To celebrate the release of their debut album Liberated Sounds, London metalcore quintet Counting Days will be playing a free entry album launch show at London’s metal hotbed, The Black Heart, on Wednesday, October 14th.

Liberated Sounds will be released on 16th October via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group (Black Label Society, Gojira, Joe Bonamassa) and was produced by Fredrik Nordstrom (At The Gates, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Opeth, Architects, Bring Me the Horizon) at his legendary Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The band have also announced the following tour dates:

October
1 - The Parrot - Carmarthen, UK
3 - The Ex-Servicemen’s Club - Corby, UK
11 - The Scream Lounge - Croydon, UK
14 - The Black Heart - London, UK (Album Launch Show - FREE)
23 - Riverside - Sheffield, UK
24 - The Festing - Southsea, UK

November
26 - The Scene - Swansea, UK
27 - Komedia - Brighton, UK
28 - The Rainbow - Birmingham, UK
29 - Sanctuary - Basingstoke, UK

December
3 - Packhorse - Leeds, UK
4 - Vic Inn - Derby, UK
5 - Frog & Fiddle - Cheltenham, UK
6 - Cavern - Exeter, UK
12 - Craufurd Arms - Milton Keynes, UK

Formed in 2014, Counting Days entwine a complex and ferocious blend of hardcore punk, thrash and British heavy metal which has already marked them out as one of the most exciting and talked about metalcore acts in Britain. Made up of former members of TRC, Heights, Rough Hands and Last Witness they harness the power of their previous bands and bring it to an exhilarating new level.

As the beating heart and song-writing partnership in TRC, Charlie Wilson (Guitar) along with Lasselle Lewis (Drums) began broadening and pushing their boundaries as Charlie explains; “I had some songs that I had been writing that didn’t quite fit with the band so I sent them over to Lasselle to see what he thought and he was blown away and totally into it.”

The band started to cement with the addition of former Heights frontman Thomas Debaere, whose throat shredding growl earmarked him as one of the new generation of formidable British metal vocalist. Bobby Daniels (Guitar) of Last Witness soon followed and the final piece was added during a TRC tour with South London noise-terrorists Rough Hands, where frontman Alex Dench was then recruited for bass and vocal duties.

Produced by Fredrik Nordstrom (At The Gates, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Opeth, Architects, Bring Me the Horizon) at his Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, Liberated Sounds subject matter hits on a number of recurring themes; mortality, relationships and religion all return throughout.

Elaborating on the lyrical content Thomas reveals; “This wasn’t a conscious effort, they are just things that really struck a chord. Even the title, Liberated Sounds, was inspired by the feeling we all got from writing it, five mates writing music without restrictions or judgement.”

Opening with the intense “Burned By Faith” it explodes screaming; “Burned by faith, died in faith/You say there’s a god who cures darkness and pain, so you spread violence and hatred, to praise his name/He created the earth, the sun and the rain, you murder those, who don’t believe the same.” Far from being an anti-religious song, it’s more to do with what some people do in the name of religion; extremism battling against the overwhelming desire for peace as well as questioning the path extremists would have taken if there was no afterlife.

Unafraid to tackle difficult and distressing subjects “Die Alone” is about facing your own mortality and realising the certainty of death. Thomas continues to delve into the belly of the subject matter stating, “It questions the privilege with which some people are able to live their lives in the face of the basic fact that one day we will all go out the same way.”

Burrowing further into human emotions “Fire From The Sky” is about the mental effects of war, “I had been studying the treatment of soldiers with shellshock and the lack of understanding in the First World War” he adds before elaborating, “I wanted to highlight the damaging consequences beyond the physical injuries suffered during war.”

The time spent in the studio with Nordstrom afforded them the chance to collaborate with one of their biggest influences in Tomas Lindberg of At The Gates who provided vocals on the newly recorded version of “Sands Of Time”. Clearly won over Lindberg states; “I got contacted through the guys at Fredman studios, I know these guys pretty well, and trusted their judgement in checking this UK band out that were recording there. I was hit by the great mix of old school hardcore and crude death metal tone of the song. Did I want to come down and throw down some vocals? Hell yes! Turned out the vocals that I was going to use as a guide track were super ferocious and ass kicking, so that really fired me up to deliver on the highest level. These guys were super professional and I am sure that they will go far. I can't wait to check out the full album when it's out!"

Tracklisting:

“Burned By Faith”
“Die Alone”
“Beaten & Scarred”
“Life & Death”
“Liberated Sounds”
“Fire From The Sky”
“Days Go By”
“The Vines”
“Sands Of Time”
“Prison Of Misery”
“Cold Truth”
“Reunion”

“Liberated Sounds” video: