It is one of the latest signings by AFM Records which calls for attention: The new ASENBLUT record “Berserker” will be out on August 19th, 2016.
The five-piece from Göttingen/Germany took their time to prepare for the release of their greatest album yet. “Berserker” includes 12 highly energetic songs (+ an English bonus track!) which leave no questions what these melodic death vikings are about.
With influences ranging from early Iron Maiden to modern Black / Death Metal heroes like Behemoth or Amon Amarth, the CD is packed with the best colors of the dark spectrum.
The record was mixed and recorded at the famous Greenman Studio by Seeb Levermann of ORDEN OGAN.

Cover artwork by Peter Sallai (Sabaton, WASP, Kreator, Satyricon, Kataklysm, Annihilator, Mayhem, Powerwolf).

ASENBLUT are poised to start their victorious march on August 19th, when "Berserker" will be out world wide as CD Digipak and limited Boxset.

Tracklist "Berserker"

01. Berserkerzorn
02. Titanenerbe
03. Offenbarung 23
04. Helden Des Ewigen Sturms
05. Auf den Feldern Von Flandern
06. Drachenborn
07. Des Alchemisten Elixier
08. Bittere Wacht
09. Berserkers Ruhmeserinnerungen
10. Schatten Über Arkham
11. Horizonte
12. Auf Grauen Schwingen
13. BONUS TRACK: Berserker Rage (english version)

On June 2, Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine at the Gods Of Metal festival in Monza, Italy. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how his writing and playing has changed the most over the years:

Mustaine: "I think probably I've become more open-minded to other people contributing to my songwriting, which is probably the biggest thing. Because, you know, thinking about your songs and thinking from beginning to end, 'This is a piece,' versus, 'I wonder what that person's contribution will be to this song.' All of a sudden, it changes, because you're doing a collaboration, and a lot of times… It's like with a car: do you have the engine in the front, or do you have the engine in the back? Me personally, I like the engine in the front, because if I'm going really fast and I hit something, the engine in the back will crush me. So if I think about my musical approach and other people's musical approaches, I don't wanna tell 'em they're wrong."

On his favorite memory of late MEGADETH drummer Nick Menza and what he thinks Menza's best performance was on a MEGADETH song:

Mustaine: "That's a hard question to answer. What my favorite memory of Nick was… There's a lot of 'em. We had a lot of good times in the past. I was really happy for him when he became a dad. And best performance he's done? Hmm… I don't know… I think it would probably have to be something off the 'Rust In Peace' record, because after that record, he kind of went slower and slower, so… I think that that probably was his best record."

On whether there was ever a real possibility of the classic MEGADETH "Rust In Peace" lineup reuniting:

Mustaine: "See, the confusion is… We tried that several times. Most people think that there was a failed attempt this last time. There was four times I tried to get him back in the band, and there was a lot of problems that were going on. And out of respect to the dead, I'm not gonna talk bad about him. I just wanna say he was a great addition to MEGADETH, and I've always loved him for his contribution."

MEGADETH played its first show with drummer Dirk Verbeuren (SOILWORK) on May 20 at the Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio.

He was recruited to play drums for the band while Chris Adler is busy touring with LAMB OF GOD.

Nita Strauss, the Los Angeles-based guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, was interviewed for a recent episode of the "Music Mania" podcast. You can now listen to the chat below.

Speaking about the negative comments that are posted about her on various social media sites and sites like BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Nita said: "People are crazy. People say some very crazy stuff. I'm really grateful to have a support team on my side to help me deal with the craziness of everything."

She continued: "It's interesting the access that people have to musicians now. When I was a guitar player growing up, and I had the chance to say something to Steve Vai, let's say, if I had a chance to say something to a guitar player I liked, it would never occur to me to say, 'You suck. How did you get this gig?' or something so rude or different sexual stuff or whatever. It would never occur to me to say something like that to a guitar player that I looked up to. So the way that people talk to other people… It just blows my mind how people to other people on the Internet."

Strauss added: "I'm on a strict no-comment diet, which means I can't look at any comments on YouTube or Blabbermouth. I'm banned from looking at comments on anything. The only thing I look at comments on is my own posts. So that saves my sanity a lot. Because it's hard… I don't pull the 'girl card' out a lot, but as a female in heavy metal, it's hard to be incessantly picked on. So staying away from it has been really healthy for me. I know that there's a lot of articles about me on web sites like Blabbermouth and Lambgoat, and Classic Rock will post stuff, and I know that there's always gonna be [negative] comments, and the same thing on YouTube videos. And I just think it's counterproductive [for me to read the negative comments]. Me knowing that some guy from Nebraska thinks I suck is not gonna help my day. And it's certainly gonna me any better of a guitar player."

Strauss is a longtime Ibanez signature series endorsee who made her name with THE IRON MAIDENS, FEMME FATALE and LA Kiss.

Nita joined Cooper's band in 2014 as the replacement for Orianthi.

HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale was interviewed by Terrie Carr for the latest edition of "Box Of Rock" on WDHA-FM 105.5 FM, the rock music station licensed to Dover and Morristown, New Jersey. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked about how HALESTORM's success might have contributed to the recent surge in the number of females fronting their own groups, Lzzy said: "Just to be a part of it is so cool. It's really neat to see that kind of flood happening right now. And it's really starting to… I mean, I wanna say it evened out, but I think it's tipping the scales, 'cause we've been doing a lot of festivals lately, and it's just so many girls.

"We used to go — especially back in 2005, and even 2009 — when we would go out on tour, usually it was just me [as the only girl] on the bill. It was, like, 'Hey, guys… Hey everybody!' [Laughs]"

She continued: "It's something that [recent tourmate] Lita [Ford] and I have been talking a lot about, because she kind of kicked the door open for both myself and [fellow tourmate] Dorothy, all of us, to kind of waltz right in. And it's a huge testament to just the strength… And you have to kind of have blinders on to everything. Don't worry about what people think. Don't quit. Don't worry about opinions, especially [on the] Internet; don't worry about that.

"I wonder what would have happened if [Lita] was, like, after all the stuff that she went through [in the early years], if she just said, 'You know what? I'm done.' What would have happened? There might have not been [a HALESTORM]."

HALESTORM's first two albums, 2009's "Halestorm" and 2012's "The Strange Case Of…" were both officially certified gold in March by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales of more than 500,000 copies. The certifications came after RIAA started including on-demand audio and video streams and a track sale equivalent in gold and platinum album award.

The band's third album, "Into The Wild Life", debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling 56,000 copies in its first week of release — more than double the first-week haul of their second CD — but has not reached gold yet.

Mark Ashby of Uber Rock recently conducted an interview with vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL in Belfast. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about OVERKILL's work ethic, Blitz said: "We're blue collar; there's no two ways about it. But you've gotta work to earn it. We're Jersey boys; we understand business. [Laughs] But it's a hundred percent true. This was never about rock and roll and lifestyle; this was about doing what we wanted to do. To do what we wanna do, we have to keep visible, we have to keep a good cashflow coming in."

He continued: "Usually, you don't hear this kind of shit in interviews, but that's just the bottom line. I don't finish these things [tours] and go vacation on desert islands with supermodels. I go home, I cut my grass and I figure out what I'm gonna do next for OVERKILL. And that's really the way it should be, in my opinion. Because this is what life is. That is not necessarily life. It's about playing, it's about producing records, writing records, touring, making merchandise, getting out there, reinventing yourself and having the opportunity to travel the world."

Blitz added: "I'm not sitting here complaining. I don't want anyone to misinterpret this as a complaint. Really, what I'm talking about is just maybe a little of the ins and outs [which] are necessary to understand to be able to continue to do it. And in our case, we were lucky that when it was the darker days of metal, when metal was not really… it was more of a dirty word than it was a catchphrase as it is today, we continued on, but we also managed ourselves. So we got to understand the ins and outs of it. So we still manage ourselves to this day, so it's kind of cool to know that my pride lies in the fact that I'm fifty percent of the approval of everything you see from OVERKILL — not Nuclear Blast, not anyone alse. It's me and D.D. Verni [OVERKILL bassist] who approve those OVERKILL products that you see. So there's a great amount of pride that comes with that too."

OVERKILL will embark on a European headlining tour in November. Support on the trek will come from U.S. sludge metal kings CROWBAR, Israel-based metallers SHREDHEAD and Aussie thrashers DESECRATOR.

OVERKILL entered the studio in May to begin recording the drums for the follow-up to 2014's "White Devil Armory", tentatively due in October via Nuclear Blast.

The band played a special anniversary show on April 16 at Turbinenhalle 2 in Oberhausen, Germany. The evening saw the group perform their classic records "Horrorscope" (which is celebrating its 25th anniversary) and "Feel The Fire" (30th anniversary) in their entirety. And if that wasn't enough, the show was professionally filmed and recorded for an upcoming DVD and CD.

OVERKILL utilized a stand-in drummer — their soundman Eddy Garcia, who is also a member of the El Paso, Texas band PISSING RAZORS — for their recent European tour because the band's regular drummer, Ron Lipnicki, was forced to stay home due to undisclosed family issues.

KISS’ Gene Simmons made an appearance at the press preview for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood’s new display, DC Universe: The Exhibit and Comic Book Resources caught up with The Demon to talk about his lifelong love of comic books.

“Clearly everybody wants to be a superhero, but people don't really understand the Greek mythological nature, the depth that superheroes conceptually are. Even though they're fictional and sci-fi and all that stuff, there's a great humanism that runs rampant throughout it.

“So even though they're superheroes, if you look at the competition with Marvel and all of that, everybody's got their Achilles heel. In a lot of ways, that really connects with all of us because we all dress nice, we've got a nice haircut and all that kind of stuff, but inside of us, there's that secret, your Achilles heel that we all have to carry on our backs. I used to teach sixth grade, could you tell? It's Shakespearean in a lot of ways,” says Simmons.

The new KISS by Monster Mini Golf, located inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada officially opened on May 27th.

The 13,000 square-foot “KISS themed” attraction showcases an indoor glow-in-the-dark custom-designed, rockin’ 18-hole miniature golf course filled with state-of-the-art video and animatronics, as well as never-seen-before KISS props.

“Being in a hip indoor casino environment is going to provide KISS by Monster Mini Golf an expanded space to not only provide the coolest indoor KISS-themed mini golf experience, but it will allow us the space and security to showcase an amazing collection of KISS Museum memorabilia,” said Christina Vitagliano, CEO/Founder of Monster Mini Golf. “We are excited to join the Rio with an affordable attraction that rocks.”

Monster Mini Golf is located in the Masquerade Village with convenient self-parking in the Masquerade Parking Garage.

The environment will be filled with arcade games, a special event room, a colossal sized KISS and rock ‘n roll gift shop, and a rock ‘n roll wedding chapel with themed wedding packages. In addition, a live DJ will rock the house, throughout the days and many Crazy, Crazy Nights with continuous KISS music, trivia, contests and prizes creating a place embraced by locals, tourists, and rockers of all ages.

A highlight of this KISS themed attraction will be the museum-quality memorabilia located throughout the attraction. Hundreds of pieces will be on display including: Drummer, Eric Carr's Porsche that was gifted to him by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons upon signing on with KISS; original KISS drummer Peter Criss’ Spirit of '76 Tour stage used drum stool; every KISS album since inception signed by all band members; original '70s KISS Pinball Machine, new Stern KISS pinball machine, actual band member instruments and personal belongings and much more.

For more information visit kissminigolf.com/.

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson met last month with Stephen Ambrose, an expert in the field of audio technology who offered publicly to help Johnson return to the stage despite his hearing loss. Ambrose, who invented the in-ear monitors that are widely used on stage nowadays by musicians around the world, expressed hope that Johnson would consider using his newest in-ear creation, the breakthrough ADEL hearing technology, which he says safely delivers louder and better sound while minimizing the risk of hearing damage.

After meeting with Ambrose, Johnson released the following statement regarding his experience: "It WORKS. It just totally works and you can't argue with that. I was really moved and amazed to be able to hear music again like I haven't heard for several years now. I can't wait for it to be miniaturized so I can use it in every situation from normal communication, going out to noisy restaurants, to performing live music on stage."

AC/DC postponed the last ten dates of its North American tour after doctors told Johnson he faced a total loss of hearing if he did not stop touring immediately. AC/DC has since resumed its tour with GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose as a "guest vocalist," with Johnson apparently not returning to the group.

Johnson said in an open letter to fans that he intends to solve his hearing problem and continue recording and touring, although he pointedly did not say whether he would be rejoining AC/DC.

The vocalist wrote, "My entire focus is to continue medical treatment to improve my hearing. I am hoping that in time my hearing will improve and allow me to return to live concert performances. While the outcome is uncertain, my attitude is optimistic."

Johnson had been AC/DC's frontman for 36 years, ever since replacing the late Bon Scott in 1980 and making his debut on the classic "Back In Black" album.

AC/DC is currently in the midst of a European run with Axl Rose on the mic. Rose will also join them for the ten North American shows that need to be made up starting in late August.

Faith No More’s landmark debut, We Care A Lot, which was initially released in 1985 and has been out of print for 20 years, sees an August 19th reissue via Bill Gould’s Koolarrow Records.

“This was an album that started as a demo, before any label had any interest in us,” explained Faith No More bass player Bill Gould. “There were a couple of reasons we decided to release this now: first of all, it’s been 20 years since it has been commercially available. Secondly, when cleaning out my basement, I discovered the original master reels, and we all thought that resurrecting this from the original tapes would be a great way to reintroduce We Care A Lot into the world. Lastly, this has been a band effort; we are releasing this in the same way as we recorded it, deciding everything amongst ourselves and getting our hands deep into the nuts and bolts… just like we used to.”

The original 10-song album, remastered by Maor Appelbaum via the original reels Gould eluded to, is enhanced with nine bonus tracks including demo versions (taken from the original 8-track tapes) of “Greed”, “Mark Bowen”, “Arabian Disco” and “Intro” live versions of “The Jungle” and “New Beginnings” and new mixes, via Matt Wallace, of “We Care A Lot”, “Pills For Breakfast” and “As The Worm Turns”. Liner notes from keyboard player Roddy Bottum and behind-the-scenes photos will be included with the physical release.

