DEAD BY WEDNESDAY have released “The Surgeon”, the new video directed by Jacques Molle' from their guest vocalist album The Darkest Of Angels, via the EMP Label Group Facebook page here.

“The Surgeon” features unexpected flamenco flair courtesy of Soulfly/Cavalera guitarist Marc Rizzo, who was announced earlier this summer had also joined the band as a full time member.

Says Drummer Christian “Opus” Lawrence, “We know we’ll probably take some shit from the ‘metal’ guys for this track, especially while ‘Live Again’ is still going, and most of the stuff that has been put out from this record so far has been heavier. But it’s such a powerful song, especially right in the middle of so many great brutally heavy tracks. The album really is all over the place, but “The Surgeon” is so powerful and real, and is not only a really amazing showcase of what Rob can do, but also shows a whole other side of the band. We can do heavy. But, yeah, we can do this, too.”

Dead By Wednesday, who will play October 15th at Rock and Shock at The Worcester Palladium with Max and Igor Cavalera, Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, All Hail The Yeti, Combichrist, and more, have released recent teasers for their upcoming full length LP, the first to feature newest members Roy and Rizzo.

The Darkest of Angels features 11 tracks with 11 heavyweight guest vocalists including, Brian Fair (Shadows Fall), Waylon Reavis (A Killer’s Confession, ex-Mushroomhead), AK (Flotsam and Jetsam), John Arch (Fates Warning), Rob Dukes (Fragile Mortals, ex-Exodus), Carley Coma (Candiria), Sean Danielsen (Smile Empty Soul), Paul Stoddard (Diecast), Kris Keyes (formerly Gargauntua Soul), Antony Armageddon (Armageddon) and Ceschi Ramos (Fake Four, Inc.).

Negură Bunget have released a product presentation video for the artbook edition of their new album, ZI, out today (September 30th( via Prophecy Productions.

ZI (English for 'Day' or 'Say') is the second part of the group's ambitious Transilvanian Trilogy, released on the heels of 2015's celebrated album, TAU (English for 'Your' or 'Thy'), a record accurately hailed as "earthshaking" as it focused on unique native, natural landscapes and the mystique, legends, lore and meanings behind them.

The band recently released a stunning, ten minute long "album film", titled simply, ZI. The artistic short, beautifully shot in the Transylvanian forests, blends excerpts from each of the album’s six tracks. View ZI now, below:

In creating its most luminescent recording to date, Negură Bunget has further immersed itself in the traditions and practices of local Transilvanian inhabitants, exploring their connection with nature, and the way this relationship has shaped spiritual horizons. Within this framework, ZI closely examines the core of the most important traditions and rituals connected with the well-being of this community. Life events such as funeral ceremonies, soil tillage, and human growth and evolution (i.e. youth to teen to man to warrior, through to outcast) are spotlighted, in what is undoubtedly some of the most heady, thinking-man's metal produced in recent memory.

Musically, ZI builds upon the hallmarks of Negură Bunget's impressive catalog; the juxtaposition and interweaving of grim black metal elements, ambient soundscapes and acoustic counterparts based on native Romanian folk music, giving life to panoramic atmospheres, intensity and power unequaled in the band's rich discography.

An impressive musical statement and crucial bridge between root-bearing beginning and impending finale of the trilogy (scheduled to be released in early 2018), ZI is a mystical, tension-building recording that mirrors the size and scope of the deep forest fog for which the band is named.

The album was recorded at Negura MUSIC studio January-June 2016. Produced and mixed by Negură Bunget and Mihai ‘Mtz' Neagoe. Mastering by Alin Luculescu. Cover design by Daniel Dorobanțu. Outfit design by Anita Ramona.

Tracklisting:

“Tul-ni-că-rînd” (Horn-ing)
“Grădina stelelor” (Garden of Stars)
“Brazdă dă foc” (Furrow of Fire)
“Baciul Moșneag” (The Old Shepherd)
“Stanciu Gruiul” (Stanciu Gruiul)
“Marea Cea Mare” (The Vast Sea)

Bonus CD (only artbook)

“Tul-ni-că-rînd” (remixed version by Daniel Dorobanțu)
“Brazdă dă foc” (remixed version by Silent Strike)
“Schimnicește” (remixed version by Tibor Kati & Ionuț Cârja)
“Baciu moșneag” (remixed version by Adrian “Oq” Neagoe & Tragacanth)

Bonus DVD (only artbook)

ZI - album short film
“Tul-ni-că-rînd” - visual
“Stanciu Gruiul” - visual

The album will be available in the following editions:

- CD digipak with extra hard cover
- Gatefold LP (180g vinyl, white) incl. special vinyl mastering, poster, printed inner sleeves and PVD protection sleeve (500 copies)
- 2CD+DVD Artbook, hardcover, 28x28 cm, 72 pages with additional artwork, texts and English translations of the lyrics plus bonus CD with two songs and bonus DVD with three videos (1.000 copies)
- the band are also offering some custom handmade editions through their fundraising campaing, where they build a box on your suggestions

Oders:

- custom editions, signed versions, here.
- regular editions, here.

"Stanciu Gruilu" video:

“Tul-ni-ca-rind” video:

The band will present the new album live, along with a special anniversary set in a complex tour plan that will spread over the second part of 2016 and all over 2017, with some support for the crowdfunding campaign they have set-up in order to help accomplish their goals. They will start in September with a European tour.

Find the band’s live itinerary at this location.

The latest album from Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus, was chosen to be the first studio album in music history to be remixed in Dolby Atmos. Renowned producer/mixing engineer Chris Heil (Scorpions, David Bowi) mixed the entire masterpiece in Dolby Atmos - the mindblowing result will be submitted for the 2017 Grammy nominations. Prometheus, The Dolby Atmos Experience + Cinematic And Live will be released December 9th via Nuclear Blast.

Luca Turilli, responsible for composition and orchestra- and choir-arrangements states: "The new Dolby Atmos sound fits perfectly with Luca Turilli's Rhapsody music just as the Rhapsody music - emotional, visionary and cinematic in its nature - is perfect to showcase the potential of an amazing technology destined to revolutionize the field of immersive audio's experience. From a composer's point of view, Dolby Atmos is like the advent of a canvas with colors in three dimensional space. It enables me to place the band, orchestra and choir around me like I would in a real life situation, granting to the listener an emotional and breathtaking journey in a parallel dimension. Every instrument can finally breathe and live in three dimensions, turning the Dolby Atmos version of Rhapsody's music into a divine, musical experience of transcendence. No limits for creativity anymore. This new Dolby technology allows my heart and soul to finally express themselves with complete freedom and exciting force!"

But what actually is Dolby Atmos?

Cinemas discovered this new format and integrated loud speakers in their ceilings to place the listener into an 'acoustic honeycomb’.

"This novelty has now reached the home technology and we at Yamaha wanted to support the project of Luca Turilli's Rhapsody with an audio blu-ray-disc in Dolby Atmos“, Michael Geise from Yamaha explains. "It's a very thrilling challenge and makes this release a vivid and new experience. And since we are always looking for new contents, the cooperation with Luca Turilli was a great idea for us. Dolby Atmos is already included in our receivers and the customer can immediately use it - but so far only few releases support this new format and usually it is only available for films, not for music blu-rays. But now it is and we created a medium that could easily bring instruments to life, without any artificial effects. We had the know-how to turn this performance into a real live experience with our loudspeakers, receivers and the new sound bar that brings the musicians almost right into everyone's living room!"

Producer and mixer Chris Heil found Luca Turilli's Rhapsody almost by accident: "I heard excerpts from Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus in the studio right next to me and knew immediately that this was the material I wanted to use to showcase the potential of Dolby Atmos to the world. This kind of music is made for this format with its combination of band,orchestra and choir arrangements. I called Luca Turilli immediately to ask his permission to use the material and he immediately agreed.

The result of their two months long cooperation is a vivid combination of metal, filmscore and a wide variety of ethnic elements. "It is incredibly entertaining and inspiring to listen to the result. It's the first album in my 36-year career where I had to leave longer pauses between the tracks because you really need time to digest that bombastic sound. It's mindblowing," states Chris Heil. And Luca Turilli agrees: "Dolby Atmos will bring a revolution to the world of films and music and allows you to enjoy every release even more!"

Prometheus - The Dolby Atmos Experience (Audio Blu-ray) tracklisting:

“Nova Genesis (Ad Splendorem Angeli Triumphantis)”
“Il Cigno Nero”
“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”
“Anahata”
“Il Tempo Degli Dei”
“One Ring To Rule Them All”
“Notturno”
“Prometheus”
“King Solomon And The 72 Names Of God”
“Yggdrasil”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall Part II: Codex Nemesis”

This unique package will be completed by two brand-new live CDs, which were produced by Luca Turilli and Alex Landenburg, mixed by Christian "Moschus" Moos at Spacelab Studio (Grefrath, Germany) and mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio (San Marino).

"Cinematic And Live is the first live product to be released by my Luca Turilli's Rhapsody band and represents the live album I always dreamed of. It was recorded in Italy, France, Germany and Spain in 2012 and 2016 and it almost includes all the songs played by Luca Turilli's Rhapsody until now. We recently played our show number 100 and this important release represents the perfect celebration for these last years of live activity around the world. Cinematic And Live features songs from both the »Ascending To Infinity« and the »Prometheus« cinematic tours and it includes over 120 minutes of Rhapsody music: the newest songs, the old classics and some titles from my solo discography, too. The mix of Christian "Moschus" Moos and the mastering of Simone Mularoni were the cherry on the cake for this live album sounding really powerful, soulful and emotional like no others, with the important live atmosphere adding a new and exciting dimension to Luca Turilli's Rhapsody's cinematic music!"

