Dutch blackened thrash/death metal band ONHEIL have announced the signing of a worldwide record contract with German label Cyclone Empire.

The band are currently working on their next album, which carries the working-title Razor. The album is being recorded in the Sound World Studios and is produced by Bart Hennephof (TEXTURES, BRUTUS) and Yuma van Eekelen (THE NEW DOMINION, BRUTUS).

The album is expected in March or April and will be Ohheil's first effort in 5.5 years.

After their last mini-CD The Threat, released in July 2003 by the now deceased War Cry Productions, Ohheil's drummer left and the band was unable to find a suitable replacement for some years. The return of the band in 2007, expanding the line-up to 2 lead vocalists and 3 guitarists, the band was promoted by doing several live-shows with bands like MAYHEM, VADER, BELPHEGOR, ENTOMBED and HAIL OF BULLETS.

Also a free mp3 single and video clip of their song 'As Hope Dies' was released. After the recording of a promo CD last year the band caught the interest of several record labels, eventually inking the deal with Cyclone Empire.

Vocalist/guitarist Amok comments: "We are truly honored that our next album will be released by quality label Cyclone Empire and we will do everything to make this the ultimate Onheil album. The songs are faster, more brutal, more furious, more aggressive... yet, we have added more melody than ever before and there are even some slower parts. We believe that this gives the album a very unique and diverse sound which metalheads all over the world hopefully will enjoy! The new material will probably surprise a lot of people as it's quite different from our older stuff. You can imagine that a lot has changed since our last release 5.5 years ago.“

For a demo version of one of the songs from the upcoming album, 'As Hope Dies', check out the video below.

Audio versions of 'As Hope Dies' and 'Razor' can be heard at the band's MySpace page, here.