EPISODE 13, one of the longest established and best known from amongst the rising tide of black metal bands in Turkey, is scheduled to appear in Western Europe for the first time, when they make a headlining appearance at The Rock, in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 24th July. Although the band has previously toured in Eastern Europe, and is used to playing large festivals, and supporting bands such as SLAYER, MARDUK and VADER, within Turkey, Episode 13 has not previously ventured this far west.

Drummer Nursuz commented: “Episode 13 has been wanting to play in Western Europe for some time now, but it has not been the easiest of things for us to organise. It’s acceptable these days for Black Metal bands not to come from Scandinavia, but we are hampered by the fact that we come from a predominantly Islamic country. We are not political and we are anti religious. To us, the music is everything, and getting as many people as possible to hear it is our aim. Black metal has always encouraged people to think for themselves, outside of the norm; and from the comments we receive from black metal fans that have stumbled across us - when it comes to music, they don’t allow themselves to be swayed by anything other than how it sounds. If they like it, they like it, regardless of anything else. But we are not naïve. We know there is some resistance out there. We just hope that more people will be open enough to listen, and that Episode 13’s music will speak for itself”.

In a move indicative of the band’s growing appeal in Europe, Netherlands based Infernus Rex Distribution has signed a deal with Episode 13 to distribute the forthcoming album Pitch Black in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. The album will be the band’s second full length and follows on from 2005’s Tabula Rasa. “Oddly enough,” Nursuz went on to say, “it is the 'Forlorn… Till Dawn' track from Tabula Rasa that has proved to be the most popular; which is strange since this is the only track where we included a traditional Turkish sound on the keyboards”. It was this track that was turned into a video in 2006.

The band recently underwent a line up change when Ozan Akyol replaced vocalist Tolgahan. Akyol is, in fact, the band’s original vocalist, and returned to the band after a two-year absence. It was he, along with Nursuz and guitarist Murat, who first formed Episode 13 in 2001. Bassist Sermet has been with the band since 2007.

Pitch Black will be released on Raven Records in the near future, and will consist of 9 tracks of aggressive black metal. 'Hate Universe', a track from the new album has been added to Episode 13’s MySpace Page at www.myspace.com/episode13, where tracks from Tabula Rasa are available for free download, along with a special “taster” version of the title track from Pitch Black.

The video below is for the track 'Forlorn… Till Dawn' from Episode 13’s Tabula Rasa: