Virtual Metal Band Pentakill release League of Legends Album and Tommy Lee is there with Jorn Lande

WHEN gaming and metal collide the result is the virtual band, Pentakill, featuring lead vocalist Karthus, blazing axe-man Mordekaiser, enchanting keyboardist Sona, bassist Yorick, berserker drummer Olaf, and new member Kayle, a winged warrior goddess who sings songs presaging the end of the world, all based around the 100-million player League of Legends gaming universe.

Pentakill - Valoran's favourite rock band – are breaking further out of the 100 million-player League of Legends gaming universe and onto the playlists of metalheads worldwide. Their second release, II: Grasp Of The Undying, hits international all major digital streaming platforms today, including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and more.

In conjunction with the album’s release, League of Legends and Pentakill are streaming II: Grasp Of The Undying in full via YouTube and the Pentakill music landing page here: http://pentakill.leagueoflegends.com. At the same locations, you can also witness the brand new state-of-the-art, cinematic animated music video for the punishing track, “Mortal Reminder”.

Within 24 hours of posting, the “Mortal Reminder” video racked up over 7.3 million views across platforms. Witness Pentakill's live musical carnage in Bandle City, recorded in the catacombs of the Shadow Isles!

II: Grasp Of The Undying features not only the skills of League of Legends developer Riot Games’ most passionate in-house composers, songwriters, and producers (who also happen to be diehard metalheads), but an elite list of metal, rock and electronic music heavyweights.

The album showcases the musical talents of rock/metal vocalist Jorn Lande, songstress Noora Louhimo of Battle Beast, producer Scott Kirkland of The Crystal Method, producer and vocalist Danny Lohner formerly of Nine Inch Nails, world-renowned drummer Tommy Lee of Motley Crüe fame, drummer Mike Pitman and vocalist Rich Thomson of Xerath, vocalist Per Johansson of Ureas, and many more.

 Jorn Lande, the voice of Karthus, states: “It's great for a classic heavy rocker like myself to be a part of this modern gaming music world, and I'm excited and grateful for the opportunity to work with such a great team of talented people. This exciting development is not just about creating an original twist to the online gaming industry, but also about pioneering some groundbreaking new metal! My job is to make Karthus the singer he is, and add the classic heavy rock element to his performance. I'm proud that Karthus and his band are back to bring new Pentakill metal your way!”

Noora Louhimo, the voice of Kayle, adds: “It's been so exciting and an honor to be part of the second Pentakill record. This has been my dream come true to work in the gaming world. This is just the beginning and I can't wait to see what the future brings. I hope people love the result as much as I do!”
 It features genre-influences ranging from power metal, NWOBHM, thrash, modern progressive death metal and everything in between – even electronic/industrial!
 
Pentakill was spawned from massive League of Legends fan/player engagement, theories and buzz. Wanting first and foremost to give back to a global community of players, Riot Games and their team of in-house composers, songwriters, and producers came up with the idea to write, record and release a real heavy metal album based on a virtual heavy metal band comprised of members embodied by the original skin line they originated from. In their virtual reality, Pentakill is billed as the fictional land of Valoran's most famous rock band.

In 2014, the Riot Games music label issued the band's first foray out of the video game realm, Smite and Ignite – an eight-track collection of appropriately punishing songs that was written completely in-house at Riot, and supported by the talents of studio musicians, including ZP Theart of Dragonforce, Derek Sherinian of Dream Theater, Danny Lohner of Nine Inch Nails, and Jorn Lande. Upon its release in 2014 and with absolutely no traditional promotion, Smite and Ignite went on to debut Top 40 on Billboard and #1 on the iTunes Metal and Rock charts, plus charted top 30 on the overall iTunes charts, in addition to millions of YouTube and Spotify streams.
 
Stay tuned for more exclusives and news coming soon, and follow all things PENTAKILL at http://pentakill.leagueoflegends.com

ALBUM REVIEW: Battle Beast set the mark high on release number four Bringer of Pain

BATTLE Beast. 'Bringer of Pain'. Some heavy, some light. The perfect mix?

Battle Beast produce some of the best work the first few weeks has seen, with some heavy riffing and technical soloing. This is a rather large roller-coaster with next to no downs but a lot of ups.

The album starts of with ‘Straight To The Heart’ loaded with a chunky riff and excellent vocals from Noora to get the ball rolling. This is a great power metal song. Some very good lyrics like "light me up before I go…" This is a great introduction to the album.

Title track ‘Bringer of Pain’, which is a shift from the previous song as it is more aggressive and with the double bass firing away this is a heavy way to tell the story.

Again there is some very talented guitar playing. These types of songs showcase the range of Nooras' voice as she can sing a metal song and then can deliver a soft well written balled too.

