Washington, D.C. metallers DARKEST HOUR, who released their ninth album, "Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora", earlier this month, have announced a limited-edition seven-inch singer, "Painkiller/I Don't Want to Hear It" (via Southern Lord Recordings) for Record Store Day (April 22).

The release, which is limited to 1000 copies, features new song "Enter Oblivion" from "Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora", as well as covers of MINOR THREAT's "I Don't Want To Hear It" and JUDAS PRIEST's "Painkiller". All proceeds from the seven-inch will be donated to the National Immigration Law Center.

DARKEST HOUR founder and guitar player Mike Schleibaum had this to say about the release: "It is with great pride we present to you our first Record Store Day release, which also happens to be our first seven-inch record in almost two decades! This seven-inch features two covers that we recorded before the launch of our Indiegogo campaign last year. Although the songs were released for free as part of a thank you to our loyal fans, we felt they wouldn't get their justice served without some sort of physical release. In addition to the covers, this seven-inch also includes the song 'Enter Oblivion' from our new album, 'Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora'. This song and seven-inch have a very special meaning for us.

"Having toured the world countless times at this point, we have seen the destructiveness and divisiveness that arises from nation states, borders, and immigration policies. These invisible, arbitrary lines that divide families, cultures, and humanity are archaic and obsolete. We believe that no human being is ever illegal just for existing. We believe that everyone regardless of race, religion, age, ethic heritage, sexual identification and sexual orientation should be treated with the respect and dignity that everyone deserves. A DARKEST HOUR show is a place where everyone is welcome, where individual thought is celebrated. We do not want a hive mind of loyal followers; we want a community of free-thinking individuals. It is in this spirit that we, in conjunction with Southern Lord Recordings, will donate all proceeds from this seven-inch record to the National Immigration Law Center. They are a non-profit who have been on the forefront of the fight to deliver services to those who find themselves caught in the middle of this outdated, feverishly demonic system.

"The song 'Enter Oblivion' centers on a traveler with no home and is, therefore the perfect choice for this seven-inch. Vinyl is our preferred way of enjoying music and the depth of these songs on wax is unparalleled in any other medium. If you can find this seven-inch before it sells out, get it! It will never be repressed and will always be a special part of our history. Cheers to Southern Lord Recordings for helping us make this unique record and also for echoing our thoughts. It is only together that we can turn the present tide of humanity towards the idea that we all share one world, together."

German alcohol-soaked thrash metal act TANKARD will release its seventeenth studio album, "One Foot In The Grave", on June 2 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2014's "R.I.B. (Rest In Beer)" was recorded at Gernhart Studios in Troisdorf with producer Martin Buchwalter (DESTRUCTION, ACCUSER, PERZONAL WAR, SUIDAKRA).

The cover artwork for "One Foot In The Grave" was created by Patrick Strogulski, who is a student of Sebastian Krüger, the recent artwork designer of TANKARD. He also created the cover artwork for the "A Girl Called Cerveza" and "R.I.B." albums. With this, the iconic band mascot, the TANKARD Alien, celebrates his return after about 13 years of absence. The alien was born in 1989 with the "Alien" EP and has already graced five album covers. The TANKARD fan club "Maniac Aliens" is also named after it.

States TANKARD vocalist Andreas "Gerre" Geremia: "Mister Strogulski has once again created a real masterpiece and surpassed himself. Our first plan was that I would be on the cover instead of the alien... but, lucky me, it ended up being the alien..."

The clip below offers a look behind the scenes of the "One Foot In The Grave" album production, as well the very first song snippets.

"Cheaper To Drink Alone", the new Blake Judd-directed video from Kentucky rockers BLACK STONE CHERRY, can be seen below. The clip was filmed on February 21 at Spillway Bar And Grill in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

"This video is the first time we have stepped outside of our comfort zone, only to end up further into our comfort zone," commented BLACK STONE CHERRY. "It's funny, it's light hearted, it's rock 'n' roll. It shows a side of the band that exists on a daily basis, and that is our love for ridiculous humor and not taking ourselves too seriously. We hope y'all enjoy it as much as we did creating it! We are also honored to have appearances of our friends from Number JUAN Tequila, Against The Grain Brewery, and Lzzy and Joe from our longtime buddies HALESTORM."

"Cheaper To Drink Alone" is taken from BLACK STONE CHERRY's fifth studio album, "Kentucky", which was released in April 2016 via Mascot Label Group. The CD was recorded at Barrick Recording in Glasgow, Kentucky. Taking a "back-to-the-roots" approach, the effort was produced in the same way and same place as BLACK STONE CHERRY's eponymous debut album, which broke the band out of the small southern backwater and onto the world stage.

BLACK STONE CHERRY guitarist Ben Wells told Metal Hammer magazine about "Kentucky": "This is the first time we [got] to self-produce. And most of the songs, with the exception of maybe two or three out of fifteen, are all written by us, the four of us. Which all of our songs always are — we might co-write with somebody — but this time, the majority of the songs are all written by us. So it feels really good to kind of have that creative freedom. It's raw, it's heavy. [We went] back to our hometown to record it, where we did our debut album. So we're kind of revisiting some of that old mojo that we had, and I think our fans have been wanting that from us for a long time now. These are probably some of the coolest songs we've written as far as the music and the melodies."

Fan-filmed video footage of GHOST's March 26 performance at O2 Forum Kentish Town in London, England can be seen below.

The new lineup of GHOST gave its first live performance on Friday night (March 24) as the Swedish-based band kicked off its 2017 "Popestar" European tour in Norwich, England. As previously reported, rumors have circulated for several months that lead singer and founder Tobias Forge — who performs as Papa Emeritus — fired the entire previous lineup at the end of GHOST's fall 2016 North American tour.

Meanwhile, the identity of one of the band's new members — who wear masks and are only known as Nameless Ghouls — may have already been revealed. Former KORN touring keyboardist Zac Baird hinted in a series of tweets that he was in England for his first show with an unnamed act, adding, "I've spent 90% of my life in costume."

Since the musicians wear masks and are only identified as Nameless Ghouls, personnel changes in the group over its eight-year existence have gone unannounced.

