We at Terrorizer like to shout about good music from time to time, so when we heard Ulcerate's new album, 'Everything Is Fire', come dripping out of the stereo speakers, office cronies subsequently lost their shit and we simply had to tell all you guys!
This is Ulcerate's second full album, their first being 'Of Fracture And Failure' which came out courtesy of Neurotic Records/Willowtip in 2007 - In 2009 they are brought to you via Willowtip/Candlelight.
Formed in 2002, this band have had more lineups than Baltimore Police Department, though current members Jamie Saint Merat on drums and Michael Hoggard on guitars remain from the original squad, back when the band was named Bloodwreath in 2000-2001.
There is no argument, these guys can play; the album is as honest and organic as death metal gets, it's superbly produced and well structured, combining the sounds of latterday Hate Eternal with the horrific and cavernous atmospherics of Deathspell Omega or Portal. But you can hear that for yourselves right?
...So brace yourself, dear listener, for a sonic beating of the highest order, Ulcerate are toxic and terrifying, defining the word 'brutal' without having to shove it in your face..
'Everything is Fire' available through Candlelight Records
February 2009
As with all Willowtip releases, Candlelight Records will be licensing the album for Europe...
We've got 2 new tracks online from our upcoming 2009 release through Willowtip
Records'Everything is Fire', available via www.myspace.com/ulcerate
and here (right-click to download):
'Everything is Fire' tracklist:
01 Drown Within
02 We Are Nil
03 Withered and Obsolete
04 Caecus
05 Tyranny
06 The Earth at its Knees
07 Soullessness Embraced
08 Everything is Fire
We're also very proud to announce our new second guitarist, Mr Oliver Goater who replaces Mike Rothwell...
'Everything is Fire' tracking complete
November 2008
As of this week all instrument tracks have been laid down - so far all is
sounding very dense and dark as hell. Over the following week the mix will
be finalised and sent away for mastering. Album art and layout is once again
being handled by myself (Jamie) - we'll have some more to say about all of
this very soon... In the meantime, some shots from the sessions below:
'Everything is Fire' tracking underway
August 2008
Drums for album no.2 are complete as of last week, the remaining instruments
will be tracked throughtout September, and we're booked for early November
for mastering with Peter In de Betou at Tailor Maid. Check out a drum tracking
video below for the 4th cut (as yet untitled) from Everything is Fire...
ULCERATE SIGNS TO WILLOWTIP
August 2008
"Willowtip
Records is very pleased to welcome New Zealand's Ulcerate to their official
roster.
Drummer Jamie Saint Merat comments on the signing: "Ulcerate is really looking
forward to calling Willowtip home, a label we've respected for a long time,
and whose reputation for quality bands and quality service is something we
really identify with. It feels great to have their support and backing!"
Ulcerate is currently in pre-production for their forthcoming album, Everything
Is Fire. A seething, more emotionally darker album than Of Fracture
and Failure, Everything Is Fire is more extensively orchestrated
and rhythmically complex, coupling suffocating density with moments of serene
bleakness. Bassist Paul Kelland will handle vocal duties this time around,
and the album will be mastered by Peter In de Betou (Nasum, Meshuggah, Watain)
in Sweden.
Everything Is Fire will be released in early 2009."
The line-up for Everything is Fire is:
Jamie Saint Merat - Drums
Michael Hoggard - Guitars
Paul Kelland - Bass/Vocals
Album pre-production / drum tracking video
May 2008
Ulcerate is hard at work on album 2 at the moment, 5 songs written so far...
We're kicking around a tentative title, but at this stage everything will
be kept under wraps. Expect an extension on the harmonic and rhythmic ideas
presented on 'Of Fracture and Failure' with a much broader palette in terms
of dynamics and structure. We're also pushing for a more bleak, blacker tonality
overall - and this will be mirrored by the lyrics, vocals and art.
We are also officially no longer working with vocalist Ben Read - the last
few months he has been filling the role of live vocalist, and this will come
to an end with a final performance this June. Naturally, his work so far has
been exceptional in execution, but for this next chapter in our evolution
we're needing to look at a different sound. At this stage, bassist Paul Kelland
will be handling all lyric work and album vocals, and we are still on the
hunt for someone who will be able to convey what we need on a live performance
basis.
Pre-production is in full swing for the album, we'll be throwing up snippets
of video to check out as we go - so far we've got some raw, unmixed drum takes
up...
Our time with The Flood Records has come to an end after some really fucking
great support work - full respect to Dario/Nefas and crew for delivering a
quality product and standing by their word, we appreciate to no end!
In
light of this, we're happy to announce that Deepsend
Records will be taking over the rights to the release. So for any further
enquiries regarding 'The Coming of Genocide' these guys will be your first point of contact ;)
Audience with the Devil 6
April 2008
We've been added to this years Audience with the Devil fest in Auckland -
this year features headliners Psycroptic and Ruins from Aus www.myspace.com/rwentertainment for more info
After this show we'll be taking time out to complete work on our upcoming
second full-length, more info on that soon.
Jakob 10th Anniversary Tour
Jan 2008
We're supporting the mighty Jakob with our buds in Akaname for 2 North Island dates in March, will be some intense cross-genre shows
for sure! Dates to the left...
Ulcerate @ metalstock 08 - Schedule added
Jan 2008
Ulcerate will be performing Sunday at Australian metal festival Metalstock
in March 2008...
Kataklysm:- 9:00pm – 10:00pm
Psycroptic:- 7:50pm – 8:30pm
Dawn of Azazel:- 6:50pm – 7:30pm
Pathogen:- 5:50pm – 6:30pm Ulcerate:- 4:50pm – 5:30pm
Kill For Satan:- 4:00pm – 4:30pm
The Dead:- 3:10pm – 3:40pm
"Australia's biggest & only two day metal festival, Metalstock, scheduled
for the Easter weekend in March 2008, is extremely excited to announce the
second group of confirmed metal acts for this hugely anticipated event at
The Manning Bar in Sydney."
Also, for now vocalist Ben Read will be handling vocals until a worthy replacement
can be found. Ben will be doing Metalstock with us, which will be killer!
New vocalist search
Oct 2007
As of October 07, Ulcerate and vocalist Ben Read have decided to mutually
split ways. Ben has been with us for the better part of 2 years now and contributed
some killer words and lungs to our attack, but now is the time for us to move
on.
So Ulcerate is officially looking for a full-time vocalist. Any interested
parties can contact us at ulcerate@gmail.com or via our Myspace account myspace.com/ulcerate.
We are after total professionalism in vocal and stage presence and lyrical
concepts. We are also in the progress of negotiating international tours,
so a will and ability to save to tour internationally is a must.
Ulcerate to support Poland's Behemoth
Oct 2007
Ulcerate will be supporting the mighty Behemoth on their Auckland, New Zealand
show...
Ulcerate + The Black Dahlia Murder + Cephalic Carnage
August 2007
In November we will be playing main support to The Black Dahlia Murder and
Cephalic Carnage in Auckland, should be a fucking cool night...
The Amenta + Ulcerate NZ Tour 07
July 2007
Australia's The Amenta will be touring New Zealand for 2 dates in October with Ulcerate, and our
buds in Asphyxiate will be coming along for the ride, dates to the left <<
New reviews and interviews
July 2007
New reviews have been rolling in for the album, and we've yet to see any negative
responses, which is fucking great! We've also got a couple of new interviews
with Jamie up in Media, check it all out...
Netherlands' Neurotic Records and Pittsburgh's Willowtip Records have come
to terms on an exclusive North American licensing deal. Beginning in September,
all Neurotic releases will be released in North America by Willowtip sub-label,
Willowtip/Neurotic. The first three releases from this new partnership will
be DISAVOWED - Stagnated Existence, VISCERAL BLEEDING - Absorbing The Disarray,
and SICKENING HORROR - When Landscapes Bled Backwards. Following these three
releases, Neurotic's entire back catalogue will also be released in North
America gradually over the coming months.
Ruud Lemmen of Neurotic Records comments: "We at Neurotic Records are excited
to land an agreement with a company such as Willowtip Records. Willowtip has
proven to be a consistent and professional potential partner, and with their
help we're sure to get the Neurotic Records brand elevated more than a few
steps on the never-ending ladder".
Jason Tipton of Willowtip comments: "I'm excited to work with Neurotic and
to bring their amazing releases to North America. It should be great for all
parties involved and make it easier for fans in North America to get Neurotic
releases."
IN OTHER NEWS: We've started writing new material for a follow
up full-length to 'Of Fracture and Failure', early stages so far, but we're
very excited with how its all sounding :)
Album release tour + Nile/Decapitated National Support
March 2007
First up we've got a new and improved website with a lot more cool shit to
check out...
Ulcerate will be embarking on a small North Island-only album release tour
for 'Of Fracture and Failure', this has been postponed twice already due to
delays with us receiving our discs from our label, fingers crossed we'll have
them for April.
AUCKLAND Saturday 7 April
2007
King's Arms w/ Forced to Submit and Asphyxiate
TAURANGA Saturday 14 April 2007
Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui w/ The House of Capricorn, Blacktooth
WELLINGTON Friday 27 April 2007 Zeal ALL AGES, w/ Morte Vida, The House of Capricorn,
Strangers
WELLINGTON Saturday 28 April 2007
Happy, Vivian St Wellington w/ Akaname, Creeping, Dial
We have also been confirmed for the Nile/Decapitated NZ show Saturday May
19, Galatos, Auckland...
New reviews for the album and a couple of interviews up as well in Media
New merch
December 2006
The new album 'Of Fracture and Failure' is now available for purchase through
our Store section.
We've also got a new t-shirt design available 'The Martyr', regular t-shirt
and girlie styles available...
Deicide 06 + New interview
October 06
The Cannibal Corpse shows were very fucking excellent, killer crowds and we
were even lucky enough to get killer responses from both shows, so mucho appreciado!
DEICIDE SUPPORT SLOT Terrorust from Australia were unable to make the NZ leg
for Deicide's World Tour, so Ulcerate has grabbed the slot! So the 2 shows
(Auckland, Christchurch) will feature us and Dawn of Azazel opening...
We've got some new merch on the way, t-shirts, girlies, hoodies and longsleeves
: all available directly through us via Paypal and shows, designs will be
up very soon!
After a long period of no updates, heres an update :] The album is currently
being mastered at West West Side in New York, and we're hoping to get it back
in the next week or so, there have been a few delays due to us reviewing the
mix and opting for a slightly altered version than what we originally sent
them, but it is for the better of course...
So, we're schduled to be the next release for Neurotic, right after Panzerchrist's
new album 'Battalion Beast'. All album artwork is complete, and the accompanying
t-shirt has also been finalised, so keep checking for updates, previews will
be released very shortly...
In other news:
We're playing a few confirmed upcoming dates in Auckland and Wellington (check
to the left), and we're also wanting to hit Wellington again hopefully before
the 1st of September show
We're in the process of organising a full NZ and Australian tour once the
album drops (within the next 2 months hopefully), so again, we'll keep you
posted \m/
ULCERATE SIGNS WITH NEUROTIC RECORDS
19-04-2006: Neurotic Records and Ulcerate tie in recording agreement
With great delight NEUROTIC RECORDS unveils the latest addition to its ever
growing artist roster, being New Zealand based ULCERATE. This young and innovative
extreme metal act deliver a very heavy form of technical death metal, while
at the same time incorporating several elements from all kinds of different
styles and genres of metal. ULCERATE’s debut album, tentatively titled
“Of Fracture And Failure”, which has been recorded and is currently
in mixing stages, will positively surprise all sorts of fans of extreme metal.
Ruud Lemmen of NEUROTIC RECORDS commented: “ULCERATE is one of those,
so called, hidden gems we have been following from their first demo back in
2003 and on. This band continuously progressed over the past few years and
they never ceased to amaze us. As a collective unit this band embodies the
talent to create highly skilled, technical yet very structured songs, while
keeping a rather fresh form of aggressiveness within their music. We are very
confident that their debut album will be received very well and will appeal
to many.” Drummer Jamie Saint Merat of ULCERATE added: "Ulcerate
is extremely proud to be associated with Neurotic Records, a label we've watched
grow from its infancy and we're excited to be part of such a great and diverse
label roster. It gives us the opportunity to get this album exposed to as
many people as possible, and hopefully stamp our mark within the scene. 'Of
Fracture and Failure' is without a doubt our most accomplished and diverse
material to date, and we're confident that it has something unique to offer
the extreme music community. We really hope for this album to be one of the
few style-defining releases in death metal. We must give thanks to Ruud Lemmen
and all at Neurotic Records for supporting us and giving us this amazing opportunity
- we can't wait for the album to be unleashed and start touring!" “Of
Fracture And Failure” is set to be released through Neurotic Records
around Summer 2006. A definite release date will be decided on soon and one
or two MP3 songs from the album will become available shortly after.
In other news the album tracking is nearing completion, with only overlay
and lead guitars to be added this coming week. Everything is sounding awesome
so far and we will be preparing the mix for early May mastering at West
West Side music in NY (Hate Eternal, The Red Chord, The Dillinger Escape
Plan).
Album artwork is well underway also and is being handled by drummer Jamie
Saint Merat for Prehensile
The Flood Records to re-release 'The Coming of Genocide'
2005
Ulcerate is honoured to be in cooperation with The
Flood Records of Italy to rerelease the 2003 demo 'The Coming of Genocide'.
Due to delays with artwork, we're looking at a November 2005 release. Inlcuded
in the package will be our first self-titled demo, plus a CD-ROM presentation
including two exclusive live videos...
We are also proud to announce that The
Spew will be releasing our debut full-length, which we are hard at work
writing for. We're fucking excited with the new material, so keep an eye out...
In other news, we have been working with a new vocalist Ben Read, who's bringing
an expert set of lungs and some of the most killer lyrics we've had to date...