L-R - AITTALA - Gary 'Smith' Zeus (Drums), Eric Aittala (Guitar/Vox), Ali Lugo (Bass)
Photo Credit - Formont Photography
Offering up a unique, progressive, and memorable sound with traditional heavy metal, sludge, and doom at its core, North Carolina's Aittala unleashed its sixth full-length album “Live to Regret” this past November via Exitus Stratagem Records. Lyrically, the album chronicles a chaotic period of time for members of the band personally as well as the global events happening in parallel.
Today, in support of the full-length, Aittala is unveiling their next music video for the track "War of Attrition"; a Quentin Tarantino-inspired story video where the hunter unsuspectedly becomes the victim.
Watch "War of Attrition" via its video premiere on Invisible Oranges HERE .
Aittala's latest album "Live to Regret" has eleven tracks, each defying the limits of genre rules. There is the thrash-inspired track “Cannibals” that confronts the tightening grip of governmental monitoring and control. The sludgy “Big Brother” - is about the devolution/zombification of the human race due to technology. The smoky stoner infused “Never Forget” talks about dealing with a toxic person along with many more.
Band founder Eric Aittala adds:
"I wrote this album during a chaotic time in my life. Not only was it during the height of the lockdowns of the pandemic, but I was also in a very chaotic relationship. That chaos fueled my creativity both musically and lyrically. I was constantly walking on an uncertain tightrope and I never knew was going to break. We hope the fans feel the same pleasure, pain, chaos, and passion that I was going through and infused into the songs when they listen to the album and singles."
Fans can expect more music in the works, and there are no plans to stop writing and releasing new material. An eclectic mix of metal, “Live to Regret” is recommended for fans of Baroness, Crowbar, and Katatonia.
"Live to Regret" was released (Nov 7, 2022) by Exitus Stratagem Records and was produced by Eric Aittala and John E. Wooten IV , who also mixed the record along with mastering by Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering. Album artwork by Mariano Pugliese.
Album order: https://hypeddit.com/aittala/
In additional news, Aittala will be doing a mini tour during March 2023 in Florida and Georgia (dates listed below).
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Tour Dates:
March 1 - Rain Dogs - Jacksonville, FL
March 2 - Propaganda - Lake Worth, FL
March 3 - Uncle Lous - Orlando, FL
March 4 - Sweetwater Bar and Grill - Duluth, GA
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Track Listing:
1. Live to Regret - 2:49
2. Collateral Damage - 3:22
3. War of Attrition - 3:18
4. Saint - 3:35
5. Cannibals - 3:56
6. Betrayed - 3:26
7. Big Brother - 4:45
8. Dancing with Disaster - 3:35
9. Never Forget - 3:36
10. Well Enough Alone - 5:03
11. Juliet (2022) - 5:24
Album Length: 42:56
Aittala is:
Gary 'Smith' Zeus (Drums)
Eric Aittala (Guitar/Vox)
Ali Lugo (Bass)
For more info:
https://www.exsrmusic.com
http://www.aittala.com
https://www.facebook.com/
https://www.instagram.com/
About: The music of AITTALA (pronounced 'EYE-tah-la') crosses many metal genres; it’s hard to put it into just one category. The sound infuses elements of classic heavy metal, doom, progressive, power, thrash, and hard rock with lyrics drawing inspiration from the darker side of the human condition. The AITTALA sound has been cited for being unique which is no easy feat in the metal genre.
The first version of AITTALA was formed in 1991 while Eric Aittala was living in Holland. With fellow American Tim on vocals and Dutch bandmates Ed (drums) and Jon (bass), the band became a staple of the Dutch metal scene.
With the release of the 3-song EP 'Selling Heaven' in summer of 1993, AITTALA opened for such bands as THE GATHERING and SADIST. Unfortunately, as the demo started to create a buzz in the underground European metal scene, Eric had to return to the US and disbanded AITTALA.
Over the next decade or so, Eric played in numerous bands (TRIBE, MAGNETHEAD, DWELL) and lost focus on AITTALA.
Near the end of the 00's, Eric decided it was time to refocus his efforts on the AITTALA brand. From 2009 to 2016, AITTALA released 4 full-length albums: 'Bed of Thorns' (2009), 'Haunt Your Flesh' (2011), 'Effigy' (2014) and 'American Nightmare' (2016). Each album showcasing a natural progression of song writing and lyrical content but retaining the core AITTALA sound and evolving it.
In 2019, AITTALA signed with Curtain Call Records and released the band's fifth full-length album 'False Pretenses'. It was ten brand new songs that not only continued the song writing evolution of heavier but catchy songs, but also sonically. AITTALA used an entirely different approach for the recording, mixing and mastering to create the best AITTALA album to date.
The current lineup of AITTALA consists of Gary 'Zeus' Smith (THE FIFTH, ex-MR BLACKWELL) on drums and Ali Lugo (ex-AGE OF DESPAIR) on bass.
They continue to write, record and tour to bring AITTALA to the masses with plans in 2022 to unleash their sixth studio album entitled "Live To Regret" to be released by label Exitus Stratagem Records.
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"Aittala Offer Powerful Pandemic Post-Mortem on ‘Live to Regret’... Stick it on a playlist with Apostle of Solitude, Crowbar, Famyne, and Paradise Lost, with a dash of Slayer for good measure." - Doomed and Stoned
"One of the best albums for 2022" - 666MrDoom YouYube Channel
"This platter is heavy melodic ear candy that drips with deep and mesmeric face-melting tones and grinding rhythms." (Live to Regret) - The Metal Gods Meltdown
"The band’s sound is difficult to pigeonhole because they incorporate a variety of styles. The common element in all the songs is the potent groove. On tracks like “Black Coffin” and “Afterthought” stoner/doom is at the forefront, while songs such as “Disowned” have a more traditional metal vibe. There are progressive influences on “How Much Longer,” while the closer “Debt” is a piano based ballad. Even with so many disparate styles, Aittala bring everything together into a cohesive whole." - Heavy Music Headquarters
“I would describe them as an eclectic Doom Metal band, although their sound is a bit tough to define. That’s ultimately a good thing though, and I enjoy the refreshment of something different. My only major complaint is that on some songs, the vocals and lyrics are so drawn out that they become a little boring and you end up waiting a bit for something cool to happen. The good news is something cool usually does end up happening” - Metal-Temple
"In the metal world, bands can start to sound the same and Aittala steps outside of the box. With clear crisp vocals, grinding rhythms and well executed leads, this band is definitely in a league of their own.” - The Metal Channel
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