Cold Years & Planet of Zeus

Cold Years

GOODBYE TO MISERY

This was probably coming. The dam was surely always going to break. Had you listened to Ross Gordon speak over the past few years, read between the lines of his lyrics, or paid attention to the more seething moments of Cold Years’ 2020 acclaimed debut album Paradise, you could have predicted that something had to give.

As the incendiary spirit of the band’s latest album Goodbye To Misery attests, “something” might be an understatement.

Everything has changed. This is the sound of the fight-or-flight kicking in, of deciding that enough is enough, and the trio — completed by guitarist Finlay Urquhart and bassist Louis Craighead — demanding better. Most importantly, it’s them doing something about it all. The time for pissing and moaning is done.

Lauded by the likes of Kerrang, Rock Sound, Alternative Press, Upset plus multiple Kerrang Radio playlists & BBC Radio 1’s Daniel P Carter spins & 5 German Top 15 Rock Radio charts Cold Years joined Against Me’s Laura Jane Grace on their European Tour in Summer 2022 as well as festival appearances at 2000 Trees, Slam Dunk, Fallig Open Air & Radio BOB Rocknacht followed by a UK headline run in October & another trip back to mainland Europe with Germany’s Itchy.

Planet of Zeus - MACHO LIBRE

Planet of Zeus have entered the building for an alive and kicking party full of heavy riffs, gritty melodies and foot stomping grooves.

The Athens based stoner meets psychedelic rock outfit have reissued their 2011 hit album ‘Macho Libre’ on coloured vinyl and the orange 18 gram repress is available now to purchase. The vinyl is also available in the original black variant and tote bags and stickers accompany the orders via Bandcamp.

About Planet of Zeus

“How was the heavy rock scene in Greece” you ask, before Planet of Zeus made their debut at the dawn of the third millennium? A band that needs no introduction, for its enviable success and indisputable chemistry on stage are nothing short of becoming part of Greek Mythology.

Having one sold-out gig after another, in every city and every venue, Planet of Zeus have gone beyond the narrow bounds of their country’s music scene, playing their heavy groove riffs around the world.

With their wicked five albums—“Eleven the Hard Way” (2008), “Macho Libre” (2011), “Vigilante” (2014), “Loyal to the Pack” (2016), Faith in Physics” (2019)—and their breathtaking gigs in Greece and across the earth, the band managed to wed on stage Lynyrd Skynyrd to Mastodon and Allman Brothers to Clutch, and to carry us away with dance, hope, and a pathway to a better future.

Planet of Zeus’ last album “Faith in Physics” is the ideal soundtrack for the dystopian state of our planet, a heavy rock outburst, with socio-politically engaged lyrics and a charged atmosphere, “in a world dominated by irrationalism, where far-right politics and fundamentalism are gaining ground, while freedom of speech is in jeopardy.”

Digitization, religion, pseudo-revolution on social media, addiction of all kinds are topics that the quartet inject into their new breed of nostalgic rock proceedings.

Planet of Zeus are in the studio writing the next rumpus to their discography, and are ready to reign their thunder upon the masses in 2022.

Planet of Zeus is
Babis Papanikolaou - Guitar, Vocals
Stelios Provis - Guitar
Giannis Vrazos - Bass
Serapheim Giannakopoulos - Guitar, Drums

Employed To Serve

CONQUERING

Two years on from their last full length, Eternal Forward Motion, Employed To Serve have announced their return with their fourth album, Conquering, due for release via Spinefarm Records on September 17th 2021.

Employed To Serve’s latest release, Conquering, is a fully realised metamorphosis into the band they’ve always wanted to be. Drawing influence from the music of their youth and a new perspective on how to nurture the positive aspects of humanity and individual growth, Conquering is a celebration and acknowledgement of triumph in the face of a world that can be relentlessly adversarial.

Album highlights, Exist, Mark of the Grave and Twist the Blade best encapsulate Employed To Serve’s rebirth, with an emphasis on groove and a penchant for colossal hooks that wouldn’t be out of place on Lamb of God or Machine Head’s respective catalogues. Frontwoman Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin (guitar / vocals) trade vocal duties throughout, confidently flitting between whiplash inducing screams and swaggering melodicism, as the rhythm section of recent additions Nathan Pryor (bass) and Casey McHale (drums) provide towering sonic weight to proceedings in the vein of Sepultura at their most defiant. The most enduring qualities of Employed To Serve’s established identity remain intact, as Conquering harnesses the bands signature technical prowess alongside their growing knack for stadium built battle-cries for a new generation of metal and hardcore fans.

Conquering presents a powerful statement from a band continuing to fire on all cylinders after the best part of a decade, without losing sight of their humble beginnings, and the hard work it’s taken to attain the reverence they hold both within and beyond genre confines. Where previous efforts explored the darker aspects of human emotion, this latest chapter in the band’s storied history acknowledges their past and offers a way forward with them through inner power and an unbridled encouragement of self-worth.

Four albums in, and a steady stream of critical acclaim and awards in tow, Employed To Serve’s meteoric rise from genre hopefuls to becoming one of UK metal’s most consistently captivating bastions is indisputable.