We Care A Lot arrived in November 1985 via Maximum RocknRoll editor Ruth Schwartz’s Mordam Records. The seminal album, boasting the timeless title track, which can still be heard daily on radio stations worldwide, confounded music fans and critics alike.

“When strangers ask what Faith No More is I’ve always said, ‘well, it’s kind of an art band…’ I say that mostly to distance us from the hard rock world that we’re often times lumped into. I mean, hard rock, sure, that was part of it, but our roots most definitely and pointedly stem from a specific freakout art time and place in San Francisco, a time that no longer exists. In 1982, the hippies mingled with the punks, the artists hung out with the musicians, the dance people and the punks were one and the Satanists and the sexual pioneers… all part of the same scene,” Bottum explains, colorfully setting the scene for the original inspiration for the band and We Care A Lot. “That weird SF window provided a platform from which we were free to express and cultivate a really uniquely odd sound experience. In Los Angeles, no one really cared much, but SF was always super supportive, encouraging us, directly and not, to get our collective freak on.”

“We felt like it was time to take the next step,” adds drummer Mike Bordin. “We raised as much money as we were able and booked time at Prairie Sun Studios just north of San Francisco. I can’t remember how long it took us to record the album, but not a lot, maybe a few days. The songs were sharp from having played most of them at various shows.  Very stripped down, basic as could be.  The place was on a farm in chicken country (Petaluma). Hard work, but a ton of fun too.”

"We Care A Lot (Deluxe Band Edition)" track listing:

01. We Care A Lot
02. The Jungle
03. Mark Bowen
04. Jim
05. Why Do You Bother
06. Greed
07. Pills for Breakfast
08. As The Worm Turns
09. Arabian Disco
10. New Beginnings
11. We Care A Lot – 2016 Mix
12. Pills for Breakfast – 2016 Mix
13. As The Worm Turns – 2016 Mix
14. Greed – Original Demo
15. Mark Bowen – Original Demo
16. Arabian Disco – Original Demo
17. Intro – Original Demo
18. The Jungle – I-Beam, SF, 1986
19. New Beginnings – I-Beam, SF, 1986

“With We Care A Lot, I always felt like I was part of something new and different than anything else out there at the time. It made me feel privileged to be a part of it. The other guys were so cool, and there was so much camaraderie. And that came across in the music; Bordin’s drums battling it out with Billy’s bass in antagonistic harmony, Roddy’s melodic atmosphere, swallowed up by Jim’s crunchy metal riffs. I found my place somewhere between them all, and when the album was finished, it didn’t sound like anything else.” - Chuck Mosley

We Care A Lot (Deluxe Band Edition) is available now for pre-order on CD, Digital, and Vinyl.

Melodic metallers Temperance have signed a new deal with Scarlet Records for the release of their much anticipated third album, which will be available starting from September. The band recently completed a European tour with Rhapsody and opened for Within Temptation, Slipknot and Nightwish among others.

Drummer Giulio Capone comments: "We are really happy to have renewed our deal with Scarlet, the same label that released our debut album back in 2014 and supported us step by step through our second album Limitless and beyond. With our new release we pushed our boundaries more than ever, experimenting in total freedom with the desire to completely step out of our comfort zone. And I can say we reached our goal!"

Guitarist Marco Pastorino adds: "We are very proud of this new album, our sound is more complex and mature than ever, songs are longer in duration and stylistically challenging, with a wide range of influences that have never found space in our previous albums and that now fit perfectly into our scheme also thanks to the amazing production of the one and only Simone Mularoni. We can't wait to share our new music with everybody out there!"

More album details, including the release date, full cover artwork and tracklist will be revealed soon.

For information on Temperance go to this location.

Photo by Nat Enemede Photography

More than forty people were injured when after lightning struck the Rock Am Ring festival in western Germany for the second straight year.

The incident happened sometime after 8:00 p.m. Friday (June 3) on the festival grounds in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz.

"A severe thunderstorm with lightning strikes has caused multiple injuries at the festival grounds in Mending," organizers said in a statement on early Saturday morning. "Police, firefighters and the Red Cross responded and were able to reach those affected quickly."

The organizers confirmed that at least 42 festivalgoers were injured by the lightning and were transported to area hospitals, including eight people who sustained serious injuries. One person was successfully resuscitated at the scene, according to the German Red Cross.

After the weather calmed down, performances resumed at about 9:45 p.m.

A spokeswoman for the organizers dismissed speculation that the three-day festival could be completely canceled due to possible further thunderstorms. The organizers had previously said lives were more important than rock 'n' roll.

Around 45,000 fans were in attendance for this year's event, where some eighty bands were expected to participate.

Headlining this year's Rock Am Ring and its sister event, Rock Im Park, in Nuremberg are BLACK SABBATH, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and VOLBEAT.

Last year, at least 33 people were injured when lightning struck the Rock Am Ring festival twice.

Unwetter: Verletzte nach Blitzeinschlag bei Rock am Ring: Mehrere Menschen sind bei einem starken Gewitter a... https://t.co/cJh8bpd6TD

— NBN (@NeuesteBerliner) June 3, 2016

Rock am Ring läuft ��� pic.twitter.com/V3xuYkqwmU

— Kim (@sexylegoman) June 3, 2016

Die mit den Gummistiefeln tanzen #rockamring (haa) pic.twitter.com/zxT4TpdbbC

— dpa (@dpa) June 3, 2016

According to The Sun Chronicle, officials have turned down GUNS N' ROSES' request to perform after the curfew in Foxboro, Massachusetts next month.

Selectmen approved an application for the July 19 and July 20 concerts by the Axl Rose-fronted band at Gillette Stadium, but refused to allow the group to play after the 11:15 p.m. town curfew.

The band had asked for an 11:40 p.m. end time for the concerts, a full 25 minutes past the curfew, but Selectwoman Ginny Coppola objected, saying: "This is on a Tuesday and a Wednesday. If this was a weekend, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But it's a work night."

"This isn't going to be an acoustic evening. It's going to be loud."

Taylor Swift was granted an 11:40 p.m. end time for her concerts at Gillette Stadium last year, but those shows were held on weekend nights.

Asked how the members of GUNS N' ROSES dealt with Axl's stage tardiness while he was in the band, former GN'R guitarist Gilby Clarke said: "Well, you know, back then [in the early 1990s], we drank a lot, and we got drunk a lot. I mean, that's the thing — we didn't know whether it was gonna be five minutes late or three hours late. It's just one of those things that… it came with the territory. We've all got our pluses and minuses with our jobs. The waiting was a minus."

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine recently brought up Rose's well-established reputation for being late to gigs, saying in an interview: "I love GUNS N' ROSES. I think Axl's a great frontman. I just hope that this thing that happened on 'Jimmy Kimmel' [in January when Axl canceled his appearance on the show] isn't an indication of anything that is going to happen with the [upcoming GN'R] tour. I don't know that there's people nowadays that are gonna be hanging out for three, four hours waiting for somebody to show up."

He added: "If I'm having a good time, I wouldn't mind hanging out for an extra amount of time, if there was something going on. Or, like, say, homie's plane is stuck in traffic and it's hard for them to land the plane right now, so he's gonna be a couple of hours late to the concert versus the guy just doesn't wanna come out right now."

GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus last year defended Axl's tardiness, stating that the singer "goes through a lot to walk out onstage." Richard said: "The last few years, it's been very… It's not like a lot of bands, where it's like clockwork. It's different, and it's never gonna be that, because that's not who [Axl] is. But, man, you know, he's the real deal. He is the real deal. And he lives it, and all he cares about is the music."

He continued: "For the longest time, when I first started with the band even, I thought it was by design. I thought, 'He has this worked out.' 'Cause, you know, it's two hours after we're supposed to start, three hours… and people are… stadiums full of people just booing. And the second he'd walk out on stage, all that energy, all that… on the verge of chaos, of just imploding and everyone just rioting, right at that moment he walks out on stage, and all of that negative energy just goes totally up right into the palm of his hand. I mean, it's phenomenal to watch. And I thought it was by design; I thought that he had figured out some type of way to judge the moment, but it's not. [Laughs] It's not. It's just… That's just what he is. He's not gonna walk out on stage until he is… It's not like he's sitting back watching TV and eating potato chips. Man, he goes through a lot to walk out on stage. Just everything… with being himself… to get into the right place within himself."

Legendary drummer Vinny Appice (DIO, BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, LAST IN LINE) was interviewed on a recent installment of the "Music Mania" podcast. You can now listen the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Asked if he was ever contacted about getting involved in playing drums for BLACK SABBATH on the band's "The End" tour, Vinny said: "I didn't get asked to do anything. You know, it was, like, 'Okay…'

"After [SABBATH offshoot band] HEAVEN & HELL [ended following singer Ronnie James Dio's death], [BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler] got back together with [singer] Ozzy [Osbourne], and they got a different producer, Rick Rubin. And, you know, there's different people around them. So it wasn't, like, 'Well, we wanna get Vinny.' I don't know who recommended whoever played drums on the album [RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's Brad Wilk]; I think that might have came from Rick Rubin. So that's the way things happen in this business. Different people around a band influence what decisions are made."

He added: "They never asked me. I don't know why. And I don't ask, because all the times I've been in the band, they've always called. They know my number; they know how to get hold of me. And that's fine. I'm still friends with Tony. I still keep in touch with Tony and Geezer, and I love them, and they're still family. But they didn't call me for the tour. That's cool with me. But I'm just glad they're still out there playing."

Vinny also talked about the fact that original SABBATH drummer Bill Ward was involved with the band's reunion when it was first announced in late 2011, only to drop out a couple of months later over what Bill called contractual issues.

"It's a shame Bill's not there, but it didn't work out," Vinny said. "I don't know what went down between Bill and the management, but it never got ironed out, or sorted out, and therefore Bill's not involved. Being that this is their last tour, probably a lot of people would like to see the original band with Bill, even if it was for a couple of songs. And they're all still alive. A lot of bands are not… complete anymore. People are getting older or dying. They're one of the bands that are still all breathing. And it would have cool to see them together. But, you know, those decisions are made between the management and the band, and that's the way it works."

Appice joined BLACK SABBATH in 1980 during the "Heaven And Hell" tour and appeared on the albums "Live Evil" (1982) and "Mob Rules" (1981) . In late 1982 he left BLACK SABBATH with vocalist Ronnie James Dio and formed the band DIO. They recorded "Holy Diver" (1983), "The Last in Line" (1984), "Sacred Heart" (1985), "Intermission" (1986), and "Dream Evil" (1987). In December 1989, Appice left DIO. In 1992, he returned to BLACK SABBATH for the "Dehumanizer" album and tour. He then rejoined DIO and they recorded "Strange Highways" (1994) and "Angry Machines" (1996).

Appice rejoined his BLACK SABBATH bandmates Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi in 2006 as HEAVEN & HELL, touring and releasing one studio album, "The Devil You Know", before Dio's death in 2010.

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx says that he will probably never see his bandmates again now that they are no longer a touring entity.

In the group's farewell concert film, "The End", which hits U.S. cinemas later this month, Sixx states: "We don't hang out now… We go on stage… like motherfuckers. But we don't hang out. We don't go to dinner, we don't go to each other's houses for Christmas. We're not enemies, but we're not friends… I'll probably never see them, except in passing."

MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil says: "The hardest part about being in MÖTLEY CRÜE is being in MÖTLEY CRÜE. I don't know if other bands of our stature go through some of the crap that we go through. That's just the tough part. Being onstage and doing that stuff, that's just the easy part."

MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee recently told Rolling Stone that after the band's final show in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve, "we had a big party backstage that night, and I never saw the other guys. We never even said 'goodbye.' Strange as hell, dude. I mean, what the hell?"

And he hasn't heard from them since. "I haven't spoken to Vince Neil or Nikki Sixx," he said. "I speak to [guitarist] Mick Mars a lot. He's actually working on some new stuff, and I'm really happy for him. I think Nikki unfollowed me on Twitter, like, the next day. I was like, 'Wow. Okay dude.'"

"The End" will be screened in selected theaters on June 14, with a DVD release expected later. The 140-minute film includes footage from the CRÜE's farewell show on December 31, 2015 at the Staples Center along with "exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of the last week of the tour."

Evan K. has released a lyric video for "Edge Of The Sky”, featuring vocalist Fabio Lione (Rhapsody Of Fire, Angra, Vision Divine), and keyboards by Bob Katsionis (Firewind, Serious Black, Outloud). The video can be viewed below. The track is taken from Evan K.'s debut album, Blue Lightning, to be released on July 15th via FC Metal Recordings.

Evan is a 21-year old Greek/German guitarist and composer whose very melodic and memorable playing is fully displayed on Blue Lightning's nine tracks, including "Skies Of Shred," "Into The Light," "Orchestra Of Withered Clouds," and a cover of the classic Black song, "Everything Is Coming Up Roses."

Evan is influenced by Gus G, Jeff Loomis, Andy James, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Romeo, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, and Ritchie Blackmore.  

All music and lyrics on Blue Lightning were written by Evan. The album was produced and recorded by Evan at Epsilon Studio in Mannheim, Germany, and mixed and mastered by R.D. Liapakis (Mystic Prophecy, Devil’s Train) and Christian Schmid at The Prophecy and Music Factory Studios (Mystic Prophecy, Suicidal Angels, Devil’s Train, Steel Prophet, Eldritch, etc.) in Kempten, Germany.

In addition, Evan plays guitar for the German melodic death metal band Cypecore. He is currently working on Cypecore’s upcoming album, and is hitting the stage with them at various festivals and headliner shows in Germany. Evan is endorsed by ESP Guitars, ENGL Amplification and HESU Cables.

Blue Lightning tracklisting:

“Rising”
“Into The Light”
“Skies Of Shred”
“Picking The Stars”
“Orchestra Of Withered Clouds”
“Blue Lightning”
“Edge Of The Sky”
“One Last Time”
“Everything Is Coming Up Roses” (Black Cover)

“Edge Of The Sky” lyric video:

(Photo - SH Livepics)

Swedish melodic metal band Narnia is finally back for the metal attack. Celebrating 20 years as a band, they are back with a brand new studio album, scheduled for worldwide release on September 16th.

Today, the first single “Reaching For The Top”, taken from the upcoming seventh studio album. entitled Narnia, hits the market, together with a promo video produced by Mats Vassfjord (Grand Design & 220 Volt). Watch below:

On the new self-titled album, Narnia revisits their melodic roots but with an updated sound, creating a perfect blend; a powerful production by CJ Grimmark, mixed and mastered by Thomas “Plec” Johansson.