Cinematic And Live tracklisting:

CD1
“Nova Genesis”
“Il Cigno Nero” [Reloaded]
“Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The Cross)”
“Land Of Immortals”
“Aenigma”
“War Of The Universe”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall” [Extract]
“Excalibur”
“The Ancient Forest Of Elves”
“Son Of Pain”
“Prometheus”
Drum Solo
“Knightrider Of Doom”
“Warrior's Pride”

CD2
“The Astral Convergence”
“The Pride Of The Tyrant”
“Tormento E Passione”
“Demonheart”
Bass Solo
“Warrior Of Ice”
“Of Michael The Archangel And Lucifer's Fall Part II - Of Psyche And Archetypes”
“Dark Fate Of Atlantis”
“Dawn Of Victory”
“Quantum X”
“Ascending To Infinity”
“Emerald Sword”
“Finale”

Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus was composed and produced once again by Luca Turilli, responsible as always of all the orchestral and choral arrangements. It was recorded and mixed at the Backyard Studios of Sebastian Roeder (Bonfire a.o.) and mastered by Christoph Stickel (Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock a.o.) at MSM studios.

Seven months of composition, three months of production, over 50 days of mix, two choirs, several special guests, including Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Dan Lucas (Karo) and David Readman (Pink Cream 69). Including 70 minutes of epic music, sounding cinematic, bombastic and dramatic as never before, the new Rhapsody masterwork will lead the listener to an emotional and memorable journey between quantum gates, parallel dimensions, myths and legends hiding cosmic truths, ancestral secrets and spiritual revelations.

Cruz Del Sur Music has announced the upcoming release of Hammer King's second album King Is Rising on November 11th.

Recorded at Powerwolf's Studio Greywolf, King Is Rising is once again packed with the truest heavy metal in this and all possible other worlds. It is heavy metal in the tradition of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, crossed with the German power metal of Hammer King's peers.

King Is Rising contains 12 metal anthems literally made for live performances with a nod towards faster paced songs compared to debut album Kingdom Of The Hammer King. Thematically, the second chapter of Hammer King's saga pertains to war and revolt, while the King's battle stories drastically bespeak today's global crises.

For the album's artwork the band decided to again partner with brilliant German artist Timo Würz, and the result speaks for itself. Timo is the kind of artist who guarantees quality in every aspect of his job.

King Is Rising will be available on CD (with one bonus track), vinyl and digital formats. The album's release party will be held on November 12th at Cruz Del Sur Music own's Burn This Town Festival in Rome. Also appearing will be Sacred Steel, Rosae Crucis, Battle Ram andGraal.

Hammer King consists of former Ross The Boss vocalist Titan Fox, former Salatio Mortis’ drummer Dolph A. Macallan rounded out by K.K. Basement on bass and Gino Wilde on guitars.

Swedish adventure metallers, Twilight Force, have released a lyric video for “Riders Of The Dawn”, a track from their new studio album, Heroes Of Mighty Magic, out now via Nuclear Blast.

Heroes Of Mighty Magic tracklisting:

“Battle Of Arcane Might”
“Powerwind”
“Guardian Of The Seas”
“Flight Of The Sapphire Dragon”
“There And Back Again”
“Riders Of The Dawn”
“Keepers Of Fate”
“Rise Of A Hero”
“To The Stars”
“Heroes Of Mighty Magic”
“Epilogue”
“Knights Of Twilight's Might”

“Riders Of The Dawn” lyric video:

“Powerwind” video;

"To The Stars" lyric video:

“Battle Of Arcane Might” lyric video:

The Lore Of Blackwald character video:

The Lore Of De'Azsh character video:

The Lore Of Born character video:

The Lore Of Aerendir character video:

The Lore Of Lynd character video:

The Lore Of Chrileon character video:

Maiden United, the acoustic Iron Maiden tribute project featuring Damian Wilson (Threshold, Headspace) and Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation), have released a live video for the track “The Evil That Men Do”. The studio version of “The Evil That Men Do” featuring Wudstik was released as B-side of the “Strange World” single (2015). The version with Damian Wilson is from Maiden uniteD’s second album, Across The Seventh Sea (2012)/

The band recently released a live video for the track “Remember Tomorrow”, which can be found on their Remembrance album, released last year and available via maidenunited.com. The new video can be found below.

Remembrance tracklisting:

“Strange World”
“Charlotte The Harlot”
“Killers”
“Remember Tomorrow”
“Burning Ambition”
“Futureal” (ft. Blaze Bayley)
“Aces High”
“Prowler” (ft. Paul Di’Anno)
“Still Life '15”

“Remember Tomorrow” live video:

Album trailer:

Earlier this summer, Ohio's Affiance dropped a cover of Toto's '80s soft rock gem "Africa". The band has returned with another Affiance version of a classic. This time, they offer up their take on Iron Maiden's classic "Aces High”.

Affiance singer Dennis Tvrdik had this to say about his band's Maiden cover: "This has been a long time coming, as we always knew we would cover a Maiden song. Bruce Dickinson is my biggest influence from my youth and I hope he feels we do the song justice."

Tour dates with Ice Nine Kills:

November
4 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City Basement
5 - Birmingham, UK |The Rainbow Cellar
6 - Bristol, UK |Thekla
7 - Cardiff, UK |The Globe
8 -  Plymouth, UK - The Underground
9 -  London, UK - Dingwalls
10 - Southampton, UK - Joiners
11 - Paris, France - Backstage By The Mill
12 - Arnhem, Netherlands |Willemeen
13 -  Bochum, Germany - Rockpalast
15 -  Hamburg, Germany - Indra
16 - Berlin, Germany - Musik & Frieden
17 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof

Van der Graaf Generator are set to release their 13th studio album, Do Not Disturb, their third album since their reinvention as a three-piece group 10 years ago. To be released in North America on October 21st through Esoteric Records, the band adopted an old school approach of fully rehearsing the pieces before a record button was hit. Then, in an intensive week, all the backing tracks were recorded live.

Once the various parts of each song had been stitched together - pieces were constituted of up to nine different elements and some involved prepared sonic passages as well as the live tracks - individual overdubbing took place in their own studios.

Some of this music is as technically demanding as anything VdGG have ever played. Other passages rely on the feel and empathy which has been built up over the years. As a whole, it's a confident and assertive exploration of the possibilities of a modern trio. Lyrically, the passage of time and the cascades of shared memory and experience illuminate the songs. Do Not Disturb is a vital addition to the recorded VdGG canon.

Van der Graaf Generator are one of the foremost innovators of rock. Peerless and relentlessly creative, they were originally formed in 1967 in Manchester by Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and by 1968, following a few lineup alterations including Chris leaving, Hugh Barton and Guy Evans and latterly David Jackson (in 1970) came together to form the classic VdGG lineup. Following a 17 year hiatus (1978 - 2005), the core group reunited and released their ninth studio album, Present. David departed the band in 2006 and VdGG have remained a trio releasing two studio and two live albums, with Do Not Disturb being their third.

Order via the Amazon widgets below.

Tracklistings:
 
CD
“Aloft”
“Alfa Berlina”
“Room 1210”
“Forever Falling”
“Shikata Ga Nai”
“(Oh No I Must Have Said) Yes”
“Brought To Book”
“Almost The Words”
“Go”

Limited Edition vinyl LP

Side 1
“Aloft”
“Brought To Book”
“(Oh No I Must Have Said) Yes”

Side 2
“Alfa Berlina”
“Room 1210”
“Almost The Words”
“Go”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having unleashed their new album, Ages Unsung, on September 16th, Canada’s Chariots Of The Gods have released their new video for “Tusk”, premiering exclusively here at Bravewords.com

“Tusk” is one of ten shredding assaulting tracks on the release recorded at The Grid with legendary Montreal producer Chris Donaldson (Cryptopsy, The Agonist, Beyond Creation, Neuraxis), and featuring a special guest solo from The Agonist's Pascal Jobin on the song “Into Oblivion”.

The band had this to say about the video: "It's been more than 3 years since our first official music video for the song “Tides Of War” was released. A lot has changed since then, sand it's time to reveal our first music video “Tusk” in support of our new record. It was great to have Renaud Jobin, our former vocalist, directing the project and working together again. He has a clear understanding of what the band is about and what we wanted to achieve. We’re really happy with the outcome and can’t wait to do more videos for Ages Unsung.”

Ages Unsung marks the return of Canada's first metal band to tour Cuba after a small hiatus and lineup change to follow up their 2013 debut album Tides Of War, which was produced by music legend Glen Robinson (Queensryche, Gwar, Annihilator).

The band comments on Ages Unsung: "We are very proud to bring you all this new record. It took us longer than expected to get there, but we're sure that after just one listen you'll think it was worth the wait. There were a lot of changes since our last release in early 2013. 3 out of 5 were new members and it definitely had an impact on our music especially with the change of the vocalist. We sometimes went into some unknown territories with this new record, but our producer Chris Donaldson along with the help of Pascal Jobin really guided us through this experimental chapter. It has been a challenging effort, but we've worked hard to climb the mountain that stood before us. Now we know what we're capable of. We can see many more peaks in the distance and as one we will strive forward."

Order the new album at this location.

Ages Unsung tracklisting:

“Primordial Dawn”
“Tusk”
“Of Prometheus And The Sacred Flame”
“War of The Gods”
“As The Sky Falls”
“Resurrection”
“Through Darkness And Decay”
“Into Oblivion”
“New World”
“Ages Unsung”

Album stream:

Atlanta power trio Whores. are streaming the track “Baby Teeth”, featured on their new LP, Gold, out on October 28th via Entertainment One (eOne), the first for their new label home.

The band’s debut LP was recorded at Parhelion Studios with producer Ryan Boesch (Helmet, Fu Manchu, Melvins). The artwork for Gold was created by Patrick Copeland.

Tracklisting:

“Playing Poor”
“Baby Teeth”
“Participation Trophy”
“Mental Illness as Mating Ritual”
“Ghost Trash”
“Charlie Chaplin Routine”
“Of Course You Do”
“I See You Are Also Wearing a Black T Shirt”
“Bloody Like the Day You Were Born”
“I Have a Prepared Statement”

“Baby Teeth”:

“Playing Poor”:

Trailer:

Gold is the follow up to the LP Clean (2013). Also recorded by Boesch, the record sold out within a month, prompting the band to quickly release a second pressing. Clean is now on its fourth pressing.

"We've spent the ATL summer blasting feedback and pick slides in a sweaty, metal box," says frontman / guitarist Christian Lembach. "This is the result. Solid. Fucking. Gold."

The band will join Torche in supporting Red Fang later this fall. Dates will kick off on November 18th at Slim's in San Francisco, spanning coast to coast before wrapping up at the Showbox in Seattle on December 16th. "Red Fang and Torche are both huge inspirations, and we're flattered to be a part of this amazing tour," says Lembach. "Imminent tacos to follow."

"The band has also announced its plans to participate in the 2016 Aftershock Festival this October, playing alongside the likes of Slayer, Tool, Primus, Baroness and Deafheaven. Lembach adds, "Beyond flattered to be a part of Aftershock Festival this year. Our life partners in Red Fang played last year, and we're super humbled to be a part of this awesome lineup."

Tour dates:

October
14 - New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa
15 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger
16 - Ft. Worth, TX - Lola’s
17 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Blue Note
19 - Colorado Springs, CO - Flux Capacitor
22 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock Festival
23 - Las Vegas, NV - Divebar
25 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
27 - Memphis, TN - The Buccaneer Lounge

November (with Red Fang and Torche)
18 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
19 - Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
20 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom
22 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge
25 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
26 - Dallas, TX - Three Links
27 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Studio
29 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade (Hell)
30 - Durham, NC - Motorco

December
1 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
2 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
4 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair
5 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
7 - Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit Lounge
8 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
9 - Detroit, MI - El Club
10 - Chicago, IL - Metro
11 - Bloomington, IL - Castle Theater
13 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
14 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
15 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
16 - Seattle, WA - Showbox

On September 26th, Metallica were guests on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio and performed three songs including their new single, “Hardwired”. Official footage has been released below:

Metallica also performed a pair of classic songs: "Master Of Puppets" and "Sad But True". Enjoy the videos below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hardwired…To Self-Destruct is scheduled to be released on the band's Blackened Recordings on November 18th. The album features 12 songs on a double CD, vinyl, digital download, as well as a deluxe version including cover songs and live tracks.

Tracklistings:

Deluxe Edition (Digital Download and CD)

Disc One
“Hardwired”
“Atlas, Rise!”
“Now That We’re Dead”
“Moth Into Flame”
“Am I Savage?”
“Halo On Fire”

Disc Two
“Confusion”
“Dream No More”
“ManUNkind”
“Here Comes Revenge”
“Murder One”
“Spit Out The Bone”

Disc Three (Bonus)
“Lords of Summer” (2016)
“Ronnie Rising Medley”
“When a Blind Man Cries”
“Remember Tomorrow”
“Helpless’ (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Hit the Lights” (Live at Rasputin Music)
“The Four Horsemen’ (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Ride the Lightning’ (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Fade to Black” (Live at Rasputin Music)
‘Jump in the Fire” (Live at Rasputin Music)
‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Creeping Death” (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Metal Militia” (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Hardwired” (Live in Minneapolis)

Deluxe Box Set (3LP + 1CD)

Disc One Side A
“Hardwired”
“Atlas, Rise!”
“Now That We’re Dead”

Disc One Side B
“Moth Into Flame”
“Am I Savage?”
“Halo On Fire”

Disc Two Side C
“Confusion”
“Dream No More”
‘ManUNkind”

Disc Two Side D
“Here Comes Revenge”
“Murder One”
‘Spit Out the Bone”

Disc Three Side E (Bonus)
“Lords of Summer” (2016)

Disc Three Side F (Bonus)
“Hardwired” (Live in Minneapolis)

Bonus CD
“Ronnie Rising Medley
“When a Blind Man Cries
“Remember Tomorrow
“Helpless (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Hit the Lights” (Live at Rasputin Music)
“The Four Horsemen’ (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Ride the Lightning’ (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Fade to Black” (Live at Rasputin Music)
‘Jump in the Fire” (Live at Rasputin Music)
‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Creeping Death” (Live at Rasputin Music)
“Metal Militia” (Live at Rasputin Music)

“Hardwired” video:

Making of “Hardwired”:

"Moth Into Flame":

Three members of RATT's classic lineup, singer Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Crouceir and guitarist Warren DeMartini, reunited to perform as the "surprise band" earlier today (Saturday, October 1) on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise West, also known as Monsterwood. Joining them on stage at the event were former QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on RATT's last studio album, 2010's "Infestation", and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

Hard rock radio personality and TV host Eddie Trunk, who is hosting Monsters Of Rock Cruise West, has posted several photos and videos of Pearcy, DeMartini, Croucier, Cavazo and DeGrasso performing at the event, along with a picture of the as-yet-unnamed new band's setlist, which, unsurprisingly, consisted entirely of classic RATT songs.

Drummer Bobby Blotzer has been touring the U.S. for the last year with his own version of RATT, featuring a rotating cast of musicians, including vocalist Josh Alan (ex-SIN CITY SINNERS).

Blotzer's new version of RATT played shows early last year under the name BOBBY BLOTZER'S RATT EXPERIENCE before the drummer announced that he was taking control of the RATT name.

DeMartini later filed a lawsuit against Blotzer, claiming that the drummer was falsely advertising his "tribute band" as the real thing. That dispute is still pending in California state court.

Blotzer and DeMartini are the only remaining shareholders in WBS, Inc., the company which manages the business and operations related to RATT.

Speculation about Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini forming their own version of RATT to rival Blotzer's gained traction in August after they were photographed hanging out together at a Los Angeles birthday party. Bobby later dismissed the idea, telling Trunk in an interview: "Well, it's absurd. It ain't gonna happen. Warren can't do that. If Warren was to join up in that thing, he would be in competition with his own band and corporation — RATT, WBS… RATT. He would be kicked out on his rear end so quick… They'd have to call it something else; they couldn't call it anything but something else."

WBS, Inc. was originally formed by Blotzer, DeMartini and Pearcy. Pearcy lost his share of the name in court after splitting with the group in 2000. He returned to the band in 2006 but exited again in 2014. Blotzer later expressed his desire to keep RATT alive with a new singer, but explained that DeMartini did not want to tour as RATT without Pearcy.

Croucier played a number of shows last year with a band called RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER, which also features Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE), Mike Moore and Toni Aleman. WBS — with Blotzer acting as both chairman of the board and president — later sued the bassist, claiming that Croucier was using the RATT logo "on all advertisements, web sites, merchandise, marquees, fliers, and record jackets" and was "referring to himself as 'The Other Voice of RATT,' even though… he was never the lead singer of RATT."

DeGrasso played several shows with RATT in 2014 as the temporary replacement for Blotzer, who was recovering from the neck surgery he underwent the previous year.

They have no name officially yet, but I'm sure open to suggestions... pic.twitter.com/agtn1dqrro

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

Just Introed Warren DeMartini, @Juan_Croucier @StephenEPearcy Carlos Cavazo , Jimmy DeGrasso to kick off @MonstersCruise ! pic.twitter.com/GXSEaZXDHX

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

This is happening now. @MonstersCruise ! Juan, Stephen, Warren, Carlos, Jimmy DeGrasso. I'll periscope more soon pic.twitter.com/CcIj4kXGTn

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

Set list for Warren, Stephen, Carlos, Juan, Jimmy DeGrasso. In Your Direction playing now. Always loved this riff! @MonstersCruise pic.twitter.com/b7IcD5TyO6

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: Warren, Juan, Stephen, Jimmy, Carlos playing live now on Monsters cruise. https://t.co/r1HJpbVnLt

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: Lack Of Communication https://t.co/I4ZZMiWdNj

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: Another of my favorites. Body Talk! https://t.co/aZdVeNXn1k

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: Back For More. https://t.co/uSWBATtb7x

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: Round & Round https://t.co/0cruvrJT5P

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) October 2, 2016

Phil Collen (DEF LEPPARD) joined TESLA on stage on September 30 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon to perform the TESLA song he wrote and produced, "Save That Goodness". Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

The studio version of "Save That Goodness" appears on "Mechanical Resonance Live!", a live recording of TESLA's classic album, which came out on August 26 via Tesla Electric Company Recordings/Mailboat. The record was released in conjunction with TESLA's summer tour opening up for DEF LEPPARD.

Regarding how he came to be involved in producing TESLA, Collen said: "Well, you know, I think they're such a great band. And last year, I'm going, 'You guys should be doing more.' From every level. And we kind of got a song together. It was actually originally kind of a DELTA DEEP [Phil's blues side project] thing. I thought this would be great with Jeff Keith singing on it. But here's the thing: Brian [Wheat, TESLA bassist] said, 'No, that's a TESLA song. Let's do it, you produce it.' And I said, 'Oh, okay.' So we went up, we recorded it. Come out amazing… It's actually the first song in TESLA's… since 30 years, that has been added to a playlist in England. So everyone's starting to freak out about this song."

TESLA drummer Troy Luccketta stated about "Save That Goodness": "I think it's one of the best tracks we've had in a long time. It can go right to radio. It's ready. It's perfect. It sounds like TESLA and just like TRAIN. It reminds me of, like, you know, TRAIN is in that equation. It's just got a great vibe. Great '70s classic rock, awesome contemporary modern feel and it works, man. I love it. I was listening to it, and I'm going, 'Man…' I'm just excited about truly what's going on."

"Prisoner", a brand new song from THE PRETTY RECKLESS, can be streamed below. The track is taken from the band's highly anticipated third studio album, "Who You Selling For", due out October 21 on Razor & Tie.

Asked if "Who You Selling For" is autobiographical, singer Taylor Momsen told the Baltimore radio station 98 Rock: "Well, I think all of our records, in one sense, are autobiographical. I mean, I write them, so I'm writing about my experiences and my life and what I have observed and what I know. So I think this coming record is the next evolution of the band, so we're really excited for everyone to hear it. It's very diverse and eclectic, I guess is a good word to describe it. But, of course, it's personal. I mean, I write it."

Regarding whether there are any topics that are "off limits" during the songwriting process, Taylor said: "No. If you limit yourself, you immediately are stunting yourself. You can't limit yourself when it comes to writing. There's nothing that you don't explore."

"Who You Selling For" was produced by THE PRETTY RECKLESS's longtime collaborator Kato Khandwala. The songs were written by Momsen and guitarist Ben Phillips.