Earlier this month, however, Swedish guitarist Martin Persner released a video message in which he claimed to have played in GHOST for seven years under the name Omega. He also revealed that he exited the band last July, although he did not disclose the reasons for his departure.

Forge writes almost all of the group's music and does most of the act's interviews disguised as a Nameless Ghoul.

GHOST will begin recording its fourth full-length album in August, after the band returns home from a North American tour with IRON MAIDEN.

Fan-filmed video footage of BATTLE BEAST's March 25 performance at Petit Bain in Paris, France can be seen below.

BATTLE BEAST's fourth album, "Bringer Of Pain", was released on February 17 via Nuclear Blast Records. The ten-track disc was recorded and produced at JKB Studios by keyboardist Janne Björkroth, was mixed by Björkroth alongside Viktor Gullichsen and Mikko Karmila, and was mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios. The cover artwork was crafted by Jan Yrlund.

"Bringer Of Pain" is BATTLE BEAST's first album to feature guitarist Joona Björkroth, who joined the band in 2015.

BATTLE BEAST in February 2015 parted ways with lead guitarist and main songwriter Anton Kabanen due to "insurmountable disagreements" with the other members of the band.

Speaking to Metalholic, BATTLE BEAST vocalist Noora Louhimo stated about the writing process for "Bringer Of Pain": "You always have the pressure on to write good music and do a good album, but now we had extra pressure because people had their suspicions. People were already judging us that, 'They're not going to make it. They're not going to make as good music.' But as you can hear, yes we can! [Laughs] So, yes, it was a nerve-breaking, but still a very rewarding process to do this new album. For me personally, this was such a great experience. I learned so much about the other guys; the other band members. We got Joona to be part of this BATTLE BEAST family and now I'm just full of excitement. I can't wait to get on the road and bring the pain!"

Asked how she thinks having six songwriters instead of one impacts the sound and dynamic of the band, Noora said: "We all learned a lot from each other, how we want to work together. There are so many different ways to write songs. For example, Janne likes to write songs by himself and bring them to the table when they are almost final. I like to do solo also, but I like co-writing also. With Joona, we have a similar wave we are on, and we have a really good work ethic, and a good friendship also. So it's very easy to work with him. I did write some demos with Eero, our bass player, and our other guitar player Jusso, and it was fun also. I think through these next years, we are going to find new ways, and the best ways, for BATTLE BEAST to produce music."

Eclipse have released a video for “Hurt”, a track from the band’s fifth studio album, Monumentum, out now. The new clip is available for streaming below.

Monumentum tracklisting:

“Vertigo”
“Never Look Back”
“Killing Me”
“The Downfall Of Eden”
“Hurt”
“Jaded”
“Born To Lead”
“For Better Or For Worse”
“No Way Back”
“Night Comes Crawling”
“Black Rain”

“Hurt” video:

“Jaded”:

“Never Look Back” video:

“Vertigo”:

Eclipse lineup:

Erik Mårtensson - lead vocals, guitars
Magnus Henriksson - guitars
Philip Crusner - drums
Magnus Ulfstedt - bass

Ohio death metal/deathcore unit The Convalescence is the latest addition to the Unique Leader Record roster for the release of their as-yet-untitled full-length later this year. 
 
Delivering brutal riffs and dark imagery, the Toledo-born six-piece was forged in 2011 and have since made their mark on the underground metal scene having performed over 400 shows across the United States and Europe including appearances on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, Rock Fest, West Coast Death Fest, SXSW, and many more. The band is currently wrapping up a tour with Otep and will unleash their fifth studio album via Unique Leader in the coming months. 
 
The band has issued the following statement: "We are very proud to be a part of the Unique Leader Records roster for the release of our upcoming album. This is by far our heaviest and, in our opinion, hands down the best album we've done so far. We couldn't ask for a better label to work with for this release. Keep an eye out for big things happening in the near future."
 
In related news, The Convalescence will serve as support to Testament, Sepultura, and Prong on a portion of their upcoming US tour from April 6th and through April 24th. The band's fifteen-date trek includes a stop at this year's New England Metal & Hardcore Festival in Worcester, Massachusetts. 
 
The Convalescence's support tour dates are as follows:

April
6 - Sunshine Theater - Albuquerque, NM
7 - Gas Monkey Live - Dallas, TX
8 - Aztec Theater - San Antonio, TX
9 - House Of Blues - Houston, TX
10 - House OF Blues - New Orleans, LA
12 - House Of Blues - Tampa, FL
13 - Culture Room - Fort Lauderdale, FL
14 - House Of Blues - Lake Buena Vista, FL
15 - Center Stage - Atlanta, GA
16 - The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC
19 - The National - Richmond, VA
21 - The Palladium @ New England Metal & Hardcore Festival - Worcester, MA
22 - The Paramount - Huntington, NY
23 - The Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
24 - Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD

For information and updates on the band go to this location.

World Entertainment Inc. and Powerglove are pleased to announce a new partnership with Knife Fight Media, who will manage the next album cycle, which will mark the bands return to video game themes. Instead of releasing an album all at once, the band will be releasing one track a month for the next 13 months, culminating with a box set released on the final month of the album cycle. 

Following is a message from the band:

“Pay attention my supple lads, for the time has come for the long anticipated next chapter from the purveyors of video game metal. Behold the first track of PowerGlove’s new release, Continue?. Each month, I, Zebediah, master magician, will release Powerglove from their musty basements, so they may bestow upon you a new piece of pompous, penis-pummelling powermetal, infused with videogame nostalgia, and a hint of lime. Be wary, hold a keen eye, and clench firmly, because if you do not hear these songs, you shall forever miss the chance to join Powerglove in the halls of videogame Valhalla.”

 

Hailing from the outer reaches of flavor country, the Powerglove woodwind quartet is the perfect choice for any bat mitzvah or funeral procession. Top scientists from Powerglove University in Prague have ascertained specific evidence from the children of Sanchez the Wise that Powerglove’s music is answer to domestic abuse, and gout. However, clinical trials, have yet to prove that Powerglove is in any way effective against dysentery. These four young men, full of bold and fresh flavor, as well as all requisite herbs and spices will dance for you until the siren call of the Great Mancuso beacons us home to the undying realms with the audacity of succulent ham. 

