Long-running New Zealand-based progressive death metal tyrants, DAWN OF AZAZEL, release their titanic fourth full-length today. Titled The Tides Of Damocles, the ten track slab of sonic violence is the trio’s first output in six years following 2009’s critically-heralded Relentless long-player.
The Tides Of Damocles was recorded, mixed and mastered last year at Mana Recording Studios (Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal, Goatwhore, et al) in Tampa, Florida by Brian Elliot and J.J. Hrubovcak. A name referencing the ocean as a metaphor for the forces of life that constantly assail and erode the will of those who seek power, The Tides Of Damocles thrusts forth forty-eight minutes of harrowing, surgically precise death metal mastery.
Comments the band of their latest works: “We’re excited as fuck to resurface with this record. It has an anger and a dynamism that reflects the reasons we’ve been silent for a several years, and our aggression moving forward in spite of these obstacles. We couldn’t be more proud of this record as our contribution of something ferocious and unique to the death metal genre.”
The Tides Of Damocles Track Listing:
1. Strike First, Strike Hard, Strike Often
2. Irresistible Foe
3. Vassalplasty
4. The Odious Tides
5. Forever Enduring, Always Ready
6. Controlled Burn
7. Progeny of Pain
8. The Eagles Grasp
9. Damocles
10. Tarnished Gold
DAWN OF AZAZEL will bring their brutality to the stage in the coming days on a slew of live excursions through New Zealand and Australia with further invasions to be announced shortly.
DAWN OF AZAZEL:
5/02/2015 The King’s Arm Tavern – Auckland, NZ w/ Suffocation, Decapitated
7/04/2015 Rust In Perth 2015 – Perth, AU
8/29/2015 Living Death Fest 2015 – Melbourne, AU
Dubbed, “metal in its roughest and most primal form” by The Metal Observer and influenced by the ferocious sounds of Order Of Chaos, Immolation, Sarcofago, and the like, DAWN OF AZAZEL was forged in 1999 and quickly began to make a name for themselves with relentless live shows throughout New Zealand and Australia. The release of two demos and a 7″ received widespread acclaim within the underground fanzine and tape trading community. DAWN OF AZAZEL would later release their debut, the volatile The Law Of The Strong, though Agonia Records in Poland in 2003 followed by an extensive tour through New Zealand, their first ever shows in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium, and a headlining tour of Australia. Second full-length, Sedition, was unleashed via Ibex Moon Records and found the band playing over 120 shows touring first through Thailand, Indonesia, and the U.S., followed by thirty-two shows through Europe supporting American death metal icons, Immolation. Australian tours with Deicide, Katyklysm, and support slots on their homeland for Motörhead, Korn, Suffocation, and Children Of Bodom, capped off a year and a half of live bedlam to support the album. The band’s infamy was further bolstered by the controversial mix of the band’s violent and Satanic lyrical content and frontman Rigel Walshe’s occupation as a police officer becoming the subject of television and newspaper coverage at home and abroad.
Seeking a level of professionalism that could not be found at home, the band entered Erik Rutan’s famed Mana Studios in Tampa, Florida to record their third offering, Relentless, released via Unique Leader Records. Live journeys alongside Krisiun as well as support slots for Megadeth, Suffocation, Aborted, The Faceless, Necrophagist, Dying Fetus, Morbid Angel, and Slayer ensued. Shortly after its release, Walshe was offered a position of a covert nature within the police department. During this period from 2010 through 2013 the band went on hiatus and focused on creating new material, re-gearing their personal circumstances to enable them to take the band to greater heights. 2013 was spent composing new material, and in early 2014 the band once again entered Mana Studios to record their fourth album The Tides Of Damocles.
The Tides Of Damocles was released independently via the official DAWN OF AZAZEL BandCamp page at THIS LOCATION, today, and come available digitally and as a stunning deluxe six-panel digipack with 20-page booklet. Order your copy today.
DAWN OF AZAZEL:
Rigel Walshe – bass, vocals
Joe Bonnett – guitar
Jeremy Suckling – drums
www.facebook.com/dawnofazazel
dawnofazazel.bandcamp.com/album/the-tides-of-damocles