THE PRETTY RECKLESS's music video for the band's scorching single "Take Me Down" can be seen below. The track recently landed No. 1 on the Rock Radio chart, marking the band's fourth consecutive No. 1 single. The "Take Me Down" video, shot by Meiert Avis, sees Taylor Momsen and the band at Water Music Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey, where the album was recorded. Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, U2 and Avril Lavigne, among many others throughout his illustrious career, spanning over four decades. The video, shot in black and white with subtle glimpses of red, shows Momsen in top form with her voice as powerful as ever. The '60s-tinged rock guitar and Taylor's soulful, smoky delivery makes "Take Me Down" a complete, blistering track that further cements the band at the forefront of rock.

THE PRETTY RECKLESS will hit the road this fall in support of the album, beginning October 20, playing major markets in the U.S. before wrapping up on December 6 in Los Angeles.

Swedish metallers IN FLAMES released their new concert DVD, "Sounds From The Heart Of Gothenburg", on September 23 via Nuclear Blast.

A performance clip of the song "Only For The Weak", taken from "Sounds From The Heart Of Gothenburg", can be seen below.

Nostalgia or a return to their roots has never been an option for the progressive IN FLAMES, but the setlist of this bombastic DVD tears through the band's entire history. With 20 tracks, the show that was recorded on November 7, 2014 at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden reaches a length of one and a half hours, and achieves in capturing the band at their very best, celebrating current hits such as "Through Oblivion", "With Eyes Wide Open" and "Rusted Nail" to a packed arena. But, of course, old-school classics like "Trigger", "Cloud Connected" and the hypnotic closer "Take This Life" are not left out. Prepare for an intense and visually explosive performance in front of ten thousand fans, featuring pyros, circle pits, flying crowdsurfers and IN FLAMES' incomparable riffs. "This DVD is for everyone who was been following our career; we have songs from the early years, the middle years and the new era," states IN FLAMES guitarist Björn Gelotte. "It has to be fun for us to play but also fun for the audience to watch and we try to get a good flow with nice dynamics and different songs."

IN FLAMES will release its twelfth studio album, "Battles", on November 11 via Nuclear Blast in all territories excluding North America and Scandinavia and Eleven Seven Music Group in the U.S. The CD was recorded in Los Angeles with Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson, who has previously worked with MOTÖRHEAD, BODY COUNT and SEPULTURA, among others.

Formed in 1990, the band is considered one of the forefathers of melodic death metal and the purveyors of the "Gothenburg sound." With eleven studio albums released, countless successful tours around the globe, millions of records sold and a massive fanbase worldwide, IN FLAMES has proven to be an unstoppable force in heavy music. From their 1994 debut, "Lunar Strain", to the most recent CD, "Siren Charms" (2014), the band's intricate twin-guitar attack, melodic vocals and superb arrangements have given them a signature sound that has evolved throughout the years.

IN FLAMES last year inked a new management deal with Tenth Street Entertainment, which also looks after MÖTLEY CRÜE and FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, among others.

IN FLAMES drummer Daniel Svensson announced last fall that he was leaving the band to focus on his family life. He has since been replaced by Joe Rickard, who played on "Battles".

The official lyric video for the song "Road To Victory" from CIVIL WAR — the Swedish metal band featuring former SABATON members Rikard Sundén (guitar), Daniel Mullback (drums) and Daniel Mÿhr (keyboards) alongside singer Patrik Johansson (ASTRAL DOORS, LION'S SHARE), and guitarist Petrus Granar — can be seen below. The track is taken from CIVIL WAR's third album, "The Last Full Measure", which will be released on November 4 via Napalm.

Commented Johansson: "After 'The Killer Angels' and 'Gods & Generals', we are extremely proud and can't wait to share the last part of the trilogy! This is our best work so far, at least this is what we think, but I'm sure you won't be disappointed!" "The Last Full Measure" track listing: 01. Road To Victory02. Deliverance03. Savannah04. Tombstone05. America06. A Tale That Never Should Be Told07. Gangs Of New York08. Gladiator09. People Of The Abyss10. The Last Full Measure11. Strike Hard Strike Sure (bonus track)12. Aftermath (bonus track)

Asked if the SABATON connection has made it easier for CIVIL WAR to get tours and recognition in the metal scene, Johansson told Sound The Charge! web site: "Of course, this whole SABATON thing has made it easier for us to achieve fame. No doubt about that. On the other hand it is tough for us to convince the 'real' music fans that we actually are a good band since most of the real metal fans hate SABATON. So it's both good and bad."

CIVIL WAR's sophomore album, "Gods And Generals", was released in May 2015 via Napalm Records.

CIVIL WAR's debut CD, "The Killer Angels", was certified gold in Sweden by the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 20,000 copies.

"The Killer Angels" was distributed in Sweden via the June 2013 issue of Sweden Rock Magazine and each copy of the magazine containing the CD was counted towards the certification; the album was also sold separately.

"The Brain Dance", a brand new song from instrumental modern progressive pioneers ANIMALS AS LEADERS, can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's highly anticipated fourth album, "The Madness Of Many", which will be released on November 11 via Sumerian Records. The CD was produced by the bandmembers themselves, with guitarist Javier Reyes handling the final mix.

Following the stunning "The Joy Of Motion", which cemented the band as one of the most innovative musical forces of this generation, "The Madness Of Many" sees the band raise their creative and technical game even further.

Said ANIMALS AS LEADERS guitarist Tosin Abasi: "This album feels like total synergy between the three of us. None of this music would have turned out the same way without the equal inclusion of all of our musical ideas and that feel special. We're beyond thrilled with the result."

Added drummer Matt Garstka: "'The Madness Of Many' is an explorative and ambitious journey of harmony, rhythm, musical expression and emotion. It has been the most collaborative effort for the band and an evolution in each of the members' musical path. Although conceptually dense, it is the most natural sounding ANIMALS AS LEADERS album yet."

Reyes commented on the symbiotic nature of the new album, saying: "'The Madness Of Many' is an explorative and ambitious journey of harmony, rhythm, musical expression and emotion. It has been the most collaborative effort for the band and an evolution in each of the members' musical path."

"The Madness Of Many" track listing:

01. Arithmophobia02. Ectogenesis03. Cognitive Contortions04. Inner Assassins05. Private Visions Of The World06. Backpfeifengesicht07. Transcentience08. The Glass Bridge09. The Brain Dance10. Aepirophobia

The trio will kick off its first tour in support of the new album on November 10 at the Livewire in Scottsdale, Arizona. the five-week North American trek will feature INTERVALS and PLINI as support.

The reunited classic lineup of DOKKEN — singer Don Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown — played its only U.S. show Friday night (September 30) at Badlands Pawn Guns Gold And Rock 'N' Roll in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The concert was a warm-up gig for the band's six-show Japanese run dubbed "Unleashed In The East".

Fan-filmed video footage and photos of the Sioux Falls performance can be seen below.

Asked how he feels about the DOKKEN reunion, George told TeamRock: "Well, um, it's a mixed bag. It's complicated. But the overarching feeling I have is I'm glad it's happening for the right reasons. One of which is money. But another of which is putting a nice bow and closure on an important part of our professional and artistic lives, and also for people who care about this kind of music. Because it was important to their lives. And with all the bad things going around it's nice to see that people can come together sometimes. I just think it makes people feel good. I know it's a drop in the bucket, but, you know, I'll take it."

George also addressed the well-publicized tension between him and Don Dokken and how it might affect DOKKEN's current reunion. He said: "You know, I'm trying to stay positive with all this so I don't really want to get into what could go wrong with things. I would just say that we pretty much don't have a relationship at this point. The only time we see each other is when we're on the road and maybe LYNCH MOB is playing the same bill with DOKKEN. Otherwise, there was an hour-long meeting at a management office and a few emails. But beyond that there really hasn't been any communication. So there is no relationship."

Lynch expressed hope that the DOKKEN reunion could last beyond the Japanese tour, despite Don's recent comments to the contrary. "If I were betting, I'd say there's probably a 50/50 chance [that there will be more gigs]," the guitarist said. "And I'd be advocating for that, too. But it gets more complicated when you're talking about more shows because of all our other commitments. Jeff [Pilson, bass] is locked in very seriously with FOREIGNER. It's not easy for him to take a couple weeks off. That's probably our biggest restriction. But it definitely would be something that promoters and the fans would like to see. On a business level, I'm sure it could be done very easily. So, you know, never say never."

Dokken, Pilson, Lynch and Brown will launch the Japanese tour on October 5 in Osaka, before heading to Fukuoka, Tokyo for an appearance at the Loud Park festival and continuing on to Hiroshima, Aichi and finally, back to Tokyo for the final show on October 12.

The first concert in Sioux Falls was reportedly filmed at least "for posterity," Dokken recently told Billboard. "Beginning October 5, a video crew will follow the band through Japan to get some documentary footage that could accompany a subsequent home video release.

Brown told Focus On Metal that there is still tension between Don and George. "Nothing's changed," he said. "I know George and Don, during the conversations to get this going, they're already starting up… I'm tired of the bad-attitude stuff. And you put Don and George together, and it just starts happening again, and then it gets really confusing. I think it's very sad when grown men act that way. And I'm tired of being around it, but here we go. And listen, for that kind of money, I'll shut up and do what we used to do."

Fan-filmed video footage of ALICE IN CHAINS' entire September 27 performance at Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Hollow02. Them Bones03. Dam That River04. Again05. Check My Brain06. Nutshell07. Angry Chair08. Man In The Box09. Your Decision10. Down In A Hole11. Stone12. We Die Young13. It Ain't Like That14. Got Me Wrong15. Sludge Factory

Encore:

16. Rooster17. No Excuses18. Would?

ALICE IN CHAINS, who opened the first five shows on GUNS N' ROSES' summer North American stadium tour, is now on a headlining trek that brings the group to Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday (September 30).

ALICE IN CHAINS singer William DuVall told the WRIF radio station in June that it was "too early" to talk about the band's new music, despite the fact that it's been more than three years since the release of their last studio album.

"The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" came out in 2013 was the band's second disc with DuVall, who joined in 2006 following the 2002 death of original vocalist Layne Staley.

