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Shadow Kingdom Records

Dawn Of The Axe

by CRUEL FORCE

/
  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Bone - Limited to 1,000
    Black - Limited to 800
    Red - Limited to 600 - SOLD OUT
    Swamp Green - Limited to 400 - SOLD OUT

    Includes unlimited streaming of Dawn Of The Axe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • T-Shirt/Shirt + Digital Album

    XS thru 4XL available.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Dawn Of The Axe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Limited to 500 old school Cassette the way they only came back in the day.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Dawn Of The Axe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    We're doing old school CDs with the Black Trays. There's print under the black tray should you want to swap it out with a clear tray to view it.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Dawn Of The Axe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

      $6.99 USD  or more

     

  • Black Blood Liquid Vinyl w/ Download
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited to 100 of Liquid Black Blood - Custom Handmade Vinyl.

    We're hoping these will be shipping out by the Middle/End of DECEMBER 2023

    Limit 1 PER CUSTOMER. NON-REFUNDABLE AFTER PURCHASE.

    These records are TRIPLE BOXED and SHIPPED WITH TRACKING - So it's VERY EXPENSIVE shipping to handle these and ship to ensure you get them.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Dawn Of The Axe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

    Sold Out

  • Limited Edition Picture Disc w/ Download
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited to 100 Picture Disc w/ Regular Jacket (same jacket as other editions)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Dawn Of The Axe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

    Sold Out

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Power Surge 03:53
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about

SHADOW KINGDOM RECORDS is proud to present CRUEL FORCE's long-awaited third album, Dawn of the Axe, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.

Truest of the true, Germany's CRUEL FORCE burst onto the scene in 2008 with the Into the Crypts... demo. While many have tried to emulate the ancient German (black)thrash sound, CRUEL FORCE brimmed with an authenticity that could not be denied, as well as songwriting that added to that noble tradition rather than lazily picking at its corpse. Their two successive albums, 2010's The Rise of Satanic Might and 2011's Under the Sign of the Moon, made CRUEL FORCE a certifiably CULT name in the international metal underground. Sadly, the band fell into a hiatus following that second album, but returned reinvigorated with the comeback 7" EP Across the Styx in 2022 and are ready to make up for lost time with their imminent third album for new label home SHADOW KINGDOM.

Titled Dawn of the Axe, CRUEL FORCE's long-awaited new album is, in many ways, a new chapter for the band. As presaged by that short-length, Dawn of the Axe harkens to dustier, more archaic times - ones where subgenre delineations weren't so strict and all was mostly HEAVY METAL. For sure, CRUEL FORCE can still thrash with the best of them - regular thrash, "blackthrash," whatever - but their sound carries a strong old-style speed metal edge reminiscent of '80s Kreator, Iron Angel, and Germany's Deathrow, sharp as an axe and just as lethal. And while the blackened elements of the first two albums have been dialed back some here, the overall speed of LP#3 is, in fact, faster. But as Dawn of the Axe slices onward, it soon becomes apparent that that the quartet are subtly integrating a more rarefied field of influences, with the mysticism of '70s Rainbow and especially Scorpions most prominent as well as the blue-collar thrust of early US metal - again, all before the development of speed metal or thrash. Thus, the nine songs comprising the 39-minute album exude a wider variety of moods and dynamics, and also sees CRUEL FORCE exploring their more epic side, with three of those songs topping six minutes. No matter the mood or dynamic, though, energy bristles from every second of Dawn of the Axe - riff, rhythm, lead, vocal, EVERYTHING - and with the slightly-more-atmospheric recording style (or a more "mysterious" production, perhaps), it all gels together to create the band's strongest and most complete statement to date. No matter how you (axe)slice it, there's no wimping out whatsoever!

It's rare for a band to be away a full decade and then come back with their best work, but such is the case with CRUEL FORCE and Dawn of the Axe. There's some strange magick brewing in the Devil's Dungeon, and they've crossed the Styx to bring you that Power Surge! To celebrate this momentous occasion, SHADOW KINGDOM will also be reissuing on a worldwide scale the band's first two albums: the time of CRUEL FORCE is NOW!

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released September 22, 2023

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CRUEL FORCE Germany

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