PORTLAND, OR (Roadkill Supper Records) - Head-banging hell-raisers Karkis today launched the first single off their debut album, "Darkness at the End of the Tunnel" on indie label Roadkill Supper Records. With punch-you-in-the-stomach guitar riffs and vocals that will make your sphincter say what?, "Secret Satan" leaves
Santa crying into his eggnog, and is sure to make youngsters everywhere think twice about hanging their stockings on the mantle.
Lyrics like "He'll sacrifice your innocence with the blade of secrecy / and you can never get it back because there isn't a receipt," soar over bone-crushing bass lines and tempo changes that will keep even the most diehard metalheads on their toes.
"Writing 'Secret Satan' allowed us to channel our own sordid past to reach those people who, like us, think the holidays are a time of misery," signed original frontman, Kent Karkis, whose larynx was crushed in a tragic hockey accident and who is now the lead guitarist for the band. "With Karkis, we're giving those who crave a sound that is harder, more bloodthirsty than what's out there now the kind of band that's going to grab people by the balls and introduce them to their new master. Our music is going to change the face of metal forever."
"Working with Karkis to launch this single has f**king ruled!" said longtime friend and manager Skip McGinnis, Founder of Roadkill Supper Records. "When I first heard them perform, it was like my insides were being ripped out. But in a good way. Sharing that same death-defying musical experience with fans of truly mind-blowing metal is not only my pleasure, it's also my duty as a fellow fan and messenger of evil. 'Secret Satan' is the single greatest holiday anthem about worshiping the denizens of the lower realms ever!"
Hailing from Portland, OR, (also home to metal gurus Stabitha), the band debuted as a five-piece under the name Supercam. Original members David Mace (Drums), Zach Chancery (Bass Guitar), Jukes Shieke (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Slip Rifkin (Bass/Backing Vocals) and Kent Karkis (Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals) met in the summer of 2001 while working together at an ice rink. The band bonded around their shared enthusiasm for metal greats such as Praying Mantis, Saxon, and the leaders in black metal: Emperor. Within weeks, they released their first EP, "F**KING COPS," with their single "INTO THE NIGHT" achieving local airplay.
After his accident, Kent formed a pared-down version of the band, losing Rifkin and Shieke and signing on a German ex-pat named Ozwald, who provided a fresh and sinister perspective to the music, and whose tortured wails brought the band closer to their envisioned sound. With Ozwald on vocals and Kent back to guitar, the band was reborn under the name Karkis.
Currently, Karkis is in the studio recording their first professional release, due out winter 2005. A tour of the Pacific Northwest is planned for early 2006, following by a spring-summer full US tour. For more information about the band visit their website at www.karkis.net or their myspace page; www.myspace.com/karkis
