Vinegar Hill, an Austrian melodic death metal band, are releasing their new album "Darkness Echoes" this week.
The video for the current single "Traitors Call" can be seen here:
https://youtu.be/3qENWJy_o4Y
Often we search for answers in the darkness. In the shadows, where no one recognizes our face. We feel secure in the impenetrable blackness of the night, to which we entrust our darkest thoughts. And sometimes the darkness responds... Since 2007, Vinegar Hill has been considered Austria's best-kept secret in melodic death metal. After the quintet from the idyllic Styria has earned the status of one of the most discoverable must-watch formations in the country over the past few years, the Austrians are now taking the next step to deliver their most mature and uncompromising album to date with "Darkness Echoes"!
Already with their self-released debut EP "From Deathbeds We`ll Rise", Vinegar Hill first caught attention in 2009 with a consistent in-your-face mix of brutal intensity and atmospheric melodies. A pulverizing signature sound that the five-member band has expanded and refined over the years on the albums "The Road To Grace" (2012), "Monophobia" (2015), "Ghost Flowers" (2017), and "Earthbound" (2022), as well as various singles. Through over 140 live shows across Austria, Germany, and Eastern Europe, Vinegar Hill has built a small but fine fanbase, toured twice as a support act for Dark Tranquility, and shared countless stages, including that of the prestigious Nova Rock Festival, with international giants like Hammerfall, Grave Digger, Dragonforce, Destruction, Unleashed, Sodom, and many others.
After four studio albums, Vinegar Hill is now back with a brand new long player in a completely new lineup. A quasi-fresh start for the only remaining founding member Michael Dreschnig (guitar, vocals, songwriting), who has assembled a skilled expert team with Thomas Kaluza (vocals), Oliver Seebacher (guitar), Hannes Aigner (bass), and Christoph Schoberl (drums) to herald the next creative phase of the formation. Vinegar Hill enjoys playing with contrasts, where metallic hardness alternates with catchy hook lines, guttural growls meet clean vocal parts, and pounding blast beats mix with technically demanding riffing and epic strings to create a bombastically produced widescreen sound. A balancing act between light and darkness that runs through all the songs of "Darkness Echoes", allowing Vinegar Hill to effortlessly position themselves alongside relevant bands like Soilwork, In Flames, or At The Gates in the record shelf.
"I think we are making a huge step forward with the new lineup," says VH mastermind Michael Dreschnig enthusiastically. "With Thomas, we have found a singer as our new vocal figurehead who perfectly complements my clean singing with his distinctive growls. The band has evolved enormously on all levels. Compared to the last album, the tracks are more compact, impactful, and get to the point faster." Just like the first single, the title track and album opener "Darkness Echoes", with which Vinegar Hill immediately paints a dark-dystopian picture at the beginning of the record - while the formation feels noticeably at home in the darkness. "This piece is a kind of karma song," Michael continues. "The world is currently on the brink. Whether it’s about wars, the consequences of global warming, societal division, or other crises. 'Darkness Echoes' tells that you are treated the way you treat your fellow human beings. Those who constantly sow hate, fear, and aggression will only reap hate, fear, and aggression. The darkness only gives back what you feed it.
Despite all the dark apocalyptic fantasies, Vinegar Hill also convey hope and positive energy on "Darkness Echoes", as the band shows with the powerful "On Fire": a gripping anthem of survival that co-frontman Michael Dreschnig dedicates to all those who pursue their dreams and let nothing deter them from their path. "'On Fire' was the very first song created after the old lineup dissolved," Michael recalls. "I was sitting alone in the studio, thinking about what I love about this band. And that I still burn for the music. That will never change. With this album, Vinegar Hill are now returning with new strength, and I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together!"
"Darkness Echoes" will be released on March 28, 2025, as a standard CD, a limited vinyl edition, and as a digital download on all major platforms via FFS Labelservice.
Vinegar Hill Live:
05.04.25 AT-Trofaiach, Mad Mountain Meeting
01.05.25 AT- Graz, Music House
02.05.25 AT- Salzburg, Mark Salzburg
03.05.25 AT- Vienna, Cafe Aera
07.06.25 AT-Imst, Stadtbühne
31.07.25 AT-Upper Austria, Brain Bridge Festival
21.08.25 AT-Spital am Semmering, Kaltenbach Open Air
