[photo credit: Jens De Vos]

Antwerp, Belgium -based death/thrash metallers Schizophrenia are gearing up for the release of the band's upcoming new tribute EP "Chants Of The Abyss", which will see the light of day on February 10th. "Chants Of The Abyss" features six cover songs and personal interpretations of timeless classics by cult acts such as Slayer, Judas Priest, Mistfits, Exodus, GBH and Morbid Angel and with the music video for GBH's "Race Against Time" Schizophrenia have just released the fourth and last single before the EP will be out.

Drummer Lorenzo Vissol comments:
"The whole concept behind doing our cover EP 'Chants of the Abyss' was of course to have fun recording and playing songs we love, but it was also to shine a light on what we think are the essential roots of the music we play now and extreme metal in general. We believe one of those elements to be Punk and more precisely the Hardcore Punk influences. For instance, giving a certain idea of how they managed to separate themselves from the contemporary Hair Metal scene and be one of the originators of Thrash Metal, Dave Lombardo and Jeff Hanneman have explained several times how they were constantly exchanging Punk and Hardcore Punk bands they discovered during the inception of Slayer. (It is hence no surprise that Dave Lombardo now plays for the Misfits and Suicidal Tendencies). Metallica was also seen wearing GBH and Misfits shirts repeatedly during the 80s and early 90s. Furthermore, within Schizophrenia we often ponder as to what makes modern or actual Metal different than the old school Metal, musical judgment aside. I believe personally that, arguably, one of the most important elements is the progressive lack of Punk and Rock'n'Roll influences throughout the decades. All of this is why we decided to include two Punk songs out of the total 6 songs included in this EP."

He continues:
"GBH is possibly the most influential Hardcore Punk band and has been my personal favorite band since my teenage years. Covering a song by them seemed not only crucial but almost mandatory. We chose to cover 'Race Against Time' as this song had the perfect energy we were looking for and the lyrics could be reinterpreted as a testimony to their legacy explained above "Time is immortal, and we're forever". It is also the opening track of their first record released in 1981 'Leather, Bristle, Studs and Acne' quite surely being a direct influence to the following Thrash Metal originator albums. The song was extremely interesting for us to work on and adapt to our own style. I took quite some liberty when composing the drums and for the story was highly influenced by Exciter, another band with explicit Punk influences, for which I had drum-teched on their European tour just a couple of weeks before recording. We tried making the song overall more brutal and simply better fitted for a Death/Thrash Metal band.
We can only hope you will enjoy our own version but also feel the need to spin all those classic influential Punk records again!"

 

"Chants Of The Abyss" is available for purchase at THIS LOCATION

 

Tracklist:

1. Necrophiliac (Slayer cover)
2. Maze Of Torment (Morbid Angel cover)
3. Metal Meltdown (Judas Priest cover)
4. Bullet (Misfits cover)
5. Strike Of The Beast (Exodus cover)
6. Race Against Time (GBH cover)

 

Schizophrenia live w/Warbringer and Evil Invaders:

24/03/2023 BE Aalst - Oilsjt Omploft
25/03/2023 DE Essen - Turock
26/03/2023 FR Colmar - Le Grillen
28/03/2023 DE Kassel - Goldgrube
29/03/2023 DE Mannheim - 7er Club
30/03/2023 DE Leipzig - Hellraiser
31/03/2023 DE Hamburg - BHF Pauli
01/04/2023 DK Copenhagen- BETA
02/04/2023 DE Berlin - Cassiopeia
03/04/2023 PL Warsaw - Hydrozagadka
04/04/2023 PL Krakow - Kamienna12
05/04/2023 DE Munich - Backstage Halle
06/04/2023 CZ Prague - Modra Vopice
07/04/2023 HU Budapest - Barba Negra
08/04/2023 CH Sursee - Kulturwerk 118
09/04/2023 AT Dornbirn - Schlachthaus
10/04/2023 AT Vienna - Viper Room
11/04/2023 CH Martigny - Cave Du Manoir
13/04/2023 FR Lyon - Rock n Eat
14/04/2023 FR Pau - L'Ampli
15/04/2023 ES Barcelona - La Nau
16/04/2023 ES Madrid - Nazca
17/04/2023 ES Mos Pontreveda - Sala Rebullón
18/04/2023 ES Granada - Sala El Tren
19/04/2023 ES Zaragoza - Sala Lo Intento
20/04/2023 FR Nantes - Le Ferrailleur
21/04/2023 FR Paris - Backstage By The Mill
22/04/2023 NL Arnhem - Willemeen
23/04/2023 NL Helmond - Cacaofabriek
24/04/2023 DE Hannover - Cafe Glocksee
30/04/2023 NL Rotterdam - Baroeg

 

For More Info Visit:
www.facebook.com/Schizophrenia.Officialband
www.instagram.com/schizophrenia.dm
www.schizophreniaband.bandcamp.com
www.schizophreniaband.bigcartel.com

 

SCHIZOPHRENIA is:
Ricky Mandozzi: Bass & vocals
Romeo Promos Promopoulos: Lead & rhythm guitar
Marty Van Kerckhoven: Lead & rhythm guitar
Lorenzo Vissol: Drums