Happy Friday, Freeloaders! To celebrate the last Friday of July, we have a lot of fun, free links for you, including music videos from The Raveonettes, behind the scenes videos from TESTAMENT, an album teaser from Bleeding Rainbow, and streams from Kadavar.
Enjoy!
The Raveonettes: “She Owns The Streets” via Noisey
Observator out September 11th on Vice Records
TESTAMENT: “Native Blood” via YouTube
In-studio videos via YouTube
Dark Roots of Earth out July 31st on Nuclear Blast
Bleeding Rainbow: Yeah Right via Brooklyn Vegan
Yeah Right out October 9th on Kanine Records
Kadavar: “All Our Thoughts” via The Obelisk
“Goddess of Dawn” via MTV Iggy
“Creature of the Demon” via Decibel
Kadavar out now on Tee Pee Records
Bay area thrash pioneers Testament release their tenth studio album, Dark Roots of Earth, next week on Nuclear Blast, and we wanted to do something a bit out of the ordinary with the promotion of the record.
Since Testament have been building an extremely loyal fanbase since the early eighties, we wanted to find a way to engage the fans beyond just Facebook and Twitter, and to encourage them to share something meaningful with the band and each other. Enter The Orchard Marketplace‘s partner Webdoc!
Through Webdoc’s help, we were able to create a customized Testament experience in which fans can share photos related to the band. More specifically, playing off of the album’s title, Dark Roots of Earth, we asked fans from all across the earth to upload their photos of them at Testament gigs, with members of the band, holding Testament merch, etc., and so far the feedback has been incredible.
Every reply is branded with the Testament logo, album info and the hashtag #darkrootsofearth. Visit the page on Webdoc to see the app in action, but as of this writing it has seen 101 replies, 964 views, 9 likes and 6 reposts. It’s exciting to be able to bring so many fans’ physical experiences with the band onto the web in such a fun, community-oriented way. Thanks Webdoc!
Testament’s Dark Roots of Earth hits stores 7/31 (US) on Nuclear Blast. Pre-order it on iTunes.
Testament, the Thrash Metal band that brought you The Formation Of Damnation in 2008, is back with a whole new stash of Thrash this summer, and a tour to back it up.
If you remember The Legacy (1987), The Formation of Damnation (2008) or anything in between, you will surely enjoy Dark Roots Of Earth, the 29-year old band’s newest catalogue addition, out July 27th in Europe and July 31st in North America, on Nuclear Blast Records. “True American Hate” is the first track to surface from this highly-anticipated new album, and you can listen to it straight from the Dark Roots Of Earth landing page (it’s track four!). And keep checking in, because the more Likes the page gets, the more tracks you’ll be able to discover.
Also keep an eye out for the video for “Native Blood,” which was just recently filmed and wrapped up, at the hands of director Mike Sloat (Machine Head, American Head Charge). The song, whose lyrics are about vocalist Chuck Billy’s Native American heritage, was filmed at the Hopland Indian Reservation in Hopland, California. And just for you, here are some behind-the-scenes photos from the video shoot.
Want to enjoy Testament live? Take a look… here are their confirmed tour dates:
9/14 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
9/15 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
9/16 – Kennewick, WA @ Toyota Center (Kennewick)
9/17 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
9/20 – Vancouver, BC – Canada @ Vogue Theater
9/21 – Calgary, AB – Canada @ MacEwan Hall
9/22 – Edmonton, AB – Canada @ Edmonton Event Centre
9/24 – Saskatoon, SK – Canada @ Odeon Event Center
9/25 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada @ Burton Cummings Theatre
9/29 – Toronto, ON – Canada @ Danforth Music Hall
9/30 – Quebec City, QC – Canada @ Capitole du Quebec
10/02 – Montreal, QC – Canada @ Metropolis
10/03 – Portland, ME @ State Theater
10/05 – Montclair, NJ@ Wellmont Theatre
After dabbling in YouTube for some time now, I can’t help but notice how many interesting renditions of notable songs have been performed by some of The Orchard’s artists.
Here are a few that have stuck out to me recently:
1. Artist: Right The Stars
Song: Somebody That I Used To Know
Original Performer: Gotye
Label: New Power Media
My take: This song is all over the place now: The Voice and Glee both covered it and artists all over are putting their own spin on it. This one keeps the eerie and echoey sound of the original, and I actually prefer this version because it’s slower and you have a chance to hear quality singing voices vocalizing — both female and male. You can appreciate the song more this way.
2. Artist: Chrome Division
Original Performer : ZZ Top
Song: Sharp Dressed Man
Label: Nuclear Blast
My take: Call me biased but I really like Nuclear Blast artists. They tend to be on the heavier side so this ultimately is a faster, louder version of the original. I’d say it’s just as good as the original — might even be a little bit better if I had to choose and the pace of the song is what would swing my vote.
3. Artist: The Chillout Sessions
Original Performer: Michael Jackson
Song: Thriller
Label: GLD Distribution
My take: Ok, we all know Thriller is amazing on its own and covering it is going to be a risky endeavor but this one’s pretty neat. It’s slow and jazzy — and the best part — you can still dance to it!
After two successful album releases through Nuclear Blast US, Norwegian progressive metal rockers Enslaved have now signed a worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast!
In response to being added to their new label’s global roster, the band said:
“We’re very, very (yes, very) pleased and proud to sign this deal with Nuclear Blast worldwide. We’ve already worked with Nuclear Blast US through our two latest albums and our personal friendships with NB guys and gals on both sides of the Atlantic are even older. There’s no drama – we take great pride in the fact that there seldom is with us; it is simply a matter of one contract ending and us going for what seems to be our best option at this point in time and space. This time, the best choice for ENSLAVED is changing things up somewhat. We’re excited to see what the mixture of passion and professionalism at Nuclear Blast can do with the ENSLAVED name in the years to come. There is no doubt that the level of ambition, the experience and seriousness about what we do form perfect common ground for ENSLAVED and Nuclear Blast.”
What’s coming up next, you ask?
“We’re in the process of making a new album that will initiate our new partnership. Watch out for the approaching wave of news about that. For now, let’s just say that the album will be an absolute (Nuclear) blast!”
Expect to see their new album this fall in the US and Europe!
