Ares Kingdom Rhythm Guitarist on Hiatus, Band to Continue as a Trio

For immediate release

June 17, 2015

Lee’s Summit, MO - Kansas City's death/thrash metal band Ares Kingdom has announced that rhythm guitarist Doug Overbay is taking an indefinite hiatus from the band in order to address health issues.

The band is continuing as a three piece with Alex Blume - vocals/bass, Mike Miller - drums, and Chuck Keller - guitars. The line-up change will have no effect on any upcoming shows.

The band is currently in post-production with their new album, "The Unburiable Dead" at their own Very Metal Sound studio in suburban Kansas City. Release is scheduled later this year through NWN! Productions in LP, Die Hard LP, CD, and picture disc formats.

Ares Kingdom formed in 1996, the year following the end of Mike and Chuck's previous band Order from Chaos. AK’s first four years were spent as a two-piece. In 2000, Doug joined as bassist, followed soon by Alex as vocalist. In 2006, Doug switched to rhythm guitar while Alex assumed bass duties.

The band signed to NWN! Productions in 2004 and has released two full-length albums, "Return to Dust" (2006) and "Incendiary" (2010), plus a compilation CD "Firestorms and Chaos" (2008), an album of covers entitled "Veneration" (2013), and two 12" maxi singles, “Firestorm Redemption” (2006) and “Failsafe” (2007).

In addition to their upcoming third full-length, "The Unburiable Dead," the band is set to release a special live picture disc entitled "Chaosmongers Alive: 8/21/2006" as part of NWN! Productions' Onward // Ascendant warehouse fund campaign.

http://www.areskingdom.com

chaosmongers@areskingdom.com

From https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ares-Kingdom/97935152280 :



The Unburiable Dead song titles:

Ubique
Nom de Guerre
Salient and Redoubt
Demoralize
Writhe: Fettered to a Corpse
The Unburiable Dead
Stultifera Navis (Armistice and League)

http://www.areskingdom.com/

New song:



https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ares-Kingdom/97935152280

http://www.areskingdom.com/

August 15th, 2015,
The Burlington (Chicago, IL)
With House of Atreus (Minneapolis, MN)
and Sons of Famine (Chicago, IL)




September 19th, 2015,
Onward/Ascendant - NWN! Warehouse Fund Benefit Gig (https://www.facebook.com/events/1411883615786612/)
Oakland Metro Opera House (Oakland, CA; http://www.oaklandmetro.org/)
With Abigail (Tokyo, Japan),
Gnosis (Miami, FL)
Haethen (Pennsylvania, PA)
Ohm (Sacramento, CA)
Negative Vortex (Oakland, CA)

Here is the second and final promo video before the album's release, "Demoralize":



http://www.areskingdom.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ares-Kingdom/97935152280

ARES KINGDOM - The Unburiable Dead CD out now. From http://www.nwnprod.com/?p=5962 :



Full album stream is available here: http://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcam ... ble-dead-2

Killtown Bookings presents the final routing for “Firestorms over Europe” w/ ARES KINGDOM (USA) / PENTACLE (NL)!

The tour will be making the streets of Europe unsafe from Friday 4th to Sunday 20th November! 15 shows in 17 days!

Ares Kingdom will commence the tour with a performance at Nuclear War Now Fest in Berlin – continuing to Dresden to team up with Pentacle at the Lawless Darkness festival playing alongside bands like Dead Congregation and Incarceration. The package will also perform at Rotterdam Deathfest alongside bands like Gorguts, Vader and Hate Eternal.
So look out as the veterans of death sweep across Europe like a firestorm!

