Only Heavy Metal

Los Angeles thrashers WARBRINGER have been locked away in The Omen Room studio with producer Steve Evetts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura, Symphony X) for the past few months and are about to complete their next masterpiece, "IV: Empires Collapse".

The next level results of the new album are due to each band member pushing their own abilities and working together on the complex arrangements as well as the simple hooks. "IV: Empires Collapse" is a collective work between the five band members and the producers. "Musically, all five of us brought something for the rest of the group to work off of and we were all a part of chiseling away at the ideas" says drummer Carlos Cruz of the recording process. "Having five band members with eclectic tastes in music from Crust Punk to Progressive music and everything in between brought about new musical directions for the material."

So guys, all our fans and supporters, Kevill here up way too late drinkin', there's some bad news and as our awesome fans you guys deserve to know. I don't feel right about our prolonged silence on this issue and I think it's time we clear things up.

Drummer for the 3rd and 4th records Carlos Cruz and founding guitarist John Laux have left the band. This is a huge and devastating blow to us, and it makes even my own self doubt our future. Carlos made great contributions on the last two records, and John Laux started the band with me, we wrote our first songs together.

The more astute listeners have noticed this, as our last tour we did not have either of them on board. As for the why's, I don't entirely understand it myself, so I can't provide a decent explanation here. I really wish I understood more than I do.

Still remaining is myself, founding member Adam Carroll (he's back) and bassist of the fourth record Ben Mottsman.

This is why you haven't heard much from us lately, why the nonstop touring machine has grinded to a halt, and why any updates here are more about the past than they are of the future.

Honestly I have my own doubts on if we can continue, or if it will be right if we do. At the same time, I started this band out of high school, it is my first and only band, and everything I feel I've accomplished in life that I can really be proud of is tied to this in one way or another. I have plenty of ideas left, and Adam has a million sweet riffs, and to be honest I never wanted this to be over, I wanted to tour straight through the fourth album and go onto the fifth. I felt like this band has evolved on every album, developed its own brand of ripping thrash metal, and I only wanted to continue that further.

So I need to ask all you guys, what do you think of this? In light of all I just said, do you want to hear another Warbringer record, or come see us again?

Basically, are you guys still with us?

At any rate, if you listen to any of the music we have made, remember to play it loud. Whatever the outcome may be, keep rocking.
-Kevill

WARBRINGER - Back in action with new line-up; Touring Asia & select California shows!

WARBRINGER built a reputation for themselves. The Southern California thrash metal band were part of every major tour around the globe for five years straight. In that time it was miraculous that they found time to record four albums of unrelenting aggression. And then it all came to a screeching halt.

"I really thought that the Empires Collapse record cycle ended prematurely due to the departure of (guitarist) John Laux and (drummer) Carlos Cruz. I figured it would be the end of the band, and the end of my life's work, as I'd really put everything I had into this band," explains singer John Kevill.

"I remember on the last show we played on that US tour (guitarist) Adam Carroll came to me and told me how we had to keep the torch held high and to realize the full potential of the band no matter what. We carried on the following European tour with fill-in members, as we really hate to cancel a gig and let down our fans, but it really seemed like the end for us. Fortunately, though it took a long time, we have been able to find musicians in our area to help carry on the torch of the destructive, intense music this band stands for. So welcome Vicken Hovsepian on drums, Noah Young on guitar, and Alex Malmquist on bass. Our mission since we started rehearsing together was to be the tightest incarnation of the band yet, and to raise the bar and move forward, never back. So far progress has been great and I can't wait to get out there and unleash this new weapon upon the world."

After months of intense rehearsal the five-piece is ready to show the world the new WARBRINGER. The campaign starts with an Asian Assault because there's nothing better than flying halfway across the world and debuting your new lineup in front of a huge crowd at the Hammersonic Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia alongside established heavyweights like Lamb of God, Mayhem, Vader, Unearth, and The Faceless among others. This show will be followed by additional headlining dates in the region, an area WARBRINGER have attacked feverishly before.

"We are extremely pumped to return to Asia. It will be our third time over there and we're ready to get back into action and bust some skulls! We've played Indonesia and Taiwan before but this run will include our first visit to China so we're excited for that," states Kevill.

WARBRINGER are already putting together plans for US shows throughout the summer in between writing sessions for a next album. The first of these short runs will begin with a pair of shows at the San Diego and Anaheim House of Blues with Meshuggah and then headliners at the famous Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, Thee Parkside in San Francisco and The Spring Meltdown Festival in Reno, NV.

"We're looking forward to playing our first hometown show in well over a year. We're going to play some songs we have never played live before and seriously bring down the hammer. See you guys there, c'mon and let's wreck the place!"

The highly anticipated WARBRINGER album Woe to the Vanquished is set to be released on March 31st 2017 via Napalm Records.

After having previously released the first music video for the track “Silhouettes”, it’s time to fire another shot from their upcoming release!

Singer John Kevill states on the track premiere “Shellfire”:
“As we near the release of our fifth record "Woe to the Vanquished" we want to show you guys something that will blow some heads off. We wrote this song with the intention of it being the fastest Warbringer song to date, which it is. The music, composed by Carlos Cruz, is a ripping bombardment of riffs and rapid-fire fills with a crushing detonation of a middle section. The lyrics, inspired by the seemingly endless battles on the Western Front of World War One, are full of anger, bitterness, and sheer horror, as day after day after day, week after week, the guns never, ever stop. Play it loud and take cover!“

So take John’s words and play it loud and take cover with the audio premiere for “Shellfire” HERE!

Want to get a look behind the scenes of the recording process of Woe to the Vanquished? The band has released a special extended making-of the album video. Check it out HERE.

Woe to the Vanquished has been carefully crafted over a period of time, the album was produced and mixed by Mike Plottnikoff (Fear Factory, In Flames), mastered by Howie Weinberg (Slayer, Pantera) with cover art by the esteemed Andreas Marschall (Sodom, Blind Guardian, Obituary).

Pre-order your copy of Woe to the Vanquished at the Napalm Records Webstore HERE!

Woe to the Vanquished will be available as
- Regular Jewel Case Edition
- 1LP Gatefold Edition (black and other coloured editions)
- Super Deluxe Wooden Box Warchest Edition (CD, exclusive 2 track 7” single, flag, band logo dog tags) only available via the Napalm Records webstores in the US and Europe – strictly limited to 500 copies!

VIDEO PREMIERE! Warbringer has a brand new single out called "Power Unsurpassed"! A limited run of 7" EPs will be available through Napalm Records on September 7: http://smarturl.it/PowerUnsurpassed

Our new album, "Weapons of Tomorrow" out worldwide on 04/24/2020 via Napalm Records!
Pre-Order NOW: https://smarturl.it/WeaponsOfTomorrow

Artwork by Andreas Marschall
Produced by Mike Plotnikoff
Mixed by Zack Ohren
Mastered by Justin Shturtz