”, “Gabriel Lies Sleeping” and “The Games Of Titus” and their own tribute to recently-deceased MANILLA ROAD leader Mark Shelton, “After The Battle”. “Mark gave so much to the scene, so we felt it was right to dedicate this song to him. In addition, we have another tribute called ‘Dawning In Darkness’, which is dedicated to Hartmuth ‘Barbarian Wrath’ Schindler who had a terrible misfortune in the hospital and has been in a coma for more than a year. We want to pay our deepest respect and friendship to both of them.”

Like previous RAVENSIRE efforts, the album artwork for “A Stone Engraved In Red” will be in black and white, although Nuno admits there may be a surprise within the cover. As such, Nuno says the title of the album has a deeper meaning for the band: “It’s a statement that no matter what we do, we want it to be rock solid and stand the test of time, just like the epitaphs of old.”

RAVENSIRE Announce Lineup Changes, New Festival Assaults

Portuguese battle metal outfit RAVENSIRE has announced the addition of guitarist Mário Figueira and drummer Alex Fonseca. The pair replaces Zé RockHard and Francisco Machado, respectively. The band’s most recent album, “The Cycle Never Ends”, was released in 2016 by Italy’s Cruz Del Sur Music.

Comments guitarist Nuno: “After we finished recording our album ‘The Cycle Never Ends’, we started preparing for the shows that would follow. Unfortunately, after a while, started facing some changes in his personal life that prevented him from rehearsing as much as he would’ve liked. So, after a few weeks in a sort of limbo, he finally approached us and told us that he couldn’t continue playing with the degree of commitment needed, so he’d leave the band in order for us to find a replacement as soon as possible. After some searching, we had a few guys willing to step into Zé’s shoes.

“So, we planned a few auditions and there was no question that Mário would be the one taking the battleaxe for future battles! Although Mario played mainly in death metal acts in the last decade (BLEEDING DISPLAY, for example), recently he had been reconnecting to his roots and started playing in a hard rock band called 15 FREAKS. Another fun fact was that way before left the band, he saw a RAVENSIRE concert and enjoyed our sound so much that he got in touch with us! Who knew that one year later he’d be joining the fold?”

Shortly after the departure of Zé, long-time drummer Francisco Machado stepped down from RAVENSIRE, citing personal matters.Honestly speaking, this was an even bigger blow, because F had been one of the main forces in getting RAVENSIRE together,” says Nuno. “Of course, we fully understood his motives and nothing changed in our friendship. This time, though, instead of trying to find a replacement and going through auditions and whatnot, we went straight to MIDNIGHT PRIEST‘s drummer Alex since we knew he was available to commit to another band and we’ve been friends and mutual fans of each other’s bands since the beginning!”

RAVENSIRE’s lineup now consists of:

Rick – Vocals / Bass

Nuno – Guitar

Mário – Guitar

Alex – Drums

With their new lineup in place, RAVENSIRE has begun work on their third full-length album, which they plan on recording during the first half of 2018. The band has also planned some new live assaults:

 

December 9, 2017: Riddle Of Steel Festival, Marburg, Germany with A SOUND OF THUNDER, HEATHENS OF THE NORTH, ARKHAM WITCH, IRONSWORD, BATTLE RAM
December 22, 2017: Cascais, Portugal with CAPE TORMENT, MIND TAKER and TUMENT
February 16, 2018: Bordeaux, France with SILVER MACHINE
February 17, 2018: Rennes, France with SILVER MACHINE

 

April 14, 2018: IX Metalmeria Fest, Almeria, Spain

Related links:

 

https://www.facebook.com/Ravensire