Sodom / Hirax Split-Single To Kick Off SPV's 30th Anniversary Celebrations

In 2014, SPV will celebrate its 30th anniversary with various campaigns and releases. The celebrations begin with this limited edition 7" single. Only 1.000 coloured and numbered vinyl copies will be pressed which will make this single a highly collectable item for all Thrash Metal maniacs.

The SODOM / HIRAX Split-Single vinyl wax record will be released in Germany January 24, Europe January 27 and North America February 4 via SPV / Steamhammer Records.

EXUMER Launch Video Trailer And Artwork Of Upcoming New Album 'Fire & Damnation'

EXUMER 'Fire & Damnation' Metal Blade Records 2012
Cover art by Baptiste Treton

Legendary German Thrashers EXUMER have just launched a video trailer for their long anticipated comeback album 'Fire & Damnation'. 

Watch out for 'Fire & Damnation' to be unleashed on April 6 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, April 9 in Europe and April 10 in North America via Metal Blade Records. 

'Fire & Damnation' will be released as a limited Digipak-CD including three bonus tracks as well as on vinyl. 

The album artwork has been designed by Baptiste Treton. 

More details on 'Fire & Damnation' and the first new song will be posted soon! 

Check out the trailer that features music of 'Fire & Damnation' as well as the stunning front cover. The art direction and production of the clip was executed by German-born artist Cyphers-X, who has worked with bands such as The Very End in the past. 


Comments EXUMER singer Mem V. Stein: “We are very excited for our fans to hear and see a taste of things to come and what they can expect from 'Fire and Damnation'. We intentionally worked with Cyphers-X to keep the trailer short and to the point, which is a perfect representation of the album. Fans can expect nothing short of some of the most pure, uncompromising and undiluted thrash metal they have heard in a long while.” 

EXUMER recorded their first new album in 24 years with renowned producer Waldemar Sorychta (Grip Inc., Therion, Sodom, Moonspell, etc.) at the helm. The 10-track strong, hard-hitting CD 'Fire & Damnation' combines a punishing production with aggressive song writing. EXUMER manages to capture the intensity and feel of the 1980s thrash metal gems and yet sound up to date on their latest output.

'Fire & Damnation' will catapult EXUMER back in the forefront of the international music markets and the following live assaults in 2012 will only further cement the band’s cult status among the ranks of classic thrash metal acts in the world!

EXUMER are: Matthias Kassner - Drums, H.K. - Guitars, 

Mem V. Stein - Vocals, Ray Mensh - Guitars, T. Schiavo - Bass

Formed in 1985, by singer/bassist Mem V. Stein and guitarist Ray Mensh, EXUMER went on to release two albums in 1986 (Possessed by Fire), and 1987 (Rising from the Sea), that are regarded as some of the most cult thrash metal releases ever to come out of Germany. EXUMER was also one of the first thrash metal acts to capture exotic, foreign markets like Poland and Brazil, where their albums were domestically released in the 1980s. The subsequent tours that followed those releases secured the band live shows in front of thousands of fans and an unusually large following outside of Germany.

Plagued by line-up changes and internal turmoil the band broke up in 1990, and did not perform live, with the exception in 2001 at the prestigious Wacken Open Air Festival, until 2009.

Mem and Ray decided to re-activate EXUMER in 2008, and the band embarked on their first tour since 1988, where they played 5 shows in April/May of 2009. The “5 Nights of Fire Tour”, took the band through Europe (Germany, Holland, Greece), and the USA, where they headlined the “Thrasho de Mayo Festival”, in front of 1.300 fans in Los Angeles.

EXUMER returned to Europe in spring and the fall of 2010, where the band appeared at Norway’s “Inferno Festival”, among other stops in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Bulgaria during their “European Ignition Tour Part I & II”.

Worldwide 2012 tour dates to be announced soon!

Connect with EXUMER

THE BEATLES - ‘ABBEY ROAD’ TOPS 2011 LIST OF BEST-SELLING VINYL ALBUMS

THE BEATLES  

'ABBEY ROAD' TOPS 2011 LIST OF BEST-SELLING VINYL ALBUMS  

By Shauna Wright, 
via ultimateclassicrock.com 

Vinyl aficionados are a special breed. Some feel the medium is the only one that does justice to older recordings, while others enjoy listening to even newer music on actual records instead of more modern CDs or digital formats — and both groups are well-represented in the just-released list of 2011′s top-selling vinyl albums. 


Proving everything old is new again, the Beatles‘ 1969 classic ‘Abbey Road’ moved 41,000 units to take the top spot for the third year in a row — but Adele, last year’s unofficial Queen of All Things Awesome, wasn’t left out of the mix. Her blockbuster album ’21′ made the cut as well. 

Vinyl only accounts for about four percent of total music sales, but the format has been increasingly popular — in 2010, sales rose 14 percent over the previous year, even as music sales overall dropped by the same amount. Indie and classic rock bands tend to own most of the vinyl sales charts, with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Metallica and Bob Dylan fans keeping those artists on many annual best-selling lists. 

According to Nielsen SoundScan, here’s last year’s top ten line-up:

1. The Beatles – ‘Abbey Road’
2. Fleet Foxes – ‘Helplessness Blues’
3. Bon Iver – ‘Bon Iver’
4. Mumford & Sons – ‘Sigh No More’
5. Radiohead – ‘The King of Limbs’
6. Adele – ’21′
7. Bon Iver – ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’
8. Wilco – ‘The Whole Love’
9. The Black Keys – ‘Brothers’
10. The Black Keys – ‘El Camino’