VLTIMAS feat. MORBID ANGEL, MAYHEM, CRYPTOPSY legends release “Miserere” video and announce new album – Digital Mediaverse

VIRTUAL They have been legends since the dawn of metal. Rune Eriksen was in charge of wielding the ax in the second installment of Mayhem. Flo Mounier has been a battery Cryptopsy since his first exhumations from the Canadian underground. And who could forget David Vincentthe great vocalist of Morbid Angel.

Having already made history, some metalheads will have scratched their heads and wondered if this band could conquer new kingdoms. But on their new album, Vltimas rise to truly epic heights.

«epic» will be released on March 15 through Season Of Mist. The video for the lead single, «Miserere«, can be seen below.

VIRTUAL They have been making grand declarations of war for over 30 years, but “Miserere» is not just another offering on the altar of madness. “I spread my misery, biblically evolved,” he sings Vincent in a baritone so monstrous it could summon an army of the dead. The drums accelerate mercilessly, peppering all spectators under a barrage of surgical blast beats, while the riffs leap from all directions with enough firepower to shatter armored glass.

“The world constantly tests us,” he says. VIRTUAL. “We use this anguish as a weapon in our art to mark the apocalypse.”

Available formats:

• Digital download
• CD Digipak
• 12″ Pull-Out Vinyl – Black
• 12″ Colored Pull-Out Vinyl – Skull Gold
• 12″ Pop-Up Color Vinyl – Dracula
• 12″ vinyl with image

make your order herebooking here.

The power of extreme metal VIRTUAL (pronounced ‘uhl-tuh-mas’) assaults metal once again with their long-awaited second album, «epic“, through Season of Mist. Formed by the Norwegian guitarist Rune «Blasphemer» Eriksen (ex-Mayhem, Black Aura), American vocalist David Vincent (ex-Morbid Angel) and Canadian drummer Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), the multinational quintet, completed by the Dutch bassist Ype TVS (ex-Dodecahedron) and the Portuguese guitarist Joao Duarte (Corpus Christi), continues to venture on his path. Bound by strength and integrity, VIRTUAL They fortified their signature with perverse inventiveness, as they applauded Decibel Magazine, BangerTV, Louder and many others, in their debut, «Something Wicked Marches In» (2019). The singles «Miserere«, «Scorcher» and «Invictus» show a band of musicians at the top of their game, united in their quest for unity.

«We wrote all the songs of ‘epic‘together on my ranch Dime BoxTexas,” explains Vincent. «The writing sessions were as organic as they could be. Sometimes at the end of the night rune He would take his guitar and play something ridiculous. Flo played something even more ridiculous on top. I told the boys: ‘I have to capture this.’ So the magic [de VLTIMAS] It’s being in the same room together, discussing, playing and recording music and everything else we do together. “We have an incredible camaraderie.”

Although the members of VIRTUAL They are not atavistic, their preferred creative methods are tried and tested. Technology has its place, but the group thrives when they are together, not separated by the world. Eriksenfamous as a riff innovator, is most effective when he has a very capable musician like Vincent either Mounierwhose battery in Cryptopsy and his celebrated instructional DVD «Extreme Metal Drumming 101» has proven to be a musician without limits. Whether in the moody and angular attack of «Miserere«, the perverse groove of «Mephisto Manifesto» or the dark fury of «Nature’s Fangs«, the chemistry and entrepreneurial spirit of VIRTUAL it’s undeniable.

“The main goal [de VLTIMAS] is being real,” he reveals. Eriksen. «Channel your own moment, let true inspiration come out. I don’t think I’ve ever set a goal for what an album should or has to sound like before writing it, because that means I have to make compromises during the process. For ‘epic‘, we focus on more direct songs, trimming the fat, unlike ‘Something Wicked Marches In‘, which had a progressive and ‘playful’ touch.

VIRTUAL was a profane concept – a constellation of riffs in a modest framework – when Eriksen he formed it in 2015. After leaving Mayhem in 2008 and ended his gothic doom group «Ava Inferi» In 2013, the Norwegian’s fingers were still itching with infernal fury. VIRTUAL It was his relief, and when Mounier and Vincent They came together, I finally had the team of professionals to make it a reality. Together, they devised complementary schemes and themes rooted in righteousness. In a world gone mad, VIRTUAL He had a vision. In “Something Wicked Marches In«, they attracted attention with metaphors about the apocalypse, the ancient goddess Lilith and the truth. From a lyrical point of view, “epic» stabs into the very core of the force through the brio of Vincent with the double meaning and its ingenious goldsmithing. Songs are designed to be heard, read and performed; There are no short cuts.

“Everything we do and broadcast is about strength and honor,” says Vincent. «They are the foundations that I incorporate into my life, in which I believe. I want to share them with others, in the hopes that they bring strength and honor into their lives. I wouldn’t say I like spelling letters. I use a lot of double entenders on purpose because I want to inspire the listener to think. I’m not a short attention span guy and I don’t appreciate it. The epic is holistic and should be lived that way.

«epic» was recorded by the producer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Grave Miasma) with the engineer Jonathan Mazzeo (First Fragment, Sickening) in Arda Recorders in Porto, Portugal. VIRTUAL They recorded the album throughout May 2023. Arellano He was also in charge of mixing and mastering. Like everything the band does, the main goal was to be honest. The team adhered to the maxim of not replacing samples or reamplifying -«epic» was recorded with external equipment – and enjoyed it. The result is a sonic expression that sounds like no other. From the crushing title track to the epic musicality of «Spoils of War »Epic is a real beast.

“Stress, long walks, too much alcohol, but very focused once in recording mode,” he says Eriksen of the sessions. “We booked for a month, but somehow it flew by instantly. We work until the end. I even added some solos at my local studio soundscape from Almada (Portugal). Art unfolds, and once you think you’re done, another idea always arises.”

VIRTUAL brought the Italian artist Daniele Valeriani (Mayhem, Unanimated) to visualize “epic«. The aesthetic, illuminated by the music and the message, was iconically bold. The shield of three eagle heads with three different crowns, accompanied by transfigured symbols of the Passion and the “impossible triangle”, is projected effortlessly. In “epic«, the group will dominate. There is no escape fromMiserere«, «Mephisto Manifesto«, «Scorcher» and «Invictus«. Together, through their resolve and inventiveness, they push Vltimas to the highest echelons of extreme metal.

«[‘Epic‘ es] “old meets contemporary, a symbiosis of all the great things we love about extreme metal,” he offers. Eriksen. “All combined into one album.”

«I want to be as emotional and honest [con VLTIMAS]”, Add Vincent. «I want to tell stories; I want to have the themes that attract me; I want to have a message that someone can take away, in this case, strength. “Epic is strength.”

Alignment:
David Vincent – ​​Voice
Rune Blasphemer Eriksen – Guitars
Flo Mounier – Drums
Ype TVS – Low
João Duarte – Guitars