Wormholedeath Records proudly welcomes Abscence — a symphonic black metal act emerging from the mist-veiled moors of Yorkshire, England — to its international roster. The signing marks a significant milestone for the band, as their debut concept album Enigma is set to be reissued globally through the label.
Enigma is a concept album that chronicles the tragic and immortal love of two vampire women — bound by blood, betrayal, and devotion. It is a gothic love story steeped in myth and moonlight, told across nine long-form tracks that unfold like chapters in a dark epic. The album draws deeply from 90s black metal and gothic metal, yet carves a new identity through elaborate compositions, symphonic elements, layered vocal arrangements, and emotional depth. It rejects modern trends of minimalism, opting instead for grandeur, atmosphere, and unflinching storytelling.
Experience the haunting first chapter with the official video for “Our Love Ignites”:
Band: Final Coil Song: “Scattered Dust” Album: The World We Left Behind for Others Release Date: April 12th, 2019 Label: WormHoleDeath
The live video for “Scattered Dust” is part of a series leading up to the band’s appearance on the Newblood Stage at this year’s Bloodstock Open Air on Friday, August 9th. Frontman Phil Stiles comments of the video series:
“Revisiting the launch gig as we countdown to Bloodstock is really cool, because it all happened in a whirlwind. Not only was it our first gig in some time, but we were airing a lot of songs from the third album that had never been played live before, and it was (new drummer) Gee’s debut show – so, I don’t really remember a lot from the evening. When I went through the recording, there were a lot of moments that really stood out for me. I’ve always felt that we have a nervy energy on stage, which stands as a counterpoint to the more nuanced studio recordings, and the tracks I’ve chosen are a testament to this.”
Speaking of the decision to release a video for “Scattered Dust”, Stiles explains:
“‘Scattered Dust’, which is from our second album, was one of a handful of songs that we played to sort of settle in to the show. It’s one that Gee had used to audition and it’s always been a favourite of mine to play, because it just keeps building until it takes on a momentum of its own. Lyrically, it does much the same thing, telling a story of an old man, isolated and alone, unaware that the very resentment they feel towards their family for abandoning them is the cause for their situation in the first place. It’s that sense of rage and alienation that seeps into the monstrous doom riff that comes crashing in at the climax, providing a measure of catharsis and release after the claustrophobic verses.”
Final Coil’s next Bloodstock countdown video will arrive on July 1st.
Belgium-based extreme metal band Fear Disease have signed a licensing deal with WormHoleDeath for their album Floodgates, due for release on September 2nd, 2022.
Fear Disease speaking of the album stated:
“For this album we started writing from the heart, drawing musical inspiration from various different bands and genres of metal that we enjoy. We didn’t set any limitations on the composition style. This, combined with having multiple songwriters in the band with each their own influences, ranging from thrash, death and groove metal, and even some metalcore and black metal, made for a very diverse and varied end result.
The record is not a concept album. There isn’t one main topic. Instead, there are several themes throughout the different tracks. What ties them all together is that they all share a certain dark edge that makes them interesting to us. The album title Floodgates refers to the proverbial floodgates being opened to release what we’ve been holding back for a long time. Not only are we presenting a new version of ourselves to the world, but we’re also touching on some subjects that we haven’t seen many other bands deal with before. As we are a Belgian band we partly found inspiration in our country’s past, which we put to use on a few tracks aside from the broader societal topics we talk about.
For example ‘Bokkenrijders’ is about the persecution of the eponymous gangs from the 18th century who is said to have spread terror in our region. ‘End of All’ tells the horrors of World War I, whereas ‘White King of Black Death’ is an account of the atrocities committed in Congo Free State under the reign of King Leopold II around the turn of the 20th century.”
The beginnings of what would later grow into Fear Disease were formed in 2014 by brothers Hans (rhythm guitar & vocals) and Mathias Paesen (drums) in Meeuwen (Belgium). What started out as jam sessions covering mainly Sepultura songs lead to the creation of original material and the independent release of a first self-made demo titled Harbinger of Tempest in 2017. By then the band had taken shape under the name Limbo with the addition of Jonas Parren on lead guitar, followed by Cas Hegge joining on bass. Around that time they had moved their headquarters to Bocholt (Belgium).
