Wardruna’s new album, Runaljod – Ragnarok, was released on October 21st. This is the third instalment in a trilogy of albums that began with Runaljod – gap var Ginnunga (2009) and continued with Runaljod – Yggdrasil (2013). The album has made some significant impact on major charts worldwide:

US: #1 on Billboard World Music Chart
Canada: #1 World Music Album Charts
US: #5 Heat Seekers Album Charts
Germany: #68 Official German Album Charts
UK: #153 Official Album Charts
UK:  #18 Independent Music Charts
Norway: #52 Norwegian Official Charts

In short, the ambitious idea behind the trilogy was to create musical interpretations of each of the twenty-four old Nordic runes. It proved to be a lengthy and challenging task. Some of the material on the album even date back to 2003 and the early stages of the project, when multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Einar Selvik started to develop the genre-defying sound and style that Wardruna have become known for. It is a contemporary sound, but one that is characterized by the use of old and historical instruments like Kraviklyra, taglharpe, goat horns, birchbark lures and more. The vocals range from whispering voices to melodic song and mighty choirs. All performed with sincerity and conviction.

Musically and conceptually there is a clear continuity between all three of the albums, but with time and experience comes refinement. And new elements has certainly been added along the way. Most notable on Runaljod – Ragnarok is the use of the Scandinavian bronze lures, whose iconic sound and appearance make them a perfect fit with Wardruna’s instrumentation and concept. Special guest performances by Einar’s own children and Skarvebarna children's choir must also be noted.
 
Runaljod – Ragnarok was written, recorded and produced by Einar Selvik from 2003 to 2016 at his own Fimbulljóð studio.

Tracklisting:

“Tyr”
“UruR”
“Isa”
“MannaR - Drivande”
“MannaR - Liv”
“Raido”
“Pertho”
“Odal”
“Wunjo”
“Runaljod”

“Raido” video:

“Tyr” teaser:

“Odal”:

A tour in support of the album will commence this month, with concerts in Norway, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Denmark, the UK and the US. As many of the concerts were sold out quickly, further touring is planned for 2017.

(Photo - Tuukka Koski at Sandhornøya, Norway)

UK-based black metallers, The Infernal Sea, have released a video for “Plague Herald”, a track from their sophomore album, The Great Mortality, released earlier this year via relaunched extreme metal label Cacophonous Records.

 

The Great Mortality focuses on the dark and macabre history of the Black Death which swept across the UK and Europe from 1348. Each track focuses on the sadistic nature of mankind in times of fear and despair, with historical insight into the horrors and atrocities committed to their fellow man. Treading into dystopian territory, this is The Infernal Sea at their most brutal and cadaverous.

Check out the new video below, along with the previously released clip for “Entombed In Darkness”.

“Plague Herald” video:

“Entombed In Darkness” video:

BLACK VEIL BRIDES vocalist Andy Biersack and his wife, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Juliet Simms, who is best known as a contestant on the 2012 season of the NBC reality TV talent competition "The Voice", have commented on the incident over the weekend when they allegedly got into a physical fight on an American Airlines flight.

Simms and Biersack were flying from Charlotte to Los Angeles Sunday night when they started feuding in their first-class seats. Witnesses told TMZ that Juliet got louder and louder, after which she claimed that Andrew hit her in the face. Flight attendants warned them to calm down, but 20 minutes later, they were arguing again and had to be separated. Juliet remained "out of control," and an air marshal ended up handcuffing her.

Video footage of part of the exchange showed Juliet apparently accusing Andy multiple times of breaking her ribs.

Once the plane landed, police detained Simms and handed her off to the FBI, which had jurisdiction since the fight happened in the air. Law enforcement sources told the site she was questioned and released.

On Tuesday, November 1, Biersack posted the following message to his official Instagram: "You may have read online that my wife and I had a scary and traumatic experience on our return flight from [Tennessee] this weekend. We are currently home and safe and trying to emotionally recover from all of this. The unfortunate event itself compounded with online stories and videos show an isolated but difficult moment for my wife and I encourage you to read her statement on her Instagram regarding the situation as I feel it is best that any information comes from her directly.

"Many of you know that I recently decided to live entirely sober. In the past, I struggled with the concept of alcohol and my own personal demons and so a year ago I decided it was time to move on from it and start down the path to sobriety. I believe alcohol is one of the most poisonous and volatile substances we as a society have at our disposal and that it can truly hurt and affect people in the most negative way.

"My wife no longer drinks, but due in large part to a myriad of recent upsets, including some tragic family news, she became intoxicated during the flight and was left confused, blacked out and disoriented. She said things that are not true and are in no way her or a part of her character and, despite rumors or conjecture, I will definitively state that we have a happy and harmonious marriage.

"It is my duty as her husband to make sure everyone is aware of how much I love her, how kind and strong she is and her resolve to learn from this and for both of us to move forward as a healthy, loving family.

"Thank you to every one of you who have stood by our side in this time of pain and we vow to continue to be there for anyone who needs it. Remember that no one is perfect, we all fall down sometimes. What matters is that we get back up stronger.

"Lastly, we're sorry that this was brought to your attention and if it in any way pulled you from real issues in the world, your family etc. I think we can all agree our time is better spent trying to help one another rather than tear each other down for moments of weakness or mistakes. Please remember that the greatest way we can see one another for what we truly are is with kindness, empathy and compassion. Everything else will only block the light of humanity."

On her own Instagram account, Simms wrote: "Spending my teenage years on the road and recording away from home from age 17, I learned a LOT more about the world than a young girl should.Many of you do not know much about my career pre-'The Voice' or ever meeting my beloved husband, Andy. I mention this now as a caution to the young, talented people out there who think they are immune to the effects of drugs/alcohol.To some young people drinking is funny, no big deal or regarded as cool. But alcohol is potentially life-ruining, and can even be deadly if you drink too much, drink on an empty stomach or at high altitudes like I did. Girls, the smaller you are the faster the effect.That's why I rarely drink; I cannot handle it, and when I do, I turn into someone I am not. This may not be true for everyone, but it is for me and for many of my peers in the music industry who have bravely and completely quit after years of struggle.

"So, I apologize to my husband for what I did and said and for upsetting anyone who was caught up in this.

"Those of you very loving and caring fans, we thank you for all of your loyal support and kindness. We really love you and appreciate you sticking your necks out for us even on a bad day. There's so much to this story and so much history involved, it's not easily understood, nless you were us.

"I really did not intend for our misfortune on the baby-making subject to be aired in the way it was, but we are young and healthy, and are told this happens, so are happily looking forward to the future with children.

"I do ask for people not to fill in the holes when they hear partial stories, so want to own up to the fact that I've got demons I face time to time and it's something I'm quiet about, because I've always wanted to be strong for the people in my life and the people I set an example for.

"I truly regret my weakness and letting it get the best of me for the world to see. I am human, but this was a poor display of who I truly am, my heart and what I have to offer. Falling down does not define me; it's how I stand back up.

"I vow to move forward in a happy/healthy way and learn from this.

"From the very bottom of my heart, I am sorry. Spending Halloween with my loving husband and our animals. Love you all."

Akerfeldt talked to the Journal about his unlikely musical influences and how far Opeth has come, including milestones and rough patches along the way. Edited from an interview:

Even from the beginning, you’ve had traces of a more progressive, softer sound than one would be accustomed to from a metal band. Do you see “Sorceress” as the end stage, or do you see yourself working in other kinds of genres?

The beauty with this band, I think, is that we don’t really know where we’re going, but we’re going somewhere. In the beginning, when we did the first album, I was 19 years old and I had just gotten into the whole prog-rock movement with my record collecting. It was a glorious time to be a record collector then because I was still buying vinyl, and in those days, the early to mid-90s, everybody was selling off their vinyl because they were getting CDs. I picked up everything for next to nothing. I was experimenting with music styles, picking up stuff that I didn’t know what it was because I could afford it. Even if I was piss poor, I could pick up a record for a buck or two. So I stumbled upon King Crimson and stuff like that. Eventually [artists]like Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, songwriter music. I was buying blues. I was buying jazz. That interested me. In the end, even if our roots are in pretty extreme metal music, it soon changed into something else. And now I don’t really know what we are anymore.