During the years Narnia has been established as one of the leading forces in melodic, neoclassical metal, with a strong reputation of being a great live act that always delivers. And so it continues.. The fans are asking for more and the band is hungrier than ever.

Narnia tour dates:

August
19 - Hope Night Festival - Sävsjö, Sweden

September
23 - Scenen Sofiehof Underjord - Jönköping, Sweden
24 - Nalen Klubb (Alcazar) - Stockholm, Sweden
25 - iNTiMAN - Västerås, Sweden

November
5 - Blast Of Eternity - Neckarsulm, Germany
11 - Brainstorm Festival - Apeldoorn, Netherlands

Narnia lineup:

Christian Liljegren – Vocals
CJ Grimmark – Guitars, keyboards & backing vocals
Andreas “Habo” Johansson – Drums
Martin Härenstam – Keyboards
Andreas Passmark – Bass

The official Moonsorrow documentary, Home Of The Wind, is nearing completion on its Crowdfunding Campaign (available until June 11th). Offering a unique chance to be a part of metal history, and a chance to personally enter the chronicles of the pagan metal giants, you can visit the campaign here.

View the first teaser for the documentary below:

Home Of The Wind is an entirely independent project (produced by Jörmungandr Media, including writer Grilo do Demo, author of the Unofficial Moonsorrow Biography). Supported by the band and record label, the documentary will centre on the unique life and history of the band, and will consist entirely of interviews with the band members and their environments.

As founding member Henri Sorvali says: "We guarantee it will be worth the wait. We’re fully supporting it and are thankful of all the support you can give.” Guitarist Mitja Harvilahti adds: “There’s a lot of music you haven’t heard, there’s a lot of places we can show you.”

"It's been more than a year working day by day and I can't believe how close we are to make this real," says director Leo Aragón. The documentary won’t be commercialized after the Crowdfunding Campaign, this being the only chance to obtain a physical copy, as well as the remaining (and previously unseen) Moonsorrow memorabilia.

Massachusetts metallers ALL THAT REMAINS have entered a California studio to begin recording the follow-up to their 2015 album, "The Order Of Things".

A video clip of ALL THAT REMAINS vocalist Phil Labonte making his way to the studio earlier today can be seen below.

Labonte told the Q103 radio station that ALL THAT REMAINS's next record will arrive in February 2017.

ALL THAT REMAINS last year parted ways with bassist Jeanne Sagan and replaced her with Aaron Patrick (BURY YOUR DEAD, DEVILDRIVER).

"The Order Of Things" marked the first time that Labonte collaborated on his lyrics, in this case with producer Josh Wilbur. Labonte told The Pulse Of Radio how that worked out. "He's the first guy that I collaborated lyrically with," he said. "It's always been a situation where we'll come up with vocal ideas, maybe cadences, and I'll come up with the ideas and words that go into it. So this record has really been vocally the most collaboration I've ever had from a producer/writer, working with, you know, the songs we came up with."

A clip from "Officer Downe", the new film directed by SLIPKNOT's M. Shawn Crahan, can be seen below. The movie will receive its world premiere as part of the Nightfall competition at the 22nd Los Angeles Film Festival, which began this week in Culver City.

This year's edition of the fest runs from June 1 until June 9 at the newly opened ArcLight Culver City. Regal L.A. LIVE in downtown hosted LAFF for the last several years.

"Officer Downe" Los Angeles Film Festival screenings:

* Friday, June 3 at 11:15 p.m. at Arclight Cinemas Culver City (world premiere)* Tuesday, June 7 at 9:10 p.m. at Arclight Cinemas Culver City

Passes for the festival are on sale to Film Independent members and the general public.

For more information visit link text.

"Officer Downe" stars Canadian actor Kim Coates — who is best known for playing Tig Trager on the FX series "Sons Of Anarchy" — as an L.A. supercop who is killed in the line of duty but who is repeatedly resurrected and sent back onto the streets. "Officer Downe" is based on the "Man Of Action" imprint/Image Comics graphic novel written by Joe Casey — who also penned the film's screenplay — and illustrated by Chris Burnham.

The film, which also features Tyler Ross, Lauren Velez, Reno Wilson and Bruno Gunn in the cast, is produced by Man Of Action Entertainment, Skip Williamson, Cole Payne, "Crank" co-director Mark Neveldine and SLIPKNOT manager Cory Brennan.

Coates told Entertainment Weekly about working with Crahan: "He's crazy. We hit it off from the get-go. We had dinner, and he truly believes that we've worked together before in some other universe. Sure, alright, sure. He was ready to learn and share, and he had an incredible kinetic energy. He's ferociously talented."

Regarding his vision for the film, Crahan told the 103.9 The Bear radio station in South Bend, Indiana: "I follow the story. That was my biggest thing. Everybody needs to know… I wanted to represent the story. That was my first prize — to make sure that it has justice. That people that are in love with the comic book and in love with the writer watch the movie and go, 'Yup. That was the story. And Clown brought the visual and brought these crazy outfits and this crazy way of acting and these techniques.' So I think the world's gonna like it."

Back in February, Neveldine declared on "The Movie Crypt" podcast that "Officer Downe" is "better than any Marvel movie or DC movie ever made." And Casey recently told Entertainment Weekly that the film "makes 'Crank' look like 'The English Patient'."

Crahan told The Pulse of Radio a while back that he's been working his way toward directing a feature for a long time. "I've been preparing myself with art my whole life, and preparing myself for directing and scriptwriting, and this is what I've been doing for 10 years, is learning and studying and taking it in," he said. "You know, I honestly believe that, you know, we are gonna create the next 'Clockwork Orange' and I'm gonna die trying because that's my life."

Crahan has directed a number of music videos, concert DVDs and behind-the-scenes featurettes for SLIPKNOT.

He and SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor founded a film production company called Living Breathing Films in 2012, although it has yet to release anything.

Taylor made his acting debut in the horror movie "Fear Clinic", which was released on home video in February 2015.

PlayThisRiff.com, which is owned and operated by Bob Balch from Fu Manchu, sat down with Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain from Voivod to pick his brain about riffs for around 60 minutes.

Says Bob Balch: “Level: Beginner 7… This is probably the only "Beginner" Voivod lesson you'll see on the site! In this lesson, Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain will show us the intro riff in the Voivod song "Killing Technology”. Daniel will also go into detail about how Voivod riffs differ from other metal bands and how he grew up listening to founding Voivod member Piggy’s guitar playing.”

Check out the lesson at this location.

Voivod are currently on their North American Post Society tour in continued support of their latest release, the Mini-CD entitled Post Society - EP, out now via Century Media Records.