The band played a number of shows throughout their home country and also one in the Netherlands and Germany, and was also featured on a radio show based in Las Vegas before being contacted by a few record labels. It wasn’t until September 2018, when they received an e-mail from Jonathan Mazzeo (producer at The Grid Europe), that the ball started rolling. He had come across the band online, recognized their potential, and put them in contact with WormHoleDeath. The label signed them soon after that.
The next step was to start composing new material for the first full-length album. As Jonas and Cas had now become part of the creative process, the influences on the sound expanded from thrash and old-school death metal to groove metal as well as bits of metalcore and black metal.
Along the way, a problem arose with the band name. It turned out it had already been taken. Therefore the choice was made to rename the band Fear Disease, after one of the song titles from the demo released in 2017. It refers to the parallel drawn between the state of mind of living in fear and the actual fear of contracting the disease. Ironically the Covid crisis hit the world soon after, delaying the schedule to enter the studio several times. Eventually, in August 2021 the band was able to make the trip to Pistoia (Italy) and record their debut album Floodgates, set for release in 2022.
Floodgates track listing:
“Kill or Be Killed”
“Downfall”
“No Man’s Land”
“Stalemate”
“Ardent Apostate”
“Victimized”
“Static”
“Scorpio”
“White King of Black Death”
“End of All”
“Bokkenrijders”
Fear Disease is:
Hans Paesen – rhythm guitar & vocals Mathias Paesen – drums Jonas Parren – lead guitar Cas Hegge – bass
Legendary Connecticut power-thrashers Sacred Oath signed a licensing deal with WormHoleDeath for their album Return Of The Dragon due for release on November 19th worldwide.
Lead singer Rob Thorne comments on the signing:
“We are thrilled to have signed with WormHoleDeath Records for both digital and physical distribution of our latest album Return Of The Dragon. Finally, Sacred Oath will have real support outside of the USA with a company we have confidence in. We look forward to increased accessibility to the band in Europe and Japan, in both the availability of our music and in live concert performances, and I expect that we’ll gain many new fans while also satisfying the long-time Oathbangers!”
Return Of The Dragon is all the very best aspects of Sacred Oath metal in 10 new songs, each filled with powerful emotion and musicianship in a thunderous aural assault.
Return Of The Dragon track listing:
“Cthulhu Wakes”
“Last Ride of the Wicked Dead”
“Return of the Dragon”
“At the Gates”
“Empires Fall”
“Hammer of an Angry God”
“The Next Pharaoh”
“Primeval”
“Into the Drink”
“Root of All Evil”
Sacred Oath is:
Rob Thorne – vocals/guitar Kenny Evans – drums Bill Smith – guitar Brendan Kelleher – bass Damiano Christian – guitar
Hailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland, ForeignWolf are happy to announce the signing of a deal with WormHoleDeath for their EP Your Weapons, Your Words due for release on October 22nd, 2021 worldwide.
Regarding the signing, the band offered:
“We are thrilled to announce that ForeignWolf have officially signed with WormHoleDeath Records. It is an honour to be part of the family, and we look forward to working together with the release of our new EP Your Weapons, Your Words.”
On the album, the group said:
“Your Weapons, Your Words is a journey through the emotions of each and every person we know. Our focus has always been our mental health and we as ForeignWolf wanted to share our stories, directly from us and the people we know.”
Your Weapons, Your Words EP track listing:
“Alone”
“Afterthought”
“No Limit”
“Gradual Destruction (of an Already Broken Man)”
ForeignWolf is:
Gerard McCann – Vocals and Guitar Dave Brady – Lead Guitar Justin Lee Jamison – Bass Michael Teague – Drums
Edmonton, Canada female-fronted hard rock/ heavy metal band Boneyard have signed with WormHoleDeath a licensing deal for their debut album Oathbreaker, due for digital release on August, 27th 2021.
The band said in a statement:
“The band is thrilled to announce that Italy’s WormHoleDeath Records will be releasing Oathbreaker worldwide, including a special pressing in Japan.
We look forward to working with Carlo and his team. Stay tuned for more details and the release of a brand new lyric video.”