In March of 2013, Powerglove posted a message to their fans saying that they have started working on “Continue?” the Video Game Themed follow up to 2010’s Saturday Morning Apocalypse, and are releasing that effort in 13 parts over the course of 2017 (a song a month). Powerglove are no strangers to taking a ridiculous and silly concept and translating it into metal excellence, and they can't wait to tour across the universe again and make their audiences headbang and laugh ‘till they soil themselves at the same time once again.

 

 

Megadeth's Belgian Style Saison Ale, À Tout le Monde, has won its first Gold Medal, scoring the highest points in its category. 93 points, qualifying it as "Exceptional", by Beverage Testing Institute based out of Chicago. Congrats to Brewmaster Jerry Vietz and the ultimate collaborator Dave Mustaine. Find À Tout le Monde near you by clicking here.

Megadeth are now offering exclusive bundles for their A Tout Le Monde beer glasses via the band’s official store. Head to this location to view your options.

In live news, Megadeth will be hitting the road with The Scorpions on the North American Crazy World Tour this fall; confirmed show dates are as listed:

September
14 - Reading, PA - Santander Arena
16 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
22 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage Amphitheater
26 - Denver, CO - 1st Bank Center
29 - Spokane, WA - Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
30 - Seattle, WA - Tacoma Dome

October
3 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort
4 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
7 - Los Angeles - The Forum On Sale 3/24
8 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Arena
11 - San Antonio, TX - Freeman Coliseum
12 - Dallas, TX - Pavilion at The Music Factory
14 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - BB&T Center
15 - Tampa, FL - Amalie Arena

The Acacia Strain will release their new album, Gravebloom, on June 30th via Rise Records. The new single, “Bitter Pill”, is available for streaming below. Fans can pre-order Gravebloom in various packages at this location.

Tracklisting:

“Worthless”
“Plague Doctor”
“Bitter Pill”
“Big Sleep”
“Gravebloom”
“Abyssal Depths”
“Model Citizen”
“Calloused Mouth”
“Dark Harvest”
“Walled City”
“Cold Gloom”

“Bitter Pill”:

The Royal - a band that takes the best of a wide variety of subgenres in metal and presents a fresh and unique cross-over into today’s scene, will unleash their very first label released record, Seven, via Long Branch Records on March 31st. The album’s title track is available for streaming below. You can also watch a music video for the track “Counterculture”

Pre-order the new album at this location.

Tracklisting:

“Thunder”
“Feeding Wolves” (feat. Carlo Knöpfel)
“Wildmind”
“Creeds And The Vultures”
“Counterculture”
“Interlude”
“Seven”
“Life Breaker”
“Thalassa”
“Draining Veins”
“Viridian”

“Counterculture” video:

“Seven”:

“Wildmind” video:

Pittsburgh, PA's Lady Beast have inked a deal with Italian heavy metal label Cruz Del Sur Music. Formed in 2010, Lady Beast previously released two full-lengths albums (simply titled I and II) and an EP (Metal Immortal) for French label Inferno Records.

Authors of aggressive and fast-paced heavy metal with traditional influences from the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Acid, Lady Beast combines killer twin guitars with the energetic presence of vocalist Deborah Levine. The band will soon enter the studio to record its Cruz Del Sur Music debut, Vicious Breed, which is targeted for a late 2017 release on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. 

Lady Beast lineup:

Deborah Levine - vocals
Andy Ramage - lead guitar
Chris Tritschler - rhythm guitar
Greg Colaizzi - bass
Adam Ramage - drums 

For further details, visit Lady Beast on Facebook.

 

New York death metal giants, Immolation, devastated Bullhead City Circus when they hit Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival in the summer of 2016. Video footage of the band’s full performance is now available for streaming below.

Immolation’s setlist:

“Spectacle Of Lies”
“Majesty Of Decay”
“Despondent Souls”
“Kingdom Of Conspiracyv
“Epiphany”
“Dawn Of Possession”
“Father You're Not A Father”
“Glorious Epoch”
“Immolation”
“All That Awaits Us”

Immolation’s new album, Atonement, is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.

The Fate Unburied project came together from the groups need to find their own musical language. A language that goes beyond the patterns of modern metal. The band offer a style with its heart in death metal but surrounded by many other influences, combining riffs that are driven and dynamic but also melodic and inspiring. It’s a highly effective combination of power and atmosphere which creates a distinctive and varied sound.

Fate Unburied’s first album, Logos, is the perfect example of this concept containing all the elements that propel the band. Starting with a death metal core, it goes through many tangents, creating a specific, strong and personal sound with a marked progressive influence. With their determination to explore and try new ideas, the band even inserted some passages with a Marimba to give a more exotic and mystical atmosphere. The lyrics follow the main theme from the Greek philosophical concept of the Logos. A universal law which rules everything through reason and need. On the albums songs, this is related to today’s life, in order to analyze the human condition and the events that afflict it. An intellectual concept yes, but delivered by the band with panache.

The 10 track album (containing three instrumentals) was recorded and mixed at Death Lab Studios in Verona, Italy under the guidance of Mattia Nidini and Mattia “Phil” Filippi, who provided the soaring soundscope with great passion and professionalism. The final mix was sent to Luca Gomedi of High Distortion Level Studio for the mastering, giving the project its definitive and final form.

The cover was created by the talented Greek artist Gina Liberiou, who forms amazing abstract drawings by shaping colors on a glass surface. She made the artwork exclusively for Logos, something that reflects in an image the complexity of Fate Unburied’s music.

Tracklisting:

“It’s Late”
“Dormancy Within”
“Vertigo”
“Methrosy”
“Life Abuse”
“Fate”
“Inner Wisdom”
“Oppression/Resignation”
“Ultima”
“Unburied”

“It’s Late!”:

Fate Unburied are:

Riccardo Babbolin - Vocals, Guitar
Francesco Garatti - Guitar
Giorgio Piva - Drums
Davide Polato - Bass

Two of the most legendary and respected death metal bands in their own countries, Spain’s Avulsed and France’s Mercyless, will kick off their European tour with Savage Annihilation on April 7th.

Avulsed and Mercyless will issue a limited vinyl 7" EP containing one exclusive recording from each band. To be released as a collaboration between Xtreem Music and Xenokorp (ex-Kaotoxin), this 7" EP will contain a re-recording of the song "Hidden Perversions" to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Avulsed, and a re-recording of "Without Christ" celebrating the 30th anniversary of Mercyless.

Official release date for this split 7" EP is May 5th, but it will be available during the European Deathgeneration Tour 2017 and the remaining copies will be sold at each label's respective mailorders.

Tour dates listed on the flyer below:

Bassist Rayman James of Minneapolis, Minnesota-based true metal band, Malice, has checked from the recording studio with a new album recording update:

"Malice is currently working on our new second album, tentatively titled Death And Destruction. The recording process has taken longer than expected because we want it to be amazing, in order for it to be able to meet the high expectations of our fans, as well as our own standards. We don't want to rush out anything less than our very best.

“We are staying true to our roots and our hearts in playing the music we love and are so passionate about. Three song titles that we can reveal at this time are "Slaying The Dragon", "SwordMetal" and "Wheels Of Steel". While working on the album we have been and will continue to play shows. When it is finally released, it will be well worth it all.”

Malice released their hard hitting debut album, Triumph And Glory in 2014.

(Malice photo - MtLProductions.com)

Century Media Records has announced the signing of Implore.

Hailing from Berlin, but with their roots in Spain and Italy, the three-piece have gained a strong following within the extreme metal scene since the band formed in 2013 in Hamburg, Germany. Hard working and dedicated since day one Implore have released several EPs and demos as well as the critically acclaimed debut full length album Depopulation (Pelagic Records, 2015).

With over 200 live shows all over Europe, North and South America as well as major festivals shows (Summer Breeze, Party.San and many more) Implore’s name has widely spread among fans of brutal death metal, grindcore, hardcore and crust punk. Although Implore’s sound is often labeled as death metal, the band’s talent to entwine elements from different genres into their sound has opened doors to different scenes, attracting open-minded fans of all kinds of extreme music.

Subjugate, the second album from the band - and the first one for their new label home at Century Media Records - now reaches for new horizons. With a more focused approach, more elaborated songs, a stronger sound and a lot of experience, Implore are well prepared to take the world by storm.

Subjugate will be released on September 22nd in cooperation with the band’s former label, Pelagic Records.

More news about the album will follow in the upcoming days and weeks.

Implore lineup:

Gabriel Dubko - Bass & Vocals
Eduard Petrolillo - Guitars
Guido Montanarini - Drum

“Ortega Guitars invited me to do a series of videos on a selection of their guitars,” says guitarist Thomas Zwijsen. “In this video I'm performing “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden on the Eclipse Suite CE model.”

In the video below, Zwijsen performs “God Gave Rock And Roll To You”, arranged for classical, acoustic, flamenco or fingerstyle guitar. "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" was originally written by Argent and covered by Petra and KISS. The KISS version was titled "God Gave Rock And Roll To You II", and was used for the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, and later included on the KISS album Revenge.

The video below features Thomas Zwijsen and Ben Woods performing an acoustic version of Europe’s “The Final Countdown”. The clip was shot all over Europe during the Master Guitar Tour 2016. This fingerstyle/acoustic/flamenco/classical guitar arrangement was made by Thomas Zwijsen and Ben Woods especially for the tour.

In another video, Zwijsen performs a cover of the Judas Priest classic, “A Touch Of Evil”, alongside vocalist Laura Guldemond. Laura is the singer of Shadowrise, but you may also know her from Idols, or from performing with Dutch metal opera Ayreon.

Finland-based Tornado, featuring America-born frontman Superstar Joey Severance, performed at the Balkan Metal Meeting in Tuzla, Bosnia Herzegovina on March 11th. Fan-filmed video is available below.

Severance has issued the following update:

"We will soon enter Studio 33 in Kuopio, Finland to do some pre-production demos for our next album, Commitment To Excellence. We will record the following songs: 'A Minute of Nothing', 'White Horse of the Apocalypse', 'The Flight of Yuri Gagarin' and 'At the Chapel of Rest'."

 

 

Tornado signed a worldwide deal with Wormholedeath in 2015 for the release of their sophomore album, Black President. To celebrate, the band released their official video for the track "David And Goliath”.

Says Severance: “We are extremely grateful and excited to be a part of the Wormholedeath family and look forward our future cooperation with the label. Lock up your girlfriends, wives and daughters. Sleazy thrash is coming your way!”

Worm stated: "When I got to know Joey I understood that I was in front of someone with a unique attitude and loyalty. Tornado have been pushing so hard during these years ... So hard that they have been able to work with Peter Tagtgren and get a deal with Listenable Records for their debut album Amsterdam. This is just to underline that I was more than honoured when I got their email. Their new album is like a blast and it has this unique sound since they have been able to create a very strong drive with both Scandinavian and bay area thrash elements. By the way, not many words are needed here...This is a real band with a real attitude and everyone should check them out. A fucking Tornado is coming our way, this is what I wanted to say.”

