SLAVES TO FASHION
THE HISTORY OF HEAVY METAL
A FICTIONAL JOURNEY IN TIME
FROM 1970 TO 2020
TELLING THE STORY OF
HEAVY METAL
CAREFULLY WRITTEN AND PRODUCED
TO HONOUR AND REPRESENT
50 YEARS OF THE GENRE
1970
Release date: February 13th 2020
Our first single honors and pays tribute to the legendary early bands of heavy metal: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. It was recorded on vintage gear and analoge tape machines to capture the right vibe of the good old days. We love our guest musicians on this one so we hope you like the song!
Line-up:
Johannes Støle: lead vocals, hammond B3
Torfinn Sirnes: rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, bridge lead vocal, mellotron
Geir Thorstensen: drums
Ole Øvstedal: first and third guitar solo, additional bridge guitars
Daniel Palmqvist: second guitar solo
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Bridge arranged by Ole Øvstedal
Basic tracks engineered by Dag Erik Andersen at Athletic Sound, Halden
Mixed by Espen Andersen at Cederberg Studios, Kristiansand
Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio, Oslo
Cover art by Alf Dale Wold
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The Priest of Maidenhead
Release date: March 22nd 2020
Heavy metal was born in 1970. Ten years later, the genre was already grown up! Bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Motörhead were extremely important in cementing heavy metal as a distinct genre and subculture. Our second single pays tribute to the classic heavy metal from the beginning of the 1980's. Irons up!
Line-up:
Mads Pedersen: lead vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: rhythm guitars, melody guitars, first and second guitar solo
Bernt Jansen: bass
Vidar Ingvaldsen: drums
Daniel Palmqvist: third guitar solo
Dag Erik Johansen: "Fast Eddie" Clark guitar fills
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Basic tracks engineered by Dag Erik Johansen at Athletic Sound, Halden
Mixed by Rudolf Fredly at Sweetspot Studio, Vedavågen, Norway
Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio, Oslo
Cover art by Dimitar Nikolov
Sex, Drugs & Rock 'N' Roll
Release date: April 24th 2020
As heavy metal was established as a distinct genre and subculture in the early 1980's, different subgenres started to develop. One of them was the controversial bastard between pop and heavy metal: glam metal, also called hair metal. These bands ruled the charts and MTV in the second half of the decade with catchy choruses and distorted guitar riffs. Let's party all night long!
Line-up:
Johannes Støle: lead and backing vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: guitars
Bernt Jansen: bass
Vidar Ingvaldsen: drums
Steffen Horn: keyboards
Mads Pedersen: backing vocals
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Basic tracks engineered by Dag Erik Johansen at Athletic Sound
Additional editing by Rudolf Fredly
Mixed by Beau Hill
Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio
Cover art by Torfinn Sirnes
Band logo and song title fonts by Imagex fonts
Lyric video by Absynthe Moon Films
Thrash of the Titans
Release date: May 29th 2020
In the 1980's different extreme metal subgenres emerged as the music became faster, heavier and more extreme than the classic form of heavy metal. Spearheaded by Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax the fast and furious thrash metal became the most popular extreme metal genre. Our fourth single pays tribute to the classic thrash metal bands of the 80's. Show No Mercy! Kill 'Em All!
Line-up:
Mads Pedersen: lead vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: rhythm guitars, clean guitars and first solo
Stein Arild Grønås: rhythm guitar and third solo
Daniel Palmqvist: second guitar solo
John Lind: bass
Trygve André Tvedt: drums
Shout vocals by Johannes Støle, Stein Arild Grønås and Torfinn Sirnes
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Drums engineered by Wolfgang B. Ognøy
Vocals engineered by Rudolf Fredly
Additional editing by Rudolf Fredly
Mixed by Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen
Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio
Cover art by Dimitar Nikolov
Lyric video by Absynthe Moon Films
Expressions of Extremity
Release date: June 26th 2020
As heavy metal evolved in the 1980's and early 90's different extreme metal subgenres emerged with distinct creative musical and lyrical traits. This is our humble interpretation of the genres speed metal, doom metal, death metal, grindcore and black metal respectively:
1. Speed of Light
2. At the Gates of Doom
3. Scent of Death
4. Grind to the Core
5. Black Nights of Northern Darkness
Line-up:
César Moreira: lead vocals (2, 3, 5)
Geir Arne Haaland Nordhus: lead vocals (1)
Johannes Støle: clean lead vocals (2)
Marco Alvarado: lead vocals (4)
Torfinn Sirnes: rhythm and lead guitars (1-5), bass (1, 2, 4), keyboards
Stein Arild Grønås: rhythm and lead guitars (2, 3)
John Lind: bass (3, 5), guitars (5)
Hugo Ribeiro: drums (1, 3, 5)
Vidar Ingvaldsen: drums (2, 4)
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
"Speed of Light" mixed by Vidar Ingvaldsen
"At the Gates of Doom" mixed by Rudolf Fredly
"Scent of Death" and "Grind to the Core" mixed by Stein Arild Grønås
"Black Knights of Northern Darkness" mixed by Torfinn Sirnes
Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio
Cover art by Torfinn Sirnes
Photo by Alvaro German Vilela
Logo by Wormhole Design / Alice Malvisi
Lyric video by Absynthe Moon Films
Garden of Chains
Release date: July 23rd 2020
In the beginning of the 1990's a musical revolution shooked the heavy metal community as grunge became the most popular genre of heavy music. It was hated by some metal fans because of the stripped down sound and image, depressing lyrics and alternative attitude. Still, bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden are very heavy sounding musically and grunge are therefore an important part of the history of heavy metal.