A video announcing the signing and teasing Oathbreaker can be seen below:
Austrian Death/Thrash metal act Cyrox have signed a licensing deal with WormHoleDeath for the release of their album Beyond Control. More info coming soon! The music of Cyrox can roughly be described as a mixture between death and thrash metal, whereby they try to fit into no genre specifically. The influences range from rock to black metal.
Band statement:
“We are very excited to become a part of the WormHoleDeath family. This marks the next big step for our band and we are ready to take it. With the worldwide release of our debut album Beyond Control we are proud of the opportunity to take our music out there and show the metal fans our take on real Austrian Metal. We are looking forward to a long and great relationship. Lets riff!
The album is about things you have to deal with in your personal life, whether its physical or psychological and you have no influence on it. For example the song “Frozen In Life” is written from the view of a man who is in a vegetative state and wants his life to be ended. The song “My Insanity” is about sleep paralysis. Gernot and Andreas came up with the concept and the lyrics after the songs were done instrumentally.
Beyond Control track listing:
Doomsday”
“Broken”
“Frozen in Life”
“My Insanity”
“Blackened Mind”
“Won’t Disappear”
“Massive Concussion”
“Can’t You See”
Cyrox is:
Manuel Kirchleitner – vocals Andreas Fahrleitner – lead guitar/backing vocals Leo Buchegger – rhythm guitar Gernot Weber – bass/backing vocalst Andreas Tobias – drums
Spanish symphonic power metal band Phoenix Rising have signed a licensing deal with Wormholedeath for the album Acta Est Fabula, due for digital release on July 23rd 2021. More info about the physical CD coming soon!
Acta Est Fabula is the 4th release from Phoenix Rising and it features songs that are a balanced combination of aggressive drums, shredding guitars, epic orchestrations, powerful vocals and catchy chorus.
Phoenix Rising have stepped up their game even more on this new album and the level of detail in the production, mixing and composition.
Acta Est Fabula is a concept album and the band have even written a short novel around the CD for a more complete and immersive experience.
Greek epic/melodic death metallers The Shadeless Emperor have signed a distribution deal with WormHoleDeath for the worldwide release of their new record Ashbled Shores. A lyric video for the song “Too Far Gone” off the album is now streaming and can be heard below. Ashbled Shores is scheduled to hit stores digitally on September 8th in the U.S., December 20th in Japan, and October 13th in the rest of the world.
Ashbled Shores track listing:
1. Oaths”
2. Ashbled Shores”
3. Sullen Guard”
4. Homeland”
5. Shades Over The Empire”
6. Duskfall”
7. A Few Rotten Words”
8. Helios The Dark”
9. Olethros”
10. Too Far Gone”
11. An Ember Gale”
Leicester-based alt-prog band Final Coil are pleased to announce that they have signed with WormHoleDeath Records for the release of their debut album Persistence of Memory. Frontman Phil Stiles commented:
“The label is the perfect home for us. Although they’re known for heavier acts they have an amazing wealth of experience and they’ve been incredibly supportive of the musical direction we wanted to take on this album. That support included a huge number of conversations between label and band as Final Coil sought to develop the ambitious musical and lyrical themes of Persistence of Memory. Thanks to [label manager] Carlo, we went into the studio fully prepared and confident that this was the best record we could possibly make. Carlo didn’t interfere at all, but he offered careful guidance and his help was invaluable to us. The collaboration between WormHoleDeath and Final Coil will allow the band to reach a global audience whilst benefiting from the support and experience of a label that prides itself on its independent spirit and the close relationship it forges with its artists. You hear so many horror stories about unscrupulous labels, but Carlo has taken exceptional care of us from the moment we first got in touch. We’re very pleased to have an opportunity to work with a label who are so friendly and respectful and we can’t wait to share our debut album with fans around the world.”
Persistence Of Memory is scheduled for release digitally on June 23rd, in the U.S. on July 14th, and worldwide on September 22nd. The release date is pending in Japan.
French death metal five-piece Altered Shade have a new music video out for their song “The Dark Gift Of Life”. The clip was directed by Stéphane Keca and filmed by KB-Productions. The track is off the group’s new record The Path Of Souls, out now via WormHoleDeath/Aural Music. Copies can be purchased here.
