This is the largest collaborative effort the Irish metal scene has ever witnessed and the first time this has ever been done. Pre-order the new album here.
Founded in 2021 by acclaimed Irish metal musicians Darragh O’Connor (Horrenda/Aborted Earth) and Shannon Bowman (Aborted Earth), the core concept is modeled after a similar U.S. project in the 2000s with the legendary Roadrunner United. They assembled a team including Restive Nation’s, Tony Carberry, ZhOra’s Tom Woodlock and Two Tale of Woe’s, Carl King to help lead the project and work to produce the songs.
Darragh said : “Myself and a lot of folks my age in the scene grew up with Roadrunner United, so it appears that this project is something that a lot of us wanted to do for years…I believe this was the right time, thanks to technology and the position we found ourselves in to make this happen. Roadrunner United gave us the roadmap to do a project like this. But never before has an entire country made a set of albums.”
The project is designed not only to breathe life back into a creative community who have had their livelihoods devastated, but also to give back to other communities in need.
The Project to date has raised €2,500 for Barnardos in 2021. They hope to have similar success working with Women’s Aid in 2022.
Darragh said : “In 2021, I chose the charity but for 2022, we wanted to crowdsource the charity. After the brutal and deeply tragic murder of Aisling Murphy. It was decided that Women’s Aid was the clear choice after a vote in January 2022. They do fantastic work and we’re proud to work with them.”
Darragh O’Connor. Photo – Down The Barrel Photography 2022
The project has been received very well within the Irish metal scene with its first two albums. The third album is ready for pre-order which can be online now on Bandcamp.
Darragh : “The third album follows on from the harsher and experimental feel of the second. Everyone pushed themselves to bring a new side of their work with this release and leave people with something they’ll remember for some time to come.”
While the album will end up on Spotify eventually as Aiséirí : Volume I & II are now in full on Spotify, the crew have emphasised that this is for charity and as such urge you to buy the album & merch (including limited edition bundles).
Pre-orders, merch and physicals of album one can be bought here.
Track Listing
Odyssey
Plagues
Lies, Damn Lies
Bovis Stercus – Can’t Come Back
Dead Butterfly – Reaching Out
Zero Upload – Exploit
Gemini Lounge
Removing Thorns
To Hell or Connacht
Tonal Architecture(Black Rain)
Vexxed Cabal
Silohwitch – May The Blessings of the Old Ones Go With You
Aiséirí Live
All Ireland Metal Project & O.D. Promotions have teamed up to present a one night only event featuring Words That Burn, War of Attrition and Restive Nation. Each band will be playing their own sets but will be also welcoming guests to play a selection of tracks from all three volumes. Each band has hand picked their favourites and it is sure to be a night unlike any other.
Words That Burn 2022
The event will serve as the end of the All Ireland Metal Project and the launch party of Volume III. There will be merch deals on the night and a charity auction with thanks to Musicmaker and donations from bands, artists.
The gig takes place Friday the 29th of April and admission is €10. Doors will be at 8PM. (18+) Tickets will be available at the door and online via this link.
Tom Woodlock stated “This our last hurrah for the project. Buzzed to finally get to do an Aiséirí show and finish up the project strong.”
Darragh said “A lot of folks have been asking us to do a show like this from the start. To be very honest, we didn’t know if we would even do a live show. The challenge of doing a show like this cannot be understated.
However, we believe that having existing bands lead the show and welcome guests on stage for some Aiséirí songs is the only real way to make this work. And it is! We’ve some of the cream of the Irish scene playing on the night and it’ll be fun to hear the AIMP tracks mixed into their sets.
Huge shoutout to Mikey from O.D. Promotions and Sin É. This is only happening due to the work of all involved both on stage and behind the scenes.
It is a one time only thing and it will be a great way to wrap up the project and make as much money as possible for Women’s Aid.”
For more information, please click this link. Book tickets to the lunch via this link.
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2022