William also talked about ALICE IN CHAINS' songwriting process and how it has evolved over the years. He said: "We make a habit of kind of starting pretty much with a clean slate every time we've gone in. And that challenges you, so we'll have to see how it manifests this time. But we're not there yet."

"The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" sold 62,000 copies in its first week of release.

On September 24th, during Amaranthe's Japanese tour supporting Helloween, the band stopped by Bay-FM 78.0 and performed acoustic versions of two songs from their new Maximalism album during DJ Masa Itoh's show. Check out the audio clips below

Amaranthe performed at Namba Hatch in Osaka, Japan on September 21st supporting Helloween. Fan-filmed video from the show is available below.

Amaranthe are gearing up for the release of their new album Maximalism. The record is due out via Spinefarm Records on October 21st. Amaranthe embark on a headline European tour in October/November with Sonic Syndicate and Smash Into Pieces guesting on all shows. US and UK tour dates will be revealed shortly.

September
30 - St. Petersburg, Russia - Zal Ozhidaniya

October
1 - Moscow, Russia - Red
2 - Ekaterinburg, Russia - Teleclub
25 - Hamburg, Germany - Klubsen
26 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornrosje
28 - Vosselar, Belgium - Biebob
29 - Bochum, Germany - Matrix
30 - Geiselwind, Germany - Music Hall    

November
1 - Frankfurt, Germany - Nachtleben (acoustic)    
3 - Paris, France - Le Petit Bain
5 - Lyon, France - Le Ninkasi Kao
6 - Marseille, France - Le Moulin Club
8 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27    
9 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
10 - Madrid, Spain - Arena
12 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
13 - Graz, Austria - Explosiv
14 - Prague, Czech Republic - Meet Factory
15 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
16 - München, Germany - Backstage 
17 - Milano, Italy - Milan Live Club
19 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Majestic Music Club
20 - Vienna, Austria - Simm City

Maximalism is a hyper-modern, metallic beast. It's the band's fourth record since first joining forces back in 2008; produced once again by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Epica, Delain) and mastered by Svante Forsback (Rammstein, Apocalyptica, Dragonforce), it sees the Swedish/Danish sextet delivering 12 new tracks that fully live up to the "bigger, bolder" promise of the title. Maximalism is the follow-up to 2014's breakthrough Massive Addictive.

Refusing to be pinned down by genre or convention, Amaranthe have consistently pursued the less-travelled path, blending different sounds and styles to create a signature hybrid approach. Maximalism sees their collective wide-angle vision laid out with greater skill and conviction than ever before.

From the locomotive power of "Faster" and "Fury" through to the more measured drama of "Limitless" and "Endlessly”, (a solo tour-de-force for singer Elize Ryd), this is Amaranthe ramping up both the energy and the emotion, and generally pushing everything To The Max…

"Maximalism is our manifesto to the world," said lead guitarist Olof Morck. "We are genuinely thrilled with the new material, definitely our most diverse collection to date; our trademark 'bleeding edge' modern metal remains intact, of course, but fused with an even broader range of genres than before. There's everything here including stadium rock, innovative pop and danceable super-hits. Expect these tunes to enter your mind on a permanent basis!"

Maximalism tracklisting:

“Maximize”
“Boomerang”
“That Song”
“21”
“On The Rocks”
“Limitless”
“Fury”
“Faster”
“Break Down And Cry”
“Supersonic”
“Fireball”
“Endlessly”

Amaranthe have released their new single, "That Song", via Spotify. Check out the new track here.

Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH have announced the addition of Jocke Wallgren as the band's new permanent drummer. Jocke has been sitting behind the kit for all shows on the group's current "Jomsviking" world tour.

AMON AMARTH comments: "We are happy to have Jocke with us as a permanent band member. He has done a great job for us on the current world tour, bringing excellent drumming with a positive attitude and great personality, something that will definitely benefit AMON AMARTH for years to come."

Says Jocke: "I'm super excited to jump aboard the unstoppable AMON AMARTH longship. My predecessors have inspired me greatly throughout the years and I will do my best to honor the legacy that is AMON AMARTH."

In a recent interview with EMP Rock Invasion, AMON AMARTH vocalist Johan Hegg stated about the departure of drummer Fredrik Andersson and AMON AMARTH's decision to enlist a session drummer, Tobias Gustafsson (VOMITORY, CUT UP), during the recording sessions for "Jomsviking": "Tobias was helping to write the album and record the album. We asked him to help us write and record the album, 'cause we didn't wanna go out and find a complete replacement, start working on a new album and then realize halfway through that, 'All right. This is not working out. We need to find someone else.' That wouldn't have been good at all. So we decided to work with someone we know really well. Tobias is an old friend and a great drummer. I mean, he's been playing for years in VOMITORY and now, obviously, he's in CUT UP. I think he contributed a lot to the end result of the album. I think it would not have turned out as great as it did without him."

AMON AMARTH's tenth studio album, "Jomsviking", debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 21,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 31.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

In terms of pure album sales, "Jomsviking" opened with 20,000 copies.

"Jomsviking" was released on March 25 via Metal Blade in North America and Sony Music internationally. The first concept record in AMON AMARTH's storied career tells a tragic tale of love and revenge, backed by the Swedes' trademark melodic, anthemic metal, which was produced and mixed once again by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, ACCEPT). The epic original story is set in the world of the Jomsvikings, the legendary order of mercenary Vikings.

Photo credit: Scott Uchida

"If You're A Star", the new animated video from Amy Lee, the Grammy Award-winning co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band EVANESCENCE, can be seen below. The song is taken from Lee's children's album, "Dream Too Much", which was released via Amazon. The LP, which features 12 newly recorded songs, including seven originals and five popular covers, was made available for Prime members in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan starting on September 30 to exclusively stream and enjoy on Prime Music, at no additional cost to their membership. In addition, the album is available for all customers to purchase and download in MP3 format in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain and Japan.

Joining Amazon's growing library of original children's and family music exclusively streaming on Prime Music, "Dream Too Much" is a collection of 12 songs that encourage children and families to sing along together. Inspired by Lee's son and her own musical upbringing, the album features guest appearances by several family members, including backing vocals by her siblings, and instrumentals by both her father and uncle.

"Our focus when developing originals is to provide unique collections that Prime members can't find anywhere else," said Steve Boom, VP of Digital Music for Amazon. "Amy Lee's versatility as an award-winning rock vocalist gave us an opportunity to rethink traditional children's music and create an album that can be enjoyed by every member of the family. We can't wait for Prime members to listen."

"This album is very personal to me," said Amy Lee. "My husband and I had our first baby in 2014 and he has been the center of the inspiration for this children's album. Every song on this album has a story — whether it's an original for our son based on his favorite things or a song my dad used to sing to me when I was a little girl. I can't begin to tell you how fulfilling this project has been and how proud I am to unveil it to listeners on Prime Music."

"Dream Too Much" track listing:

01. Stand By Me02. Dream Too Much03. Bee And Duck04. I'm Not Tired05. Little Bird06. Alice07. Rubber Duckie08. Hello, Goodbye09. Donkey And Chicken10. The End Of The Book11. If You're A Star12. Goodnight My Love

"It's not about pulling from the depths of my soul and finding a secret place that I can only describe through music," Lee told MTV about her songwriting process. "I feel like a lot of what I do with EVANESCENCE is on such a deep level, and it's so important that I get all of myself across. This wasn't about all that crazy emotion. We were allowed to just be musicians and be free and have fun with it."

METALLICA made its "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" debut last night (Thursday, September 29), performing their new song "Moth Into Flame" for the first time on national television. While backstage at "The Tonight Show", James Hetfield, Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett shared road stories about tour hygiene, a close call with Ozzy Osbourne and more. Check out a web-exclusive clip below.

"Moth Into Flame" is taken from METALLICA's tenth studio album, "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct", which is scheduled for a November 18 release via Blackened Recordings. The long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic" consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music.

"Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" was produced by Greg Fidelman with frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The band recorded the disc at its own studio.

Instead of a previously announced bonus disc of demos, the deluxe edition of the album will now feature a number of cover songs that the band has recorded over the past few years, including a medley of Ronnie James Dio songs, IRON MAIDEN's "Remember Tomorrow" and DEEP PURPLE's "When A Blind Man Cries".

The deluxe version will also feature a live set recorded at Rasputin's in Berkeley, California on Record Store Day 2016 and a live version of the new song "Hardwired" recorded last month at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

METALLICA will next appear at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, California on October 22 and October 23.

PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS (formerly PHIL CAMPBELL'S ALL STARR BAND), the band featuring MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell alongside his sons Todd, Dane and Tyla, plus vocalist Neil Starr, will release its self-titled debut five-track EP on November 18 via Motörhead Music.

The official lyric video for the song "Big Mouth", taken from the EP, can be seen below.

Produced by Todd Campbell at the band's own Stompbox Studios in Wales, U.K., and mixed by MOTÖRHEAD producer Cameron Webb, "Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons" loudly shoves you head-first into its raw, gritty, classic and instantly accessible rock 'n' roll charms. Whether it's the speedy biker-charged refrain of "No Turning Back", the crunchy catchy jump of "Big Mouth" or the beautiful-yet-bombastic balladry of "Life In Space", "Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons" brings uniquely organic life and verve to every last riff and stomp, with Starr's sensational vocals ensuring this EP will be the surprise of the 2016 rock 'n' roll release calendar.

Neil Starr recently told Kaaos TV about PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS' debut EP: "The reason it's an EP is we can get that done quicker. We wanted to give people some music to hear that was our own music, some music of our own that we can play live as well. So the idea was to get something done as quick as possible. It keeps the fans interested in the band, because there's new songs to keep it fresh. And it's great for us, 'cause we get to write more songs all the time. Todd, who's in the band, has his own recording studio, so it's really easy for us to just go in and do what we wanna do whenever we want, which is great."