Tracklisting:

“Black President”
“I, Individual”
“911 First Responder (FDNY)”
“Flesh Crawling Nightmare”
“T – Minus 10”
“David And Goliath”
“World Pieces”
“Under The Crimson Moon”
“Stop The Madness (Part I And II)”
“Ghetto Wasteland”

"Sinner", a new song from Swedish female-fronted rockers ADRENALINE RUSH, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's second album, "Soul Survivor", which will be released on April 21 via Frontiers Music Srl. Following the successful release of the band's 2014 self-titled debut, ADRENALINE RUSH is now ready to unleash its next infectious slice of hard, sleaze, melodic rock on the rock 'n roll masses! This time, blond bombshell vocalist Tåve Wanning mainly collaborated with Fredrik Folkare (FIRESPAWN, UNLEASHED), who brought fresh influences to the table that fit very well with Tåve's ideas. The music has evolved and grown beyond what appeared on the debut. It is still melodic and definitely has an '80s flavor, but also is a bit more complex, darker, and heavier than the previous album. The production is edgier and the guitar work once again pristine. Erik Martensson (ECLIPSE) was once again involved as a sounding board, co-writing a song and mastering the finished tracks. "I didn't want to make another album just like the first one," Tåve says. "I've grown since we recorded the first, I am in a different place. And I feel the album reflects that. The new tracks really complement the old instead of replacing them; they add a new dimension and gives us a broader spectrum of songs to choose from when playing live." The band has also seen some changes. Ludvig and Soufian left the band to focus on other endeavors and have been replaced by Sam Soderlindh (lead guitar) and Joel Fox (bass). Sam is a new face to most, a young guitarist with fast fingers and a lot of potential. Joel, on the other hand, has been around for a while in bands like DYNAZTY and SINIESTRO. Alexander Hagman and Marcus Johansson complete the band's lineup on guitar and drums, respectively. ADRENALINE RUSH is set to perform a few club gigs in Sweden before appearing at the fourth annual Frontiers Rock Festival in Milan, Italy on April 30. "Soul Survivor" track listing:

01. Adrenaline02. Love Like Poison03. Breaking The Chains04. Soul Survivor05. Stand My Ground06. My Life07. Break The Silence08. Sinner09. Shock Me10. Wild Side11. Don't Wake Me Up12. Crash13. Soul Survivor (acoustic version - bonus track digital version) ADRENALINE RUSH is:

Tåve Wanning - lead vocalsSam Soderlindh - lead guitar, vocalsAlexander Hagman - guitar, vocalsJoel Fox - bass, vocalsMarcus Johansson - drums

POISON frontman Bret Michaels, who has sold over 35 million records and has had several number one hits such as the timeless classic "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", is set to release his emotionally charged new single, "Jorja Bleu", on Friday, April 7. The song is new and fresh, yet has the instantly familiar sound that we've all come to love and expect from Michaels. It's also a very personal and real conversation with his youngest daughter, for whom the song is named after. In the new single, Bret recounts an exchange between father and daughter with lyrics like: "She said, 'What if I fall?'…and I said, 'What if you fly?'"

Michaels, who has been described as a "Cultural Touchdown" by former CEO of MTV Judy McGrath (currently on the board of directors at Amazon) has had cross-genre and multi-generational success with songs like the country hit "All I Ever Needed" and the pop duet "Nothing To Lose" with Miley Cyrus; the latter was the most added song to radio the week of its release, topping both BON JOVI and NICKELBACK.

Michaels, the BMI award-winning songwriter states: "This song is as raw and stripped down as it gets. This is a man sharing his trials and tribulations in such a way that he hopes to inspire his daughter to chase her dreams with no apologies, while keeping her feet planted firmly on the ground."

In fact, Bret felt so strongly about the raw, pure emotion in the original demo (engineered on a laptop on his tour bus by longtime friend and music director Pete Evick), that after spending a lot of time trying to recapture it in a multi-million dollar studio, Michaels decided to release the original demo. Evick states: "More times than not, Bret's original untouched ideas are the best stuff. It's amazing watching him work. Bret will beat-box, hum, or sing all the parts from the drums, bass, guitar, keys, and even horns, right down to the vocals. Then go back and do the tracks with the instruments. He pushes my knowledge and the technology as far as it can go. The most special thing about this track is that Bret plays everything himself: all guitars, other instruments, and vocals (except the female harmony) are 100% him."

This is the first single from Michaels since his modern country crossover "Girls On Bars", co-written by two-time CMA award winner Luke Laired. Laired said, "Bret is awesome to write with. Ideas just kept coming nonstop when we were in the studio. He's always ready and willing to push the boundaries and try new things." "Girls On Bars" boasted the highest number of views of any debut single ever on CMT.

"Jorja Bleu", which in many ways is the sequel to his song "Raine", titled after his oldest daughter, drops on Tuesday April 7 on iTunes and all other digital retailers and subscription audio formats.

Wave TV conducted an interview with vocalist Timo Kotipelto and keyboardist Jens Johansson of Finnish/Swedish melodic metallers STRATOVARIUS prior to the band's November 19, 2016 show at Pakkahuone in Tampere, Finland where they were playing their 1996 "Episode" album in its entirety. You can watch the full chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On playing "Episode" in full:

Jens: "It was the anniversary, 20 years since it was released. It was because of that, like, 'Oh, we should do something!"

Timo: "A couple of years ago, we played the whole 'Visions' album. The feedback from the fans was super-good. And then we were thinking, 'Okay, 'Episode' is coming up on its 20th anniversary. Why not play it?' At least to me, it was more challenging as an album. It's more progressive compared to our new stuff. It's been so much fun to play this album."

On the recent trend of bands playing their classic albums in full live:

Timo: "Actually it's not a duty. It's a pleasure. When this idea came up last spring, then at least I didn't remember it was going to be the 20th anniversary for 'Episode'. I decided myself I would be up for playing this. Then later on, somebody said, 'That's a good idea. It's going to be 20 years.' It wasn't like we needed to do it."

On whether playing their older material is more challenging than their more recent material:

Jens: "I don't think so. Some of the songs we have never played live. Everybody had to learn them, in a way. I think also the only challenge is that when you make an album, it's not exactly meant to be played in its entirety live, so I think you make an album sort of like it's meant to be listened to at home. This album has quite a lot of slower songs and epic songs, so we tried fiddling around with the sequence a little bit. We don't play an album in sequence of how it was released. Other than that, it's great. There's some really nice songs."

Timo: "This album, to me, is probably one of the most challenging to sing. I think Matias [Kupiainen, guitar] told me yesterday that he counted all of the super-high vocals and 'Episode' has more super-high-pitched vocals compared to any of our other albums. Then I was like, 'No wonder I have been feeling like shit!' There are some songs that go super-high, but when I listen to these songs that we haven't been playing live for many years, there's one song we've never played live before, so we went back 20 years almost, to listen to them, there was a nice surprise. I was like, 'Oh, wow, these songs are pretty good!' They're almost fresh to me. Every time you make an album, you recall the album when you were working on the songs. Then when it comes out, you are already bored, like, 'I don't want to hear these songs anymore.' Or, 'There's a five-week European tour coming up.' But now it's like, 'These songs are great!'"

