For some previews of this journey behind words check http://www.heallifelong.com

Amenra: repress Mass IIII

Due to the phenomenal demand we decided to do a onetime only repress of Amenra’s  – Mass IIII! Don’t miss out on this opportunity since we’re producing this instant classic on 180g vinyl, too fucking heavy for your coffee table! 400 pieces on black wax, 100 clear only through our store.

Amenra will be joining NEUROSIS on their 2011 European tour, no doubt these will show to be extraordinary events so be sure to attend mass at one of the following dates

17.07.2011 Grünspan Hamburg, Germany
18.07.2011 Conne Island Leipzig,Germany
19.07.2011 Arena Wien, Austria
23.07.2011 La Machine Paris, France

Black Haven

Our youngsters are touring and gigging all summer in support of their critically acclaimed “Harmbringer” LP. Check them a.o. at the Fluff Fest (CZ), on selected shows in support of Black Breath and The Secret or, for the hardcore Hype-fan, at the Ypres Fest on the same day as Drums Are For Parades.

Drums Are For Parades

The “Master”-album is still sizzling hot and their live-shows get huge, overwhelming reviews. As a result DAFP will be destroying PA-systems and dB-meters on festivals all over the Benelux and beyond in the next months. Dour Festival, Ypres Fest, Pukkelpop to name but a few.

Speaking of Master, we only have a few more of the LP on “clear” in our store so wake up and smell the napalm motherfuckers!

Other news – store

We revamped our site, go hit that shit! In our store you’ll find the last copies of Kingdom’s Hemeltraan LP, we also added some new stuff (Syndrome) and we dropped prices on selected items. Some other rare stuff you can find on Discogs.com  (user ralfhype). Contact us with all your wishes and we’ll get back to you.

BELIEVE THE HYPE : www.hypertensionrecords.com
STORE: http://www.hypertensionrecords.com/store.htm
Add us on:  FACEBOOK: hypertensionrecords – TWITTER: @HypertensionRex

DISCOGRAPHY
S/t – self-released (2002)
Twilight Sentinel – self-released (2003)
Cosmos – Relapse (2004)
The Zombi Anthology – self-released (2005
Digitalis – self-released (2006)
Surfa ce To Air – Relapse/Hypertension (2006)

MEMBERS
Steve Moore: Bass, Synthesizers
A. E. Pattera: Drums, Synthesizers

BIOGRAPHY
TProducing work that is epic in concept, sound, and artistic approach, Steve Moore and A.E. Paterra, the masterminds and multi-instrumentalists behind Zombi, have re-imagined the architecture of progressive rock and dynamic instrumentals—carving a niche in underground music distinctly their own.

The band’s signature sound, achieved using only electric bass, drums, and a collection of analog synthesizers, is deceptively lush considering its two man skeleton crew ensemble. Moore’s bass playing and meticulous synthesizer programming interacts seamlessly with Paterra’s controlled, precision drumming—as if each man is anticipating his counterpart’s next move. Punctuated by Moore and Paterra’s seasoned songwriting skills, each Zombi song—whether grand in design like “Night Rhythms” from the band’s forthcoming LP or powerful and driving like “Orion,” the opening track on Cosmos—is entirely autonomous and true to the duo’s creative vision.

“I bring a lot of skeletal ideas to the table—basslines, sequences, and drum parts. Steve will then craft them into complete songs,” Paterra explains. “There is a musical trust that exists between us that allows for full exploration of all ideas. We are perfectionists, sometimes to a fault, but I think it is a quality that lends itself well to the music.”

“We share the same goal, which is simply to create music that we enjoy—it’s rather selfish,” Moore adds. “We have a similar list of influences as well, both of us having grown up listening to progressive and classic rock. So when it comes time to write, we’re basically completing each other’s thoughts.” Following the success of Cosmos—Zombi’s critically-acclaimed debut album for Relapse Records—and a series of national tours with artists like Dillinger Escape Plan, The Fucking Champs, Red Sparowes, Panthers, and Breather Resist, Moore and Paterra regrouped in Chicago to begin work on their next full-length album.