Friday 4th November: Berlin, Germany – Nuclear War Now! Fest * only Ares Kingdom
https://www.facebook.com/Nwnfest/

Saturday 5th November: Dresden, Germany – Chemiefabrik
https://www.facebook.com/events/515849361948987/

Sunday 6th November: Poznan, Poland – Klub U Bazyla
https://www.facebook.com/events/1251712478173853/

Monday 7th November: Vienna, Austria – Viper Room
https://www.facebook.com/events/1098258710256475/

Tuesday 8th November: Parma, Italy – Titty Twister
https://www.facebook.com/events/612821935554610/

Wednesday 9th November: Turino, Italy – Daevacian Club
https://www.facebook.com/events/1280786041949872/

Thursday 10th November: Colmar, France – Le Grillen
https://www.facebook.com/events/286537005040902/

Friday 11th November: Show needed!

Saturday 12th November: Rotterdam, The Netherlands – Rotterdam Death Fest
https://www.facebook.com/events/1028052127249988/

Sunday 13th November: Wondelgem (Gent), Belgium – Partymakers
https://www.facebook.com/events/681432698671879/

Monday 14th November: Paris, France – Le Klub
https://www.facebook.com/events/350775028591179/

Tuesday 15th November: Zürich, Switzerland – Ebrietas

Wednesday 16th November: Birmingham, UK – The Flapper
https://www.facebook.com/events/1164568910302232/

Thursday 17th November: Show needed!

Friday 18th November: London, UK – Nambucca
https://www.facebook.com/events/301687380187736/

Saturday 19th November: Antwerp, Belgium – Het Bos

Sunday 20th November: Copenhagen, Denmark – KB18
Ares Kingdom + Slægt at KB18 20th Nov. 2016
https://www.facebook.com/events/1615498968743923/

Chaosmongers!

In anticipation of the Spring 2019 release of our new album, 'By the Light of Their Destruction,' we are releasing four online-only retrospective EPs every couple of months beginning October 1, 2018.

These EPs will feature specially-selected tracks from our discography - including albums, singles and compilations - along with previously unreleased live soundboard tracks recorded at the Metal Threat Fest in Chicago in July 2016.

All EPs will be available through our Bandcamp page for free unlimited streaming: http://www.areskingdom.bandcamp.com

The first, titled 'The Dust of Ages,' is now available. Others will follow every couple of months.

DIE HARD!

Ares Kingdom
http://www.areskingdom.com
chaosmongers@areskingdom.com

Chaosmongers!

As we work relentlessly at Very Metal Sound on recording our new album, By the Light of Their Destruction, we also continue the countdown to its spring 2019 release with the posting of the second of four online-only retrospective EPs:

RED IN CLAW is now LIVE ON BANDCAMP!: https://areskingdom.bandcamp.com/album/red-in-claw

Each of the four EPs features specially selected tracks from our discography - including albums, singles, and compilations - along with previously unreleased live soundboard tracks recorded at the Metal Threat Fest in Chicago, July 2016.

Check out our BANDCAMP PAGE for download and free streaming!: https://areskingdom.bandcamp.com/

Also visit our MERCH PAGE for access to CDs, LPs, scarves, tour shirts, and limited edition picture discs!: http://www.areskingdom.com/merch.shtml

DIE HARD!
Ares Kingdom




ARES KINGDOM live at Saint Vitus Bar, Jul. 12th, 2016 (FULL SET): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7wH7Iv7qKM&t=1419s

ARES KINGDOM - 'Instruments of War' Online-Only Retrospective EP Now Online

Instruments of War is the third of four online-only retrospective EPs, bringing together all AK instrumentals from 1996-2015 in a single onslaught! For download or free streaming.

https://areskingdom.bandcamp.com/album/ ... nts-of-war

Nuclear War Now! Productions sets May 15th as the international release date for Ares Kingdom's highly anticipated fourth album, By the Light of Their Destruction, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

It has been more than 20 years since Order From Chaos alumni Chuck Keller and Mike Miller recorded their first demo under the name Ares Kingdom. After the demo, nearly a full decade passed before Ares Kingdom released their first full-length album, Return to Dust. By that time, the band was operating as a four-piece with Alex Blume (Nepenthe, Blasphemic Cruelty) and Doug Overbay joining the fold. Overbay left the band following the release of the second album, Incendiary, and operating as a trio since that time, the band’s sound became ever more taut, elemental, and savage. This new album, By the Light of Their Destruction — the fourth full-length in the Ares Kingdom catalog, not counting the band’s 2013 compilation of cover tracks titled Veneration — departs thematically and sonically from the band’s prior work, with darker melodies and heavier instrumentation signaling a stylistic shift from the three earlier albums.

