Hiss From The Moat - the Italian/US black/death metal band founded by acclaimed drummer James Payne (Vital Remains, Hour Of Penance) - has signed with M-Theory Audio. The group is currently recording its second full-length album at Milan's SPVN Studio for a planned early 2019 release. Sound/studio engineer Stefano Orkid Santi, who previously worked as live engineer for bands such as Origin, Suffocation, Cattle Decapitation, and produced the last Cripple Bastards album, is tracking all the instruments in his studio. Mixing and mastering will happen at Studio Fredman in Sweden.

US-based Payne formed Hiss From The Moat with two Italian friends - bassist/vocalist Carlo Cremascoli and guitarist Giacomo Poli - when he was just 18 years old. In 2009, the group self-released their debut EP, The Carved Flesh Message, which they supported by performing alongside the likes of Psycroptic, Skeletonwitch and The Black Dahlia Murder.

Four years later, Hiss From The Moat released their debut full-length, Misanthropy, via Lacerated Enemy/Nuclear Blast. The band's intense use of both extremes of death and black metal produced an album that stood alongside the delivery of acts such as Behemoth and Belphegor.

Following the release of the album, Hiss From The Moat embarked on an extensive tour across Russia, Europe and Asia, delivering an intense and visually engaging performance backed by the blackened intensity of the band's new material. During this period, drummer James Payne left the legendary death metal act Vital Remains - a group he joined following a two-year stint with Italian death metal powerhouse Hour of Penance - to focus full-time on Hiss From The Moat, and the band extended from a three to four-piece act with the addition of Max Cirelli (guitar/vocals).

Over the past two years, the band has toured extensively worldwide while writing their sophomore album. Working between the US and Italy, Hiss From The Moat aim to unleash another sonic onslaught that captures the band’s range of death and black metal inspiration while creating a unique and intense presence in the world of extreme music.

"Last year, Andrew Knudsen from Empyrean Throne gave me a list of bands they would like to tour with, and Hiss From The Moat's name was the only unknown to me. Unfamiliar with the band, I checked them out and quickly became a fan of their debut album Misanthropy," explains M-Theory Audio president Marco Barbieri. "Earlier this year, I was pleasantly surprised to find their manager Greg Shaw shopping the band. Immediately we expressed our interest in working together, and I feel fortunate we were able to work out a deal and begin our collaboration with this young and promising extreme band."

Adds Payne, "We are super-excited to sign a worldwide deal with M-Theory for the release of our new album! We've been looking for the right people to help us spread our music, and we're confident that working with a person like Marco, who has an extraordinary background with labels like Century Media and Metal Blade, will be the perfect fit for us. The album is almost ready, as we've tracked all the instruments and are working on the final steps towards mixing and mastering. We can't wait to share all the new material with everybody and start this path surrounded by all these amazing people that we're working with."

More information on Hiss From The Moat's new album will be revealed in the coming months.

Hiss From The Moat are:

Massimilano Cirelli - Guitar/Vocals
James Payne - Drums
Carlo Cremascoli - Bass/Vocals
Giacomo Poli - Guitar