“Surface To Air is a genuinely progressive album: bigger, denser, and more dynamic than anything we’ve done before,” Moore says. “It’s still dark and cinematic, but without being kitschy like some of our earlier releases.”“The album is an accurate representation of who we are and where we are headed as a band,” Paterra adds. “It is the culmination of a style and sound we’ve been honing since our inception, but it also puts us in a new direction, one that I am excited to explore.”

Larger in scope and sound, Surface To Air is an evolutionary album, anchored by the distinct melodic and technically complex sound Zombi has become known for, but more mature and forward-thinking in its overall conceptual approach. While the track listing may at first appear lean at a mere five songs, the attentive listener will soon realize that Moore and Paterra have composed and assembled more than 40 minutes of emotive, dynamic, multi-layered music—making Surface To Air a magnum opus in its own right.

Informed by the music and boundary-pushing work ethic of icons like Genesis, Tangerine Dream, Van Halen, and Pink Floyd, Moore and Paterra rely just as much on inspiration from the past as they do on their own skill and musical knowledge during the songwriting process. On Surface To Air, the integrity of tracks like “Challenger Deep” with its powerful, driving bassline, and the mysterious mounting tension of “Digitalis” are indisputable evidence of Zombi’s artistic growth and allegiance to producing a diverse and progressive body of work. “Legacy,” however, sidesteps, revealing a more introspective direction in Moore and Paterra’s work, while the album’s title track, “Surface To Air,” opens with a frantically-paced and hypnotic synthesizer-laden melody.

Experimenting with a vast new sound, Zombi proves that charging forward with an expansive vision can open doors to an entirely new realm. While Moore and Paterra still draw inspiration from the horror genre when composing film scores, a broader range of influences—as well as a desire to push the boundaries of what they’ve already accomplished—now informs the material for their albums. Whether you’re an adventurous listener, diehard fan, or skeptical observer, delving into the latest chapter of Zombi’s prolific and ever-evolving work will never disappoint. – Matthew Newton

With members of Amenra, Kingdom and Treha Sektori…

Clawing their way up from the Ghent underground Black Haven is ready to amaze the world of heavy music with their first full length “Harmbringer”. Hypertension Records released “Harmbringer” both on CD and LP. Mixed by Hein Devos (Amenra, Hitch), mastered by Alan Douches (Mastodon, Converge,..) and drawing influences from bands such as Tragedy, Integrity and Entombed “Harmbringer” shows Black Haven’s most dark, heavy and exploring side to date. With “Harmbringer” Black Haven blazes down new and adventurous paths making this album a grim and crushing mix of all the best in heavy music, past and present. Expect the unexpected!

2000 years – Hypertension Records (2008)

MEMBERS

Blankers – Guitar
Eikenaar – Vox
Kimenai – Bass
Meurs – Drums

BIOGRAPHY

From the decaying bowels of Dutch hardcore comes a fresh musical beast. Dark without being pretentious, harsh without being hateful, dirty without being repulsive. Like most trouble, it was raised in a small basement, cluttered by broken amps and empty bottles. It’s early 2007, and within mere months after being spawned, the beast emerged as a potent monster, ready to lurk the downtrodden streets of the Low Countries. Blackened by years of prowling around in the dark underbelly of the Netherland’s extreme counterculture, serving time in bands like Union Town, No Turning Back, Restless Youth and Dead Rivers, ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK are now set to leave their deadly mark.

Through the drug inflicted undergrowth and fantastical thickets of dark imagination comes “2000 years”, the debut of the elusive Tilburg-based quartet. Downtuned and monstrous, with guitar riffs that leap out of the speakers, “2000 years” charges forward with the brutal angst of Tragedy and Cursed, whilst maintaining a mesmerizing combination of the punishing vocal sensibilities of Darkthrone and the compelling groove of Entombed. ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK aren’t necessarily doing a whole lot new, but they’re taking the genre to a new level, perfecting the loud, the fast and the dirgey. The band enrolled Patrick Delabie (known for producing Restless Youth, White Circle Crime Club, Rubbish Heap, etc.) to help with tones in the studio. Mixing and mastering was left in the skilled hands of Vincent Koreman (The House of Destructo, The Travoltas, The Apers).

The outcome is simply gargantuan.