According to Keller, the catalyst for the new collection of songs was his discovery of some unused song ideas created for Vulpecula, the celestial black metal project that Keller worked on after the dissolution of Order From Chaos. Keller began repurposing the incomplete songs for presentation under the Ares Kingdom banner. In contrast to the empyreal nature of Vulpecula, Ares Kingdom’s music has always been terrestrial and visceral, inspired by earthly turmoil. Weaving the two together has produced a decidedly different type of Ares Kingdom composition, extending from the battlefield to the heavens in a way that is reminiscent of Order From Chaos. Indeed, one hears in these tracks stronger echoes of Order From Chaos than in any of Keller’s other subsequent output.

The precision and sharpness of Keller’s guitars are kept aloft by the stalwart machinery of Miller’s drums and Blume’s bass. But Miller and Blume offer more than scaffolding for the riffs; the bass and drums are separate heads of the Hydra, attacking furiously in tandem with Keller. The drumming in particular deserves special recognition. Miller is among the rare class of drummers whose performances provide a solid foundation while simultaneously assuming a dominant role in the forefront of the mix, as frantic and integral as the guitar. The darker atmosphere conjured on the new album is also well-suited for Blume’s commanding vocals, which are more varied than on the previous albums.

Of course, when describing Ares Kingdom, one must call attention to the band’s com positional brilliance. Like its predecessors, this album was years in the making. To call Keller meticulous is an understatement; his devotion to the craft of composition is legendary. Everything on this album is painstakingly sculpted, even the blurred constellation of notes in the solos. While Keller’s reputation as among the greatest guitarists in the extreme metal scene has never been seriously questioned, his lyrical craft is seldom discussed with the same degree of reverence, though it should be. Drawing upon Keller’s education in and appreciation for martial history, the prior Ares Kingdom albums focused predominantly on matters of weaponry and war. The thematic inspiration for this album is quite different. Keller’s lyrics for By the Light of Their Destruction read like poetry, evoking more obscure imagery. The band’s martial theme still permeates the album but is augmented by stories of ancient gods, their myths and symbols, and their sublime manifestations in the world of men.

In the meantime, hear the new track "Eighteen Degrees Beneath" here at Nuclear War Now's Bandcamp: https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandca ... estruction

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:



Tracklisting for Ares Kingdom's By the Light of Their Destruction:

1. The Hydra Void
2. Burn, Antares (Scorpius Diadem)
3. Dark Waters Eridanus
4. Eighteen Degrees Beneath
5. Allegory
6. The Bones of All Men
7. Iconologia
8. Talis Chimera Est

Ares Kingdom more info:

http://www.facebook.com/Ares-Kingdom-97935152280

http://www.areskingdom.com/

http://www.nwnprod.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-W ... 4651994141

Ares Kingdom - Dark Waters Eridanus promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlcSDuZ8M-o

Conceived between immensity and eternity, echoing from the edge of forever and stirring the dust of ages comes 'By the Light of Their Destruction,' the fourth original full-length album by Ares Kingdom.

Released May 21, 2019.

Alex Blume - Vocals, Bass
Mike Miller - Drums
Chuck Keller - Guitars

Music and lyrics by Chuck Keller
Talis Chimera Est music by Keller/Miller
Additional arrangements by Ares Kingdom
Recorded, produced, mixed and mastered at Very Metal Sound, July 2018 - February 2019

Digital download and full stream: https://areskingdom.bandcamp.com/album/ ... estruction

CD: http://www.nwnprod.com/?p=11477

http://www.areskingdom.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Ares-Kingdom-97935152280/