You’ve mentioned blues, jazz, more specifically you’ve talked about Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck. What lured you to jazz?

Gradually, I gravitated toward [jazz] because I’m a guitar player. I picked up some records by Wes Montgomery, which is very soft and nice kind of dinner jazz, if you know what I mean. I loved it, and it opened up my eyes for the genre a little bit more. Soon enough, I picked up a couple Miles Davis records, which I absolutely love. “Porgy and Bess” is one of my all-time favorite records. From Miles Davis, of course, you find John Coltrane, you find Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea. You find Dave Holland, lots of other players that played with him but also did solo records. That was my foot through the door, pretty much. I just woke up one day and I was a massive fan.

How do you transmute what you pick up from jazz into what you do?

I don’t have any musical training of any kind. I put together chords myself, and I don’t know what they’re called if you know what I mean. But there’s a lot of guitar chords, for instance, and piano chords because I write for all the instruments that I think can be traced back to jazz. But the way we play, we’re not like a jazz band. It’s just the influence. In the same sense that I love Iron Maiden, for instance, but I don’t think we sound like them. It’s just like a melting pot of ideas, and I blend everything together, and the result is what we do.


What incentives have you had over the years to keep changing? Was it driven by creative impulse, or did you feel winds changing in the genre?

I act on impulse, musically. I never catered to a career, to a sound we had just because it was successful for us at the time. I think I have some diagnosis, like musical ADD or something like that. I get very restless and bored with myself. It’s something I feel inside. It’s almost like a physical symptom, when I feel that it’s time to do something else. I can almost hate myself when I write stuff when I can predict what’s coming out. I find it very unsexy, so to speak, and I really feel it inside, like now is the time to change. It was a bit scary in the beginning or in the early days, or midway. When we had a career, so to speak, living off of the music. And all of a sudden I write something that either I feel that it’s good or it’s nothing, or I feel that this is fantastic but it’s so different from what we did before so it might be considered a risk for us. I always went for those, the riskier the ideas, in the end.

What’s the energy feel like at your shows these days compared to earlier shows in your career?

We’re not the most animated band on stage. We focus on playing the songs as good as we can. And we’re also still one of the bands that play live. We don’t have machines playing anything for us. We don’t have a click track when we play live. Sometimes it feels like we’re a bit dangerous. Anything can go wrong. We kind of thrive on that a little bit.

Our crowd is very respectful most of the time. It’s only in the U.S., I think, that we even have a mosh pit these days. People listen. They go to the shows to listen to us, to the music, to enjoy themselves. Most people are standing with closed eyes. It’s different to watch than the generic metal show would look like.

In addition to the midpoint of your career, are there other milestones along the way you can point to that influenced a new direction?

With our third album, I got tired of what we were doing with the first two, which was very melodic, almost a Thin Lizzy vibe but heavier. It changed on the third record, it changed on the fourth record. We became more experimental and progressive, and then we had our so-called breakthrough with the fifth album. Then I got anxious and we decided to record two albums at the same time: a record called “Damnation,” which was all soft, like a ballad record you could say. The other one was called “Deliverance,” which was very heavy. That was a milestone for us. Recording was horrible. When I think back to those days, it’s just black, basically.

What happened?

We had internal strife in the band. There were lots of problems, without going into that, lots of problems that shouldn’t be there. I had distanced myself from the other guys in the band because of those problems. I took it upon myself to write music for two records in the studio, so we literally went down to the studio and I started writing and then we recorded whatever I came up with. It was very spontaneous in that sense, but after a while I was just exhausted because I was writing during the nights and recording during the days. In the end I didn’t know what we had. …

It was horrible recording, but the results were interesting and really did something for us, especially the “Damnation” record. The calmer one opened up new doors for us. All of a sudden we could experiment with more progressive sounds and softer sounds because I’ve always been a sucker for the ballad, so that really helped.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, JOURNEY keyboardist Jonathan Cain says that if the band ends up getting the final nod for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall OF Fame, former lead singer Steve Perry needs to come back and perform with the group. Perry left JOURNEY in 1998 rather than be forced into hip-surgery so that the band could tour behind their hit reunion album "Trial By Fire". He's currently prepping his first solo album in over 20 years.

The Pulse Of Radio asked Jonathan Cain if the band feels that being nominated this year is a long awaited validation. "Not as much to me," he said. "We've never been the critic's choice, y'know? C'mon, they bashed us in the '80s and every album we put out they just pretty much laughed at and it sold platinum… platinum… platinum. (So)… And y'know, so much of that Hall is writers and critics, y'know? But what we've done over the years is just quietly just continued to be relevant. And so maybe they weren't right about us. [Laughs]"

With the classic lineup of the group all currently in JOURNEY's road band — and former keyboardist Gregg Rolie having been brought back onto their radar with his work with Neal Schon in SANTANA — The Pulse Of Radio asked Jonathan Cain about the chances for Steve Perry to rejoin the band — if just for ceremony. "The door's always been open for him to join us any time he wanted," he said. "I mean, that has to happen. That band has to play. They have to play their music — two songs and I think we get to do two or three. That's how it works."

JOURNEY, YES, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, PEARL JAM and THE CARS lead the 2017 nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Among the others vying for induction are the J. GEILS BAND, the MC5, Chaka Khan, CHIC, Janet Jackson, JANE'S ADDICTION, STEPPENWOLF, THE ZOMBIES, Joan Baez, KRATFWERK, DEPECHE MODE, Joe Tex, BAD BRAINS and Tupac Shakur.

Inductees will be announced in December with the induction ceremony set for next April at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. An edited version of the event will later be broadcast on HBO.

SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor will release his next book called "America 51: A Probe Into The Realities That Are Hiding Inside The Greatest Country In The World", on July 11, 2017 via Da Capo Press. The book, whose title is a play on Area 51, the most famous military institution in the world that doesn't officially exist, will deal with "just how batshit crazy my country is right now, in good ways and in bad ways," says Taylor.

Corey recently told The Guardian that "America 51" is "going to deal with everything from politics to social commentary. It's going to piss off a lot of people in my country, but everyone else will love it."

Official "America 51: A Probe Into The Realities That Are Hiding Inside The Greatest Country In The World" book description: "The always-outspoken hard rock vocalist Corey Taylor begins 'America 51' with a reflection on what his itinerant youth and frequent worldwide travels with his multiplatinum bands SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR have taught him about what it means to be an American in an increasingly unstable world. He examines the way America sees itself, specifically with regard to the propaganda surrounding America's origins (like a heavy-metal Howard Zinn), while also celebrating the quirks and behavior that make a true-blue American.

"Balancing humor, outrage, and disbelief, Taylor examines the rotting core of America, evaluating everything from politics and race relations to family and 'man buns.' By continuing the wave of moral outrage begun in 'You're Making Me Hate You', Taylor skewers contemporary America in his own signature style."

Taylor published his third book, "You're Making Me Hate You: A Cantankerous Look At The Common Misconception That Humans Have Any Common Sense Left", in July 2015.

The book acted as a commentary on society and pop culture in the style of the late George Carlin.

Taylor said that he learned a lot while working on his first book, 2011's "Seven Deadly Sins: Settling The Argument Between Born Bad And Damaged Good", which landed at No. 26 on the New York Times "Hardcover Non-Fiction" best sellers list.

"The thing that I realized, honestly the hard way on the first book, is that you can write a sentence down and hope it's intelligent and concise, but then when I did the audio version, I realized my sentences suck," Taylor said. "They run on and I was trying to find the point inside paragraph-length sentences. As I've gone on, I've tried to make the books more conversational, like I'm talking to you. Doing the audio book for ['You're Making Me Hate You'] was a lot easier. I think I found my rhythm for it."

Taylor's second book, "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Heaven", was published in the summer of 2013 and landed at No. 23 on the New York Times "Hardcover Non-Fiction" best sellers list.

Frontiers Music Srl has announced the signing of STEELHEART for the release of a brand new album in the spring of 2017.

"We have been asked by so many of you, 'When will STEELHEART record a new album?' The time has now come," said STEELHEART singer Miljenko Matijevic. "This is going to be an amazing journey and a lot of fun! We are bringing all of you along with us as we embark on this journey with video updates from the studio."

There are plans to have a few surprise guest appearances on the recording, with the full lineup to be revealed shortly.

"We have been drinking wine and having fun sorting through songs," continues Miljenko. "We are bit overwhelmed, as we have 41 songs in the 'yes' pile already with more folders to go through. We are dedicated to choosing the perfect songs with the track flow invoking every emotion along the way."

The vision and direction of the new album is to capture the energy we all enjoyed from the band's first two albums and implement it with the energy and power of today's rock music. It will be very melodic, but still heavy and hard hitting as well as featuring life lived, tear jerking ballads with orchestral colors.

"Thank you all for the love, support and your appreciation for our music," concludes Miljenko. "We look forward to sharing this journey with you. Let's bring the magic back into the music and energy to the stage. We love you all! Remember to live and enjoy your life!!"

"Crooked Teeth", a brand new song from PAPA ROACH, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track is taken from the band's upcoming album, which is tentatively due in early 2017.

PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix recently told "The Scotty Mars Show" about the follow-up to 2015's "F.E.A.R.": "I definitely feel there's a change in the sound of the band on this record, more so than in the past. Our goal was to go in and kind of shake things up on this record. This is our ninth or tenth album — I don't even know now — and we just wanted to kind of go in there and freak it. So when we were picking producers, we wanted to go outside the box, so we picked these two young, up-and-coming producers from Los Angeles Nick [Nicholas 'Ras' Furlong] and Colin ['Doc' Brittain], and got in the studio with these guys. And, you know, they're young — they're, like, I guess in their late 20s, so they're kind of like the younger bucks in the scene. And they were, like, 'Yo, dude, we grew up on listening to P-ROACH, so we know what you guys are about. And let's shake it up.' And so we went in. We started cutting tracks and then I just started rapping on a bunch of the tracks again and kind of bringing some of that old-school sound back mixed with where we have evolved to as a band. And so it sounds like if our first album, [2000's] 'Infest', had a baby with our third album, [2004's] 'Getting Away With Murder', and had a baby in 2016."

Asked about PAPA ROACH's musical and visual evolution since the band's inception more than twenty years ago, Jacoby said: "I feel that's just kind of [happened] organically. It's, like, the image of the band and the style and the image that represents us is evolving, 'cause the style and the sound of our music has always been something that's evolved. And so it's just kind of a natural progression for the band. But this new record, in a way, just feels more 'street,' if that makes sense. It's just grimy and it's edgy and the story telling that I'm doing on this record is reflective of my youth, but then it's also from my perspective now as a man in this world. So it's a powerful record, man. And plus, there's some walls that we broke down that we just got weird. You know, we were, like, 'We wrote records back in the day when we just didn't give a shit, when we weren't thinking about just going, 'All right, let's write the next rock radio single.' 'Cause, you know, looking at music from that lens all the time, or, 'Let's write a hit,' it just kind of makes things a little more stock. And so we wanted to freak the funk, and so we did, with different arrangements and instrumentation and all kinds of different things. It was a fun process."

PAPA ROACH recorded the new album at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California, which gave the band a whole different feel. Jacoby told the "Whiplash" radio show: "L.A. brought a whole different kind of gnarly, rugged street vibe out of our band. I think that's kind of the thing that we lost over the course of our records...it's like, 'Go back and rediscover your struggle, homie. Rediscover what people are going through out on the street.'"

Shaddix added: "I do a lot of work out in the community back home, helping people in need and stuff like that, and I see that the struggle is real. We're in North Hollywood, so it's, like, gunshots are going off, and we're, like, hanging outside the studio. Helicopters are flying over. And I'm, like, 'This is where I need to be making a record.'"

Danny Worsnop, the newly returned frontman for U.K. metalcore pioneers ASKING ALEXANDRIA, has released the first single and video from his upcoming debut solo album, "The Long Road Home".

The official video for "Mexico" was filmed with director Blake Judd and sees the singer escaping from the toils of life with the help of sunshine, sexy cars, ice cold beer and some scantily clad companions.

Worsnop comments: "The new single, 'Mexico', came out of nowhere for me. I was on tour with my rock act WE ARE HARLOT, in a bar in Columbus, Ohio and that first verse just jumped right out of my eighteenth glass of Jameson and right into my mind. Knowing my brain, I immediately excused myself and waited for the lightning to strike. I then proceeded to pace outside the bar singing into my phone until the song was done, which was probably about 20 minutes later. I had the video in my head from that exact moment and was very excited to realize it. I had already written the treatment when I was introduced to Blake Judd, with whom I worked at getting what was in my mind onto film. He was very open to letting me take the reins which was very important to me, and we are already discussing what we're doing together next.

"The song was so much fun to write, record, and film, which is appropriate as however much it is in ways about being exhausted and done with one's reality, it is at its core a fun, upbeat song about letting loose. Something we all need to do every once in a while."

"The Lond Road Home" is due to be released worldwide on February 17 and is available to pre-order now on limited-edition signed CD and colored vinyl, along with a range of merch bundles. The album is also available to pre-order now on iTunes, including an instant download of "Mexico".

"The Long Road Home" sees a slight musical departure from Danny's previous work with ASKING ALEXANDRIA, now forging a deeper and often darker path through the British-born, Nashville-based musician's mind and displaying a truly stunning singing voice only hinted at in his previous work.

Longtime fans will see a much more personal and reflective side of Danny's, with brutally honest lyrical themes ranging from loss and heartache to Danny's past (and often public) struggles with drugs and alcohol. Backed by authentic, blues-soaked outlaw country, the album is also interspersed with a few more upbeat tracks, showing that Danny's ability to craft catchy melodies which will have listeners singing along in no time is still very much alive and well.

"The Long Road Home" track listing:

01. Prozac02. Mexico03. I Feel Like Shit04. Anyone But Me05. High06. I Got Bones07. Quite A While08. Don't Overdrink It09. I'll Hold On10. Midnight Woman11. Same Old Ending12. The Man

Florida-based death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE have recorded the theme song to the "Squidbillies", the bizarre animated series on Adult Swim.

The band stated about how the collaboration came about: "The producers of 'Squidbillies' hit us up a few weeks ago and asked us to record the theme song for their Halloween episode that aired last weekend."

You can now watch the "Squash B'Gosh" episode featuring CANNIBAL CORPSE's contribution at AdultSwim.com.

"Squidbillies" returned for its tenth season this past summer.

According to The New York Times, the show, which began in 2005, is about a family of anthropomorphic squid who live in the mountains of Georgia, interacting with the human and other populations there, and embodying every backwoods stereotype there is, including lack of education, fondness for motor sports and possible incest.

Metallica frontman James Hetfield says the band "haven't yet" made their best album.

The thrash giants issue 10th album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct on November 18. And while they are pleased with how it has turned out, Hetfield insists the band continue to get better with every record.

At a Q&A with fans in Mexico, Hetfield says: "The next album is always going to be the better one. We haven't made our best record yet.

"We're continuing to keep improving ourselves as people, as musicians, as just human beings."

Asked why they took so long to follow-up 2008’s Death Magnetic, Hetfield urges fans to keep up the pressure on the band to deliver an 11th album.

He says: "It took a long time. People got mad. And I realised when we were playing the album for some of the journalists that it's such a great feeling to give birth to new music and how it makes other people feel made me feel good.

"So I don't know why we waited so long. Make sure we don't wait so long again, okay?"

KORN's new album, "The Serenity Of Suffering", debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 album chart this week, selling 57,000 copies in its first week of release. 55,000 of those were traditional CD sales, with the rest made up of downloads and streaming. This marks the 13th time that a KORN release has debuted in the Top 10, tying the group with LED ZEPPELIN. Among rock acts, only THE ROLLING STONES with 36, THE BEATLES with 32, DAVE MATTHEWS BAND with 15, plus SANTANA and VAN HALEN with 14 each have more.

