Black Sites unleashed new full-length album »The Promised Land?«; watch playthrough video for »Chasing Eternity« feat. Tom Draper (ex-Spirit Adrift)!

Chicago, Illinois based prog metal trio Black Sites stream their fourth full-length album, »The Promised Land?«, which was just released this Friday, September 6th, 2024.

Watch a playthrough video for »Chasing Eternity« featuring Tom Draper (ex-Carcass/Spirit Adrift) below!

Tracklist:
01. Descent
02. Dread Tomorrow
03. Gideon
04. World On Fire
05. Chasing Eternity
06. Promised Land
07. Many Turn To None

Courtesy of C Squared Music:

Chicago-based trio Black Sites fuse together aspects of old school metal and 80s thrash with progressive and melodic styles. The band will release their fourth full-length »The Promised Land?« on September 6th, 2024. This is the first album to feature Brandon White (Repentance) on drums.

Black Sites’ frontman Mark Sugar comments on »The Promised Land?«: “In the immediate aftermath of our last album »Untrue«, we amassed a pile of new ideas pretty quickly. In June 2023, we began recording at the legendary Electrical Audio studios, an amazing experience which feels even more special in light of Steve Albini’s recent passing. Towards the end of the process, we somehow convinced Tom Draper (Spirit Adrift) and Matt Johnsen (Pharaoh) to contribute guest solos to the record.”

Sugar continues, “To me, »The Promised Land?« stands as a unique achievement in our catalog. It will sound familiar to anyone who’s heard us before, but it expands on ideas we’ve been pursuing since the beginning, and kicks open some new doors as well. I think the record’s strength is in its diversity, but there is a musical and lyrical worldview that keeps things feeling cohesive. This is Black Sites at our most ambitious and complex.”

Black Sites have also released a playthrough video of their song »Chasing Eternity«, featuring Tom Draper (ex-Carcass/Spirit Adrift). The track is taken from their new album »The Promised Land?« which is out now on vinyl and all streaming platforms.

Frontman Mark Sugar comments, “We haven’t done a playthrough video in forever, and this track seemed like a fun one to try. A massive “thank you” to Tom Draper for dropping by to play the solo.”

Formed in 2016 as a studio project, Black Sites combine old school metal with guitar harmonies, melodic/clean vocals and progressive elements, primarily drawing inspiration from the likes of Voivod, Black Sabbath, and King’s X. The band released their debut In Monochrome in 2017 (Mascot Records), and Exile in 2019, with 2021 bringing »Untrue« produced by Sanford Parker and awarded Record Of the Year by Dr. A.N. Grier at AngryMetalGuy.com.

Purchase »The Promised Land?« here: blacksites.bandcamp.com

Black Sites is:
Mark Sugar – Vocals, Guitar
Ryan Bruchert – Guitar
Brandon White – Drums

Guest performers:
Matt Johnsen (Pharaoh), guitar on »Dread Tomorrow«
Tom Draper (Spirit Adrift, ex-Carcass), guitar on »Chasing Eternity«

Album credits:
Producer: Mark Sugar
Recording studio: Electrical Audio, Rax Trax, Nightmare On Mace Street
Engineer: Taylor Hales
Mastering: Noam Wallenberg at Rax Trax, Chicago
Mixing: Noam Wallenberg at Rax Trax, Chicago
Album cover artist: Alexandre Goulet

Album formats: CD, Digital, LP (Black)

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well