‘King For A Day’ - A change again to a slower nearly a rock song. This about the rotten politicians that seem to think they rule the world and can do what they want with no ramifications. A relevant statement in the current age. 

The next song is the single ‘Familiar Hell’. One of the best songs on the album. Very catchy and one to really sing along to. This song has some great riffs to go alongside the amazing vocals again.

Now onto the best song of the album. Pure power metal glory. It’s as if Battle Beast were channeling their inner Manowar. With lyric like "Bastard son of Odin, Born to kick your ass." This is some great song writing and lyrics to charge into battle singing.

The next song is an odd one. ‘Dancing With The Beast’ is a dance song, in the old 80s style of things. It is a bit confusing but after a few listens and you discover it is a great song. They are showing another genre completely how to do it.

You can't help yourself dancing to this, would fit right into any old school 80s movie and not feel out of place. They've managed to keep the distorted guitars in as well!

The final song of the album is ‘Far from Heaven’, which is a true ballad again showing that they can expand their sound and make some really god music while they're at it. A different way to end an album, most in Battle Beast’s musical space would finish with a fast paced attack but this was a different way to exit and an enjoyable one. Some incredible vocals on show here again.

Overall this album is one to be reckoned with. A good mix of styles and some traditional heavy metal.

This will be their fourth studio album and this shows that they are unique introducing some great ideas to their sound and leaving a lot of paths for them to follow in the future incredible work here. In terms of the broader metal world 2017 has a lot to live up to after this.

Review by Zakk Traynor

ALBUM REVIEW: Beast comes out battlng - Battle Beast power through emotions on Unholy Savior

FINNISH power metallers Battle Beast have been creating a stir across the continent, without much of a breakthrough to the nether regions of the UK - but 'Unholy Savior' has the potential to make more people sit up and take notice.

After the 2013 release of the self-titled album this is a step forward without losing the essence of the band, as the stomp of opener 'Lionheart' echoes previous power metal with Euro flavourings and consistent riffing and a tasty brief solo.

Noora Louhimo's vocals are strong throughout, but are also deep and soulful on the likes of 'Sea of Dreams' and 'Angel Cry'.

There is a certain grandiose splendour from Janne Björkroth's keyboards. Unlike many of their ilk the keys are not dropped out of the mix after a song's intro. Having said that 'Touch In The Night' sees them perhaps too dominant.

But the work of Anton Kabanen and Juuso Soinio on the axes redeems any thought this is a waffly piece of rock. The solos on the title track and on 'Speed and Danger' are nicely balanced between technical flare and solid structuring.

While attention will always be on Noora Louhimo's vocal dexterity that is to ignore the arrangements each track. 'I Want The World - and Everything In It' is perhaps one of the stand-out track as Anton underlays Noora's singing - which on this track has echoes of Doro.

All is underpinned by thoughtful rhythm guitar playing and Eero Sipilä bass work and Pyry Vikki's drumming which sits as a solid foundation each song; just throwing in enough fills to add tone and solidity.

While an immensely enjoyable listen, there will always be question marks on this type of Euro metal. This is by no means a perfect example of the power metal, it has enough quality and intriguing songs to give it a higher ranking than many of Battle Beast's contemporaries.

To a certain extent that is because for all the dexterity there is an emotional core.

"I thirst to go further as a human being and the music on this album represents a part of the ongoing spiritual journey - that's what I tend to I call it - which is my road onward. Music-wise the songs have been expanded to a wider area as an effort to call out emotions close to those I myself had during the times of birth of these songs," said guitarist & vocalist Anton Kabanen about the album.

'Unholy Saviour' seems to have has been influenced by everything the band has been facing during the past months and as the that main composer Anton was going through at the time: Questioning his whole existence step by step, wondering if his dream had betrayed him. 'Unholy Savior' reeks of death, agony, pain, hate, confusion, fear and insecurity, but it speaks of deep gratitude, longing, consolation and love.　Those aren't my words - they're from the blurb and for once the PR spin is spot on.

"The album had to be done this way - through emotional hell. Having transferred these "things" and emotions into songs I feel that I'm ready to move on. But like always, I wrote songs about the series "Berserk", as well, and the reason behind writing songs about that particular series is that I can strongly relate to that, especially to certain characters and to their way of thinking and feeling," said Anton.

Even without knowing that back story the likes of 'Sea of Dreams' lyrics and the title track reveal much. Indeed despite some of the dafter lyrics there is a song core of emotion and song writing to reflect that means Battle Beast are able to rise; this isn't the all-too slick Power Metal, which too often has no 'heart'.

Instead Battle Beast have exorcised internal demons and produced an album that has real emotion: by no means perfect but a solid, entertaining and cathartic listen. Definitely stuck on one of our playlists.

Review by Jonny