It's been just over 22 years since KORN released its self-titled debut album in 1994, with 11 more studio sets and 35 million copies sold worldwide since then. Guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer told The Pulse Of Radio that the band is still having a good time. "There's been some ups and downs along the way, but it's been fun, and we continue to have fun," he said. "Having Brian [Welch, guitar] back with us in the band has definitely brought a sense of gratitude and a lighter side to sort of a dark past, I guess."

"The Serenity Of Suffering" is the 12th studio album from the veteran California act and first since 2013's "The Paradigm Shift".

KORN has just one North American show on its schedule for the rest of 2016, in Phoenix on December 3.

Photo credit: Dean Karr

Grindcore merauders Phobia are set to begin tracking new material at Trench Studios this November, with engineer Jon Haddad.  Notably, this new album will feature the return of Danny Walker behind the drum kit, and Leon Del Muerte on guitar, who both have served time together in Exhumed, Intronaut, and Murder Construct. It will also feature the return of original guitar player Bruce Reeves.

“This new record will excel what we have done in a long time. Last time we recorded something with veteran members Danny Walker and Leon Del Muerte was on the 22 Random Acts Of Violence album, and working with those guys has never been anything short of brutal! We also have Bruce jumping back on board doing guitar work as well, so it’ll be like one big happy grindcore family,” comments vocalist and founding member Shane “The Pain” McLachlan.

Phobia’s as-of-yet-untitled sixth full length album is scheduled to surface mid 2017 via Willowtip / Deep Six Records. 

To celebrate the Halloween season, Wolfheart And The Ravens, the new Brazilian goth-metal sensations led by Dewindson Wolfheart together with Rafael Agostino, who previously worked with Ravenland, have just released a cover version of the King Diamond classic "The Eye Of The Witch", taken from the 1990 album The Eye.

Dewindson Wolfheart says: "Since the first time that I listened to Mercyful Fate’s Don’t Break The Oath album and King Diamond’s Fatal Portrait, around 1987, and since then I became a huge fan of his work. A couple of years ago I met another big fan of King Diamond, Rafael Agostino, he was one of my guitarrists in Ravenland, then we started to talk about to record a cover tribute to King Diamond, now, in my new project, Wolfheart And The Ravens, we had this opportunity and we did it!"

Visit Wolfheart And The Ravens on Facebook for further details.

 

Fan-filmed video footage of German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR performing on October 23 at Matrix in Bochum, Germany can be seen below.

As previously reported, PRIMAL FEAR will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year with a special concert in the band's home country. Vocalist Ralf Scheepers told Metal Master Kingdom before a recent gig in Toronto: "There are now negotiations for one big [anniversary] show. I don't wanna tell so much, because it's gotta be a surprise. There's still one year to plan and to schedule things."

Scheepers also said that PRIMAL FEAR has not yet begun work on material for the follow-up to this year's "Rulebreaker" album, "Not so far," he said. "It's a little bit too early. Maybe we'll find some time after the tour to collect ideas then and, basically, next year is gonna be a writing year, so we still have enough time for the next one. But be sure that it's gonna be an extremely heavy metal album."

PRIMAL FEAR is also planning to release new concert DVD and CD in 2017. The band's producer and bassist Mat Sinner told Roppongi Rocks: "We've recorded a concert for a DVD and live CD, and this will be the next project. When we stop touring, we will mix it and this will be released next year. Last time we recorded a live album in America, so this time we said we'll do it in Europe."

PRIMAL FEAR last year parted ways with Brazilian drummer Aquiles Priester (HANGAR, ANGRA) and replaced him with Francesco Jovino (U.D.O.). In addition, founding PRIMAL FEAR guitarist Tom Naumann — who had been touring with the group for a couple of years — had officially rejoined the band as a full member.

Freddy Lim, the CHTHONIC frontman, human rights activist and youth culture advocate who was elected to the Taiwanese Parliament earlier this year, has been refused a visa to Hong Kong.

Lim wrote on his Facebook page he wanted to go to Sam Hui Koon-kit a concert last Saturday, but received no reply after applying for a visa online or by letter.

"The last time I went to Hong Kong was when CHTHONIC held a gig there in 2014," he said, according to The Standard. "Over the past few years, Hongkongers and others around the world all knew that the promises of one country, two systems failed.

"Hong Kong's freedom is being eroded quickly," he added.

On January 16, 2016, Lim was elected as a member of the Taiwanese parliament, making him the first metal star to become a parliamentarian. The new political party that he co-founded, the New Power Party (NPP), won five seats and became the third largest party in Taiwan's national legislature. Now he is Vice President of the Taiwan-USA Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association and chairman of Taiwan Parliament for Tibet.

Long-standing British independent record label Earache Records has acquired the majority of back-catalogue titles from American psychedelic black metal band Nachtmystium.

Formed by notorious frontman Blake Judd in Illinois in 2000, Nachtmystium stormed onto the scene with their raw, true-to-the-roots black metal sound, releasing their debut full-length Reign Of The Malicious in 2002.  Following the band's second studio album, 2004's Demise, Nachtmystium expanded their style to incorporate more psychedelic elements, drawing influence from groups such as Black Sabbath and leading to comparisons as a darker, heavier Pink Floyd.

Earache's new deal with Nachtmystium includes the rights to five of the band's studio albums, four EPs, a demos collection, and a remixes and rarities album which was previously only released on YouTube.

Earache's Al Dawson comments: "We've been fans of Blake's music for a long time now and I am excited in the fact that we are now the official home of his extensive catalog of some of the finest American black metal ever."

Nachtmystium frontman and founding member Blake Judd comments: "I am proud to announce a new cooperation in the lengthy release history of Nachtmystium. I have teamed up with the folks at the legendary, UK-based metal label, Earache Records, to reissue the majority of Nachtmystium's back catalog recordings.  Earache will also be releasing a brand new compilation LP of unreleased studio tracks, covers and remixes, titled Retox.  Some of the back catalog titles will also feature brand new artwork, never-before-seen photographs, and all albums will feature extensive liner notes I have written specifically for each release.

These specific reissues will stand as the final versions of these recordings to be released, so I have worked closely with each artist featured on these releases and am currently working closely with Earache's production department to ensure that these reissues will honor each record appropriately and that we have created something special for the fans who choose to purchase these new (and final) versions of these albums and EPs."

Regarding the musician's previous and widely-publicised personal issues, Judd adds: "Many people on the internet, understandably due to some issues that occurred in the past that I am very ashamed of, will be quick to jump on me personally and most likely Earache as well for announcing new releases without having directly addressed and taken action regarding the past issues mentioned above. Of course, what is being referred to here, is the issue of unfulfilled orders. When these releases have been actually scheduled and given proper release dates, another press release will go out and within this will be an e-mail address created specifically for this project and detailed instructions on how to receive records/CDs from me directly if you, at any point in time, ordered a record, t-shirt, etc. and did not receive the item(s). More information concerning this will be in the press release announcing the official release dates for these recordings.

"Thank you all for your patience and I do hope to make things right with everyone I can who fell victim to my addiction issues by not receiving orders for music or merchandise. I intend on giving away every single record and CD I receive of these reissues if that's what it takes to make things right with the fans whom I wronged and did not fulfil orders for."

The full list of Nachtmystium titles acquired by Earache is as follows:

Reign Of The Malicious
Nachtmystium (EP)
The First Attacks - Demos 2000-2001
Demise
Eulogy IV (EP)
Instinct: Decay
Worldfall (EP)
Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. I
Doomsday Derelicts (EP)
Addicst: Black Meddle, Pt. II
Retox: Remixes and Rarities

Lookout for the Earache re-releases of these titles on digital platforms in the coming weeks.

Code Orange has announced details of their new LP, Forever, to be released via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up album to 2014’s breakthrough I Am King, Forever is heralded by the LP’s title track and accompanying music video which is streaming below.

