The Goblet of Shock
Michael Aronovitz
Horror Author, College Professor, and Rock Critic
This one is personal. I currently freelance some of the bio/reviews for new signings at Eclipse Records, and the work I did recently for the Brazilian metalcore band April 21st affected my aesthetic in an unexpected way. You see, they were more than “good.” They were more than “great,” more than “kick-ass,” “awesome,” or even “enlightening,” but before I rave about their music and deliver to you all their links, the video for their first single, (and said bio/review), I have to tell you about stars aligning. Believe me, it doesn’t happen often, and when it does, it is like fireworks bursting the sky apart during Marti Gras.
Plainly, my 4th and best novel, a serial killer / mystery titled THE SCULPTOR is being released by the prestigious Night Shade / Skyhorse Publications on September 7th. I will describe more of the plot later in the article, but the point is that my dark hero, 10th grade metal head Meagan Mullin, had always seemed a bit incomplete to me. I foreshadowed early in the story that she loved Electric Wizard, and that covered the doom-sludge side of it, but I wanted her to have discovered someone brand new, a band she could call her own.
Then I heard April 21st for the first time.
Fucking fireworks.
Luckily, my editor at Night Shade / Skyhorse hadn’t made the galley proofs yet. Luckily, it was as easy as making five insertions into the book, mentioning Meagan’s obsession with the band, especially the guitarist going only by one name: “Herbert.” Don’t you see? Everything about this phenomenal heavy band fit my character perfectly. No, fuck that…April 21st didn’t just “fit” the character. They completed her!
Marti Gras!
It just so happens that Eclipse has scheduled the release of April 21st’s debut record titled Courage is Born from Fear on September 10th, 2021, literally three days after THE SCULPTOR hits the streets. I have never been so excited about an album or a book of mine, and I hope you join me in shouting from the rooftops.
The stars have aligned. And it feels fucking fine.
Brazilian metalcore band APRIL 21st take on depression with new “Healing My Wounds” music video & single
New EP album Courage Is Born from Fear produced by Bruno Barros (Skank, Toninho Horta, Lagun) scheduled for release on September 10, 2021. Pre-save / Pre-Order at this location
Watch the new music video ‘Healing My Wounds’ via YouTube, stream the single on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Deezer, and Amazon Music
Brazilian metalcore band April 21st have revealed a new music video and single for the song “Healing My Wounds“. The video was directed by Lucas Akira and Romulo Machado. “Healing My Wounds” is the first single from the band’s new EP entitled Courage Is Born from Fear which is scheduled for a worldwide release on September 10, 2021 via Eclipse Records. Watch it right now on YouTube at this location.
“This song tells a story in first person, the moment when someone is unable to visualize the solution for their problems and they go into deep depression” says guitarist Herbert. “The chorus is an inner voice screaming that it is necessary to be strong to continue, and that nobody can help you except for yourself. In the video, we are representing this ongoing fight between someone’s mind and their demons, as an actual fight in a boxing ring. The message is simple though; we have to keep fighting and believe in ourselves no matter how difficult a situation seems to be.”
The band’s new EP album Courage Is Born from Fear contains five tracks that are both intense and honest. The album was produced by Bruno Barros (Skank, Toninho Horta, Lagun) at the renowned Sonasterio studios in the beautiful mountains of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and the cover art was designed by Lucas Akira. The first single “Healing my Wounds” contains a harmony element that redefines what a verse riff might be, while the second single “Decision”, spotlights the fastest and tightest bass drum hummingbird 16ths in a blast beat that we ever might have the pleasure of hearing (and feeling right down to the marrow). “Struggling to Break This Cycle” explodes through our headphones with enough drive and funk to satisfy the most serious of metal freaks, and “Stand up and Scream” features a platform guitar solo that is the epitome of melody and speed in a glorious hybrid.
For more information on April 21st, please follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Eclipse Records.
April 21st current lineup
Lukas Akira (vocals), Herbert (guitar), August Nery (drums), Helbert Collyn (bass)
- YouTube (‘Healing My Wounds’ music video) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvlwgnd-ew4
- Music video still image – https://www.eclipserecords.com/wp-content/uploads/April-21st-Healing-My-Wounds-music-video-01-702×336.jpg
- Pre-Save / Pre-Order ‘Courage Is Born from Fear’ – https://ffm.to/aprl
- News source – https://www.eclipserecords.com/news/brazilian-metalcore-april-21st-healing-my-wounds-music-video/
Social Tags (please tag on socials):
- Tag on Facebook – @april21stband @eclipserecords
- Tag on Twitter – @april21stband @eclipserecords
- Tag on Instagram – @april21stband @eclipserecords
- Tag on TikTok – @april21stband @eclipserecords
- Tag on Vero – @april21stband @eclipserecords
Suggested Tweet:
(click to tweet) Brazilian metalcore band @april21stband overcome depression in “Healing My Wounds” music video, new EP ‘Courage Is Born from Fear’ out via @eclipserecords September 10, 2021 http://eclp.se/hnfzk
“The Sculptor is one of the most grimly terrifying serial killers in recent literature.”
Horror scholar and editor ST Joshi
At age seven, Michael Leonard Robinson commits his first murder, turning tragedy into an aesthetic. By the time he turns eighteen, he has become an expert with computers, gaming systems, and the art of video imaging. And now in his forties, fully realized, he has long erased his digital footprint. He is thirty years ahead of our most advanced scientists, military ops tacticians, and elite information tech specialists. He is a master of disguise. He can invent projected realities.
Of course, Michael Leonard Robinson could work his dark vision on a global scale, yet he doesn’t need “the world” for a fetishistic thrill, just a police captain, his receptionist, a detective, a rookie junior officer, his sister and mother, and a lot of dark theater.
Robinson appears to these characters in disguise, film clips, and flashes as he torments them. Their multiple viewpoints are puzzle pieces.
When they fuse to finish the puzzle, the final sculpture becomes clear
Pre-Order Link : https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781949102543/the-sculptor/
