Jan 262012
 


In our last post, DemiGodRaven caught us up on news items from the last few days that I missed, but this item, to which DGR also alerted me, deserves its own special mention.

In the realm of Italian death metal, 2011 was the year of Fleshgod Apocalypse, the year when that band made a huge breakthrough and established themselves as a true force on the international scene. I have a feeling that 2012 will be the year of their fellow Romans in Hour of Penance. Yesterday, HoP announced details about their fifth album.

It will be called Sedition and will be released on March 27 in North America, April 2 in the U.K., and April 6 in mainland Europe via Prosthetic Records. As Fleshgod Apocalypse did with Agony, Hour of Penance will be following the release of Sedition with a North American tour — their first. They will be in fine company on that tour: The Black Dahlia Murder, Nile, and Skeletonwitch.

The cover art also made its first appearance. As you can see, it kills. The artist is Gyula Havancsak, a new name to me but one I suspect we’ll be seeing more of in the future.

This last HoP album, Paradogma, was one of my favorites of 2010. Based on what Hour of Penance showed on that album, Sedition should qualify as one of this year’s must-listen releases for death metal fans.

What? You haven’t heard Paradogma? For shame! Here’s a track, which made our list of 2010’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs:

“Apotheosis”

[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/10-Apotheosis.mp3|titles=Hour of Penance – Apotheosis]

Prosthetic Records is offering all sorts of nice pre-order bundles for Sedition at this location.

Now, here are those North American tour dates:

3/24 Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
3/25 Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Club
3/26 Minneapolis, MN – Station 4
3/27 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
3/29 Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
3/30 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
4/02 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
4/03 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
4/04 San Francisco, CA – Slims
4/05 Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues
4/06 Phoenix, AZ – Nile Theater
4/07 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
4/09 Dallas, TX – Prophet Bar
4/10 San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit
4/11 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
4/13 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
4/17 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
4/18 Philadelphia, PA – Theater of the Living Arts
4/19 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
4/20 Worcester, MA – New England Metal & Hardcore Fest @ The Palladium

 

  16 Responses to “HOUR OF PENANCE UPDATE”

  1. I liked The Vile Conception way more than Paradogma, though both are awesome. Anyway, Hour of Pennance is one of the top brutal death metal bands of today and my most reliable source when I feel like bashing Christianity. It’s a shame that they’re so much underrated, much more than Fleshgod, who, even though they’re also superb and are very different, have had a much shorter career and therefore have been through much less trouble.

    • HoP have had their share of hurdles to overcome, for sure, including the loss of drummer Mauro Mercurio and Francesco Paoli’s decision to devote himself full-time to Fleshgod Apocalypse (events we reported here). I was afraid this might cause the death of this band, but they have come back stronger than ever. Can’t wait to hear the new music.

  2. Mmmmmm. Hour of Penance. I have heard Paradogma, but I listened to that track anyway. Just because. I’m excited for this new album.

  3. You had me at giant space snakes from the sky.

  4. New Hour of Penance, FUCK YEAH!

  5. Hmm, never heard of Hour of Penance before. Looks like I”m going to have to give that track a listen whenever I finally leave this god forsaken office.

  6. Very well. You have convinced me to become an Hour of Penance fan. I await the new record with great anticipation

  7. Being the guinea that I am, I always try to give the bands from Italy a chance, but I’m always let down. Hour of Penance are probably the best band from Italy I’ve heard, but I can’t get into them.

    I just finished giving Paradogma a chance, and I gotta say, the drums ruined it for me. It’s just a repititive cycle of heavily triggered double bass, and drum fills. Almost sounds like a drum machine. The riffs aren’t all that bad, but the vocals could definitely be better.

    I guess I would have to say Deeds of Flesh get the triggered drum sound right.

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