Jens: "We recorded the next album ['Visions'] very soon after this. We never had time to play a lot of gigs with these songs. We went into the studio right away and made the next one. There was not so much time to reflect on this album. We just recorded it and did a new one."

On the band's thoughts on doing cover songs:

Timo: "We did record some individual cover songs ten or fifteen years ago because the label requested them. To me, it's a problem because the original is always the original. You can't make it better. You can make it different, but then if there's no proper input from the band and you can actually make something nice out of the songs, then it doesn't make any sense."

Jens: "If somebody came up with a great idea, but it's more often when people do this, they want to put an album out without having to write songs. It's a clever way of making an album without having to write anything. You make a cover album. 'Great success! New album out? We didn't have to write anything.' It's very simple, but I don't know… We should focus on making a proper album."

Timo: "Yes, definitely."

"Episode" was released in April of 1996 by T&T/Noise and was the first STRATOVARIUS album to feature Johansson, who previously played with Yngwie Malmsteen and DIO, among others.

STRATOVARIUS's most recent studio album, "Eternal" was released in 2015 via earMUSIC.

DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover says Ritchie Blackmore should have gone out under his own name instead of resurrecting RAINBOW for the guitarist's 2016 return to the rock live stage.

Blackmore played a handful of shows last summer with an entirely new lineup of RAINBOW, which included LORDS OF BLACK singer Ronnie Romero, STRATOVARIUS keyboardist Jens Johansson, BLACKMORE'S NIGHT drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau (a.k.a. Robert "Bob" Curiano, ex-BLACKMORE'S NIGHT).

Glover, who played with Blackmore in DEEP PURPLE for many years and was a member of RAINBOW for from 1979 to 1984, working on four of the latter group's studio albums, was asked in a new interview with AntiHero Magazine what his thoughts were on Blackmore's reactivation of RAINBOW. "[I've got] no views on it," he responded. "I mean, I wish him luck. In a way, calling it RAINBOW, I thought, he's got his own name, I would have thought he should've gone out as just Ritchie Blackmore and just played some really great band … I don't want to disparage him at all, I'm a fan of Ritchie as much as anyone else is. He's a musician. I'm blown away that I got to work with such a musician. So, yeah, I wish him luck."

Glover told Music Radar in a 2013 interview that his role in RAINBOW was primarily that of a producer. "In the six years I was off the road with PURPLE, I produced a lot of music," he explained. "I made my peace with Ritchie even though he was the main reason I wasn't in the band. I met up with him again in '76 or '77 in a studio and he played me 'Stargazer'. It blew me way. I had always been a [Ronnie James] Dio fan; I more or less discovered Ronnie in '72 with ELF. Although 'Rising' was a brilliant album, it didn't sell that much. I was brought in to change the fortunes of the band. And it did. I was playing bass and writing all the parts, but I wasn't in the band until the album was finished. [Drummer] Cozy Powell said to me, 'Why aren't you in the band?' I said it him, 'I can't just join a band because I feel like it. I've got to be asked.' That was definitely Ritchie's band. Just because we were equals in PURPLE that doesn't mean we were equals in RAINBOW."

Joe Lynn Turner, who was the singer of RAINBOW between 1980 and 1984, last year slammed Blackmore for the guitarist's decision to go out and perform classic DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW material with a new group musicians instead of reforming RAINBOW with a more "authentic" lineup.

Less critical of the new RAINBOW lineup was former DEEP PURPLE bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, who admitted to Metal Express Radio earlier this year that he had watched some YouTube clips of the new RAINBOW lineup performing in 2016. "Singing Ronnie's [James Dio] songs needs a special kind of singer and I think the young chap did a reasonably good job and I think Ritchie may well have found the guy for him," Hughes said of Romero. "He was certainly a good fit for RAINBOW."

Terry Butler says that his former MASSACRE bandmates Rick Rozz and Mike Mazzonetto "destroyed" the band with their "behind-the-scenes backtalking and backstabbing."

MASSACRE's last incarnation included guitarist Rozz and drummer Mazzonetto alongside Butler and vocalist Ed Webb. That lineup lasted for four years and released a critically acclaimed album, 2014's "Back From Beyond", via Century Media Records.

Back in December, Rozz and singer Kam Lee announced that they were rejoining forces in a revamped version of MASSACRE, dubbed MASSACRE X . The main objective of the group — which also features Rozz's THE END bandmates Michael Grim (bass/vocals) and Mazzonetto — was said to be "to rekindle the sound, style, aggression, and passion that originally elevated MASSACRE to cult status in the death metal scene two and a half decades ago."

In a brand new interview with Metal Wani, Butler confirmed that he had no involvement in the reactivated MASSACRE and explained: "When 'Back From Beyond' came out in 2014, it was a great record and we did a tour with DEATH TO ALL and OBITUARY, and we had another tour lined up in Europe with DEATH TO ALL. But by the end of the tour, Rick and the drummer Mikey had destroyed the band. They sabotaged it — a lot of behind-the-scenes backtalking and backstabbing they did. So I said, 'That's it. The band's over.' Because Bill Andrews [original MASSACRE drummer], who owns the band name, and it's his band, gave us his blessing to keep MASSACRE going. So when all that went down, it's, like, 'That's it. The band's over.' But recently, Rick has a band called THE END, and they were doing their own thing, whatever. But then Kam Lee got involved, and they wanted to call the band MASSACRE. So Bill and I were, like, 'No. You're not gonna do that. You're not gonna keep watering down the band name. And that's it. You've gotta call it something else, but you ain't gonna call it MASSACRE,' because, legally, Bill and I own the name. So… whatever."

Butler went on to make it clear that Rozz and Lee's new band "cannot be called MASSACRE." He added: "They can do all they want and write all the songs in the world they want, but it's not gonna be called MASSACRE."