Joined by King Parrot and Child Bite; the Post Society tour will be followed by European Summer festival dates beginning in August. All upcoming shows below:

North America:

June
3 - Santa Ana, CA - The Underground
4 - Fresno, CA - Strummers
7 - San Jose, CA - The Ritz
8 - San Francisco, CA - Slims
9 - Eugene, OR - WoW Hall
10 - Portland, OR - Dante's
11 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
12 - Victoria, BC - Distrikt
13 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre
15 - Calgary, AB - Dickens
16 - Edmonton, AB - Starlight Room
17 - Regina, SK - The Exchange
18 - Winnipeg, MB - Good Will Social Club
19 - Thunder Bay, ON - Crocks
21 - London, ON - Call The Office

Festivals:

June
25 - Montebello, QC - Amnesia Rockfest

July
23 - Mexico City (Mexico) - Hell & Heaven Fest

Europe:

August
9 - Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival After Party
10 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Beta
11 - Berlin, Germany - Hellfire Fest 3 @ Bi Nuu + Unearth
12 - Jaromer, Czech Republic - Brutal Assault
13 - Leeuwarden, The Netherlands - Into The Grave Festival
15 - Warsaw, Poland - Hydrozagadka
17 - Osnabrück, Germany - Bastard Club
19 - Cagliari, Italy - Cueva Rock
20 - Pianella Di Cervia, Italy - Rock Planet
21 - La Spezia, Italy - Spazio Boss
23 - Zürich, Switzerland - Werk 21
24 - Essen, Germany - Turock

(Photo - Gaelle Beri)

The first two weeks of SLIPKNOT's North American tour with MARILYN MANSON have been posted after SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor was forced to undergo "an unplanned spinal surgery." The trek, which also includes OF MICE & MEN, in the opening slot, will now begin on June 28 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Taylor's statement on the postponement reads as follows:

"Regretfully, I'm sending this to our fans to inform you that we will be postponing the first couple of weeks of our upcoming U.S tour. Unfortunately, I had to undergo an unplanned spinal surgery. I am recovering nicely, and all went well! I need a little recovery time before hitting the stage. We will start the summer tour in Nashville on June 28 and continue as previously scheduled. An update on the rescheduled dates will be available in the next few days. I hope you all understand and thanks for always having my back!"

Affected dates:

Jun. 09 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA AmphitheatreJun. 11 - Auburn, WA - White River AmphitheatreJun. 13 - Concord, CA - Concord PavilionJun. 14 - Inglewood, CA - The ForumJun. 15 - Chula Vista, CA - Sleep Train AmphitheatreJun. 17 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Hotel & CasinoJun. 18 - Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin PavilionJun. 19 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta AmphitheaterJun. 21 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks AmphitheatreJun. 24 - Austin, TX - Austin 360 AmphitheaterJun. 25 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy PavilionJun. 26 - The Woodlands, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman

SLIPKNOT is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, ".5: The Gray Chapter", which sold 132,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The CD was released in October 2014 following a six-year hiatus during which founding SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray died and original drummer Joey Jordison was dismissed.

HELLYEAH's fifth album, "Unden!able", is available for streaming in its entirety below. The CD is being released today (Friday, June 3) via Eleven Seven Music. The effort marks the first time HELLYEAH's current lineup — vocalist Chad Gray, guitarists Tom Maxwell and Christian Brady, drummer Vinnie Paul and bassist Kyle Sanders — has recorded together as a unit, promising a very special return to their true metal roots.

HELLYEAH's previous album, 2014's "Blood for Blood", was the album metal fans and critics were waiting for HELLYEAH to make, based on the revered metal pedigree of the individual members. Such an artistic achievement — the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock album chart — meant the band set the bar incredibly high. HELLYEAH does not disappoint with "Unden!able". "We turned a corner with 'Blood For Blood' and we wanted to continue that path," Paul states. "It's much heavier and darker, and we take it to another extreme." The album also fosters a sense of community and the notion that "We're all in this together" among the metal community we are part of. The upside down "i" in the title is an exclamation point — a subtle indicator of how metal fans live their lives against the grain for their entire daily existence. "It doesn't matter how old you are — you are always a metal kid," Chad Gray declares, referencing himself and fans as one. With the 2007's self-titled debut, HELLYEAH broke the ice, introducing the world to a band comprised of familiar faces who played in influential bands with signature sounds. 2010's "Stampede" showed off a more pleasure-seeking side of HELLYEAH. 2012's "Band Of Brothers" was marked by internal change and further experimentation, while "Blood For Blood" found the band reaching the summit of brutality, creativity, and artfully mined piss and vinegar. "Unden!able" is the logical next step and it's frontloaded with songs that crackle with a palpable industrial aggro energy. As guitarist Maxwell succinctly says, "It's belligerent and brutal, with peaks and valleys that bring you up and down, emotionally and lyrically." One reason it's so belligerent and brutal? The time crunch that came along with crafting the album. The band spent 18 glorious but grueling months on the road in support of "Blood For Blood" and was given exactly two weeks (!!!) off before it had to start working on "Unden!able". The pressure and lack of recess awakened a sleeping giant within Maxwell. There was literally no time to waste and he marshalled his emotions for inspiration. Without any time to decompress, Maxwell, came out of the gates in sniper mode, admitting there was "no time for demo-itis!" He confessed, "I was pissed, agitated, and distraught. In the long run, it helped. There was so much intensity in the frustration." Paul notes that the band "took no time off so that we didn't get complacent. We knew there was a window of opportunity." It may not have been optimal at the time, but it yielded a maximized result. "We know we did great, broken ankles and all," he states. HELLYEAH's usual formula remained unaltered when it came to the recording process. They demoed at Paul's home studio in Dallas, Texas before writing and recording with Kevin Churko in Las Vegas. "Unden!able" hosts redemptive, but throttling songs that will "scratch your soul," according to Gray. "X" is fast, furious and "over the top," says Paul. "It is something that metal fans need." It's expected to become an instant fan favorite. Meanwhile, the more contemplative "Human" is HELLYEAH's version of a power ballad, with an emphasis on "power." It's moving yet it's monstrous. The title track surges with raw energy and industrial crunch. "Love Falls" is a rhythmic and sultry departure for the band, which measures pain and anger equally, while "STARTARIOT" is nothing short of a fist-pumping, fuel-burning heavy metal epic. "Unden!able" is a complete work, including the cover artwork inspired by Chad Gray and designed by William "Wombat" Felch, who the band discovered by his artistic interpretations of HELLYEAH songs on YouTube, and whom Paul labeled "like a new member of the band," is a definitive visual matching the album's sonic wrath. It's also emblematic of the metal community and the kids who find their kindred spirits in HELLYEAH. The eyes are the portal to the soul," Gray says. "There is more extremity, so I wanted it to represent looking into the eye of someone who is a member of the metal community being cast out. You always feel like a fighter. So we created this eye and the exclamation point [in the title] as the stamp on this madness. You are looking into the soul of a metalhead." Overall, there's a surging current of hunger in "Unden!able". The members have had success in the past, but they're not satisfied with all they have done. "It's all I know," Paul muses about what keeps him manning the kit and making new music, despite a career so illustrious that no one would fault him if he chose to hang up the sticks. "I could have quit and could be playing golf. Being a traveling musician? That fuels me. I have a true passion and belief in HELLYEAH and heavy metal music." Gray concludes, "We're all in this together. We are metal fans first and foremost. We play off each other every night with our metal family. As a metal kid, I'd go to shows because I needed the release. Being on the other side now, I need this as bad as the fans do. I need to hit that deck every day and give everything I can." The divide between HELLYEAH and their fans has been erased with "Unden!able". It's an album made for the metal community, by the metal community.