Vocals that manage to chronicle the evils of the world in a way that never patronizes, nor detracts from the unbridled musical rage of his bandmates. The guitar work unites the raw d-beat style of bands like Disfear and Tragedy, with the doom-laden offering of classic bands like Pentagram or Black Sabbath, and contemporaries like Entombed or High on Fire. The rhythm section has clear roots in their aggressive hardcore past, showing zero concessions, taking on a new life and pushing the beast onward more urgently than ever.

Despite its brief time of existence, ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK already shared the stage with High On Fire, Lair Of The Minotaur, Capricons, Wolves In The Throne Room, Cursed and label mates Amenra. Friends and foes alike, in the coming years, “2000 years” strength will win converts, even among those who will initially jump ship, scared of the uncompromising assault on their senses.

Official site: myspace.com/anaphylacticshock13

At The Soundless Dawn – Neurot / Hypertension (2005)
Triad – Neurot (2006)

MEMBERS

Clifford Meyer (ISIS)
Josh Graham (NEUROSIS)
Greg Burns (HALIFAX PIER)
Jeff Caxide (ISIS)
Dana Berkowitz (THE CIGNAL)

BIOGRAPHY

There just might be a certain warped truth to the phrase “guilt by association.” As in the case of Red Sparowes, its formal associations with such heavy, propulsive bands as Isis and Neurosis would lead you to expect that the Los Angeles quintet’s debut would be a masterfully crafted epic of primal urgency.

It is.

However, Red Sparowes is epic without bombast, heavy without a single bar-chord riff and eviscerating without any clearly audible vocals. The chiming, spindly layers of effect-laden guitars and the swinging, entrancing drums on its Neurot Recordings debut At the Soundless Dawn create textures reminiscent of Goblin, Death in June, Tones on Tail and early Sonic Youth. Its attack is syrupy and serpentine; subtle but frighteningly deliberate.

Red Sparowes is comprised of Bryant Clifford Meyer on guitar/vocals (Isis), Jeff Caxide on bass/guitar (Isis), Josh Graham on guitar/vocals (Neurosis visuals and acclaimed video director), Greg Burns on bass and pedal steel (also of Temporary Residence dark chamber folk sextet Halifax Pier) and Dana Berkowitz on drums (formerly of Converge offshoot The Cignal). The sum total of its sound, however, stems more so from esoteric melodic guitar-surrealists of the mid-80’s Blast First and Too Pure hive than the fierce realism of the aforementioned cabal of heavy-psych rock.

At the Soundless Dawn – an album of seven compositions with titles that fit together as a complete paragraph — opens with a rapidly strummed single high-string building tension as distant, delay drenched notes saturate an almost dance-beat drum pattern on “Alone and unaware, the landscape was transformed in front of our eyes.” Pedal steel notes add a further layer of glissando urgency as ringing guitar notes climb hand-over-fist upon an ascending line. The second track, “Buildings began to stretch wide across the sky and the air filled with a reddish glow” kicks in abruptly, sounding reminiscent of the taut and eerie blasts of Italian horror film soundtrack masters Goblin. Icy, piercing guitars jut out from the speakers as rapid bass arpeggios drive the tune ever nearer.

Throughout the album, transitions glide and instruments smudge into a warm wash of tones. It’s an orchestral wall of sound that is equally as entrancing as it is unnerving. While At the Soundless Dawn uses vocals as subtle instrumentation, the group plans to incorporate voices further into its sound. This stunning introduction to Red Sparowes, recorded in San Francisco by engineer Desmond Shea (who also did additional engineering on the recent Neurosis album, The Eye of Every Storm) is just the beginning for a band that promises to change the way we think about heavy music. Its family of related artists is certainly good company.
-Dave Clifford-

Official site: www.redpsarowes.com

Pre-order packages come with an exclusive shirt and patch (ask your favourite metalhead, he knows what’s up) both courtesy of Kluzehellion Designs.

Official streetdate for the record is March 7th but all pre-orders will be send out before the official releaseparty.

For some previews of this assault on mind and ears check http://blackhaven.bandcamp.com/

Official releaseparty: 25th of February De Kreun – Kortrijk (with Your Highness, Oathbreaker).

Black Haven will also support the release of Harmbringer during a short European tour with Coliseum (March, more info TBA).