MASSACRE X will make its live debut on June 24 at the Protzen Open Air festival in Protzen, Germany. Additional shows will take place later in the year.

The band's plan is to play songs from the "From Beyond" album, along with a few new tracks and old classics from DEATH and the pre-DEATH outfit MANTAS.

Rozz started his career at the age of 16 when he formed MANTAS with Chuck Schuldiner. The band's "Death By Metal" demo from 1984 was as influential on the early death metal scene as early recordings by POSSESSED (who released their infamous "Death Metal" demo the same year) and HELLHAMMER's 1983 demos. MANTAS changed its name to DEATH later in 1984, followed by the creation of MASSACRE, with Butler joining the group a short time later. After recording and touring as members of DEATH, Rozz and Butler released the MASSACRE death metal cult classic "From Beyond" in 1991, influencing generations of extreme metal bands worldwide.

Former FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Matt Snell says that "it's a lot easier" for bands to reach a wider audience today, even though financial burdens have made it much harder for many of them to survive.

Snell, who recently launched a new group called INVIDIA with current and former members of IN THIS MOMENT and SKINLAB, made his comments while speaking with The Metal Gods Meltdown about INVIDIA's upcoming debut album, "As The Sun Sleeps".

Asked if he is glad that he got his start in music back when he did rather than in the present day, Snell said (hear audio below): "No, not at all. I think it's a lot easier today. I think it's harder to make money, but you're not supposed to be in this for money. It's art, and if you happen to luck out and be successful, then good on you, pass it along to somebody else."

He continued: "The world's more accessible. It's a lot smaller place than it was twenty years ago. So I can get on and I can work online, and I'm talking to you right now through a computer; I couldn't have done that a long time ago. So there's just so many tools available now to somebody to promote and work their band. Not only that, but you can go online and give yourself an education. What are the other bands doing that you're not doing? You're able to find more music to help your creativity. It's an endless sea of knowledge and information, if you look at it the right way. From that standpoint, it's wonderful. There's been some setbacks when you deal with the monetary compensation, because people steal your music. People laugh, 'Oh, it's no big deal.' It's the whole reason that concerts are expensive now, it's the whole reason that bands don't have money now — because people are stealing music. So on that side, it's unfortunate that people take technology and steal it, but we used to dub cassettes back to back and record records when you didn't have any money. And I think that's cool until you're about thirteen or fourteen. Then you need to get a job and earn money and buy records. That's what I did."

According to Snell, part of the problem is that fans need to be better educated about the real results of stealing music if they want to see the continuation of album production.

"Our record comes out in a week — on March 31 — and we're gonna have to employ some people to sit on there and try to get stuff taken down off of YouTube and everywhere else that's not authorized by us, because the bottom line is, while we want the music shared, we need to be able to put gas in the tour bus and we need to be able to pay salaries and get crew and purchase merchandise to sell," he explained. "That's the business side of things that's always gonna be a little bit of a challenge, but I think it's just important to always spread a message to people of responsibility and respect. And even if you only like a couple of songs, then just buy a couple of songs; you have that luxury today. Anything you do is ultimately helping the band be a band. And the bands that have the freedom and ability to make good music, it's because they're not having to focus so much on the money and the business; they're able to take care of what they're supposed to be doing."

INVIDIA vocalist Travis Johnson is the bassist in IN THIS MOMENT while guitarists Brian Jackson and Marcos Medina have worked together in SKINLAB.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH parted ways with Snell in December 2010 but didn't announce his exit until April 2011. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory later told Gun Shy Assassin that Matt was fired, adding that the bassist "wasn't a writing member," ensuring that the band's sound wouldn't be affected.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's current bassist, Chris Kael, officially joined the band in June 2011.

Photo credit: Fred Morledge / PhotoFM.com

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was interviewed on Brazilian TV prior to the band's March 25 performance at Lollapalooza Brasil at Autódromo de Interlagos in São Paulo, Brazil. You can watch the short chat below.

Asked if playing for Brazilian audiences is a special experience for METALLICA, Hetfield said: "Well, of course. I'm just a human making art, and when other people take your art to their heart and you connect with them, there's always an extra feeling of belonging, of home, of connection, of family. So Brazil is certainly one of METALLICA's most fanatical countries of them all, so, yeah, we love coming to play here every time."

Hetfield also spoke about METALLICA's longevity and how making new music helps the heavy metal genre's most internationally renowned band stay relevant.

"For us, we're explorers, and we understand that a lot of bands don't get a career like we've had — 36 years — and having a new album out that's almost as important as the other albums," he said. "It's a blessing; there's no doubt about that. We do our best, and that's all we can do. And at the end of the day, we're writing and playing songs that we like to hear."

METALLICA will next play South America's Lollapalooza events in Argentina and Chile on March 31 and April 1, respectively.

The North American leg of METALLICA's "WorldWired" 2017 tour kicks off in Baltimore and will hit stadiums in 25 cities before winding down in mid-August. Support on the quartet's first North American trek since 2009 will come mainly from AVENGED SEVENFOLD and VOLBEAT, with GOJIRA taking over for the latter group for the last six shows.

The first European leg of "WorldWired" kicks off on September 4 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and stretches through November. After a break, the trek will pick up again on February 10, 2018 in Bologna, Italy, and continue through May, finishing up in Helsinki, Finland.

"Escape Velocity", the new Rich Pembridge-directed video from British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE), can be seen below. The song is taken from his ninth solo album, "Endure And Survive", which was released on March 3 via Blaze Bayley Recording. The disc was recorded at Birmingham, England's Robannas Studios and said to be "an exciting and enthralling sequel" to his 2016 release "Infinite Entanglement", which was the first of a trilogy of releases following a sci-fi concept and storyline.

"Endure And Survive" is accompanied by a world tour totalling some 120 shows. The European leg of the tour is taking place principally between February and June 2017. After a small number of summer shows, Blaze will then go to the United States and Canada during August-September. It's also planned to take the tour to Latin America in 2018.