Regarding the musical direction of PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS' original material, Neil said: "You know what you're gonna get, because Phil Campbell is the riff god. So you hear these MOTÖRHEAD riffs; Phil wrote a lot of those songs. So there's elements of that gonna be coming through in the music. Obviously, personally, I wouldn't ever want to try and be like Lemmy and his style that he does, because that's one person who does that, and that's him. You don't try and do that. I bring my own style to the band, but, obviously, yeah, there's lots of really great riffs in the songs, like you would expect from a band that's got Phil Campbell in it. It's just rock and roll music, I guess."

"Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons" EP track listing:

01. Big Mouth02. Spiders03. Take Aim04. No Turning Back05. Life In Space

DIRKSCHNEIDER, the band fronted by former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. singer Udo Dirkschneider, will release a live album called "Live - Back To The Roots" on October 28 via AFM Records. The effort, which was recorded on April 2 at Kaminwerk in Memmingen, Germany, will be made available as two-CD digipak and gatefold three-vinyl in four different colors (black, gold, silver and clear).

You can now listen to the song "Breaker" from "Live - Back To The Roots" below.

Dirkschneider's "Back To The Roots" tour features him performing ACCEPT songs one last time before he closes the chapter for good. The trek was recently recognized with a "Sold Out" award after 31 of the 48 European shows were sold out.

"It's unbelievable, " says Udo. "I never expected this tour to be so successful. It's beautiful to see how many people walk with me on my personal way of saying goodbye to the ACCEPT chapter."

He added: "It's still so much fun to sing these songs live, they are a part of my biography, but nevertheless it's about time to turn that page.

"There was so much talking and speculations about me and ACCEPT, so this is kind of a musical statement from my end — which seems to be very interesting for the fans who came to these shows."

To those fans that still want to experience the classic ACCEPT songs performed live, Udo has this message: "There is a band called ACCEPT. And please, if you wanna hear these songs, please go then to [see] ACCEPT. [Laughs] So that's the only thing I can say. Now you'll have the chance [this] year to hear it with the original voice, but Mark [Tornillo, current ACCEPT singer] is doing a — I would say — really good job on it, so please go there and listen then to ACCEPT and U.D.O. is then U.D.O."

Regarding what makes the classic ACCEPT songs so special, Udo said: "I don't know what is special. You never can tell it, really. Like [DEEP PURPLE's] 'Smoke On The Water', in a way, something like this. Sometimes there's a song that, in a way, that stays forever."

"Live - Back To The Roots" track listing:

CD1

01. Intro02. Starlight03. Living For Tonite04. Flash Rockin' Man05. London Leatherboys06. Midnight Mover07. Breaker08. Head Over Heels09. Neon Night10. Princess Of The Dawn11. Winterdreams12. Restless And Wild13. Son Of A Bitch

CD2

14. Up To The Limit15. Wrong Is Right16. Midnight Highway17. Screaming For A Love-Bite18. Monsterman19. T.V. War20. Losers And Winners21. Metal Heart22. I'm A Rebel23. Fast As A Shark24. Balls To The Wall25. Burning26. Outro

Recording lineup:

Udo Dirkschneider - VocalsSven Dirkschneider - DrumsFitty Wienhold - BassAndrey Smirnov - GuitarKasperi Heikkinen - Guitar

Dan 'The Doom' Franklin from The Quietus talks to legendary death metal mainstay turned heavy progressive rocker, Mikael Åkerfeldt, about death, rebirth and creative regeneration.

When I call Mikael Åkerfeldt to discuss Sorceress, the twelfth studio album by his band, Opeth, I don't realise yet that I'm speaking to a dead man. A dead man doing housework: "I'm vacuuming up banana fly!"

On Sorceress Opeth consolidate a left turn they took with 2011’s Heritage. Before then, they built a cult following as a progressive heavy rock band whose medium was death metal. Their albums were ornate, high-contrast works; they juxtaposed brutal force and intricacy with a mellow lightness of touch. They made bludgeon that was intrinsically beautiful. They dug deep: circuitous journeys into the underworld perfected on 2001’s Blackwater Park (taking its name from a German prog band that lifted it from the gothic mansion in the novel The Woman In White).

With Heritage, Opeth’s songs no longer plumbed the depths, but fanned out. Åkerfeldt dropped his death metal roar entirely – to the consternation of a portion of their audience – and queered the pitch further with an assortment of advanced mid-70s prog sounds, ‘difficult’ arrangements and textures. Its follow-up, Pale Communion (2014), though a continuation, was an altogether less bamboozling record: more subtle and introverted, and occasionally exhibited a grittier edge again.

What marks Sorceress out is the hard rock backbone that runs through it – the songs still flirt with fusion, jazz, funk and pastoral folk but cleave to a stripped-down melodic centre. In short, it’s a punchier, hook-driven album that pits Jethro Tull’s Aqualung against King Crimson’s Red while Ronnie James Dio makes ringside interventions. It also contains some of the band’s heaviest material since they departed from extreme metal.

For a band with such a storied discography, It’s tempting to read Sorceress as the third album in a trilogy. Åkerfeldt does not: "That would’ve been cool if it was meant as part of a trilogy but it's just a record. It's easier to connect the three records because a lot of people think we made a massive change with the Heritage record and this is the third album since which is kinda similar, meaning there is slightly less extreme metal influences – the vocals, of course: I'm not screaming on these three records. But they're not meant to be connected in any way, really."

But nevertheless the albums lend themselves to groupings don’t they?

"It's in retrospect really. If I look back at the discography maybe ten years from now I'd [see] these three records as a trilogy but now it's not meant to be. If you follow the evolution of this band there's a couple of records that are connected more than others. I think the first two for instance [Orchid, 1995 and Morningrise, 1996], I see them as one record in a way. And number four and five, meaning Still Life [1995] and Blackwater Park, I see them as connected for some reason too: they're similar to me. Ghost Reveries [2005] and Watershed [2008] I also see as connected. And that doesn't necessarily mean they were at the time – there wasn't an actual plan to connect records in the discography."

I’m struck by the persona of the Sorceress, a figure to be in awe of and to fear. More specifically, Opeth take Persephone – daughter of Zeus and queen of the Underworld – to encapsulate the album in the primary sense of the word: beginning with ‘Persephone’, a melancholy Spanish guitar instrumental with a female voice warning, "A wicked deception I am creating’ and concluding the record with ‘Persephone (Slight Return)’.

"The whole Persephone thing – that was a love affair with Hades, or rather by his choice, and that was something that I just stumbled upon more or less. I think I saw the name first (it might seem weird) but I think from the band Kula Shaker – they had a song called ‘Persephone’ on a record I liked [Strangefolk released in 2007]. I saw it there on the record and said 'What's that? it sounds interesting', and I wasn't too into Greek mythology or anything like that so I had to look it up. It stuck in my head that it was a nice little story and it could make this album feel like a concept record, framing it the way I did with the intro and the outro. The reason being that some of the lyrical content dealt with tragic love, in a way."

Persephone’s presence recalls Melinda, the central character of Still Life, for whom the hero returns with catastrophic consequences. Still Life is a death metal classic principally because it dismembers the form and infuses it with a multiplicity of colours and shades. It is a thrilling, boundary-breaking journey from the opening epic panorama of ‘The Moor’ through the revelatory blossoming of ‘Godhead’s Lament’ and the jazz-tinged ‘Face Of Melinda’ itself, bringing into focus the object of the narrator’s doomed love. Melinda is a highly romanticised heroine who is also harshly besmirched: a "harlot of God upon the earth" for whom "No joy would flicker in her eyes". "Harlot" is also a term used in the title track of Sorceress. Still Life showed a strong storytelling sensibility and improved on the musical and lyrical ambition of My Arms, Your Hearse which preceded it in 1998.

Although markedly different from those albums, Sorceress has something of the mood and tone of that work, driven by Åkerfeldt’s personal experience, including a recent divorce, more than a reflective, authored distance.

"Well that's right. When you're comparing it to My Arms, Your Hearse, that was a type of ghost story. I was struggling to write lyrics in those days. I didn't have anything to say. Like today, still, I feel like I don't have anything to say lyrically. So that was a way for me to have some lyrics that meant something. I was inspired by King Diamond so I wrote the lyrics to [that album] as a concept record and the same with Still Life which is also kind of a love story you could say. I hadn't really thought of that. That's probably been the case for years in our discography that there's a couple of lyrical themes that deal with lost love or those types of topics. This one, it's not a concept record in that sense, like those previous records. It's more that I've been going through some personal type of problems in my own private life and have been writing those kinds of lyrics. That's all it is. It's also not autobiographical in anyway it's the thoughts that happened to come out on paper when I was writing the lyrics."

Understating as he does his lyric writing and musical ability generally, I should be clear that Åkerfeldt is one of the outstanding rock musicians of his generation with a voice, guitar tone(s) and styling that is unmistakably him. And by extension, despite the musical evolution, unmistakably Opeth.

A less sprawling sonic journey, Sorceress touches on other periods in the band’s history. One of the pre-released tracks, ‘Will O’ The Wisp’, returns to the bucolic folk of Blackwater Park’s ‘Harvest’ but the vocal confidence and melody is even keener. The singing doesn’t drift on the tide of the music but leads or provides counterpoint. In short, Åkerfeldt is getting very good at writing strong verses and big choruses, both ‘The Wilde Flowers’ and penultimate track ‘Era’ hang off the latter.


"I'd like to think it kicked in naturally but I wanted that I think. I'd been writing a lot of songs that just had layers of stuff basically. Sometimes I haven't achieved a coherent type of feeling to the musical content. Sometimes I've been meaning to but never succeeded. I was deliberately trying to find a few kind of spots in the songs that the listener could cling on to, that they would recognise. I was probably thinking more in that sense of classic type songwriting. I can write a song that's meandering, going nowhere and all of sudden it's finished but it feels good anyway. I wanted – especially for this record and to a certain extent the one before – strong vocal lines, strong passages. I wanted the vocals to carry the song a bit more than how it's been in the past, so I made a deliberate effort to have a few of those types of songs and few of those types of parts in the songs. That one [‘The Wilde Flowers’] was actually nicked from an Aerosmith song. It's the chord progression I heard on an Aerosmith record I don't even have: Night In The Ruts, from the late seventies [1979]. Not considered to be the best Aerosmith, but there's a song on there called ‘Mia’ that I heard this kind of chord thing and a vocal thing that I thought, 'Mmm that's interesting.' (I shouldn't say these things but y’know!) ‘Era’ was not stolen from anywhere – I thought, 'Fuck, that sounds really nice', like a classic type of chorus. But then I heard people saying that it sounded like Cutting Crew, ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms tonight’! But that was just a coincidence."

