NEW MUSIC ROUND-UP: EPHEL DUATH, MISERATION, TREES OF ETERNITY

As much as Axl and me have impeccable taste in metal and manage to stay on top of everything and everyone without fail, sometimes a few good ‘uns slip through the cracks. Such is the case with the below “new” music from Miseration and Trees of Eternity, grouped together here with an Ephel Duath track that’s actually brand new for the sake of your listening convenience. Check ’em out:

The new Ephel Duath lineup is pretty unfuckwithable: in addition to founder/guitarist Davide Tiso, the re-jiggered group features vocalist Karyn Crisis, bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Autopsy, Testament), and drummer extraordinaire Marco Minnemann (Adrian Belew, Necrophagist, Kreator). Unsurprisingly, the new music is unfuckwithable as well, in that classical-inspired death metal way that only Ephel Duath can truly nail. Check out the exclusive premiere of “Black Prism” over at Lambgoat. New album On Death and Cosmos will hit streets via Agonia Records on June 21st in Europe and on August 14th in North Americ (aka “June 21st everywhere, because we live in the year 2012”).

Brutal. Death. METAL. Miseration’s new album Tragedy Has Spoken doesn’t come out until July 2nd via Lifeforce Records, but today we get a taste of what’s in store in the form of a new track called “Stepping Stone Agenda.” Miseration features ex-Scar Symmetry vocalist Christian Alvestam, although you’d never know it from the punishing grooves and pure death growls; no SS “Death Jovi” in sight anywhere around here. I’m very excitebike about this album. Thanks to loyal MS reader Dan Wolfson for sending this one in. Listen:

“How come no one’s ever put together a melodoom band like Insomnium or Swallow the Sun but with a female vocalist?” would be a perfectly reasonable question to ask; I’m certainly not aware of one, and such a union seems quite logical. Who better to ask that question, then, than Swallow the Sun guitarist/writer Juha Raivio, a man perfectly situated for filling the void? Perhaps that’s why he formed a new side-project called Trees of Eternity with singer Aleah Stanbridge or perhaps the two just felt inspired by each other, but it was a darn good idea either way. Stream several demos from the new project at the Trees of Eternity Facebook page. Good stuff. Looking forward to a proper album release whenever it comes down the pike.

-VN