"Unden!able" track listing:

01. X02. Scratch A Lie03. Be Unden!able04. Human05. Leap of Faith06. Blood Plague07. I Don't Care Anymore08. Live Or Die09. Love Falls10. STARTARIOT11. Grave

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn has confirmed that he re-wrote part of the lyrics for the band's new song "Is There Anybody Out There?" to include lines that are a commentary on the "white power" gesture Philip Anselmo made onstage in January.

Anselmo performed the PANTERA classic "Walk" at the January 22 "Dimebash" event at the Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, California in honor of his late bandmate "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. As he left the stage, he made a Nazi-style salute. He appeared to say "white power" as he made the gesture, but he later claimed he was referring to drinking white wine as part of an "inside joke."

Flynn, who performed at Dimebash alongside Anselmo and a number of other notable musicians, wrote the original lyrics to "Is There Anybody Out There?" in late 2015, but was unhappy with the initial version of the track because he wanted the vocals to sound more enraged. "I went in two days later to take one more pass at the vocals and try and get a more pissed-off performance, and I started singing the words that I had on the second verse, and I just wasn't… angry," Flynn explained in new "Is There Anybody Out There?" making-of video (see below). "I wasn't feeling it, and so I wrote a whole new second verse about how fucking appalled I was that he [Philip Anselmo] did that"

He continued: "One of the things [Anselmo] said to me [that night].... He told us to shut up, stop playing. 'I told you to stop.' I made a little noise and he went, 'You don't know me.'

"No, I don't know you. Not anymore. I don't know you. I don't get it."

Flynn went on to say: "I haven't felt connected to the metal community for some time now. I don't get where things are going. And part of this song is about that: that I don't get where it's going. And him doing that shit again — and this is again; this has been happening for twenty fucking years now, but I never had to stand on stage with the dude. But, you know, I sang some pretty pissed-off lyrics for that second verse. And everybody wanted [the vocals to sound] more pissed; they got more pissed."

According to Flynn, the change in the song's lyrics set off a conversation within the MACHINE HEAD camp about whether the sensitive nature of the subject matter was appropriate for a track that was intended as a crossover song that could potentially expose the band to a whole new audience.

"[We had] a huge discussion [about] 'Does it need to be said? It's gonna turn off people in the Midwest and the South. And that's where all the radio play is gonna be that matters. We're gonna polarize people,'" Robb said. "And we are. Those aren't invalid arguments; they're all true. We run the risk of not getting any airplay because of it. Hopefully the catchiness of the song can override that, because it's a really catchy fucking song. But it may not. It may start a bunch of shit and then not even do anything. But that's how I felt."

In the end, Flynn says that it was more important to be able to say something of value and stand behind the song's message, even if it meant alienating a certain segment of MACHINE HEAD's fanbase.

"Music is about passion and about believing the words that you're saying, and making the listener believe that you're angry or happy or sad or whatever about what you're singing about," he explained. "And there's no question: the previous lyrics I sang were good, but I don't know if you're gonna believe 'em, and you're gonna believe this. Some of you guys might not even like it. Some of you watching this right now might be offended by the shit I'm saying in this song, and I don't care."

He continued: "We've talked about how, 'Does it belong in there? Does it need to be said?' I don't know. Does it need to be said? You know, this is a commercial song. We're trying to get on radio with it. Is this gonna just negate our chances, because now it's saying something, and God forbid we say something anymore, because that might offend listeners in the Midwest and that might offend listeners in the South, and that's where we need to get inroads in America if we wanna do something, and we've just gotta say what they want. And do they want that? I don't think so. I don't think the majority of the people who live in the Midwest and the South wanna hear white-power shit, and I don't think they're gonna be offended by me saying otherwise, by me saying, 'Fuck those people!' Because, really, that is what 'Is There Anybody Out There?' [is] about. Does anybody feel lonely? Do you feel fucking lost? Do you feel… scared? And I do. I do feel scared. I'm scared to say this, 'cause I know it's gonna start a war with them. I'm scared to sing it. And that's one of the lines in the chorus: 'Is anybody else scared? The paranoia drops me to my knees.' But does it need to be said? Yes. Fuck! Absolutely. Now more than ever."

"Is There Anybody Out There?" is available digitally for purchase now on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and Nuclear Blast FLAC. In addition, fans can listen to the track now via Spotify, Apple Music and all other streaming services. "Is There Anybody Out There?" will also be made available as a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl starting July 22. Pre-order the release at this location.

Shortly after Anselmo's "Dimebash" video went viral, Flynn uploaded an eleven-minute video response to the incident in which he called Anselmo a "big bully" and described Philip's behavior as "fucking wrong."

Band photo credit: Travis Shinn

Texas-based classic rockers Scorpion Child will release their second album, Acid Roulette, on June 10th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. In the new video trailer below, Aryn Jonathan Black and Christopher Jay Cowart discuss how the band write new material:

Acid Roulette album details follow…

Tracklisting:

“She Sings, I Kill”
“Reaper’s Danse”
“My Woman In Black”
“Acid Roulette”
“Winter Side Of Deranged”
“Séance”
“Twilight Coven”
“Survives”
“Blind Man’s Shine”
“Moon Tension”
“Tower Grove”
“I Might Be Your Man”
“Addictions”

“My Woman In Black” lyric video:

“She Sings, I Kill” lyric video:

Aryn Jonathan Black discusses developing the album concept:

Aryn Jonathan Black discusses the concept behind the artwork in the trailer below.

Aryn Jonathan Black and lead guitarist Christopher Jay Cowart discuss the new members in the band and their role in shaping Acid Roulette:

"Acid Roulette chronicles the life trials of a traveling man who was imprisoned for a murderous crime," comments Aryn. "He was forced into confessing by his wife and her wealthy lover so that they could live out their romance without him in the picture. Once sentenced to a life's term, he goes through extreme emotions dealing with the only woman he'd ever loved taking everything he'd known as "real" away from him. He has to create and redefine his own reality accompanied by its roller coaster of emotional reflection. He experiences many different psychological changes throughout the years and escapes by means of drugs and his writings. These songs become his diary of a madman. The focus is mainly on the seasons in a year, for each song represents a month. The songs exist to drive home the full power of human emotion as many albums do, however, Acid Roulette wires us into those extremes."

 

 

(Photo - Rodrigo Fredes)

Norwegian progressive metal band Withem release their new album, The Unforgiving Road, today (June 3rd). Check out their new video for the album track “Exit”, streaming below:

Withem are inspired by the likes of Symphony X, Pagan's Mind, Dream Theater and Circus Maximus, concentrating heavily on melodic, memorable hooks, but still with plenty of stunning and virtuoso instrumental sections. The band debuted with The Point Of You in 2013, gathering excellent reviews from several music websites, blogs and magazines from all over the world. The release was followed by European touring with Pagan’s Mind, Circus Maximus and Seventh Wonder, and performances at both ProgPower USA and ProgPower Oslo, always with an extremely positive reception.

