Howling Giant to Release Glass Future Oct. 27; European Tour Starts Sept. 29
Been waiting for news about new Howling Giant? Me too. With a European tour lined up to support it before it’s even officially out — seems likely they’ll have some for the merch table at least before the run finishes at Desertfest Belgium on Oct. 22 — the heavy prog-rocking Nashville four-piece will unveil their second album, Glass Future on Oct. 27 through Magnetic Eye Records. They’ve posted the title-track to coincide with the release announcement, following the groove-riding “Sunken City” with a speedy and twisting riff complemented by Hammond shimmering enough to remind me of mid-period Amorphis (not a complaint), the two duking it out with solos near the end after the band have coursed through their tale of seemingly apocalyptic woe, presented of course with considered melody and arrangement, uptempo, fun.
Compared to the various apocalypses humanity has actually been through in the four years since Howling Giant released their first album, 2019’s The Space Between Worlds (review here), it is far preferable. Below you’ll find ordering links and some background info. This came in a Bandcamp announcement but I expect a press release won’t actually be far behind (it’s early here, so maybe once the US actually wakes up?), so if there’s more on the recording or whatever that’s relevant or a video or something like that, I’ll drop it in as needed and hope to edit accordingly [EDIT: Yup, that happened. Video below]. Just a heads up.
So, from Bandcamp then:
HOWLING GIANT – Glass Future Out Oct. 27
Buy at our shop here:
worldwide: en.spkr.media
US/Canada: us.spkr.media
Every song on HOWLING GIANT’s sophomore album “Glass Future” tells its own story. Yet even without an overarching concept, all could exist within the same universe. Such crafty lyrical world-building is hardly surprising coming from a trio of enthusiastic fantasy and science fiction aficionados. “Glass Future” downright asks to inspire a book or graphic novel, even as it explodes with furious energy and thunderous acrobatics.
Musically, “Glass Future” offers a continuation and evolution of all the elements that made the debut album “The Space Between Worlds” (2019) such a success. HOWLING GIANT entice classic metal and hard rock to interact dynamically with spacy, prog-infused passages, desert and psychedelic metal moments, rock organs, catchy hooks, and top everything off with soaring harmonized vocals.
HOWLING GIANT hail from one of the most legendary places for music on earth: Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Despite the city’s reputation for assembly-line pop country, the town called Music City is a place of deep history, where brilliant songwriters and virtuoso session players keep dozens of musical legacies burning bright. Fertile ground, then, for a preeminent fuzz-psych power trio who consciously live in the pocket of that lineage.
During the last two years, the trio integrated bassist Sebastian Baltes, the son of German metal legends ACCEPT’s former bass player Peter Baltes, fully into the band as a co-writer. HOWLING GIANT take a gargantuan leap forward with “Glass Future” that brings their outstanding musicianship and golden-throated triple vocal attack fully into stride. Nothing to do but try to keep up and enjoy the stunning sonic scenery along the way!
Tracklisting:
1. Hourglass
2. Siren Song
3. Aluminium Crown
4. Hawk in a Hurricane
5. First Blood of Melchor
6. Glass Future
7. Tempest, and the Liar’s Gateway
8. Sunken City
9. Juggernaut
10. There’s Time Now
HEAVY TEMPLE & HOWLING GIANT Euorpean tour
29 SEP 2023 Pratteln (CH) Z7, Up in Smoke Festival
30 SEP 2023 Leeuwarden (NL) Neushoorn, Into the Void Festival
02 OCT 2023 Siegen (DE) Vortex
03 OCT 2023 Hamburg (DE) Hafenklang
04 OCT 2023 Jena (DE) Rosenkeller
05 OCT 2023 Kassel (DE) Goldgrube
07 OCT 2023 München (DE) Backstage, Keep It Low Festival 2023
09 OCT 2023 Budapest (HU) Robot
10 OCT 2023 Wien (AT) Arena
11 OCT 2023 Bologna (IT) Freak Out
12 OCT 2023 Milano (IT) Barrios
13 OCT 2023 Roma (IT) RCCB
14 OCT 2023 Viareggio (IT) Circolo ARCI GoB
15 OCT 2023 Carmagnola (IT) Circolo ARCI Margot
18 OCT 2023 San Sebastian (ES) Dabadaba
19 OCT 2023 Barcelona (ES) Razz3
22 OCT 2023 Antwerp (BE) Trix, Desertfest Belgium
Engineering & Mix by Kim Wheeler in Nashville, TN
Mastering by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, OR
Artwork by Susan M. Davies
Layout by Peder Bergstrand
Guest musicians
Drew David Harakal II – organ, piano, synths
James Sanderson – additional vocals on ‘Siren Song’, ‘Hawk in a Hurricane’, and ‘There’s Time Now’
HOWLING GIANT is
Tom Polzine – Guitar and Vocals
Zach Wheeler – Drums and Vocals
Sebastian Baltes – Bass and Vocals
howlinggiant.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/howlinggiant/
https://www.instagram.com/howlinggiant/
https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
bluesfuneral.com