What stood out on ‘Cusp Of Eternity’ from Pale Communion was Åkerfeldt pushing his clean voice to a more gravelly, salt-of-the-earth classic rock vocal. He’d previously spoken about aspiring to big Scorpions-style power ballads with Watershed’s ‘Burden’ and it’s on Sorceress that the promise is fulfilled.

"There's more confidence. I've been doing this for a long time. You have to bear in mind that I never identified with being a singer. I never wanted to be a singer. When we formed the band [he has previously claimed in a sauna, but certainly in Stockholm in 1990] I just wanted to play guitar. I was pushed into that position. So gradually after X amount of years, I felt I became more confident and that it was something I really needed; that I could progress and improve as a singer. I needed that type of confidence and that's been escalating ever since. Only now in recent years have I come to accept that, yes, I am the singer in this band. After 12 records."

This new clean-voice confidence was an approach he’d honed also in his previous choice of covers: David Coverdale-era Deep Purple track ‘Soldier Of Fortune’, Alice In Chains’ ‘Would?’ and most pertinently Robin Trower’s ‘Bridge Of Sighs’, which boasts a godly James Dewar vocal.

"My idols are those types of guys and I've never been able to sing like that so I have high aspirations when it comes to my vocal tone, so to speak. I want to be a good rock singer, classic rock-type singer: like Paul Rodgers, Coverdale and those kinda guys. I know I won't arrive at a place where I feel I am as good as them but it helps me to advance to work towards a goal musically that is completely out of my league. It really helps me to develop I think."

For an album that coheres together as effectively as Sorceress it actively seeks out diversity in its tracks. This is most explicit on ‘Sorceress’ and ‘Sorceress 2’, the first a morose, down-tuned sledgehammer and the second an ethereal, wraith-like acoustic track. The former caused both relief and consternation on its unveiling, it showcasing a simpler, straightforward bludgeon for a band predicated on lightness of touch.

Its main riff is almost atavistic: "That came straight out of stupidity I think. I didn't have any better ideas. I was noodling around with that part that opens the song, the more fusion-esque sounding bit. I just had a little lick I started playing on the keyboard, a kinda swinging little piece. I thought maybe there's something I can do with this and I recorded that first section and then I went, 'What now?' I was sitting there for fifteen, twenty minutes and I couldn’t come up with anything that felt natural and I guess – I can't remember if the song would technically be in A from the beginning – I just tuned down the guitar much more than I've ever done before. I just tuned it down to A and I realised, 'Fuck, I have two A strings: is that good or bad?', and started playing this shuggah-shuggah part. And I thought, 'Why not', you know? As soon as I tuned down the guitar I came up with that riff. It's very simple but very effective. And it has that type of classic quality to it which had me continue and I finished that song the same day pretty much."

In deliberate contrast, ‘Sorceress 2’ is the band at their most Floyd-ish – there’s a detachment and sparseness to the arrangement that immediately made me think of ‘Us And Them’. Built around a simple acoustic motif it could have been lifted from Opeth’s 2003 Damnation album (a companion to the none-more-black Deliverance from 2002), which saw the band step into full-on MTV Unplugged songwriting mode, and has an emotional authenticity that the archness of their recent guise has somehow lacked.

"I wanted something like that because I was singing in a falsetto voice. When I wrote that there was the first verse and I came up with that little guitar thing and I started humming along in a falsetto voice and I wanted to keep that kind of feeling because that sounded very fragile and it also didn't sound like anything I'd written for this record. I wanted to keep the very nice, calm, fragile piece of music pretty much. And there was no aspiration to have the drums kick in or anything like that. It was one of those from the get-go: one of those withdrawn tunes. I can't remember listening to anything else really, but I felt for the guitar chords that I'm playing on the verse it had a really nice ring to it which reminded me of an Ozzy Osbourne song called ‘Diary Of A Madman’: the acoustic part at the beginning had that type of ring it. I can't really say it sounds like it but it had something interesting which made me continue.’

Typical of Opeth that one song recalls both Pink Floyd and Ozzy Osbourne. It also made me wonder whether the band have learnt to deliberately play within themselves.

"Of course. I never considered us to be a virtuoso-type band. If you leave me out of it, the other guys are fucking great musicians. They can play circles around me and a lot of other musicians on the planet I think: they're fantastic. But I've never really been interested in that. I've always valued the quality of a song more, at least what I deem to be a quality song. So I don't think we ever gave in to the temptation of songs with showing off parts. Some parts are a bit show-offy but I've always felt that there's been something else to those sorts of parts too that I think adds value to the song, if you know what I mean. I can't remember a single part that I've written that is meant to impress people in that sense of, 'Oh fuck, these guys are great musicians.' I think of us more as a collective and once you do that you automatically think more of the quality of the song, as opposed to exposing each individual as a fantastic player. I mean, they are, but we never flaunted that."

That said, the masterpiece of the album is ‘Strange Brew’, a liquified concoction of full-throttle individual performances that shouldn’t mix together, but the melodic consistency of the band at this point and Åkerfeldt’s arrangement pulls it off.

It opens and returns to a haunting two chord refrain, which guitarist Fredrik Åkesson had brought to him: "That song was a long time in the making. I mean Fredrik actually came in with a thing that he'd written. I felt it was very interesting, we can do something with that, and I started kind of dismantling his demo basically and it was just one part on there. I took away the drums and the bass and there was an acoustic part. I made some type of swell instead. It's always a bit sensitive when you're working with something which somebody else wrote. But he came up with what I consider to be the verse – that soft thing that starts the song. And I basically stripped it clean of pretty much everything the original version had and made it the swell thing instead and that also gave me a nice vocal line, and some nice little twists. But I didn't really know where to take it. I ended up going along a pre-made path with that song. I felt like I wasn't doing anything interesting with the song for a long time. I kinda let it be for quite some time and then I picked it up at the very end of the writing sessions and remade everything again. And pretty much started from scratch and said, 'OK, this beginning part is nice' but I wanted something crazy to happen. And it was by mistake that I came up with this keyboard lick."

Yes, that keyboard passage is positively explosive – the band playing out of their skins before wrenching open space for Åkerfeldt’s cry of despair – "There's a chasm between you and me."

He says: "It was weird because I was gonna record drums and I have a little pad thing – because I play drums for the demos, I play them manually on the pad basically – so I was gonna play drums but I had the recording on the wrong track in my studio so I started playing what I expected to be drums but instead it was electric piano. And I just started playing really fast, thinking I'm gonna play drums, all I heard were these keyboard notes – du-be-didi – and I thought, "That's interesting."

So it was by mistake, and I ended up finishing that part, played it to Joakim [Svalberg, keyboards] and he said, "That's insane, that's gonna take a lot of practise from me" because it was really long leaps on the keyboard to play it perfectly. But I came up with that part and then once that was in the song the rest of it wrote itself pretty quickly. And I made a return to the opening part and reworked it into a doomy heavy rock section that finishes the song. And everything in between were just like layers. I thought that this song doesn't necessarily need a bridge or a chorus, anything like that. It's got strong vocal parts but it's not coherent if you know what I mean: it's an all-over-the-place kind of song. I love those kinds of songs. At that point I had already written a bunch of songs for the record that had a bit more control so to speak, so I felt there was space for a song that was out of control, which was ‘Strange Brew’ basically.’

At this point I have to bring up Gentle Giant with Åkerfeldt. Of all the progressive bands mentioned as bearing a relationship with Opeth, it strikes me that on this record more than ever that they are also operating in a similar space, poised between intricate, neo-medieval progressive arrangements and a hard-blooded heavy rock found on Gentle Giant’s first two albums.

"I absolutely love them. When I think of progressive rock sometimes I forget about them. You automatically jump onto King Crimson and Yes and Camel, those types of bands that I love too. And I tend to forget Gentle Giant, but once I think of them I'm like, fuck, they're actually the best of the bunch. And whenever I listen to them it's so ahead of its time I think. They have that type of sensitivity that a lot of those other bands don't have. Or at least it's not as apparent to me. I mean they had Kerry Minnear who has a beautiful voice and is just a genius of a musician. I think for some of the stuff he wrote, or what they wrote collectively, its time hasn't come yet. And certainly for the time those records came out in the seventies they were too complex and good for the scene then, even if they were quite popular in those days, so it feels like we haven't arrived at a time when everybody would understand them yet. There was actually talk of doing a cover of Gentle Giant for this record. The song ‘Aspirations’ from the album The Power And The Glory which is so beautiful. It's a Kerry Minnear piece but I'm kinda relieved we didn't do it because it's so difficult.’


Opeth are carrying that torch forward. Their progress has been steady and assured, from their showpiece gig at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2003, released as Lamentations on DVD and just this year reissued on vinyl and to download, through to the live albums recorded at the Roundhouse and Royal Albert Hall, the latter partly a homage to the likes of Deep Purple and Camel. A gig at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane last year for the tenth anniversary of Ghost Reveries has set up the big one: playing Wembley Arena on 19th November, splitting two sets between Sorceress and then the Deliverance and Damnation albums which constituted the vast majority of the Lamentations set.

I was at that gig in 2003 and saw a band in the ascendancy but also one that was incredibly nervous. Does he recognises himself and that band now?

