This Is Hell to Release "Black Mass"

This has been one of the worst kept secrets in indie music in the last few months: This Is Hell will release their fourth studio album titled Black Mass on October 11, 2011.

Last month a "mysterious" website titled All Rise For the Black Mass appeared out of thin air. Right off the bat, some of the publications that originally reported on the site's appearance hinted at it possibly being related to a new This Is Hell album.

Viral marketing is awful. I can remember being exposed to it many many times before, but I cannot for the life of me recall what was being advertised. It's great for holding your attention for like a few days, then I think most people move on.

But now it looks like Rise Records completely fucked up. Not only did they take too long to reveal more details (a website with a clock on it isn't capturing anyone's attention) but they allowed Allmusic to get a hold of the new album's details way too early in the game.

Why is that a problem and what's wrong with Allmusic you all ask TheFool curiously? Well, I'll tell you.

Allmusic is owned by Rovi Corporation who helps distribute details in their album database throughout the internet. So because Allmusic's database says This Is Hell will be releasing an album titled Black Mass, this bit of information--along with the album's cover art and complete track listing--is then posted on such major sites as VH1, MTV and AOL among others.

Not to mention the fact that Amazon.com and CD Universe have already posted pre-orders for This Is Hell's Black Mass.

But the bad news could also be seen as the good news. I'm pretty sure this is Rise Record's first attempt at a viral marketing campaign. It failed miserably, sure. But I think the fact that Rise actually attempted to promote the album this way really says something, and I think we can expect a really quality album from This Is Hell. Why go through all this trouble if they thought it was crap?

Anywho, here's the album's track listing and album artwork. It looks like it'll be released on CD and vinyl, unlike their last album which was only released on vinyl.

1. "Acid Rain"
2. "Black History"
3. "Salt the Earth"
4. "Black Mass"
5. "The Wars: Part One"
6. "Mi Nombre"
7. "The Last Outlaw"
8. "Demons"
9. "The Reckoning"
10. "The Wars: Part Two"