metal

Novelists (often known in print as Novelists FR) are a French progressive metalcore band from Paris who formed in 2013. They are currently signed to Out of Line Music.

Novelists was founded in 2013 by brothers Amael and Florestan Durand. Shortly after, Matteo Gelsomino, Nicolas Delestrade, and Charles-Henri Teule joined, after the split of their previous band, A Call to Sincerity.[1] In April 2014, they released a demo with 6 songs. In July 2015, they signed with the record label Arising Empire, and in November they released their debut studio album, Souvenirs. In June 2017, the band released the single "The Light, the Fire". After this, they toured with While She Sleeps and Northlane. A month later, they signed with SharpTone Records, and released their second studio album, Noir, in September 2017.

Novelists released their third studio album, titled C'est La Vie, in January 2020.

In April 2020, the band parted ways with Gelsomino as vocalist and started an online audition process to find a new singer.

On 27 October 2020, Novelists announced that Tobias Rische, formerly of Alazka, would be replacing Gelsomino as their new vocalist. A month later, the band signed with Out of Line Music, a record label based in Berlin, and released the single "Lost Cause". Two further singles were issued in 2021: "Terrorist" and "Do You Really Wanna Know?" The band supported Imminence on a European tour in May 2022 and played the Tech-Fest in the UK in June–July of the same year. In 2022, Novelists released two further singles, "Smoke Signals" and "Heretic", the latter featuring singer Florian Salfati of the band LANDMVRKS.

On 6 April 2023, Novelists announced on their Instagram page that Rische had left the band. In September, it was announced that Camille Contreras was taking over vocal duties.

During the turbulent and uncertain years of 2020-2021, perhaps none were plunged deeper into darkness than those from down under as Australia imposed some of the strictest, harshest, and most devastating lockdown measures in the world, forcing their civilians into years of isolation. However, through solitude and desolation, some of the greatest art is created, as is the case with BLACK LAVA, the emerging blackened death metal quartet from Melbourne (AU). Founded by drummer Dan Presland (Vipassi, AMDBL, ex-Ne Obliviscaris) and guitarist Ben Boyle (Vipassi, AMDBL, Hadal Maw), BLACK LAVA draws influence from old school death and black metal bands while injecting groove-laden melodies and progressive elements to create their own experimental sound.

“The idea came about from just pure frustration of the situation at hand during 2020/2021,” explains Presland of the band’s formation. “Ben and I live locally together, and in the beginning of the pandemic, I built a working studio, so we got together to just initially jam to release some frustrations and vent some music around the second half of 2021. We had a pretty casual jam together and Ben came back with a few fleshed out ideas a few days later.” As the ideas started to come to fruition, the duo quickly realized that the project had more potential than just a jam session. “Both of us were really into the direction Ben pushed,” continues Presland, “and it was something pretty new to both of us – we have worked together quite extensively over the years within music, playing in several bands together (Vipassi, AMDBL, Aphotic Dawn and more) – so to go in a totally new direction was pretty refreshing.”

As the pair fleshed out more ideas, they turned to their good friend Rob Watkins of Blackhelm to fulfill vocal duties. “Within 10 minutes we had found a vocalist and the search for a bassist was on. Tim Anderson (Blackhelm) was found pretty quickly and was keen to jump on board the idea also, so within a very short time frame we had a full lineup, a record ready to go, and 4 guys full of enthusiasm to push something new.”
Sharing a diverse love for black metal, death metal, and progressive music, the quartet quickly found their sound and hit a stride. And thus, Soul Furnace was born – a searing 34-minute aural assault that conjures up nostalgia while still sounding fresh and current. While the record promises to usher in a new musical era of the 2020s with its forward-thinking and contemporary energy, the lyrics dwell somewhere between fantasy and the old world.

“In the world of Black Lava, the lyrics are set in a time and world long gone and forgotten, mostly made up of fantasy and a medieval theme, fitting for the realms of our style of music,” explains vocalist Rob Watkins of the album’s themes and inspirations. “We draw inspiration from the natural environment and mother nature, ancient witchcraft and the glory of warriors in battle. I picture Black Lava as visiting an ancient beast in a cave giving you a chance to escape the outside world through its tales and mythology.”
With a new deal with Season of Mist and a team of some of the music industry’s most revered artists, producers, engineers, and professionals behind them to help render their vision, Black Lava is ready to make its debut and unleash its fury upon the masses.

De La Cruz were a 5-piece Australian hard rock band, founded in 2011 on the Gold Coast, Australia.

De La Cruz were formed in mid-2011 by Australian guitarist and Kramer Guitars endorsee Casey Jones, and Auckland, New Zealand born vocalist Roxxi Catalano. The band recruited Melbourne based drummer Lacey Lane, Brisbane Guitarist Rory Joy and local bass player Dennis Jaculli.

They recorded a self-funded and online released Self Titled E.P in October 2011 along with a video clip for the track 'Lust Fame Money'. The release of this E.P led to a full page article and album review in Classic Rock AOR Magazine. Track No. 1 'Good As It Gets' was featured on Episode 1, Season 6 of hit U.S television show Dexter. Shortly after release of the E.P, bassist Dennis 'Jakki' Jaculli left the band and was replaced by local Brisbane based muso Grant Daniell.

In mid-2012 the band signed a multi-album recording contract with European Record Label Frontiers Records and began work on their debut full-length album.

Based in Melbourne, Australia Rohan ‘Ro Han’ Stevenson has been releasing self produced instrumental guitar music under the name ‘I Built The Sky’ since 2012.

Ranging from complex riffs, shredding guitars, catchy melodic lead work through to intricate acoustic pieces, Ro has gained worldwide attention as one to watch among the modern guitar community.

Over the last few years Ro has transformed what was essentially a studio project into a fully fledged live band, the beginnings of which saw live shows supporting international acts including Between The Buried and Me, Chon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Monuments, Polyphia, Plini, Intervals, Twelve Foot Ninja, Haken and more.

In 2017, Ro was invited to present a songwriting masterclass at Los Angeles based university Cal Poly Pamona.

Later in 2017, I Built The Sky toured Australia in support of album ‘The Sky Is Not The Limit’ followed by national support for Caligula’s Horse.

In 2018 I Built The Sky hit new levels with a sold out show supporting Twelve Foot Ninja, a sold out single launch for track ‘Celestial’ followed by 2 headline shows in New Zealand and a 23 date tour of Europe/UK with Caligula’s Horse and Circles which gained overwhelming reviews all round.

2019 saw the release of album ‘The Zenith Rise’ which charted at number 8 on Bandcamp (Metal) 13 on Australian Independent Albums (AIR) 20 on iTunes Australia (Rock) and 50 overall.

2020 saw Ro head to USA for the NAMM convention in which he performed across 3 days representing Bare Knuckle Pickups, leaving shortly after to tour Europe and Uk across 23 dates with Progressive Metal heavyweights Monuments.

Later in 2020 Ro released ‘The Fire Inside’ which featured friends Andy Cizek on Vocals, Andrew Scott on Drums and Sam Tan on Bass.

2021 saw a collaboration with long time friend Jake Howsam Lowe for an EP titled ‘Coalesce’. The EP features members of Intervals and The Omnific as well as world renowned guitarist Andre Nieri. Reaching #1 on Bandcamp across multiple categories, #3 on Australian AIR charts and number #39 on Itunes Australia the EP has been incredibly well received.

2022 has Ro heading back to UK to perform at Radar Festival and plans to release new album early in the year.