Line-up:
Mads Pedersen: lead vocals
Johannes Støle: harmony vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: rhythm guitars, bass
Stein Arild Grønås: rhythm and lead guitars
Ole Øvstedal: lead guitars and mellotron
Geir Thorstensen: drums
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Mixed by Stein Arild Grønås
Basic tracks engineered by Dag Erik Johansen at Athletic Sound
Lead vocals engineered by Rudolf Fredly at Sweetspot studio
Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio
Cover art by Lavidhi Arsyad and Torfinn Sirnes
Lyric video by Absynthe Moon Films
The Evergrowing Tree
Release date: August 27th 2020
Progressive metal merged the progressive rock of the 70's with the heavy metal of the 80's. The genre
gained popularity in the early 90's and has since
taken a lot of different directions. At about the same time a creative wave of new subgenres in many variations swept ashore in the metal community. Some of them were different forms of alternative metal while others explored and extended different types of extreme metal.
We decided to pay tribute to this highly creative period in the history of heavy metal with a progressive opus in three parts:
Part I: Progressive Power
Part II: Alternative Alternatives
Part III: Extreme Evolution
THE EVERGROWING TREE (PART I)
Johannes Støle: clean lead vocals, synth solos, keyboards
César Moreira: extreme lead vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: guitars, keyboards
Daniel Palmqvist: guitar solos
Roger Pedersen: fusion guitar solo
Rudolf Fredly: bass
Hugo Ribeiro: drums
THE EVERGROWING TREE (PART II)
Haris Dekanović: lead vocals
César Moreira: extreme background vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: guitars
Vini Assis: "Dimebag" guitar solo
Stein Arild Grønås: second "death 'n' roll" guitar solo
Eirik Solheim: bass inspiration
Ståle Gismarvik: bass
Hugo Ribeiro: drums
THE EVERGROWING TREE (PART III)
Ernst Eielsen: lead vocals
Johannes Støle: lead vocals
César Moreira: extreme lead vocals
Kirsten Jørgensen: female vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: guitars, keyboards, german vocals
Steffen Horn: piano
John Lind: bass
Hugo Ribeiro: drums
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Written by Torfnn Sirnes and Johannes Støle
Mixed by Stein Arild Grønås
Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio
Symphonic black metal part mastered by Rudolf Fredly at Sweetspot Studio
Cover art by George Papas at Dystopia Arts
Video animation by Absynthe Moon Films
The Power of Metal
Release date: September 30th 2020
Sing-along melodies, fast twin pedal drumming, high pitched vocals, technical guitar solos, rich keyboard layers and classical variations... Dragons, warriors, mysteries, swords, fantasy landscapes, magical rings and keys... It's grandious, it's pompous... It's power metal!
Line-up:
Johannes Støle: lead vocals, backing vocals, synth solo, additional keyboards, orchestra arrangment
Torfinn Sirnes: rhythm guitars, melody guitars, first guitar solo, keyboards, backing vocals
Daniel Palmqvist: lead guitar fills, second guitar solo
Rudolf Fredly: bass
Hugo Ribeiro: drums
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Rhythm guitars engineered by Stein Arild Grønås
Mixed by Tommy Hansen at Jailhouse Studio, Horsens, Denmark
Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland
Cover art by Dimitar Nikolov
Lyric video by Absynthe Moon Films
The NU Wine
Release date: October 30th 2020
NU metal took the music world by storm at the turn of the millenium by cool bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. The NU metal bands combined heavy metal with hip hop, rap and industrial rock. They were highly successful and dedicated to their art but remain controversial among more traditional metal fans for their experimenting sound and image. The NU Wine is our tribute this innovative genre!
Line-up:
Ashtøn Chase: lead and rap vocals
Haris Dekanović: extreme vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: guitars and programming
Ståle Gismarvik: bass
Vidar Ingvaldsen: drums
Written by Torfinn Sirnes and Ashtøn Chase
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Guitars engineered by Stein Arild Grønås
Additional editing by Johannes Støle
Mixed by Stein Arild Grønås and Vidar Ingvaldsen
Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland
Cover artwork by Haudry Arcila
Logo by Imran Designss
Lyric video by Stereo 27 Productions
Too Close (to See Clearly)
Release date: November 30th 2020
In the last two decades of heavy metal we have seen a revival of the great metal from the past but also the emergance of many new exciting subgenres. The final song of our concept album aims to sum up the evolution of the last 20 years of metal in one four-minute song. Metalcore, symphonic metal, deathcore, folk metal, blackgaze, kawaii metal and more... Get ready for a helluva ride!
Line-up:
Haris Dekanović: lead vocals
Kirsten Jørgensen: lead vocals
Ashtøn Chase: rap and additional vocals
César Moreira: additional extreme vocals
Tsubaki: kawaii metal vocals
Torfinn Sirnes: guitars, keyboards and programming
John Lind: bass
Hugo Ribeiro: drums
Written by Torfinn Sirnes and Kirsten Jørgensen
Produced by Torfinn Sirnes
Additional engineering by Stein Arild Grønås
Additional sound editing by Johannes Støle
Mixed by Rudolf Fredly at Sweetspot Studio, Vedavågen, Norway
Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland
Cover artwork by George Papas at Dystopia Arts
Logo by Chuck Cuevas at BlaqkDesign
Lyric video by Absynthe Moon Films