Code Orange drummer / co-vocalist Jami Morgan detailed the band’s new LP in an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone stating, “Everywhere we've turned, we've met a lot of 'You're not this enough for this, or that enough for that, Forever opens it up by saying, 'F*ck you, we're here. We're gonna do whatever the f*ck we wanna do, and there are no rules’.”

Forever is available today for pre-order at all DSP’s (Flyt.it/forever) with exclusive pre-order bundles - consisting of limited edition red vinyl in special gatefold packaging and an exclusive long sleeve T-shirt design - available at CodeOrangeTOTH.com. All orders will receive an instant grat download of lead track “Forever”, which is also available to stream on Spotify.

Recorded with producers Will Yip at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, PA and Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studios in Salem, MA, Forever is a jarring and experimental body of work, pushing the envelope with songs like; “Bleeding In The Blur”, “Kill The Creator” and “Spy”.

Comprised of Jami Morgan (Drums / Vocals), Eric Balderose (Guitar / Vocals), Reba Meyers (Guitar / Vocals) and Joe Goldman (Bass), Code Orange has gripped listeners and press around the globe with their visionary compositions and aggressive power. In September of 2014 with Code Orange approaching their 20’s, the band officially dropped “Kids” from their name to release their landmark second LP, I Am King. Crashing through the confines of genre limitations, Code Orange proved that their power lies in their fearlessness and audacity which has placed them at the front of the pack.

Forever tracklisting:

“Forever”
“Kill The Creator”
“Real”
“Bleeding In The Blur”
“The Mud”
“The New Reality”
“Spy”
“Ugly”
“No One Is Untouchable”
“Hurt Goes On”
“dream2”

“Forever” video:

Kansas recently appeared on Nights With Alice Cooper in support of their new album, The Prelude Implicit. In the video below, Ronnie Platt, David Ragsdale, Rich Williams and Zak Rizvi perform the band’s classic hit, “Dust In The Wind”:

Check out this “Behind The Interview” footage:

Kansas released The Prelude Implicit on September 23rd via InsideOut Music. The album is the first new release in 16 years for the band that has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and is famous for classic hits such as “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust In The Wind”, to progressive epics like “Song For America” and “Miracles Out Of Nowhere”.

The Prelude Implicit features 10 all new tracks written by the band and co-produced by Zak Rizvi, Phil Ehart, and Richard Williams. Kansas's signature sound is evident throughout the album. It showcases Ronnie Platt's soaring lead vocals, David Ragsdale's blistering violin, Williams and Rizvi's rocking guitar riffs, the unmistakable sound of David Manion's B3 organ and keyboards, Ehart's thundering drums, and Billy Greer's driving bass and vocals.

The album is available on CD, Double 180 Gram Vinyl, and digitally on iTunes and Google Play.

The Prelude Implicit tracklisting:

“With This Heart”
“Visibility Zero”
“The Unsung Heroes”
“Rhythm In The Spirit”
“Refugee”
“The Voyage Of Eight Eighteen”
“Camouflage”
“Summer”
“Crowded Isolation”
“Section 60”

“Visibility Zero” lyric video:

“With This Heart”:

Kansas will be debuting songs off The Prelude Implicit this fall, live in concert, as part of their Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour. More information on the tour, including tour dates, can be found at Kansasband.com.

Swedish metal band, Mindghost, have released a new video/single for “My Last Breath, featuring former Iron Maiden singer, Blaze Bayley.

Mindghost’s second album, The Anti-Citizen, and the video for the new single, “My Last Breath” – a duet with Mindghost singer Jon Grötting and Wolfsbane and ex-Iron Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley, can be seen below:

Tracklisting:

“Free From The Demon”
“Life Or Death”
“My Last Breath” (feat. Blaze Bayley)
“Devil On A Masquerade”
“My Darkest Corner”
“132”
“When Tomorrow Fades Away”
“When The Universe Collide”
“Stand Your Ground”
“The Mother Of Dragons”

“Mindghost” video featuring Blaze Bayley:

Vader are streaming the new track “Send Me Back To Hell”, from their new studio album, The Empire, to be released on November 4th via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to their 2014 album, Tibi Et Igni, was recorded at Hertz Studios in Bialystok, Poland and produced by Wojtek and Slawek Wiesawski.

The album artwork was created by artist Joe Petagno (Led Zeppelin, Motörhead, Sodom).

Says Vader leader Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek: "Here is the cover art for The Empire, created by Joe Petagno himself! The whole design includes many details connected to the main theme influencing me before and during the process of recording: war and the "cold crisis" around us today. There are also links to couple of famous movie series, which influence the generations and erupt with violence, hate and "imperial tendencies". Is this just a fantasy or maybe a sign of the 21st century generation? You have to answer that on your own... and the future will show us, how real that feeling is? Enjoy The Empire and join us on tour soon.”

The Empire tracklisting:

“Angels Of Steel”
“Tempest”
“Prayer To The God Of War” (album version)
“Iron Reign”
“No Gravity”
“Genocidius”
“The Army-Geddon”
“Feel My Pain”
“Parabellum” (album version)
“Send Me Back To Hell”

“Send Me Back To Hell”:

“Angels Of Steel” lyric video:

“Parabellum”:

Track By Track #1:

“Prayer To The God Of War” lyric video:

This November, Vader will be touring Europe with Hate Eternal, Threat Signal, Apophys and Lord Of War.

Tour dates:

November
4 - Bad Oeynhausen, Germany - Druckerei
5 - Andernach, Germany - Juz
6 - Arlon, Belgium - L'Entrepot
7 - Jena, Germany - F-Haus
8 - Weinheim, Germany - Cafe Central
9 - Zurich, Switzerland - Dynamo
10 - Puget, France - Le Rat's
11 - Brescia, Italy - Circolo Colony
12 - Munchen, Germany - Backstage
13 - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Baroeg
14 - London, UK - The Dome
15 - Birmingham, UK - The Courtyard
16 - Bremen, Germany - Tivoli
17 - Haarlem, Netherlands - Patronaat
18 - Berlin, Germany - Nuke Club
19 - Essen, Germany - Turock
20 - Rostock, Germany - Alte Zuckerfabrik

“Glorious Triumphant”, a track from US blackened noise occultists T.O.M.B.’s new album, Fury Nocturnus, is streaming below. Peaceville Records released Fury Nocturnus on October 21st.

Through 18 years of existence, T.O.M.B. (Total Occultic Mechanical Blasphemy) has created a multitude of horrific, spell-binding sound structures across thirteen different releases including compilations, splits, EPs and LPs. During that time, the project has devoted itself to developing material with an essence directly derived from areas and elements associated with death, paranormal activity and occult practices.

Formed in 1998, and inspired by projects such as Abruptum, Havohej, Samael, Sunno))) and Wardruna, T.O.M.B. members No-One, B. Zimimay and Samantha Viola – the trio also notable as King Dude-signed act Dreadlords - orchestrated their latest recordings into thirteen hypnotic and malicious tracks, resulting in a ritualistic album outside of the boundaries of contemporary ambient, doom, industrial, noise or traditional black metal music. When creating these field recording soundscapes, certain necromantic instrumentation was used: human and animal bone, cemetery crypt doors, tombstones and coffins, and audio EVP equipment.

Key musicians contributing their craft throughout Fury Nocturnus are legendary drummer Hellhammer of Mayhem, shaman doom guitarist John Litchko of Goreaphobia/Necrotion and the mighty death industrial noise artist Grant Richardson from the project Gnawed, along with famous sound engineer Alan Douches of West Westside studios in New York. Artwork for Fury Nocturnus appears courtesy of Watain’s Erik Danielsson.

Tracklisting:

“Into Wotan Flames”
“Awake...”
“Darkness”
“Death Tunnel Scars”
“Glorious Triumphant”
“Belial”
“Ignite The Torch Again”
“Portal 502”
“Hoards Rise Now”
“Oblivion Dawn”
“Mystic Blood Scrying”
“Fury Nocturnus”
“Battle Winds Of Desecration”

Bonus Track:
“Abysmal Channeling”

“Glorious Triumphant”:

“Abysmal Channeling” video:

T.O.M.B. - “With the release of Fury Nocturnus under the banner of Peaceville Records, T.O.M.B. will now enter a new era in composing nefarious noise frequencies; giving new life to the sonic musical sorcery we choose to conduct. It is a true honor to have T.O.M.B. recognized by a label that for decades has been historical in providing a solid foundation and support-mechanism for their individual artists to flourish, within the realms of extreme music. Peaceville's acknowledgment of T.O.M.B.'s authentic approach and past accomplishments is extremely exciting, and we are completely grateful to be granted the opportunity to be a part of such a professional and prestigious label.”

Scranton, Pennsylvania's MOTIONLESS IN WHITE will release its fourth studio album and full-length Roadrunner debut, "Graveyard Shift", in early 2017.

Regarding the album title, singer Chris Motionless said in a video message (see below): "As you know from all three of our records, we always choose a title that's incredibly personal to the band, and this one is absolutely no exception.

"We really were trying to come up with a title that we felt represented something about the band that we are most proud of, and to us, that has always been our unwavering dedication, passion and work ethic towards all of what we do.

"We treat this very seriously. We, as time has gone on, seem to become more and more passionate about what it is to be in a band and create music and really just put forth our form of art. However, since the inception of the album title, it's sort of diffused in my thought process to be… that I feel like it's more than just about our own personal accomplishments and more coming from a place of respect, admiration and a mutual understanding to people all over the world who share that dedication and share that drive, and people who are out there every day just busting their ass and shoveling shit to basically either survive or, like us, chase their dream.

"We wanted to really have a title that we felt not just represented us but was less of an acknowledgment of our own accomplishments and more just a dedication to people who we feel are similar to us in that we work hard and that we give everything that we have to survive or chase our dreams." In addition, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE has announced a contest to fan-source the cover art for "Graveyard Shift". The competition is open to fans and artists worldwide. They want fans to capture the spirit of the title by creating their interpretation in their own original artwork. There will be a prize of $2,000 for the winning overall entry. Entries will be submitted to a private site and reviewed personally by the band. The winning design will be featured as the official album artwork on the upcoming album. The chosen winner will receive their cash prize and one round-trip ticket to attend a private listening of the album with the band. MOTIONLESS IN WHITE will also be showcasing 24-plus designs to promote their upcoming album throughout the duration of the contest. Featured designs for promotional use will be awarded $150 per design. All entries receive full credit for their work.

Additional competition and entry submission details can be found here.

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE earlier in the year released a music video for the song "570", directed by Jeremy Danger and Travis Shinn. The track marked the band's first new release since 2014's "Reincarnate", which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart as well as at No. 9 on The Billboard 200. Founded in 2005, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE has won over audiences worldwide with its aggressive music and arresting imagery. The band — which consists of lead singer Chris Motionless, guitarists Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky Horror, keyboardist Josh Balz, bassist Devin "Ghost" Sola, and drummer Vinny Mauro — has proven a ferocious and inventive live act, earning an increasingly fervent fan following via countless headline shows, festival sets, and tours alongside such iconic acts as SLIPKNOT, LAMB OF GOD and A DAY TO REMEMBER, among others.

SOEN, the progressive group featuring drummer Martin Lopez (formerly of AMON AMARTH and OPETH) and the dynamic voice of Joel Ekelöf (WILLOWTREE), has taken another trip into uncharted waters. For those who have followed SOEN's career thus far, the concepts of journey and exploration are not new. 2012's "Cognitive" beat a firmly heavy, progressive metal path. 2014's "Tellurian" — with its PINK FLOYD explorative spirit and OPETH-like forceful power — saw SOEN start to stride freely into their own power and unique visions. Their upcoming third offering, "Lykaia" — out February 3, 2017 via their new home, UDR Music — is a journey into earthier places — their most cohesive, powerful and congruent creative quest yet. "Lykaia" will be available in three formats — digitally, via audio CD in digisleeve, and on gatefold vinyl. Pre-orders will be available soon. "Lykaia" sees SOEN remain fascinated with the shadows and the darker edges of our world, with a particular focus on the various thoughts and concepts behind religion and ritualistic, belief-based behaviour in society. Recorded at Ghost Ward, StudioGröndal and Deep Well in Stockholm, Sweden, with production duties handled by guitarist Marcus Jidell and the mix made by Stefan Boman, SOEN kept things as far away from the digital age as possible, embracing warmth and organic recordings as the drive behind the technical working process. Vocalist Joel Ekelöf states: "Wherever we could the music was analog, all the sounds you hear were pure and not samples or keyboard generated. When we needed a Mellotron, we got a real one. With my vocals as well, we intentionally left out the endless possibilities of post editing and instead focused on pure vocal work." If the first two albums were harder, more technical, angular and perhaps cerebral pieces which demanded sharp focus, "Lykaia" presents a warmer, rounder, flesh and blood on the bones approach that allows listeners a dual entry to the eight tracks presented. The journey is no less dynamic, continuing the underscore of complex melodies with crushing power and no fear of walking proudly into more ambient spaces to explore the temperature. With "Lykaia", however, it is clear that SOEN have never felt more congruent or sure of themselves. "This has never been about genres, it's always been about the journey we need to take both musically and personally," adds Lopez. "What we're working on right now is another adventure, another journey which in some ways is quite different again but also builds upon the experiences we've had over the last few years." "Lykaia" track listing:

01. Sectarian 02. Orison 03. Lucidity 04. Opal 05. Jinn 06. Sister 07. Stray 08. Paragon SOEN is:

Joel Ekelöf - VocalsMartin Lopez - Drums, PercussionStefan Stenberg - BassLars Åhlund - Organ, RhodesMarcus Jidell - Guitar

"Falling While Rising", the new video from New Orleans sludge masters CROWBAR, can be seen below. The clip was directed by Justin Reich, who has previously worked with Ace Frehley and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, among others.

"Falling While Rising" is taken from CROWBAR's eleventh album, "The Serpent Only Lies", which was released on October 28. The cover artwork was created by renowned artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with bands like HATEBREED, SOULFLY and KATAKLYSM.

"The Serpent Only Lies" track listing:

01. Falling While Rising02. Plasmic And Pure03. I Am The Storm04. Surviving The Abyss05. The Serpent Only Lies06. The Enemy Beside You07. Embrace The Light08. On Holy Ground09. Song Of The Dunes10. As I Heal

CROWBAR frontman Kirk Windstein said about the CD: "I intentionally went back and listened to a lot of old CROWBAR stuff, like the self-titled and 'Broken Glass' albums, to get a feel for what my mindset was 20-plus years ago. I also went back and listened to the bands that influenced CROWBAR in the beginning, like TROUBLE, SAINT VITUS, MELVINS, and the first TYPE O NEGATIVE record. So it was kinda me doing my homework."

The result is an album that stands toe-to-toe with those early CROWBAR classics while maintaining the lumbering hooks of mid-period standouts like 1998's "Odd Fellows Rest" and 2000's "Equilibrium". "Even lyrically, the approach was a little more old-school," Windstein offered. "Some of the songs have less lyrics to let the riffs breathe a little more, which I had kind of gotten away from over the years. It was a conscious thing to go back to that.”"

The tour cycle for "The Serpent Only Lies" marks the return of original CROWBAR bassist Todd "Sexy T" Strange, who left the band back in 1999 but now joins Windstein, drummer Tommy Buckley and guitarist Matt Brunson in forging CROWBAR's future.

"Todd helped start the band, so having him back is important to me and, I think, the fans," Windstein said. "It's a great feeling to be standing onstage next to him. It's a breath of fresh air for the band and makes us stronger.

"Having this be our eleventh record, we're very fortunate because so many bands don't last this long," Windstein added. "My whole outlook on music as a career is the MOTÖRHEAD outlook, which is that slow and steady wins the race. If you continue to put out killer records, continue to kick ass onstage every night and continue to treat your fans with respect, that's the stuff people will remember."

A new Queen collection, On Air: The Complete BBC Sessions, will be released on November 4th by Virgin EMI. The set will be available in North America through Hollywood Records. Available as a 2-CD set and a 3-LP vinyl edition, plus a Deluxe 6-disc edition featuring a CD of live broadcasts and 3 CDs of radio interviews, Queen On Air is an essential addition for connoisseurs of the band. Check out an unboxing video for the deluxe boxset edition:

Queen’s meteoric ascendancy during the 1970s has been well documented. From their gloriously ambitious self-titled debut album of 1973 through to the album that put them in the superstar bracket, 1975’s A Night At The Opera, and beyond, this unique group carved out a singular path as the most visionary, inventive and charismatic band of that epic decade.

But there is another side to Queen’s rise that has been largely overlooked. Between February 1973 and October 1977, the band recorded six radio sessions exclusively for the BBC. The twenty four recordings these landmark sessions produced include alternate versions of the debut single, unique takes of classic album tracks and even a radically reworked reimagining of one of their best known anthems that has never previously appeared on any Queen studio release.

Now, for the very first time, all six Queen BBC sessions - meticulously restored by Queen engineer Kris Fredriksson and mastered by Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan - have been brought together on Queen On Air.

Queen On Air is more than just a collection of rare recordings - it is a glorious snapshot of the growth of a legend.

Queen’s very first session for the BBC, which opens Queen On Air, dates from February 1973, five months before the release of the band’s debut album and single. Imagine that you are listening to the radio in early 1973; no-one in the world has heard any Queen recordings EVER! John Peel plays “My Fairy King”, the very first Queen song to be broadcast on radio anywhere, and the story begins. He follows with “Keep Yourself Alive” (the song which later became their first single), the laidback “Doing All Right” and the epic rock operetta “Liar” - all of which serve notice of the arrival of a major new musical force.

The band returned to the BBC for their second session in July 1973, the same month their debut album was released. Revisiting “Keep Yourself Alive” and “Liar”, this time they also covered the heavy-as-lead “Son And Daughter” and the bluesy “See What A Fool I’ve Been”. The latter, which has never appeared on any Queen studio album, would later be re-recorded and become the B-side of their breakthrough hit single “Seven Seas Of Rhye” in 1974.

By the time Queen recorded their third BBC session in December 1973, they had already begun work on their second album, Queen II (eventually released in March 1974). The band premiered a new song which would feature on that album, “Ogre Battle”, alongside three classics from its predecessor, the galloping “Great King Rat”, the Roger Taylor-sung “Modern Times Rock’n’Roll” and a new version of “Son And Daughter”. Two more Queen II songs were recorded during a subsequent session in April 1974 - the epic “White Queen (As It Began)” and the delicate ballad “Nevermore”, alongside a re-recorded “Modern Times Rock’n’Roll”.

Queen’s penultimate session for the BBC took place in October 1974, a month before the release of their classic third album, Sheer Heart Attack. The session saw the debut of four songs from that record: the dazzling “Now I’m Here”, the proto-heavy metal attack of “Stone Cold Crazy”, the caustic “Flick Of The Wrist” and “Tenement Funster”, their celebration of the rock’n’roll lifestyle.

It would be another three years before Queen returned to the BBC for their sixth and final session, by which time the success of “Bohemian Rhapsody” had turned them into a global phenomenon.

On October 28th 1977, they recorded some radically different versions of four songs from the brand new News Of The World album, on the same day as it was given its UK release: the epic power ballad “Spread Your Wings”, the steel-plated rocker “It’s Late”, the dusky jazz number “My Melancholy Blues” and two significantly contrasting renditions of the global hit “We Will Rock You” - the ‘regular’ version and the ‘fast’ version, a full-tilt guitar-heavy take on the song. The accelerated version on Queen On Air is the only known studio recording of this live favourite.  “’We Will Rock You’ - profundity or just another teenage anthem!?”, remarks John Peel on playing the track. Peel is the person who famously once said (on air) of the band, “I’ve never seen them live. I must admit I’d like to - a band that sounds like nutters, actually, and I like that because I like rock music to sound a little out of control.”

To complete the full picture, the 6-CD Deluxe Edition includes Queen Live On Air - a single disc featuring highlights of three live concert broadcasts: Queen live at the Golders Green Hippodrome, from September 1973, their first concert to be transmitted on radio anywhere in the world. Also, Queen performing in Brazil at Sao Paulo’s gigantic Morumbi stadium to a record-setting audience of 131,000 originally relayed live on radio and TV in March 1981 on the Badeirantes network during the band’s infamous South America Bites The Dust tour. Finally, Queen’s penultimate live concert radio broadcast. Aired less than four weeks before their last show with Freddie, this was a live emission from the show in Mannheim Germany, in June 1986 during the mighty Magic Tour.

The set further offers a captivating selection of radio interviews with both the whole band and the individual members at various points between 1976 and 1992. Queen On Air: The Interviews (3 CDs) delivers a compelling three and a half hour distillation of revealing encounters recorded for the BBC and Capital Radio in London between 1976-1992.

Spanning 220 minutes, the seventeen interviews represent significant landmarks in the Queen story. Talking with some of Britain’s best known broadcasters and presenters, the band reflect on various moments in their musical history, influences and aspirations, and provide some memorable quotes, such as Roger Taylor’s now famous description of Queen’s 1984 Works tour as having “more lights and spectacle than the Vatican”.

On a more serious note, from June 1982, Brian discusses the Hot Space album and explains why the non-compromising anti-gun song “Put Out The Fire” is immediately followed on the album by “Life Is Real” (Freddie’s song for John Lennon).

Elsewhere, in a 1981 interview recorded during the band’s South American adventure, John Deacon provides some rare insight into some of the more unusual demands of the tour, including why it was necessary to fly in 75 tons of stage equipment and an entire football pitch-worth of Astro turf.

Roger is interviewed by Richard Skinner and Tommy Vance in 1979 and 1980 to promote the new Queen albums of the time, Live Killers and Flash Gordon respectively, and in a BBC Radio 1 interview with Simon Bates in 1985, Freddie (drinking vodka while the host sips tea!) talks candidly about the public perception of him, about playing ‘rock and roll dodgems’, his image, private life, and working with Michael Jackson and David Bowie.

Freddie, as he was generally accustomed to doing, steals the show again during a 1976 encounter with his friend Kenny Everett, on his Capital Radio programme. The host attempts to throw his guest off balance by handing him a weather report to read out on air, without warning, while Freddie does his utmost to maintain his composure.  

Queen On Air also provides us with the very last interview Brian, John, Freddie and Roger would give together. Being interviewed for a ‘Queen For An Hour' special with BBC Radio 1’s Mike Read to promote the new album The Miracle and broadcast during the May Bank Holiday weekend of 1989, Read makes the most of his one hour with Queen by cajoling all kinds of details from his guests and covering significant and often enthralling ground. Rare candor emerges, particularly from Freddie, as well as poignant and amusing moments. Aside from discussing the recently recorded new tracks, there is mention of Aretha Franklin, George Michael, Montserrat Caballé, Smokey Robinson, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, before moving on to what could be expected next from Queen.

In an emotional August 1992 BBC Radio 2 interview with Simon Bates three years after that final band interview, Brian recalls the shattering loss of Freddie Mercury nine months earlier and coming to terms with his death.

The Deluxe Edition of Queen On Air also comes with a meticulously assembled booklet containing rare photographs and sleeve notes lovingly compiled by band archivist Greg Brooks, featuring memories from the band and BBC producers Jeff Griffin and Bernie Andrews, plus comments from legendary Radio 1 DJs John Peel and Bob Harris from the time of the original broadcasts. Amongst them, Bernie Andrews, BBC Radio 1 producer of Queen’s first and third sessions recalls his first introduction to Queen:

“I first heard of Queen through a very well respected young promotion guy. He said ‘I want to play you a tape’. We went into a room and he got this reel-to-reel out. ‘Well what do you think,’ he asked. ‘They’re bloody great, I love it,’ I replied. Then he told me, ‘They’re called Queen’, and I just fell about the place laughing. I said: ‘They’re great, but you can’t put a band called Queen in the Radio Times!’ I booked them anyway and they went in the Radio Times as Queen.”

Thanks to their studio albums and their monumental live shows, Queen’s status as bona fide rock legends has long been assured. With Queen On Air, the world finally gets to hear and discover this fascinating side of their legacy.

Queen On Air tracklisting:

2-CD Edition: The Complete BBC Radio Sessions Available formats: Physical + digital & streaming

CD1

Session 1:
“My Fairy King”
“Keep Yourself Alive”
“Doing All Right”
“Liar”

Session 2:
“See What A Fool I’ve Been”
“Keep Yourself Alive”
“Liar”
“Son And Daughter”

Session 3:
“Ogre Battle”
“Modern Times Rock’n’Roll”
“Great King Rat”
“Son And Daughter”

CD2

Session 4:
“Modern Times Rock’n’Roll”  
“Nevermore”
“White Queen (As It Began)”

Session 5:
“Now I’m Here”  
“Stone Cold Crazy”  
“Flick Of The Wrist”  
“Tenement Funster”

Session 6:
“We Will Rock You”  
“We Will Rock You” (Fast)  
“Spread Your Wings”  
“It’s Late”  
“My Melancholy Blues”

3-LP Vinyl Edition: The Complete BBC Radio Sessions

Side 1 - Session 1:
“My Fairy King”  
“Keep Yourself Alive”  
“Doing All Right”  
“Liar”

Side 2 -Session 2:
“See What A Fool I’ve Been”  
“Keep Yourself Alive”  
“Liar”  
“Son And Daughter”

Side 3 - Session 3:
“Ogre Battle”  
“Modern Times Rock’n’Roll”
“Great King Rat”  
“Son And Daughter”

Side 4 - Session 4:
“Modern Times Rock’n’Roll”  
“Nevermore”  
“White Queen (As It Began)”

Side 5 - Session 5:
“Now I’m Here”  
“Stone Cold Crazy”  
“Flick Of The Wrist”  
“Tenement Funster”

Side 6 - Session 6:
“We Will Rock You”  
“We Will Rock You” (Fast)  
“Spread Your Wings”  
“It’s Late”  
“My Melancholy Blues”

Deluxe 6-CD Edition

CD1

Session 1:
“My Fairy King”
“Keep Yourself Alive”
“Doing All Right”
“Liar”

Session 2:
“See What A Fool I’ve Been”
“Keep Yourself Alive”
“Liar”
“Son And Daughter”

Session 3:
“Ogre Battle”
“Modern Times Rock’n’Roll”
“Great King Rat”
“Son And Daughter”

CD2

Session 4:
“Modern Times Rock’n’Roll”  
“Nevermore”
“White Queen (As It Began)”

Session 5:
“Now I’m Here”  
“Stone Cold Crazy”  
“Flick Of The Wrist”  
“Tenement Funster”

Session 6:
“We Will Rock You”  
“We Will Rock You” (Fast)  
“Spread Your Wings”  
“It’s Late”  
“My Melancholy Blues”

CD3: Queen Live On Air

Golders Green Hippodrome, London, 13th September 1973
“Procession” (Intro Tape)  
“Father To Son”  
“Son And Daughter”  
Guitar Solo  
“Son And Daughter” (Reprise)  
“Ogre Battle”
“Liar”  
“Jailhouse Rock”

Estádio Do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil, 20th March 1981
Intro  
“We Will Rock You” (Fast)  
“Let Me Entertain You”
“I’m In Love With My Car”  
“Alright Alright”  
“Dragon Attack”  
“Now I’m Here”
“Love Of My Life”

Maimmarktgelände, Mannheim, Germany, 21st June 1986
“A Kind Of Magic”  
“Vocal Improvisation”  
“Under Pressure”
“Is This The World We Created”  
“(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care”  
“Hello Mary Lou  (Goodbye Heart)”
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love”  
“God Save The Queen”

CD4: Queen On Air: The Interviews (1976-1980)

Freddie Mercury With Kenny Everett (November 1976)
Queen with Tom Browne (Christmas 1977)
Roger Taylor with Richard Skinner (June 1979)
Roger Taylor with Tommy Vance (December 1980)
Roy Thomas Baker ‘The Record Producers’

CD5: Queen On Air: The Interviews: (1981-1986)

John Deacon, South American tour (March 1981)
Brian May ‘Rock On’ with John Tobler (June 1982)
Brian May ‘Saturday Live’ with Richard Skinner and Andy Foster (March 1984)
Freddie Mercury ‘Newsbeat’ (August 1984)
Brian May ‘Newsbeat’ (September 1984)
Freddie Mercury ‘Saturday Live’ (September 1984)
Freddie Mercury with Simon Bates (April 1985)
Brian May ‘The Way It Is’ with David ‘Kid’ Jensen (July 1986)

CD 6: Queen On Air: The Interviews (1986-1992)

Roger Taylor ‘My Top Ten’ with Andy Peebles (May 1986)
‘Queen For An Hour’ with Mike Read (May 1989)
Brian May ‘Freddie And Too Much Love Will Kill You’ with Simon Bates (August 1982)
Brian May ‘Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert’ with Johnnie Walker (October 1992)

“We Will Rock You” (Fast) lyric video:

Pre-orders at this location.

Sweden-bassed power/heavy metallers Manimal released their second album, Trapped In The Shadows, back in November 2015 via AFM Records. A new video for the album track “Trapped In The Shadows”can be seen below.

The cover art was created by Mattias Norén, who has previously worked with Kamelot, Sabaton, and Evergrey.

Tracklisting:

“Irresistible”
“March Of Madness”
“The Dark”
“Trapped In The Shadows”
“Invincible”
“Man-Made Devil”
“Silent Messiah”
“The Journey”
“Screaming Out”
“Psychopomp”

“Trapped In The Shadows” video:

“The Dark” video:

“Screaming Out” lyric video:

“March Of Madness”:

Classic Rock Magazine has checked in with the following update:

"It wouldn’t be Halloween without a nod to Alice Cooper. Accordingly, we’re delighted to present Tempt and their excellent cover of Coop’s brooding singalong, 'The Ballad Of Dwight Fry'. Pleasingly, it’s not a total copycat rendition. Yes, the young New Yorkers still sound fabulously retro, but they’ve made the song their own with a heartfelt, acoustically rooted interpretation."

Check out the 360° video below. Click and move your mouse to explore. Watch on Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera. For information on Tempt go to this location.

Currently working on new music for 2017, Season Of Ghosts took time out to work on something special for Halloween inspired by the Tim Burton movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Vocalist Sophia checked in with the following update:

"You asked, we delivered! Season of Ghosts' version of 'Sally's Song'! Orchestrated and arranged by Zombie Sam. I'm under the impression that we made the song a liiiittle spookier..."

Season Of Ghosts is a groundbreaking music project, dedicated to the love for the unseen and film soundtracks, combining extreme rock and metal sounds, harsh electronics and powerful, compelling vocals, through the eerie spectrum of a Sci-Fi and horror movie.

Tracklisting:

"Nothing Disappears Without A Trace"
"Genesis - The Phoenix Syndrome"
"Time Travellers"
"Dream; Paralysis"
"The Human Paradox"
"[NE]: MESIS - The Kiss Of Justice"
"Beautiful Eternal Things"
"Dreaming In The Gray Lands"
"The Road To Acheron"
"Quantum - Through The Looking Glass"
"Reincarnation"
"There And Back Again"

Currently working on new music for 2017, Zombie Sam took time out to work on something special for Halloween inspired by the Tim Burton movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. His cover of "This Is Halloween" featuring Ryan Howell (ex-Farewell, My Love) on vocals is available for streaming below. 

Zombie Sam recently issued the following update on his new album:

"I'm here in the IM studio and I'm listening to my new album with few vocal lines. I can tell you it's like falling into a Tim Burton's movie.. very moving album. You won't be disappointed. I wrote the new story for the new official video and it's crazy!

Before getting into the new world let's remember about my 1st album and the video 'A Hallow Tale'. Do you remember? Many things changed since then, in a better way of course. The new album is a huge level up! Curious?"

Zombie Sam released his previous album Self Conscious Insanity on June 4th, 2013 via Coroner Records.