Metal Blade Records has announced the signing of extreme modern metal act SYSTEM DIVIDE, featuring Sven De Caluwé (ABORTED) and Miri Milman (ex-DISTORTED) on vocals, Cole Martinez (ex-YEARS OF FIRE, ANTENORA) and Joseph Spiller (ex-THE BINARY CODE) on guitars, Andrew Lenthe (ANTENORA) on bass, and Mike Heller (MALIGNANCY) on drums. SYSTEM DIVIDE has already completed a video for the song "The Apex Doctrine" off the band's current EP, which will also be on the band's full-length Metal Blade debut. Check out a trailer for the new video below and be sure to head over to SYSTEM DIVIDE's MySpace page to listen to the tracks "The Apex Doctrine" and "(n)Ether". Stay tuned for more information including when and where the video for "The Apex Doctrine" will premiere, track listing and release date of the band's debut full-length album, "The Conscious Sedation", and tour dates.

Vocalist Sven De Caluwé commented: "We couldn't be more thrilled to be part of the Metal Blade roster, a label that has been pushing the boundaries of extreme music and putting lots of great new acts in the spotlight. We know SYSTEM DIVIDE is in the hands of a competent team of driven music FANS in the first place who believe in what we do, and we're going to give them their money's worth!!

"We are completing the songwriting for our first album, 'The Conscious Sedation', and are about to enter the studio to start tracking by the end of the month, for those who checked out our EP, get ready for some surprises and more extreme modern metal madness! Rock 'n roll!!"

Added Michael Faley of Metal Blade Records: "Heavy, brutal, extreme, melodic in-your-face metal. These ingredients result in a unique visual and audio assault that numbs the senses. Sven De Caluwé and Miri Milman deliver a one-two punch unseen in metal. We are very proud to add them to the Metal Blade Records family."

SYSTEM DIVIDE's "The Collapse" EP was produced and engineered by guitarist Cole Martinez and was mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen (ABORTED, MERCENARY, RAUNCHY, HATESPHERE, VOLBEAT).

"The Apex Doctrine" video was filmed in New York with director Kevin Custer (HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, DYING FETUS, SUFFOCATION).

According to a press release, SYSTEM DIVIDE "unites a myriad of sounds, going from STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, SOILWORK, LACUNA COIL, DIMMU BORGIR, CHIMAIRA to even MORBID ANGEL. Prepare for the unexpected!"

Founded in summer 2008, SYSTEM DIVIDE features in its ranks vocalists Sven de Caluwé (ABORTED) and Miri Milman (ex-DISTORTED) along with longtime friends Cole Martinez (ex-YEARS OF FIRE, ANTENORA), Andrew Lenthe (ANTENORA), and Mike Heller (MALIGNANCY). SYSTEM DIVIDE set out to revolutionize the conventions of the over-saturated melodic death metal genre, proving that extreme metal can have more depth than blast beats, while female vocals do not have to conform to the precepts of the "goth" genre. In mixing many styles, "The Collapse" breaks all the rules of extreme metal and is a landmark release for the young band.

As opposed to interjecting simple, predictable clean choruses into contrived song structures, SYSTEM DIVIDE unites serene female vocals and extreme vocals driven by lyrical themes that confront and seek to break everyday themes of disillusionment, societal materialism, and individual apathy. Musically, the band delivers myriad styles of riffing and grooves, while augmenting the entrancing soundscapes with hard-hitting drums and intricate bass lines. These elements together define the unique, spell binding, hypnotic sound of SYSTEM DIVIDE.

In order to achieve this complex calculus of sounds on "The Collapse", Cole Martinez handled tracking duties at Conquistador Recordings. Artwork for "The Collapse" was completed by Colin Marks (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, ABORTED, NEVERMORE).