AVALON - Astral Claw MLP BLACK (Pre-Order)

Deanosaurio Del Rock - Screams & Bass
Pakko - Lead Guitar
Henry Stemme - Rythm Guitar
Cowfluse - Drums

01 Astral Claw
02 Dante, The Loss

03 Cerberus
04 Eternal Darkness
05 Pandoras Doom

Thrash Altenessen! Going back to the first half of the 1980s, history was made in the heart of the Ruhr area. Fast forward to 2026, and Avalon, based in Altenessen, set out to continue this legacy. Named after the song by German speed metal band Xandril, Avalon were originally formed in 2019 (with the first functioning line-up constituting a year later) and issued two self-produced demos and one single, recorded in their rehearsal room. “Fast, uncompromising and maniacal,” that’s how bassist/vocalist Deanosaurio Del Rock describes Avalon, “if one wants to put a label on our music, then classic German speed metal comes pretty close to what we are doing.” The band feels influenced by legendary acts like Living Death, Atlain, Chainsaw, Paradox and Cutty Sark. »Astral Claw«, the first High Roller release by Avalon, contains five songs, recorded at Van Doom Studios in Gelsenkirchen and produced Frederik Aderholz. Brand-new are “Astral Claw”, “Dante, The Loss” and “Eternal Darkness”, whereas “Cerebus” and “Pandora’s Doom” are re-recordings of the first two songs the band has ever written. “They were too good to be forgotten,” comments Deanosaurio Del Rock, “and this time around they were properly recorded, not with a simple tape recorder in our rehearsal room.” Musically, Avalon’s pretty harsh and hectic style of speed and thrash metal does not shy away from hardcore and punk influences either. “Everybody likes punk and hardcore,” comments the singer and bassist. “If you ask me, the first two Iron Maiden albums are a perfect example of heavy metal coming from the streets. I like to think that we have this uncompromising attitude as well. Our sound is quite gritty.” Avalon are very much looking forward to issue a full-length album on High Roller Records in the not too distant future. But for now, their mini-album »Astral Claw« proudly carries the torch for old-school teutonic speed and thrash metal.

MATTHIAS MADER