Throughout this world tour, Blaze is being backed by his main recording and touring musicians, picked from British metal band ABSOLVA and including Chris Appleton (guitar, backing vocals), Martin McNee (drums), Karl Schramm (bass, backing vocals).

In addition to the established bandmembers as above from ABSOLVA, "Endure And Survive" also contains a talented array of collaborators: Luke Appleton (ICED EARTH, ABSOLVA) on backing vocals; Michelle Sciarrotta on nylon acoustic, backing vocals, voice actor; Jo Robinson on backing vocals; Mel Adams on backing vocals; Liz Owen on backing vocals; Thomas Zwijsen on nylon acoustic, Anne Bakker on violin, backing vocals; Corvin Bahn (Uli Jon Roth) on accordion; Aine Brewer (voice actor); and Rob Toogood (voice actor) on backing vocals.

The spectacular album artwork was created by Andreas Sandberg, with additional images from Christopher Steenstrup who is also working on a Blaze Bayley video game.

"Endure And Survive" was recorded between October and December 2016, produced by Blaze Bayley and Chris Appleton, mixed and engineered by Miguel Seco, mastered by Ade Emsley (IRON MAIDEN, TANK, PHIL CAMPBELL). As with the previous record, the songwriting has been a collaboration between Blaze, Chris Appleton and Michelle Sciarrotta.

"Endure And Survive" track listing:

01. Endure And Survive02. Escape Velocity03. Blood04. Eating Lies05. Destroyer06. Dawn Of The Dead Son07. Remember08. Fight Back09. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way10. Together We Can Move The Sun

2014-2015 was a period of building momentum for Blaze, partly created by the highly popular release of the fifteenth anniversary edition of his debut solo record, "Silicon Messiah", as well as his "Soundtracks Of My Life" thirty-year compilation celebrating his career since he began singing with his first band WOLFSBANE, before catapulting to worldwide fame with IRON MAIDEN.

2016 saw a significant renaissance with the remarkable plaudits given to the "Infinite Entanglement" album from fans and critics alike. The year was also notable for Blaze's special guest performance with DISTURBED at the U.K.'s premier festival Download when the warmth and recognition from the crowd was as crystal clear as it was predictable given Blaze's reputation for connecting with audiences.

German rockers SINNER — who are led by PRIMAL FEAR bassist Mat Sinner — have released the official video for the song "Road To Hell". Check it out below.

"Road To Hell" is taken from SINNER's new album, "Tequila Suicide", which will be released on March 31 via AFM. The disc was produced by Mat Sinner, and co-produced, mixed and engineered by Dennis Ward. The album features Tom Naumann (PRIMAL FEAR), Alexander Scholpp (TARJA) on guitars, Francesco Jovino (PRIMAL FEAR) on drums, plus special guests Sascha Krebs, Kolinda Brozovic, Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE), Ricky Warwick (BLACK STAR RIDERS), Pete Lincoln (THE SWEET), Neil Witchard and Magnus Karlsson (PRIMAL FEAR).

"Tequila Suicide" track listing:

01. Go Down Fighting02. Tequila Suicide03. Road To Hell04. Dragons05. Battle Hill06. Sinner Blues07. Why08. Gypsy Rebels09. Loud & Clear10. Dying On A Broken Heart

Digipack bonus tracks:

11. House Of Rock12. Monday Morning13. I Am

SINNER's album of re-recorded versions of the best songs from the band's early years, "Touch Of Sin 2" (in a nod to SINNER's 1985 album, "Touch Of Sin"), was released in August 2013 via AFM.

Fan-filmed video footage of LAST IN LINE's March 25 performance at at The Space At Westbury in Westbury, New York can be seen below.

LAST IN LINE is the band featuring DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell alongside fellow founding DIO member Vinny Appice, plus singer Andrew Freeman, who has previously fronted HURRICANE and LYNCH MOB. Playing bass for LAST IN LINE is Phil Soussan (OZZY OSBOURNE, BEGGARS & THIEVES, Steve Lukather), who joined the group after original LAST IN LINE bassist Jimmy Bain passed away in January 2016 at the age of 68. He was reportedly suffering from lung cancer at the time of his death.

LAST IN LINE will enter the studio in September to begin recording its sophomore album for an early 2018 release via Frontiers Music Srl. Helming the disc once again will be Jeff Pilson, the veteran bassist and producer who has played with DIO, FOREIGNER, DOKKEN and T&N, among others.

Campbell told the "Trunk Nation" show on SiriusXM channel Volume (106) that the second LAST IN LINE album is "half written already." He added: "We started writing in January, and we have six songs on the go, and it sounds amazing — it's so, so good. So we're excited for that. We were hoping to get it out this year, but, unfortunately, due to my schedule with LEPPARD and Jeff Pilson's schedule with FOREIGNER… 'Cause Jeff produced the 'Heavy Crown' album for us, and we wanna work with him again on the next one. So we have to wait. It looks like September before we'll actually be able to start recording it, so it'll probably be an early 2018 release."

British progressive metallers THRESHOLD have parted ways with vocalist Damian Wilson. The band has chosen to start a new chapter without him and he has told them he respects their decision.

Wilson enjoyed three stints with THRESHOLD, performing on the band's most recent records, "For The Journey" and "March Of Progress", as well as their early releases "Wounded Land" and "Extinct Instinct", in the 1990s. Damian Wilson has been a great frontman for THRESHOLD and the band would like to sincerely thank him and wish him every success in his future endeavours.

THRESHOLD's new frontman will be Glynn Morgan, the band's former vocalist from 1994 to 1996. Morgan appeared on THRESHOLD's 1994 album, "Psychedelicatessen", and returned to work with the band in 2008 to record tracks for the singles box set "Paradox".

Morgan commented: "I was over the moon when I got the phone call. To work with Karl and Richard and be a part of the mighty THRESHOLD story once more is a great honor. I can't wait to start recording, the new material has me hooked already."

THRESHOLD is currently at Thin Ice Studios recording its eleventh album, "Legends Of The Shires", due for release in the autumn. The band's European tour kicks off in November with support from DAMNATION ANGELS and DAY SIX.