"That’s a good question. It's odd that you would ask me and mention that show because I was just checking out some clips from that show today, a few hours ago. And I haven't watched any of it since we edited the film. I watched it because there are a couple of songs that we haven't played for a long time that we are going to play again and I was like, 'Fuck, I've forgotten how to play them!' So I checked out the younger me, what the hell I was doing, to rehearse basically, to relearn those types of songs. What kinda struck me when I saw that footage – I was fatter in those days, and there's also something about all of us… I mean Peter [Lindgren, former guitarist], I met Peter the other day. I did an interview at Spotify. Peter is a consultant at Spotify. It's really weird. Martin Mendez, looking at him: fuck, he's young and he's got hair! When I think back on those days the only thing I can say is I recognise the songs, and I feel both detached and connected to those songs. Because I wrote them so I kinda recognise them – it's odd, I can't really explain it. But when I think back to the band I feel completely detached. Like they're not the same guys. I am not the same guy. To the point that I'm wondering if that guy passed away and I'm an imposter. When I was young there was talk about Mötley Crüe and Nikki Sixx dying around the time of Shout At The Devil or Theatre Of Pain, or something like that. And that they brought in a lookalike Nikki Sixx. And you knew he was an imposter because he was slightly shorter than the guy that passed away. And that's how I feel sometimes. When I see pictures of me from those days, when I see what I saw today: is that really me? Because I can't remember how I was back then. And I see some similarities when I look myself in the mirror but it really feels weird, I feel detached from those days. But I also know it is me and I wrote those songs. And I know that's me playing."

This is a fascinating insight, that Åkerfeldt would consider that musician dead, the discarded chrysalis in his evolution. All the members of Opeth who played that gig are no longer part of the band, apart from bassist Martin Mendez. But don't be fooled, they were a very special band indeed with an all-Uruguayan rhythm section and Swedish frontline. The band’s performance is shaky at first but nothing less than exceptional.

But within a year or two, something changed Åkerfeldt onstage for good – gone was the apologetic bag of nerves and instead there was a quick-witted, sardonic raconteur. His self-effacement started to come from a place of strength rather than weakness. What happened?

"That’s because that guy died! I am still incredibly nervous. The only thing that connects me and the dead guy in Opeth is that we're both very nervous. And I am still quite shy and nervous to this day. But there was something that happened. I should tell you exactly what happened actually. We went on a tour [Sounds Of The Underground in 2005] – there was 18 bands on the bill, we were touring for about eight weeks in America. It was a festival tour with shitloads of bands. One of these bands was Strapping Young Lad. I'd never heard them. I'd heard about Devin Townsend and I knew who Gene Hoglan was [he subsequently filled in live for a period on drums for Opeth for the absent Martin Lopez]. I wasn't particularly interested in their music, I wasn't particularly interested in any of the bands on that bill to be honest. But I really connected with Devin: me and him became friends. He was troubled at the time, quite troubled if I remember, for several different reasons. But we sat down and talked a lot between the shows about life in general: about stuff, music, became friends basically. I saw him perform onstage and he was similar to how he was backstage: he's a funny fucking guy. He was cracking jokes and we thought he was funny but an introvert offstage. But when he got up onstage he was backstage but a bit more and sometimes a lot more. He transformed, yet he didn't, if you know what I mean. And he was saying things like what we'd talked about a couple of days before. He was saying things, talking to the crowd like he was talking to me to a certain extent. I'd never been comfortable, I never knew how to talk to a crowd before and I'd never been comfortable doing the whole kind of metal manner type screaming, 'Fuck yeah!' type thing. I've never been able to do that because I think it's fucking ridiculous to be absolutely honest. I find it a bit stupid and a bit below me. It's very effective, the crowd love that stuff, but I can't do it with a straight face. So instead I was that shy guy who you saw at Shepherd’s Bush. But after meeting Devin I gradually started talking about what we had for dinner or whatever it was. 'I shat myself' – stupid things, just because I felt like it, and what happened was not only did the crowd seem to like it but I relaxed once I talked to them like they were friends. It was very helpful to me as a frontman and since then people say, 'Oh you're so fucking funny, tell us a joke' or whatever, and I say, 'I can't tell jokes!' I'm not telling jokes from the stage, I'm just talking about... stuff. What makes it funny is that I'm supposed to be this rocker-type guy saying, 'Show us the fucking horns!' And I'm talking about warts, or whatever, anything. That really helped me to calm down and ultimately perform better. And since then I'm not as nervous when I go onstage, or for a few minutes I'm nervous, but after the first time I say something to the crowd I calm down. I'm a bit more nervous when we're just playing. I can't wait to say something to the crowd because that will help me calm down."

The transformation is in evidence on two outstanding live albums recorded during the period that shortly followed that tour: The Roundhouse Tapes (2007) and side project Bloodbath’s The Wacken Carnage (2008). Not only do they find Åkerfeldt strutting and pretty full of it ("Hush, hush my children" to quieten down the crowd, for example) but they represent the pinnacle in his guttural abilities, which have understandably weakened over time and certainly play a part in the development of his clean singing skill-set.

But only Lamentations has a live recording of the song ‘Deliverance’ which Åkerfeldt describes during the set as one of the top three heaviest tracks the band had recorded, a position it has retained down to its outright malignant atmosphere, and obsidian beauty. Does he regard it as a classic?

"Not sure. It doesn't really matter. I never figured that we had classic songs. I'm not sure what determines a classic song. That song was never a single, of course it never could have been a single [it’s nearly 14 minutes long]. If it was a single it surely wasn't played much. But it was a good song at the time it was finished. And it quickly became a crowd-pleaser, a song which pretty much everyone in the crowd would like. But we were also wary about playing the same songs over and over again. We've been struggling for years over what to play. 'OK, we’re going back to Houston. We played Houston two years ago: on the setlist I seem to recall we played ‘Deliverance’ so we can't play it now.' We always mix songs around so we don't play the same things, which is honourable or whatever. But this last couple of years I've been talking to the guys in the band: 'Why shouldn't we play ‘Deliverance’?' People love that song every night, most people in the crowd get into that song. Why shouldn't we play that song? Don't we have the ‘Breaking The Law's and the ‘Paranoid's? So maybe it's a good idea to keep at least some of those songs in the set. But when I play it, it's fun for that reason I think. It's fun to play that song because I know it will go down well. I rarely listen to it – it's a completely different thing for me to play a song and to listen to the song. If I were to sit down and listen to ‘Deliverance’ on the stereo, I'd probably go, 'Mmmm... next.' But when I'm playing it’s fun every night. It's a completely different thing."


And how about for the syncopated ravages of its last few minutes – surely a contender for one of the best metal moments of all time?

"For me, listening to that part and playing that part to a certain extent is a bit naive because I know where it came from, I know why I came up with that type of riff. I'm thinking it feels a bit old to me. But the crowd loves it and that's all I need. When I'm up on stage, I'm not necessarily a creative person – there's no need for me to break down everything I've done. It's fifteen years old, I'm not going to say it sucks because it's old. It's part of our discography and I enjoy playing those songs live. I'm not necessarily a creative person onstage. For lack of a better word I'm more of an entertainer. I want people to leave feeling happy and that they had a good time. As opposed to forcing my new creativity into them. I've learned with time how to separate those things. I care a lot about the creativity of this band and musical direction that we’re taking next. When I'm writing music I don't really think in terms of crowd-pleasing at all. But when I'm onstage that's all I think about."

Expect ‘Deliverance’ at Wembley then. I recently watched footage of their performance at the Monsters Of Rock festival in Helsinki from July this year. Åkerfeldt introduces ‘Demon Of The Fall’, a centrepiece of My Arms, Your Hearse (and also the extra track they performed at Shepherd’s Bush when they’d turned the cameras off). In doing so he makes the point that the nineties are the new seventies. This is an interesting framework to view the history and development of the band, where "the nineties for death metal is like the seventies for classic rockers. When I think of the nineties it's still fairly recent to me but it's a long time ago: it's twenty years ago pretty much since I wrote ‘Demon Of The Fall’ but it's like it’s just yesterday or a couple of weeks ago." He recognises that the band belongs to a cluster of death metal bands in the nineties that constitute the classic generation of the genre.

The other Mikael Åkerfeldt might be gone, but the current embodiment is not afraid to wear the death metal mask of his band. This situates Opeth in a compelling and somewhat uncomfortable position where they refuse to fit conveniently as a straightforward metal or a purist rock band. They hold each countenance up to face the other in front of now sizeable audience that continues to grow and grow. Opeth is dead; long live Opeth.

Helloween recently brought their My God Given Right tour to Japan. They performed at Namba Hatch in Osaka on September 21st; fan-filmed video from the show is available below.

The setlist on the night was as follows:

"Eagle Fly Free"
"Dr. Stein"
"My God-Given Right"
"Steel Tormentor"
"Mr. Torture"
"Waiting for the Thunder"
"Straight Out of Hell"
"Heroes"
- drum solo -
"Where the Rain Grows"
"Lost in America"
"Power"
"Forever and One (Neverland)"
"Halloween / Sole Survivor / I Can / Are You Metal? / Keeper of the Seven Keys"

Encore:
"Before the War"
- guitar solo - (Sascha Gerstner)
"Future World"
"I Want Out"

October 21st will mark the release of Eye Of The Soundscape, a complementary instrumental album by Polish prog act, via InsideOutMusic. The release features cover artwork by Travis Smith and includes 13 experimental and highly atmospheric compositions, which showcase Riverside's ambient electronic side. The release's opening track, "Where The River Flows", is available as of today online as first single via the streaming / digital download outlet of your choice or it can also be checked out below:

Eye Of The Soundscape compiles all the special instrumental Riverside tracks previously used as bonus material for the Shrine Of New Generation Slaves and Love, Fear And The Time Machine albums, alongside rare cuts as well as four new songs ("Where The River Flows", "Shine", "Sleepwalkers" and “Eye Of The Soundscape”) into a massive playing time of 100-plus minutes, which will be available as 2CD-Mediabook, 3LP (With both CD's as bonus and an etching on Side F!) or Digital Download.

 
The full track-listing for the release is as follows:
 
CD1:
“Where The River Flows”
“Shine”
“Rapid Eye Movement” (2016 Mix)
“Night Session - Part One”
“Night Session - Part Two”

CD2:
“Sleepwalkers”
“Rainbow Trip” (2016 Mix)
“Heavenland”
“Return”
“Aether”
“Machines”
“Promise”
“Eye Of The Soundscape”

The album's physical formats are available to pre-order from the InsideOut Shop as of today, including limited editions of the 3LP on white vinyl (100x copies) and on light blue vinyl (200x copies). Pre-order here.