The new album, The Unforgiving Road sees the band perfecting their style. Withem’s gripping, melody-driven songs avoid the clichés and pitfalls of overly dramatic instrumental sections and sheer senseless complexity and instead centre on creative interplay between the musicians, while the unique vocal range of Ole Aleksander Wagenius gives the band a distinctive touch. Just like the debut album, The Unforgiving Road was produced and mixed by guitarist Øyvind Voldmo Larsen at his own Lionheart Studio, boasting powerful and bombastic production values with plenty of moments for the listener to notice the most subtle intricate parts of the songs.

"The Unforgiving Road is a the culmination of almost a year worth of composing, recording and producing. We didn't want to rush things after the first album, to avoid the usual pitfalls of "sophomore albums," says Withem guitar player and producer Oyvind Larsen. "The challenges we encountered while writing and recording can only be matched with how rewarding it feels after everything is set and done!"

"Øyvind once again took the helm for most of the composition and the whole scope of recording, mixing and producing, and we can't wait to hear everyone's reactions after they listen to the end result," adds new bassist Miguel Pereira. "We are looking forward to start promoting The Unforgiving Road with live shows right after the album is out, and meet all our friends and fans throughout the world."

The Unforgiving Road tracklisting:

“…Intro”
“Exit”
“In The Hands Of A God”
“The Pain I Collected”
“Riven”
“C'est La Vie”
“The Eye In The Sky”
“Arrhythmia”
“In My Will”
“Unaffected Love”
“Outro…”

“The Eye In The Sky”:

“In The Hands Of A God”:

“Arrhythmia”:

“The Pain I Collected” lyric video:

Withem lineup:

Ole Aleksander Wagenius - Vocals
Frank Nordeng Røe - Drums
Øyvind Voldmo Larsen - Guitar
Miguel Pereira – Bass

New Jersey's progressive metal mainstay, Binary Code, officially self-released their new album Moonsblood - the full-length follow-up to 2009's Suspension Of Disbelief and 2010's Priest EP - on May 24th. Guitar play-through videos for the tracks “Immersion” and “Dark Meditations” can be seen below. The colour effects on each video were chosen to match the mood of each track.

Guitarist Jesse Zuretti states, "My guitar partner in crime, PJ Spilletti, and I both used our brand new Mayones guitars in the videos. I can tell you right now, playing our songs a bajillion times has never been so easy because of those guitars. These guitars are cheat codes to our playing. I'm using a Mayones Regius 7M with Bare Knuckle Pickups (Juggernauts), and PJ is using a Mayones Duvel Elite 7 with Seymour Duncan Sentient/Nazgul pickups."

Regarding the unique visual effects on the videos, Zuretti adds, "We filmed the play-throughs for “Dark Meditations” and “Immersion” with Nick Kusworth, who also does great work for Heavy Blog is Heavy. He used some really cool techniques for “Dark Meditations”, using an actual prism for this cool kaleidoscopic effect. We picked some cool lighting effects; the colour gels we chose were picked for the mood of each song."

Engineered and mixed by Eyal Levi (August Burns Red, The Contortionist, Monuments) at Audiohammer Studios and mastered by Alan Douches (Suicide Silence, Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge) at West West Side Music, the members of Binary Code poured everything they had into delivering an album that would ultimately be a game-changer. The band is set to release something heavy, melodic, and progressive, yet focused and tightly written.

Binary Code founder and guitarist Jesse Zuretti comments, "Moonsblood is a time capsule for Binary Code. Not only was the album written sporadically throughout the course of some of the hardest times I've personally had to endure, but also some of the most enlightening and positive moments of my life. The instrumentation perfectly conveys many of the instances of that period and instantly brings me back to those moments. It was amazing to see how everything fell into place with Oded (our singer) joining the band. It became clear in an instant that he was a missing element to the sound we evolved into."

Singer Oded Weinstock adds, "Upon listening to the pre-production tracks for Moonsblood, I knew that joining Binary Code would mean that I would need to step up my game. The stretch of time between joining the band to laying down the vocal tracks for Moonsblood was a period of complete transformation for me. That spirit of self awakening and finding this path comes out almost intuitively in the lyrics, melodies, and sounds of this album."

Order Moonsblood here.

Tracklisting:

“Immersion”
“Trees 100ft Underwater”
“Dark Meditations”
“Moonsblood”
“Knell”
“Push”
“Cetacean”
“707”
“Unexist”

Album stream:

“Moonsblood” lyric video:

Atmospheric death metal unit, Lord Of War, will release their second full-length on July 8th via Unique Leader Records. Pre-order the new album at this location.

The eleven track album, entitled Suffer, was engineered and mixed by Daniel Castleman and Kelly Cairns (Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Carnifex, Winds Of Plague, Molotov Solution) and mastered by Miah Lajeunesse (Whitechapel, Aegaeon).

Today the band unveils the vicious sounds of "Nexus Of Hate" in the form of a lyric video. The track features Nick Arthur of Molotov Solution.

Says the band: ”“Nexus Of Hate” is actually one of the first songs that came together for the album. Originally we were planning on making an EP which included 'Nexus...' but the label was more interested in us doing a full length. Once we were steered into that direction it changed a lot on how the band wrote music and ultimately how Suffer as a whole would be created. One of the really cool things about this track is that it features Nick Arthur from Molotov Solution. Our recording engineer, Kelly Cairns, previously recorded Molotov's The Harbinger and that's how things came together with Nick. We were really excited about it because we loved Nick's vocal style and we were already big fans of the band. At the time 'Nexus....' was written, it was literally just [guitarist] Dan [Richardson] and [guitarist]  Alex [Walshaw] in the band. It was a really rough time for us because we weren't doing any touring. We had a falling out with our other band members and it just seemed like everything was working against us. We made a joke about how we felt we were in a “Nexus Of Hate” and when we said that we both looked at each other and said, 'that's a song title!' The writing process for this song solidified a lot of things on how the rest of the album would be written. “Nexus Of Hate” is a concept of a dimension where your darkest fears become reality; a vision of hell personalized to the individual trapped in the Nexus. Everything you love, know and care about is brutally and methodically torn apart. This stage is set to torture, demoralize and warp the mind of the individual that's trapped and push them past the point of known suffering and insanity. The concept originated from the film Event Horizon and other sci-fi horror films. Scientists have theories that there could be an infinite number of alternate realities and parallel universes. Who's to say something like the “Nexus Of Hate” doesn't exist..."

Lord Of War's Suffer drags its listeners into a dark sonic realm where elements of science fiction, horror, and sheer unbridled brutality collide. Priding themselves on keeping an expansive repertoire and a "something for everyone" ethos, Suffer delivers over 45 minutes of unearthly aggression, seamlessly intertwining engaging technicality, relentless viciousness, and deadly precision. Suffer features a guest vocal appearance by Nick Arthur from Molotov Solution, a revisit of their single "Hamunaptra" from their debut album Celestial Pestilence, and cover art by Colin Marks (Whitechapel, Psycroptic, Sylosis, Origin, Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish).

Tracklisting:

“Age Of Heresy”
“Nexus Of Hate” (featuring Nick Arthur)
“Embryo”
“Suffer”
“Behold The Harvest”
“Manufactured Existence”
“Skin”
“Carbon Based Genocide”
“Hamunaptra”
“Drowning”
“Killing Must Feel Good To God”

Lord Of War is:

Alex Walshaw - guitar
Daniel Richardson - guitar
Andrew Rodriguez - vocals
Wesley Van Hook - bass
Josh Null - drums